Tell Lawmakers To Vote NO! On House Budget
The House GOP is pushing through a budget that slashes Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital services. Call your representative today at (888) 516-5820 and tell them to vote NO! on the House budget.
Dems Condemn Gun Violence, GOP Demurs
GOP grieves, but does not denounce, gun violence. The Atlantic: ""Republicans who advocate for looser gun restrictions are in power on Capitol Hill and in the White House. After recent shootings like the massacre that killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando last year, Democrats have pushed unsuccessfully for laws strengthening background checks and prohibiting assault weapons. Many GOP lawmakers, however, want to go in the opposite direction and make it easier for people to use firearms in self-defense. 'Once again a nation mourns and Congress will observe a moment of silence,' lamented Representative Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat."
Failure of Leadership on Gun Violence
Gun massacres won't stop until voters demand action. Bloomberg: "Lawmakers - especially Republicans - are hiding from their responsibilities... If the gun debate in the U.S. appears stalled, it is because argument in the absence of reason and facts is circular. Thus a White House spokeswoman for President Donald Trump, who previously called himself the NRA’s 'true friend,' said that it’s inappropriate to discuss remedies to gun violence so soon after a mass incidence of gun violence... This cycle of preventable violence and pointless debate will not end until more political leaders, and responsible gun owners, acknowledge the obvious: that sensible restrictions on gun possession and use are both constitutional and necessary."
Kimmel Confronts GOP Support For NRA
Emotional Jimmy Kimmel: 'NRA has politicians' balls in a money clip. Crooks and Liars: "Jimmy Kimmel's home town is Las Vegas. Tonight's monologue addressed the issues of mass shootings, media bias when it comes to shootings perpetrated by old white men as opposed to young brown men. And the fact that mass shootings are ]a regular part of our lives.' As for Sarah Sanders, he points out that 'we have 59 innocent people dead, so now is the time for political debate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and a number of other lawmakers who won't do anything about this because the NRA has their balls in a money clip also sent their thoughts and their prayers today,' he continued. 'They should be praying. They should be praying for God to forgive them for letting the gun lobby run this country. 'He then showed pictures of all the Senators who voted against closing the loopholes for background checks last year. Every last one of them."
SCOTUS Takes On Gerrymandering
Supreme Court takes up Wisconsin as first test in partisan gerrymandering claims. WaPo: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday will consider whether a state’s legislative maps are so politically skewed to favor one party that they violate the Constitution. The justices have never thrown out a state’s maps because of partisan gerrymandering. But challengers from Wisconsin say they have the evidence that Republican leaders of their state drew maps to ensure enduring GOP control of the legislature, and a test for deciding when political advantage goes too far. The outcome could change the way American elections are conducted. Wisconsin officials say if their maps, which follow traditional redistricting standards, are illegal, dozens of state plans will need to be thrown out."
Civil Rights Groups to Challenge Equal Pay Rollback
Trump’s White House froze an equal-pay rule. Women are fighting to save it. WaPo: "A coalition of more than 90 civil rights groups is preparing to challenge the Trump administration’s decision to halt an Obama-era initiative aimed at fighting employer discrimination against women and minorities. Emily Martin, general counsel at the National Women's Law Center, said she and attorneys at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have requested copies of emails, voice mails and other communications among the federal officials who opted in August to freeze a rule that would have required companies to file data broken down by race, ethnicity and gender on what they pay workers.
The rule compelling companies to submit additional information about employees and wages to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was finalized in September 2016 and would have taken effect next year."
More from OurFuture.org:
Bernie Sanders Opens a New Foreign-Policy Debate. Robert Borosage: "Senator Bernie Sanders has received rapturous applause from progressives for his recent foreign-policy speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. “One of the finest speeches of his career,” wrote The Nation’s John Nichols. In his speech, Sanders offers first steps towards a new foreign policy that upends the military-dominated definition of national security and elevates the threats posed by climate change. But the debate over how to achieve these goals has just begun."
