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MORNING MESSAGE

Jake Jacobs

New York’s Religious Schools Reveal Hazards of “School Choice”

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos wants to remove limits on the state funding of religious schools. The hazards of this approach are evident in New York, where a bitter dispute has escalated over the lack of academic instruction offered by ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, which accept state funding but reject state education laws. Former students and parents have gone public to expose yeshivas that do not provide required secular studies. This includes basic English instruction. The Trump administration seems perfectly content to deny fundamental courses like social studies, science, history, civics, physical education, health and geography to students who invariably grow up to bloc-vote in lockstep behind their religious leaders.

MO Blocks Right-To-Work Law

Missouri blocks right-to-work law. NPR: “Voters in Missouri have overwhelmingly rejected a right-to-work law passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature that would have banned compulsory union fees — a resounding victory for organized labor that spent millions of dollars to defeat the measure. With about 98 percent of the precincts reporting, the “no” vote on Missouri’s Proposition A, which supported the law, was running about 67 percent, with nearly 33 percent voting ‘yes.’ In 2017, the right-to-work law passed Missouri’s Republican legislature and was signed by then-Gov. Eric Greitens. However, union organizers gathered enough signatures to keep it from going into effect pending the results of a statewide referendum. The rejection of Proposition A effectively kills the law. ‘It’s a truly historic moment,’ said Mike Louis, president of the Missouri AFL-CIO. ‘Tonight we celebrate, but tomorrow we’re getting back to work. We’re going to take this energy and momentum and build more power for working people across Missouri.’”

Congress To Get First Muslim Woman

Congress to get 1st Muslim woman as Rashida Tlaib wins nomination. Boston Globe: “Former Michigan state Rep. Rashida Tlaib has won the Democratic nomination to run unopposed for the House seat long held by former Rep. John Conyers, setting her up to become the first Muslim woman elected to Congress. No Republicans or third-party candidates ran in Tuesday’s District 13 primary race, meaning Tlaib is set to win the seat in November’s election and begin serving a full two-year term in January. The special primary race to serve the last two months of Conyers’ term was still too close to call as of early Wednesday morning, with Tlaib and Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones were neck and neck. The winner of that race will also run unopposed in November’s election. Tlaib, 42, served in the Michigan House from 2009 until 2014. She defeated five other candidates to win the nomination to run for a full term representing the heavily Democratic district, which covers much of Detroit and some of its suburbs.”

WH Wants Curbs On Legal Immigration

Stephen Miller wants to deny more legal immigrants Green Cards and citizenship. Slate: “The White House is planning to add new restrictions to green card and citizenship applications for a wide range of legal immigrants who have used public services in their time in the United States, NBC News reported. NBC News said that under the proposal, ‘immigrants living legally in the U.S. who have ever used or whose household members have ever used Obamacare, children’s health insurance, food stamps and other benefits could be hindered from obtaining legal status in the U.S.’ The move is part of a broad campaign by White House adviser Stephen Miller and other immigration hawks to persecute immigrants of various legal statuses whom they can portray as a drain on public resources. Even without any new formal guidance, the administration’s current immigration restrictions mean the U.S. ‘is on track for a decline in immigrants granted green cards by 20 percent and naturalized citizenship will drop by 10 percent by the end of October compared to fiscal year 2016,’ NBC News reported.”

Judge Orders Release Of Immigrant Detained At Green Card Interview

Man nabbed At Green Card interview ordered released. Law360: “A New Jersey federal judge Friday ordered the release of a Salvadoran man whom immigration officers had detained when he attended a green card interview, determining that they violated the Constitution by trying to deport him before he could complete the process. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo determined that the federal government violated the Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act by trying to deport Antonio de Jesus Martinez before he could complete the process of obtaining a green card through his marriage to a U.S. Citizen.”

Indy Workers Walk Out To Defend Latinos

We Rise Together, Homie. Jacobin: ” U.S. labor history is full of moments of tremendous drama and upheaval. That history is riveting stuff, but getting a raw, unfiltered view of the human drama of workers fighting their bosses on the shop floor, the place where the day-to-day confrontation between workers and bosses takes place (and occasionally boils over), is rare. Which is what makes Antoine Dangerfield’s recent viral video a must-watch. A thirty-year-old welder in Indianapolis, Dangerfield worked for a construction contractor building a UPS hub. On Tuesday, he says that a small number of Latino workers (millwrights, welders, and conveyor installers, in his telling) working for a different contractor but in the same hub were ordered home after disobeying the orders of a white boss he calls racist. In response, the entire group of workers — over a hundred, in Dangerfield’s estimation — walked out. Dangerfield caught their wildcat strike on camera at the moment they walked of the job. In his video, he is positively giddy watching them shut down their massive workplace. ‘They are not bullshitting!’ he says as Latino workers walk off. Referring to the boss, he says, ‘They thought they was gonna play with these amigos, and they said, ‘aw yeah, we rise together, homie.’”

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.

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MORNING MESSAGE

Tim Wilkins

Hometowns Rise Up To Support Separated Families

All across America, residents of rural communities and small towns are standing with immigrant families to refuse the intimidation and fear the Trump administration wants to use to keep them apart. From Bar Harbor, Maine to Eldora, Iowa, Wausau, Wisconsin, and San Rafael, California, families gathered for Community Cookouts this weekend to express their solidarity and find ways they can work together to end family separations.

Five States Head To Polls

GOP Fears Ohio upset; Trump And Ocasio-Cortez back challengers. NPR: “A critical House special election on Tuesday could provide some of the biggest clues yet about how much trouble Republicans could be in this November. In Ohio, the last Republican vs. Democrat matchup before November has become the latest proxy fight for whether Democrats can harness the energy, activism and over-performance in past special elections to pull off an upset in a GOP-held district. Republicans, meanwhile, have brought in President Trump himself and millions of dollars to stop that from happening, which would further trigger alarm bells about a possible blue wave in the fall midterms. Four other states are holding their regular primaries — Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington — where there are important House, Senate and gubernatorial contests on the ballot. Several races feature some of the progressive vs. establishment battles that have divided the Democratic Party so far this year, and there are also more women running who could add to historic numbers.

Federal Judge Says Poverty Is Not A Crime

Federal judge stops New Orleans from jailing those who fail to pay fines, rules that they must have a chance to plead poverty. The Root: “A federal judge has ruled that anyone who owes money from criminal convictions in New Orleans must have a chance to plead poverty in a ‘neutral forum,’ before being put behind bars for failure to pay. According to the New Orleans Advocate, the ruling handed down by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance on Friday, Aug. 3 brings an end to the three-year legal battle over the “debtors’ prison” lawsuit that was brought forward by convicts who were jailed for days and even longer in the parish, without being given a chance to prove that they could not afford to pay the fees or fines associated with their convictions. Vance cited ‘undisputed evidence’ that shows that 13 judges of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court have ‘a policy or practice of not inquiring into criminal defendants’ ability to pay before those individuals are imprisoned for nonpayment of court debts.’ Vance also declared that judges have an ‘institutional conflict of interest’ in making the determinations of poverty themselves as proceeds from fines and fees go straight into the court’s Judicial Expense Fund, which is controlled by judges and can be used for several judicial expenses. According to the Advocate, these fines and fees add about $1 million a year to the court’s finances. The federal judge slammed the court’s failure to ‘provide a neutral forum for determination of such persons’ ability to pay is unconstitutional.”

DOJ Suspends Judge To Force Deportation

Immigrant ordered deported after Justice Department replaces judge. CNN: “Judge Steven Morley has overseen the immigration case of Reynaldo Castro-Tum for years. But last month when Castro-Tum was officially ordered deported, it wasn’t Morley at the bench. Instead, the Justice Department sent an assistant chief immigration judge from Washington to replace Morley for exactly one hearing: the one that ended Castro-Tum’s bid to stay in the US. The unusual use of a chief immigration judge from headquarters has raised concerns from retired immigration judges, lawyers and the union for active immigration judges. They say the move seems to jeopardize the right to a fair process in immigration courts. It also highlights the unique structure of the immigration courts, which are entirely run by the Justice Department, and the ways that Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who serves as a one-man Supreme Court in these cases — has sought to test the limits of his authority over them.”

DOJ Intervenes In Antitrust Case Trump Opposes

Why the DOJ keeps going after the AT&T-Time Warner deal. CNBC: “The Department of Justice filed a brief Monday in its appeal of the June decision allowing AT&T to acquire Time Warner, arguing that the lower court’s ruling showed ‘fundamental errors of economic logic.’ However, when the DOJ first filed its appeal in July, the move raised suspicions that the department’s aims were political rather than legal. ‘That’s a question that’s been asked from day 1 of this transaction,’ Randall Stephenson told CNBC during Allen & Co.’s conference in Sun Valley, ID. ‘The rumors, the suggestions going around Sun Valley right now, it’s all very interesting. People were speculating what’s really going on.’ The political factor in question is President Donald Trump, who has made his disdain for Time Warner’s CNN known on many (many) occasions.”

Expert On Hitler’s Rise Draws Chilling Parallel

Expert explains how ‘average’ citizens enabled Hitler — just like Trump. Alternet:“President Donald Trump is a symptom of a much larger problem. New research suggests that Trump’s supporters are so motivated by racism and bigotry that they may willing to overturn American democracy so that white Christians like themselves can maintain continued power over our society. Ultimately, history teaches many lessons. The question then becomes whether we are willing to learn them. How is Donald Trump similar to, or different from, authoritarians and fascists such as Adolf Hitler? In what ways are ‘regular people’ and Trump’s ‘average’ supporters implicated and responsible for his assault on democracy and campaign of cruelty? To what extend does the cruelty of Trump and his enablers toward immigrant children and other groups channel the evils of the Nazi regime? Do individuals working together have a chance to slow down Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s assault on American democracy? In an effort to answer these questions I recently spoke with Richard Frankel, a professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the author of ‘Bismarck’s Shadow: The Cult of Leadership and the Transformation of the German Right, 1898-1945.’

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.

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MORNING MESSAGE

Jeff Bryant

We Must Resist the Push to Privatize Public Schools

Remember when Democrats, at the urging of their progressive base, defeated an attempt to privatize Social Security by President George W. Bush in 2005? Now, there’s new scheme to privatize a valuable public asset all across the country, using Wall Street as an analogy to explain how the scheme works. The “portfolio model” is nothing more than a new push to take schools out of public hands and accountablity, and merits the same skeptical opposition that Democrats mustered when Bush tried to privatize Social Security.

Federal Judge Orders WH To Restart DACA

Federal judge orders Trump sdministration to restart DACA in full. NYM: “A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to fully restart the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the fourth district court ruling against the White House’s efforts to eliminate the program. On Friday, Washington-based district judge John Bates — who was appointed by President George W. Bush — dismissed the Trump administration’s rationale for shutting down DACA as inadequate. The order doesn’t take effect immediately. Bates gave the administration until August 23 to appeal the ruling or restart the Obama-era program, which protects from deportation more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought into the U.S. as children. The judge had given the administration 90 days to restart the program back in April, but stayed his own ruling in order to give the administration another chance at presenting a legally sound reason for why DACA is unlawful. It couldn’t.”

Reuniting Migrant Families is “Sole Burden” Of Government

Judge says reuniting families is government’s sole burden. AP: “A federal judge on Friday said the Trump administration was solely responsible for reuniting hundreds of children who remain separated from the parents after being split at the U.S.-Mexico border, puncturing a government plan that put the onus on the American Civil Liberties Union. ‘The reality is that for every parent that is not located, there will be a permanently orphaned child and that is 100 percent the responsibility of the administration,’ U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said. His remarks in a conference call came a day after the administration and the American Civil Liberties Union submitted widely divergent plans on how to reunify more than 500 still-separated children, including 410 with parents outside the United States. The government proposed Thursday that the ACLU, which represents parents, use its ‘considerable resources’ to find parents in their home countries, predominantly Guatemala and Honduras. The Justice Department said in a court filing that the State Department has begun talks with foreign governments on how the administration may be able to aid the effort. Sabraw said he was disappointed with the court filing ‘in the respect that there’s not a plan that has been proposed.’ He said he would order the government to name someone to lead the effort.”

Tuesday Primaries In KS, MI, MO, WA, Ohio Special Vote

4 primaries, Ohio special election promise key midterm clues. ABC: “Voters in five states head to the polls Tuesday, and both parties are looking for signs of strength and unity in their ranks less than three months until the first major U.S. election since the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington State all hold primaries Tuesday, but the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District is taking on particular significance because it’s the last time Democrats and Republicans will face off directly until November. Thirty-six U.S. House seats and three U.S. Senate seats are at stake in November in the four states holding primaries Tuesday, many of which will be in races key to determining control of both chambers of Congress… the district north of Columbus is suddenly primed to play a key role as Democrats aim to recapture a majority in the House of Representatives. Much like Rep. Conor Lamb did on his path to an upset victory in Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District in March, Franklin County Recorder Danny O’Connor has combined a moderate platform with criticism of both Democratic and Republican leadership to gain a foothold in the race. His opponent’s support of President Trump is further likely to boost turnout among Democrats in the district.”

Judge Rejects Anonymous Dark Money In Elections

Judge’s ruling invalidates FEC regulation allowing anonymous donations to ‘dark money’ groups. Politico: “A U.S. District Court judge on Friday issued a ruling invalidating a Federal Election Commission regulation that has allowed donors to so-called dark-money groups to remain anonymous, the latest development in a years-long legal battle that could have major implications for campaign finance. Judge Beryl A. Howell ruled the FEC’s current regulation of such groups, including 501(c) 4 non-profits, fails to uphold the standard Congress intended when it required the disclosure of politically related spending. ‘The challenged regulation facilitates such financial ‘routing,’ blatantly undercuts the congressional goal of fully disclosing the sources of money flowing into federal political campaigns, and thereby suppresses the benefits intended to accrue from disclosure … ,’ wrote Howell, an Obama appointee to the D.C district court. The decision is likely to be appealed. The decision paves the way for new requirements that could force nonprofits to disclose donors who give least $200 toward influencing federal elections. (Social-welfare nonprofits such as Crossroads GPS are allowed to spend money on elections so long as it’s not their ‘major purpose.’) In the post Citizens United era, spending by these groups has ballooned, but they have largely avoided having to report individual donors as a result of the FEC’s belief that their names only need to be disclosed in limited circumstances.”

Progressives’ Roadmap To Victory In November

The Progressives’ plan to win in 2018. The Atlantic: “The first Netroots Nation conference in a Trump-era election year opened with not one, not two, but five keynote speakers of color, all of whom underlined the potential of a ‘multiracial coalition’ of voters made up of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and progressive whites. Their prescription for taking back the House in the November mid-terms was not winning back Trump voters, but expanding the electorate. ‘Our swing voter is not red to blue,’ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old Bronx Democrat who upset Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in a June primary, told an audience of progressive activists on Saturday. ‘It’s non-voter to voter.’ The line was met with huge applause from the audience at Netroots Nation, the annual gathering for progressive candidates, activists, and organizers. Where as last year’s conference attendees saw a gubernatorial candidate’s speech interrupted with shouts of ‘trust black women,’ this year’s felt like a very intentional tribute to people of color, especially women. The conference offered more than 20 training sessions and panels specifically addressing how to reach those voters, as well as the millions of eligible Americans who aren’t registered to vote. The majority of panelists and presenters, according to Netroots organizers, were people of color.”

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.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Host or Attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout in Your Hometown

Join us to help reunify families separated at the border by holding a Community Cookout on the weekend of August 4-5. We are asking you to bring together friends, family and neighbors to raise money and help migrant families reunite with their children. Some will gather in their own backyards. Others are cooking out for justice in parks or congregation parking lots. Some will be big, others more intimate. All are important. We are building community and liberating families at the same time!
Register to host or attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout now!

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Pandering to Deficit Hawks Is a Losing Strategy

Democratic leadership’s obsession with asserting a “centrist” – that is, fiscally conservative – ideology threatens to put the party at odds with its base. It endangers the party’s chances of retaking the House, and will make it difficult for Democrats to offer a credible alternative to the failed conservatism of Trump and his party should they win in November.

Big Oil Loves EPA Move To Relax Fuel Standards

Big Oil cheers Trump moves to ease auto standards. Bloomberg: “The Trump administration’s plan to relax fuel-economy and vehicle pollution standards could be a boon to U.S. oil producers who’ve quietly lobbied for the measure. The proposal, released Thursday, would translate into an additional 500,000 barrels of U.S. oil demand per day by the early 2030s, about 2 to 3 percent of projected consumption, according to government calculations. ‘It’s a meaningful increase in U.S. oil consumption’ and one of the biggest steps the Trump administration could take to boost crude demand, said Trevor Houser, a partner with the Rhodium Group, a research firm that’s analyzed the proposal. ‘In terms of policy interventions that the U.S. government has taken or could take, this is certainly the most significant.’ The Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed locking in U.S. fuel-economy and tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions requirements at 2020 levels of 37 miles per gallon. The existing standards the Trump administration wants to replace call for a steady increase to roughly 47 mpg by 2025.”

Trump Wants To Push 1m Off Food Aid

Trump urges lawmakers to push one million Americans off food stamp program. Common Dreams “With both houses of Congress preparing to merge their two versions of the farm bill, President Donald Trump announced his hope on Thursday that lawmakers will reach an agreement that kicks one million Americans off the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. In the House’s version of the farm bill, adults between the ages of 19 and 59 would be required to either work or be enrolled in a job training program 20 hours per week to qualify for assistance. The Senate did not include work requirements in its bill. Trump’s declaration that the Senate “should go to 51 votes” signaled the White House’s hope that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will abandon the filibuster, making it easier for Republicans to pass a farm bill that would cut down on food stamp recipients. Work requirements for SNAP benefits are expected to reduce government spending by $20 billion over the next decade. Trump is pushing Congress to pass the measure seven months after passing the GOP tax law, which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects will add nearly $2 trillion to the federal deficit within 10 years.”

WH Wants To Cut Refugees To All-Time-Low

Top immigration aide pushing cuts in refugee numbers. Politico: “President Donald Trump last year advocated dropping the refugee cap as low as 5,000 people, down from 50,000, according to a former administration official – a cut far more drastic than even his most hawkish adviser, Stephen Miller, proposed at the time. Ultimately, the administration restricted to 45,000 the flow of refugees into the U.S. this fiscal year – the lowest since the program began in 1980, and less than half the target of 110,000 that President Barack Obama set in his last planning cycle. But the discussion set the terms of the administration’s refugee policymaking. Now Miller and a group of like-minded aides are pressing to reduce drastically the number of people entering the U.S., both legally and illegally. The immigration hawks are moving forward despite the blowback they got over their imposition of a “zero tolerance” prosecution policy at the southern border that resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former administration officials and outside White House advisers.”

Lobbyists Push Dems To Reject Medicare For All

How health care lobbyists secretly persuade Democrats to oppose Medicare For All. The Intercept: “The Healthcare Leadership Council has closely tracked what its lobbyists have described as the “leftward movement” within the Democratic Party. In Hawaii and other states, the lobby group wanted to know if ideas popularized by Sen., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. — such as aggressive proposals to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals and institute a single-payer health care system modeled on Medicare — were taking hold. The council, which spends over $5 million a year on industry advocacy and brings together chief executives of major health corporations, represents an array of health industries, including insurers, hospitals, drugmakers, medical device manufacturers, pharmacies, health product distributors, and information technology companies. The group’s focus on competitive open seats around the country — like Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District — is aimed at shaping the next generation of lawmakers’ views on health care policy.”

How The DSA Learned To Love Elections

How the DSA learned to love Cynthia Nixon and electoral politics. New Yorker: “Since Sanders won millions of Democratic primary votes on a platform he described as socialist, the nature of the democratic socialists’ relationship to Democrats has remained unresolved. The D.S.A. now has chapters in all fifty states, which send delegates to a biennial convention. The first since Trump’s election was held in Chicago last summer, and the group decided on three national priorities. Two of them, promoting Medicare For All and supporting organized labor, were familiar, but a third, electing socialists, set a new course of the organization. ‘Most of the young members, which is now most of the organization, came to us through electoral work,’ Chris Riddiough, a founding member who sits on the national steering committee, told me. But the leadership, too, recognized that they had momentum. ‘We wanted to press our advantage,’ Svart said. By the fall, the D.S.A. had a national electoral committee, which made clear that they were not interested in protest campaigns or symbolic victories. In November, 2017, one of its officers told Politico, ‘We’re in this to win elections.’”

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.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Host or Attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout in Your Hometown

Join us to help reunify families separated at the border by holding a Community Cookout on the weekend of August 4-5. We are asking you to bring together friends, family and neighbors to raise money and help migrant families reunite with their children. Some will gather in their own backyards. Others are cooking out for justice in parks or congregation parking lots. Some will be big, others more intimate. All are important. We are building community and liberating families at the same time!
Register to host or attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout now!

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

An Economy in the Fast Lane – With No Brakes

Donald Trump has been bragging about the economy a lot lately: he says the United States is now the “economic envy” of the world. Unfortunately, Trump is once again trying to reshape reality to fit his own delusions, and reality refuses to cooperate. The U.S. economy is growing, but where, exactly, is it headed? And what will happen when the next blowout comes, as it inevitably will? We know one thing for sure: average Americans, whose incomes stagnate while inequality rises and their wealth declines, will bear the brunt of the next recession.

ICE ‘Deletes’ Families It Can’t Reunite

‘Deleted’ families: What went wrong with Trump’s family-separation effort. WaPo: “When a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reunify migrant families separated at the border, the government’s cleanup crews faced an immediate problem. They weren’t sure who the families were, let alone what to call them. Customs and Border Protection databases had categories for ‘family units,’ and ‘unaccompanied alien children’ who arrive without parents. They did not have a distinct classification for more than 2,600 children who had been taken from their families and placed in government shelters. So agents came up with a new term: ‘deleted family units.’… Compounding failures to record, classify and keep track of migrant parents and children pulled apart by President Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ border crackdown were at the core of what is now widely regarded as one of the biggest debacles of his presidency. The rapid implementation and sudden reversal of the policy whiplashed multiple federal agencies, forcing the activation of an HHS command center ordinarily used to handle hurricanes and other catastrophes.”

Tax Cuts Fuel CEO Self-Pay Boom

‘Eye-popping’ payouts for CEOs follow Trump’s tax cuts. Politico: “Some of the biggest winners from President Donald Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares. A POLITICO review of data disclosed in SEC filings shows the executives, who often receive most of their compensation in stock, have been profiting handsomely by selling shares since Trump signed the law on Dec. 22 and slashed corporate tax rates to 21 percent. That trend is likely to increase as Wall Street analysts expect buyback activity to accelerate in the coming weeks. ‘It is going to be a parade of eye-popping numbers,’ said Pat McGurn, the head of strategic research and analysis at Institutional Shareholder Services, a shareholder advisory firm. That could undercut the political messaging value of the tax cuts in the Republican campaign to maintain control of Congress in the midterm elections.Since the tax cuts were enacted, Oracle Corp. CEO Safra Catz sold $250 million worth of shares in her company — the largest executive payday this year. Product development head Thomas Kurian sold $85 million. The sales came after the company announced a $12 billion share repurchase.”

GOP Candidates Avoid Talk Of Tax Cuts

Trump boasts about booming economy; Republicans on the trail barely mention it. NYT: “Party leaders in Washington talk frequently about the tax cuts and a ‘Trump boom’ that will doom the ‘blue wave’ this election year — or at least shrink it to a ripple. News on Friday that the economy grew at a robust 4.1 percent between April and June seemingly supplied more ammunition to a message centered on tax cut-fueled prosperity. But so far, that is not how it is playing out on the campaign trail. With little more than a week to go before voters (in Ohio) head to the polls, the airwaves are instead dominated by more general promises to create jobs and, from Republicans, by dark warnings on wedge issues such as immigration, meant to rally the conservative base. A Republican ‘super PAC’ is blitzing the Ohio airwaves, contending that electing Mr. O’Connor will mean “more crimes, more drugs.’”

GOP Floods OH With Dark Money Millions

GOP SuperPAC spends millions on OH special election. Columbus Dispatch: “You’ve probably never heard of the Congressional Leadership Fund, but this little-known organization could help decide who wins next week’s special congressional election in central Ohio. Backed by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the organization is pouring $2.6 million into TV commercials and an extensive field operation in the race to fill the seat left vacant in January when Republican Pat Tiberi got another job. The group, whose donors include Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, Occidental Petroleum, the Scotts Co. in Marysville and Thomas Rastin of the Ariel Foundation in Mount Vernon, has two major goals: help Republican Troy Balderson defeat Democrat Danny O’Connor on Aug. 7, and keep the House under Republican control in November. At the end of June, the organization reported $71 million in campaign cash, including $30 million in donations from gambling magnate Adelson and his wife, Miriam. ‘The problem is, this is the corrupt system the Supreme Court has created,’ said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy21, a public-interest organization in Washington. ‘It’s a terrible system. The idea the Congressional Leadership Fund is an independent super-PAC is absurd,’ Wertheimer said. ‘This is an arm of the House Republican leadership and, as such, is prohibited — in our view — from accepting unlimited contributions.’”

IA Progressives Fight For Rural Votes

The fight for Iowa’s white working-class soul. The Atlantic: “Iowa’s first district, which has a high concentration of working-class voters, encompasses 20 counties in the northeastern part of the state. Fifteen of those supported Barack Obama by double digits in 2008 and 2012, but swung to Trump by four points in 2016. Republicans and some Democrats are to blame for the shift, but some 40 percent of the district’s active voters aren’t affiliated with any political party. These voters are largely credited with Trump’s victory, and they’re expected to decide the midterms, too. Finkenauer has sold herself as the candidate best able to win them over. She’s advocated for infrastructure reform, and raising the minimum wage. She talks about the Republican tax plan as a giveaway to the wealthiest Americans. Finkenauer gets why so many people in her district voted for Trump: They were tired of politicians, and Donald Trump was someone different. He’d promised to provide a voice for ‘the forgotten men and women’ of America. He had pledged to make healthcare more affordable, and invest in infrastructure. ‘Folks were ticked,’ Finkenauer says. ‘[People thought] things weren’t getting better, and they weren’t wrong.’ The problem is that Trump didn’t mean any of it, she says. ‘It was clearly talking points for him. For me, it’s my life, and there’s your difference.’”

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.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Host or Attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout in Your Hometown

Join us to help reunify families separated at the border by holding a Community Cookout on the weekend of August 4-5. We are asking you to bring together friends, family and neighbors to raise money and help migrant families get out of detention and reunite with their children. Some will gather in their own backyards. Others are cooking out for justice in parks or congregation parking lots. Some will be big, others more intimate. All are important. We are building community and liberating families at the same time!
Register to host or attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout now!

view in browser

MORNING MESSAGE

Jeff Bryant

Why the New Push for Charter Schools Should Anger Progressives

A new push by supporters of charter schools to promote their “education reform” agenda and vilify opponents should anger progressives. Those who mention the flaws and failures of charters are now being accused of “classic whataboutism.” This is akin to the way establishment Democrats admonish progressives for their support of policies like universal healthcare and living wages, but when it comes to education, this kind of false equivalency is dangerously misleading. It obscures the longstanding effort by establishment Democrats to boost private operators of charter schools. And rather than offering a reasoned argument for charters, proponents of these schools are now attempting to recast their failed agenda as a success.

Trump Claims Trade Truce With EU

Why Trump blinked. CNN: “The announcement on trade was dressed up as a huge victory, held in the Rose Garden, the traditional venue for big state announcements, and in front of a group of Republican lawmakers apparently called down from Capitol Hill to serve as a backdrop. Yet in essence, its real effect seemed to be to disguise a step back by the President who has imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on US allies in Europe, repeatedly threatened to slap a 25% tariff on European cars imports and blasted the European Union in public. The two sides said that they had agreed to discuss tearing down all tariffs, trade barriers and subsidies on non-auto industrial goods. Trump said that they had also agreed to work together to resolve the issue of ‘retaliatory tariffs’ imposed in recent months. The President’s announcement that Europe will buy more soybeans and liquid national gas could be good news for US agriculture and industry… It would be huge news if the US and Europe ever agreed to get to the zero tariffs, zero subsidies and zero barriers standard that both leaders proposed on Wednesday. But it was also clear that the deal unveiled on Wednesday was a truce – rather than a peace treaty. It averted the trade war Trump had effectively started – and included a vague commitment for talks toward a real but distant goal. Juncker, though, said both sides agreed to hold off on future tariffs while the talks were taking place – in an apparent victory for Europe In that sense, the deal appeared more of a fix for a problem Trump had created rather than a genuine breakthrough on thorny underlying issues. Given the unpredictable nature of the President’s diplomacy it’s uncertain how long the trade amnesty will last – once the script is no longer in front of him and when he is fixating at European nations he referred to this month as foes.”

Bipartisan Bill To Curb Election Meddling

Trump allies oppose election meddling bill that curbs president’s power. Politico: “Sen. Rand Paul warned on Wednesday that a bipartisan bill meant to deter foreigners from meddling in future U.S. elections would weaken the president’s abilities to strike back at adversaries. The bill, known as the DETER Act, is backed by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). The proposed law would bar foreign governments from buying ads to influence U.S. elections, and would also give the director of national intelligence the power to deploy ‘national security tools’ like sanctions if the Kremlin interferes in another American election. But speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Paul cautioned that the legislation might hamstring the president’s ability to protect elections. ‘It … takes the power from the president and gives it to the director of national intelligence,’ Paul said. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in the hot seat during Wednesday’s hearing. He echoed Paul’s sentiment that transferring election security power away from the president is unwise.”

New Government Shutdown Looms

McConnell, Ryan pitch Trump on plan to avoid shutdown. Politico: “GOP leaders think they have a plan to avoid a government shutdown right before the November elections. Meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan presented a government spending strategy intended to minimize the threat of a politically debilitating government funding lapse over border wall funding. And Trump seemed receptive, according to lawmakers and aides briefed on the meeting. The Senate majority leader and House speaker laid out to Trump that they will prioritize less controversial bills before this fall’s Sept. 30 funding deadline. McConnell (R-Ky.) and Ryan (R-Wis.) hope to fund the majority of the government through the appropriations bill process by the end of September, and leave a brutal fight over border wall funding until later in the year. Trump made clear to the GOP leaders that he still wants a $5 billion down payment on his wall this year, but he signaled to the leaders that he might be willing to wage that fight after the midterms. Though the House plans to pass a spending bill giving Trump $5 billion for the wall, Senate Democrats are unlikely to agree to fund more than the $1.6 billion initially requested by the Trump administration — meaning any attempt to fund the Department of Homeland Security could lead to a shutdown.”

House GOP Wants To Force Foster Kids To Work

House Republicans want to impose work requirements on foster kids facing homelessness. ThinkProgress: “House Republicans are pushing a bill that would impose work and education requirements on foster youths who are facing homelessness, putting their ability to get federal housing subsidies at risk. The bill, called the ‘Fostering Stable Housing Opportunities Act,’ sounds positive: it attempts to prevent at-risk youths who age out of the foster care system at 18 and forced to abruptly fend for themselves from becoming homeless by placing them at the top of the long line for the limited number of federal housing subsidy vouchers nationwide. However, after the first 30 months of receiving those vouchers, those youths are required to meet certain work, training, and education requirements that are decided at the local level. Those young people would age out of the program when they turn 25. The bill also fails to increase funding for affordable housing, which would make wait times for everyone on the list longer. And it comes amid other efforts by the Trump administration to raise rents on people already in federally subsidized housing.”

DeVos’s $40m Yacht Set Adrift

DeVos’s $40m yacht set adrift from Huron dock. Toledo Blade: “A boat owned by the family of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was vandalized over the weekend while moored at a Huron dock, according to the Huron Police Department. The Seaquest was moored at the Huron Boat Basin, 330 Main St., according to a police report. The captain of the 163-foot yacht, worth a reported $40 million, called police at about 6 a.m. Sunday, telling them that he and the crew realized at sunrise that someone had untied Seaquest from the dock, setting it adrift. The crew eventually got control of the yacht, but not before it struck the dock, causing an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 in damage from large scratches and scrapes, according to the police report. Officers were searching for surveillance video that may show who untied the yacht. Betsy DeVos was born into wealth, and also married into wealth. She’s the daughter of Edgar Prince, whose Prince Corporation was incredibly successful. Her brother is Eric Prince, notorious for his ownership of controversial private military contractors. She married Richard DeVos, Jr., whose father started the Amway corporation, a multi-level marketing company. They are consistently ranked some of the richest people in the world. The Seaquest, according to a number of profiles in national publications, is one of 10 boats owned by the family.”

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Host or Attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout in Your Hometown

Join us to help reunify families separated at the border by holding a Community Cookout on the weekend of August 4-5. We are asking you to bring together friends, family and neighbors to raise money and help migrant families get out of detention and reunite with their children. Some will gather in their own backyards. Others are cooking out for justice in parks or congregation parking lots. Some will be big, others more intimate. All are important. We are building community and liberating families at the same time!
Register to host or attend a #FamiliesBelongTogether Cookout now!

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MORNING MESSAGE

George Goehl

Show Trump Who We Love, And Who We Are

By standing up for migrant families and children, people from small towns and small cities across the country are telling us who we love and what they stand for. On June 30th, hundreds of thousands marched under the banner “Families Belong Together” to support the reunification of families and demand an end to Trump’s inhumane immigration policy. Of the 750 marches and rallies that took place on June 30th, nearly half took place in counties that voted for Donald Trump. Residents of these towns know in their hearts separating families is wrong – not now, not ever. Now, on August 4 and 5, communities across the country will take the next step, and organize cookouts to talk about family, the heartbreaking struggles migrant families face, and help raise money to cover the costs of travel and bond for those in detention. We have a chance to show who we love, and who we really are. Will you join us?

Trump, EU’s Juncker Face Off On Trade

Trump set for tense trade talks with top EU chief Juncker. CNBC: “The White House will open its doors for the president of the European Commission Wednesday, with relations looking strained amid tariffs and the possibility of an all-out trade war. Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the EU’s executive arm, will meet President Donald Trump in an attempt to overcome their differences, specifically on car tariffs. Trump wants to increase tariffs on European cars exported to the U.S. to reduce the trade imbalance with the continent. But the EU sees these tariffs as an economic threat and is preparing retaliatory measures. Just hours prior to the meeting, the EU’s trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter that the EU will put tariffs worth $20 billion on U.S. goods if Trump goes ahead with car tariffs. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the White House said it is preparing a $12 billion aid package for U.S. farmers hit by trade tensions.”

Farmers Prefer Trade To Aid

Illinois farmers welcome $12 billion in aid, but prefer trade: ‘There’s no magic crop out there’. Chicago Tribune: “Illinois soybean farmers caught in the middle of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China might see some short-term relief from $12 billion in aid announced Tuesday, but they’re still worried about losing their best customer. Illinois was the largest soybean-producing state last year, with more than $3 billion in exports, shipping more to China than any other state. But that relationship, which benefits farmers and rural communities throughout Illinois, hangs in the balance after China imposed tariffs earlier this month on $34 billion worth of U.S. imports — a retaliation to Trump’s tariffs on an equivalent amount of Chinese goods. On Tuesday, the Agriculture Department said it would make available up to $12 billion of short-term aid, a one-time ‘bridge’ for farmers as Trump attempts to negotiate new trade agreements. In addition to making direct payments to corn and soybean farmers, the administration says it will buy surpluses of crops like fruits and nuts and distribute them to food assistance programs. It will also direct funds toward building trade in other countries, officials said. The announcement came a few hours after Trump, in an early morning tweet, said ‘tariffs are the greatest!’”

Transgender Ban Architect Named New VA Chief

Wilkie overwhelmingly confirmed as VA Secretary. Politico: “The Senate voted Monday evening to confirm Robert Wilkie as VA secretary in an 86-9 vote, filling the vacancy left when David Shulkin was fired in March after a struggle with political appointees whom he accused of plotting to privatize the VA’s health system. Wilkie’s confirmation drew criticism from elsewhere on the Hill. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz said in a release that he was ‘deeply skeptical of Robert Wilkie’s leadership experience and ability to lead VA successfully.’ Walz called Wilkie the “chief architect of President Trump’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military, ‘demonstrating “that he was capable of carrying out controversial and partisan policy directives. It is fair to say VA privatization is next on his list.’ During his confirmation hearing, Wilkie promised not to privatize VA health services, but many former officials worry about a ‘death spiral’ as the agency, which has thousands of vacancies in its medical staff, puts a growing share of resources into private care.”

Carter: U.S. Has Lost Its Commitment To Human Rights

President Carter says U.S. has lost its commitment to human rights. The Hill: ‘Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that the U.S. has lost its position as a global leader for human rights. ‘We should be the champion of human rights. We’re a superpower, not based solely on military power; part of that definition should be a commitment to human rights,’ Carter said at an event at The Carter Center in Atlanta, according to CNN. ‘We have lost the long-term commitment to human rights,’ Carter added. Carter, who served as president from 1977-1981, made the comments as part of an annual forum that brings ‘activists, peacemakers and community leaders’ together to address human rights, CNN noted. In addition to his broad comments on human rights, Carter specifically addressed U.S. immigration law, reportedly saying that immigrants should have a ‘clear picture’ on what happens when they cross into the country. ‘We need a comprehensive bill that has bipartisan support,’ Carter said. ‘Immigrants need to have a clear picture of what will happen to them when they come here. Clarification of U.S. law is most important.’”

We’re Living In A Constitutional Crisis

Robert Reich: We’re living in a Constitutional crisis. Alternet: “the Constitution is a tiny document. It requires that presidents and others in positions of power be bound by norms, unwritten rules, and long-established understandings of their constitutional responsibilities. A malignant megalomaniac facing no countervailing power will continue to expand his terrain until he is stopped. The best response is to vote for a Congress this November that will constrain him. And then, in November 2020, vote him and his regime out of office. If he refuses to accept the results of that election – as he threatened to do if he lost the 2016 election – he must be removed from office.”

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MORNING MESSAGE

George Goehl

Gutting Volcker Rule Hurts Millions Of Workers

Federal bank regulators took a dangerous step this week toward loosening the Volcker Rule, which limits the ability of banks to engage in risky trading with depositors’ money. This puts the futures of millions of workers at risk, and encourages banks to gamble on the expectation that U.S. taxpayers will rescue them when they lose.

Rulings Weaken Fed’s Independence

A Trump-appointed judge just gave him a scary new power. ThinkProgress: “Two Republican judges, including one who was just recently appointed by Donald Trump, held that Trump has the power to fire the head of an obscure federal housing agency. The judges’ reasoning, however, could potentially extend much further, giving Trump authority over other agencies that are intended to be independent of the president. Most notably, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Collins v. Mnuchin could potentially strip independence from the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, giving Trump the power to inject cocaine into the economy just in time to boost his reelection race.”

Trump Baits Iran With Sabre-Rattling

Trump tweets explosive threat to Iran. CNN: “President Donald Trump issued a furious, all-caps challenge to the Iranian regime late Sunday night, warning that any threats to the US would be met with unspecified dire consequences. The tirade — apparently in response to earlier remarks by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who warned the US that war with Tehran would be the “mother of all wars” — signaled an immediate escalation of tensions between Washington and Teheran… Even before Trump’s tweet, his administration had already intensified the rhetoric against the regime. In a blistering speech earlier Sunday evening, US Secretary of State Pompeo likened the Iranian regime to the mafia, accusing the clerics that rule the country of enriching themselves and funding terrorism at the expense of ordinary Iranians.”

Risks Loom As Manafort Heads To Trial

Risks pile up for Trump as Manafort heads to trial. Politico: “The first trial prosecuted by special counsel Robert Mueller will offer the clearest public view yet of what his investigators have on President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, with a catalogue of evidence and testimony undercutting the president’s repeated claims that the Russia investigation is a ]witch hunt.’… the Manafort trial will create daily reminders of the Mueller investigation, as commentators pile onto cable networks to discuss what the case could indicate about the president’s own exposure — and, potentially, as the president himself offers his own analysis on Twitter. Whether he addresses it publicly or not, Trump will have to pay close attention given the array of legal investigations involving various former associates, said Alan Dershowitz, the retired Harvard law professor who is close to Trump. “Of course the president has to watch. He has to watch everything Mueller is doing,” he said. Dershowitz specifically mentioned the Southern District of New York, the federal jurisdiction that’s investigating Michael Cohen, the longtime Trump Organization personal lawyer, who has dropped hints he may cooperate with the government.”

Detention Of Migrant Children Continues To Rise

The number of immigrant children being detained in Texas continues to rise. ThinkProgress:“The rising numbers come on the heels of administration claims that hundreds of families have been reunited. ThinkProgress: “A new report in The Texas Tribune found that despite a federal court order that immigrant children separated from their families be reunited with their parents, the number of of youngsters being detained in the state is on the rise. According to The Tribune, the number of children housed in Texas shelters rose from 4,919 on June 21 to 5,024 on July 13. This includes both immigrant children who arrived at the border unaccompanied and children that were separated from their families by federal authorities. The report says that there are applications for up to four additional shelters to be built in Texas. The shelters would be built to ‘care for unaccompanied boys and girls up to 17 years old or as young as infants.’ These findings come on the heels of the Trump administration’s claims that it has reunited hundreds of children with their families. The administration claims it currently has 2,551 immigrant children between the ages of 5 and 17 in its care who were separated from their parents under Trump’s zero-tolerance policy. So far, only 364 of those children have been reunited.”

Feds Halt Reviews Of Toxic Pesticides

Under Trump, federal agencies halt reviews of toxic pesticides that endanger wildlife. Salon:“Under the Obama administration, the government began reviewing the impacts of all pesticides on the nation’s approximately 2,300 endangered and threatened species. Two days before President Donald Trump took office, federal officials issued a preliminary report on three highly toxic and popular agricultural insecticides, concluding that they jeopardize the survival of more than 1,800 species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including 18 types of salmon. Now, under the Trump administration, these reviews have ground to a halt. Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting has uncovered a close relationship between pesticide companies and federal agencies, mirroring a pattern the Trump administration has followed with many other regulated industries. The pesticide industry has spent years trying to fend off regulations designed to protect endangered species. Under Trump, it is succeeding. Among the findings, according to documents obtained and interviews conducted by Reveal: Three federal environmental agencies are reshaping the scientific methods used in their reviews at the request of pesticide manufacturers. Some researchers and advocates say that if these reviews, known as biological opinions, do begin again, this change could shift the results in favor of the pesticide industry — and away from protecting endangered wildlife. Officials from all three agencies held a meeting with key pesticide manufacturers, teaching them how to influence the reviews of their products. Manufacturers, in turn, schooled the government on what data to use. The agencies have granted repeated delays in the reviews to resolve questions posed by the companies that scientists say already have been addressed.”

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.

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Geithner’s Grift, Paydays and Democratic Drift

What does it mean when Tim Geithner, who President Obama chose to guide the nation out of the 2008 economic crisis, becomes president of a company that hoodwinks the victims of the financial system he helped rescue? If you care about economic justice – and if you want the Democratic Party to win more elections – the answer is: More than you think. It demonstrates that many of the supposed good guys, and the party that claims to stand up for working people, are deeply embedded in, and beholden to, the exploitative culture of American finance.

GOP Withdraws Judge Nominee For Views On Race

White House withdraws Appeals Court nominee who deplored multiculturalism. NYT: “The sprint by President Trump and Senate Republicans to install conservative judges to the nation’s courts hit an unexpected speed bump on Thursday after a nominee for a key federal appeals court was pulled to avoid an embarrassing defeat on the Senate floor. The nomination of Ryan W. Bounds to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit faced opposition over his writings in college, which included a column in which he railed against ‘race-focused groups’ on campus and ‘race-think.’ The Senate’s only black Republican, Tim Scott of South Carolina, had concerns about those writings and Mr. Bounds’s inability to clarify how his thinking had changed since then, according to a Senate Republican aide. ‘After talking with the nominee last night and meeting with him today, I had unanswered questions that led to me being unable to support him,’ Mr. Scott said in a statement. Republican leaders have no room for error when the Democratic caucus is united in opposition, given that the party has only a 51-to-49 majority, and one Republican senator, John McCain of Arizona, has been absent while battling brain cancer. At least one other Republican, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, agreed to join Mr. Scott in opposition to Mr. Bounds’s nomination, according to another Republican aide.”

Trump Wants To Gut Endangered Species Act

Trump administration opens door for corporate attack on vulnerable wildlife. Common Dreams: “Gutting the law that has protected the bald eagle, the American crocodile, the gray wolf, and countless other animals from extinction over the past four decades, the Trump administration gave its latest handout to corporate interests on Thursday when it unveiled sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). ‘These regulations are the heart of how the Endangered Species Act is implemented. Imperiled species depend on them for their very lives,’ said Jamie Rappaport Clark, a former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who is now president of Defenders of Wildlife, in a statement. ‘The signal being sent by the Trump administration is clear: Protecting America’s wildlife and wild lands is simply not on their agenda.’”

40m Americans Live In Poverty

Why the war on poverty in the US isn’t over, in 4 charts. The Conversation: “On July 12, President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers concluded that America’s long-running war on poverty “is largely over and a success.’ While the council’s conclusion makes for a dramatic headline, it simply does not align with the reality of poverty in the U.S. today. Poverty exists in all areas of the country, but the population living in high-poverty neighborhoods has increased over time. Following the Great Recession, some 14 million people lived in extremely poor neighborhoods, more than twice as many as had done so in 2000. Some areas saw some dramatic growth in their poor populations living in high-poverty areas. Given the complexity of poverty as a civic issue, decision makers should understand the full range of evidence about the circumstances of the poor. This is especially important before undertaking a major change to the social safety net such as broad-based work requirements for those receiving non-cash assistance.”

2018 Elections At Risk From Hackers

Week of Trump reversals puts 2018 election security in the spotlight. NPR: “With less than four months to go, how much are this year’s midterm elections at risk for the kind of interference sowed by Russia in 2016? It’s a question that’s coming up again because of President Trump’s seemingly shifting positions this week about Russia’s responsibility for the interference in 2016 and special counsel Robert Mueller’s recent indictments of 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking the Democratic Party and state election computer networks. It would be ‘foolish’ to think Russia is not trying to influence the 2018 elections, said Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Thursday, at the Aspen Security Forum. ‘They have the capability and they have the will,’ Nielsen also said. But two years after the first tendrils of the Russian influence and disruption campaign were detected, the U.S. response remains incomplete because of partisan politics, bureaucratic confusion and differing priorities among state and local governments. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats offered a stark warning last week, comparing this moment to the period immediately preceding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ‘I’m here to say the warning lights are blinking red again. Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack,’ he said.”

16 Million Voters Purged Before 2016 Election

States purged 16 million voters from the rolls before the 2016 election. ThinkProgress: “States purged more than 16 million voters from the rolls between 2014 and 2016. That number, calculated in a new report published Friday by the Brennan Center for Justice, is a significant increase from previous years and an indication that large numbers of eligible voters are likely being disenfranchised by inaccurate and unlawful voter roll maintenance. The report comes just a few weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ohio’s voter purge system, clearing the way for more states to move forward with the types of purges that disproportionately impact low-income and minority voters. For the two years before the 2016 election, the number of purged voters across the county increased 33 percent over the two years before the 2008 presidential election, according to the report. The increase in purged voters was most significant in parts of the country with a history of racial discrimination that, until the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013, were required to seek pre-approval of changes to their voting laws from the Department of Justice. The report, which examined purge data submitted to the Election Assistance Commission, found that states historically subject to preclearance were purging voters at a higher rate than other states. If the jurisdictions with a history of discrimination had purged voters at the same rate as other jurisdictions, 2 million fewer voters would have been removed from the rolls from 2012 to 2016.”

More from OurFuture.org:

It’s Time for a Mass Movement to Impeach Trump. Miles Mogulescu: “Trump’s “Helsinki Betrayal” and “Nato Snub” seal the case that this traitorous, dangerous, anti-American, authoritarian, ignorant, narcissistic, racist, pussy-grabbing, mentally unhinged Putin Puppet has committed high crimes and misdemeanors and must be removed from access to the nuclear button before he irreparably harms the world and destroys what’s left of American democracy.”

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.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

George Goehl

Trump’s Policy Agenda Is an All-Out War on Kids

Donald Trump’s choice to separate migrant children from their parents unleashed a flood of outrage across the political spectrum. While he has been forced to step back from separating families, he continues to pursue a hard line on immigration. Trump is a master of this kind of bait-and-switch: irreparable harm to thousands of children is a price he’s willing to pay if it helps him score political points. His policy agenda – from health care to nutrition, housing and the environment – is a full-throated attack on children from poor and working class families everywhere, not just at the border.

Trump’s Russia Flips Flop

Trump attempts to walk back Russia comments. Politico: “The White House climb-down from President Donald Trump’s disastrous news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin began Monday night, just hours after Trump said he saw ‘no reason’ why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 election. With even The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board — normally intensely loyal to Trump — joining in widespread criticism of the president’s implicit public rejection of U.S. intelligence claims, the White House circulated talking points to supporters saying that Trump still had great confidence in his intelligence agencies and that he believed their assessment that the Kremlin actively influenced the vote. But the president himself emerged on Tuesday to personally walk back his statements in Helsinki, using a scheduled meeting with members of Congress to discuss tax reform as a platform for revising the statements that set off a 24-hour firestorm.”

Mueller Accelerates Manafort Probe

Immunity sought for witnesses, venue change denied as Manafort trial nears. CNN: “Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge are hashing out the final details of Paul Manafort’s trial with just eight days to go before it begins — including whether five witnesses will be forced to testify and if the schedule will change. The former Trump campaign chairman’s jury trial in the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia begins July 25. He faces 18 charges of bank fraud and foreign bank account allegations. If found guilty he could face a sentence of more than 300 years in prison. He is currently in jail in Alexandria, Virginia, for alleged witness tampering, after losing his bail in a separate criminal proceeding. Special counsel Robert Mueller asked the judge on Tuesday to sign off on immunity for five unidentified witnesses slated to testify against Manafort beginning next week. If granted, that means the witnesses’ testimony couldn’t be used against them in later court cases. Mueller is not disclosing the names of the witnesses at this time so as not to create ‘risk of undue harassment’ and because the details ‘could lead to reputational harm,’ according to a proposal from the prosecutors. In theory, the move to grant the witnesses immunity prevents them from invoking their Fifth Amendment rights and staying silent on certain questions when testifying against Manafort.”

Workers Challenge Amazon On Prime Day

Amazon employees are using Prime Day to push for better working conditions. Vox: “Amazon workers all across Europe are striking at warehouses. Shoppers are organizing boycotts. Combined, these efforts are an attempt to draw attention to working conditions at Amazon on Prime Day — the annual shopping event that brings in more than $2 billion for the company. Amazon has come under fire for years over accusations of poor work conditions, and this year, employees all across Europe are determined to capitalize on publicity around Prime Day to push for change at their workplace. Amazon sees Prime Day as a PR opportunity and its own version of Black Friday. Prime Day attracts a ton of attention: Tech sites curate their picks of the best deals, competitors like Target predictably announce sales of their own, and random brands elbow their way forward on Twitter to make sure shoppers know they’re participating. Prime Day brought Amazon $2.41 billion last year, and it’s projected to hit $3.4 billion this year. But after striking on Black Friday in 2017, Amazon workers are now using Prime Day as a chance to call for better working conditions.”

WH Now Wants To Deport Legal Immigrants

The Trump administration is working to deport more legal immigrants. Mother Jones: “In a memo made public July 5, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency tasked with handling immigration benefits—think work and student visas, green cards, and naturalization ceremonies—said it would now refer immigrants for deportation in a wider range of cases. USCIS has always had some deportation powers, which it can exercise by issuing a Notice to Appear, a document that begins removal proceedings and directs immigrants to appear before a judge. But typically, USCIS only issued these NTAs in a restricted number of circumstances, such as when someone is found to have committed substantial fraud. It referred most cases to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which would then investigate and issue the NTA. Now, the new memo gives USCIS officials the power to directly issue an NTA in a broader range of circumstances, including if they find evidence of a criminal offense or fraud in an applicant’s history, or if a case is denied and the applicant is found to be unlawfully present in the United States—a scenario that alarms many immigration advocates. ‘These two memos work in tandem and are effectively a one-two punch that will render our adjudication processes even less fair and even more harsh.’ Further complicating this evolving landscape is a subsequent memo, issued July 13, that gives USCIS discretion to immediately deny any application without giving individuals the opportunity to submit further evidence or without having to notify them of the agency’s intent to deny the case. This would apply in cases where an applicant initially failed to submit required documents or failed to establish eligibility. The NTA memo went into effect the day it was issued; the second memo will go into effect in September.”

WH Further Restricts Asylum Claims

Trump administration moves to shrink grounds for asylum. NYT: “While migrants fleeing communist governments in Central America during the Cold War were welcomed in the 1980s, those arriving now do not fit into a larger American geopolitical agenda. Their afflictions — gang violence, domestic brutality and poverty — are neither American national security priorities nor anything that was originally intended to be covered under the laws of asylum. Mr. Trump has taken monumental steps to shrink the asylum system and discourage people from applying based on a belief that the United States is taking in too many foreigners. The moves are part of a larger plan developing in Washington to reshape the reputation of America as a safe haven.”

HHS Diverts Health Funds To Fix Border Fiasco

Trump’s migrant fiasco diverts millions from health programs. Politico: “The health department has quietly dipped into tens of millions of dollars to pay for the consequences of President Donald Trump’s border policy, angering advocates who want the money spent on medical research, rural health programs and other priorities. The Department of Health and Human Services has burned through at least $40 million in the past two months for the care and reunification of migrant children separated from their families at the border — with housing costs recently estimated at about $1.5 million per day. The ballooning costs have also prompted officials to prepare to shift more than $200 million from other HHS accounts, even as the White House weighs a request for additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security — a politically explosive move almost certain to antagonize fiscal hawks in the run-up to the midterm elections. ‘We have a public health emergency like Ebola, Zika, hurricanes — except this one is man-made,’ said Emily Holubowich, executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding, who says HHS should request emergency funding too. ‘We should not be taking discretionary funding away from programs that need it.’ HHS didn’t respond to questions about spending on the crisis. Frustration over the lack of transparency and the slow pace of family reunifications spilled over as appropriators marked up a Labor-HHS-Education funding bill last week. Republicans joined Democrats to unanimously back penalties for the health department if it didn’t detail its efforts to reunite families.”

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.

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