Progressive Breakfast: The "Center-Left" Had Its Chance; It's Time For Something New

MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

The "Center-Left" Had Its Chance; It's Time For Something New

The global political project known as "centrism" continues to collapse. But what about the "New Labour"/"New Democrat" phenomenon of the "center-left" that once seemed to offer so much hope? Can it survive? More importantly, should it?

Tell Lawmakers To Vote NO! On House Budget

The House GOP is pushing through a budget that slashes Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital services. Call your representative today at (888) 516-5820 and tell them to vote NO! on the House budget.

GOP Seeks to Ram Tax Cuts Through Budget Resolutions

GOP budget kicks off effort on tax cuts. Yahoo Finance:“House and Senate Republicans will take their first concrete steps Thursday toward enacting a major U.S. tax cut by advancing budget resolutions for fiscal 2018 – and it only gets harder from here… Republicans are eager to enact a budget – normally an optional exercise – because it will include language allowing them to ram through a separate GOP-only tax bill without Democratic votes in the Senate. The House plans to vote on its budget resolution Thursday, as does the Senate Budget Committee, with a full Senate vote planned in two weeks. Republicans hope to produce a joint budget later this month.

‘Monopoly Man’ Crashes Equifax Hearing to Protest Forced Arbitration

‘Monopoly Man’ crashes ex-Equifax CEO’s Senate hearing. NY Post:“Rich Uncle Pennybags photo-bombed the beleaguered former CEO of Equifax at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. A woman dressed as the Monopoly mascot appeared just over Richard Smith’s shoulder as he testified before the Senate Banking Committee investigating the breach that exposed the personal data of 145 million Americans. Dressed in a morning suit, top hat and bow tie, the protester twirled a fake gray mustache as Smith spoke, apparently unaware that she was even there. Afterward, when she approached and tried to hand Smith a bag of fake money, he hurried off. Public Citizen, an advocacy group that monitors government accountability, claimed responsibility for the stunt. The Monopoly ‘man’ turned out to be Amanda Werner, who also handed out Monopoly-style ‘Get out of jail free’ cards to protest plans she says weaken protections for consumers seeking action against banks and financial institutions.”

Deadline to Renew DACA Status Today

Deadline Looms For Thousands Of DREAMers. NPR:“The clock is winding down for thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The Trump administration has stopped accepting new applications for the program known as DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, that protects nearly 700,000 so-called DREAMers from deportation. Thursday is the deadline for thousands of current DACA recipients to renew their status for what could be the last time. That’s touched off a scramble across the country. The Department of Homeland Security says more than 100,000 DACA recipients have applied to renew their temporary, two-year work permits ahead of the deadline. Many have gotten help from pop-up legal clinics across the country, including a series of recent events hosted by the City University of New York. In a classroom in midtown Manhattan, lawyers from CUNY’s Citizenship Now! project and volunteers from the local legal community helped DACA recipients fill out their renewal applications. After they finished the applications, representatives from a local nonprofit called the New Economy Project were waiting to cut checks covering the $495 application fee.”

$10B for Trump Border Wall

House Panel OKs $10B for Trump border wall. The Hill:“The House Homeland Security Committee approved Wednesday a border security bill that includes $10 billion for a border wall… The bill includes the $10 billion in border wall funding, $5 billion to improve ports of entry and adds 5,000 agents to both the Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection. The legislation would also authorize the federal government to reimburse states up to $35 million for use of National Guard assets to reinforce border security. The legislation will head to the House floor amid debate over whether border security provisions should be attached to potential legislation to protect recipients of the rescinded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Democrats criticized the bill as a political stunt to appease President Trump, who proposed the border wall as a central point of his campaign.”

NRA Stokes Racial Divide

How the NRA made the gun a symbol of tribal identity. American Prospect:“Unknown at this point is whether the massacre at Las Vegas will cause some rethinking of the NRA’s agenda of weapons proliferation as a marker of tribal identity, seeing as those killed and wounded by Paddock were fans of an art form, country music, which is often the music of choice by members of that very tribe. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, daughter of one of country music’s most beloved figures, the late Johnny Cash, took to the op-ed page of the liberal New York Times to call upon her fellows in the Nashville-centered music community to ‘stand up to the NRA.’ But as the ongoing battle over monuments to Confederate luminaries reveals, the dislodging of tribal symbols comes hard. As it is with the Dixie flag, so now it is with the gun and its accoutrements, even in their most lethal forms. Leaders of the NRA may be evil, but they’re not stupid. When it comes to hearts and minds, they know how to win the support they need. Reason rarely triumphs over the symbols of identity—at least not without a large measure of bloodletting.”

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 »