Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.
AP’s Today in History for November 17th
President Richard Nixon says ‘I am not a crook’; Elizabeth I becomes Queen of England; Suez Canal opens; Congress holds first DC session; Sculptor Auguste Rodin dies; Film director Martin Scorsese born.
Breakfast Tune Eagles – Earlybird – Live Popgala 1973
Something to think about, Breakfast News & Blogs below
Senate Democrats Join GOP to Back ‘Automatic Austerity’ Bill That Would Gut Social Programs, Hamstring Bold Policies
Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
A handful of Senate Democrats joined forces with Republicans last week to advance sweeping budget legislation that would establish an “automatic deficit-reduction process” that could trigger trillions of dollars in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and other social programs—and potentially hobble the agenda of the next president.
The Bipartisan Congressional Budget Reform Act (S.2765), authored by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), passed out of the Senate Budget Committee on November 6. The legislation is co-sponsored by five members of the Senate Democratic caucus: Whitehouse, Mark Warner (Va.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Chris Coons (Del.), and Angus King (I-Maine).
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, issued a statement last week opposing the legislation and warning it “could be used by Republicans to unilaterally cut programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and nutrition assistance—all supposedly to reduce the deficit.”
“This new proposed process comes less than two years after Republicans on this Committee showed no hesitation in adding $2 trillion to the deficit in order to pass the Trump tax cuts for the wealthiest families and the most profitable corporations in America,” said Sanders.
As The American Prospect’s David Dayen noted Thursday, passage of S.2765 would severely hamstring Sanders’ ability to implement his agenda should he win the White House in 2020.
“If a Democrat wants to extend free public college to all Americans, or move toward a universal healthcare system, or amass resources to fight the climate crisis,” Dayen wrote, “they’re going to run into the deficit scolds, the ‘No, We Can’t’ brigade. Republicans like Enzi want to build that ‘No, We Can’t’ presumption into the budget process itself. It makes no sense for Democrats to help them.”
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- Bernie dominates new Latino poll
The Hill
- Ruling Class “Crisis of Legitimacy” is Behind “Bernie Blackout”
Black Agenda Radio with Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford
- We Asked a Simple Question. What We Received Was Shocking.
Melinda St. Louis
Something to think about over coffee prozac
Naomi Klein Endorses Bernie Sanders for President
… because I know that he’s a fighter …
Don't wait to see which way the wind is blowing – make the weather! https://t.co/ZpBrGKVK6W
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) November 15, 2019