MORNING MESSAGE
Will The “Fix the Debt” Manipulators Ever Reform Themselves?
The money behind the latest scare campaign – “How Old Will You Be When Social Security’s Funds Run Out?” – also funds a TV ad that shows jobs, teachers, and roads and bridges vanishing, supposedly because the national debt wasn’t brought under control. That’s pretty cynical, since their own ideas have led to lost jobs, teacher layoffs, and a lack of funds to repair roads and bridges.
JUSTICE DEPT. TO END USE OF PRIVATE PRISONS
Justice Department cites weak track record of private prisons. NYT:“Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general, wrote in a memo [that private prisons] ‘do not save substantially on costs,’ and they provide fewer rehabilitative services, like educational programs and job training, that are ‘essential to reducing recidivism and improving public safety.’ … By May 2017, Ms. Yates wrote, the bureau is projected to house just 14,200 inmates in private prisons, down from about 30,000 in 2013 … they make up a small percentage of the roughly 1.5 million prisoners in state and federal facilities.”
Progressives push for broader phase out. The Hill:“…the move puts immediate pressure on states, local governments and even other agencies within the Obama administration to get out of the private-prison business … The administration’s new guidelines don’t cover the ICE detainees or those in state and local prisons. And that, according to many liberal Democrats, is a mistake … ICE issued a statement Thursday afternoon defending the agency’s use of privately run facilities and suggesting it will continue to do so.”
Announcement follows Mother Jones exposé:“…a Mother Jones investigation of a private prison in Louisiana that found serious deficiencies in staffing and security. It also documented a higher rate of violence than the prison reported … The news of the DOJ’s decision prompted a quick downturn in stock prices for the two largest private prison companies.”
OBAMACARE "EASY TO FIX"
NYT’s Paul Krugman argues recent Obamacare setbacks are “easy to fix in a normal political system”:“…subsidies for purchasing insurance, and in some cases for insurers themselves, should be somewhat bigger … There should also be a reinforced effort to ensure that healthy Americans buy insurance, as the law requires, rather than them waiting until they get sick … states may be able to offer their own public options; if these proved successful, they might gradually become the norm.”
TNR’s David Dayen proposes exchange reform:“… there’s a deceptively simple fix … one that’s already in place in Vermont and the District of Columbia. There, all individuals are required to buy their insurance coverage through the exchanges … they are small localities that might not have enough customers to attract any insurers if they allowed the market to be segmented. But it also prevents Aetna-style cherry-picking.”
NEW WEALTH GAP STATS
New CBO report shows post-recession wealth gap widening. W. Post:“The analysis shows the wealthiest 10 percent of Americans now hold three-quarters of the nation’s wealth, up from two-thirds in 1989, and a three percentage-point increase from the start of the recession. Most Americans found themselves with less wealth in 2013 than Americans of a similar age had in 1989; the only age group doing better than its counterparts from a quarter-century ago was senior citizens.”
But Federal Reserve Bank of New York sees middle-class rebound. NYT:“Between 2013 and 2015, employers added nearly 2.3 million workers earning from $30,000 to $60,000 a year, primarily in fields like education, construction, transportation and social services. That was roughly 50 percent more than in either the high-wage or low-wage categories during the same period. By contrast … of the nearly 7.6 million jobs created from 2010 to 2013, only about a fifth fell into the middle-tier category, with the largest number instead coming from lower-paid sectors like food preparation and health care support.”
TRUMP BACKED BY BILLIONAIRE
Trump campaign increasingly tied to right-wing billionaire family. NYT:“…unlike the Koch brothers, who remained neutral in the Republican primary and have said their organizations will focus on congressional races this fall, the Mercers were deeply involved in the Republican nominating battle this year. And they have shown a taste for more bare-knuckled and populist politics than most of Mr. Mercer’s fellow hedge fund magnates.”
Democrats push bill to require disclosure of Trump’s tax returns. W. Post:“Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Chris Murphy (Conn.) told reporters Thursday that they would press for consideration of Wyden’s bill requiring major-party presidential nominees to disclose at least three years of tax returns. The bill, if passed, would allow the Treasury Department to release Trump’s returns over the objections of the New York businessman…”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Construction of first offshore wind project in US completed. The Hill:“When the [Block Island, RI] project starts operation later this year, it will be the first utility-scale offshore wind farm in the United States.”
Bernie Sanders’ “Our Revolution” set to launch Wednesday. The Hill:“Sanders will speak from Ripley Manor in Washington, D.C., and Our Revolution’s launch will also air live at more than 2,000 organizing meetings nationwide … Sanders said in an email to supporters … ‘I and others will lay out some of the next steps we can take as a movement to empower a wave of progressive candidates this November and win the major upcoming fights for the values we share.'”
Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's Future.more »
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