Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 16, 2021 at 8:52 PM

expand the Supreme Court

Yesterday, Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts introduced a bill to add four seats to the United States Supreme Court. He noted that Mitch McConnell and Republicans stole seats on the Supreme Court. First they refused to even consider President Obama’s nominee when Justice Antonin Scalia died …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 15, 2021 at 8:57 PM

a sick double standard in policing

“Congress itself is the target on the 6th. ... Stop the Steal’s propensity to attract white supremacists, militia members, and others who actively promote violence may lead to a significantly dangerous situation for law enforcement and the general public alike.” According to a just-completed in…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 14, 2021 at 7:59 PM

Daunte Wright

On Sunday, a young Black man named Daunte Wright was killed by a white police officer in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This happened just 10 or 15 miles from where George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin last May and from the courthouse where Chauvin is curre…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 12, 2021 at 6:04 PM

profiting from the Trump insurrection

Support Public Citizen Some of the most obnoxious — and dangerous — Trumpists in Congress are raking in millions after trying to overturn the election and supporting the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Josh Hawley — perhaps the most fervent agitator in the Senate for overturning the …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 11, 2021 at 10:11 PM

we enjoy it, we take pride in it, and we are good at it

Support Public Citizen Marjorie Taylor Greene — the racist, conspiracy addled, gun fetishizing, assassination promoting, insurrectionist Trump fanatic who was elected to the United States House of Representatives last fall — just revealed that she raised over $3.2 million in the first three months…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 10, 2021 at 3:12 PM

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Support Public Citizen Marjorie Taylor Greene — the racist, conspiracy addled, gun fetishizing, assassination promoting, insurrectionist Trump fanatic who was elected to the United States House of Representatives last fall — just revealed that she raised over $3.2 million in the first three months…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 9, 2021 at 6:17 PM

supposedly woke corporations

There’s been a lot of talk this week about “woke corporations,” so let’s go through it step by step: Last month, Georgia’s Republican state legislature passed, and its Trumpist governor signed, a massive voter suppression bill that will make it harder for people — especially and intentionally p…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 5, 2021 at 9:54 PM

corporations funding voter suppression

$86 million. A new Public Citizen report reveals that Corporate America has spent $86 million in just the past six years bankrolling the almost exclusively Republican state legislators around the country that are pushing some 361 voter suppression bills in all but three states. That includes …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 2, 2021 at 6:19 PM

this law is wrong, the whole day long ... deep in the heart of Texas

Last week it was Georgia. This week it’s Texas. Yesterday, Texas Republicans rammed a voter suppression bill through the state Senate. If passed by the Texas House and signed by Trumpist Governor Greg Abbott — which is likely — this bill would make it significantly harder to vote in the Lon…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

April 1, 2021 at 2:52 PM

charged with two felonies

This is happening in America right now: A representative in the state legislature — a Black woman named Park Cannon — was arrested in the Georgia Capitol last week and has been charged with two felonies. She is facing up to five years in prison. Her supposed “crime”? Knocking on a door in t…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 31, 2021 at 8:06 PM

facing up to 5 years in prison

This is happening in America right now: A representative in the state legislature — a Black woman named Park Cannon — was arrested in the Georgia Capitol last week and has been charged with two felonies. She is facing up to five years in prison. Her supposed “crime”? Knocking on a door in t…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 30, 2021 at 4:34 PM

well, that's interesting

Support Public Citizen An interesting development here at Public Citizen “headquarters” (which, for the past year, has essentially been my dining room — hopefully we can reopen our offices soon). A longtime benefactor just challenged us to bring in 25 new Sustainers TODAY. Sustainers are peopl…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 29, 2021 at 8:44 PM

a direct message to the governor of Georgia

Last Thursday — behind closed doors — Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a cluster of flagrantly anti-democratic, racist voter suppression laws that were rammed through the state legislature by flailing Republicans who have given up on trying to win elections on the merits of any actual …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 27, 2021 at 6:37 PM

what Ted Cruz admitted

This week, the Senate held a pivotal hearing on the For the People Act — the most sweeping, transformative democracy reform in generations (which the House passed earlier this month). To the surprise of exactly no one, Senator Ted Cruz chimed in absurdly: “This bill is the single most dangero…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 26, 2021 at 8:15 PM

it is now a crime to share water in America

Last night — behind closed doors — Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed into law a cluster of flagrantly anti-democratic, racist voter suppression laws that were rammed through the state legislature by flailing Republicans who have given up on trying to win elections on the merits of any actual pol…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 25, 2021 at 6:06 PM

‘most dangerous bill this committee has ever considered’

Yesterday, the Senate held a pivotal hearing on the For the People Act — the most sweeping, transformative democracy reform in generations (which the House passed earlier this month). To the surprise of exactly no one, Senator Ted Cruz chimed in absurdly: “This bill is the single most dangero…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 24, 2021 at 8:08 PM

no IRS audit

I wanted to draw your attention to some infuriating new government data. In 2012 — not even a decade ago — the IRS audited most major American corporations. But by last year, not even 4 out of every 10 corporate giants were audited. And audits of millionaires dropped 72% during the same tim…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 23, 2021 at 4:41 PM

another shooting

Yesterday, a man killed 10 people at a grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, with what has been described as an AR-15-style assault rifle. Some things to consider as we lament yet another firearm tragedy in a country where the gun homicide rate is 25 times that of other rich countries: One week…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 22, 2021 at 6:27 PM

fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy

“Get used to me.” That’s what Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress last month during a hearing into unprecedented service cuts and mail delays under his leadership of the United States Postal Service. DeJoy is a Republican mega-donor who has given over $2 million to the Trump campaign…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 20, 2021 at 3:11 PM

What's next in this series: 141 ... 135 ... ?

Support Public Citizen In January there were 141. In February there were 135. But so far this month, there are only ... 52. I’m talking about people who have taken their support of Public Citizen to the next level by joining our Sustainers program as a monthly donor. Sustainers are incredi…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 18, 2021 at 8:46 PM

the killings near Atlanta

Today we continue to mourn the killing of eight people near Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday night. That six of the victims were Asian women is no coincidence. Discrimination and violence against Asians in the United States traces back to their first entry into the country. Some of our nation’s…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 17, 2021 at 7:02 PM

don't let Comcast take over the entire Internet

The Trump administration did so much damage that we have to undo. For example, the Trump gang gave corporate giants like Comcast and Verizon the power to unilaterally restrict Internet access and content for millions upon millions of Americans. The guiding principle of “net neutrality” — whic…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 16, 2021 at 8:33 PM

more racist bile from a senator

“I knew those are people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, so I wasn’t concerned.” That’s Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, describing — just last week, on right-wing talk radio — how he felt when thousands of violent pro-Trump…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 15, 2021 at 6:45 PM

tell them to share the vaccine

A quick, direct action to take today: Tell Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson to share their coronavirus vaccine recipes and know-how with the rest of the world. None of these companies can make enough doses on their own to inoculate everyone on Earth anywhere near fast enough. Ther…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 12, 2021 at 3:51 PM

but senator, you voted the *other* way

I’ll keep this brief so I don’t get too snarky. On Wednesday — just hours after passage of the American Rescue Plan — Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi touted how the historic COVID relief legislation would help restaurant owners in the Magnolia State. Except Wicker — like every other Repub…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 11, 2021 at 7:12 PM

365 days and counting

One year ago today — on March 11, 2020 — the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. And, of course, the coronavirus had already started doing damage before that. In the United States alone, more than half a million lives have been lost so far, millions have been thrown…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

March 10, 2021 at 9:04 PM

not even one of them did the right thing

Moments ago, the United States House of Representatives passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan for COVID relief. Once President Biden signs the bill into law, the American people will get more desperately needed help. And the federal government will, at last, provide the scale of resou…

See More from Public Citizen

  Robert · [email protected]

February 26, 2021 at 8:43 PM

it only scratches the surface

Support Public Citizen It happens every February. Because this is the shortest month of the year, we don't see the uptick in online donations we can rely on in the closing days of any other month. So we are looking at a shortfall that could hinder our work for the rest of the year. If you ca…

See More from Robert

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 26, 2021 at 3:27 PM

wait, we did what already?

Support Public Citizen I wanted to give you a few examples of the many ways you and Public Citizen are making a difference. This is all just from this month. And it only scratches the surface of the good work we’re doing together: We are working behind the scenes in Congress to win passage of …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 24, 2021 at 8:12 PM

will Senate block Native American nominee for Biden's Cabinet?

In a historic move, President Biden has nominated Rep. Deb Haaland to run the Department of the Interior. Haaland — whose roots in her home state of New Mexico go back 35 generations — would be the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet. But some senators who are in the pock…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 23, 2021 at 4:06 PM

death toll exceeds TEN Vietnam Wars

Sometime yesterday, the official count of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 500,000. We’ve been besieged by this pandemic — and the Trump administration’s cravenly incompetent response to it — for a year. To make sure we aren’t numb to the magnitude of the suffering and loss, h…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 22, 2021 at 8:33 PM

Biden can just make it go away

At a town hall last week, President Biden was asked about taking executive action to cancel up to $50,000 of federal student loan debt for millions of Americans. Biden replied, “I will not make that happen.” That was disappointing. But it doesn’t have to be — and we can’t let it be — the en…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 20, 2021 at 3:52 PM

eliminate the filibuster

Here’s the truth about the filibuster: The filibuster originated by accident. The word does not even appear in the Constitution. The Framers (imperfect though they were) never intended for the Senate to be rendered essentially dysfunctional by a minority of its members. For many decades, the …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 19, 2021 at 7:23 PM

Don't Ted on Me

This week, unprecedented winter storms have left millions of people in Texas without electricity, heat, and water as parts of the state saw record low temperatures. As reported yesterday by Forbes, the state’s entire electrical grid came within minutes of total catastrophic failure that would h…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 17, 2021 at 4:27 PM

Trump is still subject to investigation and prosecution

There are so many political cowards among Senate Republicans — along with those supportive of, or at least deferential to, the white-supremacist “politics” personified by Donald Trump — that they were able to manufacture a “not guilty” verdict in Trump’s second impeachment trial. Notwithstandin…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 16, 2021 at 3:21 PM

at the scene of the crime

So many folks have already added their names in support of Public Citizen’s message to the 43 senators who voted “not guilty” in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. See my note from yesterday (copied below in case you missed it) for more details. And be sure to add your name, too! - Ro…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 15, 2021 at 7:41 PM

these 43 cowards

The United States Senate was not just the jury in the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Senators themselves were among the targets of the attack he provoked and the trial was conducted at the scene of the crime. Yet 43 senators — all Republicans — CHOSE to disregard the obvious truth …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 13, 2021 at 2:02 PM

do this *before* the Senate votes

The Senate is expected to vote TODAY in its impeachment trial of Donald Trump. This vote is about more than Trump himself. This vote is about the viability of democracy in America. If the Senate does not convict Trump, it will in effect be licensing the use (or at least the threat) of viole…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 11, 2021 at 9:04 PM

will Mitch McConnell fail yet another test?

Yesterday was the first full day of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the United States Senate. What anyone following along saw and heard was a stunning distillation of Trump’s inflammatory actions leading up to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6: Trump conceive…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 10, 2021 at 3:32 PM

the powerful video so many of us are talking about

The impeachment trial of Donald Trump began yesterday with a powerful video — which includes footage not widely seen before — showing how Trump’s insurrection unfolded on January 6: We see Trump inciting the mob at his rally near the White House. We see that mob storming first the Capitol gro…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 9, 2021 at 9:35 PM

Donald Trump is guilty

As I write this, the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump is underway. Whatever unfounded arguments distractions Trump’s ever-changing legal “team” trots out — from the absurd contention that he can’t be convicted because he’s no longer in office, to the foolish allegation that the First …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 8, 2021 at 9:14 PM

this is no time to pinch pennies

As we speak, Congress is working to pass President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, a broad coronavirus relief package that includes another round of payments from the federal government to help hard-hit Americans. Unfortunately, the “austerity” crowd — you know, the people who say the government …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 6, 2021 at 7:32 PM

was it really only one month ago?

One month ago today, armed insurrectionists — incited by Donald Trump — stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. They literally overran the Capitol. They were, in some cases, just moments away from possibly capturing, torturing, or even executing members of Congress and the Vice …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 5, 2021 at 4:07 PM

Marjorie Taylor Greene must resign

Last night, Marjorie Taylor Greene — the racist seditionist who was elected to the United States House of Representatives last fall — was formally voted off any congressional committees on which she sat. Here’s the thing: Greene has openly, and repeatedly, indicated support for the assassinat…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 4, 2021 at 3:22 PM

this rogue agency must be stopped

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency — ICE — is a racist, rogue operation that must be stopped. On Tuesday, ICE deported a man named Paul Pierrilus to Haiti. With no warning, ICE agents came for Pierrilus in the middle of the night, then forcibly put him on a plane to Haiti. …

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 3, 2021 at 8:52 PM

she must be expelled from Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene is a racist, seditionist QAnon lunatic who was elected to Congress last fall from the state of Georgia. In a video rant posted mere months before announcing her candidacy, Greene fantasized about politicians “cowering in fear,” urging her followers to “flood the Capitol b…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

February 2, 2021 at 8:28 PM

a watered down proposal that wouldn't come close to delivering the relief Americans need

Yesterday, Joe Biden met with 10 Republican senators whose primary concern seems to be spending “less” — rather than what we need — in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic collapse. Biden’s American Rescue Plan — in recognition of the truly unprecedented crisis facing the…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

January 30, 2021 at 6:36 PM

'earned with the price of blood'

“The only way you get your freedoms back is it’s earned with the price of blood.” That’s what Marjorie Taylor Greene — the deranged Trump adherent just elected to Congress from the state of Georgia — told firearms fanatics one week before Election Day (as first reported yesterday by Mother Jone…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

January 29, 2021 at 3:11 PM

she 'liked' the idea of assassinating Nancy Pelosi

Do you know who Marjorie Taylor Greene is? She is a diehard Trump cultist and a true believer in countless right-wing conspiracy theories who was just elected to the United States House of Representatives. It can be tempting to scoff at Republicans like Greene and assume they won’t be taken s…

See More from Public Citizen

  Public Citizen · [email protected]

January 28, 2021 at 2:11 PM

urge your senators to convict Trump

On Tuesday, 45 of the 50 Republicans in the United States Senate tried to weasel out of their obligation to conduct an impeachment trial of Donald Trump by endorsing the sham that holding Trump accountable now that he is out of office is somehow unconstitutional (which it is not). Nevermind tha…

See More from Public Citizen