Progressive Breakfast: Climate March Underscores Need for Urgent Climate Action

MORNING MESSAGE

Libero Della Piana

Climate March Underscores Need for Urgent Climate Action

Ebullient crowds filled the streets of Washington D.C. and other cities Saturday to send a strong message that climate change is a real and growing threat to local communities and the economy. Environmental groups joined with Native, labor, and racial justice organizations to support the march, which called for an end to the Trump Administration’s rollbacks of environmental safeguards…

Government Stays Open, For Now

Congress Seeks to Avoid Shutdown. The Hill:“…Bipartisan negotiators agreed Sunday night on a bill to keep the government running through September, and will move it through the House and Senate this week before government funding runs out after Friday. Lawmakers approved a week-long funding patch late last week to buy themselves more time for a larger package, after the original deadline of April 28 passed without a deal in place.”

House Vote To Repeal ACA May Come This Week

Republican Leadership in Full-Court Press to Pass Trumpcare This Week. Daily KOS:“…Those who weren’t spending the weekend working out budget deals were working the phones to get swing-state Republicans—the so-called moderates—onboard. That included Vice President Mike Pence who has been leaning hard on the moderates.”

Skittish Republicans Fear Barrage of Pressure During Recess

GOP May Face Make-or-Break Moment on ACA Repeal. Politico:Some advisers are encouraging House Speaker Paul Ryan to cancel the recess, fearing a repeat of last month’s home-district protests by grassroots groups that prevented him from rallying the votes to present the original version of the bill to repeal and replace the ACA.

Trump Still Doesn’t Know What’s in His Health Bill

Trump Misrepresents or Misunderstands Content of ACA Repeal. Vox:Trump seems not to know what’s in his health bill, at least based on his lengthy interview this weekend on "Face The Nation" with John Dickerson from CBS News. In the interview, he claims pre-existing conditions are covered in the bill, at his mandate. They are not. He also asserts deductibles will go down under the plan; they won'tExpansion of High-Risk Pools Takes Away Obama Spur to Cover Low-Income with Medicaid. NYT:“The Trump administration appears to have scrapped one of the key tools the Obama administration used to encourage states to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act… Under a deal with Florida, the federal government has tentatively agreed to provide additional money for the state’s “low-income pool,” in a reversal of the previous administration’s policy.”

Immigrant Concerns May Fuel Massive May Day Marches

Bernanke, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, fears economic inequality is on the rise. NPR:“While the economy in the near term has done pretty well in terms of its improvement/recovery from the recession, there are some long-term trends, which have been difficult for a lot of people, including reduced social mobility, inequality’s increased, wages have not improved for many people for a long time.”

FDR: Time to Recall a Progressive’s Truly Great First 100 Days

Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Epic Achievements Set High Bar. The Nation:
“The Resistance needs to develop a memory of how past generations confronted reactionary threats to American democracy… We should do so not only because Trump and his comrades have directly targeted FDR’s legacy for destruction, but also to remind us all how a progressive President and people launched a revolution and started making America truly greater.”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People's Action.more »