MORNING MESSAGE
As Trump Meets Tech CEOs, "Silicon Valley Rising" Calls For Resistance
Tech CEOs met with President-Elect Donald Trump Wednesday as tech industry workers called on them to "to take a stand and resist threats to the rights of workers, consumers and the communities they live in." Only heads of the largest companies were invited. Heads of startups and smaller tech companies were also not present. The tech oligarchs want deals to let them off the hook for taxes they owe on profits they have stashed in offshore tax havens.
ELLISON MAKES CASE FOR DNC CHAIR
Rep. Keith Ellison calls for “3,007 County Strategy” by the DNC. Chicago Tribune:“‘We need a 3,007-county strategy. We need a town strategy. We need a precinct strategy,” said Ellison, as [Sen. Bernie] Sanders and AFT President Randi Weingarten looked on proudly … ‘We don’t need to decide between social justice and economic justice,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to have all of that. If we don’t stand up for both, we won’t have either one, because they’ll use tribalism and manipulation to divide us.'”
DNC race flummoxes labor. Politico:“…organized labor loves [Tom Perez] from his work as Labor Secretary, but some of the most influential union players have already committed to his main rival, Keith Ellison … Perez’s relatively late entry to the race has given Ellison time to consolidate serious labor support from all over the political spectrum.”
Dems grapple with how to win back white working-class and maintain multicultural base. NYT:“…those in Mr. Biden’s camp believe … they will not be a majority party again in Washington or across much of the country without winning back white voters of modest means … some Democrats now worry they missed the bigger picture of the electorate: failing to deliver a message that would cut across all constituencies … [But] in the eyes of a vocal contingent of Democratic strategists, [that’s] a dated approach that ignores inexorable political and demographic trendlines … [Instead,] the party must tailor a platform and strategy that explicitly appealed to younger and nonwhite voters on issues like policing, climate change and immigration.”
The Nation dedicates issue to analyzing Obama’s legacywith Chris Hayes, Robert Borosage, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert and Mike Konczal
TRUMP'S WHITE CABINET
Trump cabinet is 82% white, 76% male and 41% with government experiencetabulates Bloomberg.
Sierra Club tries to block Scott Pruitt from EPA. The Hill:“[Digital] ads will run for a week in the home states of 10 senators the group is targeting … The targets include some senators who are facing potentially tough reelection battles in the 2018 campaign cycle, like Sens. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.). Other targeted senators have shown moderate positions on environmental policies in the past: Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Susan Collins(R-Maine), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).”
Trump picks Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke for Interior. AP:” Zinke has advocated for increased energy drilling and mining on those lands and expressed skepticism about the urgency of climate change. The Republican lawmaker, who describes himself as a ‘Teddy Roosevelt Republican,’ also has been a vocal supporter of keeping public lands in the government’s hands.”
“Trump’s Newest Senior Adviser Seen as a White Nationalist Ally” reports Mother Jones:“Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump’s presidential campaign, will serve as a senior White House adviser for policy … The announcement of Miller’s new role drew praise from white nationalist leader Richard Spencer … Miller helped [Spencer] with fundraising and promotion for an on-campus debate [at Duke U.] on immigration policy that Spencer organized in 2007, featuring influential white nationalist Peter Brimelow … Miller wrote about two dozen columns for the Duke Chronicle, and his articles assailed multiculturalism (which he called ‘segregation’) and paid family leave (which he said results in men getting laid off).”
DEMS PRESS TRUMP ON CONFLICTS, CONSTITUTION
Dems explore where Trump could violate insider trading law. Politico:“The STOCK Act, adopted in 2012, was designed to restrict insider trading by members of Congress and their staff. But ethics lawyers say it also applies to the president and might extend to private holdings like Trump’s real estate ventures … Of particular interest is how Trump might violate the law if he told his children information that they acted on or invited them to participate in a government meeting where they learned something and used the information to make money.”
Trump children still involved in both transition and business. ABC:“Trump’s adult sons — along with daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner — attended a tech summit at Trump Tower with Silicon Valley leaders. Trump Jr. was involved in the selection of Trump’s pick for interior secretary.”
Democratic attorneys general prepare to fight Trump. NYT:“If the Trump administration withdraws from environmental, antitrust or financial regulations, the attorneys general say they will plug regulatory holes that may gape wide open … They have pledged to defend undocumented immigrants, and to combat hate crimes … And if Mr. Trump’s policies veer toward the unconstitutional, several of the 10 current and incoming Democratic attorneys general interviewed recently said they would apply a remedy favored by Mr. Trump himself: a lawsuit.”
WILL DEMS HELP REPLACE OBAMACARE?
Some Democrats say they will cooperate with Republicans on Obamacare. Politico:“‘If it makes sense, I think there’ll be a lot of Democrats who would be for it,’ said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) … ‘If they want to change things around the edges, fix some of the things we agree ought to be fixed and call it Trumpcare, that’s OK,’ said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats and is up for reelection in 2018. ‘Let’s get people covered.’ … [But] any legislation moderate enough to conceivably entice Democrats will likely be unacceptable to GOP hard-liners, [other Democrats] predict.”
GOP plan is “repeal and collapse” says HHS Sec Sylvia Mathews Burwell. The Hill:“Republican leaders say the repeal likely wouldn’t go into effect for at least a year. But Burwell said ‘delayed implementation’ would wreck the marketplaces … ‘Insurance companies, because of the uncertainty, will make decisions not to go into the marketplace. They will make decisions to raise their prices,’ Burwell told PBS Newshour.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren to join Armed Services Committee. WSJ:“[That is] a sign that the Massachusetts Democrat is looking to broaden her policy portfolio beyond the economic and consumer issues that propelled her political rise.”
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