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MORNING MESSAGE
Jessica Juarez-Scruggs
The Supreme Court just gave a green light to racist voter purges. Their 5-4 decision to allow Ohio to take any voter off the rolls who hasn’t voted in two years and doesn’t return a postcard mailed to their house hands a dangerous new tool to the enemies of democracy in America.
No matter what the Supreme Court rules, we can – and must – turn back this latest wave of voter suppression by registering voters, knocking on doors, driving our neighbors to the polls and by showing every politician who resorts to racist trickery to keep people from the polls that we are prepared to use our right to vote before we lose it.
DC Civil Disobedience To Protest DHS Child Arrests
Democrats shut down Pennsylvania Ave to protest Trump’s child separation policy. ThinkProgress: “Several members of Congress risked arrest Wednesday as they protested the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy, which separates migrant children from their parents in the event that parents are taken into custody by immigration officials. The members of Congress — as well as dozens of people including actor John Cusack who joined them — marched to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection building in Washington, D.C., chanting, among other things, “Bring our babies back” before seating themselves on the steps of the CBP building. Among those protesting the separation policy were civil rights icon and longtime Georgia Rep. John Lewis (D), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY), Rep. Al Green (D-TX), and Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL), Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). According to Splinter, Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), the first former undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress, was also present in several photos from the protest. ‘DHS will arrest children, but when Members of Congress commit civil disobedience they watched silently. Shame! So we are taking our protest directly to Donald Trump. Next stop the White House,’ Chu tweeted Wednesday afternoon.”
Progressives Speak Out at #WeThePeople
‘We Must Do More Than Resist’: progressive agenda championed at #WeThePeople summit. Common Dreams: “Speaking to hundreds of grassroots organizers at the We the People Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Democratic lawmakers displayed their shift to the left on a number of causes that progressives say politicians must embrace and fight for, in order to win enthusiastic support in upcoming elections. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) all spoke at the gathering, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders’ steadfast and outspoken support for popular proposals like Medicare for All, a fair federal minimum wage, and an end to income inequality has been credited with encouraging Democrats to move left—and letting party candidates and lawmakers know that a growing number of Americans will no longer support them if they continue to align themselves with Wall Street and other powerful corporate interests. At the summit, hosted by a number of progressive groups including Indivisible, People’s Action, MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood, 350 Action, and the Working Families Party, public officials and advocates alike spoke in favor of a forward-thinking agenda.”
Trump Wants ‘Citizenship-Fraud’ Investigation
Trump admin creates new office to investigate citizenship fraud. CNN: “The Trump administration is creating an office within the agency that grants US citizenship to root out fraudsters and have their citizenship taken away. According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the effort involves a new office in Southern California that will review cases and then refer them to the Justice Department, which is able to pursue denaturalization proceedings against citizens. The physical office is the culmination of an effort to stand up the unit that began in January 2017. The targets are people who have already been rejected from the US, but who create a new identity to gain citizenship afterward. In an interview with The Associated Press, USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna said the number of cases could possibly reach up to a few thousand. ‘We finally have a process in place to get to the bottom of all these bad cases and start denaturalizing people who should not have been naturalized in the first place,’ Cissna said. ‘What we’re looking at, when you boil it all down, is potentially a few thousand cases.’”
DNC Votes To Refuse Fossil-Fuel Contributions
DNC votes unanimously to no longer accept money from fossil fuel companies. ThinkProgress:“The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has voted unanimously to ban contributions from fossil fuel companies, in a victory for activists and environmental advocates. Following a vote over the weekend, the DNC will no longer accept donations from corporate political action committees (PAC) associated with oil, gas, and coal companies, HuffPost first reported Tuesday. The political organization reportedly adopted a resolution put forward by Christine Pelosi, the daughter of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The resolution calls for banning all ‘corporate PAC contributions from the fossil fuel industry that conflict with our DNC Platform’ in the name of encouraging Democrats ‘to walk our talk in harmony with our stated beliefs and convictions.’ According to HuffPost, the DNC will also consider banning contributions of over $200 from donors employed by the fossil fuel industry. That vote will take place in August during a board meeting in Chicago.”
Tent Cities Spread From Seattle To San Diego
Why there are so many unsheltered homeless people on the West Coast. The Conversation:“One-quarter of homeless people in the U.S. live in California, despite Californians making up only 12 percent of the population. Not only is homelessness more common on the West Coast but it is also more visible, because a higher proportion of homeless people are unsheltered. In the U.S., 24 percent of homeless people sleep outside, in vehicles or somewhere else not meant for human habitation. But that varies greatly from place to place: In California, 68 percent of homeless people are unsheltered, compared to just 5 percent in New York. Visitors to the West Coast may be shocked to find the tents that line cities from San Diego to Seattle. Like a modern-day ‘Grapes of Wrath,’ the tents are a stark reminder of the suffering of the thousands living outside, homeless.”
More from OurFuture.org:
Why We Should Want Trump’s Hail Mary Pass on Korea to Succeed. Miles Mogulescu: “Listen – I despise our corrupt, narcissistic, lying, ignorant, racist, woman-groping excuse for a President as much as anyone, and I support Tom Steyer’s calls for impeachment. But hopes for a more peaceful world, with a reduced threat of nuclear war, is one area where party politics should be put aside. If Trump’s attempt to negotiate peace terms with North Korea fail, there will be plenty of time for retroactive criticism. In the meantime, liberals and progressives should support a realistic approach to Korean peace negotiations, not hoping they tank in the hope that Trump will look worse than he already does.”
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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