MORNING MESSAGE
Tuesday
was “Make America Work Again” day at the Republican National Convention. But
this day wasn’t about making America work again for working people. This was, as
always with conservatives, all about tax cuts for the rich and corporations,
deregulation of oil and coal companies (and other paying corporate clients) and
austerity cuts in the things government does to make people’s lives better.
There was nothing about how to actually make America “work again.”
Economy NIGHT FEATURES LITTLE ECONOMY TALK
Trump
officially nominated with “eighth-lowest delegate percentage in Republican
history” notes W. Post.
Economy
night offers little on the economy. Bloomberg: “On a night that was supposed
to be devoted to the economy—an issue that the campaign has argued is a linchpin
for attracting more minority voters—there was little talk about how the party or
Trump would ‘Make America Work Again.’ … ‘Their theme should have been, “Make
the Republican Party Work Again,” because it clearly isn’t,’ Luis Miranda,
communications director for the Democratic National Committee…”
Speaker
Paul Ryan awkwardly delivers speech touting conservative vision. W. Post’s E. J.
Dionne: “House Speaker Paul Ryan would like to pretend that the Trump
rebellion never happened and that Donald Trump is not the Republican nominee …
his approach involves ignoring one of the major reasons for Trump’s rise: the
impatience of many working-class Republicans with free market bromides that do
little to enhance their economic situations. They get little out of tax cuts for
the wealthy and have grown increasingly skeptical of free trade.”
Convention
delegates off-message on economy. Time: “‘Michigan’s a comeback state
actually,’ said Nancy Jenkins, a representative in the Michigan state
legislature … Jerry Murphy, a retiree and a delegate from Wisconsin [said,]
‘Wisconsin’s doing really good—we have low unemployment and a high labor
participation rate,’ he said. Zan Bunn, a training consultant from Raleigh,
North Carolina, described her state as ‘Comeback Carolina.’ … Michigan,
Wisconsin and North Carolina aren’t outliers. In the eight years since the worst
financial crisis in a generation, the U.S. economy has grown significantly…”
More
from GOP delegates in Politico: “‘Actually, we’re doing great’” says Donna
Gottschall, a human resources consultant in Greenville, S.C. ‘Employment’s up.
Housing’s up. Everything’s green in Greenville!’ ‘Oh, yeah, unemployment is way
down,’ says Al Baldasaro, a state legislator and retired Marine from
Londonderry, N.H. ‘Obviously, it’s gotten better.’ ‘Things are wonderful in our
town,’ says Ranae Lentz, a Republican county chair from Bellefontaine, Ohio. ‘We
can’t fill all the job openings.'”
PENCE ADDRESSES CONVENTION TONIGHT
USA
Today previews Pence speech: “Pence’s anti-abortion and social conservative
bona fides are well established, so it’s likely a major part of his speech will
be spent assuring like-minded Republicans that Trump is someone they can get
behind.”
NYT
explores Pence’s education record as governor: “Mr. Pence’s tenure has been
one long tangle with the new superintendent, Glenda Ritz, a Democrat. Mr. Pence
took state money to create a kind of shadow department of education — a move he
later reversed … Mr. Pence pushed the Indiana legislature to give charter
schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, an extra $1,500 per pupil
… Pence also pushed to expand the number of students receiving public vouchers
to attend private schools … He also expanded eligibility to include students who
had not previously attended a public school…”
CLINTON NARROWS VP LIST
Sen.
Tim Kaine and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack top Clinton’s VP list. W.
Post: “Although her list is not limited to those two, Clinton has spoken
highly of both in recent days to friends and advisers as she closes in on an
announcement … Clinton is expected to campaign alongside her running mate on
Friday or Saturday in Florida … Both fit Clinton’s ideal of low-key, loyal
effectiveness … [Vilsack] was considered as a running mate for then-Sen. John F.
Kerry in 2004 and served as head of the centrist Democratic Leadership
Conference … [He] is seen as likely to deliver Iowa … People close to Clinton
say that political considerations will come second — if they factor in at
all.”
National
security top of mind for Clinton, reports NYT: “… Kaine [is] a former
Virginia governor who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee … Mr.
Vilsack has limited national security experience, but emerged as a vocal critic
of the Iraq war during the Bush administration. [Sen. Sherrod] Brown — known
mostly for his fiery stances against global trade deals, which could help Mrs.
Clinton in Rust Belt states — sits on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Committee.”
Clinton
campaign works phones to avoid convention conflict. Politico: “The plea to
keep any policy disputes in-house, and off-camera, underscores the campaign’s
determination to present a united front at the convention … There were no
minority reports coming out of the platform committee meeting … dramatically
reducing the chance of a fight when Democrats vote on the platform at the
convention. The Clinton campaign is hoping for similar success at the
convention’s rules committee, which meets Saturday.”
STATES MOVE AHEAD ON OBAMA CLIMATE PLAN
Republican
governors quietly working to implement Obama’s climate plan. NYT: ” The
Supreme Court has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to halt the plan
until after the states’ lawsuit is resolved [which] may not be decided until
2018 … Republican governors in some states, including Indiana, New Jersey and
Wisconsin, have issued ‘pencils down’ orders to state regulators … In some
cases, the governors moving forward with drafting state-level climate change
plans are Democrats in places that have some form of climate policy in place,
like California and New York. But in some Republican-led states, even those with
‘pencils down’ orders, regulators are sketching out how they might eventually
comply.”
Shell
shifting from oil to gas. Bloomberg: “‘We’re more a gas company than an oil
company,’ says Ben van Beurden, Shell’s chief executive officer. ‘If you have to
place bets, which we have to, I’d rather place them there.’ … It’s considered a
crucial ‘bridge fuel’ in the transition to a low-carbon future … If Shell gets
it right, gas is ‘not just going to be a bridge’ but a lucrative part of the
energy mix indefinitely, Van Beurden says.”
BREAKFAST SIDES
Roger
Ailes may soon leave Fox News. NYT: “Mr. Ailes and 21st Century Fox, Fox
News’s parent company, are in the advanced stages of discussions that would lead
to his departure as chairman … The development follows a sexual harassment suit
filed on July 6 … Mr. Ailes, 76, has also long been at the center of Republican
politics …”
“Wisconsin
Residents Can Vote Without a Photo ID in November” reports NYT: “Wisconsin
residents without photo identification can vote in November’s election if they
sign an affidavit swearing to their identity, a federal judge ruled Tuesday … In
granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Lynn S. Adelman of the Federal
District Court in Milwaukee said a ‘safety net is needed for those voters who
cannot obtain qualifying ID with reasonable effort.'”
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