Gillibrand calls for excise and carbon taxes to address climate change


 Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing

July 25, 2019: Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a $10 trillion climate change proposal. Five Democrats will speak at a presidential forum hosted by the National Urban League.        

Daily Presidential News Briefing - Poll One (July 9 - 18)

Daily Presidential News Briefing - Poll Two (July 9 - 18)

Notable Quote of the Day

“Self-funded candidates have had mixed track records. Political scientist Jennifer Steen look at success rates of self-funders in congressional races in her 2006 book, Self-Financed Candidates in Congressional Elections.

She found that, on average, candidates’ odds of winning actually decreased as they spent more on their campaigns, even among candidates who had political experience.

A prominent counterexample, of course, is President Donald Trump, who gave $66 million to his 2016 campaign, though he also raised an additional $130 million from individual donors.
But in 2018, 41 candidates ultimately self-funded to the tune of at least $1 million. Only nine of them won.

Many of the candidates who rely on self-funding are, like Trump, wealthy political outsiders. For them, personal money is a useful buoy until donors begin to take their campaign seriously. Candidates who self-fund typically list their personal contributions as loans to their campaign, though many never raise enough from donors to pay themselves back. Given their poor electoral chances, self-funders also run the risk of losing big in more ways than one.”

– Jessica Piper, Center for Responsive Politics

Democrats

  • Joe BidenCory BookerJohn DelaneyAmy Klobuchar, and Tim Ryan will speak at a presidential forum Thursday hosted by the National Urban League in Indianapolis, Indiana.
  • Bill de Blasio said he supported forming a commission to examine reparations for black Americans affected by slavery.
  • Booker and Beto O’Rourke held campaign events in Flint, Michigan, following appearances at the NAACP national convention.
  • Steve Bullock wrote an op-ed in Sioux City Journal on Social Security, Medicare, and pharmaceutical costs.
  • Pete Buttigieg discussed his military service in the final episode of the Reclaiming Patriotism podcast. He also attended at least two fundraisers in the Bay Area in California Wednesday.
  • Julián Castro spoke about decertifying police officers involved in shootings of unarmed civilians and Ben Carson’s performance as secretary of housing and urban development in an interview on The Clay Cane Show.
  • Kirsten Gillibrand introduced a $10 trillion climate change proposal Thursday. Gillibrand called for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, an excise tax on fossil fuel production, and a $52 per metric ton carbon tax, among other policies.  
  • Michael Kempner, who helped raise more than $3 million for Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign as a bundler, will host a fundraiser for Kamala Harris in August.
  • John Hickenlooper will campaign Thursday in Sigourney, Iowa. 
  • Seth Moulton introduced the Automatic Listening and Exploitation Act, which would allow the FTC to penalize companies whose smart devices record user conversations without prompting.
  • In a newly released plan on racial inequality in educationO’Rourke called for increasing diversity among educators, ending disparities in disciplinary actions, and offering student debt relief for teachers.
  • Bernie Sanders released a plan to increase the number of black healthcare professionals, which includes expanding the National Health Service Corps and related programs in underserved areas; increasing the number of nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants; and canceling student debt.
  • Joe Sestak will meet with the Des Moines Register editorial board Thursday.
  • Tom Steyer posted a digital ad calling on Nancy Pelosi to cancel the upcoming congressional recess and conduct oversight of Trump.
  • Marianne Williamson tweeted she opposed the Mauna Kea telescope project in Hawaii.

Republicans

  • Donald Trump vetoed three joint resolutions that would have prohibited certain arms sales in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Italy.

What We’re Reading

Flashback: July 25, 2015

The New York Times profiled Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and ground game in Iowa.