by Leo Gerard | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog
The senator’s question was simple and straightforward: What would you have done? Judge Neil Gorsuch wouldn’t answer. He couldn’t say whether, on orders from an employer, he’d have driven a tractor trailer with locked brakes, endangering the lives of other motorists,...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog
Who could be against fair pay and safe workplaces? Give you one guess. President Trump just signed a bill, passed by the Republicans in the House and Senate, that repealed President Obama's Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order. "Fair pay and safe workplaces"...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog
Public school supporters are angry at President Trump's budget proposal, which plans to cut funding to the Department of Education by 13 percent – taking that department's outlay down to the level it was ten years ago. But the target for their anger should not be just...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 28, 2017 | Blog
Wisconsin State Senator Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) wants a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and he wants a new constitutional convention to ratify it. A constitutional convention makes for a snappy hashtag, #ConCon. But, as GOP leaders in Idaho...
by People's Action | Mar 28, 2017 | Breakfast
Trump Proposes Immediate Cuts to Fund Wall Trump proposes $18B cut in social programs in bill to keep government open. AP: "...the proposals have little chance to be enacted [and] were sent to Capitol Hill as a set of 'options' for GOP staff aides and lawmakers ......
by Dave Johnson | Mar 27, 2017 | Blog
Saying on the campaign trail that Wall Street banks and hedge funds are "getting away with murder," President Trump promised voters he would "drain the swamp" and "reduce the corrupting influence of special interests on our politics." He was playing on the public's...
by Lois Gibbs | Mar 27, 2017 | Blog
Anne Gorsuch, the mother of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, was my worst nightmare. In 1982, when I first confronted her about toxic contamination in Times Beach, Missouri, she led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Ronald Reagan. Anne stepped down a...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 27, 2017 | Blog
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump promised to spend $1 trillion to modernize America's infrastructure. There were no specifics. As economist Brad DeLong put it, Trump only offered "plans to have plans." Now Trump has released a budget outline, and the plans to...
by People's Action | Mar 27, 2017 | Breakfast
Trump To Pivot With Pollution Trump to pivot from health care debacle with executive orders, outreach to Dems. Politico: "Expect executive orders this week on trade, energy and environmental regulations, [Steve Bannon] said in a text message ... [WH aides] plan to...
by LeeAnn Hall | Mar 27, 2017 | Blog
On Thursday, People’s Action was pulling out all the stops to defeat Republicans' plan to repeal health care on the anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – and preparing to take the fight to the Senate. Come Friday, we celebrated a stunning victory for...
by Miles Mogulescu | Mar 24, 2017 | Blog
Trump and the Republicans are doing so many things so fast to hurt ordinary Americans, it’s hard for the resistance movement to keep up. But nothing is more consequential than Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, which was fast-tracked to the president's...
by Robert Borosage | Mar 24, 2017 | Blog
When FBI Director James Comey informed the House Intelligence Committee of the ongoing FBI investigation of the Trump campaign’s connections with Russia, Democrats reacted like hounds provided the scent of a rabbit. Off the pack went, baying at the sun, eager to run...
by People's Action | Mar 24, 2017 | Breakfast
" Uncertain ACA Repeal Vote Today Trump threatens House GOP with keeping Obamacare. NBC: "Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney made clear Thursday evening that President Donald Trump is done negotiating ... wants a vote on Friday. And, if the...
by Rafael Diaz | Mar 23, 2017 | Blog
March 23rd, the seventh anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), turned into a better day for the people of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, than it was for House Speaker Paul Ryan, President Donald Trump, and our congressman, Rep. Lloyd Smucker. While the politicians in...
by Mark Trahant | Mar 23, 2017 | Blog
The story of Alaska and Montana is not front and center in the health care debate in the House. But it should be. Montana does not get a vote. (The state does not currently have a member of Congress after former Rep. Ryan Zinke was confirmed as Secretary of the...
by People's Action | Mar 23, 2017 | Breakfast
Stop The AHCA Overnight Speaker Paul Ryan, House Republicans and President Trump conspired to make their terrible health care repeal even worse. We expect a vote on Trumpcare later today. Call your Congressperson toll free and tell them to reject the American Health...
by LeeAnn Hall | Mar 23, 2017 | Health
The House of Representatives is slated to vote Thursday on a health care repeal bill that will gut the Affordable Care Act and end Medicaid as we know it. In legislative and human terms, passage of the bill would set us back not to 2009 but to 1964. But even if the...
by Xoai Pham | Mar 22, 2017 | Blog
We know the numbers: 14 million people will be pushed off their plans by next year, with that number rising to 24 million over a decade. The White House projects that number to be even higher: 26 million losing coverage over 10 years. What does this mean for...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 22, 2017 | Blog
I want to start off today with a story about my mom. Trust me, I'll eventually transition to talking about education. But my mom's story illustrates how attitudes are affected by media and language. My mom was born in 1923 on the plains of North Dakota. Her dad, my...
by Jordan Estevão | Mar 22, 2017 | Blog
March 22 is World Water Day. This day has been observed by the United Nations since 1993 to encourage governments and communities to tackle the water crisis around the world. Unfortunately, this water crisis affects us increasingly right here in the U.S., the richest...
by Alan Jenkins | Mar 22, 2017 | Blog
In an era of fake news, alternative facts, and downright lies, it’s a daily struggle to promote a positive, inclusive vision for our country that’s rooted in truth and justice. And when the loudest and most virulent falsehoods come from the highest levels of...
by People's Action | Mar 22, 2017 | Breakfast
Ryan Short On Votes Votes elusive for ACA repeal. The Hill: "In a closed-door meeting with House Republicans, Trump warned that failure to pass the legislation might trigger a backlash for the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections ... But Trump’s dire warning didn’t...
by Mary Green Swig | Steven L. Swig | Richard Eskow | Mar 21, 2017 | Blog
MARY GREEN SWIG STEVEN L. SWIG RICHARD ESKOW The election of 2016 forced us, like so many Americans, to reconsider much of what we imagined we knew about our country and our society. For example, only a few months ago there was a growing, nation-wide movement for...
by Leo Gerard | Mar 21, 2017 | Blog
After the president issued a budget to slash and burn environmental, labor and educational programs, the guy responsible for the thing, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, contended those financial massacres are the heart’s desire of the...
by Miles Mogulescu | Mar 21, 2017 | Blog
You probably have a better chance of becoming a judge in China without being a Communist than you have of making it to the Supreme Court under Republicans without the support of the hard-right Federalist Society. Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s nominee, has passed this test....
by People's Action | Mar 21, 2017 | Breakfast
Gorsuch Faces Grilling Today Gorsuch hearing expected to heat up. The Hill: "...every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee will get 30 minutes to grill Gorsuch ... Democrats on Monday focused their attacks on Gorsuch’s skeptical view of the wide latitude courts...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 20, 2017 | Blog
After a contentious start to Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination hearings, Senate Democrats are struggling with what the New York Times calls “two options: Get out of the way or get run over.” But Democrats have a third option, one that should attract moderate...
by Sam Pizzigati | Mar 20, 2017 | Blog
Mirror, mirror on the boardroom wall, who’s the greediest CEO of them all? This spring, as always, that’s going to be a tough call. We have so many worthy candidates. How about, for instance, the outgoing CEO at Coca-Cola? Muhtar Kent will be stepping down as Coke’s...
by People's Action | Mar 20, 2017 | Breakfast
Gorsuch Hearings Begin Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Gorsuch begin at 11 AM ET today. Dems prepare five lines of attack. Politico: "... Gorsuch was extensively involved in defending the anti-terror policies of the George W. Bush administration ... they see a...
by Lois Gibbs | Mar 19, 2017 | Blog
President Donald Trump’s deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency terrify me. They will gut the agency, removing protections for American families and our children. As I travel from one polluted community to the next, women weep as they hold their children,...
by Dave Johnson | Mar 19, 2017 | Blog
The TV show Silicon Valley regularly makes fun of tech companies that promise to "make the world a better place." Now, Tech Stands Up and Silicon Valley Rising want tech companies to follow through on this promise - starting with their workers. [vimeo 98720197 w=400...
by Tim Wilkins | Mar 17, 2017 | Blog
The “Small Business Health Fairness Act” rolls back the reliable and affordable health care small businesses have enjoyed since the passage of the Affordable Care Act ten years ago. “The proposed legislation could expose employers and employees to financial ruin,”...
by Mark Trahant | Mar 17, 2017 | Blog
Remember the sequester? Ah, the good old days. The new Trump Administration budget is short on details, but clear on direction. And we do know two things. First: If enacted, this budget would shrink the federal government to a much smaller size. Except for the...
by People's Action | Mar 17, 2017 | Breakfast
Everybody (But Military Contractors) Hates Trump Budget Republicans run from Trump budget. ABC: "Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., an Air Force veteran and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the dramatic cuts to the State Department's budget and foreign...
by Richard Eskow | Mar 17, 2017 | Blog
With typical bombast, Donald Trump calls his 2018 draft budget America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again. No, it won’t make America great again. It reflects a hardness of the heart and a sickness of the spirit unworthy of the American people....
by Dave Johnson | Mar 17, 2017 | Blog
Early in this millennium, Mississippi's Trent Lott was the Senate's Majority Leader. Then it was disclosed that he had done something outside the bounds of what most Americans considered "normal" and acceptable. Lott had spoken favorably about Strom Thurmond's 1948...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Mar 16, 2017 | Blog, Health
The Republicans on the House Budget Committee on Thursday swung an axe on the pillars of health care security for millions of people in a tiny room in the Longworth House Office Building too small to hold the outraged people who had lined the hallway in dissent....
by People's Action | Mar 16, 2017 | Breakfast
Trump Budget Bashes Poor "Trump Budget Plan Declares War on ‘War on Poverty’ Programs," reports Bloomberg: "President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress calls for eliminating social programs dating to President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and would cut...
by Jeff Bryant | Mar 16, 2017 | Blog
Betsy DeVos once called public schools a "dead end." But now that she's U.S. Secretary of Education, she's suddenly all for them. At least that's what she claims now. During her nomination process, numerous reporters noted DeVos's obvious bias against public schools....
by Andy Spears | Mar 16, 2017 | Blog
President Trump came to Nashville to peddle the Republicans’ disastrous plan to cut health care for millions of Americans. Tennesseans responded to this con with a resounding, "No!" More than 2,500 of us – organized by a coalition including Tennessee Citizen Action...
