Congress

Call Congress: Revoke The FCC’s Decision To End Net Neutrality

December 16, 2017 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Congress, FCC, Internet Freedom, Net Neutrality

On December 14, Verizon lawyer turned chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Ajit Pai, led the effort to dismantle the net neutrality rules we fought for and won in 2015. Even though we lost this battle, we have not lost the struggle for Internet freedom and universal equal access. The next actions include: 1. Forcing Congress to revoke the decision using the Congressional Review Act. 2. Our allies challenging the decision in court. 3. And ultimately, taking our Internet back from the telecoms through municipal and other forms of public ownership. Please take action today to contact your members of Congress and tell them that the Internet is a public necessity, not a profit-maker for the giant telecoms. They must revoke the FCC's decision.

CODEPINK Protests Democrats Supporting Saudi Weapons Deals

December 13, 2017 news2share.com Resist! Congress, Electoral Politics, Protests, Saudi Arabia, weapons

It’s the holiday season in Washington, and Christmas carolers with bells and funny red hats are everywhere. But CODEPINK’s carolers weren’t interested in decking the halls with boughs of holly on Monday. Instead: “now’s the time to stop the killing.” CODEPINK visited Senate offices against a record-breaking arms deal with Saudi Arabia amid the ongoing Yemeni civil war and deepening proxy conflicts with Iran. Washington and Riyadh concluded the largest arms deal in American history in May, immediately providing the Saudis with billions in combat-ready equipment. Thousands protested the deal in the Yemeni capital, and a Saudi blockade imposed following an attempted missile attack by Houthi rebels stocked fears of a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Media Downplay Class Warfare As ‘GOP Victory’

December 8, 2017 Ben Norton, fair.org Educate! Class Struggle, Congress, Electoral Politics, Tax Reform, Taxes

By Ben Norton for FAIR - The fallacy of “neutral,” “both sides” journalism rings loud and clear in corporate media reporting on the Republican Party’s tax plan. The GOP bill, passed by the Senate in the early hours of December 2 and described by major media outlets as a “tax cut,” is in reality an explicit handout to large companies and the ultra-rich that will actually increase taxes on working-class Americans. But under the cover of a shallow understanding of “balance,” corporate media have internalized the outlandish idea that it is “partisan,” and thus not “neutral,” to acknowledge the undeniably destructive effects of particular political policies. These inconvenient facts are hence not emphasized in news reporting, and cannot be presented alone without being “balanced” with an opposing perspective—even if that contrary view is demonstrably false. In the case of the GOP legislation, which will slash the corporate tax rate and add some $1.4 trillion to the national debt, the deception took a variety of forms. The primary distortion, as noted, was portraying the Senate GOP bill as a massive “tax break.” Headlines and reports spoke of “tax cuts” and “tax breaks” vaguely, without indicating that the breaks were not for Americans as a whole, but rather for corporations and the rich.

Fossil Fuel Donors Shaped Anti-Climate Agenda Of Congressional Committee

December 7, 2017 Marianne Lavelle and David Hasemyer, insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Congress, Fossil Fuels, Lobbying

By Marianne Lavelle and David Hasemyer for Inside Climate News - FREDERICKSBURG, Texas—It's midway through fall, and cold has yet to settle over the Eckhardt family orchard. So, Diane Eckhardt waits with rising apprehension. Cold is the switch that triggers the growing sequence that by summer has limbs sagging with ripe, juicy peaches. The reliable chill season in Texas Hill Country allowed Eckhardt's grandfather, Otto, to start the family business here in the 1930s. But last year, with temperatures the warmest since 1939, Eckhardt's trees produced just 10 percent of their usual yield. And the year before, warm weather reduced production between 60 and 70 percent. Now, Eckhardt worries not only about the next crop, but about the future of a business she hopes will be passed on to her niece and nephews. "We know climate change is happening," she said. But while the Eckhardts face that certainty, their congressman sows uncertainty, casting doubt on the consensus science that greenhouse gases are the dominant cause of rising global temperatures, and opposing government action to curb them. Sixteen-term Republican Lamar Smith has used his power as chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee for the past five years to do battle on behalf of the fossil fuel industry. Embracing the arguments of a small group of climate contrarians, Smith acknowledges that warming is happening but says more research is needed to determine the amount and causes, and whether it does more good than harm.

Hundreds Storm Capitol Hill Offices To Denounce GOP Tax Bill

December 6, 2017 Julia Conley, commondreams.org Resist! Congress, Protests, Tax Reform, Taxes

By Julia Conley for Common Dreams - Outraged demonstrators arrested outside of Republican lawmakers' offices as House and Senate prepare #GOPTaxScam for conference committee. Opponents of the Republican tax plan moving through Congress showed they were not backing down on Tuesday as hundreds of protesters chanted "Kill the bill!" and "Tax the rich, not the sick!" as they assembled outside the offices of GOP lawmakers. While numerous arrests were made in the crowded hallways, the demonstrators made it clear that the fight to defeat the bill is not over yet. Demonstrators targeted Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Penn.), Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), and other Republicans who voted for the tax plan, visiting their offices and telling staffers how they would be impacted by the law. Both Costello and Comstock are up for re-election in 2018. Capitol Police began arresting protesters at about 2:30pm outside Costello's office, with chants of "Kill the bill, Costello!" continuing as people were led away in handcuffs.

FCC Wants To Kill Net Neutrality. Congress Will Pay

December 4, 2017 Ryan Singel, wired.com Resist! Congress, FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality

By Ryan Singel for WIred - FCC CHAIR AJIT Pai’s plan to repeal net neutrality provisions and reclassify broadband providers from “common carriers” to “information services” is an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers and a danger to the internet. The move would mean the FCC would have almost no oversight authority over broadband providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. For years, those broadband providers have used lawsuits and agency filings to fight FCC oversight and overturn its authority to prevent net neutrality abuses. But never in those companies’ most feverish dreams did they expect an FCC chair would propose to demolish all net neutrality protections and allow ISPs to extract tolls from every business in the country. Even industry analysts who expected the reclassification of broadband providers from Title II common carriers to Title I information services were stunned. Following Pai’s announcement, independent cable analyst Craig Moffett sent out an email to investors entitled "Shock and Awe and Net Neutrality," writing, “We've known since the election that the FCC would reverse Title II. But we never expected this. Yesterday’s FCC Draft Order on Net Neutrality went much further than we ever could've imagined in not only reversing Title II, but in dismantling virtually all of the important tenets of net neutrality itself.”

Congressman Bars Delivery Of Messages On Impacts Of GOP Tax Plan

December 1, 2017 Staff, texasaft.org Resist! Congress, Electoral Politics, Taxes

By Staff of Texas AFT - More than a dozen Houston-area educators and union leaders arrived at U.S. Rep. John Culberson’s office this afternoon prepared to hold a rally outside protesting the GOP “tax scam” and to deliver a flier outlining their objections to the legislation. But they were met by Houston police officers and private security guards who told them they were not welcome. Culberson represents the swath of west and northwest Houston where the educators live. “We had a flier prepared that highlighted one particularly egregious part of the House tax plan—the loss of the $250 deduction available to teachers who use their own money to buy supplies for their classroom,” said Nikki Cowart, president of Cy-Fair AFT, which represents teachers in Cy-Fair ISD. “But we were told we couldn’t send anyone in to talk to the congressman’s staff, and we were told by security to get off the premises.” Cowart said she had heard this wasn’t the first time that Culberson or his staff was unwilling to meet with constituents, but that she was shocked to find a police car waiting when they arrived. “Culberson is sending a clear signal that he doesn’t care what his constituents have to say and that he’d rather have uniformed officers greet them instead of a staff person willing to listen,” she said.

Washington’s War On Poor Grad Students

November 18, 2017 Jill Richardson, otherwords.org Educate! Congress, Higher Education

By Jill Richardson for Other Words - The Republican tax plan winding its way through Congress includes a special middle finger to the nation’s graduate students. It’s a little bit wonky, so stay with me here. I’ll explain how it affects me, since I’m an actual graduate student. Going to grad school would’ve been entirely out of reach for me if I had to pay full tuition for my education. Getting a PhD takes at least five years and often more. I don’t have a spouse, trust fund, or parents to cover my cost of living or my tuition. If I had to pay for my own education, it would’ve been simply out of the question. This is hardly uncommon. How many adults do you know can forego five or more years of income while simultaneously paying thousands of dollars in college tuition each year? Since the answer to that question is “not many,” universities employ graduate students as poorly paid labor in exchange for an education, health insurance, and a very low wage. In my case, I’ve worked as a teaching assistant for the past three years while also attending classes at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Other students worked as research assistants. A lucky few got funding that allowed them to pursue their own research. The rest of us had to work. Forbes mentions some magical places where graduate students are given stipends up to $50,000 per year. At Wisconsin, we weren’t so lucky.

Lawmakers Demand Tech Corps Censor Journalists And Conduct Surveillance

November 4, 2017 Andre Damon, wsws.org Educate! Congress, Freedom of Speech, Internet, Journalism, Mass Surveillance

By Andre Damon for WSWS - Wednesday’s hearings by the House and Senate Intelligence committees on “extremist” political views served as the occasion for members of Congress to urge technology companies to flagrantly violate the US Constitution by censoring political speech, carrying out mass surveillance, and muzzling journalists in pursuit of the government’s geopolitical aims. The hearings revolved around allegations, promoted ceaselessly in recent months by the intelligence agencies, leading figures within the Democratic Party, and newspapers such as the New York Times, that social opposition to the political establishment results from “fake news” promoted by Russia. As Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff put it, “Russia” promoted “discord in the US by inflaming passions on a range of divisive issues” and sought to “mobilize real Americans to sign online petitions and join rallies and protests.” The basic problem, however, as Schiff put it, is “not just foreign.” The algorithms used by Facebook and Twitter have the “consequence of widening divisions among our society.” Schiff complained: “What ends up percolating to the top of our feeds tends to be things we were looking for,” as opposed to US government propaganda disseminated by the establishment media, which he referred to as “true information.”

Big Tax Cuts Will Lead To Big Federal Budget Cuts

October 30, 2017 Sharon Parrott, www.cbpp.org Educate! Budget Cuts, Budgets, Congress, Taxes

By Sharon Parrott for CBPP - Many Republican policymakers are already talking about using the same fast-track process (“budget reconciliation”) next year to push large cuts in entitlement programs as they plan to use this year to push the tax cuts. Reconciliation bills can’t be filibustered, and they require only a simple majority to pass the Senate, unlike most legislation that requires 60 Senate votes. Roll Call reports that it “interviewed half a dozen House Budget Committee members, as well as a few other fiscal hawks in the GOP conference, and they all said that they anticipate mandatory spending cuts [i.e., cuts in entitlement programs] being a priority for the fiscal 2019 budget reconciliation process.” Indeed, some Republican lawmakers weren’t shy about their two-step strategy. “We dream those big dreams here,” Budget Committee member Rob Woodall said. “I’ll take half of that dream in tax reform, and then I’ll come back next spring for the other half.” Budget Committee Chair Diane Black similarly promised “some real attention on [deficit reduction] next year,” based on “the acknowledgement of our leadership,” Roll Call reports. Congressional Republicans could have chosen to write a single bill with both tax cuts and the program cuts (or tax increases) to pay for them.

Congress Asks Pentagon To Prepare To Intervene In Venezuela

October 7, 2017 Mision Verdad, www.telesurtv.net Educate! Congress, Democracy, Venezuela, Wars and Militarism

By Mision Verdad for TeleSur. The importance of the U.S. Congress in the country’s foreign policy matters is well known, just as it is the center of decision-making on finance and trade issues in relation to the corporate sector in general and, specifically, the military-industrial sector. In the U.S. Congress, important actors from outside the political bureaucracy play a decisive role in terms of lobbying and moving things along so as to favor their interests. In earlier articles, we reported how ExxonMobil has spared no expense to affect the focus of U.S. government policy decisions on Venezuela.

The ‘Monopoly Man’ Just Owned The Senate’s Equifax Hearing

October 6, 2017 Jenna Amatulli, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Congress, Lobbying, Money in Politics, New Economy

By Jenna Amatulli for The Huffington Post - Rich Uncle Pennybags apparently likes to spend his free time at Senate hearings. A person dressed up like the iconic monocled Monopoly mascot (who, in the game, does not actually wear a monocle) was seen sitting in the audience during the Senate Banking Committee hearing on the Equifax data breach on Wednesday. Amid former Equifax CEO Richard Smith’s testimony, many photos with the mysterious Rich Uncle Pennybags in the background cropped up on social media. The mascot’s appearance was the work of Public Citizen, a nonprofit advocacy organization that identifies itself as standing up to “corporate power” and holding the government accountable. They took credit for Pennybags’ appearance and tweeted that the intention behind the mascot’s presence was to say that “forced arbitration gives Equifax a monopoly over our justice system.” Additionally, Amanda Werner, a campaign manager for Public Citizen, tweeted a photo of herself as the Monopoly man with the following explanation: “The Monopoly Man is here to raise attention to Equifax’s get-out-of-jail-free card, forced arb.” Attached in that tweet is a press release from Public Citizen that features this quote by the organization’s president, Robert Weissman: “Forced arbitration gives companies like Wells Fargo and Equifax a monopoly over our system of justice by blocking consumers’ access to the courts.

For The Good Of All, Congress Must Ensure Net Neutrality

October 4, 2017 Jimmy Lee, www.chicagobusiness.com Resist! Congress, FCC, Internet, Net Neutrality

By Jimmy Lee for Crains Chicago Business - In less than a generation, the internet has grown from a curiosity—"something cool you gotta see"—to a core requirement of modern life—"something critical you gotta have." Education, jobs, social connection, entertainment, culture and politics have all moved almost entirely online. Most of the big national employers do not take paper job applications anymore and even the most basic rights like social protest and citizen organizing have gone digital. Black Lives Matters is a movement, but there's no denying it's also a hashtag. As an investor in and adviser to socially-minded startups—and as a parent of two young children—I spend a lot of time grappling with the question of how we can build a better world for the next generation. As the digital revolution remakes almost every aspect of our lives, it's more clear than ever that any forward-looking agenda must focus on expanding digital access and participation. We cannot build a more equal America, or a future with greater opportunity and economic mobility, if large numbers of Americans are stuck on the wrong side of a growing digital divide. The components of such an agenda are relatively straightforward and well understood. We must encourage the broadest possible effort to build new networks and wire unserved communities and give every American an affordable pathway to high-speed internet access.

Assange “Has Absolute Proof” Russia Did Not Meddle In US Elections

October 3, 2017 Alex Christoforou, www.mintpressnews.com Educate! Congress, Julian Assange, Russia, US elections

By Alex Christoforou for Mint Press News - “He’s the one guy that I think the American people and the people in the world need to hear, and he’s the one guy that now our intelligence agencies as well at the powers that be in Washington don’t want anybody to hear….” Last week The Duran reported that if there is one man on the planet that can settle the entire “Russia election meddling”, narrative spun by Hillary Clinton and John Podesta, that man is Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Assange is offering to prove without a shadow of a doubt that Russia did not meddle in the US elections, but for this information, Assange is asking for a pardon from POTUS Trump. The problem is that Trump is not being given this message by his White House team, and the Generals that control his Administration, specifically Chief of Staff General John Kelly. California Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher says he has seen the evidence that will disprove “Russia-Trump” collusion accusations once and for all, but he’s having a hard time getting his message through to the president. In an interview OAN, Rohrabacher was confident that the president will “get behind this” as soon he hears the message.

Lawmakers Demand U.S. Withdrawal From Saudi-Led War In Yemen

September 29, 2017 Dan De Luce, www.foreignpolicy.com Resist! Congress, Saudi Arabia, US Imperialism, US military, Yemen

By Dan De Luce for Foreign Policy - Four lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that would halt U.S. military assistance to the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen on grounds that Congress has never approved the American role in the war. Two House Republicans and two Democrats submitted the bill on Wednesday evening, but other lawmakers have already conveyed their support for the measure, congressional aides told Foreign Policy. The bill requires “the removal” of U.S. forces from the war in Yemen unless and until Congress votes to authorize the American assistance. For more than two years, the United States military has provided aerial refueling tankers and intelligence to the Saudi-led coalition waging war against Houthi rebels backed by Iran. “We aim to restore Congress as the constitutionally mandated branch of government that may declare war and retain oversight over it,” two sponsors, Democrats Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, wrote in a letter to colleagues that was obtained by FP. Although the bipartisan bill is unlikely to secure a majority in the House, it underscores growing concerns over Saudi Arabia’s handling of the war that is now at a stalemate on the battlefield. And it reflects growing unease at Congress over the U.S. role there, following previous attempts by lawmakers this year to rein in arms sales or other military assistance to Saudi Arabia...

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