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MORNING MESSAGE
Angela Simaan
The GOP Tax Cuts Are Bad Champagne for Small Business
The GOP’s tax cuts gift $1.5 trillion to those who need it least: the nation’s wealthiest corporations and individuals. The Koch brothers alone will pocket more than $1 billion every year. Even as lawmakers insist these dollars will trickle down to Main Street, small business owners and workers will not be fooled. Maybe, with our help, the next Congress will be up to the task of supporting the real engine of growth in our economy.
Cordray Wins In Ohio
Cordray wins Democratic primary for Ohio governor. Bloomberg: “Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, won the Democratic primary for Ohio governor Tuesday after promising to focus on families’ economic concerns. Cordray, 59, defeated Dennis Kucinich, a former congressman and Cleveland mayor, and four other candidates for the party’s nomination, according to the Associated Press… Kucinich had positioned himself as the more liberal candidate on issues such as supporting single-payer health insurance, banning assault weapons and legalizing marijuana.”
Incumbents Stumble In Primaries
6 takeaways From Tuesday’s primary elections. NYT: “Primary elections in four Republican-leaning states rattled Congress on Tuesday night, as voters ejected a sitting member of the House and set up intense campaigns for the Senate in several battlegrounds. Republicans averted a worst-case scenario — the nomination of an ex-convict coal baron in West Virginia — but faced warning signs elsewhere… Voters nearly always dislike Congress, but Tuesday was a vivid illustration of just how toxic the taint of Washington may be in 2018.”
Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Lending Rule
Congress rolls back anti-discrimination auto loan rule. NPR: “The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades. The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business. Congress repealed the guidance using the Congressional Review Act, a little-known law that allows Congress to undo the rules issued by administrative agencies and government regulators… Tuesday’s vote marks the first time it has been wielded to reverse administrative guidance — meaning the regulatory agencies’ interpretations of federal laws. Because most guidance is not “submitted to Congress,” lawmakers argue they can start the clock whenever they want on hundreds of rules issued over the past two decades. Critics worry this could open the door for congressional rollback of any number of hard-fought consumer and environmental protections.”
DOL Won’t Enforce Fiduciary Violations
DOL won’t enforce best interest violations as fiduciary rule dies. Citywire: “With its fiduciary rule set to come off the books Monday, The Department of Labor (DOL) has reiterated its position that it will not pursue broker-dealers managing retirement savings over claims they carried out prohibited transactions. The DOL rule went into partial effect in June 2017, with the agency stating at the time that broker-dealers accused of making investment decisions that were deemed not to be in the best financial interests of their clients would not be charged as long as they could prove they worked ‘diligently and in good faith’ to comply with the rule’s impartial conduct standards. The latest guidance note issued on Monday by the DOL stated it will continue to uphold this ‘temporary policy’ until further notice.”
Haspel Faces Questioning Over CIA Torture
Moment of truth for Trump pick to lead CIA. The Hill: “Gina Haspel is set to face off with senators Wednesday in what is expected to be a bruising relitigation of the use of harsh interrogation techniques during the George W. Bush administration. Haspel is set to be grilled by the Senate Intelligence Committee not only about her role in the use of the techniques, but also about her involvement in the destruction of videotapes documenting a pair of brutal interrogations at a black site prison that she briefly ran. Democrats on the committee have lambasted the CIA — and Haspel as its current acting director — for declining to declassify more information about her participation in the interrogation program.”
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