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People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
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MORNING MESSAGE

Marsha Cole

The People’s Housing Platform Moves Us Towards Housing Justice

I’ve been to Washington, D.C. three times in my life. The first was in 1963, as a young girl, to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak at the March on Washington. The second was in 2009, for Barack Obama’s first inaugural speech. And the third is today, when I speak on Capitol Hill, with the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and People’s Action, for housing justice. Progressive lawmakers asked grassroots leaders like me to join them to create and introduce the People’s Housing Platform, an unprecedented package of bills to address our housing crisis. These include a demand for 12 million new units of social housing, a $200 billion community control fund, new tenant protections and a Green New Deal for public housing. We’re glad Members of Congress have stepped up to address this crisis – but I want to tell you why I’m here. I was born and raised in Chicago. As a licensed contractor, I’ve built houses, and ran successful businesses. But when I returned to Chicago after more than two decades, I almost became homeless. That’s because Chicago has become unaffordable to someone like me – a senior on a fixed income. Chicago has been transformed by developers’ greed. It’s almost unrecognizable. That’s why I’m in Washington, and on Capitol Hill, today. Because the People’s Housing Platform is a step in the right direction. The door to housing justice for seniors, and for Black and brown people, needs to really be open. Not halfway open, but all the way open – so we can get in, and stay in. We have a plan. So it’s time for the big boys to give us a seat at the table.

Marsha Cole speaks at 1:30 p.m. on Capitol Hill for the Jane Addams Senior Caucus and People’s Action to introduce the People’s Housing Platform. Click here to watch the livestream.

HUD Seeks To Roll Back Fair Housing Protections

Rolling back fair housing protections will not ease America’s housing crisis. The Hill: “More than a decade after the 2008 financial crisis, American communities from coast to coast are still struggling under the weight of a persistent housing crisis. That crisis, which is driven in large part by a disconnect between supply and demand that is exacerbated by NIMBYism and restrictive zoning, is nowhere near over. But a recently proposed rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that would roll back critical fair housing enforcement – ostensibly to ease the burdens causing the crisis – misses the mark. Some supporters of the new HUD proposal fundamentally misunderstand fair housing enforcement as a barrier to the widespread housing production that Americans deserve. In other words, it is possible to achieve two laudable goals at the same time: We can advance smart housing policies consistent with the reality on the ground while simultaneously preserving the federal government’s authority to enforce policies aimed at desegregating American communities.”

How Housing Is Shaping 2020 Elections

How a re-energized housing movement will shape the 2020 election. Curbed: “Access to affordable housing is a rallying cry for Democrats who hope the 2020 election will usher in new policy at the federal level. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has made expanding housing opportunities and ending homelessness a key part of its 2020 policy vision. Candidates for federal and local office have embraced the Homes Guarantee pledge, a policy vision put forward by People’s Action, a national network of progressive activists. Last October in Durham, North Carolina, the group Local Progress convened a housing summit with local elected officials from around the country. Numerous states have embraced or have legislators promoting upzoning proposals, including Oregon, Virginia, Nebraska, and Maryland. California is debating numerous policy solutions, including transit-oriented zoning, renter protection, and expanding the approval and production of accessory dwelling units. And there’s been growing grassroots action as well, such as the recent protest by Moms 4 Housing, a group of homeless mothers who squatted in a corporate-owned single-family rental, leading to its purchase last week by a community land trust.”

White House Undermines ACA With Block Grants

Trump administration to offer states Medicaid block grant option. WaPo: “Top Trump administration health officials are inviting states to convert part of Medicaid into a block grant — a longtime conservative goal Congress rejected more than two years ago. A letter to every state Medicaid director, to be dispatched Thursday, will offer the possibility of trading away an entitlement program that expands and contracts depending on how many poor people need the government health coverage. In exchange, for able-bodied adults in the program, states could apply to receive a fixed federal payment and freedom from many of the program’s rules, according to several individuals familiar with the plans. The offer represents the second — and boldest — step the Trump administration has taken to redefine the nation’s largest public insurance program, a cornerstone of the social safety net created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society of the mid-1960s. It follows a guidance letter that Seema Verma, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, issued in January 2018, allowing states for the first time to compel poor Americans to work or prepare for jobs to qualify for Medicaid.”

Senator Press Questions At Impeachment Trial

12 questions to expect at Trump’s impeachment trial. Politico: “After a week-long stretch of opening presentations in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, all 100 senators will have a chance to pose their most pressing questions starting on Wednesday. The process is straightforward yet important. Here’s how it will work: Any senator can write their questions on a piece of paper and specify who the question is for — someone on Trump’s defense team or one of the House impeachment managers. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will then serve as a clearinghouse, bundling together similar asks from their party rank-and-file. From there, Chief Justice John Roberts will read the questions aloud. Only one side will get to answer each question. And it’s all expected to last up to 16 hours. If Republicans stick together and block any witnesses, the session could be one of the last chances — besides closing arguments — for senators to hear from each side’s lawyers before beginning deliberations.”

McConnell Can’t Block Impeachment Witnesses

McConnell concedes he lacks votes to block witnesses at impeachment trial. AP: “Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded late Tuesday, a potentially major hurdle for Trump’s hopes to end the trial with a quick acquittal. Earlier, Trump’s lawyers concluded his defense with a plea to move on. Even after sitting through days and late nights of argument, several Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in considering in-person testimony from former National Security Adviser John Bolton and perhaps others. Trump’s lawyers made their closing case for a speedy acquittal Tuesday, but to no avail. McConnell told colleagues in a private meeting that he did not yet have the votes to block Democrats from summoning witnesses. That outcome would prolong an election-year trial that Trump and his legal team had hoped was on track, as one lawyer said, to ‘end now, as soon as possible.’ McConnnell’s statement, in a closed-door meeting of senators, was an acknowledgment of the extent to which revelations from Bolton have scrambled the trial’s schedule and the desire for testimony. Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden. That assertion, if true, would undercut a key defense argument and go to the heart of one major article of impeachment against the president.”

MD Cop Charged With Murder For Shooting Unarmed, Handcuffed Man

An Officer Who Shot A Handcuffed Man Inside A Cop Car Was Charged With Second-Degree Murder And Manslaughter. BuzzFeed: “A Maryland police officer was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter after he fatally shot a man whose arms were handcuffed behind his back inside a squad car on Monday night, authorities said. Prince George’s County Police Chief Henry Stawinski announced the charges against Cpl. Michael Owen Tuesday evening, saying that after reviewing the facts of the case the chief was unable to provide a ‘reasonable explanation’ for the events that led to the deadly shooting of William Green. ‘I have concluded that what happened last night is a crime,’ Stawinski said during a press conference. Officers responded to the scene in Temple Hills, south of Washington, DC, Monday night over reports that a driver had hit several vehicles, police spokesperson Christina Cotterman told reporters. Upon identifying the driver, police said the man appeared to be under the influence of an unknown substance and requested a drug recognition expert to assist them. The driver was then cuffed with his hands behind his back and placed in the front passenger seat of the police car, which Cotterman said is standard arrest protocol. Then, the officer got into the driver’s seat. At some point while waiting for the expert, the shooting occurred, police said. Stawinski said police believe seven shots were fired, adding that was part of the reason why police filed charges against the officer. In addition to second-degree murder and manslaughter, Owen, a 10-year veteran of the department, is facing associated weapons charges in connection with the Green’s death.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

Michael McKinley

We Don’t Need Another Liar-In-Chief: Biden Must Tell The Truth About Medicare For All

I’m an Iowan, a father, and a voter. And I’m just plain tired of the lies too many candidates tell us about health care. They say we don’t need Medicare For All, when I know that we do.That’s why, along with thirty other members of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action and Iowa Student Action, I occupied the Des Moines office of Joe Biden’s campaign on Monday. I was one of five who were arrested for refusing to leave. Why? Because we already have a Liar-In-Chief in the White House. We don’t need another one. Joe Biden recently said that under Medicare For All, “All the Medicare you have is gone.” This is an outright lie. Biden wants to frighten seniors, hoping he can scare them into voting for him. He’s saying Medicare For All will “take away your Medicare,” when exactly the opposite is true! Where is this scaremongering coming from? From those who profit most under our current system – the insurance industry and big pharma. The Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, a massive lobby started by for-profit health care to kill the momentum towards universal health coverage, has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to vilify Medicare For All and the candidates who endorse it. And they’ve invested heavily in the campaigns of candidates like Biden and Pete Buttegieg. They’re using them to inject lies about Medicare For All into the presidential campaign. Why? Because they stand to lose the most if we get universal health coverage. So I’ve had enough. It’s time for candidates to stop telling lies about Medicare For All and the other changes we need in this country that are long overdue. It’s time for truth, and a leader who’s going to tell us the truth – one who’s going to fight for all of us, and not for wealthy interests.

Even The Insured Can No Longer Afford Health Care

Harvard study shows even Americans with insurance can’t afford care. Common Dreams: “The for-profit U.S. healthcare system is so broken that a growing number of people who are fortunate enough to have private insurance coverage are still unable to afford doctor visits and other essential services due to soaring costs—leaving a larger number of Americans with unmet medical needs today than there were two decades ago. That’s a central finding of a new study by Harvard University researchers published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine, examining 20 years of government data between 1998 and 2017. The study found that despite a major expansion of insurance coverage in the U.S. during that period—most significantly through the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA)—”most measures of unmet need for physician services have shown no improvement, and financial access to physician services has decreased.” The study’s authors noted that the rise of “narrow networks, high-deductible plans, and higher co-pays” has contributed to the growth of unmet medical needs in the U.S. since the 1990s. Dr. Laura Hawks, a Harvard research fellow and lead author of the study, said the research poses fundamental questions about the viability of the private health insurance system at a time when presidential candidates, members of Congress, physicians, nurses, and much of the U.S. public support a transition to a single-payer system like Medicare for All. ‘Our findings call into question the value of private health insurance today,’ Hawks, a primary care physician, said in a statement. ‘When so many people can’t get the care they need even when they have insurance coverage, it says that insurance is not doing what it is supposed to do: ensure that healthcare is affordable when you need it.’”

Trump Trades Favors With Autocrats

Bolton was concerned that Trump did favors for autocratic leaders, book says. NYT: ” John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William P. Barr last year that he had concerns that President Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. Mr. Barr responded by pointing to a pair of Justice Department investigations of companies in those countries and said he was worried that Mr. Trump had created the appearance that he had undue influence over what would typically be independent inquiries, according to the manuscript. Backing up his point, Mr. Barr mentioned conversations Mr. Trump had with the leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Xi Jinping of China. Mr. Bolton’s account underscores the fact that the unease about Mr. Trump’s seeming embrace of authoritarian leaders, long expressed by experts and his opponents, also existed among some of the senior cabinet officers entrusted by the president to carry out his foreign policy and national security agendas. Mr. Bolton recounted his discussion with Mr. Barr in a draft of an unpublished book manuscript that he submitted nearly a month ago to the White House for review. People familiar with the manuscript described its contents on the condition of anonymity. The book also contains an account of Mr. Trump telling Mr. Bolton in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations of political rivals, The New York Times reported on Sunday. The matter is at the heart of the articles of impeachment against the president.”

SCOTUS OKs Trump Plan To Cut Benefits To Legal Immigrants

Supreme Court allows Trump administration to proceed with ‘wealth test’ rules for immigrants. WaPo: “The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to begin implementing new “wealth test” rules making it easier to deny immigrants residency or admission to the United States because they have used or might use public-assistance programs. The decision, issued in response to an emergency petition by the administration, lifts a nationwide injunction imposed by a district judge in New York. That means the government can begin applying the new standards, which critics say would place a burden on poor immigrants from non-English-speaking countries, while legal challenges continue in lower courts. The order supporting the Trump administration was handed down as Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was presiding over President Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate. He was joined by conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh in lifting the injunction. All four of the court’s liberal justices — Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — noted their disagreement. Neither side explained its reasoning, which is not uncommon in such emergency motions. The decision echoed past orders in which the court’s conservatives allowed implementation of administration objectives — restricting transgender service members, for instance, or shifting Defense Department funds to build a border wall — while legal challenges continued.”

Trump Lawyers Ask SCOTUS To Conceal Financial Records

Trump’s lawyers tell Supreme Court that the President’s financial documents shouldn’t be turned over to House, Manhattan. CNN: “President Donald Trump’s personal lawyers told the Supreme Court Monday that the House of Representatives and a Manhattan prosecutor should not be able to subpoena the President’s longtime accounting firm and banks for his financial records, in a monumental dispute concerning separation of powers and claims of absolute immunity that will be heard by the justices later this term. For years, the President has been battling a broad range of legal challenges attempting to force the release of his tax returns and other financial documents, and now the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the dispute sometime this spring and render an opinion by July — just as the presidential election is gearing up. ‘To call these subpoenas unprecedented would be an understatement,’ argued Jay Sekulow, one of the President’s personal lawyers, in the opening briefs ‘Unleashing each and every House committee to torment the President with legislative subpoena after legislative subpoena is a recipe for constitutional crisis,’ Sekulow said. The filings came as Chief Justice John Roberts is presiding over the Senate impeachment trial and Trump’s legal team has spent hours on the Senate floor presenting the President’s defense in the proceeding. In the cases regarding Trump’s financial documents, lower courts have allowed the subpoenas to go forward but those decisions have been put on hold while the Supreme Court considers the issue.”

Trump Fuels Housing Discrimination

Housing discrimination is rising. Trump is attacking protections against it. Truthout: “For the past few months, yet another legislative pillar of the country’s civil rights era, the Fair Housing Act, has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. First, in the autumn, the administration unveiled plans to make it harder for tenants, mortgage recipients and community organizations to sue banks and other financial institutions for using algorithms that end up having discriminatory impacts on the basis of race, religion, national origin and other protected categories. Then, a few weeks ago, HUD unveiled additional rule-rewrites diluting the obligation of cities to both develop public infrastructure in poor neighborhoods of color and also to build affordable housing across a range of locales rather than concentrating it all in a handful of places. While the administration is trying to pitch these as simply administrative tweaks, in fact they have the potential to gut the force of the country’s fair housing rules — much as the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision rolling back parts of the Voting Rights Act ended up largely gutting protections that had been in place for more than half a century. The Fair Housing Act (FHA), first passed in 1968 and expanded in scope in the decades following, aims to prevent deliberate discrimination in housing-related matters as well as to prevent practices that have a “disparate impact,” resulting in discriminatory outcomes even if the individuals involved weren’t intentionally trying to harm particular groups. An example might be bank lending criteria or insurance criteria that in practice make it harder for people in majority-Black neighborhoods to secure mortgages. The FHA also aims to “affirmatively further fair housing” by requiring communities to improve public infrastructure — schools, transit systems, roads and so on — in neighborhoods where most residents are people of color, and also to support the development of affordable housing in a wide variety of locales within a city.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

Tom Conway

Trump Gets An F From Workers

Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “great negotiator” and author of “The Art of the Deal,” promised to use his bargaining skills to help the American worker. Trump vowed to rewrite trade deals, stanch the offshoring of U.S. jobs and reinvigorate American manufacturing. His behavior tells a different story. Both of the trade deals he produced so far—the original United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the “phase one” agreement with China—failed American workers. Bad trade cost millions of American jobs. Trump’s brand of deal-making won’t bring them back. Trump made fair trade—and standing up to cheaters—a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign. He railed against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which empowered corporations to shift more than one million manufacturing jobs to Mexico. Mexican workers make a few dollars an hour, much less than their U.S. counterparts, and they lack the protection of real labor unions. Workers have no voice, and U.S. corporations get rich gaming this system. The labor movement was prepared to work with Trump to achieve its long-sought goals. But as president, he let workers down. Trump’s failure to follow through on labor standards in the USMCA showed his murky strategy on trade. His use of tariffs does, too. America needs a comprehensive trade solution, but Trump’s policy lacks vision. More jobs will disappear unless Trump pursues a cohesive trade strategy that prioritizes the American worker. Now, he’s just helping to perpetuate the broken system he bitterly criticized.

Impeachment Trial Turns To Battle Over Witnesses

John Roberts can call witnesses to Trump’s trial. Will He? NYT: “An overwhelming number of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, believe the Senate should hear from relevant witnesses and obtain documents during President Trump’s impeachment trial. Striking new revelations about the president’s role in the Ukraine affair, as reported from an unpublished manuscript by John Bolton, underscore the need for his testimony and that of others. Yet Republican members of the Senate have signaled that they intend to uphold Mr. Trump’s unprecedented decision to block all of this material. But turns out they don’t get to make that choice — Chief Justice John Roberts does. This isn’t a matter of Democrats needing four ‘moderate’ Republicans to vote for subpoenas and witnesses, as the Trump lawyers have been claiming. Rather, the impeachment rules, like all trial systems, put a large thumb on the scale of issuing subpoenas and place that power within the authority of the judge, in this case the chief justice. Most critically, it would take a two-thirds vote — not a majority — of the Senate to overrule that. This week, Democrats can and should ask the chief justice to issue subpoenas on his authority so that key witnesses of relevance like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney appear in the Senate, and the Senate should subpoena all relevant documents as well.”

Bolton Claim Scrambles GOP Strategy

Report revives Democrats’ call for Bolton to testify in Senate trial. NPR: “Call it the October surprise of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. John Bolton, the former national security adviser who has been playing his own personal game of footsie with impeachment negotiators for months, has written in a draft book manuscript in which he alleges the President did, in fact, condition US security assistance to Ukraine on investigations into a political rival. He represents a first-hand witness. He represents direct knowledge. He represents everything the White House defense team said in their Saturday presentation on the Senate floor didn’t exist. Twenty-four hours ago, the impeachment trial was on track to be wrapped up by Friday or Saturday of this week. A vote to move to consider witnesses was short on GOP senators, and how quickly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could move to the vote to acquit Trump had become the central question in GOP circles. For the moment, in the wake of the Bolton manuscript first reported by The New York Times, all of that is scrambled and extremely fluid. Could it still end up that way? Yes. But GOP senators have an awful lot more on their mind as the White House defense team continues its presentation Monday.”

Sanders Surges In IA, NH Polls

Why is Bernie Sanders surging? CNN: “As promised, Senator Bernie Sanders is shocking the political establishment. The candidate who many thought had no chance of winning is polling extremely well in Iowa and New Hampshire and several other states. According to a new CNN/UNH poll, he has a nine-point lead in New Hampshire. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumed frontrunner, is waking up to the reality that he is running neck-and-neck with the senator from Vermont. The other top candidates, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg, are struggling to keep up with him. They are likely experiencing the same sinking feeling many Republicans felt in 2016, when they awoke to the reality that Donald Trump was stronger than the party establishment seeking to contain him. The Sanders juggernaut does not appear to be a flash-in-the-pan candidacy. It is true that Sanders has had trouble expanding his base of support, but for several months now he has remained in the top tier in the polls, along with Biden, Warren and Buttigieg. It has become increasingly possible to imagine his winning the nomination. How did a candidate who is so risky–as his supporter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez admitted during a rally–work his way to the very top? The most important element of Sanders’ surge is that his candidacy is built on top of a movement. Sanders subscribes to a vision of electoral politics which stipulates that campaigns need to be built from the bottom up.”

Climate Deniers Change Their Tune

Climate change’s surprise twist. Axios: “The economics, politics and science of climate change are converging and catapulting this problem from a joke among critics to a prominent concern. Shifts across Washington, D.C., among corporate leaders and within financial institutions are creating a foundation that could produce big movement on this problem for the first time since, well, forever. If the world’s political and business leaders are going to seriously move to cut heat-trapping emissions, they first need to pay attention to it. They are starting to now, fueled by unrest from the world’s youth, cheaper renewable energy, more bouts of extreme weather and other evidence of global warming itself. We’ve written about these shifts individually here and here and here over the past year or more. It’s worth examining them together as a whole because the amount of new attention on climate that’s occurred in a matter of weeks is staggering. In Washington, congressional Republicans and even President Trump are scrambling to acknowledge the problem after years of denying it — and in some cases mocking it outright.’The issue of climate and the environment is rising in priority for the American voter and you’re seeing the political dynamic shift where people are really demanding their elected officials to address this problem,’ Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) told me last week.”

Youth Turnout Can Tip NH Vote

Young people are set to make history With Bernie Sanders—if they show. Common Dreams: “Fifty-two years after young people changed history with the New Hampshire primary election, a new generation is ready to do it again—this time by mobilizing behind Bernie Sanders. The New Hampshire Youth Movement—which its leadership calls ‘the largest youth power organization in the state’—endorsed Sanders last week. NHYM could provide the margin of victory in New Hampshire’s Feb. 11 primary. The strategy has been methodical. ‘People involved with NHYM have been canvassing nonstop,’ the state director of the organization’s field program, Dylan Carney, told me. “We’ve gathered over 9,500 pledge-to-vote cards from people aged 18 to 25 and will be working to get them voting for Bernie Sanders on Feb. 11th.” I asked Carney for his assessment of why polling nationwide shows young people prefer Sanders over every other Democratic contender by a lopsided margin. ‘Sanders is a movement candidate—who will be accountable to our generation,’ Carney replied. ‘He has proven that he is aligned with the version of the world that we want to create. And since before our generation was born, he was fighting the injustices that we are fighting today.’”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

Alex Lawson

Joe Biden Has Tried To Cut Social Security For 40 Years

When Washington politicians talk about Social Security cuts, they almost always use coded language, saying that they want to “change,” “adjust,” or even “save” the program. That’s because cutting Social Security is incredibly unpopular with voters of all political stripes. When corporate-friendly politicians like Biden use those words, they are trying to signal to elite media and billionaire donors that they are “very serious people” who are open to cutting Social Security benefits, without giving away the game to voters. Joe Biden doesn’t seem to have changed much from his time as vice president, when he offered Republicans “grand bargains” that included Social Security cuts again and again. At this point, it’s self-evident that the only agenda Republican politicians care about is cutting taxes for their billionaire donors and stealing earned benefits from the American people. When Biden says that he wants to work with them, it suggests that he remains open to that agenda. That’s very concerning for everyone who cares about the future of Social Security and Medicare.

Trump May Cut Social Security, Medicare

Trump opens door to Social Security cuts. LA Times: “With his penchant for saying the quiet parts out loud and assuming no one is paying attention, President Trump on Wednesday opened the door to cutting Social Security and Medicare later this year. The word came at the very end of an interview conducted by Joe Kernen of CNBC, in connection with Trump’s appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. What’s important is that Trump appears to be falling into lockstep with the more general Republican position that closing the federal deficit requires cutting back on Social Security, Medicare and other social safety net programs. Never mind that the deficit was opened into a gaping maw by the tax cut Trump signed in December 2017, which went mostly to corporations and the wealthy, the effect of which goosed economic growth for a short period but has faded.”

Dems Lay Out Case For First Article Of Impeachment

Democrats zero in on winnable Republicans in Trump trial. CNN: “The lead House impeachment manager is relentlessly pressuring the handful of Republican jurors who are considering a vote to call witness and delay the acquittal that President Donald Trump craves from his impeachment trial. Heading into the final day of his effort to build a devastating case, the indefatigable California Democrat is deploying every trick in the prosecutor’s arsenal as he weaves a narrative of an unchained presidency hour after grueling hour. Schiff became emotional late on Thursday as he pleaded with Republican senators to turn against their President, arguing that America would be ‘lost’ if the truth of Trump’s conduct in Ukraine did not emerge. ‘You know you can’t trust this President to do what’s right for this country. You can trust he will do what’s right for Donald Trump. He will do it now. He’s done it before. He’ll do it for the next several months. He’ll do it in the election if he’s allowed to,’ Schiff said. Schiff is appealing to their sense of constitutional duty and to those who dream of a unique place in history. He’s playing on the Senate’s sense of self-importance, suggesting it as the only venue sufficiently wise to try the case.”

U.N. Rules For Climate Refugees

Climate refugee ruling sets ‘global precedent’. The Ecologist: “It is unlawful for governments to return people seeking asylum from countries where the climate crisis threatens their lives, a landmark ruling by the UN Human Rights Committee has found. The decision sets a ‘global precedent’, Amnesty International said yesterday in response to the ground-breaking asylum case. The judgment is a result of a case brought forward in February 2016 against the government of New Zealand by Ioane Teitiota, a man from the Pacific nation of Kiribati, after authorities denied his claim of asylum as a ‘climate refugee’. He was deported from New Zealand to Kiribati in September 2015. The UN Human Rights Committee delivered its decision on the case earlier this month. Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher, said: “The decision sets a global precedent. ‘It says a state will be in breach of its human rights obligations if it returns someone to a country where – due to the climate crisis – their life is at risk, or in danger of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment triggered.”

Neo-Nazi Leader Revealed

Revealed: the true identity of the leader of an American neo-Nazi terror group. The Guardian: “The Guardian has learned the true identity of the leader and founder of the US-based neo-Nazi terror network the Base, which was recently the target of raids by the FBI after an investigation into domestic terrorism uncovered their plans to start a race war. Members of the group stand accused of federal hate crimes, murder plots and firearms offenses, and have harbored international fugitives in recent months. The Base’s leader previously operated under the aliases ‘Norman Spear’ and ‘Roman Wolf’. Members of the network do not know his true identity due to the group’s culture of internal secrecy. But the Guardian can reveal that ‘Norman Spear’ is in fact US-born Rinaldo Nazzaro, 46, who has a long history of advertising his services as an intelligence, military and security contractor. The revelation of his identity comes after a months-long investigation by the Guardian into Nazzaro and the activities of the Base. The Base – which is an approximate English translation of ‘al-Qaida’ – began recruiting in late 2018. The white supremacy group, which has regional and international cells, extols the virtues of an all-out race war while specifically targeting African Americans and Jewish people. Using encrypted apps, members of the highly organized group planned terror campaigns; vandalized synagogues; established armed training camps and recruited new members.”

Sanders Surges In National Poll

Sanders surges in new nationwide CNN poll. Politico: “Bernie Sanders’ standing among voters nationwide surged, with a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS showing that the Vermont senator has joined Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential field. Among Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents who are registered to vote, 27 percent said they would support Sanders for the Democratic nomination, compared with Biden polling at 24 percent. The difference between the two candidates falls within the margin of error, so there is no clear leader in the poll. This is the first CNN poll in which Biden hasn’t been the solo candidate on top. Sanders has gained 7 percentage points since CNN’s previous poll in December, the greatest surge among the candidates. Sanders has maintained consistent enthusiasm among voters since last fall. In the new CNN poll, 38 percent of Democratic voters said they would be enthusiastic if Sanders were to win the nomination, marking just a 1 point dip from October, whereas voters’ enthusiasm for Warren as the potential nominee has fallen 12 points to 29 percent. Biden’s dropped 9 points to 34 percent.”

The Transformative Power Of Solidarity

How the transformative power of solidarity will beat Trump. The Intercept: “Late Monday night, CBS News reported that Bernie Sanders had just done exactly what many critics have long called on him to do: He asked his supporters to dial back the personal attacks on rivals in the Democratic primary and focus on substantial policy differences. ‘We need a serious debate in this country on issues,’ Sanders said. ‘We don’t need to demonize people who may disagree with us… I appeal to my supporters: Please, engage in civil discourse.’ Among Sanders’s steadily growing base of supporters, the mood is about as far from rage tweeting as you can get. In fact, despite the senator’s reputation as a finger-waving grump, the more time I spend with the campaign, whether in small meetups or huge rallies, the more I am struck by the undercurrent of tenderness that runs through all these events. Surprisingly enough, the force that is bridging what at first seem like huge divides — between multiracial urbanite Gen Z-ers and aging white farmers, between lifetime industrial trade unionists and hardcore climate organizers, between a Jewish candidate and a huge Muslim base — is a culture of quiet listening. Canvassers and organizers across the country report the same thing: that once a space for listening (as opposed to lecturing) has been opened up, the stories start pouring out. After these intimate stories have been shared, people are more open to hearing how the movement that the campaign is building could make their lives better with bold policies from Medicare for All to erasing college debt to a $15 minimum wage to a Green New Deal. If this sounds less like conventional electoral campaigning and more like old-school political organizing (maybe even consciousness raising), that’s because it is.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

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Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
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MORNING MESSAGE

Tobita Chow

We Need A Real Trade Deal With China, Not Just A Truce

Trump crows the “Phase One” trade agreement with China is a “promise kept” to supporters to rebalance trade between the two nations. But it is really just a temporary truce in his trade war, one which may not last long or deliver anything close to the outcomes he has promised. In the deal, the U.S. will reduce some of its tariffs in exchange for a pledge from China to restore trade levels to where they were when Trump started the trade war, and to buy billions more in goods and services over two years. But Trump’s China trade deal may blow up well before 2022, because it leaves the deeper sources of tension between the two countries untouched. This means a renewed escalation is likely after the 2020 elections, if not sooner. Trump’s two-year trade war has already been immensely destructive to the U.S. economy. Rather than reviving U.S. manufacturers and creating an avalanche of new jobs, it has pushed the manufacturing sector into a recession. Farming communities, too, have suffered billions in losses, causing the highest number of farm bankruptcies since 2011. In order to avoid more harm to the U.S. economy, farmers and workers, we must bring a permanent end to the trade war and set the U.S.-China relationship on a fundamentally different path based on progressive priorities that favor workers, confront our climate crisis and counter Trump’s nationalism with a spirit of international solidarity.

‘Overwhelming’ Evidence In Trump Impeachment Trial

Dems unload ‘overwhelming’ impeachment case on the Senate — even as they press for more. Politico: “One by one, the seven House impeachment prosecutors seeking President Donald Trump’s removal from office reconstructed a case against the president so dense — at times, head-scratchingly complex — that it was hard for senators new to the material to keep up. After a lofty introduction by the House’s lead manager, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Democrats shed any pretense of offering a streamlined, made-for-TV version of events meant to captivate the Senate or the nation. For much of the day, they cast aside any attempt to make a narrowly tailored case to Republicans that they should support calls for additional witnesses. Instead, they decided to hammer senators with everything they had: an all-day torrent of intricate information, peppered with screenshots of deposition transcripts, emails, text messages and about 50 video clips — nearly three times more than House Republicans used during the entirety of their arguments in the 1999 Clinton trial. It was a presentation that seemed designed to demonstrate what Democrats have long professed: that the facts of the Ukraine scandal threatening Trump’s presidency are so overwhelming as to be almost infallible. As Republicans harangued Democrats for failing to ‘do their homework,’ the House managers were intent to emphasize just how much ‘homework’ they did. “We have some very long days yet to come,’ Schiff warned the Senate as he kicked off the House’s arguments on Wednesday. He added, ‘Over the coming days, we will present to you and to the American people the extensive evidence collected in the House’s inquiry into the president’s abuse of power, overwhelming evidence… despite his unprecedented obstruction into that misconduct.’”

Trump Cuts Protection Of Rivers And Streams

Trump removes pollution protections for America’s rivers and streams. Slate: “The Trump administration is set to continue its dismantling of Obama-era environmental protections for the country’s waterways on Thursday, issuing new rules that remove federal protections for half the nation’s wetlands and hundreds of thousands of small waterways. Trump repealed Obama’s 2015 “Waters of the United States” regulation in September, a set of rules restricting dumping and development that impacted the country’s rivers, streams, and wetlands. Now, the Trump administration is finalizing its own set of water rules that will, for the first time in decades, allow for pesticides and fertilizers to be dumped in waterways and open up wetlands to new development. The Obama water rule was loathed by farmers, a crucial vote bank for Trump in 2020, as well as developers and the fossil fuel industry. It covered 60 percent of American waterways, including large waterways like the Chesapeake Bay or Mississippi River and smaller rivers and streams, as well as seasonal waterways. Those protections limited, for example, the pollution runoff from fertilizers and pesticides from nearby farms, the dumping of industrial chemicals by extraction companies, and wanton development on real estate that impacted nearby waterways. Golf course developers, of which Trump is one, were vocal opponents of the Obama rule. ‘Legal experts say that Mr. Trump’s replacement rule would go further than simply repealing and replacing the 2015 Obama rule — it would also eliminate protections to smaller headwaters that have been implemented for decades under the 1972 Clean Water Act,’ according to the New York Times. ‘That could open millions of acres of pristine wetlands to pollution or destruction, and allow chemicals and other pollutants to be discharged into smaller headland waters that eventually drain into larger water bodies, experts in water management said. Wetlands play key roles in filtering surface water and protecting against floods, while also providing wildlife habitat.’”

Visa Restrictions For Pregnant Women

U.S. to impose visa restrictions for pregnant women. NBC: “The Trump administration is coming out with new visa restrictions aimed at restricting ‘birth tourism,’ in which women travel to the U.S. to give birth so their children can have a coveted U.S. passport. The State Department planned to publicize the rules Thursday, according to two officials with knowledge of the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The rules would make it more difficult for pregnant women to travel on tourist visas. In one draft of the regulations, they would have to clear an additional hurdle before obtaining the visas — convincing a consular officer that they have another legitimate reason to come to the U.S. The Trump administration has been restricting all forms of immigration, but the president has been particularly plagued by the issue of birthright citizenship — anyone born in the U.S. is considered a citizen, under the Constitution. He has railed against the practice and threatened to end it, but scholars and members of his administration have said it’s not so easy to do.”

Overdose Deaths Among Older Americans Soar

Overdose deaths among people over 55 increased 17-fold between 1999 and 2017. Truthout: “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, reported overdose deaths for people 55 and older was just 518 in 1999. In 2017, however, that number had soared to 8,877 and continues to rise. At a time when the average senior could be retired and dealing with the usual illnesses associated with age — cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension, osteoarthritis, diabetes, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease — the quiet scourge of addiction and sudden deaths is flying under the radar. For baby boomers, drug misuse can be related to other health issues, in addition to being a problem in and of itself. Original Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance for adults 65 and over, offers coverage for in-patient drug rehabilitation, as does the Affordable Care Act. Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is effective in treating opioid addiction, and while MAT is more available today than it was a decade ago, barriers to access remain. Medications to treat alcohol and opioid addiction need to be more accessible and affordable. Every year, hundreds of thousands of families lose brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, to substance abuse and addiction. A societal commitment to improving treatment and prevention of drug dependence for those who have reached old age will remove the stigma of addiction and encourage those who struggle to seek help.

Sanders Doubles Support In New Hampshire Poll

Sanders nearly doubles his support in New Hampshire poll. Politico: “Bernie Sanders has nearly doubled his support among Democratic voters in New Hampshire since December, with a new WBUR poll showing the Vermont senator with a healthy lead just three weeks from the state’s primary. Twenty-nine percent of Democratic primary voters in the battleground state said they would ‘support or lean toward’ Sanders — an increase of 14 percentage points since last month. Pete Buttigieg, who led the poll in December, followed behind Sanders at 17 percent, a slight dip of 1 point. Joe Biden, who typically polls better than or neck-and-neck with Sanders, dropped to 14 percent in January, a 3-point change since last month. Elizabeth Warren trailed behind Biden at 13 percent, a 1-point increase from December. It’s been a successful stretch for Sanders, who raked in $34.5 million in fundraising for the fourth quarter of 2019 — putting the Democratic primary contender near President Donald Trump’s fourth quarter total of $46 million. Two other polls this week also showed Sanders and Biden ahead, and other polls show Sanders in the top ranks in Iowa and New Hampshire. Sanders’ polling and fundraising have remained steady since he suffered a heart attack on Oct. 1. The 78-year-old senator continues to do well with younger voters, with the WBUR poll showing he has the support of 52 percent of Democratic voters under 30.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

Work For People’s Action

People’s Action, a national network of grassroots groups, is at the front lines in our nation’s battle to put people over profits. Want to join us? We’re looking for a new Media Relations Manager. Come help us take our nation back for progressive values.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make a difference. Apply now, or refer a friend!

MORNING MESSAGE

Sam Pizzigati

Lies in the White House, Cancer in Our Neighborhoods

Something is shaking on the cancer front that needs our full attention. The Trump administration, investigative journalist Sharon Lerner discovered, “is executing an old tobacco industry scheme to dismantle the federal government’s ability to protect the public from cancer.” The Trump White House has packed the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s top echelons with free-market fundamentalists who’ve set about “freeing” chemical companies from regulations designed to limit the presence of cancer-causing chemicals in our nation’s air, water, and soil. These political appointees are working hand in glove with America’s chemical manufacturers, outfits that have spent $1.4 billion on lobbying over the past dozen years. All those lobbying dollars have paid off. Chemical companies now have their pals running the regulatory show — and more Americans, as a result, figure to find themselves in families fighting cancer.

Impeachment Trial Opens After Heated Debate

Impeachment trial: Senate sets rules for Trump trial on heated first day. CBS: “With a marathon day of debate on the rules of President Trump’s impeachment trial now behind them, the Senate will gather at 1 p.m. Wednesday to hear opening arguments from the House’s impeachment managers. The Senate approved the parameters for the impeachment trial in the early morning hours Wednesday after Democrats were roundly rejected in their efforts to subpoena witnesses and documents before opening arguments are finished. Increasingly restless senators sat silently over the 13-hour session as House impeachment managers and White House lawyers debated 11 amendments to the resolution introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell setting the rules for the trial, all of which failed, and all but one in party-line votes. McConnell’s resolution was adopted in another party-line vote of 53-47. A particularly bitter exchange in the early morning hours prompted an extraordinary rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial. ‘I think it’s appropriate at this point for me to admonish both the house managers and the president’s counsel in equal terms to remember that they are addressing the world’s greatest deliberative body,’ Roberts said. ‘One reason it has earned that title is because its members avoid speaking in a manner and using language that is not conducive to civil discourse. I do think those addressing the Senate should remember where they are.’”

Trump Campaign Finance Violations Spark Separate Investigation

Trump’s impeachment trial isn’t his biggest legal risk. Bloomberg: “President Donald Trump’s sprawling corruption may never be brought under lawful control, especially with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acting as inside man in Trump’s impeachment trial. But if Trump is ever to be punished for his many abuses of power, it just might be for his disregard of the nation’s ineffectual and much-maligned body of campaign-finance law. True, it’s unlikely. Campaign-finance violations are often treated as clerical errors. Yet the rule of law sometimes has a roundabout way of making the guilty pay. Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion. Richard Nixon was forced from the presidency over a botched burglary. And amid the thuggish efforts to insulate Trump from the democratic accountability of fair elections, campaign-finance laws are proving stubbornly relevant. The laws include a ‘broad prohibition on foreign national activity’ in U.S. elections. Foreigners are prohibited from contributing money or any ‘thing of value’ to a campaign. They are also prohibited from spending money ‘in connection with any federal, state or local election in the United States.’ Thus Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sabotage in 2016 was not just a crime against democracy — it was an illegal in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign.”

CPCC, DCCC Agree To ‘Ceasefire’

Top progressives, DCCC reach ceasefire over ‘blacklist.’ Politico: “Top liberals have reached a détente with the House Democratic campaign arm in a dispute over a policy that inhibits primary challengers to incumbents — a move intended to unify Democrats in this year’s battle to protect their majority and defeat President Donald Trump. Some of the House’s most influential progressives, including Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), said they will contribute tens of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, despite a contentious new rule that blacklists campaign consultants who work for candidates taking on sitting Democratic members. “I intend to pay the full dues. I have a view that, in 2020, we have to come together to ensure the defeat of Donald Trump and the retaining of our majority,” said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another sharp critic of the DCCC policy who began paying dues in January. A rank-and-file member like Khanna, who isn’t in leadership or on an exclusive committee, is expected to pay roughly $150,000 in party dues during the election cycle. ‘My view has always been that I think that policy should be changed,’ said Khanna, who ousted a Democratic incumbent, then-Rep. Mike Honda, in 2016. ‘But we have to make sure that we’re supporting the effort.’ So far, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez remains the most prominent exception to the newly improved relationship between progressives and the DCCC.”

Iowa Progressives Boost Multiracial Turnout

The Iowa caucuses have long turned out the ‘same old white crew.’ 2020 could be different. The Nation: “Every four years, Iowa briefly assumes an outsize level of importance in American politics, then disappears almost entirely from the national discourse. Since 1972, Iowa has held the first presidential contest in the nation—a privileged position that brings a deluge of hopeful candidates, campaign resources, and media attention to the state. (New Hampshire’s primary follows a week later; the nation’s most populous states, including California and Texas, don’t vote until March.) Winning the Iowa caucuses is seen as a significant indicator of a campaign’s viability, even though the Iowa electorate, which in 2016 was 91 percent white, is hardly representative of the national electorate. On the prairie, change is quietly underway. There are indications of a forthcoming resurrection of the forgotten grassroots culture of the caucuses, now for an intersectional age. A key driver of this shift is that Iowa’s demographics are changing rapidly. In fact, immigration is the primary factor driving population growth here. This caucus season in Iowa, local activists are finding that building power requires not only engaging with electoral politics but also developing voters’ long-term civic engagement habits. ‘When we start learning about civics and elections, [it’s] like, ‘You go vote in November and then vote in the school board, and you did your job,” said Hugh Espey, the executive director of Iowa CCI. ‘But the moneyed class, the power elite—that’s not how they see it. They see that this is nonstop. They’re working at it all the time. We have to work at it all the time and build power, too.’”

Trump May Expand Muslim Travel Ban

Trump weighs travel ban expansion in coming days. Politico: “President Donald Trump may expand his controversial travel ban with an announcement expected as early as Monday, the three-year anniversary of the original order, which targeted several majority-Muslim nations. The list of countries is not yet final and could be changed, but nations under consideration for new restrictions include Belarus, Myanmar (also known as Burma), Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania, according to two people familiar with the matter. A draft being considered by the Trump administration would place immigration restrictions on the additional seven countries, but not necessarily completely ban all citizens of those nations from entering the United States. The restrictions could apply only to certain government officials, for instance, or certain types of visas. Nonetheless, any new restrictions are likely to strain ties with the affected countries, some of which assist the U.S. on issues like fighting terrorism, and some of which Washington has been trying to court for strategic reasons. Trump confirmed Tuesday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal from Davos that he is trying to add additional nations to the travel ban, but declined to list the countries.”

Saudis Hacked Amazon’s Bezos For Takedown

Amazon boss’s phone ‘hacked by Saudi crown prince’. The Guardian: “The Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message that had apparently been sent from the personal account of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, sources have told the Guardian. The encrypted message from the number used by Mohammed bin Salman is believed to have included a malicious file that infiltrated the phone of the world’s richest man, according to the results of a digital forensic analysis. This analysis found it ‘highly probable’ that the intrusion into the phone was triggered by an infected video file sent from the account of the Saudi heir to Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post. The two men had been having a seemingly friendly WhatsApp exchange when, on 1 May of that year, the unsolicited file was sent, according to sources who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. Large amounts of data were exfiltrated from Bezos’s phone within hours, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Guardian has no knowledge of what was taken from the phone or how it was used. The extraordinary revelation that the future king of Saudi Arabia may have had a personal involvement in the targeting of the American founder of Amazon will send shockwaves from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. The disclosure is likely to raise difficult questions for the kingdom about the circumstances around how US tabloid the National Enquirer came to publish intimate details about Bezos’s private life – including text messages – nine months later.”

American Journalist Charged For Exposing Crimes In Brazil

Glenn Greenwald charged With cybercrimes in Brazil. NYT: “Federal prosecutors in Brazil on Tuesday charged the American journalist Glenn Greenwald with cybercrimes for his role in bringing to light cellphone messages that have embarrassed prosecutors and tarnished the image of an anti-corruption task force. Mr. Greenwald, an ardent critic of Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a deeply polarizing figure in Brazil, where his work is lionized by leftists and condemned as partisan and heavy handed by officials in the Bolsonaro administration. In fact, Mr. Greenwald has been part of a team that won some of the most important prizes in journalism — the George Polk Award and the Pulitzer Prize for public service — for his role in reporting on documents describing government surveillance that were passed on to him by Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency of the United States.”

Far-Right Groups Rally Militias In Virginia

Far right groups are rallying Virginia counties to form militias. Truthout: “An estimated 22,000 people attended the rally against looming gun restrictions in Virginia yesterday in the state capital of Richmond. The week leading up to it was filled with warnings of potential violence, wild conspiracy theories, threats against lawmakers, and indications that white supremacist groups would attend. Three neo-Nazis were arrested before the event for threats related to it, and the governor passed an emergency decree banning guns inside the rally due to threats. After the buildup, the rally itself was anticlimactic; there were no incidents and only a single arrest. But the events have energized the Patriot movement and militia groups to encourage the formation of new, armed political forms in rural Virginia counties, many of which have vowed to reject the gun restrictions. The last election left Virginia with a Democratic governor and majority in the legislature. New gun control bills include limited measures like restricting handgun purchases to once a month, background checks, and barring guns from public buildings. But to the far-right gun rights crowd — including militia and Patriot movement groups — this is already halfway down the road to confiscation of all privately owned guns. The rhetoric was white hot the week before the rally. In addition to the militias, ‘alt-right’ groups promoted the rally. Discussion groups were abuzz with chatter about the ‘boogaloo’ — right-wing internet speak for a coming civil war. In the far right’s mind, this has long been imagined to be kicked off by Democrats confiscating guns.”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

David Goodner

Iowa Human Trafficking Scam Exploits Foreign Students

Fifty-seven international students studying at a state technical college in Sioux City are being exploited in school and on the job after being lured to Iowa under false pretenses by public and private recruiters, according to eleven of the directly impacted people going public with the allegations. Trafficking in Persons (TIP), otherwise known as human trafficking, is the trade of humans for forced labor, modern-day slavery. TIP is illegal under Iowa, federal, and international law. The international students say they were brought to Sioux City as part of a cultural exchange on J1 Visas to study culinary arts for two years at Western Iowa Tech Community College. A local subcontractor and temp agency named J&L Staffing flew to Brazil and Chile with school officials to recruit the students. Prospects were promised free tuition, housing, food, job training, and job placement in their field of study. But after the incoming class of international students signed up, they suddenly found themselves on the hook for thousands of dollars in hidden recruitment fees. Their two-year degree plans were changed to one year diplomas, and their specialized internships turned out to be mandatory, full-time jobs for $7.25 an hour at giant food manufacturers like Tur-Pak and Royal Canin. Anyone who complained about harassment or unsafe work conditions, forced overtime, injuries on the job, called in sick, asked for less hours, more pay, or a reduced course load were threatened with expulsion, deportation, and debt repayment. “This sounds like modern day slavery, complete with a company store in the company town – and it’s outrageous that this is happening at a state community college with companies doing business in Iowa,” said Tom Mohan, a Sioux City-area resident and the board president of Iowa Citizens of Community Improvement (CCI), the state’s largest progressive organization and part of the People’s Action national network of grassroots groups. “We demand an end to this exploitation with no evictions, no debt, and no deportations.”

Impeachment Trial Starts In Senate

Trump impeachment trial: What to expect. USA Today: “The Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump resumes Tuesday, with senators mapping out how to conduct the proceeding before hearing opening arguments from House Democrats who will prosecute the case and White House lawyers defending the president. When the trial resumes Tuesday at 1 p.m., senators will debate how to conduct the trial, under what is called an organizing resolution. The resolution will detail logistics such as when the trial will start each day and how long each phase will last. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., proposed allocating 24 hours to each side to present their case over two session days for each side. Then senators would have 16 hours to pose written questions through Roberts to both sides. Under his proposal, four hours of debate over whether to subpoena witnesses or documents would come after the opening arguments and questions. But Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would offer amendments. He said the proposal wouldn’t automatically allow House Democrats to admit their evidence into the record and would have arguments continue into “the wee hours of the night” to hide information from the American people. ‘Under this resolution, Sen. McConnell is saying he doesn’t want to hear any of the existing evidence, and he doesn’t want to hear any new evidence,’ Schumer said. A 51-vote majority of the Senate will determine rules for the trial, in a chamber with 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats.”

Dem Candidates March Arm-In-Arm For MLK

On King holiday, 2020 Democrats march arm in arm to honor his legacy. NYT: “Several Democratic presidential candidates briefly put aside their recent sparring on Monday and marched arm in arm through the streets of South Carolina’s capital to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom they later invoked in speeches about America’s past and future that were rich with election-year overtones. As the six-block march began from the Zion Baptist Church to the State House, where a Confederate flag once flew over the dome, Senator Bernie Sanders looped an arm through Senator Elizabeth Warren’s elbow, as the two joined other candidates in singing “We Shall Overcome” for part of the trip. Representative Tulsi Gabbard and Senator Amy Klobuchar each locked elbows with former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. as well. The sight of Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren shoulder to shoulder — after a week in which they argued over their recollections of a private conversation about whether a woman could win the presidency — delighted Lisa Ray Clarkson, a retired teacher from Norfolk, Va., who was at the march. ‘That means they have gotten over their differences and the Democratic Party is reuniting,’ Ms. Clarkson said as she walked alongside the procession to the State House, where several thousand people converged.”

Thunberg Excoriates Davos Leaders For Lack Of Climate Action

Greta Thunberg: ‘Nothing has been done’ to tackle the climate crisis. CNN: “Greta Thunberg took the stage at the World Economic Forum Tuesday to admonish world leaders for doing ‘basically nothing’ to reduce carbon emissions despite evidence of a looming climate catastrophe. Speaking just hours before President Donald Trump’s appearance at the annual gathering of the world’s political, business and financial elite, the teen activist said awareness of the climate crisis had shot up but in other respects, not much had changed. ‘Pretty much nothing has been done since the global emissions of CO2 has not reduced,’ Thunberg said. ‘[I]f you see it from that aspect, what has concretely been done, if you see it from a bigger perspective, basically nothing… it will require much more than this, this is just the very beginning.’ Asked what she wanted to see in the future, Thunberg said ‘that we start listening to the science and that we actually start treating this crisis as the crisis it is.'”

White House Denies Obstruction Of Justice Is A Crime

White House submits defense brief. NPR: “The White House is offering a fiery legal response to the articles of impeachment, in an executive summary of a legal brief obtained by NPR. The brief expands upon arguments made in a document released over the weekend answering the articles of impeachment, dealing with both process and substance. They argue that the president cannot be impeached for an abuse of power short of a crime and that the president didn’t abuse his power anyhow. ‘Abuse of power isn’t a crime,’ said the source. Democrats argue abuse of power is the very thing the Framers had in mind and that ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ spelled out in the Constitution isn’t meant literally, but is a term of art. Over time, federal officials have been impeached without criminal accusations. But Trump’s legal team says no president has been impeached without a criminal offense and charging abuse of power is simply too subjective. ‘It would alter the separation of powers to allow this sort of vague standard to be used, to impeach the president,’ the source said. The brief also argues that the article of impeachment for obstructing Congress is invalid because of standing executive branch protections and because the House didn’t pursue judicial recourse to force cooperation.”

Physicians’ Group Endorsees Medicare For All

In historic shift, second largest physicians group in U.S. has new prescription: it’s Medicare for All. Common Dreams: “The fight for Medicare for All received a two-handed boost from tens of thousands of doctors on Monday when the American College of Physicians—in a move described as a “seachange for the medical professions”—officially endorsed a single-payer system as among only one of two possible ways to improve the nation’s healthcare woes. Representing 159,000 doctors of internal medicine nationwide, the ACP is the largest medical specialty society and second-largest physician group in the country overall after the American Medical Association (AMA).The ACP delivered its case in a 43-page position paper—titled “Envisioning a Better U.S. Health Care System for All: Coverage and Cost of Care”—published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a leading candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and the author of the The Medical for All Act of 2019 now in the U.S. Senate, welcomed the development. ‘I am delighted that the American College of Physicians has come out in support of a Medicare for All, single-payer healthcare system,’ Sanders said in a statement emailed to Common Dreams. ‘All over this country, a growing number of doctors are sick and tired of the enormous waste and bureaucracy that exists in our cruel and dysfunctional healthcare system,’ Sanders added. ‘They are sick and tired of spending time filling out reams of paperwork and arguing with insurance companies. Medicare for All will give doctors the freedom to focus on making their patients healthy, not making health insurance executives wealthy.'”

CPCC Chair Rep. Jayapal Endorses Sanders

Jayapal: ‘We will end up with another Trump’ if the US doesn’t elect progressive. The Hill: “Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said in a new interview Monday that the United States risks ending up with ‘another Donald Trump down the road’ if it fails to elect a progressive presidential candidate. ‘Even if it is a Democratic president, if we don’t address these issues we will end up with another Donald Trump down the road,’ Jayapal told CBS News the same day she formally announced her endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). ‘Because people are suffering. And our job has to be to fix that suffering.’ Jayapal first told The Washington Post on Sunday of her plans to publicly back Sanders. Her endorsement comes just weeks ahead of the Iowa caucuses and as Sanders battles with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for support among progressives. The congresswoman told CBS News that she had chosen Sanders over Warren due to a belief that her and Sanders possess the same background. “At the end of the day, I think for me it came down to the fact that Bernie Sanders is like me: an organizer,” Jayapal explained. ‘He believes the change that we need is bold and big, and institutional, but it doesn’t happen without building a broader movement.’ She noted that she would publicly work to support a Warren candidacy if she won the Democratic nomination. But right now, Jayapal said that she believes Sanders is the candidate to ‘turn this country around.'”

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

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MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Dr. King’s Radical Revolution Of Values

This Monday, the nation celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. If he hadn’t been murdered, he would be 91 years old. How would Dr. King view today’s activists? The words to his “I Have a Dream” speech will be repeated from podiums and in classrooms across the country. But many of the people repeating these words have never heard other King quotes, like this one: “I am convinced that if we are to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values.” Dr. King also said: “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.” “We must… realize,” he continued, “that the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.” In other words, Dr. King was a radical. A few years ago, invocations of Dr. King’s radical spirit were hard to find. They’re more common today, but even the best-intentioned of these pieces tend to place his radicalism in the past tense. That’s a mistake. Dr. King is gone, but his ideals live on. King’s vision is as radical and urgent today as it was in his lifetime. A society dominated by the wealthy, one that has given so much to the few for so long, can surely do this much for the many. Dr. King’s spirit lives on in every place radicals gather to change the world.

Help People’s Action Win Hearts And Minds

In 2020, we can take back our country for the values we all share – solidarity, justice, and a fair economy – state by state, seat by seat, and vote by vote. But we can only do this with your help. Give now to support People’s Action at this critical time.

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW

MORNING MESSAGE

Rev. Susan K. Williams Smith

What Trump And The GOP Learned From Obama

As President Trump’s impeachment unspools, news coverage is buzzing about conspiracy theories and geopolitical rivalries. But at the root of Trump’s effort to extort Ukraine was a simple motive: Trump hoped to influence our elections to preserve his power and that of his associates. That has a lot in common with something closer to home: our long and ugly history of voter suppression, which likewise aimed to preserve the power of some at the expense of others — primarily people of color. Brutal, often violent voter suppression prevailed in the 20th century. But a new wave of more sophisticated tactics surfaced after the 2008 general election, when Republicans realized the power of the resurgent black vote that had helped elect President Obama. More recently, Trump campaign workers studied the techniques that made the Obama coalition successful and greatly increased their efforts to strengthen their own grassroots organizing. Trump, ever dishonest himself, calls the American political system rigged. He is correct, though not in the way he is communicating it. His party’s intense effort to negate the African American vote is still keeping black and brown people, students, the elderly, and immigrant citizens away from the polls. It will take all of us working together, harder than ever, to overcome those obstacles. But we can and must do it.

Impeachment Vote Slated For Wednesday

Congress prepares for historic week on impeachment — live updates. CBS: “With the House poised to vote to impeach the president as soon as Wednesday, lawmakers have already begun looking ahead to a potential Senate trial in January. The House Judiciary Committee submitted a report to the House Rules Committee summarizing the articles of impeachment and the investigation into the president’s dealings with Ukraine early Sunday morning. The 685-page report is a supplement to the two articles of impeachment the Judiciary Committee approved on Friday: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The Rules Committee will meet Tuesday morning to determine the length of floor debate over the articles, setting up a vote for Wednesday. Senators have already begun looking ahead to a trial in the upper chamber, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer writing a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Sunday night demanding several witnesses be called.”

Grassroots Groups Rally Tuesday To Support Impeachment Vote

‘To Protect Our Democracy,’ Tuesday night rallies planned in all 50 states to demand Congress votes to impeach Trump. Common Dreams: “At more than 500 rallies planned for Tuesday evening, hundreds of thousands of Americans are expected to call on the U.S. House to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. The rallies will take place at congressional offices and other public spaces, the night before the House is expected to vote on two articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his power when he pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and obstructing Congress by stonewalling its investigation. ‘The facts are uncontested,’ organizers said Saturday. ‘An extensive investigation turned up phone records, transcripts, and first hand witness testimony that prove Trump demanded Ukraine interfere in the 2020 election on his behalf before he’d give them critical military aid or a White House meeting.’ ‘Americans from California to West Virginia are ready to hold their representatives accountable and declare that no one—not even the president—is above the law,’ they added. At least 527 events were planned for 5:30pm local time on Tuesday, with people in every state in the nation planning to rally.”

ALEC Seeks To Criminalize Civil Disobedience In Ohio

ALEC behind Ohio bill criminalizing protests against fossil fuel infrastructure. Truthout: “When anti-protest legislation pushed by oil, gas and utility interests was introduced in the Ohio state Senate this year, it met a receptive audience and passed easily on a mostly party-line vote. It has since moved to the state House, where almost one-third of legislators are ALEC members, and will likely pass at the beginning of 2020. The legislation, SB 33, is modeled after an ALEC proposal, and its corporate backers are big contributors to the Republican party and legislators in Ohio. ALEC is the corporate bill mill where state legislators and corporations meet behind closed doors to write and advocate for legislation on the environment, criminal justice, health care, and most of the other domestic issues that affect us. The bill, the “Critical Infrastructure Protection Act,” being pushed by ALEC around the country makes it a felony for protestors to trespass on energy company property, such as pipelines, refineries, and power plants. Prompted by the well-publicized stand-off at the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline in 2016, the industry’s full-court press is working. Ten states, using ALEC’s template bill, have enacted increased criminal penalties through legislation very much like SB 33.”

Iowa Caucus May Have Multiple Winners Under New Rules

Could multiple candidates ‘win’ the Democratic caucuses? New rules make it possible. Des Moines Register: “Presidential candidates have spent millions of dollars and months of their lives chasing a win in Iowa’s caucuses, but new rules adopted this year open the possibility — some insiders call it a probability — that multiple candidates could ‘win.’ Democratic insiders and campaign staffers have long acknowledged the chaos and confusion that could emerge, fretting over what it could mean for this year’s caucus as well as future ones. For decades, the winner of Iowa’s caucuses has been decided by a complicated system of state delegate equivalents, which operates kind of like the Electoral College. Unlike in the November presidential vote, though, Iowa’s tally of popular support was never released. But in 2020, the Iowa Democratic Party will publish two raw vote totals and the delegate numbers from caucus night. So one candidate could win one or both of the delegate counts but lose the popular vote. That would open a new layer of complexity as media report the results, campaigns spin them and voters in later states try to make sense of them — all in a year when the stakes have never been higher for Iowa to show it deserves to remain the first-in-the-nation presidential voting state.”

Trump Wants To Strip Disability Benefits From Social Security

‘A national disgrace’: Trump proposes Social Security change that could end disability benefits for hundreds of thousands. Common Dreams: “Activists are working to raise public awareness and outrage over a little-noticed Trump administration proposal that could strip life-saving disability benefits from hundreds of thousands of people by further complicating the way the Social Security Administration determines who is eligible for payments. The proposed rule change was first published in the Federal Register last month but has received scarce attention in the national media. Last week, the Social Security Administration extended the public comment period on the proposal until January 31, 2020. ‘The Trump administration is attacking another vulnerable population: those who are disabled and receiving Social Security Disability benefits,’ tweeted patient advocate Peter Morley, who lobbies Congress on healthcare issues. ‘This is a national disgrace.’ ‘This is not over,’ said Morley. ‘We will all need to mobilize.’ The process for receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is already notoriously complicated, and the Trump administration is attempting to add yet another layer of complexity that critics say is aimed at slashing people’s benefits. As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week, ‘those already receiving disability benefits are subject to so-called continuing disability reviews, which determine whether they are still deserving of compensation for an injury, illness, or other incapacitating problem as their lives progress.'”

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MORNING MESSAGE

Greg Chung

Mayor Pete, Get Big Money Out Of Your Campaign

What will it take to get big money out of politics? As a voter and a student, that’s what I want to know from any candidate who wants my vote, so I asked Mayor Pete Buttigieg this when he visited our campus in Iowa this weekend. Presidential hopefuls know many Iowa students will vote in the caucus. I know I will. Mayor Pete’s spent a ton of cash on ads in Iowa, trying to stand out from the crowded field of candidates. But in these ads, he also attacks Democrats who support Medicare For All and Free College For All. That irks me. These are things I know firsthand our country needs, and students like me desperately need – now. So after his stump speech, I stood in line to shake his hand, so I could ask him myself: “Does getting big money out of politics mean not taking money off billionaires and closed-door fundraisers?” Mayor Pete’s one-word answer? “No.” Mayor Pete’s response to this question struck a nerve. A video of our exchange has already been viewed more than 3.1 million times, and has been shared by dozens of outlets. We must have struck a nerve, too – because on Monday, the Buttigieg campaign did an about-face and agreed to release – for the first time – some of its donor records, and to allow press into his fundraisers. Transparency is good, and we’re glad Mayor Pete has come around to having more of it in his campaign. But responding to voters is better, so what he really needs to do is take down his misleading ads in Iowa, and stand with the candidates who support Free College For All. So I, along with my fellow members of Iowa Student Action, the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action Fund and People’s Action, will continue to demand transparency from Mayor Pete and every candidate we meet from now until Election Day. Because anyone who wants my vote will have to earn it.

Greg Chung is a student at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, where he organizes his campus to be more welcoming to poor and low-income students.

House Judiciary Debates Impeachment

Judiciary Committee debates articles against Trump. NYT: “A somber but contentious debate is expected to culminate by the end of the day in a vote by the panel to send the charges to the full House, setting up a vote next week to impeach the president on charges that he abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress. For only the third time in modern history, lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee are formally considering articles of impeachment against a sitting president in a debate that underscores the deep divisions in the country. The process began on Wednesday night, with lawmakers delivering impassioned statements for or against impeaching the president. On Thursday, Democrats are putting the last touches on articles accusing Mr. Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, finalizing charges stemming from their two-and-a-half-month inquiry into what they say was a scheme by the president to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations of his political rivals. For Republicans, Thursday’s meeting — called a ‘markup’ because it gives members the opportunity to offer amendments and edits to the articles — is their last chance to try to derail the impeachment before the articles are expected to come to the House floor early next week. That is unlikely to happen in the committee, which is firmly under the control of Democrats and led by Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York. Both sides expect the committee to vote along party lines by Thursday afternoon to send the articles to the full House.”

Trump Abandons Attempt To Shutter Federal Agency

After bipartisan pushback, Trump ditches effort to kill major federal agency. WaPo: “President Trump has abandoned his administration’s faltering effort to dissolve a key federal agency, a major setback in his three-year battle to keep his campaign promise to make government leaner and more efficient. The Office of Personnel Management will remain the human resources manager of the civilian workforce of 2.1 million employees, and its functions will not — for the foreseeable future at least — be parceled out to the White House and the General Services Administration. The White House hoped that shuttering the agency of 5,500 employees could serve as a blueprint for eliminating other federal offices as Trump tries to contain the size and scope of a bureaucracy he targeted as duplicative and inefficient — and rein in a workforce he views with skepticism.”

Federal Judges Block Border Wall Construction

Second federal judge blocks plan to use Pentagon funds for border wall. NPR: “A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration may not divert $3.6 billion in Defense Department funds for construction of the wall on the southern border. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. is the second court decision in two days blocking the administration’s effort to reallocate money Congress has appropriated for other purposes. A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday, in a separate case, ruled that the administration may not use an emergency proclamation to divert funds from military construction projects. U.S. District Judge David Briones issued a permanent injunction blocking the administration’s border wall project. In his ruling, Gilliam said the administration was trying to circumvent congressional appropriations for military construction projects. He wrote that “the border barrier projects Defendants now assert are ‘necessary to support the use of the armed forces’ are the very same projects Defendants sought — and failed — to build under [the Department on Homeland Security’s] civilian authority, because Congress would not appropriate the requested funds.’ Gilliam’s ruling comes in response to two suits filed by the state of California and the ACLU on behalf of the Sierra Club.”

Trump Wants Jews Classified As A Race

Trump’s anti-Semitism executive order, explained. CNN: “President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday expanding his administration’s interpretation of race and national origin to include Judaism- a move that extends certain civil rights protections to Jews in education settings. The move is part of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to combat what it considers anti-Israel and anti-Semitic movements on college campuses. But the order has ignited debate over federal funding, free speech and views about Israel, and prompted renewed questions about how Jewish people should be classified by the government. The order concerns a section of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 requiring federally funded educational institutions not to discriminate based on national origin. Under this order, colleges and universities that support or tolerate anti-Israel movements — the most prominent being Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) — could be under threat of having their funding withheld by the Department of Education. While protections from racial, color and national origin discrimination are covered under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, religious discrimination is not. In the past, the Education Department has nevertheless interpreted the law to protect students of any religion from discrimination based on shared ethnic, racial or national origin.”

NY Judge Lets Exxon Off Hook For Climate Change

Judge ruling in Exxon case ‘Sends a very dangerous signal to companies’. NPR: “A judge has handed Exxon Mobil a victory in only the second climate change lawsuit to reach trial in the United States. The decision was a blow for the New York Attorney General’s Office, which brought the case. Justice Barry Ostrager of the New York State Supreme Court said that the attorney general failed to prove that the oil giant broke the law. ‘Nothing in this opinion is intended to absolve ExxonMobil from responsibility for contributing to climate change through the emission of greenhouse gasses in the production of its fossil fuel products,’ Ostranger wrote. But, he added, ‘this is a securities fraud case, not a climate change case.’ In a three-week trial, New York state prosecutors argued that the oil company had downplayed the financial risks it faces from possible climate regulation. Attorney General Letitia James said doing so made Exxon’s assets appear more secure than they really were, which in turn affected its share price and defrauded investors.”

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Ensure our shared vision for justice is carried forward by generations
of movement builders to come by including People’s Action in your estate plan.
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Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People’s Action.

Please consider a donation of any size to support our work: DONATE NOW