MORNING MESSAGE

Sondra Youdelman

We Need A People’s Bailout NOW

One of every five working Americans – more than 32 million people – have lost their job to COVID-19. A tsunami of evictions will come unless lawmakers take meaningful action now. Unemployment is rising – again. Hunger is rising, too. And cases of COVID are rising faster than ever. That’s why People’s Action members and allies from coast to coast – 35 groups in 23 states – rose up to demand Congress act NOW to pass a People’s Bailout. What would a People’s Bailout mean? It would guarantee health care, cancel rent and evictions, and provide emergency money to those who need it, rather than fund more policing and bail out corporations. If Congress acts now, we can chart a path towards the economy we need on the other side of COVID: with green jobs and a sustainable, equitable future. This crisis can also be an opportunity, but only if we act. It’s time for a full-court press. We need every lawmaker to act now. So from Alabama to Washington State and everywhere in between, People’s Action members are challenging lawmakers from both parties – in their offices, at state capitals, and online – to do the right thing.

More from People’s Action:

Making Movement Politics Real: George Goehl

As a young organizer, I was told we shouldn’t engage in electoral politics – that it was dirty, and a distraction. But after a long run of not winning what we most needed, it became crystal clear that operating only in a landscape created by someone else was not getting the job done. So ten or so years ago, folks at National People’s Action made a hard pivot – we began to take the beauty and power of community organizing into the electoral arena. We started to do what we call Movement Politics: electing candidates who truly share our values, and who will co-govern with us. And it is happening. Since 2016, we have helped elect more than 350 candidates. People’s Action has already endorsed 73 candidates for public office in the 2020 late summer primaries and general elections, with more to come. This Monday, August 3, we will announce these endorsements and officially launch our volunteer election program, the Rise Up 2020 Campaign, in a special livestream event with Senator Bernie Sanders. We expect thousands of volunteers to join this launch – then hit the phones with us and do engaged text messaging to tens of thousands that same evening. We’ve come a long way from when we used to beat our heads against a wall trying to move an elected who, at the end of the day, just wasn’t gonna move. Now we know that if they won’t move, we have the power to move them out, and help move in someone who comes from us. For me, and for People’s Action, Movement Politics is where it’s at.

Follow John Lewis, Don’t Let Trump Provoke Violence: Miles Mogulescu

John Lewis, the Georgia Congressman who led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders who organized the 1963 March on Washington, is being remembered as one of our greatest American heroes, in large part because he was willing to risk his life in non-violent protests against white supremacy. Lewis was arrested over 40 times in nonviolent sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and protests. On March 7, 1965, his skull was fractured, and he was almost murdered, by an Alabama state trooper when he led 600 peaceful civil rights protestors on a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to demand voting rights. The violent images of this horrendous, unprovoked police brutality against peaceful protestors were broadcast on the national network news that night to over 60 million viewers, and outraged much of the nation. The images, when broadcast worldwide, also publicly shamed the United States on the world stage. Lewis and the other protestors would have been within their moral rights to have returned the next day armed with rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails, and even firearms to protect themselves from such police brutality. Instead, Rev. Martin Luther King returned to Selma two weeks later to complete the nonviolent march for voting rights that Lewis had started. These images, too, were seen across the country and around the world. Today, the brave sacrifice of Lewis and his fellow nonviolent protestors is largely credited for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. If we want to win, we can’t let Trump provoke us into violence. We must honor John Lewis, and his hard-won victories for civil rights, by following his example. Trump is on the ropes. Don’t give him the gift of violent confrontations that he’s so blatantly and transparently trying to provoke to rescue his campaign.

Caged Indefinitely During COVID-19: Church

I’ve been in Monroe County Jail on a probation violation for over 200 days now. I expected, based on my probation officer’s words, that I’d be “held overnight.” Because of the pandemic, overnight turned into missing eight family birthdays and the same number of holidays. The jail has had to alter policies, cancel or suspend certain things like visits and religious services. Without visits, we no longer have the luxury of seeing our friends and families, or even the opportunity to leave the unit for an hour or two. I’ve grown incredibly sick of the color beige–the color that gave up. The first time my court date got pushed I was okay with it; the second time I got a little irritated. By the third time it was getting almost unbearable. Right now, I’m a “ghost in the system” – no release date, no court date. I haven’t even been sentenced. The general mood is somewhere between depressed frustration and irritated anxiety, largely caused by all the uncertainty and the haphazard operation of the facility. We’re starting to feel like caged dogs. The situation I’m in is only temporary but, boy, is it emotionally taxing, especially considering I could be stuck here for a month or a year or more. My case is non-essential. It’s especially hard because I don’t know when I’m going home.

In May, Citizen Action of New York (CANY) learned of a man being held in indefinite detention because of COVID-19 and asked if he would be willing to share his story. He agreed. We hope his words, shared here for the first time, bring attention to the countless people being held in jails, prisons, and detention centers during this pandemic.

Policing Is Not A Public Good: Ravi Mangla

For decades, we’ve been told that policing is a public good: available to all, for the benefit of all. But in practice, that’s never been true. From the beginning, policing in this country was designed to protect the assets of the most privileged. Today, all across the United States, landlords and property managers enlist law enforcement to forcibly evict low-income tenants. Police regularly remove homeless individuals from parks and public spaces. And cops routinely stop, search, and threaten Black and brown people when they drive or walk through white neighborhoods. We’ve seen these disparities in policing increase since the outbreak of COVID-19. And soon, with eviction moratoriums lifting across the country, tens of thousands of struggling tenants will be sent eviction notices. When families have no place else to go and landlords call in law enforcement, who do you think the police will serve and protect?

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a weekly email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Joy Blackwood, Natasha DeJarnett, Surili Sutaria Patel

We Must Vote To Protect Public Health

There’s been a massive failure of leadership in the United States in preparation, containment, treatment and protecting our residents from the cascading effects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Our administration refused to prepare for a pandemic, or act when COVID-19 first appeared last year. As a result, many lives will be lost. Strong leadership makes a difference in health outcomes: As public and environmental health professionals and women of color, we have a unique understanding of how voting can empower populations, change communities, and transform nations. We acknowledge that one of the most significant actions we all can take in the COVID-19 pandemic response, and what’s necessary to change our level of preparedness is asserting the urgency of voting. We have hope, because 2020 is a vital election year. The power is in our hands, and here’s what we can do: VOTE. That is the only way we can respond to the current crisis, and prepare the U.S. for future crises.

More from People’s Action:

Homeless Vets Confront A New Enemy, COVID-19: Tom Conway

As the coronavirus spreads across America, the poor bear the brunt of a pandemic that’s exposed the deep class lines in U.S. society. The rich have big savings accounts and quality health care. They’ll emerge from the crisis just fine. But Americans at the margins, including homeless vets who rely on a frayed safety net stretched to the breaking point by COVID-19, now face an even greater struggle to survive. While the COVID-19 crisis is unprecedented, the slapdash response underscores how fragile the safety net for America’s homeless really is. As cities struggle to adapt, the ranks of the homeless likely will grow because of the economic slowdown, putting more stress on the overtaxed system. The government’s response to COVID-19 must include injecting funds into programs that support homeless veterans and keep other vets from losing their homes. But federal officials also must think about what the economy and social-service network will look like after the pandemic. That means better funding a system now overly reliant on fundraisers like taco dinners and poppy sales. It means comprehensively addressing the problems servicemen and servicewomen face when they leave the armed forces.

The Coronavirus Crash Could Be Worse Than The Republican Great Depression Of 1930: Thom Hartmann

The coronavirus crisis has turned the fact that we don’t make anything in America anymore from a topic for philosophical and political debate into a crisis in our hospitals causing people to die and endangering our frontline health care workers. Even worse, there’s nothing to catch us as and after we fall, because we don’t have a manufacturing base to fall back on like we did the last time a crisis like this happened—in the late 1930s. The coronavirus crisis will pass within a year or three; after a great toll, enough of us will have immunity, or a vaccine will be widely available, or both. And when it does, the pent-up demand for goods will pop. We should reorganize our trade systems now (or in the next administration) to make sure most of those goods will again be made in America. Now that we are again “rediscovering” the lessons of the Herbert Hoover’s market crash of 1929, if we don’t begin to move manufacturing capacity back into this country we will be, within a few years, far worse off than Americans were in 1932. If we succeed in rebooting American manufacturing through the measures used by Hamilton (and emulated by China over the past 30 years), our recovery from this crisis could mark a new dawn for the American middle class.

Trump Throws Grandma From The Train: Gloria Totten

A few days ago, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick went on Fox News to deliver the message, “Let’s get back to work. Let’s get back to living. Let’s be smart about it, and those of us that are 70 plus, we’ll take care of ourselves. But don’t sacrifice the country.” As he explained to host Tucker Carlson, this means that senior citizens should be “willing to take a chance on [their] survival” in order to restart the economy. If this seems gruesome and even sociopathic, that’s because it is. But to Patrick’s “credit,” he was one of the few Donald Trump allies who was frank enough to publicly support the logical and inevitable result of Trump’s proposed policies. In a few weeks or months, Americans will see a tremendous number fall sick and die, while millions will be financially ruined. All of a sudden, public policy is not distant or about some vague group, it’s about them, personally, right now. And Americans will be looking for someone to blame for their misery. Obviously, the right-wing will try to lock in their messages that government cannot work and that elites, experts and the media cannot be trusted. They will also use absurd narratives that blame Obama/Biden, continue to race-bait and blame people of color and immigrants, and suggest that God is punishing us for gays, abortion, and whatever else they fear. If our side does not push back hard, we can lose this argument and a significant political realignment could go against us. If you want to persuade, don’t focus on Trump’s lies, immorality or bigotry. Focus on how he is risking the health of the person you’re talking to, and his/her family and friends. It is Donald Trump who is trying to throw grandma from the train. YOUR grandma.

Don’t Let Pharma Make Us Pay Twice For COVID-19 Treatments: Alex Lawson

There’s much we don’t yet know about COVID-19. But we do know U.S. taxpayers have already paid for the research and testing of the most promising treatments. These treatments should be available to everyone who needs them at no cost. But the Trump administration’s drug policy is led by two former pharmaceutical executives, and that is having devastating consequences for potential access to treatments and vaccines for the pandemic. During his 2016 campaign, Trump loved to talk tough on pharma and say he would fight for lower drug prices. But then he put Alex Azar, a big pharma CEO infamous for doubling the price of insulin, in charge of regulating health care. Several weeks ago, Azar refused to guarantee that a coronavirus vaccine will be affordable for all, citing the need to protect big pharma’s profits. Over and over again, Trump now talks up big pharma corporations and thanks them for their work on COVID-19 treatments and a potential vaccine. He refers to them as “great companies” and their executives as “geniuses.” Trump fails to mention that taxpayers have spent nearly $700 million on coronavirus research through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Nor does he mention that big pharma corporations spend more money enriching themselves through stock buybacks than they do on research and development.

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a weekly email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

MORNING MESSAGE

Vijay Prasad

Why We Must Remember Berta Cáceres

On March 2, 2016, gunmen broke into the home of Berta Cáceres Flores and assassinated her. Cáceres led the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), which opposed the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River. This river, in western Honduras, is considered to be sacred by the indigenous Lenca community. The company that wanted to build the dam — Desarrollos Energéticos Sociedad Anónima (DESA)—was owned and controlled by one of the most powerful families in Honduras, the Atala Zablahs. The Honduran Army, at the behest of DESA and the Atala Sablah family, guarded the site. The assassination of Berta Cáceres came alongside the March 15, 2016, murder of Nelson Noé García of COPINH, and the October 18, 2016, murders of José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George of the Movimiento Unificado Campesino del Aguán (Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán, or MUCA). A new wave of extractive and energy-generating projects like the Gualcarque River dam has been on the table in Honduras for the past decade, since the coup d’état of 2009. The government has been eager to weaken the regulatory framework to allow companies of all kinds to have access to Honduras’ wealth. It is now well-known that Honduras has amongst the highest murder rates in the world; but that is not why these people are killed. They are killed for what they stand for, and whom they stand against. Honduras has many challenges: corruption, militarization, the attack on the land of the indigenous communities, the femicides, and the political murders. All the more reason to fight hard not only to defend the rights of the people, but to reclaim the country in their name.

Buttigieg Exits, Biden Exults After SC Vote

Biden races to lock down moderates as Buttigieg exit rocks rapidly shifting Democratic race. CNN: “Joe Biden is moving closer to consolidating the support of moderate Democratic voters and donors after a resounding victory in South Carolina and Pete Buttigieg’s departure from the party’s presidential race. The question heading into Super Tuesday is whether the former vice president and his growing momentum will be enough to keep pace in the delegate race with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He’ll also need to stave off former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose ads have blanketed the airwaves and social media apps in Super Tuesday states. Bloomberg could be positioned to be a spoiler for Biden, helping Sanders rack up delegates by dividing moderate voters. Fourteen states and American Samoa will vote on Tuesday on the biggest day of the Democratic primary — with 34% of the party’s pledged delegates up for grabs. Sanders expects a big win in California, the day’s biggest prize, as well as in other western and northeastern states. Biden is aiming to build on his advantage with African American voters in southern states like Alabama and North Carolina. The biggest battleground could be Texas, where Biden is campaigning Monday, and Sanders is hoping to recreate the Latino-led coalition that led him to victory in Nevada.”

Bloomberg Gets Cold Shoulder In Selma

People turn backs on Mike Bloomberg at Bloody Sunday church service in Selma. The Guardian: “Mike Bloomberg faced a small but tense protest at the historic Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, a handful of people standing and turning their backs on the former New York mayor as he spoke in the pulpit. Even before Bloomberg began speaking, it was clear his presence at the black church, which was the epicenter of the civil rights movement in Selma, was controversial. Pastor Leodis Strong prefaced the mayor’s speech by saying that when he first invited Bloomberg, he rebuffed the invitation only to later change his mind. ‘It shows a willingness on his part to change,’ Strong said, before adding that he wanted Bloomberg to come to Selma to listen to people. But several in the audience could be heard whispering in contempt – referencing the stop-and-frisk policing policy he pursued in New York and his immense wealth. One of the people who turned his back to the mayor was Ryan Haygood, president and chief executive of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice As Bloomberg spoke, he said, he thought about the kind of police brutality the civil rights organizers faced in the chapel 55 years ago as they protested for equal voting rights. Bloomberg, Haygood said, presided over the same kind of tactics as mayor of New York. As he realized the Democratic candidate was not planning to address that issue, Haygood said, he decided to turn his back.”

Klobuchar Rally Canceled Amid Protests

Klobuchar rally in Minnesota canceled amid protests. Politico: “Sen. Amy Klobuchar canceled a rally in her home state Sunday night as several dozen protesters chanted ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Klobuchar has got to go’ and ‘Free Myon’ — referencing the case of a black teenager convicted of murder after a flawed police investigation. According to videos that emerged on social media, the senator’s rally was set in St. Louis Park, Minn., at a local high school. WCCO-CBS Minnesota reported that the protesters made their way into the rally and on stage, where they continued chanting. After a 40-minute delay, the rally was canceled. A campaign spokesperson told the press: ‘The campaign offered a meeting with the Senator if they (protesters) would leave the stage after being on stage for more than an hour. After the group initially agreed, they backed out of the agreement and we are canceling the event.'”

Judge Overturns Cuccinelli’s Post, Policies At DHS

>Judge rules Cuccinelli appointment to top immigration post was unlawful, voiding some asylum orders. CBS: “A federal judge on Sunday ruled that Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to a top immigration post in the Trump administration, invalidating some of his directives to restrict the access asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border have to lawyers. In his 55-page order, Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said Cuccinelli was “not lawfully” appointed last year as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers and vets benefits for non-citizens like refugees, asylum-seekers and green card holders applying for U.S. citizenship. Moss said the June 2019 appointment of Cuccinelli, a vocal proponent of President Trump’s hardline immigration agenda, violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998. The federal judge, an appointee of President Obama, held that Cuccinelli was not eligible to become acting USCIS director last year because the position of principal deputy he initially assumed was not a ‘first assistant’ job, as defined by the 1998 law. Along with finding Cuccinelli’s appointment at USCIS unlawful, Moss voided a directive Cuccinelli issued last year to reduce the time asylum-seekers in so-called ‘credible fear’ proceedings have to receive counsel from lawyers. The judge also invalidated an order that barred asylum officers from granting extensions for the time migrants have to prepare for interviews, except ‘in the most extraordinary circumstances.’ Moss’ order stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) on behalf of five Honduran asylum-seekers and their children who received negative credible fear decisions by asylum officers. The judge set aside those decisions, as well as the expedited deportations orders issued against the five asylum-seekers, and ordered USCIS to process their cases again.”

Trump’s Permanent War On Good Government

The President is winning his war on American institutions. The Atlantic: “When Donald Trump came into office, there was a sense that he would be outmatched by the vast government he had just inherited. The new president was impetuous, bottomlessly ignorant, almost chemically inattentive, while the bureaucrats were seasoned, shrewd, protective of themselves and their institutions. They knew where the levers of power lay and how to use them or prevent the president from doing so. Trump’s White House was chaotic and vicious, unlike anything in American history, but it didn’t really matter as long as ‘the adults’ were there to wait out the president’s impulses and deflect his worst ideas and discreetly pocket destructive orders lying around on his desk. After three years, the adults have all left the room—saying just about nothing on their way out to alert the country to the peril—while Trump is still there. Within the federal government, career officials are weighing outside job opportunities against their pension plans and their commitment to their oaths. More than 1,000 scientists have left the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and other agencies, according to The Washington Post. Almost 80 percent of employees at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture have quit. The Labor Department has made deep cuts in the number of safety inspectors, and worker deaths nationwide have increased dramatically, while recalls of unsafe consumer products have dropped off. When passing laws and changing regulations prove onerous, the Trump administration simply guts the government of expertise so that basic functions wither away, the well-connected feed on the remains, and the survivors keep their heads down, until the day comes when they face the same choice as McCabe and Yovanovitch: do Trump’s dirty work or be destroyed. Four years is an emergency. Eight years is a permanent condition. “Things can hold together to the end of the first term, but after that, things fall apart,” Malinowski said. ‘People start leaving in droves. It’s one thing to commit four years of your life to the institution in the hope that you can be there for its restoration. It’s another to commit eight years. I can’t even wrap my head around what that would be like.'”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Steven Rosenfeld

Wisconsin’s Voter Purge Is Coming To Your State

Wisconsin has become early 2020’s Exhibit A for political fights surrounding the updating of statewide voter lists, where escalating court battles over conflicting law, procedures and underlying data could lead to removing thousands of legal but infrequent voters. The fray’s epicenter is a series of rulings by a county judge against Wisconsin’s bipartisan but deadlocked state election board, which has refused to immediately delete 209,000 voter registrations in a swing state with 3.3 million voters. The conflict may preview legal battles coming to other states. California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia have all received letters from Judicial Watch, a right-wing group, threatening to file suits like the complaint from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) against the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). WILL’s lawsuit, where two of its three plaintiffs are donors to state Republican campaigns, seeks the immediate removal of 209,000 infrequent voters who were flagged for the WEC by an interstate data consortium run by top election officials. But Wisconsin is not the only state wrestling with voter analytics. In Georgia, the process used last fall to remove 300,000-plus old registrations (out of 7.4 million statewide) led to 22,000 voters being reinstated in December. Thus, in early 2020, there is an emerging trend of the potential disqualification of thousands of infrequent voters in swing states. While partisan claims surrounding these developments often dominate their news coverage, this trend is driven by a confluence of conflicting laws, regulatory precedents and imperfect voter data.

Trump’s Mishandling Of Coronavirus Crisis Deepens

Trump seeks a ‘miracle’ as virus fears mount. CNN: “President Donald Trump is hoping for a “miracle” that will make the coronavirus disappear but tanking stock markets and signs the disease is stalking America are delivering their verdict on his scattershot management of the crisis. A historic Wall Street sell off, the first case on US soil that could not be traced to travel to countries battling the virus, and news of drug shortages outpaced White House efforts to show everything was under control. ‘It’s going to disappear. One day it’s like a miracle, it will disappear,’ Trump said at the White House Thursday as the virus marched across Asia and Europe after US officials said the US should brace for severe disruption to everyday life. The President also warned that things could ‘get worse before it gets better,’ but he added it could ‘maybe go away. We’ll see what happens. Nobody really knows.’ The President’s comments, which seemed divorced from the gravity of the situation, followed CNN reporting that raised new questions about Trump’s capacity to handle the crisis.

The Right’s War On The Judiciary

If we don’t reform the Supreme Court, nothing else will matter. The Nation: “ot a single significant policy or initiative proposed by the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination is likely to survive a Supreme Court review. Nothing on guns, nothing on climate, nothing on health care—nothing survives the conservative majority on today’s court. Democrats can win the White House with a huge popular mandate, take back the Senate, and nuke the filibuster, but Chief Justice John Roberts and his four associates will still be waiting for them. If the Democratic candidates are serious about advancing their agenda—be it a progressive agenda or a center-left agenda or a billionaire’s agenda—then they have to be serious about undertaking major, structural Supreme Court reform. That reform is not airy wish-casting by a hard left dreaming of revolution. It is the practical first step toward getting any meaningful Democratic policies through all three branches of government. Either court reform happens or nothing happens. People who focus only on Congress or the presidency are like people who plan a road trip thinking only about their eventual destination. They forget that without gas, nobody is going anywhere. Court reform can take a variety of forms, some blunt and partisan, others intricate and geared toward balance. But at its core, Supreme Court reform involves shaking up the configuration of the court. And at its core, it is constitutional. That’s because the Constitution provides Congress with wide latitude in structuring the court.”

How Trump’s SCOTUS Wants To Remake America

How will Trump’s Supreme Court remake America? NYT: “The line between law and politics has always been blurry, and judges have often professed to sharpen it. Claims of unblinking fidelity to the text have increasingly become the crowning orthodoxy on the right in recent decades. Now Gorsuch and his conservative colleagues have a chance to harness that energy to transform the law. “The Trump vision of the judiciary can be summed up in two words: ‘originalism’ and ‘textualism,.” Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, who was instrumental in Gorsuch’s and Kavanaugh’s appointments, said in 2017 at an event for the Federalist Society, a group that has been a juggernaut for propelling the courts to the right. Placing judges on the courts is “the most important thing we’ve done for the country,” Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, said last spring. He earlier promised that Trump judges (192 and counting) will “interpret the plain meaning of our laws and our Constitution according to how they are written.” Since the 1960s, conservatives have often derided liberal judges as “activists” who bend the law to make big changes. And until his departure in 2018, Justice Kennedy held the Supreme Court’s swing vote and (like Sandra Day O’Connor before him) restrained his fellow conservatives by forging a kind of national compromise on abortion rights, marriage equality, gun laws, the regulatory powers of federal agencies and the scope of the death penalty. But now Gorsuch, along with Thomas and Alito, has become “the leading edge of a second generation of conservatives who are not afraid of exercising judicial authority” — in other words, making decisions that can significantly change the law.”

The True Cost Of Underfunding Schools

Don’t blame teachers for selling their lesson plans. Blame the system that makes it necessary. EdWeek: “When I was hired to be a 1st grade teacher, I was given absolutely no curriculum for reading or science. While my school did have a math curriculum, it was out of date from the brand new, controversial Common Core State Standards and did not match our assessments. This often led me to Teachers Pay Teachers, a website where you can buy lessons made for current standards, created by current teachers. However, there is a growing number of disdainful educators who are downright angry that teachers are daring to sell their materials on TPT. It also makes me pause that many of those behind this “movement” on Twitter have sold millions of dollars worth of books on education. Their message seems to be: Publish a book full of strategies and ideas about education and profit off of it for years? No problem! Sell your lessons, decor, posters, or ideas? How dare you! The real problem here isn’t that teachers have made their own lessons and sold them. Teachers have been publishing their ideas and worksheets since there have been teachers. No, the real problem here is that so many teachers aren’t given what they need in order to do their job—for kids—that they have to pay other teachers to get what they need. The lack of funding in our schools is shocking, and it’s no surprise that schools can’t afford up-to-date curriculum when many can’t even afford basic furniture or actual teachers. Why are we angry with the teachers who are selling what they made in order to benefit others, make money, and, yes, help kids? Those teachers created resources because they didn’t have what they needed, and saving me the time and effort of creating it myself is worth a few dollars to me.”

Trump Can Beat Bernie: Here’s The Math

Bernie Sanders can beat Trump. Here’s the math. NYT: “Whatever you think about Bernie Sanders as a potential president, it is wrong to dismiss his chances of winning the office. Not only does most of the available empirical evidence show Mr. Sanders defeating President Trump in the national popular vote and in the critical Midwestern states that tipped the Electoral College in 2016, but his specific electoral strengths align with changes in the composition of the country’s population in ways that could actually make him a formidable foe for the president. Almost all of the current polling data shows Mr. Sanders winning the national popular vote. In the most recent national polls testing Democratic candidates against Mr. Trump, Mr. Sanders beat him in every single one. The empirical evidence shows that there is no need for alarm about Mr. Sanders being the Democratic nominee, and even some cause for confidence. If you want to engage in theoretical thought experiments, a useful exercise would be to ask how many people who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 would switch their votes to back Mr. Trump just because Mr. Sanders was the nominee? Common sense suggests that the answer is infinitesimally small. If that is the case, then Mr. Sanders would win the popular vote. As for the roughly 78,000 votes in three states that flipped the Electoral College, the particular strengths that Mr. Sanders brings to the contest strongly suggest that he could close that gap and make the leap into the Oval Office.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

David Goodner

Why Bernie Sanders Is Winning

“I’m hearing my name mentioned a little bit tonight, I wonder why,” said Senator Bernie Sanders said during the presidential candidates’ debate in Charleston, South Carolina. The 2020 presidential primary debates have always been largely about the ideas put forward by Sanders. His agenda and policy proposals – raising the minimum wage to a living wage, making public colleges and universities tuition-free, and guaranteeing health care to all people as a human right – have dominated the discussion at each one, including at the South Carolina debate on February 25. All the rest of the candidates, including progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have spent most of the campaign trying to distinguish themselves from him. But the further they get from his nationally popular positions, the more their poll numbers go down. Sanders’ choice of words is changing the way we talk. Just a few hours before the South Carolina debate, former progressive presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson published an op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times, defending the use the word “democratic” in “democratic socialism.” And the day after the South Carolina debate, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’d be comfortable with Sanders at the top of the Democratic ticket in November. That’s why Sanders continues to set the terms of the public debate: Because state by state, no matter what the Democratic establishment calls him, his ideas are popular.

Trump Bungles Coronavirus Response

Coronavirus lays bare all the pathologies of the Trump administration. WaPo: “Covid-19 has already infected more than 80,000 people in 37 countries, causing more than 2,600 deaths, and experts doubt it will slow in the spring. Yet Trump tweeted on Monday that ‘the Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA’ and ‘Stock Market starting to look very good to me!’ By Tuesday, the stock market had experienced two days of sharp drops, and the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Nancy Messonnier, was urging ‘the American public to work with us to prepare, in the expectation that this could be bad.’ That a virus that started in China could have a bad impact on the United States should be no surprise: Diseases don’t respect borders any more than terrorists or trade flows do. This will be news only to an ultra-nationalist president animated by unreasoning animus to “globalism.” This prejudice is about as silly as being hostile to “the weather.” Globalism isn’t something you can be for or against; it’s simply a fact of life. But Trump’s whole presidency is built on denying basic realities such as global warming and Russian attacks on our politics.”

Sanders Surpasses Biden With Black Voters

Rising number of Democrats say Sanders most likely to beat Trump as senator surpasses Biden in Black voter support. Common Dreams: “Support for Sen. Bernie Sanders among Democrats and African-American voters is growing, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos national polling results, which were released before Tuesday night’s Democratic presidential primary debate in South Carolina. The poll, conducted Feb.19-25, found that a rising number of Democrats believe Sanders (I-Vt.) has the best chance of beating President Donald Trump in November. While that question was not asked of registered Republicans, a plurality of all other respondents (26%) said Sanders is ‘most likely’ to beat Trump in the general election, compared with 20% who said billionaire businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 19% who said they ‘don’t know,’ and 17% who said former Vice President Joe Biden. Among registered Democratic voters, 29% selected Sanders as most likely to defeat the president compared with 21% who chose Bloomberg, 20% who named Biden, and 14% who said they “don’t know.” All the Democratic candidates except Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) were listed. As Reuters noted Wednesday, ‘That was a big change from a month earlier, when 27% of respondents gave Biden the edge, and just 17% thought Sanders could beat Trump.'”

Democratic Megadonor Tries To Stop Sanders Momentum

Democratic megadonor urges Pelosi and Schumer to pick a candidate in a bid to stop Bernie Sanders. CNBC: “Democratic megadonor Bernard Schwartz has started reaching out to party leaders, particularly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to encourage them to back a candidate for president in order to stop the surge of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Schwartz, the CEO of BLS Investments, told CNBC that in recent days he’s been trying to speak with Pelosi and Schumer about making a pick, in the hope that voters will follow their lead and end up denying Sanders the party’s presidential nomination. Schwartz noted he has yet to hear back from them but insisted that, with Super Tuesday under a week away, party leaders have to take a stand now before Sanders captures the nomination — and, in his view, takes down the party.”

Bloomberg Deletes Tweets Of Fake Comments

Bloomberg campaign deletes tweets of fake quotes of Sanders praising despots. Truthout: “ormer New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign came under fire after posting a series of now-deleted tweets that included fake quotes of 2020 Democratic front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders praising authoritarianism. As Common Dreams reported, Sanders’ comments praising former Cuban President Fidel Castro for literacy programs in the island nation echoed remarks made about the Cuban leader by former President Barack Obama just four years ago. Both Sanders and Obama denounced authoritarian rule in Cuba while acknowledging the Castro government oversaw major advances in its education and universal healthcare systems, leading to better health outcomes for Cubans. Bloomberg’s campaign, however, compared Sanders’ remarks to made-up statements attributed to the Vermont senator about former Ugandan President Idi Amin, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and others.”

America’s Broken Health Care System Unprepared For Coronavirus

America’s patchwork, for-profit healthcare system poised to worsen coronavirus outbreak. Salon: “There’s a reason that the story about a Miami man receiving a $3,270 medical bill after getting a test for Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) is going viral: it is a relatable cautionary tale for Americans accustomed to our piecemeal, overpriced, for-profit healthcare system. Despite the good news that Osmel Martinez Azcue tested negative for the virus, Azcue is left with a significant financial burden. (The Miami Herald reported that hospital officials said he will only be responsible for $1,400, thanks to his limited insurance plan from National General Insurance. However, he will have to provide three years of medical records to prove that the flu, which he tested positive for, didn’t relate to a preexisting condition.) ‘How can they expect normal citizens to contribute to eliminating the potential risk of person-to-person spread if hospitals are waiting to charge us $3,270 for a simple blood test and a nasal swab?’ Azcue told the Miami Herald. He’s got a point. Certainly, Azcue’s story foreshadows the kind of havoc expected once COVID-19 begins to spread in the United States, which experts now think is inevitable. Lacking the universal healthcare plans of other developed nations, the United States’ piecemeal, for-profit system essentially disincentivizes the uninsured and under-insured from seeking out testing for COVID-19, or even going to the doctor if they are sick in the first place. Supporters of Medicare for All, a universal healthcare system plan for the United States, have already pointed out how the potential for pandemic would be far less with such a system in place. ‘I can’t tell you how many times the people who handle your food — who are already overworked and underpaid — show up sick to work because our country refuses to guarantee healthcare or paid sick leave,’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a former bartender, wrote on Twitter.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Alexa Kasdan

What Mike Bloomberg Will Never Understand

As I watched the Democratic debate, like millions of other Americans I noticed the smug look on Michael Bloomberg’s face when Sen. Elizabeth Warren and others challenged him about his treatment of women, stop-and-frisk and other racist policies that he has championed. Eleven years ago, I personally had that exact same look directed at me. On Feb. 3, 2009, as New York City was reeling from a financial crisis fueled by Wall Street greed, I helped organize a peaceful protest of then-Mayor Bloomberg. More than 100 low-income New Yorkers, most of who were people of color, entered the ballroom at the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown Manhattan and surprised Bloomberg in the middle of his keynote address at the “Future of NYC” conference. We peacefully walked through the front door of the Grand Hyatt and entered the conference just as Bloomberg was beginning his speech. We chanted, “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” in response to the mayor’s continued refusal to meet Right to the City members and his dismissal of the voices of low-income people of color who lived and worked in New York City. I’ll never forget the look on Bloomberg’s face that day in 2009. He was shocked and disgusted that anyone would interrupt or challenge him. In response to our chant, Bloomberg said, “I think actually they were right! In most other countries, they throw them in the slammer. This is a democracy.” Ironically, as we were voluntarily leaving the hotel, eight of our members were arrested, myself included, and forced to spend the night in jail (the charges were ultimately dropped, but only after months of having to go back and forth to court). Bloomberg says he’s sorry for some of the racist policies of his mayoralty — policies that everyday New Yorkers are still reeling from. But from the look he gave Warren — the very same look he gave me and 100 other protestors in the Hyatt Ballroom — it’s clear that he hasn’t changed a bit. We cannot allow another billionaire to buy his way into office. We cannot afford to have another leader that thinks he is above critique and dissent. We need a leader who will listen deeply to the voices of those on the ground, and work with them to develop solutions that address our country’s legacy of greed, racism and sexism. This is still what democracy looks like.

Sanders, Bloomberg Grilled At SC Debate

5 takeaways from the South Carolina Democratic debate. LA Times: “Well, that was spunky! South Carolina has a history of rapscallion politicians and rowdy debates, and Tuesday night’s two-hour throw down in Charleston was no exception. For those not named Michael R. Bloomberg or Bernie Sanders, the debate may have been the last best chance for candidates to assert themselves before Saturday’s Democratic primary, which could claim several casualties ahead of the balloting blitz on March 3, Super Tuesday. It took two Sanders victories and a virtual tie for his rivals to admit it, but on Tuesday night there was no doubting it: The Vermont senator is the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. With Sanders threatening to run away with the contest, others did all they could to trip him up. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar mocked his lofty promises: ‘The math does not add up.’ Bloomberg’s presidential campaign overflows with superlatives: staggering sums of money, a blizzard of advertising, an army of staff. But his widely panned debate performance last week in Las Vegas invited less grandiose descriptions, which left New York City’s former mayor nowhere to go but up. He cracked a lame and obviously rehearsed joke, professing surprise others took the stage after he wiped the floor with them in Nevada. He was haughty, brushing aside a persistent Warren and griping about being cut off by moderators. He almost handed his opponents a bludgeon when he spoke of the millions he poured into the 2018 midterm elections, saying, ‘All of the new Democrats that came in and put Nancy Pelosi in charge and gave the Congress the ability to control this president, I bough- … I got them.'”

SCOTUS Blocks Case Of Teen Killed By Border Agents

Supreme court blocks Mexican family’s legal bid over teen killed by border agent. The Guardian: “The US supreme court has refused to open the door for foreign nationals to pursue civil rights cases in American courts, declining to revive a lawsuit by a slain Mexican teenager’s family against the US border agent who shot him from across the border in Texas. The court ruled 5-4 to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of the lawsuit against the agent, Jesus Mesa, who shot 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Guereca in the face in the 2010 incident. The family sued in federal court seeking monetary damages, accusing Mesa of violating the US constitution’s fourth amendment ban on unjustified deadly force and the fifth amendment right to due process. The court, with the five conservative justices in the majority, refused to allow people who are not in the United States at the time of a cross-border incident to file civil rights lawsuits in federal court. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for majority, said the case presented “foreign relations and national security implications” and noted that Congress should decide whether such lawsuits can be permitted, backing the position taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.”

Sanders Calls Out U.S. Overthrows Of Foreign Governments

‘In Chile, In Guatemala, In Iran’: Sanders applauded for highlighting U.S. record of overthrowing governments around the world. Common Dreams: “Facing a barrage of attacks from his Democratic rivals and hawkish questions from moderators, Sen. Bernie Sanders said during the presidential primary debate in South Carolina Tuesday night that political leaders must face up to America’s long record of toppling democratically elected governments overseas. ‘Excuse me, occasionally it might be a good idea to be honest about American foreign policy,’ Sanders, the Democratic frontrunner, said as Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden attempted to slime the senator over his comments on Cuba’s education and healthcare systems and falsely accuse him of being sympathetic to authoritarianism. ‘That includes,’ Sanders continued, ‘the fact that America has overthrown governments all over the world in Chile, in Guatemala, in Iran.’ While pundits were not pleased with Sanders’ remarks, progressives applauded the senator’s willingness to speak candidly about the United States’ sordid record overseas.”

Barr Sparks Surveillance Showdown

Congress braces for potential surveillance debacle after Barr briefing. Politico: “Congress braces for potential surveillance debacle after Barr briefing
. Politico: “Attorney General William Barr told Senate Republicans on Tuesday that the Trump administration could support a clean extension of contentious surveillance laws set to expire next month. And Barr said he could make changes on his own to satisfy President Donald Trump and his allies who have railed against the use of the law to monitor his 2016 campaign, according to senators at a party briefing. But Barr also clashed with GOP critics of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which has three key provisions set to lapse on March 15. And with House Democrats eyeing their own changes to the law, some Senate Republicans fear a deal to extend the law might be nearly impossible. House Democrats are pushing their own version of FISA reforms. On Wednesday, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) will begin advancing a reauthorization that would end the seizure of call records and extend roving wiretap and lone wolf surveillance authorities with some reforms. Senate Republicans and Barr are unlikely to accept those changes anytime soon. And those dynamics have some fretting the programs will briefly expire, just as they did in 2015 when Paul and McConnell clashed over reforming the much-criticized bulk data collection program.”

Trump’s New Intelligence Chief Was Unregistered Foreign Agent

Trump’s ‘Acting’ DNI Chief Did Not Disclose Foreign Ties. ProPublica: “President Donald Trump’s new acting intelligence director, Richard Grenell, used to do consulting work on behalf of an Eastern European oligarch who is now a fugitive and was recently barred from entering the U.S. under anti-corruption sanctions imposed last month by the State Department. In 2016, Grenell wrote several articles defending the oligarch, a Moldovan politician named Vladimir Plahotniuc, but did not disclose that he was being paid, according to records and interviews. Grenell also did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which generally requires people to disclose work in the U.S. on behalf of foreign politicians. FARA is the same law that Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates were convicted of violating. (Manafort went to trial. Gates pleaded guilty.) It’s not clear whether the articles were directly part of Grenell’s paid consulting work for Plahotniuc. Unpaid work could still require disclosures under FARA if it was directed by or primarily benefited a foreign politician, according to Matthew Sanderson, a lawyer at Caplin & Drysdale who advises people on complying with FARA. FARA contains several exemptions, such as for lawyers and businesses, Sanderson said, but none appear to apply to Grenell’s op-eds about Plahotniuc. ‘There is real reason to believe that Mr. Grenell should have registered here,’ Sanderson said after ProPublica described the circumstances to him. ‘This is exactly the type of circumstances I’d expect the Department of Justice to investigate further.'”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Lisa Demaine

People Power Is Winning In New Hampshire

This is it, folks! Tuesday’s presidential primary is our big day – when the people power our member-driven organization, Rights & Democracy (RAD), has built over the last four years will shine. We will show the nation what people power truly looks like, as we help Senator Bernie Sanders win big in the Granite State. Hundreds of RAD members from New Hampshire and Vermont have been joined by volunteers from across the nation to help Bernie over the finish line in the last days and hours of this critical campaign. So much is at stake. Weekend after weekend, day after day, we have shown up at rallies, events, and most importantly, to knock on doors and talk with folks about why Bernie’s multigenerational, multiracial campaign is just the beginning of a change we can believe in. Bernie’s not only going to win the Democratic primary in New Hampshire: the movement he has started will be the force that will defeat Trump in 2020, and put the people back in charge of our government. Together, we’re changing the way politics are done in this country.This is people power: This is what democracy looks like. What’s happening on the ground here and all across the country is changing politics as usual. To see thousands of volunteers turn out to support Bernie, who has been unbought and unbossed for forty years, is inspiring. It inspires me to believe this country can belong to its people.

Lisa Demaine is Keep It In the Ground Field Coordinator for Rights & Democracy New Hampshire, where she has led teams of millennials pressuring politicians to make deeper commitment to addressing the climate crisis.

Young People May Tip Scales In NH Primary

Young people have been eyeing the NH primary since 2017. They could make the difference. The Intercept: “election, youth organizers prowled the state of New Hampshire, registering college students and bird-dogging presidential candidates in the nation’s first primary state. They continued working to turn out young people through the general election, powering Democratic Senate candidate Maggie Hasan over the GOP incumbent, Kelly Ayotte, by just 1,016 votes, and Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a margin of 2,736. College students were so closely associated with the wins that the Republican legislature has since moved to curb their ability to vote in the state. The core organizers came primarily from the campus fossil fuel divestment movement, which had been funded by the climate group 350.org and tried to pressure institutions to sell off their oil and gas investments. Heading into the 2016 primary, Yong Jung Cho, a 350 organizer, persuaded many of those divestment activists to focus on electoral politics, arguing that bigger gains could be made in the political arena. They had a simple goal: spend the next three years organizing in order to boost youth turnout in the New Hampshire presidential primary by 6 percent, and do the same in the general election. That would be enough, they figured, to nominate and elected a progressive as president in 2020. So far, they’ve identified and registered 12,000 students who didn’t vote in 2016. The primary could be won with just 60,000 or so votes, given the crowded field, meaning that the youth intervention could prove decisive.”

Trump’s 2021 Budget Pays For Tax Cuts By Slashing Medicare

Trump’s 2021 ‘budget’ pays for tax cuts by slashing Medicare. Crooks and Liars: “How will announcing cuts to nursing home residents and the elderly work for Trump in an election year? We’re about to find out. Trump released his “budget” for 2021, and it includes huge cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security disability. It also includes money for his ‘wall,’ the one that blew over into Mexico and also needs to have open gates several months a year for flood control. Most remarkable is that the cuts match almost dollar-for-dollar the tax cuts Trump has provided to the billioniare class. The Orange Stable Genius also wants to cut the the Environmental Protection Agency by 26 percent in an election year.Greg Sargeant in the Washington Post agrees that Trump isn’t acting like it’s an election year: ‘Trump just saddled himself with a major campaign liability.’”

CPB Dynamites Burial Grounds To Build Border Wall

Native American burial grounds threatened by blasts for border wall construction, Arizona congressman says. CNN: “Construction crews blowing up parts of a national monument to make way for the border wall could be on the verge of destroying sacred burial sites, an Arizona congressman who represents the area told CNN. But Rep. Raúl Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat, said he’s still hoping the crews will change course before it’s too late. ‘You can’t replace these things. You can’t fix them once they’re gone,’ Grijalva said. ‘And as someone that grew up in the borderlands, it’s painful to know that this is occurring.’ Controlled blasts began inside Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument last week, according to Ned Norris Jr., chairman of the Tohono O’odham Nation, which is adjacent to the monument. The blasting was first reported last week by The Intercept, a news site. US Customs and Border Protection did not respond to CNN’s inquiries about the explosions. In a statement to the Arizona Republic, the agency said blasts had started in the area. ‘The controlled blasting is targeted and will continue intermittently for the rest of the month,’ CBP said, according to the Republic. ‘U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to have an environmental monitor present during these activities as well as on-going clearing activities.’ Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is a park that encompasses more than 500 square miles in southern Arizona, bordering the Mexican state of Sonora. On the National Park Service website, it’s described as an International Biosphere Reserve with a ‘thriving community of plants and animals.’”

GA Sees Surge Of Young Voters

Rise of young and diverse Georgia voters may influence 2020 elections. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “A wave of people signed up to vote in Georgia last year, adding 322,000 active voters to the rolls ahead of a presidential election in an increasingly competitive state. Many of these incoming voters are young and racially diverse, according to voter registration data from the secretary of state’s office. Nearly one-third of Georgia’s voters are under 35 years old. Most Georgia voters are white, but their majority is gradually shrinking each year.The rising number of voters from demographic groups that tend to support Democrats could make the Republican-leaning state more of a battleground than ever, with a presidential race, two U.S. Senate seats and three open U.S. House seats on the ballot this year. Georgia’s presidential primary is March 24.There are now nearly 7.2 million registered voters in Georgia, a 3% increase in one year.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Cherie Mortice, Dartanyan Brown

Bernie Stands With Iowans, We Stand With Him

I’m Cherie Mortice, and I’m Dartanyan Brown. We’re members of Iowa CCI Action and People’s Action, and we’re voting for Bernie Sanders. Here’s why: We believe people come before profits. We fight for Medicare for All, which means everybody in – nobody out. We fight for worker’s rights, civil rights, a Green New Deal, justice in the agricultural space, and clean, safe drinking water. We’re rural and urban people working together on the issues that matter most right now. And we know these issues matter to Bernie, too – because he stands with us. Over four decades, he’s held on to the same ideals and values. He’s got consistency of philosophy, and clarity of intent. You can’t fake that, and you can’t buy that! You have to live it – and Bernie Sanders does. There’s a groundswell of grassroots support for the things Bernie talks about. You’ll see it tonight when we cast our votes, and soon, all across the country. That’s why we stand with Bernie Sanders – he stands with us. We trust Bernie, and he trusts us, too.

Click here for more about why Cherie and Dartanyan are voting for Bernie Sanders in tonight’s Iowa Caucus, and some of their favorite campaign moments.

What’s At Stake In Tonight’s Iowa Caucus

What’s at stake in the Iowa caucuses. NYT: “A historically large Democratic presidential field has been narrowed to 11, with these seven candidates mounting competitive efforts in Iowa. If history and the laws of mathematics are any guide, no more than four of them will emerge from the caucuses on Monday with a plausible case to be the Democratic nominee against President Trump. Public polling averages show Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. atop the field, with Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., bundled close behind. Yet there are few close observers of Iowa politics who feel confident in their prognostications. Other than a widespread belief that Mr. Sanders will place first or, at worst, second, the other three leading candidates could each place anywhere from first to fourth without it being a shock. Iowa awards just 41 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, a tiny fraction of the more than 1,900 required to become the party’s nominee. But all the candidates competing here agree that whoever wins, or at least overperforms expectations, will suddenly have momentum as the field moves to New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and beyond.”

Iowa’s Green New Deal

What the Green New Deal could mean for Iowa. New Republic: “Since the idea of a wide-reaching plan to stimulate the economy, combat inequality, and curb climate change entered the national spotlight in 2018, Fox News and the Republican Party have suggested it might be at odds with rural America. Conservative pundits have cited its association with a democratic socialist from New York City, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or claimed leftists want to take away the nation’s hamburgers to eliminate cow farts. The Green New Deal is now one of the most widely recognized policies under debate in the Democratic presidential primaries. But many voters still aren’t sure what a Green New Deal is, much less what it’ll mean for their own lives and their communities. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have each released policy platforms laying out plans for climate-smart agricultural production, incorporating long-standing demands from farmers’ movements. But these haven’t exactly captured the popular imagination. Ahead of the Iowa Caucus, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and the Sunrise Movement are trying to fill the gap, quite literally sketching out what life in this next Decade of the Green New Deal, as they’ve called it, will look like for Iowans and millions of others whose livelihoods revolve around agriculture. In a video released Monday morning, ahead of the caucus, the groups imagine that decade starting with a massive farm bill that includes fair price guarantees on crops, akin to fair wage laws.”

Youth Vote Boosts Sanders Polls

Last poll before caucus shows Sanders with 7-point lead. Common Dreams: An Emerson/7 News poll released on the eve of the Iowa caucuses found that Sen. Bernie Sanders, buttressed by strong support from younger voters, is leading the 2020 Democratic presidential field in the state by seven percentage points heading into Monday’s voting. According to the new survey, Sanders has the support of 28% of likely Iowa caucus-goers. Former Vice President Joe Biden polled in second place with 21% support, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 15%. ‘The key to Sanders’ lead is his overwhelming support among young voters, as he garners 45% support among 18-49 year-olds,’ Emerson noted in a write-up of the poll results. The survey of 853 likely Iowa Democratic caucus-goers was conducted between Jan. 30 and Feb. 2 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.3%.”

Final Senate Arguments In Impeachment

Senate set for closing arguments on impeachment. The Hill: “The Senate is scheduled to convene as a court of impeachment at 11 a.m. Monday to hear the closing arguments on whether to remove President Trump from office. Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) won a big victory Friday when they defeated a push by Democrats to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton and other witnesses, suffering only two GOP defections on the key procedural vote. On Monday, senators will hear four hours of closing arguments, the time equally divided between the House impeachment manager and the president’s lawyers. The impeachment managers are likely to emphasize recent statements by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and other Republicans conceding that Trump ordered aid to Ukraine held in order to spur an investigation of Vice President Joe Biden. While Alexander said the action didn’t warrant impeachment, he and other senators have criticized Trump’s actions. The House managers will argue, however, if senators agree that Trump tried to use his authority to get a foreign country to influence the upcoming election, it is their constitutional duty to remove him from office for abuse of power.”

Rural America Holds Key To 2020 Victory

For Democrats, the road to victory in 2020 runs through rural America. In These Times: “It’s just over three years since the 2016 election and it has become unsettlingly normal in liberal circles to dismiss “rural America” as “Trump country” and look elsewhere for Democratic electoral hopes―like the Trump-dissatisfied suburbs. A refreshing report from the advocacy organization People’s Action, composed of 48 member groups in 30 states, starts from the opposite premise: If Democrats want to regain power―and this goes for the Presidency and the Senate as well as state governments―they have got to figure out how to win in rural parts of this country. The question, as we barrel toward the 2020 elections, is how. The People’s Action report, which is titled “Win Rural: How to Build a Progressive Populist Political Movement in Rural and Small-Town America,” offers the beginning of an answer.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

George Goehl

Why – And How – We Endorsed Bernie Sanders

People’s Action has endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States. We are proud of this choice, and of his values. We are also proud of the deep process that led us to this decision. It reflects our commitment to radical democracy, so every voice can be heard. We are inspired by civil rights leader Bayard Rustin’s statement that, “If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.” Democracy is, and always will be, a work in progress. This is true in our nation, as it is at People’s Action. We feel we have made the right call in endorsing Senator Sanders, as it strengthens and clarifies our commitment to the values he represents. It also strengthens People’s Action, and our ability to do democracy in ways we are just starting to grasp. We also feel even more sure that as we practice democracy as a means, we are more likely to get there in the end.

Impeachment Hangs On Handful Of Senate Votes

Three ways the end of the impeachment trial could play out. The Hill: “Friday will be a make-or-break moment in President Trump’s impeachment trial as Republicans try to bring the proceedings to a close. Senators will hold a crucial vote on whether to call new witnesses or compel documents as part of the Senate’s proceeding. Though Trump is all but guaranteed to be acquitted at the end of the trial, Friday’s vote is a turning point that will determine what comes next, including how long it will last. The Senate is expected to convene by 1 p.m. on Friday. Senators are warning that if Republicans successfully block witnesses, senators are likely to move quickly to Trump’s acquittal on Friday night or early Saturday. Before a vote on witnesses, both Trump’s legal team and House managers get up to two hours each to make their cases to the Senate, according to a resolution passed last week on the rules for the trial. What happens after that? Democrats must win over four GOP senators to win the witness vote, or three senators with the backing of Roberts, which would lengthen the trial. A move to acquit appears to be the most likely outcome, as the pool of potential Republican votes is quickly shrinking. One option that has sparked days of speculation around the Capitol is that the Senate’s vote could result in a 50-50 tie on the issue of calling witnesses.”

SCOTUS Gives Green Light To Immigration Hardline

“Public Charge” ruling shows the Supreme court won’t save us from Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. The Intercept: “Expanding the ‘public charge’ rule, rightly described as a ‘wealth test’ for immigrants, has long been on the Trump administration’s fascistic agenda wish list. The new policy — which would make it harder for legal immigrants to obtain green cards if they use, or have ever used, public benefits, including food programs and Medicaid — constitutes a dramatic and draconian shift in immigration policy. After it was first announced last August, immigrant rights advocates and numerous states rushed to oppose the rule; lower courts upheld a national injunction against the cruel policy shift, which could see permanent residency status denied to even employed, documented immigrants who have used government assistance programs. The Supreme Court’s party-line ruling in Trump’s favor is just the latest reminder that righteous appeals to judicial checks and balances, and to a constitutional bulwark against Trumpian policy excess, come to a dead end in the nation’s highest court. As in the case of the so-called Muslim ban, and the decision to allow billions of dollars in Pentagon funds to go toward building the border wall, the Supreme Court has once again made painfully clear the limits of legal challenges to Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.”

Trump Rolls Out Plan To Gut Medicaid

Trump pushes forward conservative transformation of Medicaid. Politico: “The Trump administration took a big step forward Thursday to let states convert a portion of Medicaid funding into block grants, a long-sought conservative overhaul of the safety net health care program that Democrats will wield as a political weapon during the election. The plan is the administration’s boldest step yet to curb Medicaid spending and shrink the program covering about 1 in 5 low-income Americans. But the move is inciting fierce opposition from Democrats who say it’s the latest evidence President Donald Trump is trying to sabotage health coverage. CMS Administrator Seema Verma, who’s crafted the politically sensitive and closely guarded plan for over a year, on Thursday encouraged state Medicaid directors to request budgeted federal payments to cover poor adults who enrolled through Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in recent years. States who voluntarily cover adult populations outside of the Obamacare expansion could also receive capped funding. Capped Medicaid payments would represent a radical departure in how the 55-year-old program is financed. The federal government has long provided open-ended matching funds to states.”

Acquittal Will Give Trump Imperial Powers

Donald Trump will be “acquitted” — and his quest to become emperor moves on. Salon: “When the president famously said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes, he wasn’t kidding, at least when it comes to GOP officials. He has an iron grip on his party. From the first moment of the trial, it’s been obvious that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s only organizing principle was to prevent the hearing of witnesses and get the trial over with as soon as possible. John Bolton’s announcement that he was willing to testify before the Senate under subpoena presented a slight bump in the road, which McConnell finessed easily with his gambit to put off the issue until the end of the trial. When the New York Times reported that Bolton’s testimony would directly implicate the president, McConnell put the squeeze on any wavering GOP senators and as of Thursday night, it appeared clear that there would not be enough votes to allow him to testify. House managers have presented a meticulous case showing that the president has abused his power, arguing that to fail to hold him accountable would make him a de facto king. At first, Trump’s defense lawyers argued that he didn’t do it or that he was just a selfless corruption crusader. But when former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz took the podium he basically stipulated to everything the House managers have said, arguing that nothing can be done about it because abuse of power is not an impeachable offense. Two days later he doubled down on that argument saying, ‘If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.’ In his mind, a president who believes it’s in the nation’s interest for him to be the president is free to do whatever will ensure his election.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

Miles Mogulescu

Democrats Should Want Joe Biden To Testify

Joe Biden’s strongest argument to be the Democratic Presidential nominee is that he has the best chance of defeating Donald Trump. There’s a clear way to test this. Democrats should accept the challenge being floated by some Republicans to trade witness testimony by John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney for testimony by Joe Biden. If, when testifying under oath, Biden strongly and convincingly refutes implications of corruption being cast at him by Trump and the Republicans, then he strengthens his electability argument for the Democratic nomination. If, on the other hand, he wilts under the pressure, and allows Republicans to tar him with a whiff of corruption, then Democrats should seriously consider whether nominating Biden means nominating a loser. Democrats have the chance to see this ultimate test played out in the public arena of the Impeachment trial now, rather than risking discovering too late, whether they’ve nominated the most electable or the least electable candidate to take on Trump. Trump boosters want to create a false equivalency between his massive corruption – the worst of any President in history – and the soft-core corruption of a Democratic rival. They could undermine the image of the Democratic nominee. In doing so, they plan to give swing voters an excuse to choose the demonstrably corrupt Trump over a Democratic rival whom they come to view as corrupt. This threatens a replay of the 2016 election. If Biden is chosen as the Democratic nominee, the Republican Convention will likely resonate with chants of “Lock Him Up!” So if Biden wants to be the Democratic nominee, he needs to prove to primary voters now – not after the primaries – that unlike Hillary, he can stand up to Republican charges of corruption.

Republicans Move To Block Witnesses

Republicans move to block impeachment witnesses, driving toward acquittal. NYT: “The White House and Senate Republicans worked aggressively on Wednesday to discount damaging revelations from John R. Bolton and line up the votes to block new witnesses from testifying in President Trump’s impeachment trial, in a push to bring the proceeding to a swift close. As the Senate opened a two-day, 16-hour period of questioning from senators, Mr. Trump laced into Mr. Bolton, his former national security adviser, whose unpublished manuscript contains an account that contradicts his impeachment defense. The president described Mr. Bolton on Twitter as a warmonger who had “begged” for his job, was fired, and then wrote ‘a nasty & untrue book.’ On Capitol Hill, Mr. Trump’s aides circulated a letter informing Mr. Bolton that the White House was moving to block publication of his forthcoming book, in which he wrote that the president refused to release military aid to Ukraine until its leaders committed to investigating his political rivals. That is a core element of the Democrats’ case, which charges Mr. Trump with seeking to enlist a foreign government to help him win re-election this year. Before the trial convened, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, and other Republicans signaled that they were regaining confidence that they would be able to cobble together the 51 votes needed to block new witnesses and documents and bring the trial to an acquittal verdict as soon as Friday.”

Apologia For Authoritarianism

Trump lawyer argues president can do whatever he wants to boost reelection chances. Common Dreams: “Lawmakers and legal analysts observing President Donald Trump’s ongoing Senate trial voiced alarm at a brazen and sweeping line of defense offered Wednesday by Trump attorney Alan Dershowitz: ‘If a president does something which he believes will help him get elected in the public interest, that cannot be the kind of quid pro quo that results in impeachment.’ Dershowitz’s argument during a Senate question-and-answer session reverberated across Capitol Hill and social media, sparking warnings that—if accepted—Trump or any other president would be free to do whatever they please as long as they can claim they were acting to advance their chances of reelection. ‘This of course would mean that a president could not be impeached for doing literally anything in the service of his own reelection,’ tweeted Cornell Law professor Josh Chafetz. One observer described Dershowitz’s claim as an ‘apologia for authoritarianism,’ and another remarked: ‘I’m not sure even kings had such powers.’ Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the lead House impeachment manager and chairman of the Intelligence Committee, said Dershowitz’s defense suggests presidents have free rein to cheat in elections to boost their hopes of victory. ‘If you say you can’t hold a president accountable in an election year where they’re trying to cheat in that election,’ said Schiff, ‘then you are giving them carte blanche.’”

House Dems Demand Housing Solutions

Federal representatives need to take action to solve the housing crisis. SF Examiner: “Prior to disinvestment of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the 1980s, urban homelessness was a rare sight in the United States. HUD provided funds to local governments to construct affordable housing and operated a robust public housing program. Our public housing programs have been decimated. Tenants in public housing today struggle with buildings in disrepair. A federal law called the Faircloth Amendment prohibits the United States from building more public housing, so while San Francisco struggles from a severe housing shortage, the housing being constructed today is not targeted towards those who need it most. Much of this crisis was caused by our federal government and we need federal intervention to solve it. There are a slew of federal proposals right now that would reinvigorate the federal government’s role in housing. The Homes Guarantee, endorsed by Bernie Sanders, is a national platform to guarantee housing as a human right. It would repeal the Faircloth Amendment, build 12 million more permanently affordable homes, enact federal rent control, tackle segregation, and invest $150 billion to rehab existing public housing. The platform, created by dozens of grassroots housing activists over more than a year, has strong support from progressives in Congress and has led to a series of bills enacting components of the platform. The Place to Prosper Act, by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Green New Deal for Housing Act, by both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, would enact national rent control and retrofit every existing public housing unit in the country. The Homes for All Act, introduced by Ilhan Omar, is based on the Homes Guarantee and would repeal the Faircloth Amendment to build millions more permanently affordable homes.”

Scientists Slam Biden’s False Claim About GND

57 climate scientists object after Biden falsely claims “not a single solitary scientist” thinks Sanders’ Green New Deal can work. Common Dreams: “After former Vice President Joe Biden late last week falsely claimed that “there’s not a single solitary scientist that thinks” the kind of bold Green New Deal initiative put forth by his 2020 Democratic primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders “can work,” more than four dozen U.S. climate scientists responded Tuesday to make clear that just isn’t true. Sanders’ Green New Deal is a sweeping proposal that calls for “100 percent renewable energy for electricity and transportation by no later than 2030 and complete decarbonization by at least 2050″ while investing $16.3 trillion over ten years to create an estimated 20 million new jobs, support vulnerable communities and a just transition for workers, and fund a massive infrastructure project. The Vermont senator has said such a plan is necessary to avert the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Biden made his comment attacking the plan during a campaign event in Claremont, New Hampshire on Friday, but climate experts were quick to object.”

MI Sues Over ‘Forever Chemical’ Contamination

Michigan sues companies over ‘forever chemical’ contamination. The Hill: Michigan is suing several companies over the use of PFAS chemicals, or ‘forever chemicals,’ due to their persistence in the environment and human body ‘Who knew that firefighting foam, teflon, leather goods and clothing … are just a few of the thousands of industrial and consumer products made with defendants’ ‘forever’ PFAS chemicals that persist and build up in our environment?’ asked Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) at a press conference on Tuesday. ‘I’ll tell you who knew,’ she continued, ‘The 17 defendants we sued today’ In the lawsuit, Michigan accused the companies of manufacturing and using the chemicals ‘with full knowledge of PFAS health and environmental risks, which they intentionally hid from the public and the State.’ It also accused the companies of failing to act despite knowledge of health and environmental risks posed by PFAS.”

Sanders Or Warren? Why Not Both?

Sanders or Warren? Why not both? The Nation: “A progressive unity ticket may seem utopian, but it need not be a fantasy. In fact, the progressive candidates may make the most electable ticket. Corporate Democrats might not like the result, but after lecturing the left about the importance of party unity for decades, they’ll just have to practice what they’ve preached. What if we could have both? Sanders’ courage and consistency and deep understanding of what a rigged system does to the lives of the people it runs over and brands as failures. And Warren’s policy chops and personal warmth and cold intellectual fury at the same bankers and billionaires and predatory monopolists targeted by her rival. Among its other advantages, this approach ensures both candidates would remain in the race until the final primaries on June 2. That’s essential, because the delegate math is clear: If, as now seems likely, three candidates finish with 15 percent of the vote, none would have the nearly 2,000 delegates required to win on the first ballot. That would hand the decision to some 750 unelected delegates appointed by Tom Perez and the Democratic National Committee.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW