Sanders, Trump: Let’s rumble
Good morning. On behalf of The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, welcome to The Take, your opinion-politics newsletter. Please sign up for it here.
We start with an invitation to Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders and move to the potentially slimmed down cap-and-trade pork-fest. Shawn Hubler considers the state of joy, and we take a spin through the opinion and politics of California and beyond.
Take that
Hillary Clinton has turned down Sen. Bernie Sanders’ request to debate heading into the June 7 primary. Sad but not surprising. The Take laments that the early primary states get all the joy of hosting debates.
So here’s a proposal: Bernie Sanders vs. Donald Trump. Wacky? Sure. Crazy? Not in Campaign 2016.
RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of the National Nurses United, Sanders’ most prominent supporter, is all in. “Trump should debate Bernie,” DeMoro told The Take. “The Sacramento Bee should offer to host.” DeMoro requests seats at the front: “I would be on my best behavior.”
The Take put the question to the Sanders and Trump campaigns.
“Interesting,” Sanders communications director Michael Briggs replied in an email. Appearing Wednesday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Trump said he would debate Sanders. In other words, let's get ready to rumble.
Yes, The Bee would help moderate, and given the proneness to tumult in the Sanders and Trump camps, The Take would make sure the nurses get prime seats.
Take a number: $10.078 million
The latest cap-and-trade auction netted $10.078 million, the California Air Resources Board reported Wednesday. By comparison, the December auction generated $500 million.
That’s ominous for legislators who eagerly pork out billions they expect to be generated by the auctions in the coming fiscal year.
Perhaps traders in the cap-and-trade market took note of the California 3rd District Court of Appeal’s pointed questions about the legality of the program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Maybe traders notice legislators seem unwilling to extend cap-and-trade beyond 2020, when the underlying legislation, AB 32, would expire.
The air board seems unconcerned. “The outcome of any one auction is essentially a market snapshot at the time that auction is held. It does not indicate a trend,” said Dave Clegern, spokesman for California Air Resources Board.
We’ll watch the next auction in August to see if the gravy train has been derailed.
Our take
Shawn Hubler: Maybe it’s age. Maybe it’s the Internet. Maybe it’s desperation. But between the cracks of all the bad news, joy seems to be stepping up far more than it used to.
Editorial: San Francisco 49ers boss Jed York scores one for transgender tolerance. Where’s the rest of the sports world?
Editorial: Barack Obama’s arms deals trip up his Asia pivot.
Joe Mathews, among our freelance columnists: Hey Chicago, stay out of California’s business.
Their take
Debra J. Saunders writes in The San Francisco Chronicle that Bill Cosby has gone from victimizer to victim.
The L.A. Times lauds Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, for her AB 2757 which would phase in overtime for farmworkers beginning next year.
The Orange County Register says more must be done to bring public employee retirement benefits in line with the private sector and attain long-term sustainability.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat says the American public waits for the U.S. Senate to do its job by holding hearings on Merrick Garland, 70 days and counting.
Raleigh News & Observer observes that Charlotte City Council members show principle, despite pressure from business interests to give state GOP lawmakers a way out of a catastrophic mess they created with HB 2.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram imagines Mark Cuban as a presidential candidate and asks: What kind of reality show is this?
Syndicates’ take
E.J. Dionne Jr.: Donald Trump’s America First shtick is Made in Europe.
Dana Milbank: The GOP’s lost hope for scandal.
Thomas L. Friedman: Destroying Israel from within.
Leonard Pitts Jr.: Pragmatism doesn’t know Bernie Sanders.
Second takes
Dan Walters: California charter schools’ political battles.
Marcos Breton: Angelique Ashby is battling pols, trolls and big bankrolls.
Tweet of the day
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump: “Crooked Hillary Clinton just can’t close the deal with Bernie. I had to knock out 16 very good and smart candidates. Hillary doesn’t have it.”
If Trump truly believes Clinton is toast, he ought to move to the general election campaign and debate Bernie Sanders.
This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Sanders, Trump: Let’s rumble."