Tell Biden - declare a climate EMERGENCY tonight

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday March 07, 2024 · 10:07 AM PST

2024/03/07 · 10:07

MAGALIA, CA - NOVEMBER 09: A Cal Fire firefighter monitors a burning home as the Camp Fire moves through the area on November 9, 2018 in Magalia, California. Fueled by high winds and low humidity, the rapidly spreading Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise and has quickly charred 70,000 acres and has destroyed numerous homes and businesses in a matter of hours. The fire is currently at five percent containment. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) — Paradise CA became an inferno - a warning for our garden planet

In recent days Texas has seen a record firestorm, and California an extraordinary rainstorm. The 
scientific community has been warning for decades that extreme weather events would increase as 
the atmosphere is overheated by burning of fossil fuels. Killer heat waves, droughts and 
crop failures, as well as fires and floods, are a clear and present danger everywhere NOW, 
just to future generations.  

But a smog of of fossil fueled disinformation has delayed action for decades, as a major problem 
became a global emergency. UN Secretary-General Guterres calls it a "Red Alert for humanity".

After President Biden’s historic Build Back Better package was blocked by Senators Manchin and 
Sinema, the narrow Democratic majority passed the Inflation Reduction Act with some first steps 
to address the climate crisis with tax credits. Congress is now gridlocked while emissions 
continue and temperatures keep rising, but President Biden can unlock executive powers to help 
avert catastrophe by declaring a national emergency.

Call the White House now to urge the President to DECLARE A CLIMATE EMERGENCY in his 
State of the Union Address, when he has his greatest audience.

White House phone numbers:
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414 
White House email was unavailable when I checked, but here is a`form to submit comments:
 https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Government shutdown endgame analysis and question w/poll

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 13, 2023 · 2:47 PM PST

2023/11/13 · 14:47

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 08: The dome of the US Capitol building is seen through trees on the National Mall as the sun rises on November 8, 2022 in Washington, DC. After months of campaigning, Americans across the nation are heading to the polls to cast their votes in the midterm elections. Republicans are favored to take back control of the US House of Representatives and if they can do the same in the US Senate it would mean a divided government in Washington for the next two years. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

The way the game of chicken endgame over keeping the government open looks to me now, since money bills must originate in the House, is this:

1) The House D’s will reject* Squeaker Johnson’s divide and rule trap Continuing Resolution (CR), which as the the comment by tjlord on McJoan’s diary today noted, would allow the GOP to fund the military and other programs they like (or are afraid to defund) in January, and then butcher programs good for the working class and non-rich in February.
*Unless the Gottheimer Gang does the dirty work for Norquist and Bannon who want to demolish the New Deal welfare state.

2) The House R’s will try to pass the Squeaker’s CR with votes of ch!ckensh!t “moderates” w/o 3 RWNJs.

3) The Senate will pass a bipartisan, clean, undivided CR, maybe also with $ for Ukraine and Israel. The previous CR passed on Sept. 30 continued funding at FY 2003 dollar levels, ie real cuts because of inflation. A clean undivided House CR matching the Senate’s would just pass without a conference committee and be signed by Biden, but that would require Democratic votes in the House.

4) IF the House does pass a CR not both clean and undivided, it will go to a Conference Committee, which will need a majority of conferees from each house to approve a report. By precedent, conference committees include Chairs of the committees of jurisdiction.

5) If the conferees agree on a report, it would go to both houses unamended for an up or down vote, and be passed like the previous CR by a bipartisan majority, w/o the MAGA extremists.

6) Biden would sign a clean CR as soon as it reaches his desk, which would prevent a shutdown if it is signed by around 6 AM EST Monday Nov 20.

7) In any case, we good citizens need to launch a FIRESTORM OF ANGRY CALLS to Republican congressmembers beginning now, especially the 18 House Rs elected from Districts that voted for Biden in 2020, but also GOP Senators running for re-election. Let them know how we feel about their use of blackmail tactics to threaten vital public services, and their votes for an inexperianced far-right extremist speaker. Tell them that we are increasing our efforts to register new voters.

My question is this — will the conference committees (especially the House) include conferees from the House minority Democrats? Jodey Arrington, the GOP Chair of the House Budget Committee voted to pass the previous CR September 30.

If there are House D’s on a conference committee in fair proportion (ie one less than Rs) then the House could pass Squeaker Johnson’s trap divided CR bill, Arrington and House Ds in the Conf Comm could replace it with the Senate’s clean unified CR, which would pass both houses, postponing the shutdown showdown for a few months.

Poll

152 votes Show Results

Do you expect the GOP to shut down the Federal Government this week?

152 votes Vote Now!

Do you expect the GOP to shut down the Federal Government this week?

Yes.

120 votes

No.

20 votes

Pie Fight

12 votes

Team Democracy has a real chance to hold onto the House!

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday November 13, 2022 · 5:55 AM PST

2022/11/13 · 05:55

Not only the Senate, but Team Democracy has a real chance to hold onto the House!

I just updated a close analysis of the Washington Post page tracking 64 competitive House Races. There seems to be a discrepancy between the 211 R + 203 D = 414 seats supposedly called, and 435 minus the 17 seats their chart is showing as undecided, giving 418.

I am assuming that the difference is the 4 seats called for the D’s Saturday PM (NY-18, MD-6, and 2 in NV) would bring the D total to 207. (The other possibility is that 4 seats other than the 64 in the Post chart have not yet been called.)

Of those 17, based on the current leads and % of total votes in, in looks to me as if 15 seats colored pink and light blue by the Post will turn solid red and blue respectively, as follows:
2 seats going to Ranked Choice redistribution of votes: AK-AL and ME-2 will elect the D’s who are leading.
4 Seats where the R is leading: CA-27, CA-41, CA-45, and NY-22 will likely elect Rs.
7 where the D is leading: AZ-1, CA-9, CA-47, CA-49, CO-6, NM-2, and OR-6 will likely elect Ds.

That would bring the Rs to 211 + 4 = 215 and the Ds to 207 + 2 + 7 = 216.

4 seats remain, where the R is leading but the “Blue shift” of mailed ballots counted late might reverse that, could still elect D’s:
In CA-13, Adam Gray (D) trails by only 84 votes with 61% of votes counted.
In CA-22, where Valadao (R) leads Rudy Salas by 2,878 votes but only 53% of the votes have been counted, the Post says their model slightly favors Salas.
The Post is not venturing a guess for AZ-6 where Kirsten Engel is trailing by 1,382 votes (0.4%) with 87% in.
OR-5, where D Jamie McLeod-Skinner is trailing by 7,199 votes (2.2%) with 93% counted, the Post now says slightly favors R Chavez-DeRemer.

I devoutly hope Jamie will pull it out, but don’t expect it. But if my assumptions are correct, and if the D’s win 2 or more of those 4 seats, they will control the House.

Of course that would still give veto power to the most conservative members of the caucus (minus Kurt Schrader whom Jamie defeated in the primary) who derailed Biden’s agenda by insisting on splitting Build Back Better from the must-pass Infrastructure bill, which gave Manchinema the opportunity to gut the most popular parts, and delayed passage almost a year.

But it would be YOOOOGELY better than the total gridlock and chaos the repugs would impose if they win.

KEEP HOPE ALIVE!

Manchin opposes Build Back Better w/poll

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday December 19, 2021 · 7:55 AM PST

2021/12/19 · 07:55

NY Times:

Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said on Sunday that he could not support President Biden’s signature $2.2 trillion social safety net, climate and tax bill, all but dooming his party’s drive to pass the measure as written.

“I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation,” Mr. Manchin said on “Fox News Sunday,” citing concerns about adding to the national debt. “I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there. This is a no.”

The comments from Mr. Manchin, a crucial Democratic holdout, dealt the latest, perhaps fatal blow to the centerpiece of Mr. Biden’s domestic agenda. With Republicans united in opposing the legislation, Democrats needed to secure the vote of every senator in their party for the measure to pass an evenly divided Senate.

President Biden, after meeting wth Manchin and Sinema, assured the House Progressive Caucus that BBB would pass the Senate if the progressives released their block and allowed the hard infrastructure bill to pass the house. So this amounts to a betrayal of his word to Biden.

If this stands, Manchin could succeed in his extreme underdog campaign to replace Ted Cruz as Most Hated Senator. Although we still need his votes to confirm appointments, the Democrats must remove him from the chair of the Commttee on Energy and Natural Resources, because of his flagrant conflict of interest.

But the only effective remedy is to elect enough Democrats to R-held Senate seats, eg PA, NC, OH, WI, while re-electing Warnock and Kelly, so that Manchin and Sinema become dispensible.

Poll

241 votes Show Results

Most hated Senator

241 votes Vote Now!

Most hated Senator

Cruz

64 votes

Manchin

150 votes

John C Calhoun

10 votes

Joe McCarthy

17 votes

BREAKING: SCOTUS ALLOWS RELEASE OF TRUMP TAX RETURNS

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday February 22, 2021 · 7:06 AM PST

2021/02/22 · 07:06

CNN via Mercury News:

The Supreme Court cleared the way for a New York prosecutor to obtain former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, dealing a massive loss to Trump who has fiercely fought to shield his financial papers from prosecutors.

The documents will be subject to grand jury secrecy rules that restrict their public release.

The ruling is a bitter loss for Trump, even if the tax records are shielded from public disclosure, after he consistently argued that the subpoena issued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was overbroad and issued in bad faith.

It means that the grand jury investigation into alleged hush money payments and other issues will no longer be hampered by Trump’s fight to keep the documents secret.

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 24, 2020 · 9:19 PM PDT

2020/10/24 · 21:19

There is a time for every purpose under heaven, sang Pete Seeger, after Ecclesiastes.. The primary season was the time to support better Democrats; this is the time to support MORE DEMOCRATS.

I have been targeting my small (mostly $27) contributions to where they can have the most impact: competitve races by D challengers, especially in battleground states, where Democratic GOTV also helps Biden/Harris. I rarely contribute to incumbents, who generally can raise enough money w/o help from out-of-district small donors like me.

Even if Biden/Harris not only win the popular vote and electoral college, but also head off the Lyin King’s efforts to disrupt the election and stop the vote count (along with grass roots mobilization by many thousands of citizens and networks such as protecttheresults.com), they will need working majorities in both houses of Congress, especially by retaking the Senate with a few votes to spare.

In Senate races I am targeting Bullock in MT, Gross in AK, Greenfield in IA, and Bollier in KS for extra contributions. Those are all competitive challengers in low population states, where a given amount of money will have a relatively larger proportional impact. AK and MT each have only one House member, (proportional to state population), IA and KS have 4 each, compared to 13 House seat for NC and 36 for Texas. I am also giving again to Ossoff in GA-1 and Warnock in GA-2. Winning those races on top of the likely pickups in CO, AZ, ME and NC (and ideally holding Doug Jones in Alabama) would give team Blue something like a 56-44 Senate majority. (I already have been giving monthly to all those races and also Harrison in SC, who doesn’t need any more money; likewise Gideon vs Collins in ME, and McGrath vs Mitch in KY are also flush with cash.)

Although the Dems are likely to build on their House lead, I just made late contributions to D House challengers in states where party control of delegations is in play. That is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL in case for example, Barr’s DOJ and the Feralist Society’s SCOTUS collude with (gerrymandered) R-controlled state legislatures in PA, MI, WI, and FL to appoint tRump electors regardless of the vote in those states. So there is a possibility that the Presidency will be decided by the House of Representatives, with EACH STATE DELEGATION GETTING ONE VOTE.

I looked up the House delegations by Party to find the most flippable state delegations, and checked those against the list of most competitve races for R-held House on 270toWin, Rachel Bitecofer’s base of operations. The most flippable House delegations are the at-large races in AK and MT with one GOP incumbent, and FL-15, all states with a 1-vote R majority of Representatives. Also, PA is evenly divided 9 to 9 — D Challengers are competitive in PA-1 and PA-10, and MI currently has 8 Ds, 7 Rs, and the open seat vacated by former R Justin Amash: MI-3. Also in play is MI-6 where progressive Jon Hoadley is challenging the odious Fred Upton. All those races (especially PA, MI and FL) are also in battleground states for the Presidential race; likewise MT, AK and MI have competitive Senate races, so GOTV of D voters will help doubly or triply.

State Legislative elections are also very important especially in states where one or more houses can be taken back by Dems in time for redistricting next year, but David Nir has been targeting those for the rest of us.

Poll

44 votes Show Results

Give till it hurts now, so we won't all be hurting later

44 votes Vote Now!

Give till it hurts now, so we won't all be hurting later

yes

6 votes

HELL YES!!!

35 votes

What, me worry?

3 votes

I just kinda sorta took down a Confederate monument

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 15, 2020 · 2:46 PM PDT

2020/07/15 · 14:46

News about former Senator, former Attorney General, former Trump lickspittle, continuing racist Jefferson Beauregard Sessions led me to look up his namesake, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard in Wikipedia.

The article began “Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was an American military officer who was the first prominent general of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. ”

The most important fact about Beauregard appeared only in the 19th paragraph of the Wikipedia article, so I edited the first sentence to read:

“Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard (May 28, 1818 – February 20, 1893) was a Confederate general officer who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861.”

The rest of the article read more or less like an obituary written by a surviving family member. Rewriting the whole article is beyond my capacity; I hope a kossack historian will follow up.

Poll

59 votes Show Results

Should I add a second sentence about the Civil War death toll?

59 votes Vote Now!

Should I add a second sentence about the Civil War death toll?

1) Yes

41 votes

2) No

8 votes

3) sweet potato pie

10 votes

No Djok!

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 23, 2020 · 2:38 PM PDT

2020/06/23 · 14:38

Novak Djokovic, #1 male tennis player, organized an international tournament “for charity” that violated health rules for physical distancing and PPE.

While the players hugged at the net, played basketball, posed for pictures* and attended news conferences together, Djokovic also organised nights out in Belgrade and pictures and videos of him dancing with the players made it to social media.

Now he, his wife, and several other players have tested positive for COVID-19.

I hope he realizes now that a lethal pandemic is NO DJOK!

Not only does he owe the tennis community a heartfelt apology, he needs to treat this experience as a teachable moment and devote himself, for the duration of the crisis, to use his celebrity to help educate the public on how to protect themselves and each other.

* The linked yahoo story has a dramatic image which I saved and would like to insert, but I never learned how to post images and would appreciate help with the process of clearing the rights hurdle.

EARTH WEEK VIRTUAL ACTIVITIES ONLINE

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday April 19, 2020 · 1:28 PM PDT

2020/04/19 · 13:28

DATED EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

MAIN EVENTS: EARTH DAY LIVE NATIONAL AND WORLDWIDE

EARTH DAY NETWORK: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-live/

https://www.earthday.org/history/

https://www.earthday.org/our-work/

Wed APRIL 22: 24 hours of Action https://www.earthday.org/take-action-now/

Volunteer: https://action.earthday.org/iworkfortheearth

Plan a Digital Event: https://www.earthday.org/actions/plan-a-digital-event/

Earth Challenge 2020 global citizen science initiative: use the app to gather critical environmental data near you https://earthchallenge2020.earthday.org

350.org update on Earth Day LIVE -
This Earth Day, we may not be able to take to the streets in our millions as we had planned. But we can still make sure that our politicians, and Wall Street CEOs know that there will be consequences for financing the destruction of our planet.

help promote it far and wide: here are several ways that you can do that!

· Put an Earth Day LIVE banner on your website. Web banners are a great way to make sure that everyone who visits your organizations' website has the chance to RSVP to Earth Day LIVE. A banner is like a snazzy, beautiful pop-up box that will appear on your website -- it's a great way to maximize our numbers of RSVPs to Earth Day LIVE. Can your organization put an Earth Day LIVE banner on their site? There are full instructions on how to put an Earth Day LIVE banner on your website here!

· Promote Earth Day LIVE on social media. Our Stop the Money Pipeline - Partner Pack has sample Facebook posts, tweets, and social media share graphics. Can you share these on your social media as much as possible over the next two weeks?

· Email your mailing list to promote Earth Day LIVE. our Stop the Money Pipeline - Partner Pack also has a template email that you can use to draft your email.

April 22-24 online three-day mobilization to fight the climate emergency https://www.earthdaylive2020.org/

Earth Day Live will feature a three-day livestream where millions of people can join activists, celebrities, musicians, and more in an epic moment of community and hope for the future. Each Day features a different action focus

April 22 - STRIKE - Earth Day and Youth Climate Strikes

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we will demonstrate our collective power and unity through community building and storytelling. This first day will focus on amplifying the voice of indigenous leaders and youth climate activists who are leading the movement to halt the climate crisis.

April 23 - DIVEST - Divestment and Climate Financing
Led by Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition, during this day of action we are calling for a global reset. We want to reprogram the economy so that it works for people and the planet, not polluters and politicians.

April 24 - VOTE - Voter Registration and Political Engagement
We need leaders who will address this existential threat, and for this to happen, we need people to show up at the polls this year and vote for the future of the planet. So the final day will focus on the urgency of political change through a nationwide youth voter registration day.

On April 22-24, Activists, performers, influencers, and thought leaders are coming together to host a 3-day digital event full of teach-ins, performances, and more. Stop the Money Pipeline is focused on the 23rd in particular to talk about the role that money plays in driving the climate crisis.

Here is a digital toolkit with sample posts, graphics, and emails to help get the word out. Feel free to adjust any of this to meet your needs. If your organization has a website, we also encourage you to put up a banner promoting Earth Day Live. Details on that can be found here. http://earthdaylive2020.org/getinvolved/#whats-happening

Directory

Accounts and Links

Hashtags

Sample Facebook posts

OTHER DATED EVENTS ONLINE

Sunday April 19 6PM EDT The New Yorker Radio Hour on WNYC.org:

Bill McKibben and Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

online any time at https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour

Sunday, April 19, from 4 to 8 pm EDT March for Science NYC and Earth Day Initiative

“virtual stage” livestream featuring climate scientists, activists, Broadway performances and other special guests.

4 PM EDT Public Health & the Climate Crisis

5 PM: Food Security

5:45 PM – Mental Health and the Climate Crisis

6:20 PM – Halftime Break – “An Inconvenient Talk Show” + Broadway performers

6:50 – 8:20 Climate & Our Communities with People’s Climate Movement CM-NY organizer Kei Williams and more

8:20 – 10 PM Climate Science & the Green New Deal

Check out the full line-up and watch it live: http://www.earthdayinitiative.org/virtual-kick-off

TUES 4/21 10 PM EDT WAMC,org - Public Radio’s Living on Earth

Denis Hayes, coordinator of the very first Earth Day when some 20 million Americans peacefully rallied for protecting the planet, and founder of the Earth Day Network EarthDay.org, about what April 22, 1970 was like, and how this year’s grand Earth Day plans have adapted to the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Online any time at www.LOE.org

https://loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=20-P13-00016&segmentID=3

4/22 Story of Stuff Project: The Story of Plastic

2 PM EDT on Discovery Channel https://www.storyofplastic.org

The Story of Plastic is a seething exposé uncovering the ugly truth behind the current global plastic pollution crisis. Striking footage shot over three continents illustrates the ongoing catastrophe: fields full of garbage, veritable mountains of trash; rivers and seas clogged with waste; and skies choked with the poisonous runoff from plastic production and recycling processes with no end in sight. Original animations, interviews with experts and activists, and never-before-filmed scenes reveal the disastrous consequences of the flood of plastic smothering ecosystems and poisoning communities around the world, with the global movement rising up in response. Tune in to watch or stream on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2020 on the Discovery Channel 2PM or stream via Discovery Go after April 22nd.

More Story of Stuff Project videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/storyofstuffproject

Thursday April 23^rd: Stop the Money Pipeline

Earth Week NYC Coalition alongside the national Stop the Money Pipeline Coalition will be demanding that J.P. Morgan Chase and BlackRock, two of the biggest Wall Street financiers of climate destruction, divest from fossil fuels and deforestation. The action will feature, via digital livestream, individuals who have been impacted by, or who are directly vulnerable to, the climate crisis. Each spokesperson will invite viewers to engage in an action you can take from home.

In addition to the action prompts during the aforementioned section of the livestream, activists will be encouraged to take additional actions from home throughout the day to put pressure on BlackRock and JP Morgan Chase to divest.

Thu 4/23 Wetsuweten Solidarity online: Shut down KKR - Greenpeace

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wetsuweten-solidarity/

Sign the petition to protect Wet’suwet’en Indigenous Sovereignty: Demand U.S.-based fossil fuel profiteers JPMorgan Chase and KKR to stop financing the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/sign-the-petition-to-protect-indigenous-sovereignty-demand-fossil-fuel-profiteers-jpmorgan-chase-and-kohlberg-kravis-roberts-co-divest-from-coastal-gaslink-pipeline

Sun April 26 8 PM EDT DSA Ecosocialist Working Group webinar
A Planet to Win Why We Need a Green New Deal

Webinar with authors of A Planet to Win A Planet to Win https://act.dsausa.org/survey/DSA-ecosocialists-a-planet-to-win/

explores the political potential and concrete first steps of a Green New Deal. It calls for dismantling the fossil fuel industry, building beautiful landscapes of renewable energy, and guaranteeing climate-friendly work, no-carbon housing, and free public transit. And it shows how a Green New Deal in the United States can strengthen climate justice movements worldwide.
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3107-a-planet-to-win

Tue April 28: Workers Memorial Day https://aflcio.org/about-us/conferences-and-events/workers-memorial-day

Remember those who have lost their lives and to demand safe workplaces and good jobs for all workers.

AFL-CIO—COVID-19 Outbreak Resources

ONGOING

Earth Day Eco Challenge. This is a fun and educational way to reduce your own carbon footprint.

Ecochallenge shared goals: Sustainable Living, Healthy Food Systems, Deep Equity, Living Water, Balanced Climate, Mindful Consumption Check out the link and the website and see how many things you already do and what new things you can try to save the planet. https://earthday.ecochallenge.org/

SUNRISE SCHOOL

Level 1 Crash Course: Green New Deal & Coronavirus 4-day training offered weekly, Tues-Fri. Meets 1 hr per day

We’re in a moment of crisis, but we’ve got a plan to heal: the Green New Deal. Join us to learn what exactly the Green New Deal is, how it fits into the coronavirus crisis, and how we can work together to win it.

Who should sign up: Everyone! Especially those who want to deepen their understanding of the Green New Deal.

Level 2 Movement Building 3-week training, meets bi-weekly for 1.5 hrs/day on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Learn about the crises gripping our society and how to confront them, build community with others around you who are ready to make lasting social change, and practice the skills you need to win a Green New Deal. You'll go through this training in a small group of people from your area, taking meaningful action together and building power together where you live while still social distancing.

Who should sign up: People new to Sunrise who’ve attended Crash Course: Green New Deal & Coronavirus

MORE: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/sunrise-school

NASA Earth Day activities for kids -
https://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-day-2020-50th-anniversary-toolkit

NO BAILOUT FOR BIG OIL Oil Change United States

Congress has discussed multiple stimulus packages that would prioritize Big Oil and Wall Street over Americans who need immediate relief from the impacts of Covid-19. Millions of Americans are hurting, right now. Industry and service workers, small-businesses, and communities are facing a mounting economic crisis, while frontline healthcare workers are battling a public health emergency, facing shortages of necessary protective medical equipment.

Join us in flooding Capitol Hill with a simple message: When it comes to an oil industry bailout, we say ABSOLUTELY NOT. Contact Congress NOW thru link

https://act.oilchangeus.org/sign/No-BigOil-Bailout/

350.org: Locked Down? Try organizing

Many of us also find ourselves stuck indoors, looking for new ways to build resilience so we can come out of this crisis into a more just and sustainable world. For some, organizing is a big part of getting there. So we wanted to highlight some tools – all accessible online – that can help you learn about climate activism and spark thinking on how you can organize your own community to make change once restrictions loosen.

https://350.org/locked-down-try-organizing/

Tell Amazon to promote green shipping – environmental-action.org

https://environmental-action.webaction.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=23989

Labor Network for Sustainability

LNS, in collaboration with Taylor Mayes of Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, is launching a social media campaign to honor Earth Day, April 22, through May Day. While youth climate strikes plan to go digital in light of the pandemic, LNS is doing its part by honoring the labor-climate movement during this difficult time with social media toolkit and series of interviews, to be broadcast on LNS’s YouTube channel to help our network stay mobilized for the health, wellbeing and economic stability/security of our workers. This campaign will keep in mind these main areas that affect our network most deeply and personally:

https://www.labor4sustainability.org/articles/earth-day-and-the-emergency-green-new-deal/

Artists for the Earth is a global campaign to connect with arts organizations and artists everywhere in order to engage the public with the critical issues of the environment. Art has the power to reach people personally, establishing a deeper understanding and emotional connection with what is happening to our planet.

Artists for the Earth will display works of art centered on the environment, enlist educators to integrate arts programming about the environment into their curricula, leverage social media to expand its reach, and generate a global conversation about climate change.

https://www.earthday.org/campaign/artists-for-the-earth/

CNN fact check of debate (w/ poll)

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 26, 2016 · 10:00 PM PDT

2016/09/26 · 22:00

A quick diary on CNN’s quick analysis of some of the disputed assertions in the debate on questions of fact.

Here is a summary of issues analyzed and CNN verdicts; please go to the CNN story for fuller context.

1) Clinton claimed Trump "thinks that climate change is a hoax...”

CNN verdict: true.

2) Clinton said her plan would create 10 million jobs, Trumps would lose 3.4 million.

CNN verdict: true, but misleading. The two numbers are for different time frames, and disregard baseline job growth.

3) TPP: Trump said Clinton called it “the gold standard” and would approve it if elected.

CNN verdict: “gold standard” true, “approve as President” false.

4) Clinton said Trump “started his business with $14 million borrowed from his father”

CNN verdict: true.

5) Clinton said Trump proposed to negotiate down the national debt. Trump interrupted to say “wrong.”

CNN verdict: true.

6) Clinton said Trump said in 2006 “I hope it (the housing market) does collapse, because then I can ...make some money”

CNN verdict: true.

7) Trump denied that NYC’s stop-and-frisk policy was ruled unconstitutional.
CNN verdict: false.

8) Trump said that the conspiracy theory that Obama was born in Kenya began with Clinton’s 2008 campaign.

CNN verdict: false.

By my count Clinton scores 4 ½ out of 5, or 90%; Trump (including assertions he made before the debate that were challenged by Clinton) 1 out of 6 or 16.7%.

Poll

148 votes Show Results

Is Trump...

148 votes Vote Now!

Is Trump...

A compulsive liar

9 votes

Oblivious to truth

13 votes

A sociopath

8 votes

All of the above

114 votes

Pied Piper

4 votes

Zingers for Hillary: a few to start, please add more

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday September 26, 2016 · 1:15 AM PDT

2016/09/26 · 01:15

Trump presents a target-rich environment.

Here are a couple I just came up with, to be used repeatedly where appropriate, like Reagan’s “There you go again”:

“Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

“I’m sorry Donald, you don’t know what you are talking about.”

“On date A you said X, just now you said the opposite — were you lying then, or are you lying now? Or are you just making it up as you go along, and losing your memory?”

Please join in.

Reid: a Democratic Senate should curtail the filibuster

Albanius

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday August 31, 2016 · 5:00 PM PDT

2016/08/31 · 17:00

NY Times:

Senator Harry Reid says Democrats should move to curtail the filibuster if they win the White House and Senate in November only to run up against persistent use of the tactic by Republicans.

“Unless after this election there is a dramatic change to go back to the way it used to be, the Senate will have to evolve as it has in the past,” Mr. Reid told me, referring to a former tradition of rarely mounting filibusters. “But it will evolve with a majority vote determining stuff. It is going to happen....The country can’t be run this way, where nothing gets done.”

Elimination of the filibuster on legislation or Supreme Court nominees — who were not included in the 2013 changes — would represent an earth-shattering transformation in the culture of the Senate. Any attempt to abolish or significantly scale it back would without doubt provoke a furious partisan fight.

Under a hypothetical new Democratic majority, the fate of the filibuster would fall to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who is in line to replace Mr. Reid as the Democratic leader. Mr. Schumer’s aides said he would not have a response to Mr. Reid’s comments. Mr. Schumer did support Mr. Reid in abolishing the 60-vote supermajority threshold on moving ahead with most judicial branch nominations….

IMHO a Democratic Senate and President are very likely, and we have a fighting chance to win back the House in a wave election sufficent to overwhelm the gerrymander. That would require about an 8 point national margin in House races.

With control of both Houses of Congress, it would be possible to legislate and enact the huge backlog of popular and necessary legislation endorsed by the Democratic Platform agreed to by Bernie and Hillary :

=> paid family leave,

=> public option and lower Medicare age for health care,

=> massive job creating investments in infrastructure, including urgent major investments in clean energy and clean water,

=> affordable higher education,

=> raising the minimum wage,

=> comprehensive immigration reform, etc

Such a record of accomplishment would make it possible to raise turnout in 2018 and win the midterm election. Without control of the House and a working majority in the Senate, we will face four more years of gridlock. Even without the House, considering the scorched earth obstructionism the GOP has shown since Obama was elected, it will be necessary to end the filibuster on all Presidential appointments.

The National Committee for and Effective Congress, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, has been working for liberal and progressive House candidates ever since. Their stratified list of potentially winnable House races is here.

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If the Democrats win the Senate and House this year, should they end the filibuster?

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If the Democrats win the Senate and House this year, should they end the filibuster?

Yes, for appointments and legislation

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Yes, for appointments only

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