Repeating his thoroughly disproven lie that the 2020 election was stolen, former President Donald Trump called Saturday for discarding the U.S. Constitution to overturn his loss. Continue reading
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Author Archives: Kenny Stancil
GOP’s silence on Trump’s call to axe Constitution reveals ‘full embrace of fascism’: House Dem
"Last week the leader of the Republican Party had dinner with a Nazi leader and a man who called Adolf Hitler 'great,'" said Rep. Bill Pascrell. "Yesterday Trump called for throwing out the Constitution and making himself dictator."
109 Republicans voted against bill to ban sexual assault NDAs
The newly passed Speak Out Act "empowers survivors of sexual assault and harassment to speak openly about their experiences and pursue the justice they deserve," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal.
The House on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation that prohibits employers from using pre-dispute non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) or non-disparagement clauses to silence survivors of workplace sexual assault and harassment. Continue reading
‘You will all be executed’: Arizona poll workers endure right-wing midterm threats
"It feels very much like predatory behavior and that we are being stalked," the Maricopa elections director recently told county officials.
Election workers in a hotly contested Arizona county have endured more than 100 violent threats and intimidating messages leading up to Tuesday’s crucial midterms, most of them based on thoroughly disproven lies about Democratic voter fraud that former President Donald Trump and his allies have repeated ad nauseam for the past two years. Continue reading
Republican policies are killing Americans: study
"Changing all policy domains in all states to a fully liberal orientation might have saved 171,030 lives in 2019," researchers estimate, "while changing them to a fully conservative orientation might have cost 217,635 lives."
The Republican Party’s regressive policies are not just unpopular, but a new study out Wednesday suggests they are also deadly to those who live under them. Continue reading
Sanders says Biden admin ‘must reject’ merger of Kroger and Albertsons
"At a time when food prices are soaring as a result of corporate greed, it would be an absolute disaster to allow Kroger... to merge with Albertsons," said the Vermont progressive.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is among those calling on the Biden administration to block the proposed merger between erstwhile rival grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, which was formally announced Friday morning. Continue reading
Melting of Greenland ice sheet poised to trigger almost a foot of sea-level rise: study
If the world halted planet-heating pollution today, the ice sheet would lose more than 3% of its mass in the coming decades, scientists warn. To prevent even worse outcomes, immediate climate action is needed.
The fossil fuel-driven climate emergency has already locked in so much ice melt in Greenland that sea levels will surge by nearly a foot in the coming decades, peer-reviewed research published Monday warns, underscoring the need to rapidly transform virtually all aspects of the global political economy. Continue reading
‘This is blackmail’: New Orleans denied flood funds over opposition to abortion ban
"I don't think we're responding with the urgency these authoritarian moves deserve," warned one civil rights attorney.
Progressives are sounding the alarm about the lengths to which GOP officials appear willing to go to advance their deeply unpopular and reactionary agenda after Louisiana’s State Bond Commission, at the urging of right-wing Attorney General Jeff Landry, once again denied flood prevention resources to New Orleans due to the city’s opposition to the state’s new abortion ban. Continue reading
‘Deeply dangerous nonsense’: Treasury Dept. debunks GOP lies about 87,000 armed IRS agents
The intensity with which Republicans "are coming at this is really a testament to how important these resources are going to be—because there are many wealthy tax evaders that stand to lose a lot," said one official.
An official from the U.S. Treasury Department confirmed Friday that, contrary to the unrelenting barrage of lies repeated by GOP operatives for over a week, the Internal Revenue Service is not going to hire 87,000 new agents to harass working people at their homes. Continue reading
News outlets, press freedom groups to DOJ: don’t let GOP states criminalize abortion coverage
"We ask that you publicly reiterate the press freedoms granted under the First Amendment, and remind states that they cannot infringe on those rights when news outlets write about abortion."
More than two dozen newsrooms and press freedom groups sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, calling on the Justice Department to prevent journalists and their employers from being prosecuted for simply writing about abortion. Continue reading
Jayapal warns GOP will enact federal abortion ban if it retakes Congress
"We can't give them that chance," said the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "We must elect a REAL pro-choice majority in the Senate."
With Republicans clamoring to impose a federal abortion ban if they gain control of Congress in November, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington stressed Monday that more lawmakers committed to protecting reproductive freedom must be elected in the upcoming midterms to prevent such a deadly outcome. Continue reading
Citing death of Roe, Alabama urges judge to reinstate trans care ban
GOP officials are already weaponizing the Supreme Court's abortion ruling to attack other rights they argue are not "deeply rooted in our nation's history and tradition."
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has urged a federal court to stop preventing the state from enforcing its ban on gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth, citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. Continue reading
Right-wing justices should be impeached for lying under oath, says Ocasio-Cortez
"We have a responsibility to protect our democracy," said the New York Democrat. "That includes holding those in power who violate the law accountable."
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said Sunday that right-wing U.S. Supreme Court justices who “misled” senators during their respective confirmation hearings about whether they supported overturning Roe v. Wade should be impeached for lying under oath. Continue reading
UN food chief says ‘hell on earth’ looms from hunger crisis triggered by Ukraine war
With the world "marching towards starvation," said David Beasley, "the best thing we can do right now is end that damn war in Russia and Ukraine and get the port open" in Odessa.
As food prices and hunger surge worldwide, hundreds of millions of people around the globe are “marching towards starvation”—increasing the likelihood of preventable deaths, civil unrest, and political violence in the months ahead—the United Nations food chief warned Thursday. Continue reading
Medicare for All could have prevented more than 338,000 US Covid deaths: Study
"Healthcare reform is long overdue in the U.S.," said the lead author of a new study. "Americans are needlessly losing lives and money."
Covid-19 has killed more than one million people in the United States over the past two years, but more than 338,000 of those lives could have been saved if the country had a universal single-payer healthcare system such as Medicare for All. Continue reading
‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill by Florida GOP ignites national condemnation
"If we don't speak up now, and act, Republicans will keep fighting to make laws like DeSantis' hateful 'Don't Say Gay' bill the norm," warned one advocate
Opponents of bigotry and censorship are raising their voices in protest after Florida’s GOP-controlled Senate Education Committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that would effectively prohibit teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in primary grades or at any level “in a manner that is not age-appropriate.” Continue reading
Big Oil profits surge to $174 billion in 2021 amid rising gas prices: Report
"Americans looking for someone to blame for the pain they experience at the pump need look no further than the wealthy oil and gas company executives who choose to line their own pockets."
While rising gasoline prices have adversely affected millions of working people in the U.S., the world’s biggest fossil fuel corporations have benefited immensely, raking in a combined $174 billion in profits during the first nine months of this year. Continue reading
Corporate greed the ‘real culprit behind rising prices,’ researchers say
"The more sway mega-corporations have over our economy, the more power they have to gouge customers, squeeze Main Street, and exploit workers."
Amid mounting data showing that people are paying more for food at grocery stores around the United States, a new analysis out Wednesday reveals how corporate power is “the real culprit behind rising prices at the checkout line.” Continue reading
FBI releases first declassified 9/11 document following Biden order
The newly disclosed report describes "multiple connections" between two Saudi nationals living in the U.S. and some of the hijackers, but it provides no evidence of direct involvement by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday night released a previously withheld document related to its probe of the September 11, 2001, attacks and allegations of Saudi government support for the plane hijackers. Continue reading
UN experts warn US sanctions endangering lives of Venezuelan cancer patients
The United States' attempt "to control the political agenda of Venezuela has had devastating consequences for hundreds of people undergoing treatment."
Six independent experts appointed by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council on Wednesday warned that “hundreds of Venezuelan cancer patients could die” as a result of illegal U.S. sanctions imposed on Venezuela and its state-owned oil company. Continue reading
‘Disgusting’: Pipeline company files $15 billion claim against US for canceled Keystone XL
TC Energy Corporation filed for compensation under a free trade provision that allows investors to sue governments if they impede profits.
In a move that progressives described as unsurprising yet outrageous, TC Energy Corporation, the Canadian company behind the now-defunct Keystone XL pipeline, is seeking more than $15 billion in compensation from the United States government, which it has accused of violating free trade obligations by blocking further development of the tar sands oil project. Continue reading
Pay a living wage or ‘flip your own damn burgers’: Progressives blast right-wing narrative on jobs
"If one in four recipients are making more off unemployment than they did working, that's not an indictment of $300 a week in UI benefits. It's an indictment of corporations paying starvation wages."
Pushing back on the right-wing narrative about the reason for real or perceived labor shortages in some markets nationwide, progressives on Friday told corporations that if they want to hire more people, they’ll need to start paying better wages. Continue reading
Critics warn $15 billion merger of global water giants would create ‘dangerous corporate monopoly’
"Veolia's plan to dominate public water services all across the globe is becoming a terrifying reality."
France-based transnational corporation Veolia agreed in principle to acquire Suez, its main rival, for $15.5 billion on Monday, setting the stage for the creation of a water and waste management juggernaut that critics warn would be a “dangerous corporate monopoly” destined to “hurt consumers and enrich shareholders.” Continue reading
After Trump acquittal by GOP, Sunrise Movement says ‘time is now to abolish the filibuster’
"If Democrats don't deliver in this moment, future Presidents Days will recognize Trump's second term."
In the wake of the GOP’s acquittal of former President Donald Trump, the Sunrise Movement on Monday joined the progressive lawmakers and activists arguing that the failure of Democrats to secure bipartisan cooperation—even during an impeachment trial meant to hold Trump accountable for provoking a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol—exemplifies why the majority party must eliminate the legislative filibuster if it hopes to pursue a transformative agenda capable of improving social and environmental well-being. Continue reading
Congressional report reveals manufacturers ‘knowingly’ sold toxin-tainted baby food
"This is what happens when you let the food and chemical companies, not the FDA, decide whether our food is safe to eat."
Leading baby food manufacturers are selling—knowingly and without warning—unsafe products contaminated with dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals that can cause serious and often irreversible damage to infant brain development, according to a new congressional investigation that is generating renewed calls for greater regulation of the industry. Continue reading
Criminalizing protest in wake of Capitol attack
These proposed laws are "aimed at police brutality protests, not right-wing insurrection."
Progressives are sounding the alarm that a handful of Republican lawmakers are exploiting the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 by an insurrectionist pro-Trump mob to push for anti-protest bills that critics say do not aim to stem the tide of right-wing extremism but instead criminalize dissent by those seeking social change and justice. Continue reading
Study of 50 years of tax cuts for rich confirms ‘trickle down’ theory is an absolute sham
"Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have increased income inequality, with all the problems that brings, without any offsetting gains in economic performance."
Neoliberal gospel says that cutting taxes on the wealthy will eventually benefit everyone by boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment, but a new analysis of fiscal policies in 18 countries over the last 50 years reveals that progressive critics of “trickle down” theory have been right all along: supply-side economics fuels inequality, and the real beneficiaries of the right-wing approach to taxation are the super-rich. Continue reading
Biden health adviser has a plan to get pandemic under control and revive economy: Pay people to stay home for 4-6 weeks
The government "could pay for a package right now" to cover economic losses—making it possible to curb COVID-19 transmission without increasing the financial suffering associated with shutting down commerce, said epidemiologist Michael Osterholm.
A nationwide lockdown of four to six weeks would help contain the coronavirus pandemic and need not cause economic hardship, according to Dr. Michael Osterholm, a top health adviser to President-elect Joe Biden, who said that paying people to stay home would limit the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and put the country on track for a smoother recovery. Continue reading
‘What the future can look like’: Study shows US switch to 100% renewables would save hundreds of billions each year
‘Too often we are told doing the right thing for the environment requires sacrifice and costs more. But we can actually make a better economy and save people money and a byproduct will be to cut emissions.’
While President Donald Trump has baselessly attacked plans to eradicate fossil fuel-based sources of energy from the United States’ power grid on the grounds that doing so would be expensive and economically destructive, a new analysis reveals the opposite to be true—aggressively transitioning to 100% renewables would save Americans up to $321 billion per year while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet. Continue reading
