MORNING
MESSAGE
A
central question in the presidential debate for African Americans is what should
we demand in exchange for our vote, and who can be trusted to make their most
wholehearted effort to meet those demands ... Clinton and her African-American
surrogates respond that Sanders does not have a track record that matches Bill
and Hillary Clinton’s longstanding advocacy, including Bill Clinton’s success as
president in the late 1990s in stoking an economic growth robust enough to begin
to narrow the historic two-to-one disparity in unemployment nationally between
black and white workers. They also echo Clinton’s claim that it’s “wrong” for
Sanders to make promises that he can’t keep. As hip-hop and business mogul
Russell Simmons recently posted on Twitter, Sanders is “overstating what he can
deliver to underserved communities.” But is the key issue for African Americans
that Sanders is promising more than he can deliver, or is it that we as African
Americans are not demanding enough?
BERNIE TARGETS MIDWEST IN TODAY's PRIMARIES
Today’s
primaries are “Bernie’s big chance to rattle the race.” Politico: “Even if
Tuesday doesn’t significantly alter the delegate math that makes Clinton the
prohibitive front-runner, a strong Sanders performance in the industrial Midwest
will make possible [a] long campaign … Sanders aides believe their best shot is
here in Missouri and the Clinton campaign tends to agree … [But] Florida is the
state with the most [delegates], and Missouri with the least. And even the most
optimistic Sanders projections have him battling to effective ties in Illinois
and Ohio.”
“VP
buzz for Sherrod Brown” reports The Hill: “Brown, who spent the weekend
campaigning around Ohio with Clinton and her husband, former President Bill
Clinton, insists he doesn’t want the promotion. But his disavowals have done
little to silence the growing buzz around his name … Progressives view him as in
line with Warren on most issues and believe he could help propel Clinton to
critical Rust Belt wins in the general election.”
TRUMP HOPES FOR KO IN OHIO
Trump
uses TPP to attack Kasich. W. Post quotes: “He signed NAFTA — NAFTA
destroyed Ohio … And now he wants to sign TPP … It’s going to take all of your
car business out. Your car business is going to be destroyed by TPP. He wants
it, and nobody knows why he wants it, including himself. Maybe one of his
lobbyists is demanding it.”
But
does Trump still have a ceiling. NYT: “A candidate who has won a dozen
states can usually grow his voter pool, but if Mr. Trump remains below 40
percent in most states, it would indicate he has cauterized his base of
support.”
Anti-TPP
Republicans argue against taking up agreement after November. The Hill: “…
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the only sitting GOP senator to endorse Trump’s
White House bid[,s said, ‘There’s a growing strength among the people who oppose
this agreement, and I think it would be very damaging to the Republican Party to
try to jam it through at the last minute after the elections are over.'”
Liberal
groups prepare for Trump. Politico: “Leaders of more than 20 leading liberal
groups supporting both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are set to release a
scathing letter on Tuesday that serves as a progressive call to arms against
Donald Trump, imploring Americans to undertake a unified set of concrete steps
to oppose the Republican front-runner — from protesting to organizing
large-scale voter turnout efforts.”
SCOTUS PICK TODAY?
Obama
close on SCOTUS. NYT: “…Mr. Obama’s political director, David Simas, and
three former senior White House officials told activists, donors, elected
officials and legal experts they were ready with an elaborate campaign plan …
The president’s decision is expected this week and could come as early as
Tuesday … Simas said on the call that the Republicans’ refusal to consider the
president’s nominee was ‘untenable’ and was opposed by two-thirds of the public.
He said the White House message would be far more effective once Mr. Obama had
chosen a nominee with ‘impeccable credentials,’…”
Republicans
feel heat. NYT: “The way Democrats believe they can best make their point is
to have activists do whatever they can to get under the skin of senators like
Mr. Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, who is getting some of the worst
Iowa press coverage of his long career because of his now almost daily
declaration that he has no intention of considering Mr. Obama’s choice for the
court.”
FORMER EPA OFFICIAL TO TESTIFY ON FLINT
Former
EPA official to defend her record. NYT: “Susan Hedman, the former
Environmental Protection Agency official in charge of the region that includes
Flint, Mich., will tell a congressional committee on Tuesday that limited
enforcement options prevented her from acting more aggressively to address the
contamination of the city’s water supply last year.”
Senate
Flint bill dings auto workers. The Hill: “A deal negotiated by Michigan’s
Democratic senators and leading Republicans would provide $250 million to
upgrade water infrastructure in Flint and other cities around the country.
Lawmakers intend to cut the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM)
program to pay for the aid package. But the head of the United Auto Workers, in
a letter to senators Monday, said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ lawmakers would
go after the fund, crediting the ATVM with helping to ‘create or save’ 35,000
jobs during the economic downturn.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
WH
nears completion of overtime rules. The Hill: “The Labor Department sent the
long-awaited overtime rule to the White House’s Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on Tuesday for final approval … The details of the
final rule will not be known until it is released to the public, but the
proposed rule from last June called for all workers who make less than $970 a
week, or $50,440 a year, to be paid time and a half for any overtime they work.
Currently, salaried workers who making more than $23,660 a year do not qualify
for overtime pay.”
Obama
turns against Atlantic offshore drilling. NYT: “The Obama administration is
expected to withdraw its plan to permit oil and gas drilling off the southeast
Atlantic coast, yielding to an outpouring of opposition from coastal communities
from Virginia to Georgia but dashing the hopes and expectations of many of those
states’ top leaders.”
Progressive
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