Trump Approves, Then Denies, Plan to Save DACA
How last night's dinner with Trump, Pelosi and Schumer went down. Politico: "AT ROUGHLY 9:45, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s offices put out a statement saying that PRESIDENT TRUMP agreed to quickly 'enshrine the protections of DACA into law' with 'a package of border security excluding the wall, that’s acceptable to both sides.' THE ASSOCIATED PRESS sent a bulletin at 9:52 p.m. saying a deal had been cut. A source briefed on the meeting told us around 10 p.m. that the 'President and the leaders agreed to pair the bipartisan DREAM Act with some border security, excluding the wall.' BEHIND THE SCENES, Washington started to explode. The White House legislative affairs team was sending text messages and emails to Republican Hill staff, saying the president had only agreed to work on fixing DACA soon. He didn’t give up on the wall funding, but the White House conceded he said he wouldn’t insist it be part of this package. THE KIND-OF-SORT-OF PRESIDENTIAL PUSHBACK: TRUMP TWEETED at 6:11 a.m.: 'No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote.'
Trump Extols Bipartisanship With Pelosi, Schumer
Democrats cautious but encouraged by fresh outreach. WaPo: "President Trump on Wednesday vowed not to cut taxes for the wealthy, extolled the virtues of bipartisanship as leading to “some of the greatest legislation ever passed” and then — in a surprise move announced deep into the night — agreed to cut a deal with Democrats saving hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from deportation. That Trump did all of that while declaring himself 'a conservative' only heightened the sense of surrealism that has wafted through the nation’s capital over the past eight days, as the president has expressed a newfound, if tentative, willingness to work across the aisle — a development that has left many Republicans chagrined and some Democrats cautiously optimistic."
Dueling Health Care Bills Unveiled
Medicare for All or State Control: health care plans go to extremes. NYT: "In one Senate office building, some of the leading lights of the Democratic Party gathered Wednesday to embrace what was once a proposal only of the far left: a huge expansion of Medicare, large enough to open the popular, government-run health program to all Americans. In another Senate office building, a smaller but equally adamant group of Republican senators stood together to take one last stab at dismantling the Affordable Care Act. They proposed instead to send each state a lump sum of federal money, along with sweeping new discretion over how to use it. Important elements in both parties are trying to move beyond President Barack Obama’s health care law, which has always been a complicated, politically difficult mix of government and private health insurance. But they are moving in radically different directions. The proposals appeared to have only one thing in common: Neither is likely to be enacted any time soon."
Trump Urges Support for Unclear Plan to Overhaul Taxes
Trump goes all in on a tax overhaul whose details remain unwritten. NYT: "President Trump is doubling down this week on his bid to remake the tax code, meeting with Democrats, tying tax legislation to hurricane recovery and dispatching his economic team to Capitol Hill almost daily to prod lawmakers into action. But he is bringing to the game a relatively weak team — a chief economic adviser whom he has openly disparaged and a Treasury secretary whose counsel he has dismissed — and is promoting quick passage of a new tax code that has yet to be written as members of his party bicker... Republicans remain divided on key details: whether they can meet Mr. Trump’s demand for a 15 percent corporate tax rate; which small businesses and partnerships would qualify for a new low business tax rate; whether tax cuts in the package should be paid for by closing loopholes; and whether hedge fund and private equity managers would continue to see their huge fees taxed at the low rate of capital gains instead of at income tax rates. Democrats have said they will reject any package that they see as skewed toward the rich, especially if it repeals the estate tax, as the president wants."
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Asked for Government Jet for Honeymoon in Europe
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin requested government jet for European honeymoon. ABC: "Secretary Steven Mnuchin requested use of a government jet to take him and his wife on their honeymoon in Scotland, France and Italy earlier this summer... Officials familiar with the matter say the highly unusual ask for a U.S. Air Force jet, which according to an Air Force spokesman could cost roughly $25,000 per hour to operate, was put in writing by the secretary's office but eventually deemed unnecessary after further consideration by Treasury Department officials. 'You don't need a giant rulebook of government requirements to just say yourself, 'This is common sense, it's wrong,' (Senator) Wyden said. "That's just slap your forehead stuff.'"
Dems Flip Six State Legislative Seats
"Democrats have won 6 GOP-held seats so far in 2017. CNN: "Democrats flipped two Republican-held state legislative seats - one in Oklahoma, one in New Hampshire - that Donald Trump carried in the 2016 election. That makes six turnovers from Republican to Democrat in contested state House and Senate races so far in 2017 - and 26 out of 35 races (at the state legislative and congressional level) in which the Democratic nominee has overperformed Hillary Clinton's showing last November. Worth noting: Republicans have yet to flip a Democratic-controlled seat so far this year... But, we also know from the history of congressional wave elections that there do tend to be canaries in the coal mines - a race or a set of races that reveal that something is happening out in the country that we need to pay attention to."
More from OurFuture.org:
Massachusetts Mourns The Loss Of A ‘Warrior For Justice’ by Isaiah J. Poole: "People’s Action members around the country today are mourning the death of Jafet Robles, 33, an organizer with People’s Action member organization Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts. Robles led the Jobs, Not Jails campaign for Neighbor to Neighbor and was lead organizer for the Springfield, Massachusetts area. He grew up in the poorest district in the state – the North End of Springfield. 'We have lost a warrior for justice,' said People’s Action co-director George Goehl. 'We are so saddened by this horrible event and incredible loss to Jafet’s family, his community, and the movement to end mass incarceration and replace it with solutions that actually help communities be safe and thrive.'"
Racial Inequality Is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins: "America’s middle class is under assault, with black and Latino households under siege. Their drop in wealth by more than half over three decades threatens the very survival of a middle class in this country."
