MORNING MESSAGE
What Is the Purpose of School Choice?
Proponents of school choice claim it's not about results. Choice is for choice's sake, they say. But the choices parents make about their children's education don’t just affect their children; they affect us all.
Russia Reversals
Trump changes course, says Russia probe prompted him to fire FBI chief. NBC: “Trump… called ousted FBI chief James Comey a ‘showboat” and revealed he asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia… it would be highly unusual for someone who might be the focus of an FBI probe to ask whether he was under investigation and to be directly told by the FBI director that he was not.”
FBI acting director McCabe contradicts WH on Comey, Russia. NYT: ‘Director Comey enjoyed broad support within the F.B.I. and still does,” Mr. McCabe told a Senate committee. He also promised that the F.B.I. would resist attempts to influence or hobble its Russia investigation.”
Tamping Down Democracy
New Trump commission on ‘Election Integrity’ will lead to massive voter suppression. The Nation:“Vice President Mike Pence will be the chair and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be the vice chair—two men with very long histories of making it harder to vote, especially Kobach. Given the lack of evidence of voter fraud, the commission seems designed for one purpose: to perpetuate the myth of fraud in order to lay the groundwork for enacting policies that suppress the vote.”
AG Sessions instructs prosecutors to seek harsher sentences and mandatory minimums. WaPo: “The Sessions memo marks the first significant criminal justice effort by the Trump administration to bring back the toughest practices of the drug war, which had fallen out of favor in recent years with a bipartisan movement to undo the damaging effects of mass incarceration.”
Employers steal billions from workers’ paychecks each year. Economic Policy Institute: “New survey data shows millions of workers are paid less than the minimum wage, at significant cost to taxpayers and state economies.”
Even Steamrollers Can Stall
Senate sends surprise setback to oil and gas drillers. Reuters: “The U.S. Senate… rejected a resolution to revoke an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to free the drilling industry from what he sees as excessive environmental regulation. Getting the Trump administration to repeal the BLM rule had been a top priority of the oil and gas industry. “
Documents reveal Bradley Foundation’s blueprint for spreading right-wing ideology, state by state. Alternet: “New investigations… analyze hacked internal documents, which reveal that much like the Koch network, the Bradley Foundation has launched a national strategy to help conservatives control the branches of state governments and alter state policy to lower taxes, shrink government and attack labor unions.”
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 »
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