Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Your Fascist Government At Work

Let's get down to business with a great article by our resident historian who sees chilling parallels between current events and a certain 20th century regime known for its racist ideology...


An original meme created by Coast Watcher. Please  share.
Machtübernahme:  
The Take-Over of Power
by Coast Watcher 

We live in strange times. Following the presidential election of 2016 the government of the United States took a dramatic shift to the right. In the months since, that movement has accelerated to the point where open and blatant fascistic behavior from official bodies has become the norm.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in President Trump’s so-called Zero Tolerance policy. Trump is on record as calling illegal immigrants "animals." He claims that if the US government shows any "weakness" immigrants will "come by their millions." On Friday June 22, he signed photos of people allegedly murdered by immigrants, taking the opportunity to call for "strength and security at the border" and stressing that immigrants cannot be allowed to "invade our country."


Witness the mass arrest of illegal immigrants and the seizure and incarceration of immigrant children from parents. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) is headed by Jeff Beauregard Sessions, the US Attorney General. (Note his middle name is that of a Civil War  rebel general. Is this an indication that his and his family’s loyalties and general outlook lies with forlorn memories of their glory days in the slave-owning South?) Sessions and his henchwoman, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, are falling into line with Trump’s psychopathic blackmailing attempt to force Congress to pay for his infamous border wall. If Congress will do his bidding, the children will be released.

The justifiable firestorm this policy generated in public opinion is being ignored by the White House. Trump’s executive order mitigating the mass arrests of immigrants appeared to be a sop to the voting public, but in fact is far from it. Trump seems to think he has the power to modify law at will, turning a misdemeanor into a felony at the stroke of his expensive fountain pen. His order also only works for twenty days after signing then the practice of separating children from parents will continue.

There is money to be made out of human misery. Each child currently incarcerated costs the public over $700 per day. Most of this money goes to private companies – often headed by family members of Trump’s cabinet, including Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.  DeVos stands to make yet another fortune out of a foster agency she has financial ties to that is set to accept immigrant children.


ICE is also boarding buses and requiring passengers – even citizens – to identify themselves. The official’s demand of "Papers!" is one all too familiar to those living under authoritarian regimes. ICE has jurisdiction within a hundred miles of an international border, but reports state they are operating farther and farther outside that limit. Witnesses say Greyhound buses have been boarded well outside the hundred mile limit. The agents are only turned away by people standing up for their Fourth Amendment rights by saying they cannot be searched without due cause.

The racist behavior of the authorities isn’t confined to the border regions. The airports too are seeing an upswing in mistreatment of people of color. This from Marcy Valle of Nevada:

My dad flew back in from Mexico Friday night. Yesterday he came over for dinner and told me what happened at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. As he deplaned and reached the checkpoint for U.S. Citizens, he was separated into a line of Hispanic/Latino looking people, let's call that line A; while white (Caucasian) people were sent to another line, let's call that Line B. The agent that was at the desk for Line A, left his desk as the line began forming and was gone for close to an hour while the line only got longer from more planes arriving. Line B continued to move fluidly. A guard was pacing his line chest out, smile wide. My father, irritated with the wait and the unfairness, asked why they were separated (segregated if you ask me) the agent told him "because you're a second class citizen." They also searched all his luggage and there was no courtesy note.

That people, is the boldness of this racist movement. Feel free to share. This can not go on in silence.
 So, which examples of similar governmental policies can we draw from history? As always, there are parallels with Germany in the 1930s. Hitler demonized the Jews by referring to them as "animals." He also claimed Jews were responsible for murdering law abiding Germans. All this was done in partnership with Heinrich Himmler as part of their Machtübernahme – the Nazi Party’s planned "take-over of power."
Himmler is most remembered for organizing the SS, Hitler's secret state police, as well as for his nickname, "Hitler's Executioner." His counterpart, Ernst Röhm, ran the Sturmabteilung (SA) “Storm Battalion,” or the Nazi Party’s militia which was employed to kill and otherwise terrorize any who would oppose the party’s rise to power. Reading the headlines one can see ICE's parallels with Himmler's Gestapo and other Nazi organizations  becoming more obvious by the day.

Immigrants already fear a knock at the door the same as Jews did in Hitler's Germany. Rumors have it that Trump is set to send ICE after naturalized American citizens--immigrants who have been sworn in as citizens. If citizens have no rights, how can we expect asylum-seekers to have any?
 

Buchenwald Children's Block 66
As events unfold showing President Trump’s fascistic behavior in ever clearer detail, it seems certain the Republican Party will suffer a serious loss of seats in November’s elections. The incarceration of immigrant children has touched a nerve with the American public that will not be forgotten come election day. We've all seen photographs of children behind barbwire before-- alongside bodies piled like cord wood in Nazi concentration camps.
Occupy ICE Detroit protesters. Photo by Stuart Bertsch.
 


But let’s move further forward to 2020 and the next presidential election. Will Trump go quietly into the night and oblivion, or is he already planning to nail his colors to the mast and stage a coup d’état? We forget that Adolf Hitler was actually elected to office. It was only after his election that he shut down the German parliament or Reichstag. Given Trump's attention span is that of a mayfly and his attitude toward the Constitution is "It’s a nuisance," it’s anybody’s guess which way he’ll go when 2020 rolls around.
 

In conclusion, we trade away some of our liberty in exchange for a guarantee of security. This social contract is the basis of all modern political thought, but it is open to the worst abuse. The events of 9/11 brought about the iniquitous Patriot Act and generated a siege mentality in many Americans that resonates to this day. Under ICE,  "defending the borders" against illegal immigrants has entered a sinister new phase.

It remains to be seen if these fascistic acts can be rescinded and rolled back into the darkness from whence they came or if the flame of democracy will be extinguished for years or decades to come.

More background:


The Story Behind Hitler's Rise to Power

Trump Autographed Photos of Murder Victims at an Anti-Immigration Event
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/donald-trump-has-autographed-photos-of-murder-victims-at-an-antiimmigration-event/news-story/8344dddce2e90ee9ff498ba98f99d552

The Myth of the Criminal Immigrant
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/30/upshot/crime-immigration-myth.html 

Border Patrol Agents Are Stopping People in New England to Check Their Citizenship
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/23/us/maine-new-hampshire-border-patrol-checkpoints/

US Navy Planning to Build Military Camps to Jail 120,000 Immigrants
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2018/06/24/us-navy-planning-to-build-military-camps-to-jail-120000-immigrants/

The Billion Dollar Business of Operating Shelters for Migrant Children https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/us/migrant-shelters-border-crossing.html

Himmler, Peter Padfield. MJF Press, NYC, 1990.

BIO: Coast Watcher is an armchair historian who has closely studied the second World War, a war his family suffered though living in England. The uncanny parallels between Hitler's rise to power and Trump's power grabs keep him awake at nights. The world can't afford to let another fascist rise to power again. Fight back. Abolish ICE.
Related Articles/Videos:

Parents Split From Children Tell of Anguish
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/50792-going-through-hell-at-the-border-parents-split-from-children-tell-of-anguish 

Undocumented Children "Should Be SENT BACK!" 
(Jimmy Dore interview w/Abby Martin) https://youtu.be/yFC3rXN0J1s

How Failed US Economic Policy Lead to People Seeking Asylum
https://youtu.be/uKTNqL0TPuo

Thirty Years of Data Shows Asylum Seekers Are Not an Economic Burden
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/50797-30-years-of-data-shows-asylum-seekers-are-not-an-economic-burden


 
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The Green Party US has made a statement condemning child separations in immigration cases: 
http://www.gp.org/on_child_separations_in_immigration_cases

And the Ohio Green Party had this to say on the matter:

From the desk of Ohio Green Party co-chairs
Anita Rios and Nathan Lane

 June 21st, 2018

The Ohio Green Party is appalled by the treatment of immigrant children at Health and Human Services (HHS) centers across the country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in conjunction with Border Patrol agents, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), has forcibly taken thousands of children from their parents in the last several months. It is worth noting that the present laws surrounding US immigration policy is the result of decades of failed policies from both Democratic and Republican administrations.

In response to the failed policies of the existing duopoly, the Green Party platform calls for a complete overhaul of U.S. immigration laws. Immigration raids are terrorizing the immigrant community across Ohio and the nation. The practice of family separation has seen well-deserved condemnation from across the political spectrum and from non-partisan organizations.

The Ohio Green Party joins these organizations in denouncing the US Federal Government’s practice of separating immigrant children from their families and is also demanding the dismantling of ICE. The Green Party Platform on Immigration stands firmly for social justice for all, regardless of their immigration status. We call for a humane policy and for laws that are consistent with Green Values, and the nation’s values.

The Ohio Green Party candidate for Governor, Constance Gadell-Newton has publicly committed to ending all such inhumane policies against immigrants. We call on Governor Kasich to ensure that no Ohioans, whether military or civilian, will be involved in the enforcement of this inhumane and cruel policy.

We further demand the immediate reunification of immigrant families. In the long-term we call on Congress to provide an easy and direct pathway to citizenship for every immigrant. We also oppose the proposed creation of an indefinite detention period for immigrant families. President Trumps executive order has extremely troubling provisions. Internment camps are an affront to human decency and a crime against humanity.

Until elected officials begin to take steps toward a more humane and welcoming immigration policy, and until the inhumane family separations cease, we call on Greens from across Ohio and the nation to participate in marches and actions. We strongly endorse such protests, including the June 30 March planned for Washington DC and other cities across the nation. Make sure to contact your representative and demand a stop to these inhumane practices by our government.


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Excellent coverage of the Poor People's Campaign March in Washington DC:

http://www.dcmediagroup.us/2018/06/23/thousands-marching-poor-peoples-campaign-prevented-entering-capitol/


***

Win Without War

Tell Congress: Migrant kids belong with their families — not generating war profits for bigots >>
Trump’s anti-immigrant policies just got even more vile. Yesterday, he signed an executive order that would replace separating families at the border with imprisoning whole families indefinitely.
Meanwhile, thousands of migrant kids are still locked up in wire cages or flown thousands of miles away from their parents. And defense contractor MVM, Inc, is raking in the profits. [1]
Right now, we have a huge opportunity to turn our outrage and heartbreak into action. Massive pressure from activists nationwide got key members of Congress to demand Trump stop separating migrant families. Now, we need to make sure Congress knows the war machine is STILL profiting off caging kids.

If we act fast on the heels of Trump’s awful executive order, we have a real shot to expose MVM and get Congress to demand an end to Trump’s anti-immigrant policies for good.

Add your voice and demand Congress take action: Stop the war machine terrorizing families for profit.

It’s despicable enough that the war machine is cashing in on Trump’s inhumane immigration policies. But MVM, who runs detention camps locking up migrant kids, isn’t just any defense contractor. They’ve been fired by the CIA for incompetence; accused of retaliating against a whistleblower who exposed corruption; and sued by the government for anti-Muslim bigotry.

It’s no accident that an anti-Muslim defense contractor is profiting off terrorizing migrant families. The Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda, anti-Muslim agenda, and violence-first foreign policy go hand in hand.

Exposing MVM is only the beginning. If we can get Congress on the record against war profits from anti-immigrant policies, we can fight the militarization of our border. We can demand true safety and security for migrant families. And we’ve got to start by raising our voices immediately.

Tell Congress: Demand the Trump administration stop locking up migrant families for war profits.

Keeping migrant children in wire cages, sending troops to further militarize our border, and pouring billions into new nuclear weapons all terrorize our communities under a false definition of security.

Seeking asylum is a human right. What’s more, many of these migrants are fleeing violence and natural disasters directly caused by decades of disastrous American interventionist policies and American-fueled climate change. We must stand together to stop Trump’s racist immigration agenda and violence-first foreign policy.

Thank you for working for peace,
Cassandra, Mariam, Tara, and the Win Without War team
---
[1] Daily Beast, “Defense Contractors Cashing In on Immigrant Kids’ Detention

***
Jobs With Justice

Cruel. Unjust. Immoral. 
 
Donald Trump and his administration have separating thousands of immigrant children from their families at the border. We refuse to be scammed by yesterday’s executive order -  which will now just throw parents and children together in jail indefinitely. The Trump administration has NO plan to reunify the children they tore away from their parents to house them in cages.

Help put an end to this human rights crisis –pledge to join a #FamiliesBelongTogether action on Saturday, June 30.
 
Trump cowed to the chorus of pressure yesterday, but his plan offers no solace to the countless families who have been unable to find each other, speak to one another, or reunite, and some may get deported without one other.

The situation is heartbreaking. But it’s not out of our hands to fix. Jobs With Justice is part of a broad, nationwide coalition rallying around the country to put an end to wrongful family separation.We need to stick our necks out, make our voices heard, and show up. Let's continue escalating the pressure to achieve a humane outcome and stop them from criminalizing immigrants fleeing from domestic and gang violence, poverty, and repression to seek a better life here. Can we count on you to join a rally near you?
RSVP NOW
Day by day the outrage over the Administration’s callous policies of imprisoning children. We’re on the verge of a tipping point in confronting the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant agenda.  If enough of us come together, our peaceful and powerful protests can send a clear message to Donald Trump and his allies in Congress: Families belong together.

Pledge to take action on June 30!
Natalie Patrick-Knox
Jobs With Justice

***

The report on widespread water contamination that the EPA tried to hide has been released.1 It shows that the health effects from toxic chemicals including PFOA are dangerous at much lower levels than the EPA has previously called safe.

Everyone deserves clean water. We must protect our communities by investing in our water systems and preventing this type of contamination.

They released this study because YOU took action. 25,415 Food & Water Action supporters demanded the release of this study on the dangers of PFAS — toxic chemicals that have contaminated the water in communities nationwide.

Thank you for standing up to Scott Pruitt, who didn't want this study to see the light of day.

The report shows that these toxic chemicals are dangerous at much lower levels than the EPA's recommended exposure level. While the report may be a "public relations nightmare" for people like Scott Pruitt, the new findings are far worse for people in communities with poisoned water supplies.

We'll keep working with communities impacted by these toxic chemicals to make sure the EPA protects them, and all communities, from toxic chemicals in our water. But PFAS chemicals aren't the only threat to our water systems. Protecting people's right to clean water is going to take national action.

The WATER Act, recently reintroduced in Congress, would provide crucial investment in our water systems. It would give our communities the resources they need to provide clean water to millions of people, and the power to hold accountable the corporations that have exploited our communities.2

Stand with Food & Water Action: tell the House to support the WATER Act.

Thank you again for taking action and forcing the release of this water contamination report. It proves that these toxic chemicals are even more dangerous than the EPA was willing to acknowledge, and it's thanks to you that it was released.

Onward,
Sarah Spooner
National Online Organizer
Food & Water Watch



Tuesday, June 19, 2018

A Child Crying In The Night

From The Washington Post (via MSN):

A pediatrician visited a children's shelter in Texas full of children taken from their parents at the border:
But the first child who caught the prominent pediatrician’s attention during a recent visit was anything but happy. Inside a room dedicated to toddlers was a little girl no older than two, screaming and pounding her fists on a mat. One woman tried to give her toys and books to calm her down, but even that shelter worker seemed frustrated, Kraft told The Washington Post, because as much as she wanted to console the little girl, she couldn’t touch, hold or pick her up to let her know everything would be all right. That was the rule, Kraft said she was told: They’re not allowed to touch the children.
Stop and think. They're not allowed to touch the children. Babies left to cry with no comfort. Quote from the article, "America is better than this": What a doctor saw in a shelter for migrant children
 A Child Crying in the Night
(words and Families Belong Together Protest photos by C.A.Matthews) 

I know I don't have to paint the picture for you moms and dads out there... You know all about the sheer exhaustion of being awakened by a child crying in the middle of the night because of an earache, a toothache or other illness. You swear and sigh, and you say things like, "Never again! I want to sleep! Why did I ever think having a baby was a good thing?"

But, if someone would come to you at that very moment and say, "I'm taking your child away from you, and I don't care about your family's safety or your child's happiness," would you take back those words you spoke in sleep-deprived haste? Could you live with yourself if you were forced to hand your child over at gunpoint?

These are the feelings flooding my heart whenever I look at the photo of the

little girl crying beside the ICE vehicle. I had two little girls once, long ago and far away, and I would have done anything to protect them and keep them away from strangers who could possibly hurt or harm them (even if these strangers say they won't). I'm their mother, and I'm responsible for their safety and care. Why wouldn't I want to keep them beside me at all times? Why wouldn't I want to keep them safe and happy?

Human beings generally want to stay in their hometowns and home countries. They leave when they are forced to do so by dire circumstances and only then. If the circumstances are dire and deadly, why wouldn't they bring their children with them as they journey toward what they hope is a better life?

These human beings escaping death and hardship are not criminals. I hope it

goes without saying that their children are also not criminals. What "crime" would you charge the crying toddler in the top photograph with? Is she guilty of the "crime" of being brown, poor, or the wrong nationality?

That's why I will no longer tolerate anyone saying that these families "deserve" to be broken up, and their children "deserve" to be taken away from them and used as slave labor on farms or sold into sex trafficking or packed into an old Walmart building like dogs in a kennel. No family deserves to have their children locked in cages by anyone. It doesn't matter to me if these government officials who make these judgments without due process of law call themselves "Democrat" or  "Republican" or  "Nazi." These children don't deserve to be stuck in a concentration camp in the middle of the desert outside of El Paso in summer.  (Former First Lady Laura Bush agrees with me, too.)

I lived in West Texas for fifteen years. You do not want anyone--especially vulnerable children--being housed outside in that intense heat. We had temperatures of 122 degrees Fahrenheit in July. The heat was oppressive inside an air conditioned building. Can you imagine what it would be like inside of a tent? What will our government tell these families when they finally get a chance to ask what has happened to their children?

I have a sinking feeling our government's reply will be along these lines:

"Sorry, but your child died of heat stroke in our custody. Too bad. You shouldn't have been born brown and poor in a country where people threatened your lives. You shouldn't have tried to escape that awful life and attempted to build a new one in a new place. Have a nice day."

This week, the Poor People's Campaign's rally theme at your statehouse is Challenging Our Nation's  Distorted Moral Narrative. Ripping babies from their mother's arms--you can't get much more distorted or immoral than that, can you?


On June 23, the Poor People's Campaign will have its final big event at the National Mall in Washington DC. It's a culmination of these past six weeks of PPC rallies and events that focused on the poor, the homeless, our veterans, women and children, the disabled, the elderly,  immigrants and refugees among other peoples and issues. What better way to express our disgust and horror at our current immigration policy than by rallying in great numbers and protesting loudly that we refuse to become a 21st century Nazi Germany?


We hope to see you there.

 Check out these related stories:

An example of our distorted moral narrative--and this title is not a joke like "Three men walk into a bar," either.

An Abuser, a Brothel Owner and a Supporter of Confederate Symbols All Won Primaries Tuesday:
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/50619-an-abuser-a-brothel-owner-and-a-supporter-of-confederate-symbols-all-won-primaries-tuesday

The cruelty of separating immigrant families reaches an all-time low.

The Government Allegedly Ripped a Baby Away From Her Mother While She Was Breastfeeding:
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/50625-the-government-allegedly-ripped-a-baby-away-from-her-mother-while-she-was-breastfeeding 

Trauma at the Texas-Mexico Border: Families Separated, Children Detained and Residents Fighting Back: https://youtu.be/wrEAyne41iA


Federal judge tells distraught mother he doesn't know where her child is:
https://youtu.be/HtXd4QiVGXM

Watch and see how they're treating asylum seekers these days at the US border. We're breaking our own laws!
https://youtu.be/NzeAWFQCJVk
P.S. For those who wonder why I'm not bashing Trump by name:
This sort of travesty didn't start yesterday--it's been going on for years. You may recall only a few years ago that we had a Secretary of State who deported children seeking asylum from Honduras because of the hit squads and violence there. These children were sent back to be killed during the Obama Administration under the direction of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The writ of habeas corpus, which means a person can be thrown into jail without charges and held indefinitely,
was suspended under the Obama Administration as well.

So, we can't keep making excuses and blaming "one party over the other." Both establishment parties (or are they really one party?) are bought and sold by the mega-wealthy. (They make deals with for-profit private detention centers to house immigrants. No profits if they don't fill them up!) They have become the unified party of greed, war, and oppression. It even extends beyond our borders. Have you heard about the genocide happening in Yemen? (Probably not if you watch only mainstream media.) What was the name of the president who first helped Saudi Arabia to bomb Yemen? It started before Trump, so please don't tell me how the other "side" of the establishment is better than the current "side" in office. They are essentially the same and act similarly. They build upon each other's evil.

Americans need to wake up and stop financing the corrupt establishment. They need to kick out both "sides" of the status quo and replace these corporate-owned groups with people who care about us ordinary people. I suggest you vote for people, planet and peace over profit. Support your local and national Green Party , the only major party that does not accept corporate money or have super PACs. Greens are ordinary folk like you running for office--not billionaires trying to further line their pockets and discriminate against the poor and downtrodden. Greens know what it means to struggle, and they know we ordinary people need honest representation to be heard.

 ***
Challenging the Nation’s Distorted Moral Narrative -- a New and Unsettling Force (The Week of June 18th Poor People's Campaign theme). https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/
If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his landmark speech at New York City's Riverside Church in 1967
Check out this following story and video on the Poor People's Campaign action in Washington DC. A group of homeless walked from Philadelphia to DC to set up Resurrection City II, a re-enactment of the first Resurrection City from 50 years ago.

http://www.dcmediagroup.us/2018/06/13/resurrection-city-ii-evicted-dupont-circle-park/
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***

From Movement for a People's Party:

The Poor People’s Campaign began in 1968 with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a call for economic justice for America’s poor.

Five weeks ago, the reignited Poor People’s Campaign launched a national call for moral revival in the most expansive wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in U.S. history with thousands of poor people, clergy and advocates demanding policies that lift up the poor in this country. Every week hundreds of people have been arrested in state capitals from coast to coast, including Nick.

We officially partnered with the PPC on the Forty Days of Moral Action, which are coming to a close with the Rally to Fight Poverty Not the Poor on June 23 on the National Mall in Washington DC. So many of you have sent in photos, written to us and come on our monthly national call to share your profoundly moving personal experiences from the campaign. You have joined with over 30,000 people in this important endeavor for which the Forty Days is just the first phase.

Our political leaders are trying to keep us quiet because they don’t want anything to change. But they can’t keep us quiet anymore. On Saturday, June 23, the PPC is busing people into Washington, D.C. for a massive rally on the National Mall, and we need you to be there. 


Rally to Fight Poverty Not the Poor
Saturday, June 23
10 am - 2 pm EST
Washington D.C.
National Mall by Jefferson Dr. and 7th St. SW

Nick and many other members of our MPP family are coming. Click here to RSVP for an MPP get together right before the rally. We'll have swag for everyone! Because a Poor People's Campaign needs a People's Party.

The rally will feature music, speeches and next steps by PPC Co-Chairs the Revs. Dr. William Barber and Dr. Liz Theoharis. People are ridesharing to D.C., buying train tickets and getting on free buses organized by activist groups across the country to pack the Mall and demonstrate unprecedented grassroots strength. Register here if you can provide transportation by bus, van or carpool.

If you went to a Poor People’s Campaign action in your state, MPP and the PPC want to hear about it. Please write a short one or two-paragraph testimonial about your experience and why the Poor People’s Campaign resonates with you. Send your testimonial and photos as a reply to this email or to Organize@ForAPeoplesParty.org. We’ll share your story on social media ahead of the final rally and the PCC may email it to all of their supporters.

It’s been 50 years, and there are 60 percent more people living under the poverty line than in 1968, the Voting Rights Act has been dismantled, and children in our poorest cities drink lead with their water. This is our last chance to act. We need you to show up and let politicians know there are consequences to undermining access to the ballot box, destroying healthcare and the social safety net, and slashing wages.

In Solidarity,

Carol Ehrle
Political Director
Movement for a People’s Party 


***
From National Resources Defense Council:


We're at a critical moment in our fight to stop the climate-wrecking Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Trump's State Department, which must review the pipeline because it crosses the international border with Canada, is inviting public comments on its plan until June 25. So, we must flood the agency with tens of thousands of letters of opposition.

Submit your public comment before June 25 and tell the State Department that you oppose the Keystone XL pipeline.

Keystone XL would transport 830,000 barrels a day of dirty tar sands oil from Canada's boreal forest through America's heartland.

That's why, when the Trump administration illegally approved the cross-border permit for this horrendous pipeline last year, NRDC sued to stop it.

But as we continue to fight in court, we also need concerned NRDC activists like you to help keep the pressure on the State Department to kill Keystone XL for good.

Tell the State Department to revoke the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline immediately.

Keystone XL threatens our land, climate, and drinking water supplies for farmers, ranchers, indigenous people, and other communities. The pipeline keeps us rooted in the dirty fossil fuels of the past instead of moving us toward a clean energy future.

Please make your voice heard before June 25, even if you've spoken out against the Keystone XL pipeline in the past. Together we can stop this irresponsible project once and for all.

Thank you for standing with us during this critical time.

Sincerely,

Rhea Suh
President, NRDC


***
From Credo:

Four years after it began, Flint, Michigan's water crisis is not over. Earlier this year, tests showed lead levels above the federal limit in the water at five of nine Flint schools.1

But we now know that the crisis goes far, far beyond Flint – and the children poisoned in Flint are not alone. Over 3,000 American neighborhoods have childhood lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint during the peak of its contamination crisis.2 Over 1,000 areas tested with a rate of elevated blood levels at least four times as high as Flint’s at the height of the crisis.3 In one neighborhood in Cleveland, nearly half the children have lead poisoning.4

No family should fear that turning on the tap could poison their child and harm them for life – no matter what their zip code is. Reps. Keith Ellison and Ro Khanna recently introduced the Water Affordability, Transparency Equity and Reliability (WATER) Act of 2018, which would start the process of addressing this crisis. We must build grassroots support for this crucial legislation now.

Tell Congress: Pass the WATER Act. Click here to sign the petition.
 
Lead is a cumulative toxin particularly harmful to young children, who can suffer profound and permanent damage to the brain and nervous system.5 There is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe. In the wake of its water contamination crisis, Flint saw a measurable rise in miscarriages, fetal deaths and illnesses.6

In 2016, Congress finally directed $170 million in aid to Flint.7 But the Center for Disease Control's entire budget for assisting states with lead poisoning this year is just one-tenth of that.8 We must do better.

The WATER Act would provide $35 billion a year in federal funding to improve community drinking water and wastewater services.9 It would also provide grants to replace lead service lines going into homes, remove lead pipes and plumbing in schools, and upgrade home wells and septic systems.10

In thousands of neighborhoods across the country, systematic neglect and denial of basic infrastructure are limiting children's futures. No one bill will solve the problem, but we have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference – if our legislators act.

Tell Congress: Pass the WATER Act. Click the link below to sign the petition:
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/save-our-water?t=7&akid=28936%2E7206293%2EHaOrB4

Thanks for fighting back,
Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►
References:

  1. Ron Fonger, "Most Flint schools water tests OK for lead, but problems found in 5 of 9 buildings," MLive, Feb 13, 2018.
  2. M.B. Pell and Joshua Schneyer, Special Report: Thousands of U.S. areas afflicted with lead poisoning beyond Flint's," Reuters, Dec. 19, 2016.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. World Health Organization, "Lead poisoning and health: Key facts," Feb. 9, 2018.
  6. Ayana Byrd, "New Legislation Aims to Prevent the Next Flint Water Crisis," Colorlines, April 25, 2018.
  7. M.B. Pell and Joshua Schneyer, Special Report: Thousands of U.S. areas afflicted with lead poisoning beyond Flint's," Reuters, Dec. 19, 2016.
  8. Ibid.
  9. Byrd, "New Legislation Aims to Prevent the Next Flint Water Crisis."
  10. Ibid.