Happy Friday morning! Here are some of the stories we’re reading as we ready ourselves for the final push toward the weekend…
Obama’s “fix” –> ThinkProgress’ Igor Volsky with everything you need to know about the ACA “fix” Obama announced yesterday. ALSO: Sarah Kliff reports for the WaPo that insurance companies aren’t terribly pleased. ALSO, TOO: The White House has invited the CEOs of some of the largest insurers for a chat, according to Jennifer Haberkorn at Politico. AND: Before yesterday’s announcement, Dave Weigel wrote in Slate that Democrats are only hurting themselves by freaking out over bad insurance plans being cancelled.
Lost generation –> Young American adults are more likely to spend a year living in poverty than they are to earn a bachelor’s degree, reports Jordan Weissmann for The Atlantic.
Dark money –> At The Guardian, Ed Pilkington reports that Microsoft, Facebook and other name-brands are funding the climate-change-denying, union-busting State Policy Network. ALSO: According to the Center for Public Integrity, the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity spent more money last year, in the first post-Citizen’s United presidential election, than in all of its previous years combined.
“The Yellen doctrine” –> After watching her hearing testimony yesterday, The New Yorker’s John Cassidy says that Janet Yellin, Obama’s nominee to take Ben Bernanke’s job at the Fed, may be the “most dovish head of the Fed since Marriner S. Eccles, the Mormon banker whom F.D.R. appointed during the Great Depression.” ALSO: The Week on what the Federal Reserve could learn from Strike Debt.
Not fond of democracy –> In the middle of the night, the Wisconsin assembly rejected a call for non-partisan districting, and approved a slew of voter restrictions, anti-choice license plates and a no-go zone around the site of a controversial proposed iron mine, report Patrick Marley and Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Genuine grassroots activism –> The campus arm of Fix the Debt — a group dedicated to cutting Social Security and Medicare so its billionaire backers can pay lower taxes — was caught publishing identical op-eds from different “students” in various college newspapers, complete with the same first-person accounts. Mary Bottari reports for CAF.
Bailout-weary –> The Financial Times reports that Moody’s has cut three mega-banks’ credit ratings because they’re less likely to get bailed out if they get burned making bad bets.
On further reflection, it was actually a pretty good speech –> Harrisburg, PA, newspaper retracts 150 year-old editorial calling the Gettysburg Address “silly.” Craig Silverman with the story for Poynter.
What else is going on? Let us know what you’re reading in the comments!
