by Tim Wilkins | Feb 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
Senate To Vote On Two-Year Budget Senate to vote on two-year budget Thursday. The Hill: "The Senate is expected to vote Thursday on a two-year budget deal that would substantially increase spending and suspend the debt ceiling for a year. It is intended to avert a...
by Jeff Bryant | Feb 8, 2018 | Blog
The warnings came right after the storm: Hurricane Maria's devastation of Puerto Rico would be used as an opportunity to transfer management of the island's schools to private operators of charter schools, and introduce voucher programs that would redirect public...
by Leo Gerard | Feb 7, 2018 | Blog
The U.S. Commerce Department announced this week that the 2017 trade deficit rose to the highest level since 2008, a biggest and best figure that no U.S. President would brag about, least of all Donald Trump, who pledged repeatedly and forcefully that he would slash...
by People's Action | Feb 7, 2018 | Breakfast
Trump Calls For Shutdown To Force Immigration Demands Trump says government shutdown a "good idea. NYT: "Mr. Trump is back to being a disrupter. After accusing Democrats of being un-American and even treasonous for refusing to applaud during his State of the Union...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 7, 2018 | Blog
As both parties gear up for the 2018 elections, Democrats harbor high hopes for a wave election that will take back the Congress, put the Senate in play, and revive their party's fortunes in state legislatures across the country. All Democrats agree a clear statement...
by People's Action | Feb 6, 2018 | Breakfast
GOP Bids To Avert Shutdown With Pentagon Boost House GOP plans stopgap spending bill with Pentagon funding. WaPo: "House Republican leaders have come out with a plan to keep the government open for six more weeks while Washington grapples with a potential follow-up...
by Jeff Bryant | Feb 6, 2018 | Blog
Seattle classroom teacher Jesse Hagopian wants to transform the school-to-prison pipeline into a school-to-justice pipeline for millions of Black and Brown students in American schools. He and thousands of his educator colleagues are taking strides toward that goal...
by People's Action | Feb 5, 2018 | Breakfast
As Shutdown Looms, DREAMers May Lose Congress weighs leaving Dreamers in limbo another year. Politico: "As lawmakers grasp for a solution for the young undocumented immigrants, one option is a temporary extension — perhaps one year — of their legal protections paired...
by Leo Gerard | Feb 5, 2018 | Blog
Early Wednesday morning, David Breckheimer, a United Steelworkers local union president at a Neenah, Wis. paper factory, was gathering the last of his gear for a snowmobiling vacation. At 7:45 a.m., less than two hours before he planned to leave, he got a call. It...
by People's Action | Feb 2, 2018 | Breakfast
Russia Memo Distraction Escalates While you are tweeting Nunes, Russia is plotting its midterms attack. Mother Jones: “It is working — the Trump-GOP campaign to distract attention from the Russia scandal. And this is placing the nation—literally and...
by Jeff Bryant | Feb 2, 2018 | Blog
Despite his campaign promises to transform American education, President Donald Trump had almost nothing to say about the subject in his first State of the Union speech, and his controversial education secretary Betsy DeVos has not made national headlines for some...
by People's Action | Feb 1, 2018 | Breakfast
New Government Shutdown Looms Congress has 2 weeks to fund the government. They have 3 working days. Vox: "Still without a deal on DACA and spending, Congress has two jam-packed weeks — of retreats. Congress only has three working days between today and the next...
by Robert Borosage | Feb 1, 2018 | Blog
Donald Trump’s State of the Union drenched his audience in insipid invocations of unity. Laboriously reading from a teleprompter, for 90 minutes he celebrated family, faith, law and order, the military, our veterans, the national anthem, “one team, one people, one...
by People's Action | Jan 31, 2018 | Breakfast
State of Our Union Calls For Women To Unite State of Our Union event calls for women to unite against Trump agenda. Detroit Free Press: "The resistance to President Donald Trump made its objections loud and clear on the night of his first State of the Union address......
by Chelsea White | Jan 31, 2018 | Blog
Chelsea White spoke at The State Of Our Union, a gathering of nine hundred women from fifty grassroots and national groups at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Jan. 30, 2018. My name is Chelsea White and I am a proud, Appalachian woman. I live in the Smoky...
by People's Action | Jan 30, 2018 | Breakfast
Federal Judge Frees Immigrant Activist, Slams ICE Federal judge blasts ICE for ‘cruel’ tactics, frees immigrant rights activist Ravi Ragbir. WaPo: "Comparing the Trump administration’s immigration practices to those of an authoritarian regime, a federal judge in...
by Jessica Juarez Scruggs | Jan 30, 2018 | Blog
Five hundred women from across the country are gathering in Washington, D.C. for tonight's State of Our Union, which offers an alternative vision for our country in which gender and economic justice can overcome forces that seek to divide our nation along fault lines...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 30, 2018 | Blog
Did the Pentagon just officially declare a new Cold War with both China and Russia while also committing to wage endless wars around the globe? Apparently, yes — that was the central message of the Trump administration’s newly released National Defense Strategy,...
by People's Action | Jan 29, 2018 | Breakfast
Environmental Groups Challenge EPA With Dozens Of Suits Big green readies dozens of lawsuits as only 'antidote' for Trump EPA. Washington Examiner: "'EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt wants to roll back the clock on environmental protections and drag us back decades,'...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jan 29, 2018 | Blog
Oxfam is once again making headlines on inequality. On the eve of the annual Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland, the activist global charity released its own annual contribution to the global economic debate: an updated analysis of our planet’s grand divides in...
by Leo Gerard | Jan 29, 2018 | Blog
The Trump Administration's abruptly announced tariffs on washing machines and solar cells imported to the United States provoked wailing and the gnashing of teeth worldwide. The same over-the-top beating of breasts can be expected if the administration penalizes steel...
by People's Action | Jan 26, 2018 | Breakfast
WH Floats Demands On Immigration Deal Trump's Immigration Concession Sets High Price for Democrats. Bloomberg: "The administration Thursday night proposed giving 1.8 million undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a path to citizenship in exchange for...
by Richard Eskow | Jan 26, 2018 | Blog
Defense Secretary James Mattis announced a dramatic shift in military policy last week, and it threatens to plunge the world into new forms of conflict. The secretary, known as “Mad Dog” Mattis when he was a four-star Marine general, now commands the most powerful...
by People's Action | Jan 25, 2018 | Breakfast
Trump Says Open To Solution For DREAMers Trump says he is open to a path to citizenship for ‘Dreamers’. NYT: "President Trump said on Wednesday that he is open to a path to citizenship after 10 to 12 years for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 25, 2018 | Blog
There was a serious bump on the road to what were billed as "record-breaking celebrations" of charter schools and other forms of "school choice" this week. News outlets in Ohio reported the largest charter school closure ever in that state, and perhaps the nation....
by People's Action | Jan 24, 2018 | Breakfast
U.S. Talks Trade War At Davos Commerce's Ross declares trade war under way. Bloomberg: "Trade wars 'are fought every single day,' and the U.S. has been engaged in one 'for quite a little while,' Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in comments that diverge from...
by Robert Borosage | Jan 24, 2018 | Blog
Democrats face the fury of their activist base for the remarkably pathetic “deal” they swallowed to end the government shutdown after three days. As hapless Maine Senator Republican Susan Collins can attest, any deal that is premised on Republican Senate leader Mitch...
by People's Action | Jan 23, 2018 | Breakfast
Government Reopens, For Now Congress has voted to end the government shutdown. Vox: "After a three-day standoff, Congress has voted to reopen the government — but only for three weeks. In a last-minute decision, Senate Democrats agreed to pass a spending bill that...
by America Reyes | Jan 23, 2018 | Blog
My name is America, and I am a DREAMer. I came to this country with my family from Mexico City when I was five years old. Now I live in Las Vegas, where I study criminal justice and philosophy. Soon I’ll be in law school, and hopefully one day, a judge. None of this...
by People's Action | Jan 22, 2018 | Breakfast
Government Shutdown Enters Third Day Government shutdown goes into Monday as Senate inches toward deal. NYT: "Senators failed on Sunday to reach an agreement to end the government shutdown, ensuring that hundreds of thousands of federal employees would be furloughed...
by Richard Eskow | Jan 22, 2018 | Blog
A new report concludes 600,000 children have died in the United States for no reason over a 50-year period. Thousands more will die this year, and next year, and the year after that. 600,000 is a lot of people. it’s more than the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Or...
by Gloria Totten | Jan 22, 2018 | Blog
Today - January 22 - is the 45th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade, which recognized abortion as a constitutional right. This year, as in every other, the media has focused coverage on the annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington, even...
by Leo Gerard | Jan 22, 2018 | Blog
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced this week that the company would repatriate $252 billion, give or take a few billion, then invest in America and create some American jobs – for a change. This is a result of the massive tax cut Congressional Republicans awarded...
by George Goehl | Jan 19, 2018 | Blog
Imagine telling a laid-off employee they won't have Medicaid to fall back on. On January 11, the Trump administration issued this cruel announcement: If you can’t find a job, don’t count on being able to get health care. Under an unprecedented new policy, the...
by People's Action | Jan 19, 2018 | Breakfast
Spending Showdown Moves To Senate House approves short-term spending, Senate Dems may block it. WaPo: "The House passed a short-term extension of government funding late Thursday after Republican leaders, with help from President Trump, cobbled together enough GOP...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 19, 2018 | Blog
President Trump ran on promises to "drain the swamp" of special interests and corporate lobbyists in Washington, DC, but higher education policy in his administration is a quagmire of Okefenokee proportions. Just to review the latest developments to emerge from the...
by People's Action | Jan 18, 2018 | Breakfast
Majority Of Americans View Trump As A Failure Majority of Americans see Trump's first year as a failure. NPR: "As President Trump approaches the one-year anniversary of his inauguration, a majority of Americans think his first year in office has been a failure — and...
by Cindy Garcia | Jan 18, 2018 | Blog
It was a crisp day in November when my husband Jorge and I drove from our home in Lincoln Park to Detroit for our annual check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). We were hopeful that after twelve years of paperwork, Jorge would finally be approved to...
by People's Action | Jan 17, 2018 | Breakfast
GOP Wants Short-Term Spending Deal, No DACA Fix Republican leaders offer one-month spending bill. WaPo: "House Republican leaders presented their rank and file with a one-month spending bill Tuesday aimed at keeping the government open ahead of a Friday night...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jan 17, 2018 | Blog
Eric Schmidt, a top executive at Google ever since he joined the company as CEO back in 2001, is stepping down later this month. He’s leaving his latest executive slot about $14 billion richer than when he began his Google career. Expect a digital avalanche of praise...
