Students Walk Out Nationwide To Protest Gun Violence
'ENOUGH': U.S. student walkout sends message on gun violence. US News & World Report: "U.S. students spilled out of classrooms by the tens of thousands on Wednesday, chanting slogans like "No more silence" and "We want change" as part of a coast-to-coast protest over gun violence prompted by last month's massacre at a Florida high school. The #ENOUGH National School Walkout was intended to pressure federal and state lawmakers to tighten laws on gun ownership despite opposition by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful gun rights advocacy group... The duration was a tribute to 17 students and staff killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Feb. 14. It was the latest in a series of shootings that have plagued U.S. schools and colleges over the past two decades."
Wave of Student Activism Grows
Walkouts just the beginning of students’ activism on gun violence. HuffPost: "Several more nationwide, student-led rallies are planned to keep attention on the issue and press for legislative action. On March 24, the nationwide March for Our Lives, led by survivors of the Parkland shooting, will hold rallies in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country. The event is meant to “demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be brought before Congress to address gun issues,” the website says. 'Today was wonderful. Today was important. Today was historical. But sadly, today was not enough,' reads a post on the March for Our Lives website in the wake of Wednesday’s school walkouts. 'That is why 10 days from today we’re going to March and demand change... From walkouts, we march on.' On April 20, another National School Walkout is planned, marking the anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting. The student-led event, organized by teens at Connecticut’s Ridgefield High School and beyond, is meant to protest “'congressional, state, and local failures to take action to prevent gun violence,' per the website. Like Wednesday’s rallies, students across the country plan to leave class at 10 a.m., observe a moment of silence for gun violence victims and then hold protests. 'I think that student-led activism is the driving force for change in America,' Saleen, a 17-year-old senior at Lowell High School in San Francisco, told HuffPost Wednesday. 'Congress refuses to make the changes that we need, and the only way to get them to listen is to be loud, proud and consistent.'"
Conor Lamb Wins PA House Seat
Lamb wins PA house seat, giving Democrats a Map for Trump country. NYT: "Conor Lamb, a Democrat and former Marine, scored a razor-thin but extraordinary upset in a special House election in southwestern Pennsylvania after a few thousand absentee ballots cemented a Democratic victory in the heart of President Trump’s Rust Belt base. The Republican candidate, Rick Saccone, may still contest the outcome. But Mr. Lamb’s 627-vote lead Wednesday afternoon appeared insurmountable, given that the four counties in Pennsylvania’s 18th district have about 500 provisional, military and other absentee ballots left to count, election officials said. That slim margin — out of almost 230,000 ballots cast in a district that Mr. Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016 — nonetheless upended the political landscape ahead of November’s midterm elections. It also emboldened Democrats to run maverick campaigns even in deep-red areas where Republicans remain bedeviled by Mr. Trump’s unpopularity."
Labor, Social Security Keys To Lamb's PA Win
'Labor Delivered This Win': Democrat Conor Lamb prevails in district Trump won by 20. Common Dreams: "Thanks to strong backing from organized labor and an agenda that focused heavily on shielding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from GOP attacks, Democrat Conor Lamb on Wednesday was finally declared the apparent winner of the closely-watched special election in Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district—where President Donald Trump won by 20 points in 2016... Running against the fervently anti-union Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone—who has in the past voted for so-called "right to work" legislation—Lamb also placed the right of workers to bargain collectively and protection of worker pensions at the center of his messaging. Unions reciprocated Lamb's pro-labor platform by carrying out a massive get-out-the-vote effort, which resulted in several precincts that went for Trump turning Democratic."
Senate Approves Rewrite of Banking Rules
Senate approves bill rewriting post-crisis bank rules. Reuters: "The U.S. Senate voted 67 to 31 on Wednesday to ease bank rules, bringing Congress a step closer to passing the first rewrite of the Dodd-Frank reform law enacted after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis. The draft legislation now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives where Republicans in the majority say they want to add more provisions to ease financial regulations. Those changes have some of the bill’s backers worried that late alterations could upend the deal struck in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats. The bill would ease tight restrictions on small banks and community lenders, and includes provisions beneficial to all but the largest U.S. banks. The measure marks the first significant rewrite of financial rules since the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law."
More from OurFuture.org:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren Speaks on Rollback of Bank Reforms. Tim Wilkins: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks about proposed changes to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which she helped pass to curb risky lending practices in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Warren spoke at the Democratic Caucus Center Strategy Summit in Baltimore, Maryland on March 9."
