A notorious Trump judge just fired the first shot against birth control
We all knew it was coming. Having won the battle to overturn Roe v. Wade, Trump's extremist judges are now turning their attention to getting rid of birth control. Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued an error-laden opinion in Deanda v. Becerra attacking Title X, a federal program that offers grants to health providers that fund voluntary and confidential family planning services to patients, in support of some insufferable, ultrareligious father who obsesses over controlling his daughters' sexual activity. It's likely to be overturned, but this is the first shot in yet another judicial culture war that we absolutely cannot afford to lose.
Take Action: Call on prosecutors to charge Fox News for recklessly endangering the life of an abortion doctor!
Pete Buttigieg schools Republican homophobe live on air
The transportation secretary embarrassed yet another outmatched, right-wing critic in eloquent fashion.
Take Action: Tell Congress to hold corporations accountable for price-gouging!
Fox News hosts humiliate themselves protecting Trump after midterms
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Beyond pathetic.
House OKs stopgap funding fix with broader deal still under wraps
The most basic function of Congress — funding the government — has turned into an absurd yearly battle of brinkmanship where Republicans hold the country hostage and demand outrageous concessions in exchange for doing their baseline jobs. Thankfully, it appears we may escape another costly shutdown this year. “Funding defense is a basic bipartisan duty of our government, not something that earns Democrats special treats,” Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor on Wednesday, disgracefully dismissing material improvements to the lives of the American public as "special treats."
Take Action: Tell Congress to break up Big Tech's monopolies!
Last-minute Democratic push to expand the Child Tax Credit is all but dead, sources say
In a sadly predictable but wildly infuriating development, Republicans are refusing to entertain any expansion of the hugely popular Child Tax Credit, which cut child poverty in the US by 46% in 2021. Democrats are already offering to restore corporate research and development tax deductions that Republicans are in strongly favor of, so the GOP thinks it can just get what it wants for nothing in exchange. Not once has improving the lives of tens of millions of American children factored into the calculations of the forced-birth party.
Take Action: Tell Congress to renew the Child Tax Credit and keep our kids out of poverty!
Sen. Sanders pulls Yemen War Powers vote over lack of votes
Continuing this morning's theme of "our government is utterly incapable of doing anything productive," Sen. Bernie Sanders pulled his bill to end the US participation in Saudi Arabia's murderous war in Yemen after failing to secure enough votes. This time, it's Republicans AND Democrats standing in the way. White House aides have been marshalling opposition to the bill, ostensibly over concerns it might "complicate diplomacy" with Saudi Arabia. A more likely explanation is America's executive branch is loathe to give up the carte blanche wartime powers it has enjoyed since the Bush administration failed to stop the 9/11 terror attacks two decades ago.
American Suedi Murekezi freed from Russian-controlled territory by Ukrainian military intelligence
Suedi Murekezi, who has lived in Ukraine since 2018, was arrested by Russian forces in Kherson after being falsely accused of participating in pro-Ukrainian protests. He says he was tortured and beaten by Russian intelligence, who thought he was a CIA operative, and was finally freed from Russian territory in a recent prisoner swap. Murekezi is eager to return home to Minnesota and enjoy a peanut butter sandwich.
Now that Republicans have taken the House, we need the Progressive Caucus more than ever
Pramila Jayapal for Congress: Pramila Jayapal is gearing up to lead our progressive champions in Congress against the radicalism and depravity of Marjorie Taylor Greene and her MAGA cronies — but she needs your help to do it. Can you chip in to help Rep. Jayapal focus on the fight for the values we hold dear against the onslaught of GOP extremists?
Democrats eschew seniority, choose Rep. Jamie Raskin to lead the House Oversight Committee against the GOP
The Maryland Democrat has proven himself to be capable, effective, and eloquent in the House Oversight Committee's investigations of Donald Trump and his cronies. Now, he gets to call plays on the defensive side of the ball as the GOP prepares to unleash an avalanche of deeply stupid, conspiracy-based reprisal investigations against their lengthy list of imagined enemies, which we can only assume includes Hunter Biden, Dr. Fauci, the IRS, the FBI, and of course that notorious neophyte of needles, the insidious inoculation insider of Sesame Street — "Big Vax Big Snacks" Elmo himself.
Federal prisons failed to stop a pattern of abuse against female inmates
The inhumanity of the American gulag system was put on grim display once again by a Senate investigation that discovered that the Bureau of Prisons failed to “prevent, detect, and stop recurring sexual abuse in at least four federal prisons, including abuse by senior prison officials.” This comes just months after another Senate probe discovered the BoP failed to address years upon years of systemic abuse, corruption, and misconduct by correctional officers in federal prisons. The entire prison-industrial complex is rotten to the core and a blight upon the nation, destroying countless lives for the profits of corporate CEOs and government contractors.
Puerto Rican independence bill goes to US House vote on Thursday
At long last, Puerto Rico's colonial purgatory appears to be heading to a resolution of some sort, as a bipartisan group of House representatives approved a roadmap for a plebiscite for the beleaguered island. Today's floor vote outlines three potential self-governing statuses — statehood, independence, or sovereignty with free association with the United States. The latter is in place in Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.
Nancy Pelosi portrait unveiled, historic 1st of a female speaker
The House honored outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday with the unveiling of her official portrait, celebrating her as not just the first woman to hold the gavel but among the most consequential House speakers in American history — one who “got it done.”
Get a load of these jabronis
That's quite Elon fall
Hope...
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Today’s Action: Tell Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to release wrongfully convicted Keith LaMar!
Death row inmate Keith LaMar is set to be executed November 16th, 2023, despite extensive evidence that he was wrongfully convicted of murder by the state of Ohio. LaMar, imprisoned in 1989 for using deadly force to defend himself against a violent home robbery, was only four years into his sentence when an uprising broke out at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The event resulted in the death of a prison guard as well as multiple inmates, and with no one to pin the catastrophe on at the time the state worked as hard as they could to ensure LaMar would take the blame — all to maintain the illusion that they had the situation under control.
Paid informants offered false testimony, evidence of his innocence was intentionally withheld (including a confession to one of the murders from another inmate), and potential Black jurors were intentionally dismissed from hearing the trial. Keith LaMar, an innocent Black man, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury and judge. He has subsequently spent the last 28 years in solitary confinement with no exceptions for good behavior, fighting to keep his indomitable spirit alive.
Write Gov. DeWine and demand that he IMMEDIATELY release LaMar!
In 2011, the Joint Task Force to Review the Administration of Ohio's Death Penalty asserted "that no one should be indicted, let alone sentenced to death, based solely on the uncorroborated testimony of jailhouse informants." This is an independent task force of retired judges, attorneys, and college professors that was literally brought together by the Ohio Supreme Court. Based on this recommendation alone, LaMar should NOT be sentenced to death.
LaMar has suffered physical and mental abuse for nearly three decades for a crime he did not commit, thanks to a badly broken, notoriously racist justice system. It's past time to make it right.
Fill out Gov. DeWine’s “Contact Us” form to call for the immediate release of Keith LaMar, before it's too late!
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