As we continue our effort to keep you up-to-date on how money corrupts American government and politics, as well as other news of the day, we’re is pleased to publish this daily digest compiled by BillMoyers.com’s Michael Winship.
A win — Appeals court upholds ban on federal contractors giving political cash –> Dean of the Supreme Court Reporters Lyle Denniston writes at his website, “… a unanimous federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a new constitutional challenge to the seventy-five-year-old ban on political contributions by individuals who are hired under contract to do work for federal agencies… In the wake of a series of controversial Supreme Court decisions in recent years making the First Amendment a strong shield for a wide variety of campaign financing tactics, the Circuit Court ruling was a major victory for groups that contend that money is increasingly corrupting American politics.”
Dear Angela Merkel –> An open letter to the German chancellor from five leading economists, including Thomas Piketty and Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs, warns, “Right now, the Greek government is being asked to put a gun to its head and pull the trigger. Sadly, the bullet will not only kill off Greece’s future in Europe. The collateral damage will kill the Eurozone as a beacon of hope, democracy and prosperity, and could lead to far-reaching economic consequences across the world.”
The other members of the European Union have given Greece five days to come up with a proposed solution to save its economy. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addressed the European Parliament today. “We want an agreement that will give a final end to the crisis,” he said, “and show there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Puerto Rico is not Greece.” –> John Nichols writes in The Nation that presidential candidates, including Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, are finally beginning to address the economic crisis in Puerto Rico, but that it was former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley who “stepped up” when “the call for a reasonable response was faint.” O’Malley said, “Puerto Rico should be able to negotiate with its creditors just as states can under the US Bankruptcy Code… [and] the Department of Health and Human Services must end the inequitable treatment of Puerto Rico under Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. High costs and low reimbursement rates are a huge burden to Puerto Rico’s budget and millions of U.S. citizens are at risk of losing care.”
Heroin epidemic worse than ever –> A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that heroin use more than doubled among young adults ages 18-25 in the past decade and that between 2002 and 2013, the rate of heroin-related overdose deaths nearly quadrupled — in 2013, more than 8,200 died. According to the CDC, “Some of the greatest increases occurred in demographic groups with historically low rates of heroin use: women, the privately insured, and people with higher incomes.”
Scott Walker’s fingerprints –> Russ Choma at Mother Jones reports that on Tuesday, the Wisconsin governor and presidential candidate’s office “confirmed in a statement that it was involved with the measure to change Wisconsin’s open-records law to block access to many currently available government documents.” The political and public uproar over the snuck through provision caused Walker to issue “a joint statement with top GOP lawmakers Saturday morning [July 4] stating that the language would be pulled from the budget, at least for now.”
New rules against segregation –> The Washington Post‘s Emily Badger reports that the White House will today issue rules to enforce a mandate laid out by the Fair Housing Act back in 1968: “The new rules, a top demand of civil-rights groups, will require cities and towns all over the country to scrutinize their housing patterns for racial bias and to publicly report, every three to five years, the results. Communities will also have to set goals, which will be tracked over time, for how they will further reduce segregation.”
Laying the groundwork –> Two interesting pieces by Washington Monthly‘s Nancy LeTourneau and The New Republic’s Brian Beutler discussing President Obama’s succession plan, each suggesting that his strategy over these final months in office is to take a firm stand on substantive issues, including immigration, climate change and a living wage, and then challenge Republicans to attack. Obama is using his incumbency, Beutler writes, “not just to shore up his own legacy, but to set the terms favorably for the Democratic nominee.” Hillary Clinton, LeTourneau notes, is “embracing [Obama’s] efforts and promising to build on them. And the Republicans are taking the dare… The guy knows what he’s doing.”
But the ketchup’s free! –> Protesting income inequality and skyrocketing commercial rents, an uptown Manhattan restaurant announced a “Gentrification in Progress Sale” featuring a single French fry for $8.99 and an $11.99 corkage fee for sodas. The makeover was in response to a real estate company’s recent eviction of several other businesses on the block, reportedly to make way for a larger, trendy restaurant. According to the website DNAinfo, the vacant storefronts also featured “tongue-in-cheek signs” that “suggested possible uses for the spaces, including a barbershop specializing in ‘CrowdSourced Artisan Bangs with Flax’ and a pet spa offering ‘Doggy Botox.'” We especially like the new name for the block’s local fruit stand: “Frutera El Buen Hipster: Now with Expensive Green Juices and Kombuchas.”
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