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Burning Issues: Hidden Wealth and the Rigged Financial System

The Panama Papers help reveal the extent to which the global financial system is rigged to favor the wealthy and powerful, says Eryn Schornick, policy adviser at Global Witness, in this Burning Issues video.

Secret TTIP Docs Leaked

Greenpeace leaks European trade deal negotiating drafts. NYT: "Greenpeace said the leaked documents revealed four major concerns about the Americans’ negotiating positions: Efforts to weaken or loosen two longstanding [environmental] clauses from global trade negotiations ... Inadequate protections for the climate ... A new, more lax approach to product regulation ... Provisions that would give corporate lobbyists greater influence in decision-making."

More from the Guardian: "The US is ... proposing new articles on 'science and risk' to give firms greater regulatory say. Disputes over pesticides residues and food safety would be dealt with by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Codex Alimentarius system. Environmentalists say the body has loose rules on corporate influence ... no counter-proposals have been made in these areas.

Cruz Up Against The Wall In Indiana

Cruz desperate in Indiana, as morale tanks. Time: "There is a begrudging acceptance that the anti-Trump work may have been futile all along ... 'Sometimes, you have to know when to stop fighting, even if you’re right,' one Never Trump leader said ... [But] Cruz’s schedule on Monday includes five events—including two organized and funded through a nominally independent super PAC—and Fiorina appearing at five of her own ... He was set to start his Monday in a café in Osceola, population 2,500."

Cruz bets on ground game. Bloomberg: "...the Texas senator is counting on his data-driven grassroots organization ... Cruz also is tapping a network of social and religious conservatives in Indiana ..."

Unbound delegates warm to Trump. NYT: "Delegates like [North Dakota's Jim] Poolman are emblematic of the Cruz campaign’s larger problems holding on to votes at a contested convention ... local Cruz volunteers asked if they could add his name to [their] list of delegate candidates ... And he was elected a delegate ... But now, Mr. Poolman said, he worries about party disunity ... 'My goal, personally,' he said, 'is to not let our convention become a circus.'"

The "Workers Behind Trump’s Favorite Talking Point Think He’s a Fraud" says Politico Magazine's Adan Wren: "[Carrier Corp.] announced one bleak day back in February that by 2017 it would outsource 1,400 jobs to a manufacturing plant in Monterrey, Mexico ... As the billionaire arenastorms Indiana, Trump routinely calls the Carrier workers out in rallies ... 'I see Trump as an opportunist,' said Robert James, 57, a forklift driver at Carrier ... 'He’s a loudmouthed fraud,' said Frank Staples, 37, an-11-year veteran at Carrier."

Indiana's economic picture is complex. NYT: "With nearly one in five jobs in manufacturing, the highest share of any state, Indiana’s gross domestic product is accelerating faster than any of its Great Lakes neighbors ... Factory jobs have declined ... not because of trade deals ... but because Indiana factories are increasingly efficient and fewer workers are needed ... wages have stagnated in step with national trends..."

California Republicans worry about Trump. NYT: "'It does set back Republican efforts in California,' said Bill Whalen, a fellow with the conservative Hoover Institution ... 'The California party is in a phase of rebuilding and rebranding ... I can’t think of a more toxic situation than him coming in alienating women and Mexicans.' ... Chuck Page, a Republican State Senate candidate from Saratoga, said ... 'It makes it harder for me,'..."

Sanders Calls Out Supers

Bernie presses supers to flip at press conference. W. Post: "'They’re going to have to go into their hearts, and they are going to have to ask, do they want the second strongest candidate to run against Trump or do they want the strongest candidate?' Sanders said ... He said a prime target for flipping superdelegates will be those in states where he has soundly defeated Clinton..."

Clinton rips Trump at NAACP event in Detroit. WSJ: "... the Democratic front-runner offered reminders of Mr. Trump’s involvement in the 'insidious birther movement' and his efforts to discredit Mr. Obama’s citizenship ... she attracted a friendly crowd of several thousand who cheered her promises to tackle racism, improve educational opportunities and overhaul the criminal justice system."

Breakfast Sides

NYT's Paul Krugman frets over Europe's economy: "...Europe’s economy is, finally, slightly bigger than it was before the financial crisis, and unemployment has come down from more than 12 percent in 2013 to a bit over 10 percent ... but [the American] economy is already 10 percent bigger than it was pre-crisis, while our unemployment rate is back under 5 percent ... the chronic disease is persistent weakness in spending."

Deficit hysteria is declining. Bloomberg: "According to the Pew Research Center’s annual survey of policy priorities, 56 percent of adults in the U.S. said in January that reducing the budget deficit was a 'top priority.' That share peaked at 72 percent in 2013 ..."

Halliburton scraps merger. Bloomberg: "Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. called off their $28 billion merger, which has met stiff antitrust resistance from regulators in the U.S. and Europe ... The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit in early April to stop the merger, saying it threatened to eliminate head-to-head competition in 23 products and services used in oil exploration."

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