Daily Clips: February 10th, 2016

February 10, 2016 Nick Cassella

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New Hampshire women chose Bernie in a landslide: Sanders won 53 percent of the female vote compared to Clinton’s 46 percent, according to exit poll analysis by ABC News. Among young women, Sanders’ numbers were even higher: 69 percent of Democratic women under 45 backed him in the primary, a statistic which includes 82 percent of female primary voters under the age of 30… These results are incredible. I was explaining this phenomena to my father the other day, and he admitted that he couldn’t wrap his head around why young women weren’t voting for Hillary Clinton. And it’s not like they’re voting for Elizabeth Warren either. They are voting for an old white man. Why? One theory I have is that women under 45 probably feel very comfortable that they will have many opportunities to nominate a female presidential candidate in their lifetime. The same cannot be said for older women who 1) see this as a novelty and 2) probably don’t feel like they’ll have many more opportunities to nominate a woman. (See Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright.) Here’s an excellent overview of last night’s results: “The tight grip of oligarchy upon the American political system slipped a little last night in New Hampshire.” Hillary’s “do-not-panic” memo: Chris Cillizza annotates the memo, highlighting specific passages and what they “actually” mean. A very good read to get inside the mind of the Clinton campaign.

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Marco Rubio Is Apparently a Robot Sent from the Past to Destroy the Future

February 9, 2016 Paul Constant

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2016

Yesterday, Marco Rubio made another flub that left him appearing more robotic than human. Just as he did in his interaction with Chris Christie in the last debate, Rubio repeated a mess of talking points in a dizzying rhetorical meltdown. Here’s video: And here’s the transcript: We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st century because as you saw Jeanette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century and we know how hard it’s become to instill our values in our kids, instead of the values they try to ram down our throats. In the 21st century, it’s become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church, instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music, and in popular culture. Fascinating stuff, here. I’m most struck by that awkward repetition of “the values that they try to ram down our throats,” which even seems to give Rubio pause on the second instance, and the ill-fitting talk about the 21st century, which has been a recurring theme in Rubio’s campaign. Ever since he announced his candidacy, Rubio has pivoted off his youth and inexperience by talking endlessly about the 21st century, which frankly feels, in 2016, like a quaint callback to 1999. Here, Rubio overindulges in the 21st century talk, which makes it sound hollow. The thing that truly gifted orators understand about claiming the future is that it’s showing, not telling, that matters. Steve Jobs didn’t bore us with talk about what the iPhone could become. He showed us what it did and let us imagine the rest. John F. Kennedy didn’t confuse the American public with scientific jargon; he promised to take us
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Daily Clips: February 9th, 2016

February 9, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

President Obama’s budget calls for a new wage insurance program. Here’s what that means: Matthew Yglesias outlines Obama’s plan to bolster wage insurance in a succinct fashion, making this complicated subject easy to comprehend. The basic idea is that you would get 50 percent of the difference between your old salary and your new salary in the form of a check coming out of your state’s unemployment insurance program. The fine print: You have to have worked at least three years at your old job. Your new job must pay less than $50,000 a year. The maximum amount of money available is $10,000 over two years. So if you worked for three years at a job that paid you $55,000 a year, got laid off, and then took a new position that pays $45,000 a year, you could get $5,000 a year in wage insurance for two years while you build skills and experience in your new position. David Brooks spins Rubio’s flub in a hilarious way: By now, you’ve heard of Marco Rubio repeating himself (nearly verbatim) four times over the course of the last debate. So, did those pathetic gaffes make Brooks rethink his support? Of course not! Listen to his rationalization: I happen to find it charming that Marco Rubio gets nervous on the big occasions — that he grabs for the bottle of water, breaks out in a sweat and went robotic in the last debate. It shows Rubio is a normal person. If by “normal person” you mean someone that doesn’t answer the question and regurgitates talking points that are vague and unspecific, then sure, he’s normal. Elizabeth Warren’s endorsement matters: So why is she holding back? It’s a question that has been tossed around by many progressives. Some are frustrated, others suspicious. The fact remains, her endorsement will be a huge boost for either Hillary or Bernie. Here’s an interesting passage from the piece: Most importantly, Warren can afford to wait
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Jeb! Says Taxing Millionaires Will Hurt The Middle Class

February 8, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Economics

The last GOP debate was a lot like previous ones. There were ad hominem attacks, cries about Hillary Clinton’s emails, and general frustration with the trajectory of the country. Rinse and repeat, RNC. That said, for once there was a fantastic question about millionaires and their taxes. About halfway through the debate, ABC’s David Muir asked Marco Rubio, “A recent poll [shows that] 68 percent of Americans favor raising taxes on people making more than $1 million a year. Are they wrong?” Now, if you were Marco Rubio how would you answer this? Remember, his campaign is propped up by very rich people who want to maintain the status quo. In fact, Marco Rubio’s super PAC just “ won major donations from conservative hedge fund billionaires Paul Singer and Ken Griffin .” Those donations came with some strings attached, let me tell you. So, how do you answer this question when you are funded by millionaires/billionaires who don’t want to see their taxes increase? Well, you just completely ignore the question. Look at Rubio’s reply: I don’t know of any problem in America that’s going to be fixed with a tax increase. We have an economy today…that is not creating jobs that pay enough. And one of the reasons why is because we have one of the most expensive business tax rates on the planet. Our combined business rate puts us among the highest in the industrialized world. And then on top of that, we are the only one that has a worldwide system of taxation, where an American company who makes money abroad has to pay taxes where they made the money and then taxes a second time when they bring it back. Notice how Marco doesn’t address individual tax rates, but instead pivots to business taxes. The moderators, being as pathetic as usual, don’t hold him accountable for his complete non-answer. They switch to Jeb! Again, they
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A Reminder: Good Policy Saves Lives

February 8, 2016 Paul Constant

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Policy

While the City Slept, the new book from Seattle journalist Eli Sanders, is a harrowing story of a terrible crime and its aftermath. In case you haven’t read Sanders’s Pulitzer Prizewinning story that made the basis for the book, it’s about an assault and murder committed by a mentally damaged man who slipped through the social safety net. In While the City Slept, Sanders accounts for how much money the assailant, Isaiah Kalebu, is costing the state of Washington now against how much money preventative care might have cost the state. For the Seattle Review of Books , I interviewed Sanders about the entirety of While the City Slept, but I thought this passage, about the way policy might have prevented this tragedy from happening, would be of interest for readers of this blog. Here’s the passage in its entirety: I think one of the great parts of this book is that you do the full portrait of America’s failing mental health system that I feel like you’ve been nosing around for a long time and haven’t had the time and resources to go into. I think readers are going to want to come away wanting to do something to fix the broken system. You talk a little bit about this in the book, but are there any signs of change or of hope with this subject? Are there any politicians making a difference? If a reader reads your book and wants to do something, where should they direct their resources? First of all, the challenges here in Washington state are just a microcosm of the challenges that exist all over the country. We’re probably talking mostly to people who live here in Washington or here in Seattle, so I’ll talk about what’s going on in Washington. As I try to show in the book, this state —
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Daily Clips: February 8th, 2016

February 8, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Why economists don’t know how to think about growth: At Evonomics there is a really interesting interview with Fritjof Capra, an Austrian physicist. Capra, like Nick Hanauer, argues that we need to judge economic success not on “quantitive growth” (like GDP, unemployment etc) and instead focus on qualitative indicators like poverty, healthy, and education. If this leap makes you uncomfortable, you’re not alone. For a very long time, economics has been analyzed through quantitative lenses. This is a mistake, says Capra, because an economy is like an ecology and “ecologists use multiple indicators to map the interplay of growth and decay, of expansion and maturation.” Such thinking can and should be applied to economics, he argues. Capra also believes that neoliberal economists are obsessed with quantitative growth “which is manifestly unsustainable.” He warns that “we urgently need to shift to criteria of qualitative growth and development, most of which are non-financial, to overcome our multi-faceted global crisis.” Bernie and the New Left: There is a “generation gap as wide as the Grand Canyon” which has opened up between the Democratic Party and American liberalism, says Harold Meyerson. Why is that so? One reason is that “there’s been the emergence of a distinct civi left, as the nation’s big cities have come under Democratic control. Today, 27 of the nation’s 30 largest cities have Democratic mayors, the greatest partisan imbalance, possibly, since before the advent of Jacksonian democracy.” Meyerson argues that “in city after city, with variations based on the cities’ demographics, these coalitions tend to consist of immigrant rights and advocacy groups; civil rights organizations; environmental activists, and – usually the main funders and key player – unions.” The author also points out that the future looks bright for socialism in America. In 2011, a Pew Research Center poll showed that “49 percent of Americans under 30 had a positive view of socialism – more
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Play GOP Debate Bingo With Us!

February 5, 2016 Hanna Brooks Olsen

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Policy

These Saturday night debates are a real bummer; the one night each week when wonky people can finally take a break from policy talk and hot takes off is smashed to bits by the siren song of Politics Twitter. But if you’re going to be watching tomorrow’s GOP debate (and, possibly, numbing the pain with a fine adult beverage) anyway, you may as well make a game of it. So here, we made one for you. We’re already anticipating lots of soundbites and, as is part and parcel for the GOP candidates, probably a lot of not-super-sound economic policy—which makes this particular Saturday night debate a perfect candidate for a good old-fashioned game of BINGO. The debate, hosted in New Hampshire by ABC, includea the usual suspects—Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb! Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich—but Carly Fiorina is notably out and, mercifully, there’s no “kid’s table” prior to the main event. Topics that will likely be discussed are also pretty predictable: Terrorism, who’s the most likely to carpetbomb an entire region, who can build the bigger wall on the Mexican border, and, probably, something about Trump’s general nature. The rules of the game are simple: Just mark off the squares if and when they’re addressed. If you want, you can also take a drink of whatever libation you’re enjoying. Here’s the card: You can tweet along with us (I’m @mshannabrooks , and we’ll also be at @CivicSkunkworks ) and by the end, we’ll all probably be at least a little inebriated or at least mildly entertained.

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“The Other Washington” Is Out! Check Out Our New Podcast Here

February 5, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Policy

After months of effort (and Goldy yammering on about the importance of the Lochner era), we are proud to release “ The Other Washington ” – a podcast on politics and policy from way outside the Beltway. Our first episode focuses on the $15 minimum wage, where we explore how Seattle civic leaders brought this “ near insane ” idea to the forefront of political economy. We may forget about it now, but five years ago you would have been laughed out of a room if you proposed a $15 minimum wage. Not so anymore. In 2015 alone, 14 states and cities approved a $15 minimum wage . Now, two-thirds of American mayors said they would support raising the minimum wage, with 37 percent saying they’d raise it to $15 . In other words, we are gaining ground quickly. That said, the Fight for $15 movement is in its infancy. We hope this podcast shines a light on its beginnings and inspires you to think about this issue more. If you’re super impressed with the editing and sound quality, note that Larj media produced this podcast. The executive producer, Tina Nole, is fantastic and deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the final product. Don’t forget to subscribe to iTunes here , where you can also rate and review!

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Daily Clips: February 5th, 2016

February 5, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Unemployment rate falls below 5% for first time since 2008: First, the bad news: The economy added 151,000 jobs in January, but economists were expecting 190,000. Meh. Now the good news: the unemployment rate is still declining and has now reached eight-year-lows. All in all, a pretty disappointing jobs report for the Obama administration. Does the press treat Chelsea Clinton with too much deference? It’s an interesting question. Here are some interesting tidbits from the Politico piece. As Vanity Fair reported , in early 2008 the Clinton campaign placed “warning calls” to David Shuster, then at MSNBC, the day after he asked her a couple of questions (that went unanswered) at a campaign event. Chelsea, age 27, was off-limits, the campaign said. Chelsea Clinton deserves no special treatment from the press, and from what I can tell, she no longer expects it. “I’m really grateful I grew up in a house in which media literacy was a survival skill,” she said upon becoming an NBC News correspondent in 2011. Nobody put it better than Halperin last month when he said , “The notion of laying off her seems ridiculous. Fair coverage, but not no coverage.” David Brooks lectures the people about morality: Something new and different for his latest column. Give it a rest, David. You can’t lecture people about altruism when you’re supporting a candidate (Rubio) that doesn’t believe in the minimum wage or climate change.

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Lorena González and Lisa Herbold Begin the Push for Secure Scheduling in Seattle

February 4, 2016 Paul Constant

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Scheduling

This morning, Working Washington hosted a forum with service workers and Seattle city councilmembers in their downtown offices to discuss the need for secure scheduling laws in Seattle. (I wrote about the importance of secure scheduling yesterday .) The personal testimonials from the employees of restaurant and coffee shop chains would be alarming for anyone who hasn’t worked in the service industry. They talked of “clopening” shifts, requiring workers to close the store and then turn around and come back to open the store at 6 am, and irregular schedules that leave very little time for employees to do anything else in their lives. Some of the more shocking testimonials: Grant, a Starbucks employee who left the business last year to work at a car dealership because “what I used to call a love/hate relationship with the service industry, I later realized was an abusive one,” says his schedule was beyond erratic, sometimes veering from 40 hours one week to 8 hours the next. “There wasn’t any way of predicting it,” he explained. “No matter how hard I worked, no matter how much pride I took in my work,” none of his efforts were rewarded with a consistent schedule. Crystal, a mother of a newborn and nine year-old, works at Domino’s Pizza. “Our workweek begins Monday and we usually don’t see our schedules until Sunday night, so it’s really hard to plan and find childcare,” she says. Her work schedule vacillates between 20 and 40 hours a week, with no advance notice to how many hours she’ll be working. The workers were joined by new city councilmembers Lorena González and Lisa Herbold, who vowed to take action on secure scheduling. “I think it’s good for workers and particularly good for women,” González said. “I see this as a gender equity issue. It’s about empowering women financially.” She said
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