Progressive Breakfast: Democrats Need to Find Their Voice on Tax Reform

MORNING MESSAGE

Robert Borosage

Democrats Need to Find Their Voice on Tax Reform

Democrats, their spines stiffened by massive popular mobilizations, displayed remarkable unity and grit in opposing the Republican push to repeal and replace health care. But how will Democrats respond to the GOP's bid for deep tax cuts?

Federal Agencies Contradict Trump Climate Claims

Government report finds drastic impact of climate change on U.S. NYT:“The average temperature in the United States has risen rapidly and drastically since 1980, and recent decades have been the warmest of the past 1,500 years, according to a sweeping federal climate change report awaiting approval by the Trump administration. The draft report by scientists from 13 federal agencies, which has not yet been made public, concludes that Americans are feeling the effects of climate change right now. It directly contradicts claims by President Trump and members of his cabinet who say that the human contribution to climate change is uncertain, and that the ability to predict the effects is limited.”

New Wells Fargo Scandal

Wells Fargo illegally foreclosed on, repossessed thousands of cars. NPR:Wells Fargo is back in the spotlight for another scandal. This time, for signing up 490,000 auto-loan customers for insurance they didn’t need. This comes less than a year after the bank generated a massive public outcry for opening millions of unwanted accounts for customers. Customers who already had car insurance say they had no idea they were being charged for this insurance from Wells Fargo. And the bank acknowledges that tens of thousands of people wound up in default, which affected people’s credit scores, and thousands had their cars repossessed.”

Trump Base Erodes

New polls show signs of trouble in Trump’s base. The Hill:“A new CNN poll put his job approval rating at 38 percent. Just as worryingly from the White House’s perspective, the same survey showed his ‘strong approval’ number among Republicans sliding to 59 percent, from 73 percent in February. In a Quinnipiac University poll released last week, Trump registered an overall job approval rating of just 33 percent. The president was even underwater among white people without a college education — the heart of his election-winning coalition last November — registering 43 percent approval and 50 percent disapproval with that group. And the Quinnipiac poll, like the CNN survey, showed a decline in the share of Republicans approving of his performance.”

TPP Pullout Harms Rural Communities

Trump’s trade pullout roils rural America. Politico:“The decision to pull out of the trade deal has become a double hit on places like Eagle Grove. The promised bump of $10 billion in agricultural output over 15 years, based on estimates by the U.S. International Trade Commission, won’t materialize. But Trump’s decision to withdraw from the pact also cleared the way for rival exporters such as Australia, New Zealand and the European Union to negotiate even lower tariffs with importing nations, creating potentially greater competitive advantages over U.S. exports.”

Sen. Warren Stalls Trump Anti-Trust Nomination

Sen. Warren puts hold on Trump nomination for top anti-trust job. DailyKOS:“Trump has nominated Makan Delrahim to be his assistant attorney general for anti-trust, a nomination that was supposed to be included with other confirmations reaching the Senate last week. But that didn’t happen, because Warren put a hold on Delrahim’s nomination… Delrahim’s nomination won’t get a vote until September, at which point he’ll get a stand-alone vote.”

Transgender Third-Grader Sues CA School for Discrimination

Transgender third-grader files groundbreaking lawsuit against school. ThinkProgress:“The lawsuit accuses Heritage Oak of violating the Unruh Civil Rights Act, California’s law banning discrimination in public accommodations. Though California courts have found that the law does not apply to private religiously affiliated schools, Heritage Oak is a private for-profit school. In their complaint, the family argues, ‘The Unruh Act applies to a for-profit school such as Heritage Oak and its parent company Nobel Learning Communities because Heritage Oak and Nobel Learning Communities are business establishments within the meaning of the statute.’ The suit also accuses the school of falsely advertising itself as ‘non-discriminatory’ and of causing Nikki emotional distress.”

More from OurFuture.org:

Workers Need Better Trade Deals, Not More Talk. Leo Gerard:“Talk is cheap. Jobs are not. The factory anchoring a community’s tax base is not. America’s industrial strength in times of uncertainty is not. All the current talk on trade enforcement is useless unless workers get some action.”

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 »