What you may have missed at Sunday Kos:
- Are we a democracy or are we a monarchy, by Ian Reifowitz
- We must take back our wealth from the super-rich methodically before it is too late, by Egberto Willies
- I used to be a "centrist" Democrat, by Frank Vyan Walton
- Rich guy says taxing rich guys is wrong, by Mark E Andersen
- The 2020 Trump strategy, and why scandal is our own worst enemy, by David Akadjian
- I’m a billionaire and I’m running for president, by Jon Perr
- Here's our ultimate Democratic wishlist for Senate in 2020. Who's on yours? by Steve Singiser
- The 2020 electorate will be more diverse than ever, by Sher Watts Spooner
- I refuse to honor George Washington, and other 'founders' who enslaved, and sold human beings, by Denise Oliver Velez
• Banks rake in the cash thanks to Republican tax cuts:
Federally insured U.S. banks made more than $28 billion in additional profits in 2018 thanks to the Republican tax-cut law enacted at the start of the year, according to data released Thursday.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) revealed that the nation’s 5,406 federally insured banks reeled in $236.7 billion in profits last year, according to the agency’s quarterly banking profile
Yearly profits increased increased $72. 4 billion from 2017, and the rise includes $28.8 billion more than banks would have kept under the previous tax regime.
• Bills introduced to lower voter age in Oregon and California:
Legislators in Oregon and California have introduced bills this month to give more teenagers the right to vote.
Democratic lawmakers in Oregon proposed a bill this week to lower the statewide voting age to 16 to address the concerns of teenagers who are "begging us to take action to protect their future," state Senator Shemia Fagan told the Oregonian.
Two bills have been introduced in California: one that would allow 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the next general election to vote in primaries, and another that would allow all people 17 or older to vote in any election. Assemblyman Evan Low, who introduced the latter bill, argues that lowering the voting age would teach teenagers about the political process and give them a better chance to have their voices heard.
MIDDAY TWEET
• Trump administration quits fuel efficiency talks with California
The Trump administration has broken off talks with the California Air Resources Board over vehicle fuel-efficiency standards and is on track to roll back standards set by President Barack Obama, the White House said in a statement Thursday.
The breakdown sets up a potential clash over the state’s long-standing ability to set its own more stringent standards for tailpipe emissions and fuel efficiency, a power the courts have upheld for the past half-century. California and 19 other states have demanded the Trump administration abandon the rollback.
The administration has vowed to freeze fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks at 2020 levels, undoing a regulation Obama established to reduce oil imports, slash carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change, improve public health and save consumers money without compromising safety. It argues that the Obama-era requirements would make vehicles more expensive and encourage people to stick with older, less-safe cars and trucks.
• The surprisingly complex journey a text message takes every time we hit 'send.'
• Trump gags family planning services on abortion:
On Friday, the Trump administration quietly handed social conservatives what may be their biggest victory yet. After failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood, despite Republican control of both chamber of Congress for two years, the administration has released a rule change that goes at least partway toward the latter goal.
Ignoring Congress, which has passed no legislation on this subject, Trump administration rules will now mandate that no organization that even mentions abortion services can receive federal funds. (Federal funds are already prohibited from funding abortion services themselves.)