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Hillary About To Announce

Hillary Clinton may announce presidential bid Sunday. Bloomberg: "A person familiar with the Clinton team's plans confirmed that she will make the initial announcement in a video on Sunday before heading to Iowa ... There won’t be a big rally or a sweeping speech once she gets there. Her advisers have made clear that she wants to start off with more personal events ..."

"Liberal Democrats Try to Push Hillary Clinton Left" reports WSJ: "'There’s a general uncertainty of where she stands on key economic issues,' said Roger Hickey, co-chairman of the liberal advocacy group Campaign for America’s Future. 'A lot of people would prefer to have someone who is a real populist crusader, who is clear about what she would do.' ... In recent months, Mrs. Clinton has held meetings with economists and policy specialists to write a plan that addresses the sluggish wage growth that bedevils many households. Yet she doesn’t want that message to sound divisive or to cast corporations as villains, people familiar with the matter said."

Clinton adviser, previously from Goldman Sachs, concerns progressives. HuffPost: "[Robert] Hormats, who was the undersecretary for economic, energy and environmental affairs from 2009 to 2013 ... frequently articulated support for privatizing Social Security ... Hormats has argued that 'widespread deregulation' is essential for global growth ... In a 2007 House Budget Committee hearing on U.S. debt, he suggested that deficits could incite terrorism..."

Republican-turned-Democrat Lincoln Chafee announces presidential exploratory committee, slams Clinton. Politico: "[Chafee said on MSNBC,] 'On the economy, of course, she has been a little too close to Wall Street ... I have a strong record of voting against the Bush tax cuts ... of supporting the middle class.' He also repeated claims that Clinton’s 2002 vote as a senator to authorize the Iraq War was 'a huge mistake.'"

Mother Jones looks at Jeb Bush's emails: "...Bush's email archive, which includes more than 250,000 messages, has produced no piercing insights or major news stories about his gubernatorial stint. There are an immense number of emails from constituents weighing in on the issues of the day. But when it comes to the major issues of his governorship, there are—curiously—very few, if any, emails between Bush and his aides ... what's most notable about Bush's email trove is what's not in it."

"The Middle Class Is Worse Off Than You Think"

Bloomberg's Mark Whitehouse looks at new research into declining middle-class income: "Two economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ... looked at families whose breadwinner was at least 40 years old and had achieved a level of education that would typically allow a middle-class standard of living ... As of 2013, this group's median annual income stood at about $45,000, down 16 percent in inflation-adjusted terms from 1989, with a big part of the drop occurring since 2001. Over the same period, a more commonly used measure of the middle class's fortunes -- the median income for all families -- declined just 1 percent..."

CA AG Kamala Harris stands with Corinthian 100. Bloomberg: "California Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris signed on to a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan Thursday that asks the federal government to wipe away the debt amassed by college students targeted at the non-profit Corinthian Colleges, Inc. Harris was joined by the the top law enforcement officials in eight other states in seeking forgiveness for the debt students amassed at Corinthian."

CFPB forces settlement with deceptive mortgage lender. LAT: "A Rancho Cucamonga mortgage lender has agreed to pay $250,000 to settle accusations by federal regulators that its advertising deceived consumers into believing that the company was affiliated with the U.S. government."

Breakfast Sides

Transit advocates criticize GOP proposals. McClatchy: "Rail and bus systems across the country could lose nearly half their funding under two proposals in Congress to end federal grants for transit projects ... According to the American Public Transportation Association, eliminating federal transit funding would put 66 projects at risk. They include light rail and streetcar projects in Charlotte, N.C.; commuter rail in Fort Worth, Texas; and bus rapid transit in Fresno, Calif."

Avaaz launches campaign to press SEC into combatting "dark money": "Over 1 million have already urged the SEC to require publicly traded companies to disclose [political donation] information to investors. SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White is the superhero we need to fight the dark money menace, but we’re still waiting for her to act. Where is Mary Jo White?"

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