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Category: Cori Bush

  • Sanders, Bush Unveil Bill to Prohibit Pharma Companies From Charging More Than $20 for Insulin



    Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Cori Bush on Thursday introduced legislation that would prohibit pharmaceutical companies from charging more than $20 for a vial of insulin, a move that comes a week after Eli Lilly pledged to cap out-of-pocket payments for its insulin products at $35 per month.

    “As a nurse, I’ve seen too many people in our communities struggle to afford their lifesaving insulin medication,” Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement. “People are left choosing between insulin or groceries; insulin or rent; insulin or child care. This is unacceptable.”

    More than 7 million people across the U.S. use insulin to manage their diabetes, and some have been forced to pay upwards of $1,000 per month for the medicine as pharmaceutical giants have jacked up prices with abandon in recent decades.

    According to one study published in October, more than a million people in the U.S. have had to ration insulin due to the high cost.

    Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and a longtime advocate of insulin price reform, said Thursday that “there is no reason why Americans should pay the highest prices in the world for insulin—in some cases, ten times as much as people in other countries.”

    “In 1923, the inventors of insulin sold their patents for $1 to save lives, not to turn pharmaceutical executives into billionaires,” said Sanders. “Now, 100 years later, unacceptable corporate greed has caused the price of this lifesaving medication to skyrocket by over 1,000% since 1996. We can no longer tolerate a rigged healthcare system that forced 1.3 million people with diabetes to ration insulin while the three major insulin manufacturers made $21 billion dollars in profits.”

    “Now is the time for Congress to take on the greed and power of the pharmaceutical industry and substantially lower the price of insulin,” the senator added. “In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should die because they cannot afford the medication they need.”

    If passed, the Insulin for All Act of 2023 would cap the list price of insulin nationwide at “$20 per 1000 units… which may be contained in one or more vials, pens, cartridges, or other forms of delivery.”

    Original co-sponsors of the legislation include Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

    “Big Pharma continues to rake in record profits by gouging patients on insulin prices,” Merkley said in a statement. “Unaffordable high prices are forcing patients to ration their insulin, leading to dire health consequences—heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, foot disease and amputations, even death. It’s tragic, it’s unacceptable, and it’s time to end this rip-off.”

    The new bill is also backed by more than 70 advocacy organizations, including T1International, Public Citizen, and Social Security Works.

    “This bill being called the Insulin for All Act of 2023 shows the power of grassroots activism,” said Elizabeth Pfiester, a patient with Type 1 diabetes and the founder and executive director of T1International, the group behind the #insulin4all campaign.

    “We know that Eli Lilly isn’t lowering the list price of one of their insulins out of the goodness of their hearts,” Pfiester added. “That’s why policy change to ensure patients with diabetes can’t be exploited anymore is essential.”

    Eli Lilly’s decision earlier this month to slash the prices of its most-prescribed insulin products by 70% was cautiously welcomed by advocates who have been organizing against insulin price gouging for years.

    But campaigners stressed that given the serious limitations of Eli Lilly’s pledge—and the company’s ability to raise prices again whenever it chooses—federal action is still necessary to ensure lower costs for everyone, including those who use products made by the other two giant insulin manufacturers, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk.

    The three companies produce more than 90% of the global insulin supply, market dominance that has allowed them to drive up costs massively—drawing legal action from several U.S. states, including California.

    Last April, Human Rights Watch released a report showing that Eli Lilly has raised the list price of Humalog by an inflation-adjusted 680% since it first began selling the product in the late 1990s. The company vowed earlier this month to slash the list price of Humalog by 70% starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Hundreds Rally Outside Supreme Court Amid ‘Baseless’ Attack on Student Debt Relief



    Borrowers, advocates, and lawmakers converged on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night and Tuesday morning to defend President Joe Biden’s stalled student debt relief plan as justices prepared to consider a pair of right-wing challenges to the popular proposal.

    Attendees argued that Biden’s move to erase up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers with individual incomes under $125,000 and modify the income-driven repayment program is just, legal, and necessary. Although it falls short of progressives’ demands for universal cancellation, speakers made clear that the White House’s plan is key to improving economic security.

    “You should not have to face financial ruin because you want a damn education!” Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said during Tuesday morning’s rally. “Education, from child care to graduate school, is a human right. It should be free to all.”

    “Today we say to the Supreme Court, listen to the needs of millions of struggling people,” Sanders added. “Do the right thing. Support Biden’s proposal to cancel student debt.”

    “President Biden’s executive authority to provide student debt relief to borrowers is abundantly clear.”

    After Monday night’s rally, some campaigners planned to camp out overnight in a bid to secure seats in the courtroom for Tuesday’s oral arguments, which began at 10:00 am ET.

    In both Biden v. Nebraska—brought by the Republican-led states of Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina—and Department of Education v. Brown—filed with the support of billionaires by a pair of plaintiffs who claim they were unfairly excluded from relief—the right-wing-controlled Supreme Court will decide whether Biden’s plan exceeds the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) authority and whether the lawsuits have legal standing.

    In a Tuesday statement released ahead of the hearing, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said, “Today, far-right Republican attorneys general will bring baseless and politically motivated arguments to the Supreme Court in opposition to providing student debt relief promised to 40 million borrowers across our country.”

    “Regardless,” said Bush, “President Biden’s executive authority to provide student debt relief to borrowers is abundantly clear—just look at the facts.”

    Bush continued:

    Fact: The basis of the Republican AG’s case relies on the claim that this relief plan threatens the profits of loan servicers such as MOHELA and states will be financially injured. Yet, in response to an October letter I sent to MOHELA, they denied involvement in the case and discredited Republicans by stating that they don’t operate to make profits and remain committed to complying with contractual obligations set forth by the U.S. Department of Education.

    Fact: Republicans claim that states, like Missouri, also rely on revenue from loan servicers like MOHELA. Yet, MOHELA hasn’t paid their bills to the state in over a decade and owes over $100 million to the state of Missouri.

    Fact: President Biden’s student debt relief plan would provide 40 million borrowers across our country—including 144,000 of my constituents—with life-changing financial relief. Following the economic devastation of the pandemic, we need transformative policy solutions to foster an equitable economic recovery.

    “I know what it’s like to carry crushing student debt and to have to make impossible choices between paying rent or paying an exorbitant student loan bill,” said Bush. “And I’ve heard from people across the country who have shared how this relief would change their lives—from being able to afford child care, to paying their medical bills, to being able to put food on the table.”

    “The facts are clear, and I implore the Supreme Court to affirm the president’s executive authority to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt,” she added. “I’m confident the Biden-Harris administration’s plan will withstand these hurdles and provide the much-needed relief to borrowers.”

    Right-wing lawmakers and activists filed numerous lawsuits after the White House announced its student debt cancellation bid in August. Applications for relief closed in November after a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump blocked Biden’s plan. At the time, 26 million borrowers had already applied for or were automatically eligible for relief, and 16 million applications were given the green light and sent to loan servicers.

    While GOP members of Congress argue that student debt relief is a regressive policy whose benefits would flow disproportionately to wealthy households, DOE data released earlier this month dispels that myth. According to a Politico analysis of the data, over 98% of people who applied before the portal was frozen reside in ZIP codes where the average per-capita income is under $75,000. Nearly two-thirds of applicants live in neighborhoods where the average person makes less than $40,000 per year.

    With his relief initiative on hold, Biden extended the pause on federal student loan repayments—a measure that was introduced at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and had been set to expire on December 31, 2022—through June 30, 2023. Payments are set to restart 60 days after that date, or 60 days after the high court hands down its decision, whichever comes first.

    The Debt Collective, however, tweeted Monday night: “We’re not paying that damn student debt no matter what the Supreme Court and its corrupted judges say.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Cori Bush Invites Father of Ferguson’s Michael Brown to State of the Union

    Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) is inviting Michael Brown Sr., the father of Michael Brown, whose murder at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, sparked mass protests in 2014, to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address this week. As first reported by Politico, Bush is bringing Brown Sr. as her guest to the address, which is scheduled for Tuesday night. “The police killing of…

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  • AOC Leads 76 Democrats in Urging Biden Officials to Reverse Title 42 Expansion

    Dozens of lawmakers in the House and the Senate are urging the Biden administration to reverse its expansion of Title 42 — a cruel anti-immigration policy originally invoked by former President Donald Trump — and reconsider its planned proposal of an “illegal and inhumane” travel ban. In a letter signed by 77 Democrats sent to President Joe Biden this week, the lawmakers said that…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • ‘We Can’t Back Down’: Congresswomen Share Their Abortion Stories on Roe Anniversary



    As thousands of people gathered at pro-choice rallies across the United States, multiple congresswomen marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday by sharing their own experiences with abortion care and renewing calls to protect reproductive rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its landmark ruling.

    “I’m one of the 1 in 4 women in America who has had an abortion. Terminating my pregnancy was not an easy choice, but more importantly, it was MY choice,” tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who has previously shared her story in a New York Times opinion piece and during a House hearing.

    “Everyone’s story is different, but I know this for certain: The choice to have an abortion belongs to pregnant people, not the government. We are not free if we cannot make these fundamental choices about our bodies,” she continued. “MAGA Republicans’ extreme abortion bans aren’t about saving lives, they’re about control. We must stand up and fight these bans. Together.”

    Fellow Washington state Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, who was sworn in for her first term earlier this month, wrote on Twitter: “Three years ago I miscarried in the second trimester of a pregnancy. It’s a painful memory but something many women have experienced. I traveled hours to the nearest clinic, and I encountered anti-choice protesters. Thankfully I got the care I needed that day.”

    “I had been told without an immediate abortion, or dilation and evacuation, that my life was at risk. That I could die, or not be able to have children in the future. I got the care I needed, and now I’m the mother of my 17-month-old son,” she said. “On what would’ve been Roe v. Wade‘s 50th anniversary, I’m thinking of the millions of Americans with stories like mine who are forced to go without access to safe reproductive care. I won’t stop fighting to restore this fundamental right and defend reproductive freedom for all.”

    Nearly seven months since the high court’s right-wing majority overturned Roe with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, “abortion is currently unavailable in 14 states, and courts have temporarily blocked enforcement of bans in eight others,” according to a December review by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state laws.

    Just after the Dobbs decision leaked last May, Elle published a roundtable discussion with the only five then-members of Congress who had publicly shared abortion stories: Jayapal; Sen. Gary Peters, whose ex-wife got a potentially lifesaving emergency abortion in the 1980s; and Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who did not seek reelection last year.

    In the weeks that followed, Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Marie Newman (D-Ill.)—who lost her June primary after redistricting—also detailed their abortions when they were each 19 years old. During a House hearing, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) shared that “when my doctor finally induced me, I faced the pain of labor without hope for a living child.”

    “Would it have been after the first miscarriage, after doctors used what would be an illegal drug to abort the lost fetus?” McBath asked. “Would you have put me in jail after the second miscarriage?”

    McBath took to Twitter Sunday to highlight that testimony and warn that “without Roe, all reproductive care is on the line.”

    Bush—who has spoken about seeking an abortion after becoming pregnant as a result of rape at 17—said in a statement Sunday that “the Roe v. Wade decision was not only historic in that it protected people accessing abortions; it also served as precedent for several more court cases and laws to follow that would further advance gender equality, reproductive rights, and our collective freedoms.”

    “Unfortunately, we all know what happened last June. Republicans spent decades stacking the federal judiciary with far-right anti-abortion judges and successfully stripped millions of people of their right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion care, particularly Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities,” she said. “And, let’s be clear, Republicans aren’t stopping with Roe.”

    “In just their first couple of days in power, House Republicans passed two anti-abortion bills in a blatant attempt to lay the groundwork for a national abortion ban,” added Bush, who was among the 17 federal lawmakers arrested in July while protesting Dobbs at the Supreme Court. “As a congresswoman, a mother, a pastor, and as a person who has had abortions, I will never stop fighting for a person’s bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and for a country that lives up to its proclamation of freedom.”

    Moore—who represents a state where abortion is now unavailable due to a contested 1849 ban—issued a similar warning in a series of tweets, declaring that “this Roe anniversary is a reminder of what we’ve lost, and we must fight for a future that creates more equitable healthcare access for all.”

    “The chaos we’ve seen over the past six months is the environment anti-abortion politicians have worked for decades to create, and they won’t stop with Roe. While we work to protect and restore access to abortion, more attacks on sexual and reproductive health are happening now,” she said. “The path ahead will be challenging. It will require us to think bolder than ever before to ensure our very basic rights and freedoms are permanently protected—not subject to whoever happens to be in power.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • House GOP ‘Insurrection Protection Committee Is a Sham,’ Says Pressley



    Progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday blasted Republicans for using their narrow majority to establish a panel headed by a far-right congressman to “expose the abuses committed by the unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy.”

    In a 221-211 vote along party lines, the GOP approved a resolution creating a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, under the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

    “The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government.”

    Jordan—who infamously defied a congressional subpoena to testify about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump—took aim at the U.S. Homeland Security and Justice departments as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and key House Democrats in a Tuesday floor speech advocating for the subcommittee.

    “Mr. Jordan, who was deeply involved in Mr. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has for months been investigating what he says is a bias in federal law enforcement against conservatives,” The New York Times reported. “Now that Republicans have the majority, he plans to use his gavel and his subpoena power to escalate and expand that inquiry, including searching for evidence that federal workers have become politicized and demanding documents about ongoing criminal investigations.”

    While Republicans in Congress have compared their now-official panel to the historic Church Committee—which, in the 1970s, “labored for 16 months to produce a 5,000-page report that is a canonical history of the secret government,” as journalist Chris Hayes wrote for The Nation in 2009—progressives, including Hayes last week, have challenged that comparison.

    “In 1975, the Senate created a bipartisan Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said after the vote. “Dubbed the Church Committee, the panel uncovered the surveillance and abuses against civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as illegal programs to assassinate foreign leaders. Minnesota legend Walter Mondale served on the committee and his questions helped uncover abuses of power.”

    Explaining her “no” vote, Omar continued:

    I had high hopes that this would be a Church-style committee, where we could investigate surveillance of American citizens, violations of civil liberties, and the intelligence community’s overseas abuses of power.

    It is clear that this committee is going to be one of personal grievances and defending insurrectionists, led by members who are themselves being investigated for their role in the January 6th insurrection and who have openly defied accountability by not complying with congressional subpoenas. The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government.

    Additionally, agency oversight belongs in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform or on an independent committee. The fact that this is being formed under the Judiciary Committee suggests that the goal isn’t accountability but rather to obstruct justice and undercut legal investigations they don’t agree with.

    Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a fellow “Squad” member, was similarly critical on Tuesday.

    “The federal government has already been weaponized by Republicans against Black, brown, and other marginalized groups,” she said. “So unless they’re investigating themselves, this Insurrection Protection Committee is a sham.”

    Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) called the committee “a fascist power grab to evade accountability” for the January 6 attack.

    Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tied the creation of the new panel to the 15 votes and backroom deals it took last week for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to get far-right members of his party to stop blocking his path to the leadership position.

    “House Republicans just created a committee with unprecedented power to review criminal investigations and access high-level intelligence for political purposes,” Pocan said. “This is what Speaker McCarthy was willing to compromise to be speaker. It’s wild.”

    There were also critics beyond Congress—including Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

    “This new House subcommittee, specifically set up to investigate ongoing investigations by the Justice Department and FBI into Donald Trump and others, is dangerous and threatens accountability and the rule of law,” he said. “We can’t accept this as normal.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • 26 Dems in Congress Urge DOJ to Continue Moratorium on Federal Executions



    Arguing that “the death penalty is cruel, racist, and fundamentally unjust,” U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday led over two dozen congressional Democrats in calling on the Biden administration to continue its 18-month pause on federal executions.

    In a letter to U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland spearheaded by Pressley (D-Mass.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbn (D-Ill.), 26 Democratic members of Congress urged the Biden administration to rescind a series of Trump-era amendments that expanded execution methods, allowed the Justice Department to skip important regulatory steps while pursuing federal executions, and made state prisons and personnel available for federal executions, among other changes.

    “The death penalty is archaic, barbaric, and cold-hearted; it destroys families and communities, and its abolition is long overdue.”

    The 2020 amendments “were adopted in the middle of an alarming rush of executions by the previous administration,” the letter states. “Ending a 17-year moratorium on the federal death penalty, the prior administration executed 12 men and one woman in the space of six months—exceeding the number of individuals who had been executed under the federal death penalty over the prior seven decades.”

    The lawmakers contended that the amendments were “promulgated by an outgoing administration in the middle of a surge of executions” and “were clearly part of an effort to facilitate that surge, and as such the amendments as a whole are so irreparably tainted that they should not remain in place.”

    “Last year, we commended you for your decision to impose a moratorium on federal executions while the current review of death penalty policies and procedures is pending,” the lawmakers wrote. “As your memorandum announcing the moratorium recognized, there are serious concerns about arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty, the disparate impact of the death penalty on people of color, and the alarming number of exonerations of individuals previously sentenced to death.”

    “These concerns justified halting the use of the death penalty during the review process. They equally support halting its use permanently,” the Democrats added. “In addition to rescinding the November 27, 2020 amendments, we urge you to keep in place the current moratorium on federal executions, including withdrawing all pending death notices and authorizing no new death notices. The time for this action has come.”

    While President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise “work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level,” his administration’s Justice Department disappointed progressives by seeking to kill convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

    Tuesday’s letter came on the same day that the state of Missouri killed Amber McLaughlin by lethal injection after Republican Gov. Mike Parson showed no mercy despite McLaughlin’s lifelong history of trauma and mental health issues and the fact that the jury that convicted her of murdering and raping her ex-girlfriend Beverly Guenther in 2003 did not unanimously agree that she should be executed.

    Reacting to the execution of the first openly transgender person in U.S. history, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement that “Amber McLaughlin was killed by state-sanctioned, inhumane capital punishment.”

    “My heart is with her family and loved ones,” Bush continued. “I yearn for the day when our society acknowledges that state-sanctioned murder will never achieve justice. Gov. Parson has once again failed his mandate as governor to save lives. He has actively chosen violence over mercy and as a result, only three days into the new year, our state has killed yet another person.”

    “The death penalty is archaic, barbaric, and cold-hearted; it destroys families and communities, and its abolition is long overdue,” she added. “There are more individuals who are set to be scheduled by the state of Missouri. We must not allow another life to be taken.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Cori Bush Pushes to Stop Missouri’s Execution of Amber McLaughlin

    Two Democratic members of Congress are urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) to stop the execution of Amber McLaughlin, who the state is scheduled to kill next week, citing the “moral depravity” of the death penalty. In their letter to Parson, Missouri Representatives Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver highlighted that McLaughlin was sentenced to death through a unilateral decision by a judge due to a…

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  • Cori Bush, Emanuel Cleaver Implore Missouri Gov. to Prevent Execution of Amber McLaughlin



    Democratic Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri sent a letter Tuesday urging their home state’s Republican governor to prevent the execution of 49-year-old Amber McLaughlin and commute her sentence, pointing to the “horrific abuse and neglect” she has experienced over the course of her life.

    McLaughlin was convicted in 2006 of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther. After the jury failed to reach a decision on whether McLaughlin should face death or life in prison without parole, the trial judge exploited a legal loophole and unilaterally imposed a death sentence—a move that has drawn criticism from former Missouri judges.

    If the January 3, 2023 execution goes ahead as planned, McLaughlin would be the first openly trans woman to be executed in the United States.

    In their letter, Bush and Cleaver noted that McLaughlin “faced a traumatic childhood and mental health issues throughout her life.”

    “Court records indicate her adoptive father would frequently strike her with paddles and a nightstick, and even tase her. Alongside this horrendous abuse, she was also silently struggling with her identity, grappling with what we now understand is gender dysphoria,” the lawmakers wrote. “The abuse, coupled with the persistent mental turmoil surrounding her identity, led to mild neurological brain damage and multiple suicide attempts both as a child and as an adult.”

    “Yet at the sentencing phase of Ms. McLaughlin’s trial, the jury never heard crucial mental health evidence because her lawyers failed to present it. A psychiatrist was set to testify and provide expert insight into Ms. McLaughlin’s mental health at the time of the offense before her lawyers decided not to call him as a witness,” Bush and Cleaver continued. “The lawyers had previously told the jury that this expert testimony would be a critical component in their decision, but the testimony was withheld and the jury deliberated without highly relevant information.”

    Bush made clear on social media that her effort to prevent McLaughlin’s execution stems from her principled opposition to the death penalty, which she described as “cruel, barbaric, and inhumane.”

    Earlier this month, McLaughlin’s lawyers filed a clemency petition urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to intervene and stop the planned execution, laying out in detail the abuse she faced as a child.

    “McLaughlin developed in a womb poisoned by alcohol and she has borne the lifetime effects of fetal alcohol exposure,” the petition reads. “This prenatal assault signaled the start of a path of trauma and neglect that would become the rule for McLaughlin’s life. McLaughlin faced an environment with parents ill-equipped to act as caregivers. Trauma, neglect, and abuse at the hands of her parents occurred from birth—until she was abandoned by her mother and placed into the foster care system. At one placement, McLaughlin had feces thrust into her face. The foster care placement was so bad, McLaughlin wanted to return to an abusive mother who neglected her.”

    The petition argues McLaughlin’s execution should be called off for a number of “compelling reasons,” including the fact that “executive clemency will not disturb a jury verdict imposing the death penalty because the jury did not vote to impose the death penalty.”

    “Second, McLaughlin consistently and genuinely expressed remorse for the death of Ms. Beverly Guenther. She remains tormented by memories of her death,” the petition states. “Third, McLaughlin endured extensive childhood trauma at the hands of her biological, foster, and adoptive parents, abuse resulting in brain damage even before McLaughlin was born. Those with a moral duty to protect her wantonly inflicted this childhood abuse.”

    A spokesperson for Parson told NBC News earlier this month that the governor is reviewing the clemency request.

    The United States, which recently voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty, had the most botched executions in its history in 2022, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

    “Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 35%—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves,” the organization noted in its year-end report. “On July 28, 2022, executioners in Alabama took three hours to set an IV line before putting Joe James Jr. to death, the longest botched lethal injection execution in U.S. history.”

    Bush has urged President Joe Biden to grant clemency to all federal death row inmates as a step toward ending capital punishment nationwide. Biden, who says he is personally opposed to the death penalty, has yet to heed Bush’s call.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Cori Bush, Emanuel Cleaver Implore Missouri Gov. to Prevent Execution of Amber McLaughlin



    Democratic Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri sent a letter Tuesday urging their home state’s Republican governor to prevent the execution of 49-year-old Amber McLaughlin and commute her sentence, pointing to the “horrific abuse and neglect” she has experienced over the course of her life.

    McLaughlin was convicted in 2006 of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther. After the jury failed to reach a decision on whether McLaughlin should face death or life in prison without parole, the trial judge exploited a legal loophole and unilaterally imposed a death sentence—a move that has drawn criticism from former Missouri judges.

    If the January 3, 2023 execution goes ahead as planned, McLaughlin would be the first openly trans woman to be executed in the United States.

    In their letter, Bush and Cleaver noted that McLaughlin “faced a traumatic childhood and mental health issues throughout her life.”

    “Court records indicate her adoptive father would frequently strike her with paddles and a nightstick, and even tase her. Alongside this horrendous abuse, she was also silently struggling with her identity, grappling with what we now understand is gender dysphoria,” the lawmakers wrote. “The abuse, coupled with the persistent mental turmoil surrounding her identity, led to mild neurological brain damage and multiple suicide attempts both as a child and as an adult.”

    “Yet at the sentencing phase of Ms. McLaughlin’s trial, the jury never heard crucial mental health evidence because her lawyers failed to present it. A psychiatrist was set to testify and provide expert insight into Ms. McLaughlin’s mental health at the time of the offense before her lawyers decided not to call him as a witness,” Bush and Cleaver continued. “The lawyers had previously told the jury that this expert testimony would be a critical component in their decision, but the testimony was withheld and the jury deliberated without highly relevant information.”

    Bush made clear on social media that her effort to prevent McLaughlin’s execution stems from her principled opposition to the death penalty, which she described as “cruel, barbaric, and inhumane.”

    Earlier this month, McLaughlin’s lawyers filed a clemency petition urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to intervene and stop the planned execution, laying out in detail the abuse she faced as a child.

    “McLaughlin developed in a womb poisoned by alcohol and she has borne the lifetime effects of fetal alcohol exposure,” the petition reads. “This prenatal assault signaled the start of a path of trauma and neglect that would become the rule for McLaughlin’s life. McLaughlin faced an environment with parents ill-equipped to act as caregivers. Trauma, neglect, and abuse at the hands of her parents occurred from birth—until she was abandoned by her mother and placed into the foster care system. At one placement, McLaughlin had feces thrust into her face. The foster care placement was so bad, McLaughlin wanted to return to an abusive mother who neglected her.”

    The petition argues McLaughlin’s execution should be called off for a number of “compelling reasons,” including the fact that “executive clemency will not disturb a jury verdict imposing the death penalty because the jury did not vote to impose the death penalty.”

    “Second, McLaughlin consistently and genuinely expressed remorse for the death of Ms. Beverly Guenther. She remains tormented by memories of her death,” the petition states. “Third, McLaughlin endured extensive childhood trauma at the hands of her biological, foster, and adoptive parents, abuse resulting in brain damage even before McLaughlin was born. Those with a moral duty to protect her wantonly inflicted this childhood abuse.”

    A spokesperson for Parson told NBC News earlier this month that the governor is reviewing the clemency request.

    The United States, which recently voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty, had the most botched executions in its history in 2022, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

    “Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 35%—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves,” the organization noted in its year-end report. “On July 28, 2022, executioners in Alabama took three hours to set an IV line before putting Joe James Jr. to death, the longest botched lethal injection execution in U.S. history.”

    Bush has urged President Joe Biden to grant clemency to all federal death row inmates as a step toward ending capital punishment nationwide. Biden, who says he is personally opposed to the death penalty, has yet to heed Bush’s call.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Cori Bush Unveils ‘Visionary’ Bills to Fund Climate-Friendly Light Rail, Bus Systems



    Progressive Rep. Cori Bush on Wednesday led the introduction of a pair of bills aimed at revamping the United States’ chronically underfunded transportation infrastructure and ensuring the nation’s public transit systems are efficient, accessible, and climate-friendly.

    “For too long, we have let rail and bus services, which are fundamental infrastructure for essential workers and our public transit-reliant residents, go dramatically underfunded,” said Bush (D-Mo.), who introduced the legislation alongside nearly dozens of fellow House Democrats.

    “I am proud to introduce both the Bus Rapid Transit Act and the Light Rail Transit Act, legislation that would grant funds to transform public transit service in St. Louis and across our country,” Bush continued. “Funding new and existing programs and resources needed for safer and more efficient services will upgrade infrastructure, create jobs, reduce emissions, improve connectivity, and make getting around our communities more equitable. I cannot wait to see more buses and rail cars out in our streets.”

    According to a summary released by Bush’s office, the Bus Rapid Transit Act–backed by nearly 60 House Democrats–would “create a grant program to fund efficient publicly-owned Bus Rapid Transit systems across the country to improve on and expand high-quality bus service.”

    Basav Sen, director of the Climate Policy Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, called the bill “visionary” and said it is what the United States needs to “advance a just transition in our transportation system, from fossil fueled automobile dependence to reliable, accessible public transit, powered by renewable energy, and providing good union jobs.”

    The accompanying Light Rail Transit Act would similarly bolster light rail transportation by establishing a grant program to provide public entities with funding to implement light rail projects as an alternative to automobile transportation, a major source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

    “The grant program created by the bill would provide flexibility for agencies and communities applying for funds, while also maintaining strong design standards to ensure passengers have the resources and tools they need for seamless travel,” Bush’s office said. “The excellent labor and climate standards in the bill would ensure thousands of union jobs would be created while cars are taken off the road and new rail lines rely on renewable energy.”

    The light rail measure is backed by a number of climate and clean transit advocacy organizations, including Bus Riders United STL, the National Association of City Transportation Officials, the Center for Biological Diversity, Trailnet, Rise to Thrive, and Food & Water Watch.

    “We applaud Representative Bush’s leadership to bring equity and justice to our transportation system,” said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch. “High-quality public transportation powered by clean renewable energy is a critical component to ensuring a just transition away from fossil fuels. This proposal would help eliminate air and climate pollution while creating affordable, convenient transportation options for all.”

    Citing research from TransitCenter, Alissa Walker of Curbed noted Wednesday that just “10% of Americans currently live within walking distance of transit that comes every 15 minutes or less.”

    “Building high-capacity trains with short headways would fix that, but not all U.S. cities have rail systems,” Walker wrote. “U.S. cities of all sizes have bus systems, and transit access could increase immediately for millions of people by simply increasing how often those buses run, expanding their routes, and updating fleets.”

    In an interview with Curbed, Bush stressed that “people depend on the bus in order to operate in their everyday lives.”

    “They deserve excellent service,” said the Missouri Democrat.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Bowman: Greene Must Be Expelled From Congress “Immediately” for Jan. 6 Remark

    Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) called for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) to be removed from Congress on Monday after the far right lawmaker remarked that, had she led the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, she would have “won.” At a gala held by the New York Young Republicans Club over the weekend, Greene said that, “if Steve Bannon and I organized [the attack], we would have won.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • “Every Worker Deserves Paid Sick Leave”: Progressives Rally Behind Rail Workers

    As the House prepares to vote Wednesday morning to force the adoption of a rail contract and avert a rail strike, a growing number of progressives in Congress are calling for the inclusion of a key sick leave demand for which unions and workers have pleaded for months.

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) appears to be leading the charge for the provision in Congress, telling reporters it is “outrageous” that the agreement, negotiated with the White House in September, lacks union members’ paid sick leave request. He is planning to demand a Senate vote on a provision to provide workers with sick leave.

    “Will I demand a vote to ensure that workers in the railroad industry have what tens of millions of workers have, and workers here on Capitol Hill have: guaranteed paid sick leave? The answer is yes,” Sanders, who has been outspoken about the rail contract in recent months, told reporters on Tuesday.

    At least one other senator, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), is on board with the sick leave provision, according to HuffPost. “I’m hopeful we can guarantee them a week of sick days and I’m working with Sen. Sanders and others to get that done,” she said.

    The vote was scheduled after President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass a bill to avoid a strike, angering rail unions, workers and labor advocates. In calling to do so, Biden essentially told Congress to override the will of the thousands of union members who voted against ratifying the contract, who have said that the agreement is insufficient to address workers’ concerns over punishingly strict attendance policies and their current complete lack of sick days.

    House progressives have also called for the inclusion of the sick leave provision.

    Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) said that he can’t “in good conscience” vote for the bill in its current form. “We fumbled this in Build Back Better, we can’t do that again,” he tweeted.

    “Rail workers can’t schedule getting the flu on a Tuesday 30 days in advance,” Bowman added, referring to a provision in the current contract that would require workers to schedule medical appointments 30 days in advance. “What we’re seeing is an inhumane deal being pushed onto workers even after a majority voted it down. If we are a pro-labor party, we must stand up for them. They need paid sick leave now.”

    Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) also vowed to vote against a bill that excluded the demand, saying, “Every worker deserves paid sick leave. I will not support a deal that does not provide our rail workers with the paid sick leave they need and deserve.”

    “Railroad workers grind themselves to the bone for this country as their labor produces billions for Wall Street,” added Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York). “They demand the basic dignity of paid sick days. I stand with them. If Congress intervenes, it should be to have workers’ backs and secure their demands in legislation.”

    It’s unlikely that House leadership will allow the paid leave provision to be included in the bill. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has vowed to bring the agreement to a vote as is, without sick leave. House progressives’ votes are also unlikely to be enough to tank the bill unless it faces widespread Republican opposition or if more Democrats speak up on behalf of the workers opposed to the current contract.

    Republicans, unsurprisingly, appear to be opposed to the inclusion of the sick leave provision — as are a number of conservative and corporate groups and, of course, wealthy railroad owners, whose greed is the reason for the current showdown, labor advocates say.

    Four of the 12 rail unions involved in the contract negotiations have voted down the agreement in recent weeks, representing over half of the 115,000 affected rail workers. The unions issued furious statements following Biden’s statement, lambasting the president for siding with rail industry owners over workers.

    “[P]assing legislation to adopt tentative agreements that exclude paid sick leave for railroad workers will not address rail service issues,” the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, one of the unions that voted against the contract, wrote in a statement. “Rather, it will worsen supply chain issues and further sicken, infuriate, and disenfranchise railroad workers as they continue shouldering the burdens of the railroads’ mismanagement.”

    Railroad Workers United, an inter-union coalition of rail workers, condemned Biden and Democrats who are supporting the current agreement while praising progressives who are standing up for the sick leave provision.

    “The ‘most labor-friendly President in history has proven that he and the Democratic Party are not the friends of labor they have touted themselves to be. These wolves in sheep’s clothing have for decades been in bed with corporate America and have allowed them to continue chipping away at the American middle class and organized labor,” said Railroad Workers United co-chair Gabe Christenson.

    “Except for a handful of progressives — notably Bernie Sanders — who have shown their willingness to fight for us, the entire political machine must be changed,” Christenson continued.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Cori Bush Condemns GOP’s Ongoing Attacks on Student Debt Relief

    As a federal court in her home state of Missouri heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine the fate of federal student debt cancellation, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush condemned GOP attorneys general for attempting to tank much-needed economic relief for tens of millions of borrowers.

    “Efforts to undermine the Biden administration’s student loan cancellation program are the latest example of Republicans and student loan servicers prioritizing profits over people and corporations over constituencies,” Bush said in a statement as a group of GOP attorneys general — including Missouri AG Eric Schmitt — made their case for an injunction against student debt forgiveness.

    The Republican plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that the Biden administration’s student debt cancellation plan would harm the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) by depriving it of “the ongoing revenue it earns from servicing” privately held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans.

    In an effort to undercut such legal claims of harm, the Biden administration decided last month to scale back its debt forgiveness program to exclude many student borrowers with FFELP loans, denying relief to hundreds of thousands of people.

    In her statement Wednesday, Bush noted that MOHELA “has remained silent” about the GOP lawsuit, “seemingly complicit in Republican efforts to prevent over 40 million borrowers from receiving the debt relief they have been promised.”

    “Actions to delay or prevent this economic program from moving forward will disproportionately harm Black and brown borrowers,” Bush continued. “I urge MOHELA and these six Republican attorneys general to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers and halt all activities that interfere with the president’s student loan debt cancellation plan.”

    “The American people overwhelmingly support student debt cancellation,” the Missouri Democrat added, “and neither partisan nor corporate interests should prevent borrowers from receiving the life-changing relief they need and deserve.”

    In recent weeks, Republican officials and right-wing advocacy organizations have filed a number of lawsuits against the Biden administration’s limited student debt cancellation program, which has yet to fully launch as the Department of Education builds out the application website — a costly undertaking that could also create additional barriers to relief for the most vulnerable borrowers.

    At least one of the lawsuits against the debt relief program has already been struck down.

    During Wednesday’s hearing on the GOP attorneys general lawsuit, the George W. Bush-appointed federal judge appeared to voice skepticism that the Republican officials have standing to sue over the debt forgiveness program.

    As Matt Bruenig of the People’s Policy Project noted last week, “Finding a person, business, or government that will suffer a concrete and particularized injury as a result of the student debt forgiveness and that is willing to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit over it is not easy to do.”

    “The core legal argument against the student debt forgiveness is that the HEROES Act that the Biden administration relies upon does not actually give them the authority to do it,” Bruenig explained. “But the procedural challenge is how exactly to get that legal argument in front of a judge without having your lawsuit dismissed for lack of standing.

    “The fact that the Biden administration made two swift changes to the program in response to these lawsuits — including a very substantial change in cutting FFELP debtors out of relief — suggests that they are not very confident that the courts would side with them on the question of whether the HEROES Act actually allows the executive to do a student debt forgiveness of this sort,” he added. “So they are trying to avoid litigating that question by changing the program to undercut theories of standing that get presented in the courts.”

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Sanders: Biden’s Marijuana Pardons Are Good — Legalization Would Be Even Better

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has called for marijuana to be legalized in the wake of President Joe Biden’s surprise announcement that his administration will be pardoning thousands of simple federal marijuana possession charges and considering moving to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, known as descheduling the drug.

    While Biden’s move is laudable, it’s not enough to deliver justice to people who have long suffered under marijuana convictions, Sanders said.

    “I have long believed that marijuana should be legalized and those arrested for possession should be pardoned and have their records expunged,” he said shortly after Biden’s announcement. “The President’s executive action today is an important step forward, but much more needs to be done.”

    Sanders’s tweet was part of a flood of calls from progressive and Democratic lawmakers and 2022 candidates for federal marijuana legalization, which they say is overdue to begin undoing the decades of harm that harsh marijuana prohibition has unleashed on Black and Brown communities in particular.

    “Pardoning people convicted on simple marijuana possession charges & calling for marijuana to be reclassified is welcome news and long overdue,” Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) wrote. “Next, we must deschedule marijuana completely.”

    “Legalize it,” she added.

    While the Congressional Progressive Caucus didn’t explicitly call for legalization, it did highlight legislation passed by the House earlier this year to federally legalize marijuana, deschedule the drug under federal law, and establish a process to expunge marijuana-related convictions.

    Drug law reform advocates have also called for marijuana to be legalized, for marijuana charges to be expunged and for the drug to be descheduled in wake of the announcement.

    “There is no reason that people should be saddled with a criminal record — preventing them from obtaining employment, housing, and countless other opportunities — for something that is already legal in 19 states and D.C. and decriminalized in 31 states,” Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Kassandra Frederique said in a statement. “We, however, hope that the Biden Administration will go further and fully deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), rather than initiate a process that could lead to rescheduling.”

    Calling vast marijuana criminalization a “failed approach,” Biden announced on Thursday that he will be pardoning people convicted on simple federal marijuana possession charges, which will affect about 6,500 people, none of whom are currently imprisoned.

    A pardon, which prevents people from facing further punishments for their charges, doesn’t go as far as expungement, which would seal the charges from being publicly viewable. Advocates say expungement is necessary because people with drug charges are often denied basic needs like housing or face discrimination in job hiring.

    Biden is also asking the Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to begin the process of potentially descheduling marijuana. Currently, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, the category that carries the worst penalties for selling and using the drug.

    Democrats, abolitionists and drug legalization advocates have long advocated for descheduling marijuana as a step toward ending the failed war on drugs — and its corresponding war on the communities it has ravaged.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Progressive Candidates Endured Some National Losses, But Local Wins Offer Hope

    When Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign ended in the spring of 2020, observers wondered what would become of the many thousands of activists who had been part of the Sanders campaigns in 2016 and 2020. On the left, there were concerns that, without a central, unifying candidate, the energy that had amassed around progressive electoral organizing would dissipate. Now, two years beyond the end of the campaign and with midterm elections right around the corner, we can start to make some judgments about the state of progressive electoralism, post-Sanders.

    While there are fewer headline-grabbing victories than in the early days of the surge in electoral organizing, the movement to elect progressives at every level of government, in every corner of the country, is still alive and well. To get a clear picture, though, one has to look at the local, as well as the national level.

    This year, election results for progressive candidates at the national level have been a mixed bag, at best. This became evident early in 2022: in Texas, Jessica Cisneros failed, again, to defeat anti-abortion Democrat Henry Cuellar in her closely watched congressional primary (and subsequent runoff election). Meanwhile, in Texas’s 35th congressional district, progressive Greg Casar handily won his primary. (He’ll have an easy contest in November and will join Congress in January.) And so it continued throughout the year. In Pennsylvania’s 12th district, Summer Lee narrowly defeated the more moderate (and AIPAC-supported) Steve Irwin. Meanwhile, New York’s 10th congressional district was an absolute train wreck of personal ambition and competing progressive lobbies, allowing the establishment-friendly Daniel Goldman to secure a win with just 25 percent of the vote.

    The shaky performance among progressive congressional candidates has provided ample fodder for widespread despair. In fact, almost since the current phase of electoral progressivism began surging in the United States, in 2016, many of its opponents have been quick to identify harbingers of its impending burnout.

    Critics of electoral progressivism argue that the Trump years presented an anomalous backdrop against which the left could politic; or that leftists can only win in low-turnout elections; or that progressive candidates used the element of surprise to take down entrenched incumbents, a tactic that has produced diminishing returns as the establishment reorients around it. High-profile losses, like Cisneros in Texas or Nina Turner’s special election defeat, in 2021, seem to support these claims.

    At a more local level, though, the picture is different. In state and municipal elections across the country, progressive and openly socialist candidates have scored numerous victories in contested primary elections this year. What’s even more striking is that candidates are succeeding in districts reflecting a wide diversity of demographic configurations. These results fly in the face of the orthodoxy that left-wing candidates can only win in diverse, young, urban areas.

    In Delaware, a state known more for its corporate-friendly tax policy than its radical politics, four Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members won primaries for the state house and senate, with two other non-member DSA-endorsees winning state seats as well. In Colorado, considered a swing state until late in the last decade, two self-identified democratic socialists, one running on a police abolition platform, won races for the Colorado state house. In Wisconsin, two democratic socialists will enter the state house while others made gains on county councils, establishing a small but significant bloc of socialists elected in a state that Joe Biden won by just half a percentage point in 2020.

    These victories come as the terrain for progressive electoralists has gotten more complex over the last four years. In 2018 and 2020, progressives largely went on the offensive, aggressively pursuing vulnerable incumbents and channeling the power of a new generation of organizers eager to keep their recently developed electioneering skills sharp between the 2016 and 2020 Bernie Sanders campaigns.

    In 2022, however, progressives found themselves having to play defense for their incumbent candidates as much as they were going on the offensive. In Montgomery County, Maryland, DSA member and state delegate Gabriel Acevero faced opposition from his own district colleagues, as two delegates in his multicandidate district tried to replace Acevero with a third, more establishment-friendly delegate. (They failed; Acevero won reelection in July.)

    In New York City, newly elected Mayor Eric Adams leveraged his bully pulpit to back, among others, a challenger who sought to unseat State Sen. Jabari Brisport (that challenge was also unsuccessful). Members of “the Squad” in Congress — Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman — have also had to defend their seats against well-funded opponents whose backers would greatly prefer a representative less hostile to corporate interests.

    Personnel have become more scattered too, as the cadre of left electoralists, lacking a single candidate around whom they can rally, have devoted their time and labor to many smaller campaigns around the country. While these campaigns benefit from their individual expertise, it makes it harder for observers and analysts to figure out whether progressives are still conducting effective and winning campaigns.

    Taken together, though, the electoral results from this campaign season hardly paint a picture of a movement in decline. Rather, they suggest a maturing movement exiting its upstart phase and moving into a more established formation, struggling with many of the issues that attend formalized political structures in the U.S. This maturation separates the current progressive surge from previous left electoral efforts which have exhibited little continuity between election cycles. The fact that progressive campaigns and organizations have continued to mount electoral efforts amidst an increasingly forbidding landscape only further attests to a movement that is stabilizing and building for the long term.

    There are other important indicators of stabilization, too. In the first place, progressive elected officials are learning how to legislate and beginning to effect real policy changes at the state and local levels. In New York State, for example, progressive legislators, led by DSAers who were elected to state office in 2018 and 2020, have repeatedly introduced bills that would fundamentally alter the relationship between tenants and landlords in that state. This legislative effort is reminiscent of Congresswoman Cori Bush’s bold protest in 2021 which helped to extend an eviction moratorium that kept hundreds of thousands of people in their homes. Developing a legislative record, especially one that is based on shared progressive principles, is one of the most heartening signs of a movement that is learning to build for long-term success.

    Beyond that, progressive electoral efforts are helping to build a bench of elected officials. Candidates who are elected to local or state office today are set on a possible trajectory toward achieving higher offices and thus a more concrete grip on the levers of power. The U.S. right wing has long understood the importance of building a pipeline of electeds and standard-bearers, but centrist and center-left politicos who comprise the core Democratic Party leadership have apparently not internalized this lesson. (See, for example, the party’s inaction over the Biden succession question.) That progressives are attentive to this need is a testament to their vision.

    While progressives have seen fewer spectacular wins at the national level in 2022, left electoral momentum continues to propel candidates to victory at all levels, across the country. These modest, countrywide victories evince a movement in a state of evolution, led by activists looking toward the future.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Cori Bush Introduces Bill to Protect Access to Abortion Pills

    Democrats Rep. Cori Bush and Sen. Tina Smith introduced legislation on Monday that would codify national standards for administering abortion medication in order to protect access as extremist Republicans rush to drastically restrict reproductive health care.

    Medication abortion accounts for over half of all abortions in the United States. The new legislation is the latest effort by Democrats across the country to shield abortion seekers and their doctors from criminalization, misogynist cruelty, and human rights abuses after the far right majority on the Supreme Court repealed their constitutional right to abortion last month.

    “While extremist anti-abortion lawmakers in states like Missouri use the recent decision made by the stolen Supreme Court to attack a person’s right to bodily autonomy, I remain committed to ensuring everyone in this country can have access to an abortion — no matter where they live,” Bush said in a statement Monday.

    House Democrats passed a bill a second time last week that would establish a nationwide right to abortion and another bill to protect people who cross states lines to access abortion, an act that anti-abortion extremists are seeking to outlaw in multiple states. Not to be outdone, and only three weeks after several Republicans applauded the Supreme Court for sending the issue “back to the states,” Republicans proposed their own bill to ban abortion nationwide after as early as five weeks of pregnancy. At that point, most women don’t know they’re pregnant.

    The GOP won’t have enough votes to pass a federal ban unless they win a veto-proof majority in the midterms. The Democratic bills are all but doomed in the Senate, where the filibuster allows the Republican minority to block legislation. However, Democrats are working to keep abortion rights in the headlines and put up a fight after years of legislative inaction, and Bush and Smith’s bill takes a pragmatic approach: Solidify secure pathways to safe abortion at home.

    Medication abortion has been available in the U.S. since 2000, when it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Bush and Smith’s bill, the Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act, would codify into federal law the FDA’s latest standards for administering abortion medication. During the pandemic, the FDA expanded its Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy, or REMS, to allow patients to see prescribers in telehealth visits and access the medications through a small number of certified mail-order pharmacies, which have seen a massive increase in patient demand since the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs.

    If passed, Bush and Smith’s bill would enshrine the REMS standards into federal law, which could provide some federal legal cover for abortion rights activists coming to the aid of pregnant people in anti-abortion states and across state lines. It would also throw another wrench into the right-wing effort to wage convoluted legal battles across red and purple states to further restrict abortion.

    While the bill is written to protect to access to abortion pills by remote visit and snail mail in states where abortion is still legal, it would not automatically overturn abortion bans or restrictions on medication at the state level. However, supporters believe the FDA has the final say over whether abortion medication is considered safe for use at home. That theory would likely be tested in court, and Attorney General Merrick Garland recently warned states that any attempt to ban abortion pills “based on a disagreement with the FDA’s judgement” would provoke a federal legal challenge.

    President Biden and the Health and Human Services secretary have also vowed to ensure that abortion medication is as widely available as possible, according to reports.

    Dobbs unleashed a growing public health crisis by creating chaos and uncertainty for providers and patients as statewide trigger-bans go into effect and red states race to pass extremist bills banning and restricting access to essential reproductive services. Patients in states such as Texas are already traveling across the country to receive abortion care, and reports indicate that women are being denied potentially lifesaving medical treatment for miscarriages and other conditions and forced to undergo traumatizing procedures.

    The nation now faces a patchwork of laws related to abortion and prenatal care that vary from state to state, and there are major questions over how contraceptives and abortion medications will be regulated.

    Republicans in at least nine states are pushing to ban medication abortion or restrict access to the medications with onerous requirements, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Currently, 29 states require that abortion medication prescribers be physicians rather than nurse practitioners or other prescribers, which can create barriers to access, especially if there is a shortage of doctors willing to treat abortion patients in red states.

    At least 19 states require patients to see physicians in person, which could be considered illegal in the 13 states with trigger laws that ban almost all abortions, including the eight states where bans are already in effect. Mailing abortion pills to patients is banned in Texas, Arizona and Arkansas, and a handful of states ban medication abortion at a certain point in pregnancy. Bush and Smith’s bill would not automatically nullify these restrictions, but some Democrats believe federal agencies could use the FDA’s authority over drug regulation to preempt state bans.

    Abortion medication is considered safe and effective up to 10 weeks, but some people safely use the drugs later in pregnancy as well. Only about 40 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 49 say they have heard of mifepristone, the main drug used for medication abortion. Still, rates of medication abortion have steadily risen for years before becoming increasingly accessible during the pandemic.

    Bans on abortion and abortion medication are expected to exacerbate deep racial inequities in health care and maternal mortality, according to a fact sheet released by Bush:

    States with abortion bans or extreme abortion restrictions are home to 39 percent of the total US population but 45 percent of Black women and girls under age 55. Abortion bans and restrictions on reproductive health disproportionately endanger Black people, and could have severe or deadly consequences on maternal and infant health. With the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, it is critical that the federal government use every tool available to protect access to medication abortion.

    The White House said on Monday it “strongly” supports separate Democratic legislation that would protect the right to access FDA-approved contraceptives nationally, a grave sign that basic privacy rights are under threat due to the right-wing assault on reproductive health. House Democrats are reportedly expected to a vote on a bill this week that would ensure the right to marry for same-sex couples.

    By enshrining the FDA’s rules allowing for telehealth and mail-order abortion care into federal law, Bush and Smith likely hope to leave open potential pathways to having an abortion at home — even if a particular state does not technically allow it — and to at least boost the federal government’s power to protect the right to abortion medication. Advancing the legislation would also force Republicans to debate access to medication abortion, which could soon be the only option for millions of people.

    “Abortion care is health care and, therefore, a human right — period,” Bush said.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Cori Bush Shares Her Experience With Gun Violence From an Abusive Partner

    On Tuesday night, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) shared a heart-wrenching story of her experience with gun violence in an abusive relationship, after the Senate passed a bipartisan gun bill that would place larger restrictions on the ability of convicted domestic abusers to obtain guns.

    “I was ~20 years old when I found myself in a relationship with an abusive partner,” Bush wrote at the beginning of a thread on Twitter. “I knew that he had guns. He kept one of them in the cabinet in the kitchen and another in between our pillows when we slept at night. I never believed he would actually fire at me. Until he did.”

    Bush continued, saying that her abuser became upset with her one day while she was cooking, and started hitting her. As she ran away, she wondered why he wasn’t chasing her until she heard gunshots, she said.

    “I did not know that they were aimed at me until they started whizzing past my head,” she wrote. “That moment. The horror of that moment stays with me. The moment when gun violence strikes is deeply traumatic and completely preventable.”

    The Missouri progressive concluded by praising senators for passing a bill that would close the so-called boyfriend loophole, which allows domestic abusers to buy a gun as long as they never lived with, were married to, or had a child with the person they abused.

    “Closing the boyfriend loophole could have saved me from a lethal environment,” she said. “As a survivor, I’m glad to see this provision included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Closing the boyfriend loophole will save lives.”

    If passed into law, the bill will expand the definition of a domestic abuser to include people found guilty of domestic abuse who fall outside of those parameters, though it will still allow people convicted of abuse-related misdemeanors to buy a gun after five years, as long as they haven’t been convicted of any other violent crimes.

    Advocates against domestic violence have been working for years to close the boyfriend loophole, which disproportionately enables gun violence against women. Hundreds of women are murdered by their former or current partners each year, and 7 in 10 women who are killed by their partners were previously abused by that partner.

    The Senate bill, which passed 64 to 34 on Tuesday night, now goes to the House, where lawmakers are expected to pass it swiftly. The bill contains provisions that would ultimately limit the number of guns owned by the public, including expansions of background checks and restrictions on sales to people under 21.

    While measures like closing the boyfriend loophole have been celebrated, gun control advocates and progressive lawmakers have criticized the legislation for taking steps to increase criminalization through a provision meant to reduce gun trafficking, which opponents say would enhance the criminal legal system and put the enforcement mechanism into the hands of untrustworthy police departments.

    “If we’re talking about just using this as an excuse to dramatically increase an enforcement mechanism that we know is not capable, right now, of preventing mass shootings, then I’m not really interested in doing something for show for the American public,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) said last week when an outline of the bill first came out.

    Advocates have also taken issue with several provisions in the bill that they say distract from the actual root causes of gun violence, including misogyny, far right ideologies and the multibillion dollar gun industry and their deep-pocketed lobbyists. Instead, they say, the bill helps to pin the U.S.’s gun violence epidemic on issues like mental health or the amount of doors in schools.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Amazon’s “Inadequate” Safety Rules Put Thousands at Risk, AOC and Warren Say

    Investigations into Amazon’s safety procedures surrounding the tornado that caused the deaths of six workers in a warehouse in Illinois last year have demonstrated that the company’s safety rules are “wholly inadequate,” Democratic lawmakers say.

    On Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Cori Bush (D-Missouri) sent a letter to Amazon’s chairman Jeff Bezos and CEO Andy Jassy criticizing the company for doing the “bare minimum” to protect its workers from danger.

    The letter comes after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found in an investigation, released late last month, that the company’s safety protocols met minimum legal requirements but were still lacking in several key areas that could have helped the employees be more prepared in the event of a natural disaster.

    “Although Amazon told us in its January 3, 2022 response that ‘safety is our top priority,’ the OSHA findings revealed glaring gaps in Amazon’s safety procedures, including flawed safety training, inadequate emergency procedures, and the inability of Amazon managers to follow the procedures that were in place,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

    The lawmakers further went on to say that the company needs to update its safety protocols to better protect its nearly 1 million warehouse workers across the country. “These findings reveal a wholly inadequate safety culture at Amazon, which potentially contributed to the death of six workers and, if not addressed, will continue to put thousands more workers across the country at risk.”

    Wednesday’s letter follows up on a note that Amazon sent in January in response to the lawmakers’ first letter to the company, shortly after six workers were killed when a tornado caused an Amazon warehouse to collapse in Edwardsville, Illinois. Workers said that the company’s policy disallowing workers from having their phones at work and the company’s lack of comprehensive disaster safety training may have contributed to the deaths.

    In the company’s response to the lawmakers, Amazon Vice President of Public Policy Brian Huseman provided some details about the warehouse and boasted that the company spent $300 million on safety matters in 2021. Huseman also said that the company was conducting an internal investigation into the incident.

    But while Amazon has promised to become “Earth’s Safest Place to Work,” reports have found that its warehouses are actually uniquely dangerous places to work in. Last month, a report by the Strategic Organizing Center found that the company’s injury rate increased between 2020 and 2021 and that nearly half of the workplace injuries in the entire U.S. warehouse sector last year happened at Amazon facilities. Amazon employs only about a third of warehouse workers in the country.

    According to the lawmakers’ latest letter, Amazon’s response appeared to have stretched the truth on how managers responded to the tornado. While Amazon claimed that managers “immediately implemented the facility’s emergency action plan for a tornado” when the warning was received, the lawmakers note that OSHA’s findings contradict that account of events.

    OSHA found that managers couldn’t implement the plan because the megaphone meant to be used for an emergency was “locked in a cage and not accessible.” Managers instead had to communicate verbally with employees, leading to a “chaotic emergency situation.”

    “The OSHA inspection and your response to our letter indicate that Amazon will do only the bare minimum – and sometimes less than that – to keep its workers safe,” Warren, Ocasio-Cortez and Bush wrote. They urge the company to comply with a House Committee on Oversight and Reform request for documents in its investigation into the company’s safety practices.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Sanders, Bush Unveil Bill to Use the Defense Production Act to Fund Clean Energy

    As President Joe Biden doubles down on fossil fuels amid high gas prices, Democratic and progressive lawmakers have introduced a bill to instead make investments in renewable energy to lower utility prices and boost energy independence in the U.S.

    The Energy Security and Independence Act, introduced Wednesday by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representatives Cori Bush (D-Missouri) and Jason Crow (D-Colorado), would set the stage for Biden to invoke the Defense Production Act to spur renewable energy production in the U.S. It would authorize $100 billion in funding to do so, and would ensure that at least 40 percent of the funds are used in communities that are on the front lines of the climate crisis.

    The bill comes in wake of conservative calls to increase oil and gas production in response to gas prices shooting up due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Though climate deniers often claim that increasing domestic production of fossil fuels is a pathway to achieving energy independence, experts say that the U.S. will always depend on international energy producers as long as the country is largely reliant on fossil fuels.

    Last week, Biden announced that his administration will start unleashing oil from the U.S.’s strategic oil reserve in order to combat high gas prices, though some experts have said that not focusing on boosting renewable energies is a missed opportunity for him and the climate.

    “The days of energy security being synonymous with a reliance on human rights violators like Russia and Saudi Arabia, or a propagation of corporate profits for Exxon, Chevron, and BP, are over,” Bush said in a statement.

    “When we talk about energy security, it’s time we include the safety of Black and brown lives in that definition,” Bush continued, noting that notions of energy security should also take energy affordability, efficiency and the climate crisis into account.

    The bill would maintain momentum from renewable energy investments by creating a Domestic Renewable Energy Industrial Base Task Force in order to chart an all-of-government plan to move toward 100 percent renewable energy. It would provide funding for home weatherization and supply chain improvements.

    Lawmakers also hope to fund heat pump installation as climate advocates hail electric heat pumps as a far more efficient and climate-friendly home heating and cooling method. The bill would create “good, union jobs” to perform such installations, according to its fact sheet.

    “Today, with rising prices on essential items and Russia’s horrific war in Ukraine, it is clear now more than ever: Addressing climate change and energy dependence is not just an environmental issue, it is a matter of national security,” Sanders said. “Not only would this legislation help us combat climate change and strengthen energy security and independence in the U.S., but it will help working families save money on their utility bills, create good, union jobs, and take on the greed of oligarchs both here and abroad.”

    The bill has 27 House cosponsors, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and other progressive squad members. The bill’s six Senate cosponsors include Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts). It also has the endorsement of over 80 climate and progressive organizations.

    Biden has shown a willingness to kickstart climate-related products with the Defense Production Act, a wartime provision used to spur production of products deemed crucial for national security. Last week, he invoked the Defense Production Act to compel mining and processing for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage facilities.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Democrats Schedule First COVID-Era Hearing on Medicare for All

    Rep. Cori Bush speaks at a House Judiciary Committee hearing at the U.S. Capitol on October 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

    Democrats in the House Oversight Committee have scheduled the first hearing to consider Medicare for All since the onset of the pandemic, as progressive lawmakers wage a new push for the proposal.

    Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-New York) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) will lead the hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, to consider proposals for universal health care and to assess the ways that the U.S.’s primarily private health care system is affecting people without insurance.

    The hearing will also feature Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-New York), Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts), as well as testimony from big names in the Medicare for All sphere, like activist Ady Barkan and economics professor Jeffrey Sachs, among others.

    “We deserve a health care system that prioritizes people over profits, humanity over greed, and compassion over exploitation,” Bush wrote on Thursday. “That’s why we’re holding our first Medicare for All hearing since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy will save lives.”

    This is the latest move in progressive lawmakers’ recent push to revive the campaign for Medicare for All, which has been relatively dormant in Congress for several years; the last time Democrats held a hearing on the subject was 2019.

    In the hearing, lawmakers will cover Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s (D-Washington) Medicare for All Act, which would establish a single-payer health care system and which recently surpassed a record 120 cosponsors. Democrats will also discuss inequities faced by non-white people, people with disabilities and LGBTQ people, who are disproportionately underinsured or uninsured.

    “As chairwoman of the Oversight Committee,” Maloney told The Nation, “I am holding this hearing to examine how the gaps in our current system threaten the health of the most vulnerable among us and how Congress can ensure that every person in this country has access to high-quality health care — no matter who they are.”

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) recently announced that he is planning to reintroduce his Medicare for All legislation; the last time he did so was in 2019.

    “In the midst of the current set of horrors — war, oligarchy, pandemics, inflation, climate change, etc. — we must continue the fight to establish healthcare as a human right, not a privilege,” Sanders wrote. The Vermont lawmaker also recently called for all medical debt to be abolished.

    The hearing comes during a pandemic that has exposed major cracks in the U.S. health care system. In the early months of the pandemic, an estimated 7.7 million people lost health care coverage after losing their jobs, leaving them in the lurch as COVID-19 swept the U.S., the only wealthy country in the world that doesn’t have universal health care.

    As the pandemic continues, disparities in pandemic-related health outcomes have become even more clear. A survey last year found that about 1 in every 3 COVID deaths and 40 percent of cases are linked to a lack of health insurance. Another study found that for every 10 percent increase in a county’s rate of uninsured people, the county experienced 70 percent more COVID infections and 50 percent more deaths.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Who Has Power and How Do They Wield It?

    Washington, D.C.: The Difficulties of Firing Police Officers

    A group of hackers attacked the Metropolitan Police Department in 2021, leaking 250 gigabytes of data and confidential files.

    Buried in tens of thousands of records, Reveal reporter Dhruv Mehrotra found a disturbing pattern. Records of disciplinary decisions showed that an internal panel of high-ranking officers kept some troubled officers on the force – even after department investigators substantiated allegations of criminal misconduct and recommended they be fired.

    Aurora, Colorado: ‘Excited Delirium’ and Ketamine in Police Confrontations 

    When Elijah McClain was stopped by police in Aurora, Colorado, in 2019, he was injected with a powerful sedative, ketamine, and died after suffering cardiac arrest. His death sparked widespread protests.

    KUNC reporters Michael de Yoanna and Rae Solomon covered McClain’s case, and it made them wonder how often paramedics and law enforcement use ketamine and why. What they found led to real change.

    St. Louis: The History of Prisoner Disenfranchisement Laws in Missouri

    Prisoner disenfranchisement laws have been on the books since the founding of our nation and disproportionately affect voters of color. 

    Reveal Investigative Fellow and St. Louis Public Radio journalist Andrea Henderson reports from Missouri, where about 63,000 formerly incarcerated people could not vote in the last presidential election. She speaks to a community activist who credits getting his right to vote restored as the start of putting him on his current path.

    This post was originally published on Reveal.

  • Black Congresswomen Urge Biden to Pick Civil Rights Champion for Supreme Court

    Rep. Cori Bush attends a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol on December 10, 2021.

    A group of Black women in Congress led by Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Thursday, applauding his pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court and urging him to choose someone with a strong civil rights record.

    “The nomination of a Black woman is not mere symbolism; it is an essential step for our country’s promise of justice for all,” the group wrote. “It is therefore of utmost importance that the Administration appoints a Black woman with a strong track record of advancing civil and constitutionally protected rights and whose work has shown dedication to affirming the rights of our country’s most marginalized communities.”

    As the lawmakers pointed out, there are zero Black women in the Senate, where the nominee will be considered. If Biden holds to his promise and a Black woman is confirmed by the chamber, she will be the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. She would also be the sixth woman to serve as a justice in the court’s history.

    “History shows that the appointment of a Black justice with a strong record of affirming constitutional rights is crucial in confronting this country’s racial, civil rights, and democratic crises,” the lawmakers wrote. “As we approach this historic appointment to the Supreme Court, during a time of similarly long standing and unprecedented crises, the American people will be well served with the appointment of a Black woman to the bench who has an equally powerful record of advancing civil rights.”

    The lawmakers cited cases that have been transformative for civil rights, like Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. They also cited Shelley v. Kraemer, in which justices ruled that it is unconstitutional to prevent someone from owning property in certain covenants based on their race.

    Black scholars have also spoken out about this issue, pointing out that representation has its limits if the person who is nominated isn’t willing to fight for the people that they represent. Progressive lawmakers have called for a nominee who is committed to advancing issues of justice.

    “Of course, there is just an absolute abundance of legal genius, and Black women legal genius in this country, so I also think we need to make sure that the nominee is also advancing the administration’s values,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) recently told The Independent. “That they’re pro-labor, that they will be a champion for voting rights and for protection of people’s ability to vote and also organize their workplace, among many other things.”

    Progressives have been wary of some of Biden’s picks so far, citing their previous rulings on issues like climate, labor and the criminal legal system.

    Labor groups have raised concerns about one of Biden’s leading picks, Judge J. Michelle Childs, because she has a history as a management-side lawyer, working on behalf of employers who were facing allegations of racism or union busting. As a district court judge, Childs has ruled against incarcerated people who alleged that they were facing abusive conditions; some of those rulings were so punitive that they were eventually overturned.

    Instead, progressive advocates have said that someone like Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson would be a strong choice; as Truthout previously reported, if appointed, she would be the only Supreme Court justice to have represented criminal defendants since Thurgood Marshall, who retired from the Court in 1991.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • The Political Philosophy of Care

    In Reckoning: Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements, Deva Woodly makes a case for radical Black feminist pragmatism, a philosophy “that takes lessons from many twentieth-century ideologies and forges them into a political ethic for our times.”

    This post was originally published on Dissent MagazineDissent Magazine.

  • Ocasio-Cortez and Warren Pressure Amazon to Explain Its Role in Tornado Deaths

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez attends a press conference during COP26 on November 10, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.

    Progressive lawmakers are seeking answers on Amazon’s role in deaths caused by a warehouse collapse earlier this month after reports emerged showing that the company didn’t allow employees to leave even when a tornado was about to strike.

    In an effort led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Cori Bush (D-Missouri), lawmakers have demanded that Amazon explain “what happened at your Edwardsville warehouse and whether your policies may have contributed to this tragedy.”

    On December 10, a string of tornadoes tore through parts of the South and Midwest. One of these tornadoes ripped through an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, causing it to collapse and killing six workers.

    Reports released after the collapse put the company’s policies under scrutiny. Texts sent that night from Larry Virden, one of the workers who died, suggested that managers weren’t allowing employees to leave when it was clear that there would be a window of safety before the tornado hit. Workers at other warehouses noted that a company policy banning employees from having phones at work might have put lives in danger, and that the company didn’t adequately prepare workers for emergencies, if at all.

    In their 10-page letter to Amazon, the Democrats seek answers to a long list of questions about Amazon’s safety policies, requesting a response no later than January 3. The letter includes questions about the company’s inclement weather and phone policies, and asks the company to provide details on previous deaths that have happened on site.

    The letter was signed by 23 members of Congress, including Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), Ayanna Pressley (D-Massachusetts) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan).

    The letter points out that Amazon has a long history of perpetuating unsafe conditions for their workers. “Amazon profits should never come at the cost of workers’ lives, health, and safety,” the lawmakers wrote. They then praised the investigation into the collapse by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

    “With atrocious conditions for workers, including constant surveillance and intolerance for bathroom breaks during grueling, 11-hour shifts, Amazon literally grinds down the bodies of its workers,” the lawmakers continued. “These are just the everyday costs of Amazon’s inhumane business model. As the Edwardsville tragedy shows, the stakes are even higher in emergencies.”

    During Hurricane Ida in September, for instance, the company kept a New York warehouse open as the city flooded; in past years, the company has kept warehouses open and made delivery drivers stay on their routes during extreme weather events, despite the dangers posed to the workers. During a record heat wave in the West earlier this year, warehouses stayed open even as workers complained about rising temperatures, including at one facility where the temperatures reportedly reached nearly 90 degrees.

    These problems are underscored by the fact that Amazon has been accused of union busting for years, raising concerns that its workers don’t have the collective power to demand safer working conditions. In their letter, Congress members condemned the company for its anti-union efforts, calling the deaths on December 10th “a sobering reminder of how dangerous it is when workers are denied collective bargaining power.”

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • AOC Warned About Manchin’s Betrayal. Democratic Leaders Chose to Ridicule Her.

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

    It seems like almost forever since Cassandra of Troy — blessed with the power to predict the future, cursed by the fact that no one would believe her — has been in the news, but she’s back this week with a thunderclap and yet another, “I told you so.”

    Her name this time is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — and Representatives Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and everyone else who knew and foretold that Sen. Joe Manchin would ultimately stab President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, his own state and the world in the back to keep his precious coal safe from the environmental protections contained within the Build Back Better (BBB) Act.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden assured the Congressional Progressive Caucus that they could bring Senator Manchin along on the BBB Act if the caucus relented and allowed a separate vote on the infrastructure bill. The caucus refused, correctly believing that splitting the two would doom the BBB, and the stalemate stood until Manchin started making noises about bolting from the party. After that, it became about “acting responsibly,” and the Progressive Caucus took party leadership at their word. On Sunday, both the leadership and the caucus were betrayed by Manchin in a move the latest reincarnation of Cassandra saw from way up high on the walls of Troy.

    “When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving [the infrastructure bill] before BBB instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position,” Representative Ocasio-Cortez gritted on Twitter. “Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve.”

    Representative Pressley also chimed in. “He has continued to move the goal post,” she told CNN. “He has never negotiated in good faith and he is obstructing the president’s agenda.”

    Bush, too, foresaw what was coming. “We have been saying this, for weeks, that this would happen,” she told MSNBC, “having [BBB and infrastructure bills] coupled together was the only leverage we had. And what did the caucus do? We tossed it.”

    To hear Manchin tell it, he came to his decision because the BBB Act was an actual threat to the country, instead of a small dose of the medicine it desperately needs. He pointed to COVID-19 and inflation as reasons for his decision, but Representative Omar was having none of it.

    “We all knew that Senator Manchin couldn’t be trusted,” Omar told MSNBC. “The excuses that he just made, I think, are complete bullshit. It is really disheartening to hear him say that he has been trying to get there for the people of West Virginia because that’s a complete lie. The people of West Virginia would greatly benefit from their families having access to long-term elderly care and care for folks with disabilities. They would benefit from the expansion of the child tax credits.”

    Pause a moment with that. “West Virginia is the second-poorest U.S. state, with a $48,850 median household income and a poverty rate of 17.54 percent,” according to World Population Review.

    Contained within the BBB Act was an expansion of the child tax credit that has, over the last year, lifted millions of children out of poverty all across the country. In West Virginia, the lapse of the credit — a foregone conclusion with Manchin’s decision — could plunge 50,000 children back into poverty. “One in five West Virginia children is estimated to live in poverty,” reports the Associated Press, “and 93 percent of children in the state are eligible for the [tax credit] payments, tied for the highest rates in the country.”

    “So that’s where the United States of America is now,” reports The New Republic, “behind Mongolia and all those other countries, all because of one man — and the power that is given to him by the structure of our national legislature. West Virginia will keep falling behind. And Joe Manchin can watch it all unfold through the windows of his Maserati.”

    There is apparently direct evidence to the effect of Representative Omar’s conclusion that the excuses Manchin made “are complete bullshit.” According to several Senate colleagues, Manchin “essentially doesn’t trust low-income people to spend government money wisely,” reports HuffPost. “In recent months, Manchin has told several of his fellow Democrats that he thought parents would waste monthly child tax credit payments on drugs instead of providing for their children, according to two sources familiar with the senator’s comments. Manchin’s private comments shocked several senators, who saw it as an unfair assault on his own constituents and those struggling to raise children in poverty.”

    And the penny drops. The great inflation fighter, the cost cutter, the responsible one in a sea of leftist binge-spending, is revealed to be just another 1 percenter who hates the people who elected him but loves the power they give him. Maybe this dramatic break with his party means he’ll bail on the Democrats, become an Independent, and run for president, right? There’s chatter about it.

    At the bottom of it all, however, is the same old hatred of poor and working-class people, the same utter indifference to the stones they carry on their backs every bleeding day of the year. That, and the coal, of course. Always the coal.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • AOC Warned About Manchin’s Betrayal. Democratic Leaders Chose to Ridicule Her.

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

    It seems like almost forever since Cassandra of Troy — blessed with the power to predict the future, cursed by the fact that no one would believe her — has been in the news, but she’s back this week with a thunderclap and yet another, “I told you so.”

    Her name this time is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — and Representatives Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and everyone else who knew and foretold that Sen. Joe Manchin would ultimately stab President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, his own state and the world in the back to keep his precious coal safe from the environmental protections contained within the Build Back Better (BBB) Act.

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Biden assured the Congressional Progressive Caucus that they could bring Senator Manchin along on the BBB Act if the caucus relented and allowed a separate vote on the infrastructure bill. The caucus refused, correctly believing that splitting the two would doom the BBB, and the stalemate stood until Manchin started making noises about bolting from the party. After that, it became about “acting responsibly,” and the Progressive Caucus took party leadership at their word. On Sunday, both the leadership and the caucus were betrayed by Manchin in a move the latest reincarnation of Cassandra saw from way up high on the walls of Troy.

    “When a handful of us in the House warned this would happen if Dem leaders gave Manchin everything he wanted 1st by moving [the infrastructure bill] before BBB instead of passing together, many ridiculed our position,” Representative Ocasio-Cortez gritted on Twitter. “Maybe they’ll believe us next time. Or maybe people will just keep calling us naïve.”

    Representative Pressley also chimed in. “He has continued to move the goal post,” she told CNN. “He has never negotiated in good faith and he is obstructing the president’s agenda.”

    Bush, too, foresaw what was coming. “We have been saying this, for weeks, that this would happen,” she told MSNBC, “having [BBB and infrastructure bills] coupled together was the only leverage we had. And what did the caucus do? We tossed it.”

    To hear Manchin tell it, he came to his decision because the BBB Act was an actual threat to the country, instead of a small dose of the medicine it desperately needs. He pointed to COVID-19 and inflation as reasons for his decision, but Representative Omar was having none of it.

    “We all knew that Senator Manchin couldn’t be trusted,” Omar told MSNBC. “The excuses that he just made, I think, are complete bullshit. It is really disheartening to hear him say that he has been trying to get there for the people of West Virginia because that’s a complete lie. The people of West Virginia would greatly benefit from their families having access to long-term elderly care and care for folks with disabilities. They would benefit from the expansion of the child tax credits.”

    Pause a moment with that. “West Virginia is the second-poorest U.S. state, with a $48,850 median household income and a poverty rate of 17.54 percent,” according to World Population Review.

    Contained within the BBB Act was an expansion of the child tax credit that has, over the last year, lifted millions of children out of poverty all across the country. In West Virginia, the lapse of the credit — a foregone conclusion with Manchin’s decision — could plunge 50,000 children back into poverty. “One in five West Virginia children is estimated to live in poverty,” reports the Associated Press, “and 93 percent of children in the state are eligible for the [tax credit] payments, tied for the highest rates in the country.”

    “So that’s where the United States of America is now,” reports The New Republic, “behind Mongolia and all those other countries, all because of one man — and the power that is given to him by the structure of our national legislature. West Virginia will keep falling behind. And Joe Manchin can watch it all unfold through the windows of his Maserati.”

    There is apparently direct evidence to the effect of Representative Omar’s conclusion that the excuses Manchin made “are complete bullshit.” According to several Senate colleagues, Manchin “essentially doesn’t trust low-income people to spend government money wisely,” reports HuffPost. “In recent months, Manchin has told several of his fellow Democrats that he thought parents would waste monthly child tax credit payments on drugs instead of providing for their children, according to two sources familiar with the senator’s comments. Manchin’s private comments shocked several senators, who saw it as an unfair assault on his own constituents and those struggling to raise children in poverty.”

    And the penny drops. The great inflation fighter, the cost cutter, the responsible one in a sea of leftist binge-spending, is revealed to be just another 1 percenter who hates the people who elected him but loves the power they give him. Maybe this dramatic break with his party means he’ll bail on the Democrats, become an Independent, and run for president, right? There’s chatter about it.

    At the bottom of it all, however, is the same old hatred of poor and working-class people, the same utter indifference to the stones they carry on their backs every bleeding day of the year. That, and the coal, of course. Always the coal.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Gosar Faces Calls to Resign After Sharing an Animated Video of Him Killing AOC

    Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks with members of the media before a Green New Deal For Public Housing Town Hall on December 14, 2019, in the Queens borough of New York City.

    Calls for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) to be removed from Congress are growing after he shared a video on Monday depicting an anime sequence of him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and attacking President Joe Biden.

    The video, which has since been flagged by Twitter, is an altered version of the theme song for the popular anime show “Attack on Titan.” At one point in the video, the faces of Representatives Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Georgia) and Gosar are superimposed on anime characters fighting together to defeat Ocasio-Cortez, whose face is overlaid onto a titan, a monstrous creature from the show that eats human beings.

    In the video, Gosar is depicted slicing the back of Ocasio-Cortez’s neck, killing her. Shortly after, Gosar is shown moving in to attack Biden, holding two swords up to a picture of the president that enters the frame.

    Interspersed with the clips of animated violence are videos of asylum seekers at the border crossing the Rio Grande, with — disturbingly — a blood splatter filter imposed over the footage. The words “drugs,” “crime,” “poverty,” “money,” “murder,” “gangs,” “violence” and “trafficking” flash across the screen, followed by videos glorifying Customs and Border Protection agents, almost as if to show the agents hunting down the asylum seekers.

    Ocasio-Cortez, who is currently in Scotland attending the COP26 climate summit, responded to the video on Twitter. “So while I was en route to Glasgow, a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me,” she wrote. “And he’ll face no consequences because [House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California)] cheers him on with excuses.”

    “This dude is just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway,” the New York lawmaker went on. “White supremacy is for extremely fragile people and sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.”

    Gosar’s office dismissed criticisms of the video depicting an animated version of him murdering the popular Democratic lawmaker. “Everyone needs to relax,” a spokesperson for Gosar said.

    Many lawmakers have condemned Gosar for posting the video, some calling for his removal. “Every day these white supremacists push the limits further and further to see how far they can go without consequences. This puts lives in danger,” wrote Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri). “Enough with the violent bigotry. Expel this white supremacist clown.”

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) echoed this call, saying, “This man should not serve in Congress. Fantasizing about violently attacking your colleagues has no place in our political discourse and society.”

    In a tweet thread, Ocasio-Cortez pointed out that this isn’t the first time she’s faced violent or vulgar threats from Republican colleagues. Last year, a reporter overheard Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida) accosting Ocasio-Cortez in a stairwell over her comments suggesting that unemployment and general financial instability were causing more incidences of theft during the pandemic. After a short exchange, Yoho called Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch.”

    Ocasio- Cortez also pointed out that she has been the subject of repeated harassment from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Earlier this year, Greene screamed at Ocasio-Cortez in an incident that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) categorized as “verbal assault.”

    Ocasio-Cortez has previously described fearing for her life during the extremist right-wing attack on the Capitol on January 6, which organizers of the attack have said was planned in part by Gosar and Greene. The lawmakers have previously faced calls to resign for their alleged participation in the attack and — in Greene’s case — her tendency to make violent threats.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • With Only 23 Percent of Rental Aid Distributed, Warren and Bush Demand Answers

    Tenants and housing activists march in the streets of Bushwick on July 1, 2020, in Brooklyn, New York.

    Distribution of federal rental assistance funds has plateaued, prompting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Cori Bush (D-Missouri) to send a letter to the Treasury Department seeking answers on why the disbursement has been so slow.

    Last week, the Treasury Department released data showing that, as of the end of September, less than a quarter of federal rental aid had been disbursed and that previous progress on the rate of distribution had fallen off. In their letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Warren and Bush expressed concern over the program’s rollout.

    “Millions of households currently at risk for eviction desperately await the funds from the Consolidated Appropriations Act (ERA1) and the American Rescue Plan (ERA2) to remain housed as COVID-19 continues to cause staggering economic and health crises,” they wrote.

    “Despite the high level of emergency financial need that has persisted as early as March 2020, these households continue to wait in vain while eviction proceedings loom threateningly,” the lawmakers continued. They then pointed out that Missouri has only distributed about 22 percent of its allocated funds to households in need, despite having the second-highest eviction filing rate during the pandemic.

    Though they praised the Treasury Department for releasing new guidance last month to help local governments distribute their aid, Warren and Bush suggested that the department take further steps to clarify how the aid could be better distributed. They also asked the agency to release detailed statistics on the aid program, including the number of households that have applied but been rejected from receiving aid, and demographic data on applicants.

    “Families across the country have faced eviction during this pandemic — only to have emergency rental assistance be slow-moving and often inaccessible,” Bush said, adding that she and Warren are seeking “answers … on how this program will be fixed.”

    The letter was signed by over 50 members of Congress, including progressive lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) and Jamaal Bowman (D-New York). The lawmakers gave Yellen until next week to respond.

    Only about $10.7 billion of the $46.5 billion in rental aid authorized by Congress last December had been disbursed by the end of September, despite a September 30 deadline to have the aid distributed or else risk losing the funding. Ever since the eviction moratorium was shot down by the Supreme Court at the end of August, housing advocates and lawmakers have been urging local governments to speed up distribution.

    According to data from Princeton’s Eviction Lab, evictions are spiking in some cities that don’t have an eviction moratorium, including Houston, Dallas and Kansas City, Missouri. In September, Warren and Bush introduced a bill that would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to implement federal eviction moratoriums in emergencies, but the bill faces long odds in the House and the deeply divided Senate.

    Activists say that although aid is desperately needed, many local rental assistance programs are marred by red tape and bureaucracy, with applicants having to provide “proof” of their suffering and desperate need. Some governments set up inadequate systems of distribution that resulted in a significant portion of the money being used for other purposes; others tried to distribute money to landlords, only for the landlords to refuse the funds, which is illegal in some places.

    Meanwhile, while landlords decried the eviction moratorium and real estate groups poured millions into ending the policy, new data reveals that landlords have fared relatively well since the moratorium was put into place. An analysis released this week by JPMorgan Chase found that although landlords did lose some money at the beginning of the pandemic, when millions of people were getting laid off or furloughed, they bounced back by May and June of 2020.

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Joe Manchin “Does Not Get to Dictate the Future,” Says Cori Bush

    Rep. Cori Bush speaks to the press on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on October 28, 2021.

    Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri blasted Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday for once again threatening to tank the Build Back Better Act, a safety net and climate proposal that the West Virginia lawmaker and other corporate Democrats have already watered down by removing key provisions and slashing funding for the remaining programs.

    “Joe Manchin does not get to dictate the future of our country,” Bush said in a statement Monday evening after Manchin — a necessary swing vote in the evenly split U.S. Senate — publicly refused to support the latest iteration of Democrats’ reconciliation package, whose top-line was cut from $3.5 trillion over 10 years to $1.75 trillion in an effort to appease a small group of conservatives.

    “I do not trust his assessment of what our communities need the most,” the Missouri Democrat continued. “I trust the parents in my district who can’t get to their shift without childcare. I trust the scientists who have shown us what our future will look like if we fail to meaningfully address the climate crisis. I trust the patients and doctors crying out for comprehensive health coverage for every person in America.”

    During a press conference on Monday, Manchin insisted that the House approve a Senate-passed $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure package before moving ahead with the broader reconciliation bill, which has the backing of a strong majority of Democrats in Congress and the party’s voters.

    “I’m open to supporting a final bill that helps move our country forward,” Manchin said of the reconciliation package, “but I am equally open to voting against a bill that hurts our country and the American people.”

    In response to Manchin, Bush argued that the bipartisan measure “overwhelmingly” excludes vulnerable communities, echoing the longstanding progressive critique of legislation that the West Virginia Democrat — a fossil fuel industry ally and coal profiteer — helped craft. For months, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) have said they are willing to vote for the bipartisan package only if the Build Back Better Act is advanced simultaneously.

    “We cannot spend the next year saying, ‘The House did its part, and now it’s the Senate’s turn.’ We need the Senate to actually get this done,” Bush, the CPC’s deputy whip, said Monday. “Joe Manchin’s opposition to the Build Back Better Act is anti-Black, anti-child, anti-woman, and anti-immigrant. When we talk about transformative change, we are talking about a bill that will benefit Black, brown, and Indigenous communities.”

    “We cannot leave anyone behind,” she added. “Senator Manchin must support the Build Back Better Act.”

    Despite Manchin’s comments on Monday, progressive leaders expressed confidence that the Build Back Better Act remains on track for a vote as lawmakers race to iron out final details, including a prescription drug plan that was axed from the updated reconciliation framework unveiled last week.

    CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told reporters Monday that her caucus is prepared for a vote on the Build Back Better Act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill as soon as this week even if Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) — another key Democratic holdout — don’t publicly vow to support the reconciliation package.

    “We are going to do our work in the House and let the Senate do its work,” Jayapal said. “But we’re tired of, you know, just continuing to wait for one or two people.”

    Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), the CPC whip, told The Intercept’s Ryan Grim Monday that “it’s time to call [Manchin’s] bluff” by pushing the reconciliation measure and the bipartisan bill through the House.

    Given that progressives previously insisted that the Senate approve the reconciliation package before a House vote on the bipartisan bill, Omar and Jayapal’s latest comments were viewed as an indication that the CPC is changing course after months of negotiations.

    “These bills will pass the House and everyone will get to see if Manchin is willing to vote it down,” Omar said Monday. “It is also time to see if the president [can] get his friend on board and get the votes for his agenda.”

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.