MORNING MESSAGE
Andy ‘Women Are Meat’ Puzder’s Troubles Grow — But Wait, There’s More
Donald
Trump didn't really appoint Walter White, the guy from Breaking Bad, to run the
DEA, but his nomination of fast-food CEO Andrew "women are meat" Puzder to be
Labor Secretary sure comes close ... he sees all working people as disposable
commodities. Just what we need to make America Great for the working
class.
RESISTANCE GETS RESULTS
“Organizing
and Persistence Pays Off in N.J. for Hurricane Sandy Victims” reports
OurFuture.org’s Isaiah J. Poole: “It took two years of agitation and
protest, but finally this week homeowners in New Jersey still seeking relief in
the wake of the devastation of superstorm Sandy could claim an important
victory, as Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill giving homeowners still recovering
from the disaster protection from foreclosure. Christie’s signing of a bill that
he had vetoed a version of last year was the culmination of work done by the
People’s Action affiliate New Jersey Organizing Project as well as other
groups.”
Resist
Trump Tuesdays galvanize progressives. NYT: “The Working Families Party has
joined with MoveOn.org, a left-wing group that goes back to President Bill
Clinton’s impeachment, and People’s Action, a national progressive group, to
encourage people to protest weekly on what they call Resist Trump Tuesdays.
Meetup.com, a site that often hosts opportunities for social gatherings, has
created more than a thousand local groups called #Resist Meetups aimed at
encouraging political activism … there is a risk protesting a president who
revels in opposition … Activists opposing Mr. Trump still see strength in mass
action, and they have begun broadening their reach.
PUZDER'S DOMESTIC ABUSE CHARGES RESURFACE
Politico
uncovers 1990 Oprah appearance by Puzder’s ex-wife, detailing abuse: “During
the episode, titled ‘High Class Battered Women,’ Lisa Fierstein, Puzder’s
ex-wife, said he told her, ‘I will see you in the gutter. This will never be
over. You will pay for this.’ … ‘Most men who are in positions like that don’t
leave marks,’ Fierstein said. ‘The damage that I sustained you can’t see. It’s
permanent … They don’t hit you in the face. They’re too smart. They don’t hit
you in front of everyone.’ In response Tuesday, Thompson said: ‘This supports
their collective claims that Andy was never physically abusive.'”
Democrats
mobilize before hearing. NYT: “…on Thursday, Democrats will have their best
chance to topple one of President Trump’s cabinet choices when Andrew F. Puzder
testifies before the Senate … On Thursday, more than a thousand federal
contractors are planning to converge on the Capitol to demonstrate in opposition
to Mr. Puzder.”
REPUBLICANS TARGET CONSUMERS
Republicans
plan to weaken retirement security. NYT edit board: “…as early as Wednesday,
House Republicans are expected to pass a measure to thwart efforts by
California, Illinois and other states to establish basic retirement savings
plans for employees at companies that do not offer such coverage … both Congress
and the Trump administration have shown an appetite for helping Wall Street at
the expense of average citizens.”
And
consumer product safety. ABC: “The Trump Administration last week elevated
Ann Marie Buerkle, a Republican appointed to the commission in 2013, to the post
of acting chairman. Buerkle replaces outgoing chair Elliot Kaye, a Democrat who
stared down industry groups during the nearly three years he was in the
position, calling out businesses for not being proactive enough on safety …
Kaye, who championed causes ranging from brain injuries in youth sports to risks
involving lithium-ion batteries, says consumer protection will ‘absolutely,
categorically, yes’ be harmed: ‘Not even a close call.'”
ACA REPEAL WOES CONTINUE
ACA
repeal effort in disarray. Politico: “Republicans are sniping over how much
of the law to scrap, what to replace it with and when … Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
left [a meeting with Speaker Ryan] before it was over, having heard enough of a
conversation that he says centers around keeping Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion
intact and creating tax credits that he called a ‘new entitlement program,’ …
Republicans are pressing [HHS Sec] Price to do as much as he can through
executive actions to buy them time to come to a consensus this spring … no one
is quite sure what Trump wants.”
House
GOP lacks consensus: “… the bill being pushed by the Freedom Caucus would
repeal ObamaCare’s expansion of Medicaid, an option that centrist Republicans
are wary of supporting, particularly in the Senate. Asked about the Freedom
Caucus’s demand to simply pass the 2015 repeal bill again, Rep. Fred Upton
(R-Mich.) said he didn’t think it would attract enough votes to pass.”
House
GOP to meet tomorrow. Bloomberg: “The issue may to come to a head Thursday.
House Republicans plan to hold a meeting then to discuss and possibly finalize
Obamacare strategy … House Republican leaders say they want to produce a bill by
March …”
GOP
may increase Medicaid spending before cutting it. Politico: “Republicans
determined to cut Medicaid may first have to pour more money into it, to keep
the peace between Republican governors who expanded health care for low-income
people under Obamacare and those who resisted … The goal, at the very least, is
to ensure funding parity between expansion states that would stand to get more
money under a capped program and conservative holdouts like Texas, Georgia and
Tennessee.”
Dakota
Access Pipeline foes rush to court. The Hill: “Lawyers for the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe will file a motion this week asking a federal judge to rule on the
legality of the project. And a separate tribe is suing against the pipeline on
religious grounds, saying it threatens water sacred to American Indians …
[Developers] could have it running within two months…”
CORPORATIONS V. TRUMP
Corporate
America readies to battle Trump on trade. Politico: “Top chief executives
and some of the nation’s largest business groups are clinging to hope that more
moderate economic voices inside the Trump administration will eventually win out
in favor of the globally focused approach from recent White Houses. But early
signs are already emerging of potentially titanic battles between Trump and some
of America’s largest industries.”
Republicans
struggle to understand who would be affected by a border tax. Bloomberg:
“There’s been little real-world analysis on how quickly the U.S. dollar would
adjust under a so-called border-adjusted tax to prevent consumers from getting
stuck with higher prices, according to a paper released Wednesday by the
conservative-leaning Tax Foundation … Republicans in both chambers have said
they need more information on how the border-tax measure would work and who it
would affect before they can endorse it.”
CLIMATE CRISIS THREATENS DAMS
Oroville
crisis calls attention to dam maintenance. NYT: “…older dams may not be
designed to deal with the severe weather patterns California has experienced
because of global warming … engineers and environmentalists said similar
problems [to Oroville] could occur at many of the roughly 1,500 dams that dot
this state … Several engineers said it seemed likely that this episode would
show the need for something that elected officials have rarely rallied around:
spending money on maintenance, rather than new building.”
Emissions
down in 2015. The Hill: “Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States
declined by 2.2 percent between 2014 and 2015, federal officials reported on
Tuesday … The EPA attributed the overall decline to lower carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels, which itself came about because of less
coal consumption in favor of natural gas, warmer winter weather that decreased
heating fuel demand and lower electricity demand overall.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
DREAMer
arrested. Yahoo! News: ” U.S. authorities have arrested an immigrant from
Mexico who was brought to the United States illegally as a child and later given
a work permit during the Obama administration in what could be the first
detention of its kind under President Donald Trump. Daniel Ramirez Medina, a
23-year-old with no criminal record, was taken into custody last week at his
father’s home in Seattle by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officers.”
Tom
Perez claims momentum in DNC Chair race. The Hill: “Former Labor Secretary
Tom Perez is claiming 180 Democratic National Committee members are supporting
his bid for chairman, a number that would put him within striking distance of
the 224 votes needed … But allies of Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison, Perez’s top
opponent, are claiming that he is closing in on the requisite votes
too
Progressive
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