The Revolution Continues blog is news, views, opinion and other expressions of hope from a leftist point-of-view. (We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party or organization. All are welcome.)
(The US isn’t in any position to lecture anyone about morality. It's time to kick the moral idiots out of office.)
by C.A. Matthews
“How
can they do such a thing!” is a phrase I’ve heard more than once over
the past twelve months, closely followed by “That’s insane! They’re
acting like sociopaths! They’re immoral!”
I
agree wholeheartedly. Israel’s genocide of Gazans, trapped in an open
air prison, on what are basically made up excuses to steal their land
and resources qualifies as insane, immoral, and sociopathic. But it’s
happening now to the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank,
and the evil is spreading into Lebanon with the blessings (and
armaments) of the USA.
Americans
can’t deny it. US tax payers are arming “The World’s Most Moral Army
(TM)” with our tax dollars. We’re arming them in spite of Israeli
soldiers videoing themselves committing war crimes such as looting and
shooting innocent civilians and children in cold blood.
So
how is it that Israel claims to have a “moral” army when its soldiers
are anything but? How can the US claim to be moral when it has broken
its own humanitarian laws that say it's unlawful to arm a country that
is breaking those same humanitarian laws? How can what the US military
is doing in the Middle East be considered moral when they don’t even
live up to their own standards?
“Because
we say it is,” is the typical reply given by US and Israeli government
spokespersons. “We say our actions are moral, and you are mistaken if
you think otherwise. We are superior in our wisdom.”
Do you believe them? I don’t...
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"Why don't we cut child poverty in whole? Why are we leaving half the children in poverty? How much child poverty are you comfortable with?" All valid questions Jimmy asks the propagandists. https://youtu.be/7SboDoWF_XU
The Trinity of Needs
by Coast
Watcher
Nobody
should lack a roof over their heads, food on the table, and access to
free healthcare. This is a simple trinity of needs that a country as
rich as the United States is more than capable of meeting. In fact
it’s right up there in the preamble to the Constitution—it’s
the American government’s duty to promote the general welfare.
Instead
we have the unedifying spectacle of the government doing it’s best
to water down all welfare passed to its people while providing
ever-greater wealth for a select minority of uber-rich parasites. The
one-off $1400 is patently less than the $2000 Biden and numerous
so-called Democratic Party candidates promised before the Georgia
run-off elections in a clear bribe to the electorate. It’s also
means tested. That’s right; the so-called Democrats delivered less
than their governmental partner in crime, the Republican Party.
If
the United States was
a properly-functioning country it'd
be focused on getting affordable nutritious food to all people as a
form of health care. Instead it’s
entirely focused on food banks to
ensure people don't starve to death. Food
deserts are rife and spreading as supermarket chains grow ever larger
and migrate to the wealthier neighborhoods.
If
the United States were not a failed nation, it would provide housing for all its citizens. There are on average 550,000 people sleeping
rough every night in all weathers. There are on average 4.2 vacant
houses for every homeless person. Instead banks and mortgage
companies seize properties which then stand vacant for years in a
state of gradual decay.
Thirty
two out of thirty three first world nations have universal
free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare services. Only the United States
does not. Instead, American healthcare costs on average twice as much
as that found in any other country, while delivering half the value.
The
situation is as it is because there are those who make money out of
poverty, hunger, poor healthcare and homelessness. These people would
have you believe the people afflicted by these dire situations are to
blame for their plight. The money to rectify all these problems is
there. The political will is not. Politicians prefer to cozy up to
Big Business and accept funding and policy direction from their
boards of directors than to listen to what the ordinary people need.
The
time has come for a drastic change for the better, before it’s too
late.
BIO: Coast Watcher isn't buying the "We can save half the children in poverty" line of the Dems. Every child could be saved. He sees who's behind these morally corrupt politicians and why they don't act too anxious to end poverty for all time for everyone on the planet. #CapitalismKills is more than just a hashtag--it's a truth that is becoming more and more evident to more and more people than ever before. Don't let them try to convince you that some folks must live in poverty in order for our economy to function...because no one should.
Spotted on Twitter:
Does anyone seriously believe that $300 a month will cut childhood poverty in half? Or at all?
— Wear A Damn Mask, Please (@TeresaMayNot) March 13, 2021
What about "adult" poverty?
— Yellow Vests Form Like Voltron (@TweetyMctwat) March 13, 2021
If you got $1400 every minute, 24/7, 365 days a year, after 266 years you would still have less money than Jeff Bezos.
I
went to Louisville, KY, last summer and felt the violence of the
Louisville Metropolitan Police Department firsthand. Three of my friends
were arrested while we protested for justice in Breonna Taylor’s name,
and I was sent to the hospital after police shot us with rubber bullets.
Luckily, they weren’t real bullets, and I wasn’t another Black woman murdered by police.
One
year ago today, Louisville police officers shot and killed Breonna
Taylor. She was a young, Black woman like me, only a little older. Despite
Breonna Taylor’s murder receiving intense press coverage and her name
becoming known worldwide, we still don’t have justice. Her murder
sparked a nationwide outcry – I was on the streets of Washington, D.C.,
nearly every day this summer alongside hundreds of peaceful protesters,
demanding justice for Black lives, including Breonna Taylor and her
family.
Police
violence is gun violence. Breonna Taylor was one of the many Black
women who was unfairly and unnecessarily stolen by America’s racist gun
violence epidemic. And it’s not something unique to my generation: Black
people have faced deadly bias and racial profiling from police for
decades and are twice as likely to be killed by them. We must
take action to protect Black lives, C.A.. Right now, the Senate has the
chance to pass sweeping police accountability policies that would
potentially save Black lives and chip away at the racist institution
that took Breonna Taylor’s life.
The House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act this month and
if it passes the Senate, it could prevent unjustified murders by
police. This bill would ban the use of chokeholds, like in the murder of
George Floyd, and ban no-knock warrants — like the one that police used
to enter Breonna Taylor’s home. This is a critical step in drastically
overhauling the racist policing tactics that are taking the lives of far
too many Black Americans.
Since the moment I had to use my classmate’s lifeless body to
protect myself from being shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
in 2018, I have been putting my own body on the line to fight against
the gun violence that is predominantly killing Black and Brown young
people. Today, one year after Breonna Taylor was murdered by police, I
am asking you to fight with me and take action against racist gun
violence perpetrated by police. I am asking you to fight as hard as I do
for Black lives.
I am remembering Breonna Taylor today. I am thinking of all the Black
women who I am lucky to know and work with every day. And I will keep
fighting for Black women until we finally address gun violence in this
country.
Thank you for fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor and Black lives.
Aalayah Eastmond
Gun Violence Survivor
Team ENOUGH Executive Council Member
Founder, Concerned Citizens DC
***
From Roots Action:
As a result of broad U.S. economic sanctions, countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, Sudan, and Zimbabwe struggle without adequate food, electricity, medicine, medical supplies, masks and respirators. Those who suffer most under sanctions include pregnant women, children, and the chronically ill.
We need to urge the Biden administration to issue a worldwide temporary general license
to allow all countries and locations sanctioned by the United States to
be able to easily import all related medicines, medical supplies, and
vaccines, to facilitate international relief efforts related to
COVID-19. We've put together, with our allies, a petition that will be delivered to
President Joe Biden; Vice President Kamala Harris; White House Chief
of Staff Ron Klain; Sec. of State Antony Blinken; Sec. of Defense Lloyd
Austin; Sec. of the Treasury Janet Yellen; and Sec. of Commerce Gina
Raimondo. Click here to add your name!
The U.S. Treasury Department has the power
to issue a worldwide, temporary general license authorizing the
exportation and re-exportation of medical supplies and equipment and
other essential goods that might otherwise be prohibited by sanctions.
The temporary general license would not require Congress to suspend or
repeal sanctions and would only cover the listed types of supplies and
equipment. By making it clear these types of financial transactions are
allowable, this license would aid in the donation or sale of items
such as test kits, respirators, sanitizers, personal protective equipment, and medicine, which are all critical for preventing and treating COVID-19. U.S. economic sanctions
technically exempt humanitarian items -- but banks, insurance companies,
and other corporations are afraid that if they make loans, provide
insurance for shipments, or send goods, the U.S. government will
accuse them of violating the sanctions, levy hefty fines, and place
them on a banned business list.
An April 2020 Human Rights Watch report explained that sanctions have had a particularly detrimental effect on Iran’s healthcare system,
as the country lacks access to critical medical equipment and medicine
despite existing exemptions. UN Human Rights Commissioner Michele
Bachelet echoed this point when she called for an easing of sanctions
for COVID-19 relief. Past Republican and Democratic Party
administrations have issued temporary general licenses after
earthquakes in Iran. So, there is precedent for following through on
this request. Sign the petition here!
***
The Revolution Continues
is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives
and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate
revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that
are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the
cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.
Washington crossing the Delaware. What the painting could not record were the cries of "Sit down! You'll knock us over!"
Taxation Without Representation
by Coast Watcher
The Battle of Trenton was a small but crucial engagement which took place on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. In the hour before dawn of that morning, General George Washington crossed the Delaware River using boats to convey 2,400 men of his army. Conditions were hazardous, with deep snow covering the ground and large ice floes in the river preventing the rest of Washington’s troops – a little more than half his total force – from crossing. Nevertheless, due to these very weather conditions his opponents had lowered their guard, believing themselves safe from attack.
The Hessian mercenaries employed by the British were shocked to find a rebel army bearing down on their winter encampment. After a short but fierce struggle, most of the Hessians surrendered and the remainder retreated in confusion.
Although it was small engagement as military conflict goes, it served to inspire the army to continue the fight and attracted a growing number of volunteers to the Colonists’ cause.
The American Colonists fought a war against unjust levels of taxation imposed by Britain. Most people today know their battle cry: "No taxation without representation!"
Why is the war, and the two hundred and forty-first anniversary of this particular battle, relevant today? Because once again we’re seeing an unjust level of taxation being imposed by our supposed superiors and masters, a level of taxation that imposes an unbearable burden on a populace already struggling with ever-shrinking income and ever-increasing debts. Once again we’re seeing a rising level of opposition to this inequality.
On Friday, December 22 the GOP’s tax bill passed into law with a stroke of Trump’s pen as he sat in the great Oval Office. It followed the active connivance of the Republican-dominated Congress to prevent the details of the bill from becoming public. Even Senators were not allowed to view the document before voting on it.
The whole bill was fabricated by over 4,000 lobbyists working on behalf of the rich, and big business. I think we’ve all seen images of the shoddy presentation
of the bill, with handwritten notes tailing off into illegibility alongside the printed text. It’s an effort that would shame a third-grader and would rightly earn an F in any school worth the name. This sorry mess was handed to the GOP millionaires in Congress, who fell over themselves with slavish eagerness to do their masters’ bidding. The whole thing was passed with reckless speed, with no thought nor care taken to consider the consequences to ordinary Americans.
A last-ditch effort to delay the passage of the bill came when Senator Bernie Sanders challenged it on the basis of incorrect parliamentary procedure. The whole shambolic process has now introduced additional hardship on the majority of the American populace in the form of additional expenditure. As if that wasn’t enough it also deprives 13 million people of healthcare through defunding the Affordable Care Act’s and makes provision for oil drilling within the Arctic Circle. Oh, and the rich – including Trump and his family – get a massive tax break and easement on inheritance taxes. How nice – just in time for Christmas!
The new law eliminates the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most people must have health insurance or else pay a penalty. It should be noted that this very clause was introduced by the GOP during the wrestling over the ACA in order to make it toxic to the general population. By eliminating the harmful clause they themselves created, the GOP thinks they can gain approval from voters.
Even if this is the case, it may not help them.
Due to the indecent haste with which this bill was rushed through Congress some of the most harmful effects will be felt in this coming year – 2018 – rather than 2019 when the mid-term elections are over and the people have presumably forgotten the new tax law. What effect this will have on a Republican party and President already struggling with growing unpopularity remains to be seen. Trump’s first year in office has been marked by chaos and dramatic shifts in policies which seem caused by what he sees on Fox news.
As we go about our daily rounds in these post-Christmas days, spare a thought
for those brave men who, two hundred and forty-one years ago, struggled through snow and ice to defeat an enemy determined to keep the Colonists under the boot of unbearable taxation. Are their ghosts looking on now and wondering why you, their descendants, are doing nothing to oppose the modern incarnation of that oppressive power?
Still confused about what's what in the "GOP Tax Scam" and how it will affect you? Here are some helpful facts followed by a short video from Robert Reich who explains things simply through illustrations.
BIO: Coast Watcher looks into the past and sees where we've gone both the right way and the wrong way. But will we learn from our Founders' example and overturn the current corrupt system which taxes us without representation and gives power to a hereditary aristocracy of the 1%? The answer to that question remains to be seen in 2017, but in the new year perhaps we'll be the change we've been looking for.
***
Other stories this past week that mainstream media didn't really cover because they didn't really want you to know:
NPR does a hit piece on alternative media journalist/comedian Lee Camp:
Congressional Republicans just passed their massive tax scam -- the
worst piece of legislation in a generation -- despite its deep
unpopularity. There's no way of sugar coating it: This law will have
far-reaching negative consequences for families across the country and
our environment.
It's an outrageous giveaway to the richest of the rich and corporate
polluters at the expense of the rest of the country, and at the cost of
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
But we're not giving up, we're fired up. On this bill alone,
Sierra Club supporters like you sent tens of thousands of emails and
made thousands of calls to key members of Congress. And we won't stop in 2018.
Opens the Arctic
Refuge to oil drilling, which could have a devastating impact on the
Porcupine caribou herd and the Alaska Native tribes that rely on it for
subsistence
Gives massive handouts to corporate polluters and other corporations
Balloons our deficit
by about $1.4 trillion which will force funding cuts to public health
and environmental programs in the months to come1
Repeals a key part
of the Affordable Care Act, leaving 13 million people without healthcare
in the next 10 years, increasing premiums, and creating uncertainty for
many hardworking families1
Imposes a
devastating excise tax on Puerto Rico, as if it wasn't part of the
United States, that would kill job-creating industries on the
hurricane-ravaged island while it's still recovering2
But we have been paying attention, and we have successfully pushed back,
delayed, and even stopped some of the worst plans from being
implemented. We're delaying their attempts at repealing the Clean Power
Plan. We've protected the Affordable Care Act from a full repeal. We've
rallied by the thousands to protect our public lands and waters. We've
exposed their racist travel ban, and so much more.
This year has been an amazing show of strength of the environmental and progressive movements -- thanks to you. We have shown our real power, and we will continue into next year.
Join
me in saying "I'm in" for continuing the fight for a cleaner, safer,
and more just and equitable future for all. Sign the pledge. Thanks for all you've done,
Michael Brune
Executive Director
Sierra Club
1 - "GOP, with tax bill finalized, makes its case to a skeptical public" Washington Post
2 - "The Final Republican Tax Bill Screws Over Puerto Rico" Mother Jones
***
From Jobs With Justice: When you leave a tip at a restaurant, you expect it to go to the server who waited on you. Unfortunately, Trump’s Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta wants to make it easier for employers to steal people’s tips. We can’t let these business owners and the Trump administration get away with legalizing wage theft. Tell the Department of Labor to halt their proposed rollbacks NOW! Restaurant owners and the National Restaurant Association (‘the other
NRA’) have made it clear that they don’t think working people have a
right to keep the tips they receive from customers. Corporate lobbyists
pushing this proposal represent NRA executives of well-known brands like
Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster and Olive Garden. These greedy
companies see tips as another way to line their pockets. In fact, the
latest analysis shows that employers would pocket $5.8 billion if this
‘tip stealing’ rule moves forward.
These profitable corporations are promoting a policy that
will make it harder for their employees to provide for their families. This is unacceptable. Make your voice heard before it’s too late. American eateries are far from being great places to work, even with
the legal protections in place today. Twelve percent of people working
in restaurants report stolen tips, and the majority-female workforce
faces overwhelming rates of sexual harassment. In fact, the restaurant
industry is the single largest source of sexual harassment complaints in
the U.S.
From Friends of the Earth:The
Trump administration is poised to hand Monsanto a license to pollute
our environment, harm our health, and wipe out monarch butterflies. It
could renew the registration for glyphosate, a.k.a. Roundup®, moving us
further away from organic agriculture.
Roundup®
is linked to a 90% decline in monarch butterflies in the last 20 years.
And it’s bad for us as well -- the World Health Organization has called
this pesticide is a “probable carcinogen.”
But
Trump’s EPA just released a report based heavily on industry studies
that contradicts the strong science showing links between glyphosate and
cancer. This is a clear signal that the agency intends to allow Big Ag
to keep dousing our food in this toxic chemical. We need your help to
stop it!
Over the last two decades, what used to be a roaring river of butterflies migrating to Mexico each year has become a trickle.
At
the same time, the amount of Roundup® being used each year has gone
from 25-30 million pounds to 180-185 million. That’s more than half a
pound of pesticides for every American. The impacts on our health and
the environment have been huge.
The
evidence is clear: we must stop supporting a food system built on toxic
pesticides like Roundup® and instead build a future of organic for all.
The EPA could start by revoking the license for glyphosate. But we need
your help to push it to act.
Roundup®
is wiping out butterflies and putting our health at risk -- but it’s
making $5 billion every year in profits for Monsanto. So surely the
company is pushing the EPA to protect those profits.
Instead
of caving to Monsanto, the EPA should be helping us shift toward
healthy, sustainable, organic farming. After all, organic farmers don’t
use glyphosate or a whole host of other toxic pesticides. Organic
farming helps bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects flourish.
It promotes biodiversity and is better for your health. And it improves
farmers’ incomes and boosts local economies.
With
Trump in charge of the EPA, it’s going to be an uphill battle to defend
our food system from Monsanto. But the agency still has to consider
public input. If enough people like you speak up, you can force it to
help shift to a food system that works for pollinators, people and the
planet.
Standing with you,
Lisa Archer,
Food and Technology Program Director,
Friends of the Earth
***
From Politics Reborn: Like many of you, Politics Reborn
is deeply disappointed to see the Republicans pass a tax bill that
will only benefit the wealthy while only worsening the situation for
many lower-income communities. We could rant and rave, listing the
various reasons why this tax bill is a terrible piece of legislation,
but we aren't going to do that. We aren't going to tell you things you
know and think about the bill.
Instead, we are going to talk about
something that we surely need more of in this movement, and that is
hope.
What’s happening in the United
States right now is neither unique nor extraordinary. It is a
continuation of the many sins that our history books erase. For as
long as America has existed, there has been injustice. Nevertheless,
there have always been people who have stood up, organized, and fought
for a more just society.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said,
"The moral arc of the universe is long but it bends towards justice."
The question we must ask ourselves is this: What are we doing to
better assure the arc bends towards justice?
This movement can not simply be a
series of reactions to each and every horrible change that the Trump
Administration has implemented. We must be proactive, not reactive. It
is time to build from the ground up. It is time to organize our
communities! Volunteer for Politics Reborn
Now!
We are creating something that will
make a lasting impact on society but we need your help on the amazing
projects we are involved in. Will you join us in our vision in
implementing the programs necessary to create systemic
change? Michael Blecher President PoliticsReborn.org
Ordinary Americans don't realize that all of us are employed full-time. Even those of us who are currently searching for a job have one--every single one of us--from cradle to grave. We're all "professional debt manufacturers." Our job description reads likes this: We're born to parents who struggle to pay off our medical bills from birth to whenever we can afford to leave home. Flash forward to our school years and we're generating more debt through prohibitive daycare costs and private high school tuition (because our defunded public schools can't afford to hire decent teachers or provide new textbooks). And then there's college... We all know about the huge racket of student loan providers and their astronomical interest rates, don't we? American college kids were put on this Earth to generate loads of debt, weren't they? Is it any wonder our "bosses" in the GOP-dominated Congress can't wait to increase our debt load by increasing our taxes and cutting our social programs? They feel ordinary Americans were put on this Earth to stay in debt eternally. Our bosses see no need to increase the taxes of "extra-ordinary" Americans (also known as the "wealthiest" or the "1%"). The 1% aren't really expected to pay taxes (like they're supposed to by law) since they're not "ordinary" like us.
Our bosses allow the wealthiest to skip paying taxes via huge loopholes. It's a tough job simply being super rich and hoarding money in offshore tax havens and hiding more in shell companies, so that's why they get all the breaks. Remember, ordinary Americans' have a job to do: We must manufacture debt and endlessly pay it off with no hope of joining the extra-ordinary folks who, by accident of birth, never experience the joy of debt. If you're thinking I'm being facetious, you haven't kept up with the news. Our supposed "representatives" have sold out ordinary Americans' hopes and dreams. These mostly Republican Congress members have done so in order to please their wealthy paymasters by creating a so-called "tax reform" bill that actually increases taxes for the poor and middle class while lowering taxes for the wealthiest 1%. And the saddest part is the stress of living debt-filled lives has turned many ordinary Americans' hearts against their neighbors instead of against the actual perpetrators of this horrendous farce--the owners of the debt factories, the 1% along with their lobbyist lackeys and paid-off politician puppets.
But all is not lost. We can destroy the debt factory. We can take control of our lives and our future. The first step is to unite as We the People to defeat the Republican's tax scam bill before it becomes law. I hope Bernie's words from a Protecting Working Families Rally in the following report gives you some ideas and inspiration to fight back like it did me.
Know you are not alone. We will prevail if we work together. Power to the people, not the immoral debt factory!
What does Universal Basic Income (UBI) consider basic needs? Krish Mohan gives us some ideas: https://youtu.be/NV_hxRF_Wyk
"Trickle Down is a Trick!"
Protecting Working Families Rally in Akron, Ohio
Photos by Adrian Matthews
Former Ohio State Senator and Our Revolution President Nina Turner declared, "Trickle down is a trick!" several times at the Protecting Working Families Rally in Akron on Saturday night. Nina wasn't about to let Republicans pull the wool over our eyes with their claims of a "middle class tax cut" in the rushed through tax bill, which essentially gives massive tax breaks to richest of the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders echoed Nina's sentiment about the fraudulent theory of trickle down economics. "It has never worked," he said, "Most recently in Kansas, the state legislature had to undo the damage it did."
Bernie spoke for an hour in Akron Saturday night. He took on the GOP tax bill, Trump's hypocrisy, and his fear of the oligarchs destroying our democracy. Bernie touched upon many of his stump speech points, including universal health care, Ohio's opioid epidemic, better daycare, free public college tuition, for-profit prisons, green energy, environmental protections, climate change action, and a woman's right to control her own body. The crowd wildly cheered and clapped him on. It was electrifying to be in a room with so much energy.
Bernie informed us the Senate had less than two hours to see the tax bill before it was brought to a vote in the middle of the night. Most telling, the bill was never given a public hearing. No one knew what all was in the bill before it was brought to the floor for a vote. Senators discovered that the GOP's tax bill includes handwritten notes and insertions in its margins, many illegible. Among the hundreds of pages of this so-called "tax bill" is a section to give a tax break to a parochial school supported by Secretary of State Betsy DeVos as well as a section on "personhood," which is essentially an anti-abortion measure. This bill also has a section which allows for oil drilling in the beautiful and wild Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. No kidding.
What the heck do these last three sections have to do with reforming our tax system? These additions demonstrate that more than likely "tax reform" is the furthest thing from most Republicans' minds.
You need more evidence? This bill allows a tax break for the moving expenses of corporations who shut down their American businesses/factories and move overseas, but it doesn't allow their employees, working families, to take their moving expenses off their tax bill when they're forced to move to look for a new job. This means poor folks appear to have a "higher income" and will pay more taxes at a possibly higher rate, while these pro-NAFTA/TPP corporations who offshore their production will show "less income" on their tax forms and pay even less (if they'll pay any) taxes on their profits. Sheesh!
Need even more evidence? In 2018, you'll no longer be able to claim business expenses as a small business owner. Yeah, even we freelance writers will be penalized, since we'll no longer be able to take off reasonable business expenses against our already meager incomes. Talk about "reforming" taxes for ordinary Americans' benefit!
The Congressional Budget Office has stated the bill will create more than a $1.4 trillion deficit, and Bernie predicts that Republicans will then use that deficit as an excuse to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other programs. Bernie warned us that the GOP will call these cuts "entitlement reform," but it still means destroying these programs that help so many working Americans rather than "reforming" them.
"They are looting the federal government to give tax breaks to people who don't need them," Bernie stated. "This is a moral outrage--and we will not allow them to get away with it."
Bernie informed us that 4,000 lobbyists crafted this tax scam/anti-abortion/parochial school benefiting/oil drilling in the NAWR/allow jobs to go overseas bill. These lobbyists were paid by billionaires such as the Koch Brothers and the DeVos family. Bernie sees this bill as the beginning of the oligarchs' complete take over of our government. The 1% believe they can use their billions to buy off every politician and essentially run our country into the ground for their private gain.
What can we as ordinary Americans do to stop this tragedy? We have the power--and we have used it successfully to keep the ACA intact earlier this year. We must continue to use our power to call/email/write and visit our elected officials and remind them who is in charge--We the People are.
There is a short window of opportunity for us to press our suit during these next two weeks while the House and Senate reconcile their slightly different bills, according to Bernie. The Republicans timed the passing of this bill during the holiday season for a reason, thinking we'd be distracted or disheartened and we wouldn't keep up the pressure on our Congress members to do the right thing and kill this measure.
Don't let this be the case! Don't give up. Keep up the pressure on your senators and representatives. Continue to call/email/write them and visit their offices and let them know how upset you are about how this tax scam gives tax breaks to billionaires while causing poor and middle class people to pay more taxes and receive even less from programs that we've paid into such as Social Security.
Tell your representative you want to receive your Social Security when you retire since you've paid for it. Tell them you don't want your grandparents kicked out of the nursing home if the Medicaid program is eliminated (since the vast majority of those in nursing care receive Medicaid benefits to pay for the costs). "Our job is to create an alternative and progressive vision... We are winning the fight for the future of America!" said Bernie. "Our vision, your vision is gaining momentum all across this country."
So take heart and keep fighting, progressives! We can do this if we keep working hard together. To quote Bernie: "Don't allow them to divide us up on the color of our skin or where we were born or our religion--let us stand together and think big and transform this country!"
How the GOP tax bill will impact ordinary Americans from the Real News.
Some other programs that will get the ax from the Trump administration:
***
No doubt about it--these Congress-persons are this week's C.R.A.P. award (Chastise Rich Arrogant Politicians) winners:
Continue to call/email/write/visit with these out-of-touch persons and let them know how you really feel about their tax cut for the super-wealthy. Don't mince words. Be polite, yet firm, about your determination to put them out of office for supporting this disastrous piece of legislation. A website where you can easily email all your federal representatives at once can be found at http://www.democracy.io
***
“Don’t
fall for supply-side, trickle-down nonsense. Lower taxes on the rich
don’t generate growth and jobs. They only make the rich even richer, at a
time of raging inequality, and they cause bigger budget deficits.” – Robert Reich, Sanders Institute Founding Fellow
Congress
is now considering a proposed GOP tax plan and is expected to vote on it
in the coming weeks. Who benefits? Who doesn’t? We all need to
understand the impact of the proposed bill and let our voices be heard
before the vote takes place. We at the Sanders Institute have compiled
some information from our fellows and other resources to give you some
answers:
This
article from Robert Reich succinctly explains why Trickle-Down Economics
just does not work. He gives clear, historical examples of when
trickle-down economics has been implemented and failed and when the
opposite, tax increases on the wealthy, have worked.
The
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released this report on Sunday.
It clearly shows that the federal government would be raising taxes on
those making less and generously benefiting those making more. For
instance, Americans making less than $30,000 in 2019 will pay
$2,580,000,000 more in taxes - while those making over $200,000 will pay $118,550,000,000 less in taxes in 2019.
This
article outlines a bold new idea when talking about the Estate Tax, a
tax that the GOP plan would repeal. It argues that the growing
inequality in the United States has negatively affected Social Security
and suggests that we keep the Estate Tax to reduce that inequality and
make Social Security more sustainable.
There is a lot at stake in this far-reaching legislation. Educate yourselves, take a stand, and let your voices be heard.
Thank you for staying engaged,
David Driscoll Executive Director The Sanders Institute
***
From the March for Science:
Hundreds
of thousands of advocates across the country have dedicated their time
and energy to contact their representatives over the past few weeks as
Congress races to pass policies before the end of session. We’re
writing today to ask you to take add your voice to support science once
again.
On December 7, Scott Pruitt, administrator of the EPA, will testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee. Join
us in asking our representatives to hold Scott Pruitt publicly
accountable for his efforts to undermine and destroy the EPA and its
mandate to protect our health and environment.
Help
us send a message that we need our representatives to ask hard
questions and demand real answers. Let your representatives know that
you’ll be watching.
Contact
your representative directly or sign a petition asking them to
#PressPruitt on vital issues. Why has he limited the role of scientists
serving as science advisers to the EPA, instead replacing them with
science denialists? Why is he continuing to question the scientific
consensus on climate change, ignoring the findings of a recent report
from the Trump administration that concluded that humans are the primary
drive behind climate change? What are his continued plans to roll back
regulations that protect our air and water? We need to know why the
administrator of the EPA repeatedly asks to undermine the agency’s
mandate to protect our health and environment.
But don’t stop there. In the next few weeks, science faces threats from many sides and needs your support. Congress’ 2017 session ends on December 14 -- set aside a few minutes each day to advocate for science.
Tax Bill: Send a message to your representative
that the Grad Student Tax in the new tax bill will jeopardize the
future of science by forcing thousands of graduate students not to
continue their training. Share our open letter, signed by more than 40 partners, and petition and support future scientists.
Net Neutrality:
Overturning net neutrality will have grave consequences for the future
of science, potentially censoring scientific research and data and
empowering internet service providers to limit the freedom of
information we rely on. Send the FCC a message.
Thank you for continuing to advocate for science.
#KeepMarching,
March for Science
***
There are more than a trillion reasons to reject the Republican tax scam.
It would constitute one of the greatest upward transfers of wealth in
American history and is a prelude to a cruel campaign to cut Social
Security, Medicare and other vital public programs.
But there’s only one thing to do about it: Fight back, now, before the tax cuts become law.
Americans overwhelmingly oppose the tax deal, because they understand
it’s designed for multinational corporations and the superrich.
Why would congressional Republicans ram through an unpopular proposal?
Two words: Citizens United.
This legislation is entirely about appeasing the donor class.
Republicans said as much.
“My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me
again,’” said Representative Chris Collins, a Republican who represents
suburban Buffalo, New York.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina echoed that
sentiment: “The financial contributions will stop [if the GOP does not
pass tax reform].”
The problem we face is this: To overcome the Republican proclivity to
deliver on the fantasies of the donor class, we need massive public
outrage.
Public opposition, which we have, isn’t enough. We need outrage — expressed directly to members of Congress.
The House and Senate each have passed horrible tax cuts, but they differ in some important ways.
In the coming days, they will cobble together a single version, which
then must be passed separately by each chamber if it is to become law.
If enough Americans weigh in, with enough passion, we can stop that from happening.
There really are more than a trillion reasons to oppose this deal, which
would cut corporate and superrich taxes by vastly more than $1
trillion.
In general, it’s fair to say the legislation would drastically increase
already severe economic inequality, fundamentally changing the character
of the country.
It threatens to make us a class-bound society, riven by unbridgeable
social divides, betraying the promises of democracy, equality and
opportunity that represent the best of America.
Here are five specific reasons to oppose the tax scam. The legislation:
Rewards corporate tax evasion, providing a discount tax rate for
profits that companies have kept overseas and avoided paying tax on. This
perk alone is worth more than $450 billion to multinational
corporations — led by Apple — which alone stands to save $47 billion.
Facilitates feudal-like dynasties by raising the threshold
before the estate tax kicks in, or eliminating it altogether (House
version). Very conservatively, eliminating the estate tax would be worth more than $500 million to the Trump family.
Worsens our already immoral health care system (Senate
version), leading to millions more going without insurance and sharp
price spikes for those on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Contains a host of tiny provisions that will have major
implications for large groups of people. A provision in the House bill,
for example, would force graduate students to pay taxes on tuition
breaks they receive, making graduate school unaffordable and unattainable for thousands of less wealthy students.
Paves the way for Republican demands — already echoing — for deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare, education and other vital programs.
