Progressive Breakfast: Now Is the Time to Stand Up for the CFPB

MORNING MESSAGE

Isaiah Poole

Now Is the Time to Stand Up for the CFPB

The Los Angeles City Attorney says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was key to holding Wells Fargo accountable during the bank's massive fake accounts scandal. Now is the time to stand up to the GOP's effort to destroy the agency.

Gutting the Volcker Rule

While you weren’t looking, Trump basically killed Dodd-Frank. HuffPo: “Last week, a council of top regulators quietly met to discuss the future of the Volcker Rule ― the most important structural change Obama established for the financial system. A few days later, a freshly installed Trump official went further, threatening to defang the rule “unilaterally” by “reinterpreting” its entire purpose. The Volcker Rule was conceived as an update to the Depression-era Glass-Steagall law, which banned traditional banks from engaging in risky, high-stakes securities ventures, which became the domain of investment banks, hedge funds and other firms that didn’t rely on federal support.”

Tour de Trump

Trump slams Iran, “Islamic terror” in Saudi speech. NYT:“President Trump on Sunday pivoted away from his strident assessment of Islam as a religion of hatred as he sought to redefine American leadership in the Middle East and rally the Muslim world to join him in a renewed campaign against extremism… ““Drive them out,” he said. “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land. And drive them out of this earth.”

Trump arrives in Israel on second leg of international trip. NPR: “Trump’s flight to Israel was more notable than most Air Force One landings: His trip from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to Tel Aviv, Israel, is believed to be the first ever direct flight between the two countries, which do not have diplomatic relations… The president’s visit will include a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance center, Bethlehem and the Western Wall.”

Health Care Heats Up

Trump to propose big cuts to safety-net in new budget, slashing Medicaid. WaPo: “President Trump’s first major budget proposal on Tuesday will include massive cuts to Medicaid and call for changes to anti-poverty programs that would give states new power to limit a range of benefits… The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that this could cut off Medicaid benefits for about 10 million people over the next decade. The White House also will call for giving states more flexibility to impose work requirements for people in different kinds of anti-poverty programs.”

Trump Medicaid cuts will total $800bln. CNN: “The $800 billion reduction, confirmed to CNN Sunday evening by a senior administration official, assumes that the GOP health care bill that the House passed earlier this month would become law, that official said.”

House may be forced to vote again on health care. Bloomberg: “House Speaker Paul Ryan hasn’t yet sent the bill to the Senate because there’s a chance that parts of it may need to be redone, depending on how the Congressional Budget Office estimates its effects. House leaders want to make sure the bill conforms with Senate rules for reconciliation, a mechanism that allows Senate Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority.”

Democratic attorneys general seek to intervene in Obamacare case. Reuters: “More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general on Thursday sought to intervene to defend a key part of the Obamacare healthcare law – subsidy payments to insurance companies – which is under threat in a court case… Trump has repeatedly threatened to withhold the payments to insurers, which amount to about $7 billion this year, and referred to them as a ‘bailout.'”

More from OurFuture.org:

How We Can Get Walmart’s $237-Million-Man to Pay His Own Freight. Sam Pizzigati: “American taxpayers subsidize windfalls for executives at low-wage employers like Walmart by helping them avoid paying $6.2 billion annually in benefits. Here’s a promising idea from across the pond that could help reverse how the subsidies flow.”

Trump’s Global Gag Order: 5 Questions Answered. Maureen Miller: “President Trump signed an executive order to slash the nearly $8.8 billion the U.S. spends annually to fight deadly diseases. The callous move makes millions around the world more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.”

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 »