Daily Clips: October 17th, 2016

October 17, 2016 Nick Cassella

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The Seattle Times endorses a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave: The Editorial Board’s endorsement came as a surprise to many of us here at Civic Skunk Works. Goldy may have even shed a tear (or two). Make no mistake about it: this endorsement is a big win for the minimum wage cause in Washington State. Slowly but surely, the tide is turning. How Hillary Clinton can put health-care reform back on track: The key to a persuasive vision that attracts broad popular support is bringing back the public option—a public plan modeled after Medicare that can serve as a backup and benchmark for private plans. Too often the public option is seen as distinct from the exchanges. Yet it’s critical to creating regulated marketplaces that work. Democrats need the Senate: With HRC looking like she will be the next POTUS, all eyes should turn to Senate races. If HRC is to have any success in implementing her “agenda,” she will need a Democratic Senate. As this article points out, the battles to watch are in Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Missouri and Indiana. Millions of men are missing from the workplace: Princeton economist, Alan Krueger, has a working paper that examines the increasing amount of American men who are unemployed and addicted to painkillers. Tweet of the day: Paul Ryan, a man who doesn't know how to win (including failed run four years ago), must start focusing on the budget, military, vets etc. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 14th, 2016

October 14, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

David Brooks wax nonsense: The poet has a special responsibility as society’s seer, who grasps the eternity in the present and sings to people about their own unique divine powers within. Personally, I have issues with born-again paganism. Shapeless, it leads to laxness — whatever moral quandary you bring it, it gives back exactly the answer you’d prefer to hear. And Brooks says he’s put down the marijuana. Retail sales climbs: September was a good month for American retail. America’s dairy farmers dump 43 million gallons of excess milk: What a pity. Could Clinton tame Congress? What are the implications of a Democratic majority in the Senate? If you’ve ever wondered that, this article has you covered. Woman says Trump reached under her skirt and groped her in early 1990s: Kristin Anderson was deep in conversation with acquaintances at a crowded Manhattan nightspot and did not notice the figure to her right on a red velvet couch — until, she recalls, his fingers slid under her miniskirt, moved up her inner thigh, and touched her vagina through her underwear. Tweet of the day: Here's video of Mike Pence on @10TV answering that question on an 11 year old girl and Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/4KwhBSwDZi — John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) October 14, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 13th, 2016

October 13, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Big money may not save GOP senators: In this election, Senate Republicans started out defending more than twice as many seats as Democrats, but benefited handsomely from a spending bonanza by billionaire GOP donors who shoveled big money into congressional contests instead of giving it to Trump. A full 63 percent of the $737 million spent by super PACs so far in this election has been doled out by pro-GOP groups… Can the Democrats resurrect the middle class? A very in-depth article by Thomas Edsall which explores a variety of progressive economic agendas. The Consumer Protection Agency is unusual, but not unconstitutional US jobless claims at 43-year low: The labor market’s strength is good news for Obama’s economic legacy. initial jobless claims are at their lowest level since 1973. pic.twitter.com/G1aPlxGvJt — Catherine Rampell (@crampell) October 13, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 12th, 2016

October 12, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Trump’s ground game sucks: By not prioritizing the ground game, Trump made a terrible error. Perhaps the biggest one of his entire campaign. And that’s saying something. Washington voters to decide on nation’s first carbon tax: Washington lawmakers have tried and failed in recent years to make polluters pay for their carbon emissions to fight climate change. Now, voters will get to decide. No, most black people don’t live in poverty or inner cities: 39 percent of African Americans live in the suburbs, 36 percent live in cities, 15 percent live in small metropolitan areas, and 10 percent live in rural communities. Support increases for marijuana legalization: Millennials – those ages 18 to 35 in 2016 – are more than twice as likely to support legalization of marijuana as they were in 2006 (71% today, up from 34% in 2006), and are significantly more likely to support legalization than other generations. Tweet of the day: Between Sept. 10th and Oct. 10th, the Florida GOP registered 117 new voters. Florida Democrats registered 6,920. https://t.co/DPFTQOpmCZ https://t.co/AVftzfuRmL — Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 12, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 11th, 2016

October 11, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Great headline: President Obama promised to fight corporate concentration. Eight years later, the airline industry is dominated by just four companies. While the price of fuel – one of airlines’ biggest expenses – has plummeted by as much as 70 percent in the last two years, the industry has kept most of those savings for itself. Fares went down by just 4 percent in 2015 as U.S. airlines made record profits of nearly $26 billion . That’s in contrast to Europe, where the industry is significantly less concentrated and there is intense competition . Nearly 90% of NJ children tried as adults since 2011 were black or Latino: …liberty and justice for all. Buffett calls Trump’s bluff and releases his tax data: Warren is the man. British journalist has no clue why we tolerate gun violence: Gary Younge has written a book that takes a “subtle yet searing condemnation of US gun culture.” This sentence from the author, in particular, moved me: The US is a wealthy nation that has “settled, legislatively at least, on a pain threshold that is morally unacceptable.” Tweet of the day: It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 10th, 2016

October 10, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Donald Trump’s threat to imprison Hillary is a threat to democracy: Last night had to be the low point of our presidential races. Had to be. Non-materialistic millennials: A really interesting blog post about the spending patterns of millennials and how that effects the economy. Clinton has Trump looming over him: Creepy. The real Christopher Columbus: Here’s a remarkable diary entry from Columbus when he arrived at the Bahamas: They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells. They willingly traded everything they owned. . . They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They would make fine servants . . . with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want. Tweet of the day: It doesn't matter if Paul Ryan @SpeakerRyan says he "will not defend #Trump " fact is he has rescinded his endorsement. Nothing has changed. — franklin Brown (@franklin19788) October 10, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 6th, 2016

October 6, 2016 Nick Cassella

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British PM Theresa May sounds populist: May is a conservative, but her rhetoric at a conference yesterday shows that at least one conservative party in the Western world knows how to appeal to populism. Check it out: Workers’ rights – not under threat from a Conservative government. Workers’ rights – protected and enhanced by a Conservative government. And let me say something about tax. We’re all Conservatives here. We all believe in a low-tax economy. But we also know that tax is the price we pay for living in a civilised society. Nobody, no individual tycoon and no single business, however rich, has succeeded on their own. That is a type of conservatism (even if it is just all rhetoric) that is extremely appealing. The day Republican politicians can make a speech like that, there is no doubt in my mind the Democrats will be out of the White House. Obama approval rating hits new high: 55% baby. The divided states of America: The presidential candidates are also ignoring most of the country, instead focusing on the handful of swing states that always seem to take on outsize importance. In the 2012 presidential election , only four states were decided by five or fewer percentage points, and the median state-level margin of victory was a whopping 16.9 percent (in other words, not even close). Compare that with the 1976 presidential election , when 20 states were decided by five or fewer percentage points (and 31 were decided by eight percentage points or fewer), and the median state-level margin of victory was 5.9 percent. Tweet of the day: Just in: Paul Ryan and Donald Trump will campaign together Saturday afternoon at the local Fall Fest in Elkhorn, Wis. — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 6, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 5th, 2016

October 5, 2016 Nick Cassella

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IMF slashes growth forecast for US in 2016: The world’s largest economy grew by just 1.4% between April and June compared to the same period last year, according to U.S. government data. The performance was well below economist expectations. A philosophy for the propertied: An excellent thought piece from Jacobin on libertarianism. It is a must-read for those interested in political philosophy. How to build a Democratic majority that lasts: This author pleads (correctly) for Dems “to spend campaign money on mobilization, not TV ads.” Will they do that? Of course not. Marijuana could be legal to a fifth of America after November: I am guessing that marijuana becomes legal in all fifty states in the next eight years. In fact, I bet that if Hillary Clinton wins in 2016, that she’ll support legal marijuana in 2020. Gun safety ballot initiatives eye a clean sweep in 2016: Citizens of Washington, Maine, and Nevada will all have an opportunity to defeat the NRA this November. And at this point, they look the gun responsibility movement will be a massive winner of 2016. Tweet of the day: "The policies of this administration have driven this economy into a ditch.” —Pence Nope. #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/nuvHJ8FSoc — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 5, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 4th, 2016

October 4, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

WA Secretary of State Kim Wyman did not support voting rights bill: Representative Luis Moscoso of the WA House of Reps pens a powerful LTE. He is responding to the Everett Herald’s endorsement of Kim Wyman. And boy, does he smack down their claims: I wish you would have consulted me to validate the facts regarding this comment in your recent editorial: “…she worked with former Rep. Luis Moscoso, D-Mountlake Terrace, to get the legislation passed in the House this year, though it stalled in the Senate.” I never worked directly with Wyman in any of the four years I was the prime sponsor of HB 1745, Enacting the Washington voting rights act. 69 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings: This comes from a survey of 5,000 adults. As bad as the economic situation has become, this percentage seems pretty high to me. British pound hits 31-year-low against US dollar: Of course this happens two years after I graduate from university in the UK. Not one NY police offers has a body camera: How can this be in 2016? Not one of the department’s 35,800 officers is equipped with this equipment. Disgusting tweet of the day: A woman had a baby. Then her hospital charged her $39.35 to hold it. https://t.co/popnmEPJPG pic.twitter.com/zG239Kp83h — Vox (@voxdotcom) October 4, 2016

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Daily Clips: October 3rd, 2016

October 3, 2016 Nick Cassella

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Daily Clips

Short-term thinking in corporate America is strangling the economy: Surveys of chief financial officers reveal that firms frequently forgo profitable investments in order to make short-term earnings targets. A crippled SCOTUS’ new term: Today, the Supreme Court begins a new term with a vacancy. Corporate-tax reform is coming: Clinton has been specific only when it comes to stopping companies from inverting: She would impose a stiff exit tax — by tapping the earnings companies have stashed overseas — in hopes they’ll decide against taking a foreign address. Trump’s most recent plan would end many deductions and slash the top corporate rate to 15 percent. He would cut corporations’ tax burden (and government revenue) by almost $2 trillion over a decade, by one estimate . Ryan would lower the top rate to 20 percent and move the U.S. toward a tax on consumption with something called a destination-based cash-flow tax, developed by Alan Auerbach of the University of California at Berkeley. Obama calls for paid sick leave: Again. Tweet of the day: All Net Operating Losses in 1995: $49.331 billion.NOL taken by @realDonaldTrump in 1995: $916 million. Trump was 1.9% of the US total. — Alan Cole (@AlanMCole) October 3, 2016

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