by People's Action | May 24, 2017 | Breakfast
When in Rome Trump and Pope have little in common but a date at the Vatican. Bloomberg: "Pope Francis believes climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity. Donald Trump thinks it might be a Chinese hoax. Francis wants the world’s doors swung open...
by Jeff Bryant | May 23, 2017 | Blog
Betsy DeVos wants to give your tax dollars to private schools and businesses and tell you it's an education "transformation." That's the main theme of an address she gave this week to a conference held by the organization she helped found and lead, the American...
by Liz Ryan Murray | May 23, 2017 | Blog, Current Issues
With its 2018 federal budget proposal, the Trump administration made public, and made plain, its priorities for our nation. Its vision for America is one where the sick, children, families and the disabled are sacrificed for tax breaks for the very wealthiest and...
by Jeff Bryant | May 23, 2017 | Blog
Joe Padilla and Egle Malinauskaite are part of a small group marching 200 miles from Chicago to the Illinois State Legislature in Springfield bringing a "People & Planet First Budget" to their lawmakers. “We're in a narrative battle to change education from a...
by People's Action | May 23, 2017 | Breakfast
There's a Hole in My Budget Trump $1 trillion social cuts hit his own voters hardest. Politico: "Trump's spending blueprint follows established conservative orthodoxy, cutting taxes on the wealthy, boosting defense spending and taking a hatchet to programs for the...
by Richard Eskow | May 22, 2017 | Blog
In public, leading Democrats blame outside forces like Russia and former FBI Director James Comey for their losses in 2016. But privately, many acknowledge the party needs a new direction. The Democrats' massive losses at state and congressional levels cannot...
by Mark Trahant | May 22, 2017 | Blog
The best moment for the new Trump administration was the one where the president smiled in Saudi Arabia and said only 26 words in public. This was terrible reality TV, but we all watched knowing that it was likely just a pause. Something outrageous must be coming up...
by People's Action | May 22, 2017 | Breakfast
Gutting the Volcker Rule While you weren't looking, Trump basically killed Dodd-Frank. HuffPo: "Last week, a council of top regulators quietly met to discuss the future of the Volcker Rule ― the most important structural change Obama established for the financial...
by Isaiah J. Poole | May 22, 2017 | Financial Reform
Mark Feuer, the Los Angeles City Attorney who helped hold Wells Fargo accountable for creating millions of fake accounts without customers' knowledge, now warns against efforts by the Trump administration and Congress to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection...
by Yue Maggie Zhou | May 21, 2017 | Blog
On April 22, as protesters swelled Earth Day rallies in U.S. cities and around the world, President Trump tweeted that he was “committed to keeping our air and water clean but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection. Jobs matter!” His...
by Maureen Miller | May 19, 2017 | Blog
Three of the biggest killers in the developing world are AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Currently 36.7 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, a third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis and more than one million people die from malaria each...
by Sam Pizzigati | May 19, 2017 | Blog
How much does the typical employee earn at Walmart, America’s largest private employer? We don’t know exactly and won’t until next spring, when corporations begin disclosing figures on their median — most typical — worker pay. Federal regulations that went into effect...
by People's Action | May 19, 2017 | Breakfast
Adieu, L'Amerique Trump departs for eight-day trip to Middle East and Europe. NPR: "President Trump will try to leave his troubles behind as he departs on the first foreign trip of his presidency... Trump is visiting Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, and it isn't...
by Jeff Bryant | May 19, 2017 | Blog
The vision of "education reform" coming from the Trump administration and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos entails cutting direct aid to students, especially those from low-income families, in order to expand the private sector's financial footprint in education....
by Lauren McCauley | May 18, 2017 | Blog
Calling his comments and attempted explanations both "bizarre" and "crazy," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) slammed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin during a hearing on Thursday for backtracking on repeated promises by the Trump administration that it would support...
by Lev Hirschhorn | May 18, 2017 | Blog
At 9:45 p.m. Tuesday night, Larry Krasner was declared the winner of the Democratic Primary for District Attorney of Philadelphia. At his victory speech, the community organizers and activists who formed the backbone of his campaign cheered as Krasner said “this is...
by People's Action | May 18, 2017 | Breakfast
The Investigation Former FBI Director Mueller named Special Counsel for Russia probe. The Atlantic: "The decision to appoint Mueller, whose formal title is special counsel, was signed by Rod Rosenstein, who is deputy attorney general but made the appointment as acting...
by Robert Borosage | May 18, 2017 | Blog
Democratic Party luminaries and 2020 presidential mentionables gathered this week for an “ideas conference” organized by the Center for American Progress, the Democratic establishment’s premier think tank. Its stated purpose was to focus not on “what could have been,”...
by Nika Knight | May 17, 2017 | Blog
Larry Krasner, the most progressive candidate in Philadelphia's seven-way Democratic primary election for District Attorney, won the race Tuesday in what supporters call "a revolution." Krasner ran on an unprecedented campaign to end mass incarceration and stand up...
by Richard Eskow | May 17, 2017 | Blog
A trove of documents exposed by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the right-wing Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation wants to build a right-wing “infrastructure” across the country to promote its extreme agenda. Unfortunately, the Foundation’s desire to...
by People's Action | May 17, 2017 | Breakfast
Trump-Proof Jason Chaffetz asks FBI for reported Comey memos on Trump. CNBC: "The move by House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz follows reports, confirmed by NBC News, that Comey says in a memo that Trump asked him to end the probe into former national...
by Kathy Mulady | May 17, 2017 | Blog
Freedom of the press is at the very top of the Bill of Rights, our founders' list of freedoms essential to democracy. That a reporter can now be arrested in the United States for doing his job, asking a public official about public business in a public place, should...
by Leo Gerard | May 16, 2017 | Blog
A country claiming the greatest military on earth can’t be without some things. Steel is an obvious one. In the age of drones, aluminum is another. Aluminum is essential for flying machines like the F-35 joint strike fighter and Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, for armor...
by Tim Wilkins | May 16, 2017 | Uncategorized
Leaking Poison Trump shared highly classified threat file with Russians. WaPo: “Trump revealed highly classified information to senior Russian officials at a meeting last week, putting a source of intelligence about the Islamic State extremist group at risk… The Post,...
by Richard Eskow | May 16, 2017 | Blog
Many Americans are rightfully outraged at the firing of FBI Director James Comey, just as they were shocked at Comey’s ability to influence political events. But what can we do about it? A political movement should do more than just react to the day’s events...
by Tim Wilkins | May 15, 2017 | Uncategorized
They Will Try Federal court to hear government plea to reinstate travel ban. WaPo: “…government lawyers will try to persuade a federal appeals court to reinstate President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban — and once again, they can expect plenty of questions Monday...
by Martese Chism | May 15, 2017 | Blog
Over fifty years ago, my great-grandmother Birdia Keglar marched in Selma with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Today I join two dozen others on a 15-day, 200-mile march from Chicago to Springfield to demand a “People & Planet First” budget for Illinois. I carry with...
by Richard Eskow | May 14, 2017 | Blog
The firing of James Comey as Director of the FBI gives the nation more evidence of Donald Trump’s lack of fitness for the presidency. Whatever you thought of Comey, his removal showed the nation that Trump is impulsive, vindictive, and given to abuses of power....
by Xoai Pham | May 12, 2017 | Blog
As families around the country prepare to celebrate Mother’s Day, thousands of mothers are sitting in jails before even having been convicted of a crime. Now Black-led groups are working together to bring these mothers home so they, too, can celebrate with their...
by Robert Borosage | May 12, 2017 | Blog
Donald Trump has ginned up a continuous din in his first four months as president, with each outrage or grotesquerie immediately followed by another. Amid the furors, it is easy to lose track of the key standard by which Trump will be judged by his key voters: his...
by Ed Weberman | May 12, 2017 | Blog
Health care saves lives, and real stories about this are pouring out at Town Hall meetings across the country. Ed Weberman, from White Lake, Michigan, explains how the Affordable Care Act saved his son’s life, and how it inspired him to fight for others. The...
by People's Action | May 12, 2017 | Breakfast
Russia Reversals Trump changes course, says Russia probe prompted him to fire FBI chief. NBC: "Trump… called ousted FBI chief James Comey a 'showboat" and revealed he asked Comey whether he was under investigation for alleged ties to Russia… it would be highly...
by Jeff Bryant | May 11, 2017 | Blog
Another week, another round of evidence that providing parents with more "school choice," especially the kind that lets them opt out of public schools, is not a very effective vehicle for ensuring students improve academically or that taxpayer dollars are spent more...
by People's Action | May 11, 2017 | Breakfast
Russia After Comey Senate Intelligence Committee holds Russia hearing without Comey. CNN: "...acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe will now take the seat that was to be filled by Comey Thursday and will likely be the target of some probing by senators angry over how...
by Julie Chinitz | May 10, 2017 | Blog
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price and other Republican Party leaders have slithered onto news shows to lie about the repugnant health care repeal passed by the House of Representatives. They’re lying because, simply put, the...
by Mark Trahant | May 10, 2017 | Blog
The flurry that is the Trump Administration continues to impact Indian Country in ways that are expected — as well as those that surprise. A nasty surprise at that. The latest offering is a presidential signing statement that targets federal programs that serve...
by People's Action | May 10, 2017 | Breakfast
Trump Fires FBI Director Comey Trump enraged by inability to control Russia narrative. Politico: "Trump's firing of the high-profile FBI director on the 110th day since taking office marked another sudden turn for an administration that has fired its acting attorney...
by Libero Della Piana | May 10, 2017 | Blog
When people feel powerless - locked out of decision-making, bypassed by real governance - they turn to protest. Especially for the disenfranchised and oppressed, protest is often the only way to exert power and affect policies and practices that impact their lives and...
by Leo Gerard | May 9, 2017 | Blog
Republicans in the House last week passed the Trump-Don’t-Care bill. The legislation they called the American Health Care Act is not about improving health care at all. It would, in fact, strip coverage from 24 million Americans. The name of the bill shouldn’t even...
by People's Action | May 9, 2017 | Breakfast
Rollbacks and Paybacks EPA dismisses half of key board’s scientific advisers; Interior suspends more than 200 advisory panels. WaPo: "Both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interior Department are overhauling a slew of outside advisory boards that inform how...
