by Kathy Mulady | Jan 19, 2017 | Blog
Treasury Secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin is having his hearing today in the U.S. Senate. Will you make a quick call to your senators to oppose his candidacy? When Donald Trump nominated Steve Mnuchin for U.S. Treasury Secretary, a nightmare Debbi Adams thought she had...
by People's Action | Jan 19, 2017 | Breakfast
TAKE ACTION Call your senators: Demand they say no to Mnuchin Donald Trump’s Corporate Coup marches on. Steve Mnuchin, Trump’s pick to steer our economy as Treasury Secretary, is a multimillionaire hedge fund banker who profited off the backs of hard-working...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 19, 2017 | Blog
So Betsy DeVos doesn’t know much about education policy. Didn’t we already know that? Nevertheless, the hot takes coming after her rocky confirmation hearing for the US Secretary of Education nominee read as if people are genuinely surprised that someone who has never...
by LeeAnn Hall | Jan 18, 2017 | Blog
The following was originally published in OtherWords.org For most people, prescription drugs are a lifeline. For Representative Tom Price, Donald Trump’s health secretary nominee, they’re a source of profits. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug and health...
by People's Action | Jan 18, 2017 | Breakfast
TAKE ACTION Tell Your Senators: Say No to Corrupt Tom Price Today, Rep. Tom Price, Donald Trump's pick to run Health and Human Services has his first nomination hearing. But ethics experts are already raising red flags. Over the weekend, CNN reported that a week after...
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jan 18, 2017 | Health
A school bus driver living in Slatington, Pa., writes that three years ago she was beginning to feel ill, but thought nothing of it until one morning, while checking the bus before starting her route, her fingers went numb. She had just signed up for a health...
by Leo Gerard | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog
During this very month last year, aluminum smelters across the United States were closing, one after another. It was as if they produced something useless, not a commodity crucial to everything from beverage cans to fighter jets. In January of 2016, Alcoa closed its...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog
All praises go to John Lewis for becoming the first nationally recognized political figure to question the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. He will hopefully not be the last. Lewis dared to say out loud what millions of Americans have been thinking. Lewis—who...
by People's Action | Jan 17, 2017 | Breakfast
Ethics Cloud Hangs Over Cabinet Noms Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos hearing today, The Hill: "[DeVos will be] face-to-face with liberal stalwarts Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). DeVos’s vocal support of school choice and charter...
by Richard Eskow | Jan 17, 2017 | Blog
It’s devastating, and potentially lethal, when Americans can’t afford life-saving drugs because their elected representatives are in thrall to Big Pharma. It’s disappointing when Democrats offer implausible excuses for their votes, as Sen. Cory Booker and twelve other...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jan 13, 2017 | Blog
In 1942, Franklin Roosevelt advanced what may have been the most politically daring policy proposal of his entire presidency. FDR called for the equivalent of a maximum wage. No individual American after paying taxes, Roosevelt declared, should have an income over...
by Miles Mogulescu | Jan 13, 2017 | Blog
The Trumpublicans are intent on manipulating the shock of Donald Trump’s victory to roll back much of the New Deal and Great Society; ram through unvetted Cabinet appointments intent on undermining the legal mandate of the very Departments they are charged with...
by People's Action | Jan 13, 2017 | Breakfast
Resistance Assemblies Sunday President-elect Donald Trump, his agenda, and his toxic cabinet nominees have galvanized unprecedented energy for activism around the country and people are looking for ways to get involved. People’s Action, MoveOn and the Working Families...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 13, 2017 | Blog
Education, which was hardly ever mentioned in the recent presidential election, has suddenly been thrust to the frontline in the increasingly heated conflict over President-Elect Donald Trump's proposed cabinet appointees. The reason for that turn of events is his...
by Bill Scher | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog
The Republicans are in a jam. For the last six years, they've pledged to repeal Obamacare, but haven't figured out a plan for replacing it. They are ideologically opposed to government involvement, but they know that taking away the health insurance of 20 million...
by People's Action | Jan 12, 2017 | Breakfast
Obamacare Repeal Advances Senate takes first step toward Obamacare repeal. NYT: "The vote was 51 to 48 ... setting the stage for ... a reconciliation bill ... The budget blueprint instructs House and Senate committees to come up with repeal legislation by Jan. 27....
by Isaiah J. Poole | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog, Democracy
The face of Jim Crow wasn't always the hooded Klansman, the defiant governor at the schoolhouse door or the club-wielding sheriff. It often smiled, uttered smooth words and offered a pat on the shoulder to quell the bubbling uprising. Racism, in other words, could...
by Richard Eskow | Jan 12, 2017 | Blog
"I'm also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me." Try not to think too much about the story that led to this comment from the President-Elect of the United States. It's not easy, I know. We're only human, after all, and that story is so ... so out there....
by Bill Scher | Jan 11, 2017 | Blog
In The New Republic, I counseled people to deny Donald Trump big TV ratings and refuse to watch his inauguration, as well as future State of Union addresses, speeches and interviews. Previously on The Rick Smith Show, I discussed how low TV ratings would rattle Trump,...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 11, 2017 | Blog
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) protects consumers from financial fraud and scams and was set up as part of the effort to clean up Wall Street following the 2008 financial crash. It's working. Since it was set up five and a half years ago the CFPB has...
by People's Action | Jan 11, 2017 | Breakfast
Don't Take Away Our Health CareThis week, Congress will vote on a budget resolution to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take health care away from millions. This is the right wing's first step toward gutting the health care we all count on. On top of eliminating the...
by Bill Scher | Jan 11, 2017 | Blog
The following is excerpted from The New Republic. Click here to read the full article. ...That inauguration next week? Don’t watch. State of the Union? You’re better off with an early night’s sleep. Oval Office addresses? Speeches? Rallies? Press conferences?...
by People's Action | Jan 10, 2017 | Breakfast
Senate: Do not let Trump's picks go unvettedToday, the Senate will begin confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees. But many of his picks haven’t yet completed the ethics vetting process. According to the Office of Government Ethics,...
by Richard Eskow | Jan 10, 2017 | Blog
“Ironic” is an overused word. And yet, how else can you describe what’s going on this week in Washington? The Republican president-elect says he wants “extreme vetting” for Syrian refugee families who already face years of scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Senate’s Republican...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 9, 2017 | Blog
The Postal Service's experimental "pilot program" in privatizing the retail end of the USPS using Staples outlets has failed and ended. The "Grand Alliance to Save Our Postal Service" has forced the USPS to back off from partnering with Staples in their effort to...
by People's Action | Jan 9, 2017 | Breakfast
URGENT: Sessions Attorney General confirmation can still be stopped Senate Republicans are trying to rush through one of the most dangerous Presidential appointments of all time. Sen. Jeff Sessions has a history of attacking civil rights organizations, undermining...
by Bill Scher | Jan 9, 2017 | Blog
With eleven days until Donald Trump is inaugurated as President, at least half of the country is in disoriented shock. It remains hard to believe this is really happening. And while in many respects what is happening is unprecedented, in other respects, we've been...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 6, 2017 | Blog
The U.S. Census Bureau reported Friday that the November trade deficit was $45.2 billion. This is up $2.9 billion from a revised $42.4 billion in October. Exports fell 0.2% to $185.5 billion from the prior month while imports climbed 1.1% to $321.1 billion. The trade...
by People's Action | Jan 6, 2017 | Breakfast
Republicans Reveal Their Priorities GOP to rush cabinet confirmations. Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference has scheduled six Cabinet-level confirmations hearings for next Wednesday, Jan. 11, the same day the chamber will likely slog through...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 6, 2017 | Blog
In "an unprecedented break" from tradition, Democrats in the US Senate are expected to challenge as many as eight of Donald Trump's cabinet nominees, including Betsy DeVos for US Secretary of Education, according to a report by the Washington Post. The opposition to...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 6, 2017 | Blog
Ninety-four percent of us pay into Social Security from every paycheck we receive. A few of us stop paying into Social Security in the first few working hours of the year. The "Tax Freedom Day" Scam Every year you hear a lot about Tax Freedom Day. This is the day the...
by Sam Pizzigati | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog
Republican leaders in Congress have never — in any of our lifetimes — entered a new year with higher hopes. They don’t just have a lockgrip on both chambers. They have an incoming president who’s itching to sign pretty much any legislation GOP lawmakers plop on his...
by Bill Scher | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog
With Republicans making Obamacare repeal their first order of business, queasiness has already set in among congressional leaders and the President-elect. "Even people who voted for [repeal] before are [saying], ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute, we knew that wasn’t going...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog
Take a look at Oxfam's report, "Behind the Brands: Food justice and the 'Big 10' food and beverage companies." A Food System In Crisis The Behind the Brands report explains, "For more than 100 years, the world's most powerful food and beverage companies have relied on...
by People's Action | Jan 5, 2017 | Breakfast
Obamacare Repeal Not So Simple Republicans increasingly queasy about Obamacare repeal. Politico: "There’s definitely fear on the Hill. Congress has only been in for a few days, but the conversation on Obamacare has definitely shifted. It’s no longer a...
by LeeAnn Hall | Jan 5, 2017 | Blog
This week I had the honor of joining my friend Pramila Jayapal as she made history. Along with her family and other close friends, I accompanied Pramila as she was sworn in as the U.S. Representative for Washington's 7th congressional district. She is the first...
by People's Action | Jan 4, 2017 | Breakfast
Schumer Lays Out Democratic Strategy Senate Minority Leader articulates oppositional vision. Yahoo! News: "Schumer mentioned infrastructure investments and tax and trade reform as areas of possible cooperation, while vowing to fight 'tooth and nail' on other issues,...
by Jeff Bryant | Jan 4, 2017 | Blog
The nation's eyes are on my home state of North Carolina, where what many are calling a coup has shown the lengths to which Republicans will go to protect and expand their political power. The naked power grab by Republicans has shocked the nation. But few people...
by Dave Johnson | Jan 3, 2017 | Blog
President-"elect" Donald Trump today announced his nomination of Robert Lighthizer for the cabinet-level office of US Trade Representative (USTR). Lighthizer, who served as deputy USTR under President Ronald Reagan, is known for criticizing Republican "free trade"...
by People's Action | Jan 3, 2017 | Breakfast
House Guts Ethics Office "With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Gut Independent Ethics Office" reports NYT: "House Republicans, overriding their top leaders, voted on Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office ... The move to...