TL;DR December 24, 2015
Happy Holidays!
The Delve team wishes a merry Christmas to those who celebrate and a happy new year’s to all. Like many of you, TL;DR will be taking a rest next week. See you in 2016 with plenty of news and insights to share.
Here’s What You Need to Know
Being a world leader is tough. While MacLean’s in Canada didn’t cover up Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ability to insult three countries in just three words, The New York Times was happy to clean up after President Obama’s disconnect from Americans’ understandable anxiety over terrorism.
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- Last week, prominent Baltic politicians hit back at new liberal Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who told Canadian magazine McLean’s in a video interview that the Baltics are “not a thing” when he was asked which of the northern European countries was his favorite. No wonder some people said he was just not ready.
- A story published Thursday night by The New York Times included a surprising comment by President Obama, but by early Friday morning, the comment had been removed from the story without any editor’s note or other explanation.
News You Can Use
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE MONEY
The New York Times exposes the real source of seemingly grassroots opposition to Puerto Rico declaring bankruptcy: “To block proposals that would put their investments at risk, a coalition of hedge funds and financial firms has hired dozens of lobbyists, forged alliances with Tea Party activists and recruited so-called AstroTurf groups on the island to make their case.”
BEHOLD, THE POWER OF FOIA
The Wall Street Journal reports, “The Energy & Environment Legal Institute has obtained government emails that show the EPA secretly worked with environmental lobbyists to craft its Clean Power Plan … The emails show this secret alliance designed a standard that would be impossible or economically ruinous for existing coal plants to meet—in order to force their closure. … The emails [were] obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests …”
THE MIC IS ALWAYS ON
On the campaign trail, Ted Cruz has pledged to put fighting gay marriage “front and center” in his campaign, but an audio recording leaked to Politico speaking with donors in Manhattan, he downplayed his opposition to marriage freedom, saying it would not be a “top-three priority.”
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OMNIBUSTED
Peter Roff for U.S. News & World Report argues the House Freedom Caucus’ “foolish approach … gives the leadership nowhere to go but to the Democrats in order to find the votes they need to pass things the president will sign.” Which may be why Americans for Tax Reform’s Ryan Ellis says The Omnibus Isn’t Good Enough: Blame the Tea Party and the Freedom Caucus.“
SOCIALLY UNDESIRABLE?
A Morning Consult analysis of polling finds Donald Trump performs better in online polling than in live interview polls over the phone. Why? Most likely due to social desirability bias – people are hesitant to tell a live human they support Trump because it might be viewed as socially unacceptable. In other words, they don’t want to be called losers.
WILL THEY VOTE?
Trump can still win if his supporters turn out. Much like Obama in 2008, Trump’s path to victory is getting his supporters, many of whom do not typically vote in GOP primaries, to vote.
“UBERIZING” HEALTHCARE
Inc. magazine’s Tess Townsend predicts the heavily regulated healthcare industry will be Uberized in 2016. As more and more regulated industries with entrenched incumbents and regulators invested in the status quo are challenged by Uber-esque disruptors, expect more policy clashes.
THE MIDDLE CLASS IS GETTING…RICHER?
The American Enterprise Institute points to a Pew Research Center report claiming “The Middle Class is Losing Ground,” to note, “The share of middle class households is getting smaller for a good reason — it’s because they’ve moved up to higher income groups.” Two-thirds of those who moved out of the middle class moved into higher income categories.
Mark Your Calendars
Thursday, January 14 – Fox Business Republican Primary Debate
Sunday, January 17 – NBC News Democratic Primary Debate
Sunday, January 31 – FEC Year-End Reports
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