Policy

How Tax Policy Created The 1%

April 24, 2017 Julia Ott, www.dissentmagazine.org Educate! Policy, Ruling Class, Taxes

By Julia Ott for Dissent - Last Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters across the country joined the Tax March, although most realized Trump won’t divulge anything about his taxes unless Congress or the courts take action. So we may never know the truth about Trump’s income and charitable contributions, about the conflicts of interest and the “emoluments” from foreign powers. Trump’s already said a lot about his taxes. In the first presidential debate, he famously boasted that his ostensibly legal tax avoidance strategies prove he’s “smart“—and by extension, so are the rest of the rich who do likewise. With Republicans controlling both the White House and Congress, the stage is set for massive tax cuts to reward those brilliant members of the 1 percent—unless popular ire over Trump’s tax filings can be translated into demands for tax justice. Polls suggest that Americans won’t stomach a tax plan that will enrich the rich at the expense of the rest. In 2016 Gallup found that 61 percent of Americans agreed that “upper income people” paid “too little” in taxes. And a majority (52 percent) concurred that “our government should redistribute wealth by heavy taxes on the rich.”

Is US Farm Policy Creating Another Dust Bowl In Age Of Climate Change?

March 23, 2017 Staff, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Climate Change, Farms, Policy

By Staff for Inside Climate News - Over the past decade, farmers in the Great Southern Plains have suffered the worst drought conditions since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. They've battled heat, dust storms and in recent weeks, fires that devoured more than 900,000 acres and killed thousands of cattle. These extreme conditions are being fueled by climate change. But a new report from an environmental advocacy group says they're also being driven by federal crop insurance policy that encourages farmers to continue planting crops on compromised land, year after year. "Dust bowl conditions are coming back. Drought is back. Dust storms are back. All the climate models show the weather getting worse," said Craig Cox of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which released the report Wednesday.

Protesters Blocked Road And Bridges Against Macri’s Hunger Policies

March 20, 2017 Staff, www.thedawn-news.org Resist! Argentina, Hunger, Policy, Protests

By Staff of The Dawn News - Hundreds of blockades around the Latin American country, cutting bridges and routes to the big cities, including Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Chaco, Formosa, were carried on by thousands of workers of the popular economy, people that is desperate by the level of violence that the economical policies unleashes towards the Argentinean inhabitants. The Confederation of Workers of the Popular Economy (CTEP), Standing Neighbourhoods, the Classist and Combative Current, the 19 and 20 Current of the CTEP, the Dignity Popular Movement, the Popular Front Dario Santillán, To Fight and Resist, Motherland, MULCS, FPDS...

“Freedom Cities” Campaign: Resistance Through Progress At Local Level

March 13, 2017 Ronald Newman, www.aclu.org Resist! Policy, Progressive

By Ronald Newman for ACLU - On Saturday night, people at more than 2,200 events around the nation tuned in for the inaugural event of People Power, a new platform harnessing nationwide grassroots resistance to the Trump administration’s assault on our Constitution and our values. At the event, we announced “Freedom Cities,” a campaign that provides a concrete plan for the People Power team to play offense in cities and towns across the country. Even before “Freedom Cities,” our grassroots activism has borne fruit, as evidenced by the incredible protests around the country that brought defeat to President Trump’s first attempt to ban Muslims and refugees.

How “Blue Lives Matter” Went From Reactive Slogan To White House Policy

February 11, 2017 Dara Lind, www.vox.com Educate! Donald Trump, Police, Policy, White House

By Dara Lind for Vox - They’re symbolic, but that doesn’t make them pointless. Trump is picking a side in a culture war that’s arisen in the past few years, with advocates for racial justice and improvements in police-community relations on one side, and law enforcement officers (and their supporters) who fear “anti-police” reforms on the other. There’s no reason that “Black Lives Matter” and “Blue Lives Matter” should necessarily be in conflict, because there’s no necessary trade-off between improved police-community relations and officer safety. It's the Blue Lives Matter side that's decided the two are zero-sum — and that any implication that police could do more to help communities of color puts officers in danger.

Poor People Could Get Even Hungrier Under Trump

February 7, 2017 Marissa Higgins, www.theestablishment.co Educate! Donald Trump, Policy, Poverty

By Marissa Higgins for The Establishment - Recognizing this potential, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced trial programs in seven states that will allow recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) programs to order their groceries from participating vendors online, including FreshDirect, Amazon, and smaller local vendors. The delivery program is being piloted in Maryland, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Washington this summer. If implemented nationwide, it could benefit the one in seven Americans who receive SNAP, including those who are disabled, elderly, and living in food deserts where access to brick-and-mortar shops is limited.

Big Gap Between Trump’s Promises To The Middle Class And His Policies

November 30, 2016 Josh Bivens, www.epi.org Educate! Donald Trump, Middle Class, Policy

By Josh Bivens for EPI - During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump promised that he would take the side of American workers against economic elites when evaluating policy. Yet, the policy proposals he put forth during the campaign had nothing in them that would actually help working- and middle-class Americans. Now that more plans and potential cabinet appointments are coming into focus, it looks worse than many of us thought even before the election.

Anti-Fascists Storm National Policy Institute Dinner

November 21, 2016 John Zangas, www.dcmediagroup.us Resist! Fascism, Policy

By John Zangas for DC Media Group - Washington, DC — Activists from Smash Racism DC, an anti-fascist group, confronted about 60 members of the National Policy Institute (NPI), a white nationalist think-tank, at a local restaurant where they were holding a dinner meeting Friday night. They barged into the dining area of Maggiano’s of Little Italy, chasing the self-proclaimed white “identifiers” upstairs. As meeting participants bolted upstairs, protesters chanted, “No Nazis, no KKK, no fascist USA!”

How Urban Governments Are Promoting Worker Co-ops

October 12, 2016 Michelle Camou, www.geo.coop Create! Cities, Cooperatives, Policy, Urban

By Michelle Camou for GEO - City governments are shaping up as key actors accelerating worker co-op development. It started in 2009 when the City of Cleveland accessed a federal guaranteed loan to help finance the Evergreen Cooperatives. Since then, nine more city governments have moved to promote worker cooperatives through municipal projects, initiatives, or policies because they want to reach people and communities often left out of mainstream economic development. Other city governments including Philadelphia are considering it now.

7 Simple Ways To Make Environmental Change In Your Community

October 11, 2016 Staff, www.grist.org Strategize! Environment, Policy

By Staff of Grist - You’re probably aware that the environment could be in better shape. (If this is news to you, might we suggest unsubscribing from Everything’s Peachy Monthly and peering through your soot-covered windows to the barren fields on the horizon. That brittle skeleton used to be a cow!) Luckily for the environment, though, you’re a strapping young idealist who’s ready to take to the streets, rock the vote, and effect some serious policy change.

Social Protest And Policy Attitudes: The Case Of 2006 Immigrant Rallies

September 28, 2016 Valerie Martinez-Ebers, www.ajps.org Strategize! Immigration, Policy, Protests

By Valerie Martinez-Ebers for AJPS - Mass demonstration has been characterized as the “defining trope of our times” (Andersen 2011). The scope and number of protests in one year alone was so exceptional that “The Protester” was recognized as the 2011 Person of the Year by Time magazine. Individuals participate in political protests for the purpose of making their opinion heard, in an attempt to influence public opinion and, ultimately, government actions.

Hundreds Of Groups Demand: Obama Leave Carbon In The Ground

July 13, 2016 Michael Saul, www.biologicaldiversity.org Resist! Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, Policy

By Michael Saul for Center for Biological Diversity - WASHINGTON— More than 250 climate, community and tribal organizations filed a landmark legal petition today calling on the Obama administration to halt all new fossil fuel leasing on federal lands — a step that would align U.S. energy policies with its climate goals and keep up to 450 billion tons of greenhouse gas pollution from entering the atmosphere. The petition, filed under the federal Administrative Procedures Act, calls on Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to place an immediate moratorium on new leases for federally managed, publicly owned oil, gas, tar sands and oil shale.

Who Should Make Policy, People Or The Politicians?

June 25, 2016 William John Cox, www.informationclearinghouse.info Create! 2016 Elections, Democracy, Policy

By William John Cox for Information Clearing House - June 23, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - In the midst of what undoubtedly will be the nastiest and most expensive presidential campaign in American history, it is important to remember that the question is not so much whether a candidate is a good or bad person, but rather what should and will be the policies, objectives, and consequences of her or his administration? What do the People of the United States really want and expect their government to do on their behalf? Who should make political policy, the People, or the politicians they elect to represent them?

Fracking, Failure Of Mainstream Greens And Corporate Control

June 23, 2016 Mark Hand, www.counterpunch.org Educate! Energy, Fracking, Policy

By Mark Hand for Counter Punch - The name of her new book is Frackopoly, but author Wenonah Hauter tackles issues beyond hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking. She writes about energy spats past and present, explaining why she believes the energy industry won most of these fights and succeeded in monopolizing U.S. energy policy-making over the past 100 years. But momentum, she notes, has shifted slightly toward the people over the past half-dozen years.

Come On In The Water’s Toxic

June 23, 2016 Eleanor Goldfield, www.youtube.com Resistance Report Gun Control, Guns, Policy

By Eleanor Goldfield for Act Out! - Meet the people making a killing off of death plus the how and why gun owners are pro gun control and WHY gun control is the only common sense policy available. Next up, the stand against fracked gas and oil pipelines is a national fight, being fought on local levels by activists all over the political and social spectrum -- and here's how you can get involved. But first – shots fired.

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