MORNING MESSAGE
Timely
book on Populism. Timely discussion on Tuesday.
As
the epic election was ending, journalist John Judis published “The
Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European
Politics,” explaining the left populism of Bernie Sanders and the right-wing
populism of Trump.
Campaign
for America’s Future and the AFL-CIO will sponsor a book discussion on Tuesday,
Nov. 15, at 12 p.m. AFL-CIO. CAF’s Roger Hickey will introduce Judis. Click
here for details.
DNC FLASHPOINT FOR DEM FUTURE
DNC
chair race begins battle for direction of party. AP: “The Democratic
National Committee, the last bastion of party power in Washington, is quickly
emerging as ground zero for the fight … Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, a
prominent progressive and the first Muslim elected to Congress, has emerged as
an early contender, backed by much of the party’s liberal wing … Others are
pushing for a Latino leader, arguing that the growing demographic group is
crucial to the party’s future …”
The
Nation’s John Nichols makes the case for Ellison to helm DNC: “The DNC needs
a chair who has an intersectional and activist organizing vision like that of
former Minnesota senator Paul Wellstone … He has spoken not just to Sanders
backers but also to key Clinton backers, to insiders and outsiders. And he has
talked a lot about the Wellstone model of constant, at-the-grassroots organizing
rather than a politics of money and poll-tested talking points. But Ellison is
also talking about Wellstone’s other ingredient of democratic renewal: good
public policy that is clearly distinguished from the conservative agenda.”
“Democrats
Need a Tea Party of the Left” says TNR’s Eric Sasson: “What we need instead
is a movement that builds upon the steadfast devotion of Sanders’s supporters,
one that can arise from the bottom and give people a chance to feel like they
have the power to make a difference … A Trump presidency leaves us with no
choice but to wake up and engage with politics in a way similar to that of the
Tea Party.”
Democrats
debate over how to position themselves on economic issues. NYT: “…they are
divided over how aggressively to position themselves on the economic left, with
battle lines already forming over the lightning-rod issue of foreign trade …
Over President Obama’s two terms, Democrats have embraced a down-the-line
cultural liberalism that energized his coalition of millennials, minorities and
college-educated whites … without rebuking the still-popular president directly,
there is a growing recognition among many Democrats that Mr. Obama’s way may not
be the best course in a country where many voters have experienced little income
growth and where high-paying jobs can be scarce.”
The
American Prospect’s Paul Waldman questions whether Democrats could have won back
white working-class: “Hillary Clinton could have kidnapped every one of
those voters and forced them to listen to her read her plan for paid family
leave, and it wouldn’t have made a difference, because Trump was reaching them
on a much more visceral level.”
Warren,
Sanders send signals of compromise and confrontation. The Hill: “For now,
both are at least making sounds of compromise toward Trump. But it’s clear that
sentiment is heavily layered with skepticism, and a vow to fight hard where they
differ … the message from liberals in Congress has been that if Trump wants to
pursue policies they believe will aid working Americans, they won’t resist out
of purely partisan motives. But they’re not counting on it…”
Dems
hope to divide GOP. Politico: “Their thinking: Exploit the inevitable
divisions between Trump and the increasingly conservative GOP leadership over
tax policy, infrastructure spending and possibly social issues. And Senate
Democrats hope to use the filibuster — the only real leverage they have to
stymie Trump and congressional Republicans — sparingly. While it might seem like
wishful thinking for Democrats to think they can do an end run around a Congress
firmly under Republican control, Democrats say they could envision cutting deals
with Trump on passing a public works package, killing the ‘carried interest’
loophole, and cracking down on currency manipulation by China. Many
conservatives oppose all those proposals.”
BIGOTED BANNON TAPPED FOR WH
Trump
faces backlash to choice of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist. NBC News:
“Under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart espoused anti-Semitic and nationalist
views. The site faced regular criticism … for its close ties to the ‘alt right,’
an online-based counterculture movement associated with white nationalism. There
was no shortage of reaction to Bannon’s ascension to the West Wing.”
Trump
Chief of Staff pick Reince Priebus defends Bannon. Politico: “Priebus was
asked Monday morning if the ideology of Breitbart, which has published stories
headlined ‘There’s no hiring bias against women in tech, they just suck at
interviews,’ ‘birth control makes women unattractive and crazy’ and ‘Bill
Kristol: Republican spoiler, renegade Jew,’ will arrive at the White House with
Bannon. ‘The guy I know is a guy that isn’t any of those things,’ Priebus said
on NBC’s ‘Today’ … noting that Bannon’s byline had not appeared on any of the
controversial articles even though he was overseeing the website at the
time.”
Priebus
and Bannon may not work well together. Politico: “‘Trump likes to have his
subordinates battle it out — but this is something else,’ said one senior
Republican party official friendly with Priebus. ‘This is either going to be
“Team of Rivals” or “Hunger Games” — or maybe both.’ … Priebus is close to the
squeaky-clean and policy-obsessed House speaker … Bannon railed against Ryan as
‘the enemy’ and claimed his policies were aimed at creating ‘a one world
government,’…”
CRASH COMING?
Don’t
expect a market crash, says NYT’s Paul Krugman: “…predictions that Trumpist
tariffs will cause a recession never made sense: Yes, we’ll export less, but
we’ll also import less, and the overall effect on jobs will be more or less a
wash … handing out windfalls to rich people and companies that will probably sit
on a lot of the money is a bad, low-bang-for-the-buck way to boost the economy,
and I have my doubts about whether the promised surge in infrastructure spending
will really happen. But an accidental, badly designed stimulus would still, in
the short run, be better than no stimulus at all.”
Or
soar then crash. Politico: “The result could be a stimulative blast that
fires up faster growth followed by an inflationary disaster … some economists
worry that Trump will feel political pressure to deliver on his pledges to
immediately slap tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports, possibly sparking trade
wars before any of his stimulative policies can work their way through Congress.
That would take away even the short-term sugar high nature of Trump’s plan.”
Trump
speaks with Chinese president. NYT: “In the phone call, which took place on
Monday Beijing time, the two men agreed to maintain close communications and to
meet at an early date. Despite the optimistic tone, analysts believe the
relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi could grow tense if Mr. Trump follows
through on his campaign promises, including a vow to impose a 45 percent tax on
Chinese imports.”
CLIMATE TO PAY
Trump
seeks to exit climate agreement. Reuters: “President-elect Donald Trump is
seeking quick ways to withdraw the United States from a global accord to combat
climate change … The accord says in its Article 28 that any country wanting to
pull out after signing on has to wait four years. In theory, the earliest date
for withdrawal would be Nov. 4, 2020 … The source said the future Trump
administration is weighing alternatives to accelerate the pull-out [such as]
sending a letter withdrawing from the 1992 international framework accord that
is the parent treaty of the Paris Agreement … [That] would be controversial,
partly because it was signed by former Republican President George H.W. Bush in
1992 and approved by the U.S. Senate.”
“Global
Warming Nears Tipping Point” notes Bloomberg: “Global temperatures continue
to shatter records this year, rising to within less than one degree of the level
that scientists say would be catastrophic, according to the United Nations.
TRUMP PREPARES DEPORTATIONS
Trump
adjusts immigration plan. AP: “…Trump said Sunday he would accept a fence in
some places along the U.S. southern border where he had promised to build a wall
… During his campaign he insisted he would deport 11 million people … [Sunday]
Trump said he’s willing to deport or incarcerate 2 million to 3 million people
living in the country illegally who ‘are criminal and have criminal
records…'”
Trump’s
immigrant numbers are wrong. Mashable “His claim that 2 million to 3 million
undocumented immigrants have criminal records comes from a 2013 report by the
Department of Homeland Security … That figure refers to a broader group of
people that includes not just unauthorized immigrants but also people who are
lawful permanent residents or those with temporary visas … The actual number of
undocumented people with criminal convictions might be closer to about 820,000
individuals.. The Obama administration [already] deported more than 2.5 million
people through immigration orders between 2009 and 2015 …”
TRUMP DIVES INTO THE SWAMP
Trump
surrounds himself with lobbyists. Salon’s Gary Legum: “… look at … Friday’s
press release, in which he announced a series of additions to the [transition]
team’s Executive Committee … You couldn’t find a more comprehensive group of
Republican has-beens and reprobates if you turned over every rock on a Superfund
site.”
Trump
shrugs on 60 Minutes: “That’s the only people you have down there …
Everybody’s a lobbyist down there … everybody that works for government, they
then leave government and they become a lobbyist, essentially. I mean, the whole
place is one big lobbyist … I’m saying that they know the system right now, but
we’re going to phase that out.”
What
will Trump do on Day 1? NYT: “…if he follows through on his campaign
promises for what he will do on his first day in office … he will redirect
immigration enforcement, alter trade relations with China and other nations,
relax restrictions on energy production, impose new rules on lobbyists, halt
efforts to combat global warming, lift curbs on guns, push for congressional
term limits and demand a new strategy for defeating the Islamic State. He may
face some legal and procedural hurdles, but most of his Day 1 pledges involve
issuing presidential directives, executive orders or memorandums that do not
need legislative approval.”
Trump
will boost charter schools, says Rudy Giuliani. NY Post: “‘We’ve spoken
about it. Donald is going to create incentives for that promote and open more
charter schools. It’s a priority,’ said Giuliani … Trump’s plan would redirect
money from the federal budget to create the $20 billion school choice block
grant.”
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