Public Citizen · [email protected]

August 6, 2020 at 7:06 PM

every festering wound and reopened scar

No petition to sign today. Instead, I want to recommend a recent article by Ed Yong, who writes for The Atlantic: “How the Pandemic Defeated America” This isn’t the first time I’ve shared one of Ed Yong’s articles with you. Over the past seven months, he has been chronicling — in clear, eng…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

August 5, 2020 at 2:31 PM

Trump's racist dismissal of a civil rights icon

In an interview that aired Monday, Donald Trump once again exposed how petulant, narcissistic, and racist he is. Reporter: “John Lewis is lying in state in the U.S. Capitol. How do you think history will remember John Lewis?” Trump: “I don’t know. I really don’t know. Uh, I don’t know. Uh, …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

August 4, 2020 at 5:47 PM

coronavirus treatment shelved by Big Pharma?

Gilead is at it again. Back in March — following pressure from Public Citizen and others — the pharmaceutical giant backed down from an immoral scheme to expand its monopoly on remdesivir as the medication began showing promise as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Now, Public Citizen is reve…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 31, 2020 at 1:28 PM

Trump is telling the truth

Donald Trump just did something I wasn’t sure he was even capable of. He told the truth. Here’s what Trump said (via Twitter, of course) yesterday: “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 30, 2020 at 8:29 PM

'Delay the Election'

Did the subject line of this email alarm you? It should. Because Donald Trump just wondered out loud (via Twitter, of course) if we should “Delay the Election.” To be absolutely clear, the election should NOT be postponed. And Public Citizen is doing everything we can to see to it that th…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 29, 2020 at 7:57 PM

the paramilitary invasion

Yesterday, William Barr spent over five hours dodging questions from members of Congress who were exposing the extent to which he has debased the office of Attorney General and failed in his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution. I could send you quite a few emails about the assorted ways Barr …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 28, 2020 at 7:04 PM

are you kidding me?

We had some time last night to dive into the Senate Republicans’ pathetic proposal for coronavirus relief. My reaction in a phrase: Are you kidding me? Here’s just a sampling of the nonsense that Mitch McConnell and his band of not-so-merry jokesters put in their package: Presumptive immu…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 27, 2020 at 10:49 PM

Mitch McConnell is out of his mind

May 15. That’s when the next round of coronavirus relief Americans desperately need was passed in the House of Representatives. But, for 73 days, Mitch McConnell has callously stonewalled any similar legislation in the Senate, where he alone decides what bills do and do not get voted on. Be…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 25, 2020 at 2:31 PM

will the American people reject Trump’s march toward fascism?

A pandemic is raging unchecked across our country because of the criminal incompetence of the Trump administration. The murder of George Floyd has initiated an unprecedented, long overdue period of nationwide introspection on racism. The cruelty and ineptitude of Mitch McConnell and Senate Re…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 23, 2020 at 6:00 PM

penniless and homeless

It’s 1:50 p.m. here in Washington, D.C., and ... Republicans in the Senate and White House STILL can’t agree on how severely to botch their long overdue response to legislation Democrats passed in the House — over two months ago — for the next round of coronavirus relief Americans desperately n…

See More from Public Citizen

  Robert, Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 22, 2020 at 9:00 PM

Trump troops on your street?

16,739 Public Citizen supporters have already taken action to fight Donald Trump’s secret police. Let’s make that 20,000 before Trump goes to bed tonight. Urge your senators to support legislation to rein in Trump’s secret paramilitary police. Add your name now. My note from earlier today…

See More from Robert, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 22, 2020 at 1:31 PM

unidentified paramilitary forces invading American cities

First it was Washington, D.C. Then Portland, Oregon. And now Chicago. Next up? Maybe Baltimore or Detroit. Philadelphia or Oakland. Even New York City. Under the ruse of “law and order” — in the tradition of all authoritarians before him — Donald Trump is sending unidentified paramilitary…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 20, 2020 at 11:14 PM

think it can't happen where you live?

Donald Trump’s march toward fascism is moving rapidly across the country. This morning, I sent you a note about Trump’s authoritarian deployment of unidentified paramilitary forces in Portland, Oregon. This afternoon, we learned that Trump is sending more of these secret troops to invade Chic…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 20, 2020 at 1:32 PM

can you guess what country this is?

A story: Imagine a nation that has been taken over by a far-right political party under the thrall of a “populist” demagogue and beholden to the perverse whims of its richest citizens and corporations. Throughout the country, police forces routinely violate the civil rights of law-abiding cit…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 19, 2020 at 9:21 PM

John Lewis

America lost a hero on Friday, with the death of civil rights icon and longtime member of Congress John Lewis. Lewis helped usher in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act — as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and through h…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 17, 2020 at 8:38 PM

an actual ostrich would be better

Contrary to a common myth, ostriches do not stick their heads in the sand when confronted by a threat. Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems to believe that if he can’t see the case numbers and body counts, people aren’t getting sick and dying from the coronavirus. Trump has repeatedly insis…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 16, 2020 at 6:59 PM

something to help you be prepared

This is such a fraught and perilous moment. Humanity is confronted by a global health emergency unlike any threat we’ve faced for at least a century. Meanwhile, millions of other serious medical conditions are going untreated as hospitals become overwhelmed by patients with COVID-19 — which h…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 15, 2020 at 6:48 PM

Ivanka Trump has some advice for you

“Find something new.” That’s the slogan of a new White House campaign launched yesterday by Donald Trump’s favorite daughter, Ivanka. The coronavirus — and Ivanka’s father’s disastrous handling of it — has left literally tens of millions of Americans out of work and devastated countless small…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 14, 2020 at 6:29 PM

cut the Pentagon budget

The United States spends more than $700 billion a year on the military. For every $1,000 we give the Pentagon, how much do you think we give the CDC to target new infectious diseases like COVID-19? One dollar. So here we are, utterly unprepared for one of the gravest national security threa…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 13, 2020 at 1:32 PM

Koch Brother(s) up to old tricks

You remember the Koch Brothers, right — the billionaire ideologues behind right-wing plots to privatize and deregulate just about every part of our society? Well, Charles Koch (brother David died about a year ago) is making headlines again as new reporting shows that for 50 years he has been on…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 11, 2020 at 1:31 PM

another Trump goon evades justice

Late Friday evening, Donald Trump commuted the sentence of longtime Republican Party operative Roger Stone. Stone was convicted of making false statements, obstruction of a congressional inquiry, and witness tampering. Stone’s actions amounted to a crime against democracy. Trump understood …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 10, 2020 at 7:23 PM

the oil baron who wants to kill the Post Office

You remember the Koch Brothers, right — the billionaire ideologues behind right-wing plots to privatize and deregulate just about every part of our society? Well, Charles Koch (brother David died about a year ago) is making headlines again as new reporting shows that for 50 years he has been on…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 9, 2020 at 9:40 PM

sacrificing children

We’ve become accustomed to crazy in the Trump era, but yesterday was ... well, the words I want to use are not appropriate for this message. Donald Trump confessed that he is willing — eager, actually — to risk the lives of our nation’s nearly 60 million elementary and secondary school students…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 8, 2020 at 12:31 PM

an ambitious, far-reaching agenda

The United States makes up 4% of the world’s population. That’s just 1 out of every 25 people on Earth. But the United States accounts for 1 out of every 4 reported cases of coronavirus on the entire planet. What the hell are we doing? People are dying by the tens of thousands — and our eco…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 7, 2020 at 8:22 PM

what the hell are we doing

The United States makes up 4% of the world’s population. That’s just 1 out of every 25 people on Earth. But the United States accounts for 1 out of every 4 reported cases of coronavirus on the entire planet. What the hell are we doing? People are dying by the tens of thousands — and our eco…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 6, 2020 at 8:11 PM

I hope you didn't watch

I hope you didn’t watch Donald Trump’s appalling speech in South Dakota Friday night. I did. It was a frightening and disgusting display by a president who knows his popularity is plummeting and who feels cornered. Trump broadcast his intention to respond with overt racism and not-so-subtle a…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 4, 2020 at 12:02 PM

Trump's allegiance to traitors

As part of its annual legislation to set the Pentagon’s budget, Congress is considering a proposal that would require the renaming of military facilities and equipment currently named after figures from the Confederacy. The proposal was already approved by the Senate’s Republican-controlled Arm…

See More from Public Citizen

  Aquene, Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 1, 2020 at 9:21 PM

fw: your health, your vote – in your state

On May 23rd, join us for a nation-wide day of action.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  If you haven’t sent an email to the decision-maker in your state telling them that we will not stand for the voter suppression we’re seeing this year, good news - there…

See More from Aquene, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

July 1, 2020 at 12:18 AM

our coronavirus plan

Support Public Citizen I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see my earlier message about the work you and Public Citizen are doing together as the coronavirus emergency goes on. That message is copied below in case you missed it. But first, the DOLLAR-FOR-DOLLAR MATCHING OFFER I’ve been t…

See More from Public Citizen

  Robert · [email protected]

June 30, 2020 at 8:37 PM

we've been attacked by Trump supporters

Support Public Citizen This morning, I shared some foul comments from Trump supporters attacking the work you and Public Citizen are doing together. My thanks to everyone who responded to share how appalled and outraged they were by these hateful remarks. In case you missed it, I’ve copied my …

See More from Robert

  Robert Weissman, Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 30, 2020 at 5:28 PM

shattered the fantastical thinking

Support Public Citizen The U.S. and global surge in COVID-19 cases has shattered the fantastical thinking about the coronavirus that, for a moment, ruled the day. At Public Citizen, we never had any illusions. From the very start of the pandemic, we recognized that the coronavirus would be the…

See More from Robert Weissman, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 30, 2020 at 1:02 PM

hate mail

Support Public Citizen We get a lot of hate mail at Public Citizen. Here is just a fraction of what we’ve seen recently (with the expletives edited out): “You are killers and criminals. F*** you.” “I can’t wait to see you crying in November after Trump is reelected. F*** off and die!” “TRY…

See More from Public Citizen

  Robert Weissman, Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 29, 2020 at 11:14 PM

I do need you to know this

Support Public Citizen We all have so much — too much — to think about these days. The ins and outs of running a nonprofit organization like Public Citizen are not near the top of many people’s to-do lists. But I do need you to know this: Public Citizen — like many nonprofits and other small…

See More from Robert Weissman, Public Citizen

  Robert · [email protected]

June 29, 2020 at 6:40 PM

a teacher, a plumber and a piano tuner walk into a bar ...

Support Public Citizen A retired math teacher in the Bay Area. A plumber in Baton Rouge. A piano tuner in a suburb of Milwaukee. From all walks of life and every corner of America, more than 6,000 people have donated online so far this year to support the work you and Public Citizen are doin…

See More from Robert

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 29, 2020 at 2:07 PM

help

Support Public Citizen Does it seem like time is playing tricks with us lately? Something that happened last week can feel like ancient history. Something that took place months ago can feel like it happened yesterday. It’s three and a half years of the alternately surreal and all-too-real “…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 26, 2020 at 7:24 PM

will we get through this?

It has been just over five months since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States. Doesn’t it feel like more than that? All along, there have been voices trying to downplay the severity of the ongoing crisis — none more recklessly than Donald Trump himself. And with all we’v…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 25, 2020 at 6:28 PM

worst day yet

38,115. That’s the number of new coronavirus cases reported yesterday in the United States. And it’s a new record. Let me say that again, because there are forces trying to downplay the severity of the ongoing crisis and because a numbness to the reality of this era may be setting in: The…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 24, 2020 at 8:29 PM

Barr should be impeached

Attorney General William Barr is failing to uphold his duty to defend the Constitution. He is undermining the independence and integrity of the United States Department of Justice. And he is failing to enforce the nation’s laws with an even hand. Attorney General William Barr should be impe…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 23, 2020 at 11:30 PM

will Mitch McConnell ever do the right thing?

Today, voters in Kentucky are choosing who they want to run against Mitch McConnell for the United States Senate this fall. By and large, the Bluegrass State seems to have avoided the kinds of meltdowns we’ve seen in Wisconsin, Georgia and elsewhere over the past few months. How? Because st…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 20, 2020 at 7:34 PM

did you see it?

It was such a wonderful event. If you weren’t able to tune in to our virtual benefit show Thursday evening — or if you’d just like to see it again — you can watch a recording on Public Citizen’s YouTube channel or Facebook page. Representative Pramila Jayapal and Senator Elizabeth Warren shar…

See More from Public Citizen

  Bret, Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 19, 2020 at 4:21 PM

Unconscionable, jaw-dropping corruption

end coronavirus secrets ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌…

See More from Bret, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 18, 2020 at 11:41 PM

our Virtual Gala starts NOW and you're invited!

Elizabeth Warren, Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Steve Earle and other comedy legends and musical guests are waiting for you! Public Citizen’s 2020 Virtual Benefit starts in just a few minutes, at 8:00 p.m. EDT. And it’s free! Join on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or YouTube. This star-studded e…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 18, 2020 at 12:02 PM

party tonight

For so many of us, the past few months have been unlike anything we’ve experienced in our entire lives up to this point. And the past few weeks have been even more intense as we’ve all reacted to the killing of George Floyd and the unprecedented uprising for racial justice his murder touched of…

See More from Public Citizen

  Aquene, Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 16, 2020 at 9:49 PM

your health, your vote – in your state

On May 23rd, join us for a nation-wide day of action.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  Friend,​ Our democracy is in crisis, but with your help, we can make a difference.   Throughout America’s history, black communities and communities of color have h…

See More from Aquene, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 15, 2020 at 1:32 PM

is Elizabeth Warren coming to your house?

For so many of us, the past few months have been unlike anything we’ve experienced in our entire lives up to this point. And the past few weeks have been even more intense as we’ve all reacted to the killing of George Floyd and the unprecedented uprising for racial justice his murder touched of…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 14, 2020 at 12:13 AM

Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, racism

In August 1980, Ronald Reagan launched his campaign as the Republican nominee for president with a rally outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi — where the Freedom Summer workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner were murdered by the KKK in 1964. In his speech, Reagan announced h…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 12, 2020 at 7:02 PM

this statement is unusual in a couple of ways

One man just did two things you rarely see. Yesterday, General Mark Milley — who, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is our nation’s highest-ranking military officer and a key adviser to the president — apologized for taking part in Donald Trump’s sacrilegious photo-op last week at a chu…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 11, 2020 at 7:08 PM

pass police reform now

Americans are rising up in a way we haven’t seen for at least a generation. We are rising up to lament the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so many more of our fellow citizens. We are rising up to call out the ongoing injustices of systemic racism. We are rising up …

See More from Public Citizen

  Bret, Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 11, 2020 at 12:18 AM

lob·by: a group of people seeking to influence politicians or public officials on a particular issue. (noun)

No more corporate lobbyists in the military | Friend,​ In Donald Trump's America, a former weapons lobbyist is our Secretary of Defense.  Even worse, Defense Secretary Mark Esper refuses to commit to not returning to Raytheon, where he made more th…

See More from Bret, Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

June 9, 2020 at 7:02 PM

voting in person may be impossible

We’re not going to be able to hold the presidential election in November 2020. Not in a way that looks like previous presidential elections. The coronavirus is going to make in-person voting impossible or unsafe throughout much of the country. Happily, there’s an easy solution: voting by ma…

See More from Public Citizen