MORNING MESSAGE
Julie Duhn
Communities like mine are dying. Steve King, the congressman who supposedly represents us in the Fourth District of Iowa, should be fighting for us in Washington. Yet he stays mostly silent about this crisis. Instead, King spouts racist rants about immigrants. But what about opportunities for our young people? Family farms? Our polluted water? About this and more, Steve King says — and does — nothing. Like so many farming communities, our young people are leaving. Stores are closing, wages are low, schools are underfunded, and our water and air are fouled by manure from corporate animal factories. The only hospital in our county no longer delivers babies. Truth is, a lot of us are low-income or poor and struggling to make ends meet. We won’t say it, but it’s true. We need someone in Washington who will fight for the help we need to survive. But a lot of folks would rather find someone else to blame, and Steve King seems to enjoy casting blame — usually on immigrants. That’s why it’s high time for Steve King to resign. He’s holding us back. His behavior is poison to progress. Iowa needs opportunities, not hate. We need to embrace the future and welcome people who want to live here, not drive them away.
Foxconn Nixes WI Factory After Receiving Subsidies
Foxconn’s change of plans in Wisconsin undercuts Trump’s promises on manufacturing. CNN:“President Donald Trump went quiet on Wednesday as a deal that would have delivered thousands of new US manufacturing jobs — and for which he took credit — began to crumble. Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn said it is looking at rewiring plans to invest $10 billion in a high-tech manufacturing plant in Wisconsin. Instead of hiring the blue-collar workers Trump promised to put back to work, Foxconn is now instead planning to recruit researchers, designers and engineers into a “technology hub” rather than opening a factory — a move that caught state officials off guard. The shift leaves the project a shadow of the shining example of revived US manufacturing that Trump once made it out to be. Trump’s silence on the matter was a marked change from the public call-outs and pitched battles he has engaged in to revive a manufacturing industry that is unlikely to ever roar back to its former heights. While Trump himself didn’t comment on the Foxconn news, a White House official said, “The President has created one of the strongest business climates in American history because he lowered taxes and massively cut regulations — and while it’s encouraging Foxconn will bring 13,000 new jobs and billions of dollars to Wisconsin, we would be disappointed by (any) reductions to the initial investment.” It’s not the first time that Trump’s attempts to drive new manufacturing jobs have backfired. Several companies the President has claimed to have haggled into retaining or growing their manufacturing workforce have failed to follow through, or abided by the terms while cutting jobs elsewhere in the US.”
ICE Forcefeeds Detainees On Hunger Strike
Immigrants on hunger strike being force-fed at ICE detention center in Texas. USA Today: “Detained immigrants on a month-old hunger strike are being force-fed at an El Paso immigration detention center, authorities confirmed Wednesday night. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that 11 detainees have refused to eat and are on a hunger strike that started with two detainees on Dec. 30. Other detainees joined this month. Six of the 11 detainees are “currently being hydrated and fed non-consensually under court orders,” ICE said in a statement. Medical staff is monitoring the detainees. The two latest detainees joined the hunger strike on Wednesday, ICE added. The motive for the hunger strike was not disclosed by ICE.”
Trump Wants More Troops At Border
Trump: More troops going to the border. The Hill: “President Trump said Thursday that more U.S. troops are being deployed to the southern border, but added that a border wall would be more effective in countering what he described as an “attempted Invasion of Illegals.” “More troops being sent to the Southern Border to stop the attempted Invasion of Illegals, through large Caravans, into our Country. We have stopped the previous Caravans, and we will stop these also. With a Wall it would be soooo much easier and less expensive. Being Built!” Trump wrote in a tweet.”
KY Antigay Clerk Must Pay Damages
Kentucky governor says Kim Davis should pay legal fees in same-sex marriage case. CBS: “As a candidate for governor in 2015, Matt Bevin said he “absolutely supported” a Kentucky county clerk who stopped issuing marriage licenses because of her opposition to gay marriage. But four years later, after a court ordered Kentucky taxpayers to pay more than $222,000 in legal fees for the gay and straight couples who sued, outside lawyers for now Gov. Bevin say former Rowan County clerk Kim Davis broke the law and taxpayers ‘should not have to collectively bear the financial responsibility for Davis’ intransigence. Only Davis refused to comply with the law as was her obligation and as required by the oath of office she took,’ Bevin attorney Palmer G. Vance II wrote in a brief filed with the court. Bevin has been a staunch supporter of Davis, who spent five days in jail for refusing a court order to issue marriage licenses following the historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that effectively legalized gay marriage. Davis even switched parties, registering as a Republican because she said the Democratic Party abandoned her. But now, Davis and Bevin will oppose each other in federal court on Thursday as lawyers argue who should have to pay for the lawsuit that stemmed from Davis’ actions.”
Russian Oligarch Hires Trump Insider After Sanctions Lifted
Trump insider got a board position right after the US lifted sanctions on a Russian company. Quartz: “The US Treasury Department announced yesterday (Jan. 27) that it had ended sanctions on three companies controlled by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of president Vladimir Putin. Sanctions on Russian energy giant EuroSibEnergo, aluminum producer UC Rusal, and Rusal’s parent company, En+ Group, were lifted after just 10 months, despite strong objections from members of both parties in Congress. Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, told Quartz the move is a “sordid deal,” adding “the Trump Administration is working seven days a week with favoritism for Russia.” “This represents just one more step in undermining the sanctions law, which President Trump has obstructed at every opportunity, while Russian aggression remains unabated,” Doggett said. When the sanctions were imposed in April, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Deripaska—who has had close ties to Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who is now a convicted felon—admits that “he does not separate himself from the Russian state.” Deripaska has “acknowledged possessing a Russian diplomatic passport, and claims to have represented the Russian government in other countries,” the OFAC release continued. “Deripaska has been investigated for money laundering, and has been accused of threatening the lives of business rivals, illegally wiretapping a government official, and taking part in extortion and racketeering. There are also allegations that Deripaska bribed a government official, ordered the murder of a businessman, and had links to a Russian organized crime group.”
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
|
