Progressive Breakfast: A Day of Action To Stop An Oil Pipeline and "Keep It In The Ground"

MORNING MESSAGE

Isaiah J. Poole

A Day of Action To Stop An Oil Pipeline and “Keep It In The Ground”

Bolstered by an extraordinary order from the Obama administration to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline at a site considered sacred and environmentally vulnerable by Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota, thousands upon thousands of pipeline opponents will participate Tuesday in “#NoDAPL Day of Action” events around the country, including an event at the White House featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.). At the same time, a broad coalition of organizations has launched a petition drive calling on President Obama to cancel oil and gas sale leases on public lands, such as the Bakken fields that are the source of the crude oil the Dakota Access Pipeline is being built to transport.

PENCE WON'T CALL DUKE DEPLORABLE

GOP VP nominee Mike Pence flinches at dubbing David Duke “deplorable.” USA Today:“Pence said Trump has denounced Duke repeatedly. ‘We don’t want his support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him,’ he said. ‘So, you’d call him a deplorable?’ [CNN’s Wolf] Blitzer asked. ‘I’m not in the name-calling business, Wolf. You know me better than that,’ Pence said … ‘It’s good to see an individual like Pence and others start to reject this absolute controlled media,’ David Duke told BuzzFeed.”

Progressives warn Clinton against appointments of specific people. Politico:“…progressive operatives say they’ve targeted two potential Clinton appointments—Tom Nides as chief of staff and Lael Brainard as Treasury secretary or trade representative—to lay down early markers against Clinton … [Nides] was one of Clinton’s deputies at the State Department and is now back at Morgan Stanley … [Brainard] is seen by progressives as precisely the kind of establishment figure who wouldn’t represent the turn on trade policy that they demand …”

MOVE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN

WH, Congress inch toward deal to keep government open. Roll Call:“Senior lawmakers and White House aides are signaling that a stopgap funding bill lasting until Dec. 9 could hit the Senate floor later this week … Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he expects … a continuing resolution through Dec. 9 at last year’s enacted levels that includes funds for a Zika virus response and veterans programs.”

Planned Parenthood funding remains a hangup for Republicans. NYT:“When Democrats balked once more last week at approving legislation to combat the Zika virus because the measure included limits on Planned Parenthood, some Republicans indicated a willingness to re-evaluate their position … The bill largely focused on funding for Profamilias, Planned Parenthood’s partner in cash-strapped Puerto Rico. Because Puerto Rico has been the hardest hit by the virus, it would receive most of the money and thus be the most affected by the bill’s restrictions.”

WELLS FARGO EXECUTIVES ESCAPE PUNISHMENT

Wells Fargo executives get off light, says The New Yorker’s Adam Davidson:“…customers were charged late fees on accounts they hadn’t requested and that they didn’t know they had … the company has been fined a hundred and ninety million dollars—a record, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau says. More than five thousand employees were fired for the offenses … Still, only low-level managers were fired … no senior manager or, God forbid, C.E.O. was punished in any way … The fines against the bank are just a tiny fraction of the profits they earned. The message seems quite clear: encourage aggressive cross-selling at all costs, even if it leads to some fraud.”

Blue Dog Dems join House Republicans and corporate lobbyists to fight Obama overtime pay rule. American Prospect:“…Democratic Congressman Kurt Schrader of Oregon introduced legislation that would delay the full implementation of the higher salary threshold for three years [and] eliminate indexing the threshold, which the executive order stipulated would increase every three years in line with rising wages and inflation … more than 10 million fewer salaried workers could be covered over the next 20 years … the White House has pledged to veto it…”

BREAKFAST SIDES

Pollster Stan Greenberg finds deep opposition to TPP, in US News oped:“Our polling shows that across party lines, voters end up not just opposed, but ready to act to hold their member of Congress accountable when informed that 500 official U.S. trade advisers representing corporate interests were involved in years of closed-door negotiations…”

Odds of Federal Reserve rate hike go down. Bloomberg:“Traders reduced bets on a September hike after Fed Governor Lael Brainard … said prudence is warranted as boosting borrowing costs poses risks. The remarks surprised investors who’d been bracing for a sign that the central bank was set to raise rates. The market-implied chance of a September hike fell to 22 percent…”

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 »