3 PM ET Today: Webinar on the Federal Budget Battle
Click here to join Robert Borosage at 3 PM ET today for a webinar and discussion on what matters in the federal budget debate and how we as progressives need to be positioning ourselves for the political fights ahead.
Sanders Nearly Catches Clinton In Money Race
Sanders raises almost as much as Clinton in 3rd quarter. NYT: “[Clinton] reported raising more than $28 million for her primary campaign since the beginning of July, while Mr. Sanders, who has largely eschewed fund-raising from large donors, reported raising about $26 million … Mr. Sanders has also amassed 650,000 contributors, well more than Mr. Obama had at the comparable point in that campaign cycle … Clinton’s team has at least one substantial advantage over Mr. Sanders: “Super PACs”…”
Sanders defends agenda in W. Post interview: “The biggest pieces of Sanders’s domestic agenda — making college, health care and child care more affordable — seek to capture these industries and convert them to run chiefly on federal money … Sanders said voters would welcome the change … He bristles at the idea that this might be considered an intrusion.”
Biden won’t make presidential decision before first debate. CNN: “He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say, because he feels no pressure to reach a decision by then. He is likely to reveal his plans in the second half of October … he is still unsure whether he and his family are ready for the campaign’s emotional toll …”
Shutdown Averted, Budget Talks Begin
Continuing resolution enacted. AP: “President Barack Obama has signed a short-term spending bill that averts a government shutdown and gives Congress and the president about 10 more weeks to fashion a longer-lasting budget deal. The House and Senate each voted to approve the bill earlier Wednesday.”
Bill passes House with mostly Democratic votes. Roll Call: “Just 91 House Republicans voted with every Democrat to keep the government open after midnight Wednesday — that’s three out of every eight members of the conference … it could signal trouble ahead of the Dec. 11 deadline to pass a longer-term spending measure…”
Spending could go up in long-term bipartisan budget deal. The Hill: “[Sen.] McCain wants to raise defense spending by $38 billion a year over the caps … Obama and Democrats say any increases in defense should be matched dollar for dollar with increases to nondefense programs … McConnell is telling GOP colleagues that he supports significant reforms to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare [to] pay for increased spending … [But] McConnell lowered expectations for his colleagues Wednesday, warning [that Pelosi and Reid] ‘are muscling in’ on the negotiations…”
Breakfast Sides
House Republican launches discharge petition effort to force Ex-Im Bank vote. The Hill: “A discharge petition would allow [Rep. Stephen] Fincher to bypass [Rep. Jeb] Hensarling’s [banking] committee — which has jurisdiction on the issue — and move his five-year reauthorization bill directly to the House floor, where Democrats and centrist Republicans are believed to have the votes needed for passage.”
TPP talks squeezed by presidential campaign. NYT: “Trade ministers for the United States and 11 other Pacific nations gathered in Atlanta on Wednesday to try to reach agreement … Even if agreement is reached this week, Congress will not debate and vote on it until late winter — in the heat of the states’ presidential nominating contests … But presidential candidates in both parties have already registered strong opposition.”
Bipartisan sentencing reform bill ready to be introduced. NYT: “…changes include a reduction in mandatory minimum sentencing to five years from 10 for qualified cases; a reduction in automatic additional penalties for those with prior drug felonies; and more discretion for judges in assessing criminal history. The legislation would also ban solitary confinement for juveniles in nearly all cases, and allow those sentenced as juveniles to seek a reduction in sentencing after 20 years. Many of the new rules could be applied retroactively…”
