Progressive Breakfast: We Need A Housing Revolution Now

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

We Need a Housing Revolution Now

The word “revolution” has been overused, but it fits when we talk about our housing crisis. We need to radically rethink this, with policies built around people rather than finance. The vision of housing as a human right must become a fundamental part of the progressive vision. Citizens need to ask candidates at the national, state, and local levels to commit to this principle. It’s good policy – and candidates are likely to find that it’s good politics, too. More importantly, it’s a moral challenge. Our society can no longer ignore it.

SCOTUS Rules Against Deportation Law

Gorsuch joins SCOTUS liberals to Strike down deportation law. NYT: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down a law that allowed the government to deport some immigrants who commit serious crimes, saying it was unconstitutionally vague. The decision will limit the Trump administration’s efforts to deport people convicted of some kinds of crimes. The vote was 5 to 4, with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch joining the court’s four more liberal members to form a bare majority, which was a first. Justice Gorsuch wrote that the law crossed a constitutional line. ‘Vague laws,’ he wrote in a concurring opinion, ‘invite arbitrary power.’ Justice Gorsuch had voted with the court’s conservative majority in February in a different immigration case, one that ruled that people held in immigration detention, sometimes for years, are not entitled to periodic hearings to decide whether they may be released on bail.”

Gun Violence Activist Calls For Boycott Of BlackRock, Vanguard

Parkland activist David Hogg calls for boycott of BlackRock and Vanguard. CNN: “One of the best-known student activists from the school shooting in Parkland, Florida is calling for a boycott of BlackRock and Vanguard. On Tuesday, David Hogg said on Twitter the giant investment management companies are ‘two of the biggest investors in gun manufacturers,’ and customers should take their business elsewhere. Both companies have faced pressure from gun control advocates to divest from gun stocks since the shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in February. BlackRock is the top shareholder in gunmakers Sturm Ruger (RGR) and American Outdoor Brands (AOBC). It’s the second-largest shareholder in Vista Outdoor (VSTO). Vanguard is the second-largest shareholder in Sturm Ruger, and the third-largest shareholder in American Outdoor Brands and Vista Outdoor.”

Starbucks To Close Stores To Address Bias

Starbucks to close stores for an afternoon for bias training. WaPo: “Starbucks, moving swiftly to confront a racially charged uproar over the arrest of two black men at one of its stores in Philadelphia, plans to close more than 8,000 U.S. stores for several hours next month to conduct racial-bias training for nearly 175,000 workers. The announcement Tuesday comes after the arrests sparked protests and calls for a boycott on social media. A video shows police talking with two black men seated at a table. After a few minutes, officers handcuff the men and lead them outside as other customers say they weren’t doing anything wrong. Philadelphia-area media said the two were waiting for a friend.”

Trump Energy Adviser Resigns

Top Trump energy adviser resigns. The Hill: “President Trump’s top adviser for energy and environment policy is stepping down. Michael Catanzaro, who has headed domestic energy and environment issues at the White House’s National Economic Council (NEC), plans to leave next week and return to CGCN Group, the law and lobbying firm where he previously worked… Catanzaro was rarely the public face of the Trump administration’s policies, but he was a leading figure in the administration for carrying out Trump’s aggressive deregulatory and pro-fossil fuel agenda. He played a significant role in the ongoing rollback of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan and its Clean Water Rule.”

Red States May Vote For Medicaid Expansion

3 red states could put Medicaid expansion on the ballot this year. Vox: “Medicaid expansion is back on the ballot. Organizers in Utah submitted signatures on Monday to put an initiative expanding Medicaid on the state’s ballot in November. They got 165,000 signatures, or about 50,000 more than they needed. State legislators are actually pushing a limited form of Medicaid expansion, but, as we covered before, the Trump administration seems unlikely to greenlight that proposal. The ballot initiative being submitted today would be a clean version of expansion. Medicaid expansion would cover about 150,000 low-income people in Utah, one of 18 mostly Republican-led states to refuse to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. A recent poll by the Salt Lake Tribune and the University of Utah found 62 percent of Utah voters support the ballot initiative. ‘People want more health care — not less,’ Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of the Fairness Project, a left-leaning economic justice group that is helping support the initiative, said in a statement. ‘They are done with politicians who are not addressing their top concerns, and they are taking action to do something about it.'”

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.

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Progressive Breakfast: 7 Questions About the Syria Airstrikes That Aren’t Being Asked

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Help People’s Action continue our struggle for justice at the grassroots. CREDO funding would help support People’s Action’s efforts to move economic, environmental and racial justice policies as part of its People & Planet First Campaign, and launch campaigns that help improve people’s lives. Vote for People’s Action at CREDO now!

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

7 Questions About the Syria Airstrikes That Aren’t Being Asked

“Mission accomplished,” says the President. What, exactly, was our mission? And what exactly was accomplished? The media’s job, we are told, is to ask skeptical questions about the people in power. That didn’t happen much in the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and it’s not happening now. Here are the questions that should be asked – not just on the eve of a bombing attack, but every day we continue our disastrous and drifting military intervention in the Middle East.

Trump Orders ‘Pinprick’ Strike On Syria

The many things Trump didn’t accomplish in the latest Syria strike. WaPo: “After days of speculation, the United States took action Friday night to punish the Syrian regime for a suspected chemical weapons attack a week prior. French, British and American forces launched a salvo of more than 100 missiles against three Syrian regime targets, and U.S. officials claimed the attack significantly degraded the regime’s chemical-weapons program… There’s still uncertainty over what exactly was destroyed during this ‘pinprick’ strike, with some reports indicating that Assad’s ability to use chemical weaponry remains intact. Meanwhile, Assad’s supporters partied in the streets of Damascus on Saturday, waving Syrian flags and holding up pictures of their leader. The attack, my colleague Liz Sly wrote, was ‘interpreted in Syria as a win for Assad because the limited scope of the strikes suggested that Western powers do not intend to challenge his rule.'”

WH Seeks To Block Disclosure Of Cohen Files

Trump wants to review material seized from personal lawyer before federal investigators. WaPo: “President Trump asked a federal judge Sunday night to allow him to review documents that FBI agents seized from the office of his longtime lawyer before criminal investigators have a chance to see the material. The request underscores the high stakes in an ongoing legal fight in federal court in New York, where Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, is also fighting to get a chance to review material seized as part of a criminal investigation of his business dealings. Trump’s request, in the form of a letter from other lawyers representing him, could further complicate a hearing set for Monday afternoon. During that session, lawyers for Cohen are expected to tell the judge overseeing the case how many legal clients he has and how many seized documents he thinks might be covered by attorney-client privilege. Cohen is set to attend the hearing. Also expected to be on hand is adult-film star Stormy Daniels, whom Cohen secretly paid $130,000 in 2016 to keep quiet the details of an alleged sexual liaison she had with Trump.”

CO Teachers Rally For Funding

CO teachers plan their own Capitol rally. CNN: “After seeing teachers in other states agitate for more funding, Colorado educators are taking their turn. At least 500 educators are expected to demonstrate at the state Capitol in Denver on Monday to push for more financial support, the Colorado Education Association says, in what will be just the latest in a wave of teacher protests at US state capitols this year That wave has notably seen teachers in West Virginia get a 5% pay raise last month after a nine-day strike. At least one Denver-area school district is closing Monday because so many of its teachers called in to take a personal day for the rally. ‘Our members are energized and fed up by the constant year-over-year chronic underfunding of our public schools,’ CEA President Kerrie Dallman told CNN. ‘Educators have been energized by what’s happened in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Kentucky and Arizona,’ she said, referring to teacher walkouts or demonstrations in those states.”

Nixon Wins NY Working Families Endorsement

Cynthia Nixon wins endorsement of progressive Working Families Party. Common Dreams: “The Working Families Party of New York (WFP) announced on Saturday its endorsement of Cynthia Nixon, at a meeting where the activist and actress called herself a candidate ‘who will stand with the people.’ The endorsement, was hinted at on Friday when two influential labor unions—the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Communications Workers of America—announced they were cutting ties with the state party, signaling their support for incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Since announcing her candidacy in March, Nixon has attacked Cuomo for his close ties to wealthy corporate donors and for allowing the state legislature to be controlled by Republicans and Democrats who caucus with them. ‘It’s hard for some Democrats to do right when they’re getting millions and millions to do wrong,’ she said at a meeting of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) on Friday. ‘The time is up for corporate Democrats.'”

More from OurFuture.org:

North Carolina’s Public Reckoning of CIA Torture. Alexandra Moore: “What can a small group of committed citizens who oppose these practices do to push back? A commission against torture in North Carolina may serve as a model for how citizen-led initiatives can create transparency and accountability for abuses of power in government… The revelation about the CIA program angered a number of North Carolinians. They condemned the use of tax dollars to fund an aviation facility that was involved in what they believed was illegal and immoral activity. They wanted to end the state’s participation in torture and hold accountable those who were responsible.”

Progressive Breakfast: Fifty Years On, MLK’s Call for Economic Justice Rings True

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MORNING MESSAGE

Libero Della Piana

Fifty Years On, MLK’s Call for Economic Justice Rings True

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down fifty years ago today. In King’s final years, he turned increasingly to confronting the challenge of economic inequality: he called for a massive mobilization of Black, Native American, Latino, and low-income whites along with the labor movement to end business as usual in Washington, D.C. and put inequality at the top of the agenda. Fifty years on, King’s vision of a radical reshaping of the economy is more urgent than ever.

Progressive Breakfast: The Fight for Health Care: In It to Win It

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MORNING MESSAGE

Tim Wilkins

The Fight for Health Care: In It to Win It

Eight years: that’s how long we’ve had President Obama’s signature reform of health care, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which expanded coverage to 24 million people. People’s Action member organizations from Maine to West Virginia turned out to mark this moment and let lawmakers know they’re in this fight for the long run, to bring health care to all.

Progressive Breakfast: Is the ‘Liberal World Order’ Worth Saving?

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Is the ‘Liberal World Order’ Worth Saving?

Order without justice is both unfair and unstable. The unfairness has been apparent for many decades; now we’re seeing the instability. It’s true that we are in a period of global change, and the loss of a governing world order brings instability, uncertainty, and risk. But the real causes of today’s political instability lie within the order itself. The current world order must fundamentally reform itself along democratic lines, both politically and economically, or it will fail.

Progressive Breakfast: Fighting for Our Health in New Hampshire and Vermont

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MORNING MESSAGE

James Haslam

Fighting for Our Health in New Hampshire and Vermont

Health, and health care, should be human rights. No one should ever have to choose between their health and their livelihood, or their ability to spend time with a family member who needs their help in an emergency. That’s why we founded Rights & Democracy: we understood health was too important for half measures, so we started organizing in Vermont and New Hampshire to create a comprehensive approach that could win something as big as universal care.

Progressive Breakfast: Hunting Payday Sharks in East Nashville

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MORNING MESSAGE

Andy Spears

Hunting Payday Sharks in East Nashville

In the Paleozoic Era, Tennessee was covered by a warm, shallow sea, filled with sharks. Sharks still linger in our state, ready to sink their teeth into your wallet. Today’s apex predators are “payday lenders,” who make their money lending – legally – to working families who live paycheck to paycheck. We set out on Gallatin Road in East Nashville to find these predators, and we’ll stay on the road until we’ve sent all of our state’s prehistoric loan sharks back where they belong: extinction.

Progressive Breakfast: After Years of Failed ‘Choice,’ Philadelphia Gets Its Schools Back

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MORNING MESSAGE

Jeff Bryant

After Years of Failed ‘Choice,’ Philadelphia Gets Its Schools Back

Philadelphia is about to regain local control of schools after 16 years of governance by a state-appointed commission that emphasized cutting expenses and staff, closing neighborhood schools and expanding charters. Despite years of pressure to adopt “school choice,” communities that know firsthand what it’s like to have lots of “options” have found what’s more important is to have a voice in how their schools are governed and operated. That’s why this is a historic event, the fruit of a long campaign of resistance led by Philadelphia citizens.

Progressive Breakfast: This Is What Makes John Bolton so Dangerous

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

This Is What Makes John Bolton so Dangerous

John Bolton has poor judgement, a mean spirit, and an intellect that’s weaker than he thinks. He spreads ethnic hatred and sends others to fight and die. And if he becomes National Security Advisor to Donald “The Unready” Trump, he is more likely than ever to cause tragedy and death, on a scale we can’t yet imagine.