by Richard Eskow | May 7, 2018 | Blog
With a little-noticed remark at a friendly event, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discarded his past arguments for the Trump/GOP tax bill. All Mnuchin could offer in their place was one of the oldest and most discredited ideas in the conservative playbook (and...
by People's Action | May 4, 2018 | Breakfast
AZ Teachers Win Raises, Want More For Schools AZ teachers to receive raises, but their demands were far from met. ThinkProgress: "Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a portion of the budget bill that helps fund teacher raises on Thursday morning, after House lawmakers...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 4, 2018 | Blog
The German sociologist Georg Simmel, way back in 1900, likened grand concentrations of private wealth to stars in the sky. These days, here in our second grand global Gilded Age, the more appropriate celestial analogy might be the black hole. The more wealth...
by Olivia Alperstein | May 4, 2018 | Blog
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Ben “I’ve Never Had to Worry about Affording Housing” Carson, wants to triple the rent that low-income American families pay for federally subsidized housing. Yep, this is the same guy who spent $31,000 of taxpayer...
by People's Action | May 3, 2018 | Breakfast
Teacher Of the Year Challenges Trump On Immigration Teacher of the Year hands Trump messages from young immigrants. WaPo: "Mandy Manning only had a moment with President Trump, but it was all she needed. Manning, the 2018 National Teacher of the Year recipient, had...
by Jeff Bryant | May 3, 2018 | Blog
As mass teacher walkouts and protests ebb in Arizona and Colorado, bold new actions are ramping up in North Carolina. This spring's teacher uprisings may well last through the end of this school year. On the whole, teachers across the nation have strung together an...
by People's Action | May 2, 2018 | Breakfast
Teachers Confront DeVos In Closed Session "You're the one creating the 'bad' schools": nation's top teachers denounce Devos during closed-door session. Common Dreams: "In the midst of teacher uprisings in multiple states that over recent months have drawn hundreds of...
by Bernie Horn | May 2, 2018 | Blog
U.S. Senate and House committees have approved competing bills that purport to address the “opioid crisis.” Since these are consensus measures, it’s no surprise that the legislation is a catchall of small ideas. Sure, progressives should enact whatever they can. But...
by People's Action | May 1, 2018 | Breakfast
U.S. Prolongs Uncertainty Over Tariffs US delays decision on tariffs for EU, prolonging uncertainty. U.S. News: "The U.S. government will take another 30 days to decide whether to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada, and...
by Leo Gerard | May 1, 2018 | Blog
Working in a hospital, nursing home or ambulance is dangerous. Sometimes fatally so. It’s not so much that a worker might catch a communicable disease, although that happens. The real danger comes from violent patients, volatile family members and sometimes even...
by Daniel Doubet | May 1, 2018 | Blog
“Reining in the activist judges is an enormous job, but the American people are up to the task,” says Carrie Serevino, the former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who now heads the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN). The JCN is a right-wing lobby that...
by People's Action | Apr 30, 2018 | Breakfast
Arizona Teacher Walkout Gathers Steam Teachers say 'frustration' over decade of cuts to education is fueling nationwide revolt. ABC: "On most Mondays, Stacy Masciangelo, a teacher in Mesa, Arizona, would be in her classroom teaching 33 junior high school students...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 30, 2018 | Blog
By supporting corporate-friendly candidates and policies, Congressional Democratic leaders are be moving closer and closer toward open warfare with their party’s base. There is a real need to raise money, of course. But the party’s leaders have chosen to raise and...
by People's Action | Apr 27, 2018 | Breakfast
Teacher Protests Spread To Arizona, Colorado Teacher protests spread to Colorado as Arizona strike begins. NYM: "The strike announced by Arizona teachers last week formally began today with no clear signs of any resolution of their dispute with Republican lawmakers in...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 27, 2018 | Blog
Headlines about teachers' strikes may have moved on from Kentucky and Oklahoma to Arizona and Colorado, but the uprisings these wildcat teachers started have not, according to numerous sources I've spoken with in Louisville – Kentucky's largest school district, with...
by People's Action | Apr 26, 2018 | Breakfast
HUD Wants More Rent, Work Rules For Poor Tenants HUD wants low-income families on housing assistance to pay more rent. CNN: "Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced Wednesday a proposal that would increase rent payments for more than two million...
by Xoai Pham | Apr 26, 2018 | Blog
Time’s up, Wells Fargo! It’s time for an end to profits from shady lending, supporting the gun lobby and fossil fuels, trampling the rights of Native communities, unsuspecting borrowers and the environment. I was one of the hundreds of organizers who traveled to Des...
by Tara Raghuveer, Liz Ryan Murray | Apr 26, 2018 | Blog
75 low-and moderate-income tenants and manufactured homeowners repeatedly disrupted Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson at a speech in Las Vegas on Wednesday, asking, “where will we go?" Carson’s response? Instead of offering solutions, he...
by People's Action | Apr 25, 2018 | Breakfast
Protesters Challenge Wells Fargo At Shareholders' Meeting Protesters say 'Time Is Up for Wells Fargo's Shady Dealings'. Common Dreams: "At the bank's annual gathering in Des Moines, a coalition of progressive community organizations demanded divestment from fossil...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 25, 2018 | Blog
Can a progressive populist movement be built in the rural areas and small towns that Donald Trump dominated in 2016? On Tuesday, People’s Action – one of the largest multiracial, people’s organizations in the country with 48 member organizations in 30 states –...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 24, 2018 | Blog
Imagine a nominee for Secretary of State who is so bigoted that he once accused Christian organizations and houses of worship of remaining silent about crimes committed in the name of Christianity by groups like the far-right Army of God or the Ugandan Lord’s...
by People's Action | Apr 24, 2018 | Breakfast
Dems Hope For Win In AZ Special Election Democrats Hope For Another Upset in Arizona. The Atlantic: "Democrats’ recent winning streak in special elections might be coming to an end with Tuesday’s contest in Arizona’s 8th congressional district. But the party still...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 24, 2018 | Blog
This week, the Senate will decide whether to confirm CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State. Pompeo is a key figure in Trump’s new war cabinet, along with National Security Advisor John Bolton and Gina Haspel, who he wants to take Pompeo’s place the CIA. The...
by People's Action | Apr 23, 2018 | Breakfast
Senators Introduce Bill To Block Mueller Firing Booker, Graham introduce bill to protect Special Counsel from firing. Salon: "The Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, sponsored by Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senators...
by Sam Pizzigati | Apr 23, 2018 | Blog
The Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, a prime American source for advice on all matters money related, has just published a piece fetchingly entitled “Frugal Habits of the Super Rich.” The piece graciously invites readers to meet ten people of substantial means...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 23, 2018 | Blog
We can add Arizona to the ever-growing list of states where teachers are saying "enough" to state-imposed financial austerity, and walking off the job to protest years of pay cuts, inadequate school resources, and stressful working conditions. Under the banner...
by People's Action | Apr 20, 2018 | Breakfast
Dems Say No To VA Privatization Dems see red line for VA nominee on privatization. CNN: "Democratic senators who have met with White House physician Ronny Jackson, the President's pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, have made clear that privatization of...
by Chuck Tyler | Apr 20, 2018 | Blog
As a ten-year U.S. Army combat veteran, I've felt my share of aches and pains following my service to my country. And I know firsthand how the Veterans Administration uniquely cares for returning war-fighters. That’s why I’m alarmed by the talk about privatizing VA...
by People's Action | Apr 19, 2018 | Breakfast
Island-Wide Blackout Deepens PR Crisis Island-wide blackout deepens Puerto Rico crisis. Common Dreams: "After struggling for nearly seven months to rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the U.S. territory experienced an island-wide...
by Jeff Bryant | Apr 19, 2018 | Blog
Surprising results from a new survey of teachers reveal the depth of "financial strain" classroom professionals face. These include high levels of college debt, stagnation of already subpar pay, increasing housing and childcare costs, rising health insurance premiums...
by People's Action | Apr 18, 2018 | Breakfast
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...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 18, 2018 | Blog
Here’s an experiment: If you’re not downtown as you read this, go there now and find some homeless people. They probably won’t be hard to find. Now, look at their faces. If you can’t get downtown, look at their photographs online. Now, imagine these same faces – just...
by People's Action | Apr 17, 2018 | Breakfast
Federal Judge Refuses Trump Request To Seal Files Federal judge refuses to grant restraining order over evidence seized from Trump’s lawyer. WHIO: "A federal judge in New York on Monday refused a request by lawyers for President Donald Trump to stop federal...
by Sam Pizzigati | Apr 17, 2018 | Blog
The orthodoxy that dominates today’s Republican Party — and the ranks of “business-friendly” Democrats — rests on a simple approach to economic policy. Let’s be nice, this orthodoxy holds, to rich people. Let’s be particularly nice at tax time. Let’s keep taxes on...
by Jake Jacobs | Apr 17, 2018 | Blog
Should a state with extreme wealth and extreme poverty use public education to even the playing field so all children have an opportunity to improve their conditions? Many New Yorkers would answer that question, “Yes,” and the state’s constitution as interpreted by an...
by People's Action | Apr 16, 2018 | Breakfast
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....
by Alexandra Moore | Apr 16, 2018 | Blog
President Donald Trump’s nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, is reported to have overseen a U.S. site in Thailand where torture of a suspected terrorist took place. Later she allegedly helped destroy evidence of torture. Her nomination, pending congressional...
by Richard Eskow | Apr 16, 2018 | Blog
“Mission accomplished,” says the President. What, exactly, was the mission? And what exactly was accomplished? Donald Trump is being mocked for using this phrase in a tweet to praise what he claims was a "perfectly executed" airstrike against chemical weapons...
by People's Action | Apr 13, 2018 | Breakfast
Trump Floats Rejoining Pacific Trade Deal Trump weighs rejoining Trans-Pacific Partnership amid trade dispute with China. WaPo: "President Trump ordered top administration officials Thursday to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sprawling trade pact...
by Robert Borosage | Apr 13, 2018 | Blog
“Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” tweeted Donald Trump when he threatened to slap tariffs on China and other nations he accused of “assaulting our country” last month. Stock traders were spooked as China promised to retaliate. Commentators across the political...
