mpenadmin – Page 99

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0301

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape; End war in Yemen; I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School; The NRA Is Tanking! and more

FW: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape
FW: NYT Today’s Headlines: Today’s Headlines:
(1) As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
(2) Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
(3) Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War
FW: The FCC Gutted Net Neutrality. Congress Only Needs #OneMoreVote to Overturn Them
FW: The emperor has no clothes
FW: “The brutality of this war will be beyond the experience of any living soldier.”
FW: End war in Yemen
FW: I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School
FW: The NRA is in deep, deep trouble
FW: Demand that FedEx #DropTheNRA
FW: The NRA Is Tanking!
FW: Add your name >> End Gerrymandering Now

From: People For the American Way
Subject: This is the BLUE WAVE taking shape –>

RIGHT NOW, the most important election in the country is the special congressional election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district… and a BRAND NEW POLL of likely voters from Emerson University now has Democrat Conor Lamb BEATING radical Trump Republican Rick Saccone by 3 points!!!

We have the momentum! But there’s only ONE WEEK from tomorrow to lock up this CRUCIAL victory!

Democrats and progressives are being MASSIVELY outspent in this race by right-wing super PACs (including Paul Ryan’s).

Republicans are treating this race as an all-out emergency, because they know that if we can beat them here, it could solidify a national BLUE WAVE that flips control of the US House and maybe even the Senate!

Donate today to flip this GOP-held seat to the Democrats and to help us defeat Trump Republicans all across the country>>

The Republican, Trump-endorsed Rick Saccone, is a far-right extremist who:

says he was “Trump before Trump,”
has written extensively in support of torture,
once introduced legislation that would allow customers at Chuck E. Cheese to carry guns, and
when he was considering a run for Senate last year, told a Christian Nationalist radio program he was running because God wants Christians “to rule over us.”

Saccone would be another GOP rubberstamp for Trump’s dangerous, un-American agenda. That’s why we’re running digital ads, phonebanking voters in the district to turn out every last progressive, and more…

Election Day is just 1 week from tomorrow!

Please rush your most generous donation right now to flip this seat
and defeat Trump Republicans up and down the ballot in 2018!>>

From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headlines: (1) As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
(2) Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
(3) Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War

As Primaries Begin, Divided Voters Weigh What It Means to Be a Democrat
By JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS
Primary elections in Texas on Tuesday and Illinois this month will test the growing divide in the Democratic Party between bold liberalism and tradition.

Mueller’s Focus on Adviser to U.A.E. Indicates Broader Inquiry
By MARK MAZZETTI, DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MAGGIE HABERMAN
The special counsel has asked about the role of the adviser, George Nader, in White House policymaking, indicating that he is examining Emirati influence on the Trump administration.

Trump’s Steel Tariffs Raise Fears of a Damaging Trade War
By JIM TANKERSLEY
A global tit-for-tat on trade could crimp economic growth, undermining the stimulative effects of President Trump’s deregulation push and his signature $1.5 trillion tax cut.

From: Evan, Rashad, Arisha, Brandi, Jade, Johnny, Janaya, Corina, Chad, Mary, Saréya, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: The FCC Gutted Net Neutrality. Congress Only Needs #OneMoreVote to Overturn Them

The Senate Needs #OneMoreVote to Save Net Neutrality

Tell the Senate to Pass the CRA!

This past week marked the 6th anniversary of the murder of Trayvon Martin and as we reflect back on how movements for justice have grown, much of the organizing would not have been possible without an open internet. From the creation of #BlackLivesMatter, to the canceling of a book deal for one of the jurors who acquitted George Zimmerman¹, to the creation of organizing tactics that have been used in social movements all over the world, and currently in use by the students of Parkland, FL², an open internet has made the advocacy for Black human rights and the amplification of our stories possible. All that may come to a halt if one more Senator doesn’t sign on to the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution overturning the FCC’s decision to gut the net neutrality rules put in place by the Obama Administration.

Tell the Senate to Pass the CRA and Save Net Neutrality

The FCC’s decision to repeal rules that made the internet an equal and open space is just an updated version of the tactics used in the past to silence Black voices and deny opportunities to marginalized communities. Before net neutrality was in place, the 5 major internet service providers (AT&T, Time Warner, Charter, Comcast and Verizon), who provide broadband service for 75% of the country, were regularly slowing traffic speeds to popular websites.³ Now that there’s a Verizon lobbyist in charge of the FCC and a presidential administration that caters to big business, there’s almost nothing to stop these corporations from controlling what you can consume on the internet, even as you’re paying for it.

If you’ve ever used the internet to say #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, or to remind the world that Flint, Michigan doesn’t have clean water, then you know how vital an open internet is to sharing our stories and advocating for human rights. Major corporations like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T shouldn’t get to decide which messages are heard, based on what’s good for their profit margin. Join the rest of the internet as we come together and flood the Senate with phone calls, texts, and tweets demanding they protect net neutrality.

We Only Need #OneMoreVote in the Senate to Save Net Neutrality

References:

“Zimmerman Juror Wins, Loses Book Deal All In A Day”, LA Times, 16 July 2013. http://act.colorofchange.org/go/22276?t=9&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv
“Black Teens Have Been Fighting For Gun Reform For Years”, Teen Vogue, 23 February 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/22277?t=11&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv
“Major Internet Providers Slowing Traffic Speeds For Thousands Across US”, The Guardian, 22 June 2015 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/22278?t=13&akid=9505%2E239715%2EC5xiEv

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

From: Robert B. Reich
Subject: The emperor has no clothes

I’ve been a teacher for more than 30 years. My job is to teach, challenge, and enrich my students’ minds.

Donald Trump’s response to the latest tragic school shooting—to put even more guns in our schools—is just the latest Trump scam. It’s a distraction. It’s meant to divide us. And it certainly won’t make our kids safer.

But the Parkland students aren’t falling for it, nor are young people and students all over the country—including many who have been organizing against gun violence for years. Over the coming weeks, they are coming together to organize marches and other protests all across the country. I’m standing with these students, and so is MoveOn—by mobilizing its millions of members to participate in the protests and by pressuring corporations to cut their support for the NRA.

Will you stand up to the NRA by making a donation to MoveOn today? Just click below. Donate

We know how to reduce gun violence: for starters, universal background checks and bans on high-capacity magazines and AR-15s and other military-style assault weapons like the ones used in Parkland—and in Sutherland Springs, San Bernardino, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, and Newtown. And we know the way to get there: direct pressure on corporations, demanding action from politicians at the federal and state levels, and—ultimately—breaking the stranglehold of the NRA by isolating it from its corporate and political enablers.

Republicans in Washington are so completely bought by the NRA that new federal laws are unlikely in the short term. But the students leading the movement to end gun violence—from Parkland and from communities across the country that have been impacted—aren’t waiting for the Republicans in Washington, and neither is MoveOn.

Student-led groups and their allies, including hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members, are calling on corporations to stand up to the NRA, and this #BoycottNRA movement is catching on like wildfire. The retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods is the latest to defy the NRA by taking AR-15s and high-capacity magazines off its store shelves, while Walmart and others are raising the age of who can purchase guns. Indeed, the NRA isn’t invincible. (Remember the old “emperor has no clothes” parable? That’s the NRA right now.)

MoveOn is joining students in keeping the pressure on corporate America and pushing to pass new laws in state legislatures. And MoveOn will hold the NRA’s enablers in Congress accountable, so we can finally start to move forward with commonsense gun legislation in Congress, too.

I pledge to stand with students—not by carrying a gun but by standing up to the NRA.
Will you join me in the fight against gun violence by making a donation to MoveOn today? Donate

Want to support MoveOn’s work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that all of us must never give up on. And to do it MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn? Donate Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Stephen, Erica, Cassandra, and the team at Win Without War
Subject: “The brutality of this war will be beyond the experience of any living soldier.”

The U.S. military is secretly rehearsing for a bloody war with North Korea.

Top military brass gathered in Hawaii last week to draw up plans for evacuation helicopters and troop movements. [1] They said 10,000 Americans could be wounded in just a few days.

Munsup, this is our push moment to prevent war with North Korea.

Win Without War is using every possible tactic to pressure Congress to step in, from grabbing headlines to flooding phone lines. But we need your help. The truth is, if we don’t get in Trump’s way right now, we could be looking at war with North Korea in a matter of months.

After the military’s planning exercise, the Army’s Chief of Staff warned that a war with North Korea would be the most brutal any living soldier has ever seen.

If you’re scared — well, so am I. But his warning is also a huge opportunity.

Powerful people are speaking out to say that the human costs of this war would be awful beyond imagining. We have a major chance to turn this growing murmur of worry into a massive outcry for common-sense diplomacy.

Can you pitch in $6 to seize this moment and drag Trump off the brink of war?

[1] New York Times: “U.S. Banks on Diplomacy With North Korea, but Moves Ahead on Military Plans”

Donate

From: Kaili Lambe; Director of Organizing, CREDO Action
Subject: End war in Yemen (signatures needed)

Tell the Senate: No war in Yemen

The petition to the Senate reads:
“We urge you to co-sponsor and support S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.”Add your name:

Sign the Petition

Last August, an American-made laser-guided bomb killed seven children in Yemen’s capital city. Before the strike, a 5-year-old named Buthaina had five brothers and sisters. After the strike she had none.¹ Buthaina and her siblings were just a few of the estimated 5,000 killed or injured in the Saudi-led war in Yemen that started in 2015 – an average of five a day.²

Right now, American military forces are refueling the Saudis’ American-made planes so that the Saudis and their coalition can drop American-made weapons to carry out a devastating war that is killing civilians, destroying crops, cutting off access to ports and wreaking havoc on the people of Yemen. As a result of American support for the war, millions are facing starvation and the country is battling what may be the worst cholera epidemic in history.³

We must speak out now to stop this deadly war in the Middle East. Fortunately, progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders just introduced bipartisan legislation to invoke the War Powers Resolution, which would require a vote in the next few weeks on ending U.S. support for this Saudi-led war.⁴ We have a short window to demand that the Senate vote to end U.S. military involvement and withdraw its support from the conflict that has led to what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.⁵

Tell the Senate: Pass S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click here to sign the petition.

For nearly three years, under the guise of reassuring our allies and “confronting Iran,” the United States has quietly assisted Saudi Arabia in their conflict with the Houthis – a Yemeni Shiite militia group originally formed around the historical economic and political marginalization of Yemen’s northwest. The United States has provided weapons, provided logistical and intelligence support, and helped refuel coalition jets as they dropped bombs on Yemeni civilians. But the Houthis have limited ties to Iran and absolutely nothing to do with Al Qaeda, ISIS or any other terrorist organization that could conceivably fall within the scope of military intervention covered by the current Authorization for Use of Military Force.⁶

This unauthorized war started under the Obama administration, and in the face of egregious civilian casualties, President Obama scaled back U.S. involvement. But Trump has given the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates the green light to double down on its disastrous air campaign.⁷ The civilian death toll in Yemen has been heart-wrenching – with over 10,000 casualties and rising – but the United States continues to offer resources to the Saudi-led coalition.

In October 2016, a coalition airstrike targeted a funeral procession, killing over 130 innocent people and injuring 500 more.⁸ During the 10 day period from Dec 6 – 16, Saudi airstrikes killed 136 civilians, including at least seven civilians when they Saudi-led coalition struck a hospital on Dec. 10.⁹ Then on Jan. 1, Saudi airstrikes killed 23 people in the port city of Hodeida.¹⁰ In providing the Saudi-led coalition targeting intelligence, mid-air refueling and other logistical support, the United States is complicit in violations of international law.

Tell the Senate: S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click here to sign the petition.

Beyond the direct violence, the ongoing war in Yemen has forced millions to flee their homes, resulted in the world’s worst cholera outbreak, and has left more than two-thirds of Yemen’s population – more than 20 million people – not knowing where their next meal will come from.¹¹ According to the UN 400,000 Yemeni children are acutely malnourished – that is at risk of death from starvation – while as many as 8.4 million people in Yemen are on the verge of famine.¹² That is because Saudi forces are using food as a weapon of war – enforcing a blockade that has stopped much needed food, medicine and supplies from entering the country.¹³

What’s more, the war has contributed to a fast-moving cholera outbreak – the largest documented in modern history – that has already affected more than 1 million people.¹⁴

U.S. tax dollars are directly financing this Saudi-led war, even though U.S. involvement has not been authorized by Congress – whose responsibility it is to debate, vote on and authorize military action. By participating in this war in this way, Congress and Donald Trump are robbing the American people of their right to be represented in these decisions.

Congress must remove us from this conflict, immediately. Tell the Senate: Pass S.J.Res.54 to end U.S. support for Saudi-led war in Yemen. Click the link below to sign the petition.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/End_War_in_Yemen?t=8&akid=27493%2E1004336%2E7VBtgf

Add your name:
Sign the Petition

References:

The New York Times, “Young Yemeni Girl Is Sole Survivor After Airstrike Topples Her Home,” Aug. 26, 2017.
AFP, “Yemen war: 5,000 children dead or hurt and 400,000 malnourished, UN says,” The Guardian, Jan. 16, 2018.
Bethan McKernan, “Yemen: almost one death per hour as cholera epidemic spreads like wildfire,” Independent, June 9, 2017.
Lee Fang and Alex Emmons, “Bernie Sanders Wants to End U.S. Support for Yemen War. Saudi Lobbyists Fought Similar Measures Last Year,” The Intercept, Feb. 28, 2018.
Robert Naiman, “Rand Paul: Unconstitutional Saudi War In Yemen Is Not In Our Interest, And Congress Should Vote,” HuffPost, Sept. 19, 2017.
Joost Hiltermann and April Longley Alley, “The Houthis Are Not Hezbollah,” ForeignPolicy, Feb. 27, 2017.
Samuel Oakford, “U.S. Doubled Fuel Support for Saudi Bombing Campaign in Yemen After Deadly Strike on Funeral,” The Intercept, July 13, 2017.
Catherine Thorbecke, “US-Made Bomb Used in Airstrike on Funeral in Yemen, Human Rights Watch Says,” ABC News, Oct. 13, 2016.
U.N. Commission on Human Rights, “Press briefing on Yemen and Gaza,” Dec. 19, 2017.
The Washington Post, “World Digest: Jan. 1, 2018,” Jan. 1, 2018.
Reuters, “More than 8 million Yemenis ‘a step away from famine’: U.N.,” Dec. 11, 2017.
AFP, “Yemen war: 5,000 children dead or hurt and 400,000 malnourished, UN says.”
Clarissa Ward, Salma Abdelaziz and Scott McWhinnie, “In Yemen, the markets have food, but children are starving to death,” CNN, Dec. 19, 2017.
Bel Trew, “One million cases in Yemen cholera crisis,” The Times, Dec. 22, 2017.

From: Gard of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the American Federation of Teachers, Parkland, FL
Subject: I’m a teacher at Stoneman Douglas High School

I’m Jim Gard, a math teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I started a petition because I’m shocked that the White House has issued press credentials for a right-wing conspiracy theory blog that is spreading lies about students at my school.

It is outrageous enough that outlets such as Gateway Pundit are spreading lies and driving attacks on students like saying one of them was coached into using anti-Trump talking points when expressing his grief about the school shooting. But it is even more outrageous that an outlet that peddles lies and conspiracy theories holds a White House press credential and the authority that carries.¹

Sign my petition if you agree Donald Trump and this administration must make it clear that these attacks are unacceptable by pulling this blog’s credentials and permanently banning the site and its publishers from the White House.

The White House must show that there are consequences for driving vicious personal attacks on student victims of gun violence and peddling conspiracy theories. It must pull Gateway Pundit’s press credentials, permanently ban them from official events, and commit to not giving credentials to any outlet that engages in these types of conspiracy theories or attacks on vulnerable students and victims.

Sign Jim’s petition

In the aftermath of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, students who survived the attack have bravely stood up to demand action for safe schools and safe communities. I know these students.

But now, right-wing blogs are pushing wild conspiracy theories about the students who survived, claiming they are plants, actors, or being manipulated by politicians.²

By giving Gateway Pundit press credentials, the White House is validating the site and these attacks.

I have worked with these students. These courageous young people survived a horror beyond what any person should have to face, and now they stand with moral courage and strength to call us all to action.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Sources:

“Gateway Pundit’s White House correspondent accuses mass shooting survivors of ‘milking the deaths of their peers,'” Media Matters for America, February 20, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34663?t=17&akid=200414%2E1195276%2ElSMz-Y
“What is Gateway Pundit, the conspiracy-hawking site at the center of the bogus Florida ‘crisis actors’ hype?” The Washington Post, February 23, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34664?t=19&akid=200414%2E1195276%2ElSMz-Y

It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us? Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Shannon, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, and Ryan, the UltraViolet Action team
Subject: RE: The NRA is in deep, deep trouble

Two weeks ago, 17 students and teachers were murdered by a gunman using an AR-15.

Since then, corporations have been scrambling to distance themselves from the NRA.

The First National Bank of Omaha just announced that it will no longer issue its NRA-branded credit card. Enterprise, Hertz, Alamo, and National rental cars announced they are canceling their discount program for NRA members.¹

Now we’re focusing on two companies–Visa and MasterCard–that have the power to stop processing payments for the sale of assault weapons, like the ones used in Parkland, Las Vegas, and Newtown.

PayPal and Apple Pay have banned these purchases, and UltraViolet Education Fund is launching a hard-hitting ad campaign focused in Foster City, California, and Purchase, New York–the corporate headquarters of Visa and MasterCard–to demand that they stop processing these sales as well.

Will you chip in $5 to UltraViolet Action to help fight back against the NRA?

After the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, media pundits said that Congress wouldn’t do anything.

But Congress isn’t the only one with power. Corporations–especially the financial institutions that do business with the gun industry–have enormous power to slow or even stop the sale of guns.

There’s no reason that Visa and MasterCard can’t do this. In fact, they already don’t allow their cards to be used to purchase marijuana in states where it’s legal, and some of the biggest card issuers won’t let them be used to buy Bitcoin either.^2,3

But most people have no idea that Visa and MasterCard have the discretion to stop these purchases. That’s why our ad campaign has the potential to be so effective–to alert the public that these credit card companies could be stopping the sales of guns like the one used in Parkland–but they are choosing not to.

UltraViolet Education Fund will start the ad campaign in the cities where these credit card companies are headquartered, and make them hard-hitting to generate media coverage as well. Judging by how quickly other corporations are running away from the gun industry, we think Visa, MasterCard, and the other credit card companies will fold as well.

Will you chip in $5 to UltraViolet Action to help fight back against the NRA?

CONTRIBUTE

Sources:

NRA fallout: See the list of companies that cut discounts for NRA members after Parkland, Florida school shooting, USA Today, February 26, 2018
Ten Things You Can’t (Easily) Buy With Credit Cards, Fox Business News, January 25, 2016
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America & Citi bar people from buying bitcoin with a credit card, CNBC, February 2, 2018

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

From: The Guns Down team
Subject: Demand that FedEx #DropTheNRA

Dear friend,

FedEx is still standing by the gun lobby. We now know that they even made special behind-the-scenes deals with the NRA and gun manufacturers to cut shipping rates and make it easier for companies to ship guns from coast to coast. And they are doing all that just so that they can get a leg-up on their competitors and make extra money, no matter the cost.

That’s why, as activists around the country are boycotting FedEx and other boosters of the NRA and its deadly “guns everywhere” agenda, we’re launching the next stage of our campaign demanding that FedEx end their relationship with the NRA: DropTheNRA.org. The website is just the first step; we’ll be bringing our message, and our demands, straight to FedEx headquarters soon.

Visit the site and share it with your friends

Click here to go to the site

The gun lobby and their corporate allies won’t go down without a fight. They’re expecting the pressure to lessen, and for all of us to just forget about what they are doing. We aren’t going to forget or let-up on the pressure until FedEx cuts ties with the NRA. We stood firm in our fight against the NRA’s Carry Guard murder insurance, and Chubb and Lockton relented and cut ties. Advocates around the country demanded that companies end agreements with the gun lobby, and the companies agreed. FedEx is no different.

Corporate partnerships are a huge part of the NRA’s strategy; they give them an easy way to make money and gain undue credibility. Ending the relationships, and holding companies accountable for the choices they make and the deals they enter can make a real difference. When those partnerships collapse, the gun lobby loses power. And when the gun lobby loses power, America gets closer to a safer future with fewer guns which are harder to get.

Please join us in the next step of our bold campaign against FedEx’s work with the NRA, and please share DropTheNRA.org with your networks.

Thank you,

The Guns Down team

P.S. — The kind of bold, aggressive campaign tactics we are planning for FedEx, and which were successful in getting Chubb and Lockton to end their Carry Guard murder insurance and their partnership with the NRA, aren’t easy to pull off. They aren’t inexpensive either. Contribute today and help us go as big, and as bold, as possible.

From: Rashad Robinson and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: The NRA Is Tanking!

STOP THE NRA!

Chip-in $$65

We have more great news!

Chubb Limited and Lockton Inc. have both cut ties with the NRA’s murder insurance!

As a result of a public campaign we launched in October with Guns Down, an advocacy group fighting against the dangerous NRA organization, the underwriting insurer Chubb silently backed out of the deal for the NRA’s murder insurance. In the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Chubb went public with their decision last Friday. And we just received news that Lockton is following their lead. Yesterday, 6 years to the day that Trayvon Martin was murdered, Lockton announced that they would no longer provide brokerage services for the NRA’s Carry Guard. We have made a huge impact in crippling the operation of the NRA. But the fight has just begun.

We must continue to apply pressure on corporations who shamelessly do business with the NRA. By targeting corporate sponsors who enable the gun industry we get one step closer to weakening the NRA’s grip on society as a whole.

Will you donate $65 to support our work as we continue to defeat the NRA?

Your donation will go towards:

Building out more impactful campaigns targeting the NRA and the companies that support them.
Digital marketing and promotion of future gun violence prevention campaigns.
Organizing and supporting offline actions, like petition deliveries and mobilizing people to offline direct actions targeting the NRA.

Taking down the NRA is not easy, but our collective efforts are making difference. Chubb and Lockton’s decisions came as a result of over 100,000 members like you taking action with allies across this country demanding corporations and politicians put people over gun violence enablers like the NRA. This win is for Trayvon Martin, John Crawford II, Philando Castile, Marissa Alexander, Keegan Von Roberts and countless other Black folks who have fallen victim to the NRA’s tactics to criminalize Black people while protecting white vigilantes.

There are still a number of other companies who are doing business with the NRA, like FedEx, Apple, AGIA Affinity, Vinesse Wines, the Regency and the Omni Hotel Chains, and we must stop them.

Donate $65 to stop the NRA from protecting killers and monetizing murder.

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

From: Unfit to Serve Team
Subject: Add your name >> End Gerrymandering Now

Republican politicians across the country have been choosing their constituents instead of constituents choosing their politicians.

To put it simply, Republican leaders in state legislatures are rigging the system.

And it’s time for this to stop.

The majority of Americans want more balance in their legislatures and in Congress so more consensus can be built and more bad ideas stopped. Thankfully, people are standing up across the country — to demand an end to this rigged system.

We are standing with a coalition of leaders and organizations across the country to restore our democracy and end gerrymandering. Will you join us?

Using diabolical gerrymandering, Republicans are re-drawing maps that try to give them supermajorities in state legislatures and in Congressional delegations nationwide.

Their partisan maps just don’t add up — Republicans have created wildly contorted districts to gain victory for their party, regardless of what voters want.

If you’re as fed up with gerrymandering as we are, add your name today
to the grassroots movement that’s working to restore our democratic values.

PAID FOR BY UNFIT TO SERVE PAC

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0206

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: [mpen-outsideohio] FW: LA Times: GOP is RATTLED!; NO ONE is above the law; Sign to pass strong gun laws!; “The Snake” read by Trump; and more

FW: Need your opinion on DACA
FW: LA Times: GOP is RATTLED!
FW: Join Us: Working People’s Day of Action
FW: Make your voice heard: Working People’s Day of Action
FW: NYT Today’s Headlines
FW: President’s Day Reminder: NO ONE is above the law
FW: Philippines: Washington’s New Colonial War
FW: The NRA has met its match
FW: Sign to pass strong gun laws NOW!
FW: Explosion at US embassy in Montenegro
FW: “The Snake” read by Trump & impeach Thomas for lying to get to the SupCt

From: Instant Poll
Subject: need your opinion on DACA

Congress has been promising for months to take up Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) legislation.

Last week, the Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act, failing to find a permanent solution for 700,000 DREAMers who are in jeopardy of being deported. They are Americans in every way, except on paper.

So we wanted to check in with you: Do you think Congress should take immediate action and pass DACA?

YES

From: You’re doing it!
Subject: LA Times: GOP is RATTLED!

The LA Times writes on the Pennsylvania 18th district special election, saying, “a poor showing here [by Republicans] would signal trouble for the midterm elections in November, in which GOP control of the House and Senate hangs in the balance.”

DAMN RIGHT. That’s why we’re asking one more time for you to help Democrat Conor Lamb flip this CRUCIAL seat to the Democrats — please donate now!>>

But just yesterday from Politico: “The pro-Trump super PAC America First Action is launching a $1 million ad-buy in support of [Republican] Pennsylvania special election candidate Rick Saccone…”

That’s ANOTHER $1 million on top of what’s already being spent by a slew of other right-wing super PACs.

Saccone is a Radical Right EXTREMIST, but right-wing groups and even Donald Trump himself are throwing everything they have into this race to elect him and hold onto this seat!

Donate to help Democrat Conor Lamb flip this seat from red to blue and TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!>>

Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Re: ANOTHER seat flipped from red to blue!!!

RIGHT NOW, the most important election in the country is the special congressional election in Pennsylvania’s 18th district.

The Republican, Trump-endorsed Rick Saccone, is a far-right extremist who says he was “Trump before Trump,” has written extensively in support of torture, and once introduced legislation that would allow customers at Chuck E. Cheese to carry guns.

Including spending by outside groups, Republicans and the Right Wing are outspending Democrats by a staggering 17-to-1 margin. Yet, the polls still have this race as a virtual tie — Democrat Conor Lamb is within just 3 points!!

The Far Right is DESPERATE to keep this seat, in a district that Trump won by 20 points, so they can stop the bleeding of Republican special election losses — like one just yesterday in Kentucky, where the Democrat won in a state legislative district that Trump carried by 49 points!

YOU can deal them another defeat!

Donate on ActBlue to help Democrat Conor Lamb defeat Rick Saccone and flip the first US House seat from red to blue!>>

Election Day is less than 3 weeks away! Victory here will be the first step in taking back the House in this year’s midterms!

— Lizet Ocampo, Political Director

P.S. Right-wing super PACs, from Paul Ryan’s Congressional Leadership Fund to the super PAC of the billionaire Ricketts family, are spending MILLIONS to keep this seat in Republican hands. Paul Ryan’s super PAC alone announced a $1.5 million ad buy last month, as well as the opening of TWO field offices in the district and the hiring of at least 50 full-time door knockers who aim to talk to 250,000 voters!^[1]

But Democrat Conor Lamb is depending on grassroots donations from progressives like you to compete and win. So please pitch in!

Please give what you can now>>

From: Tom Roberts; President, Ohio Conference of NAACP
Subject: FW: Join Us: Working People’s Day of Action

On Saturday, February 24, thousands will unite in cities across the country to demand an end to an economy that’s rigged in favor of the wealthy and most powerful.

Ohioans are coming together in Columbus to rally at the Statehouse for the Working People’s Day of Action. The rally is going to start at noon, but we will begin to gather at 10:30 a.m.

Working People’s Day of Action
Saturday, February 24, at 10:30
Ohio Statehouse, 70 E State St., Columbus, Ohio 43215

Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. joined striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, as they fought for the freedom to join together in a strong union and be treated with dignity and respect at work.

Fifty years later, corporate lobbyists and special interest groups are bringing a case against working people, Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, to the U.S. Supreme Court. These are the same extremist voices that actively work to limit voting rights, roll back economic protections, and gut civil and labor rights laws. They’re ratcheting up their fight to break us up because they know we are strongest together.

Let’s stand strong, together. Hope to see you on Saturday.

– Team ProgressOhio

From: Bradley E. Williams, People For the American Way
Subject: Make your voice heard: Working People’s Day of Action

On February 24 (this Saturday!), in cities across the country, thousands will unite to demand an end to an economy that’s rigged in favor of the wealthy and most powerful.

Find a Working People’s Day of Action event near you>>

Can’t join in person? Sign our online solidarity pledge to show your support>>

Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. joined striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee as they fought for the freedom to join together in a strong union and be treated with dignity and respect at work.

Now, fifty years later, as corporate elites, anti-worker extremists, and corrupt politicians continue to rig the economy against us, working people and allies nationwide are rising up.

Working people never needed the support of the broader progressive movement than right now.

On the Working People’s Day of Action, we will stand up for the freedom of working people to join together in strong unions and fight for decent and equitable pay for our work, affordable health care, quality schools, vibrant communities, and a secure future for all of us.

Join us at grassroots events around the country as we make our voices heard>>

Can’t join in person? Sign our online solidarity pledge to show your support>>

Thank you for taking a stand for workers and working families, and for everything you do!

From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headlines:
(1) Trump Promotes Arming Teachers With Guns, but Rejects Active Shooter Drills
(2) Parents and Students Plead With Trump: ‘How Many Children Have to Get Shot?’
(3) Trump Moves to Regulate ‘Bump Stock’ Devices
(4) After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced

Trump Promotes Arming Teachers With Guns, but Rejects Active Shooter Drills
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
President Trump promoted arming specially trained teachers to fend off school shooters, but rejected active-shooter drills to survive a rampage.

Parents and Students Plead With Trump: ‘How Many Children Have to Get Shot?’
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
An afternoon listening session in the State Dining Room included those affected by school shootings in Parkland, Fla.; Littleton, Colo.; and Newtown, Conn.

Trump Moves to Regulate ‘Bump Stock’ Devices
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
The president asked the Justice Department to propose regulations that would ban “bump stocks,” which can convert a semiautomatic gun into an automatic weapon.

After Florida School Shooting, Russian ‘Bot’ Army Pounced
By SHEERA FRENKEL and DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI
Twitter accounts suspected of having links to Russia were focused on Robert Mueller. But after news broke about the shooting, they quickly changed their focus.

From: Ben Betz, Digital Advocacy Director, People For the American Way
Subject: President’s Day Reminder: NO ONE is above the law

The stories of how Donald Trump treats and talks about women … his racist promotion of offensive stereotypes, demonization of immigrants, and defense of white supremacists … the compulsive lying, endless cover-ups, blatant appeals to authoritarianism, and what appear to be more instances of corruption and ethics violations than can be easily counted…

Because he has the unconditional and unwavering backing of one of America’s two major political parties (and that party controls both chambers of Congress), it seems like Trump can do anything, say anything, and degrade people — and, indeed, entire communities — with absolute impunity.

But there IS a limit.

For all of Republicans’ abuses of power to shield Trump and his team from accountability, the fact remains that NO ONE is above the law — not even the president.

Trump has crossed so many lines. For his attacks on people and communities, his assault on institutions and norms, and his war on our constitutional rights and values, we’re working hard to make sure that he and his party are held accountable on Election Day. But if America itself — as a nation and, perhaps even more importantly, as an idea — is to survive the Trump presidency, there’s a line that he must not be allowed to cross.

If Donald Trump fires Special Counsel Robert Mueller, or moves to derail the Russia investigation with other actions (like the firing of other key Justice Department staff) that are clearly meant to obstruct justice or thwart the law, we will be in the streets, in towns and cities all across the country, with a robust coalition of Americans who are committed to defending our democracy and holding power accountable.

Sign now to let us know you’re with us!>>

Thank you for all of your support and your unyielding dedication to defending the American Way!

From: Daytonians Against War Now On Behalf Of Logan Martinez
Subject: Philippines: Washington’s New Colonial War

Operation Pacific Eagle in the Philippines: Washington’s New Colonial War

Elliott Gabriel, February 9, 2018, Minit Press News

Critics contend that Operation Pacific Eagle Philippines is aimed at strengthening Washington’s grip on the long-subjugated people of the Philippines, defeating a half-century leftist insurgency, and securing the country for the interests of U.S. multinational corporations.

In the first part of this MPN exclusive, we speak to Ka Oris of the New People’s Army and Professors William I. Robinson and Roland Simbulan about the new U.S. intervention in Asia, which raises the Philippines to the same level as Syria and Iraq for the Pentagon’s war plans.

In the second part, we will look at the 1999-2015 counterinsurgency initiative “Plan Colombia” as a template for Operation Pacific Eagle, as well as the use of the operation to continue the encirclement of China by U.S. bases.

In Part Three, we will conclude with a comparison of Operation Pacific Eagle to the notorious counterinsurgency initiative “Plan Colombia,” and look at how the new Pentagon mission enables the U.S. to continue encircling China with its military bases.

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Last month, the U.S. Armed Forces finally admitted that a new mission was underway in the Philippines. Dubbed “Operation Pacific Eagle – Philippines,” the operation allows for an unlimited budget to be set aside for the purpose of armed U.S. operations in the Southeast Asian region.

Designated on Sept. 1, 2017 by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis amid total secrecy in the U.S.. and the Philippines, the overseas contingency operation – an official designation for the military theaters of the former “War on Terror” – is presented as a continuation of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military’s crusade against the Islamic State group (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

Pacific Eagle, an open-ended mission aimed at “countering radicalization and violent extremism” in the Southeast Asian region, could see the U.S. military re-establish itself as a virtually permanent fixture in a former U.S. colony described by President Donald Trump as a “prime piece of real estate.”

Critics contend that the operation is aimed at strengthening Washington’s grip on the long-subjugated people of the Philippines, defeating a half-century leftist insurgency, and securing the country for the interests of U.S. multinational corporations.

The operation comes to light months after the conclusion of the bloody siege of Marawi, a now-pulverized city in the southernmost island of Mindanao that became the scene of a ruinous counterinsurgency campaign by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against hundreds of alleged “Islamic State affiliates” of the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups.

The campaign entailed the declaration of martial law in Mindanao until the end of 2018, the displacement of thousands of families, and the deployment of U.S. Special Forces to the city as advisors and drone operators assisting the Philippine military.

A recent video released by Philippine Army Special Operations Command, highlighted by Interaksyon, noted the clear evidence of U.S. logistical support to the AFP campaign, including M4s rifle optics, PEQ-2 laser designators, machine guns, grenade launchers and Harris tactical radio systems.

The U.S. participation was seen by the country’s leftists as proof of President Rodrigo Duterte’s hypocrisy, exposing his angry anti-U.S. statements and pledges to align with regional powerhouses such as Russia and China as the empty bluster of a U.S. puppet.

A report published for the U.S. Congress last Friday by Lead Inspector General Glenn Fine repeatedly invokes “ISIS-Philippines” as justification for the report while subtly mentioning “other terrorist organizations” that remain unnamed:

OPE-P is described as the comprehensive counterterrorism campaign by the DoD, in coordination with other U.S. Government agencies and international partners, to support the Philippine government and military in their efforts to isolate, degrade, and defeat Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) affiliates and other terrorist organizations in the Philippines.”

Critics see the use of the term “other terrorist organizations” as a red flag signaling that the Pentagon’s focus is far from limited to those who are seeking to help establish a global “caliphate” from the Southeast Asian archipelago.

For, Roland Simbulan, a professor at the University of the Philippines and scholar of U.S. military activities in the region, Operation Pacific Eagle represents a new stage in the counterinsurgency against the Maoist guerrillas of the New People’s Army (NPA).

“The Operation Pacific Eagle marks a new era of U.S. military intervention in the Philippines,” Simbulan told MintPress News:

Internally, it is directed against the Philippine left and externally, to use the Philippines as a springboard to reassert U.S. military power in the Pacific. It is Trump’s way of supporting the creeping authoritarianism in the country while using U.S. military forces and assets to make sure that Duterte does not change the U.S. military presence [in relation to] China.”

The Philippine RevolutFor nearly 50 years, the NPA – affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – has waged a prolonged insurgency against successive governments in Manila, which it accuses of serving U.S. imperialist interests rather than the interests of poor people and Indigenous communities in resource-rich rural areas desired by multinational mining firms and local exporters

Duterte once called himself a “socialist” and “anti-imperialist,” and even expressed sympathies for the red fighters in a manner considered taboo in a country that, for decades under former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, once nursed a single-minded hatred of the left.

Since 1986, however, Manila has taken part in intermittent peace talks with the banned Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) through the National Democratic Front, an alliance of social movements affiliated with the clandestine party.

While Duterte initially championed the peace process, which hinged on the implementation of an ambitious socio-economic reform agenda, the negotiations were derailed last May after his declaration of martial law in Mindanao.

Watch | Why is there an armed revolution in the Philippines?

Accordingly, the end of last year’s peace talks eventually led to Duterte designating the Philippine communists, both armed and unarmed, as “terrorists.”

“I will follow America, since they say that I am an American boy,” Duterte noted. “OK, granted, I will admit that I am a fascist. I will categorize you already as a terrorist.”

The clandestine party and its military wing have both been included in the official U.S. government list of foreign terrorist organizations since 2002.

Duterte’s accusations came shortly after U.S. President Trump’s visit to Manila for the ASEAN leaders’ summit last November, drawing criticisms that the Philippine president was acting under the direction of his “idol and puppet-master” from Washington.

“Duterte’s martial law against the so-called ‘ISIS’ in Mindanao set a perfect backdrop for the reentry of U.S. troops and their permanent basing in the country without a signed treaty,” the CPP Information Bureau said in a statement released last month:

His termination of the peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and subsequent declaration of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as ‘terrorist organizations’ further set the stage. The declaration, which was made specifically in line with the U.S. State Department’s foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) listing, bolstered Duterte access to the U.S.’ budget for overseas contingency operations (OCO), the Pentagon’s bloated ‘anti-terror’ slush fund.”

Mindanao’s riches

The material incentives of the United States government are key to understanding why the U.S. declared Operation Pacific Eagle, according to Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos, the spokesman for the New People’s Army (NPA) National Operations Command.

“ISIS in the Philippines is more imagined than real,” Ka Oris told MintPress News:

By using the general catchphrase ‘radicalization and violent extremism,’ the U.S. is encompassing all armed groups resistant to its puppet state’s rule, both existing and those bound to emerge due to its interference. In Mindanao, this includes legitimate Moro groups/clans fighting for their ancestral lands and right to self-determination.”

The lush island has long been known for its lucrative natural gas and mineral deposits and its wide tracts of land ideal for large-scale commercial plantations operated by multinational corporations based in the U.S., Ka Oris explains..

Multinationals have also looked covetously at the Liguasan Marsh, a huge and biodiverse complex of rivers, channels, lakes, freshwater marshes and ponds.

Viewed as sacred patrimony for the Maguindanaoan Muslim tribe, the 220,000-hectare marsh was described in U.S. diplomatic cables from 2006, obtained by WikiLeaks, as containing untapped mineral wealth totaling anywhere from $840 billion to $1 trillion.

Manila government officials at the time described the region as a “treasure trove” of mineral resources — including gold, copper, chromites, nickel, manganese, silver, iron ore, lead and zinc. According to subsequent surveys carried out by U.S. oil engineers, the natural gas reserves of Liguasan alone amount to $580 billion.

“At the same time, the island is also home to robust people’s movements and has a strong presence of armed groups, including the NPA,” Ka Oris notes.

In hopes to advance their demands for self-determination from the distant Manila government, Maguindanaoans have long taken part in armed insurgencies led by groups such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) — both groups that faced accusations of terrorism” from Manila and the U.S. Both groups have since signed peace deals and now hope to finalize a law granting autonomy to local elites.

Controversially, Duterte has tied the granting of autonomy to a new push to drastically raise the constitutional ceiling limiting the right of foreign investors to own Philippine land, among other measures that have raised the ire of watchdogs and opposition figures. Filipinos who oppose Duterte see the reform of foreign land ownership laws as key ingredients of a recipe for a return to colonialism in the country.

Manila also hopes a new law on autonomy can smooth over the lingering rage provoked by Marawi’s destruction. According to Moro advocates, the city’s Islamist insurgency was itself rooted more in a neglect of Moro people’s legitimate interests than in locals’ interest in the ISIS program.

“The U.S. even acknowledges that the Marawi siege may have further complicated the Moro situation in this part of the country,” Ka Oris explained.

Local Moro advocates see recent developments, such as plans to build a second major military camp in the city, as proof that Manila intends to transform Marawi City into a de facto “military reservation” directly owned and operated by the U.S. armed forces. The developments cast new light on the overuse of force against the city’s civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods for the purpose of quelling a relatively small number of Islamist insurgents.

Ka Oris notes:

The U.S. is sure to consider the city as one of its potential bases, as it hosted the main U.S. base in Mindanao in the 1900s (then known as Camp Keithley). Duterte has already displaced almost all its civilian population and is in the process of building a military base there. Resistance, both armed and unarmed, to this latest injustice is bound to intensify.”

Making the Philippines safe for global capitalism

When former dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 — ostensibly to contain the communist insurgency of the CPP-NPA and growing unrest in the cities and schools — the neocolonial status of the Philippines was drastically deepened. The country was transformed into a laboratory for neoliberal experiments, free-market policies, special economic zones, and a lifting of protectionist laws under World Bank structural adjustment loan requirements.

U.S. multinational corporations, operating through loyal elites and oligarch clans, gained unprecedented access to the country’s riches — including its banking, petrochemical, construction, telecoms, and mineral extraction industries, among other strategic sectors.

For William I. Robinson, an author and professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, a new period of martial law and militarization would come as little surprise:

Both Trumpism and Duterteism are far-right authoritarian responses to crises of state legitimacy and internecine feuding among the elite. Militarization and authoritarianism in the United States and the Philippines will become more closely linked through Operation Pacific Eagle.”

Even in the past, when Manila abstained from the iron-fisted policies of Duterte, the country’s governance entailed the violent displacement of millions throughout the country and the resultant export of several millions of displaced Filipinos to all corners of the globe as “guest workers” lacking rights in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa. While women find work as domestic laborers, servers, caregivers, nurses, or hospitality industry workers — where they are often vulnerable to rape, physical assault, and murder — men find hazardous jobs as construction workers and agricultural laborers. Some reports claim that around 6,000 are forced to leave the country to seek work every day.

Relatives of OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) display placards as they pitch their tent to begin their planned three-day camp-out at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, Philippines, Monday April 29, 2013. The camp-out was organized in sympathy with more than 2,500 who pitched their tents in Jedda, Saudi Arabia to escape alleged crackdowns on undocument overseas workers by the Saudi government. (AP/Bullit Marquez)

“The export of this surplus labor has provided a political escape value to an explosive situation of displacement and mass immiseration,” Robertson told MintPress News.

Likewise, he continues,

Agro-industrial zones have spread through the countryside and the export-industry that first took off in the 1980s has eclipsed national industrial development and has been expanding, as has the transfer of transnational corporate services – call centers, Facebook censors – to the Philippines. These transnational agro-industrial, industrial, and service complexes, along with the global export of Philippine labor, are the face of capitalist globalization in the Philippines.“

Such processes can only accelerate in a “hot-house fashion,” as global markets and the transnational capitalist class seek temporary fixes to their deepening financial worries in resource-rich yet poverty-stricken countries such as the Philippines, Robertson suggests — ensuring that Operation Pacific Eagle will embroil the U.S. in a deeper role policing the internal social turmoil within the country.

Robinson also sees Operation Pacific Eagle as quite similar to Plan Colombia, the 1999-2015 counterinsurgency aid program that saw billions of dollars in weaponry poured into Colombian security forces and paramilitaries for the purpose of destroying the FARC’s left-wing insurgency and, ostensibly, continuing the “war on drugs.”

The New People’s Army is prepared to weather the storm, according to Ka Oris, who sees continued revolutionary rigor as key to the survival of the Filipino people and New People’s Army:

Expanding the mass base, strengthening and expanding the people’s army through trainings and mass recruitments, making sure that revolutionary work is done in a comprehensive manner – [this is how we can] ensure that the guerilla forces and bases can withstand and outlast relentless attacks from enemy forces. These, alongside the study and adaptation of the NPA and the people to U.S. sophisticated weapons, such as surveillance and attack drones, that the local armed forces are already using against civilian communities.”

For the Filipino revolutionaries, it remains unclear as to whether Operation Pacific Eagle marks a new phase in Washington’s militarization of the Philippines. The interventionist policies of the United States have been a constant since the end of the Spanish colonial period when the U.S. military waged a brutal war that claimed around one million lives in the country.

However, Ka Oris notes, Operation Pacific Eagle is clearly consistent with the past administration’s so-called “pivot to the Pacific” and the United States’ push to maintain military supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region. For the Pentagon’s war-planners, the Philippines remains key to their plans for containing an increasingly strong and confident China.

In Part II, we will look at the 1999-2015 U.S. initiative “Plan Colombia” as a template for Operation Pacific Eagle, as well as the use of the operation to continue the encirclement of China by U.S. bases.

Elliott Gabriel is a former staff writer for teleSUR English and a MintPress News contributor based in Quito, Ecuador. He has taken extensive part in advocacy and organizing in the pro-labor, migrant justice and police accountability movements of Southern California and the state’s Central Coast.

From: Anna, Ilya, Anne, Manny, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: The NRA has met its match

At a rally in Parkland, Florida, over the weekend, Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student Emma Gonzalez had this message to share: “To the politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have ever been done to prevent this: We call BS!”¹

Brave students are leading the way, and it is up to us to follow them.

Click below to chip in and help MoveOn raise $100,000 to organize in support of student-led efforts to end gun violence.

The students in Parkland are not just calling BS, they are turning their grief into action. Less than a week after 17 of their classmates and teachers were murdered in the hallways of their school, these students have made their demands very clear: They want to kick out members of Congress who take money from the NRA, make the NRA so toxic that no one else takes money from them in the future, and ban the assault weapons that have caused so much carnage in schools, nightclubs, concerts, and movie theaters across the country.²

Let’s follow their lead and make sure we’re mobilizing our resources for this fight. With your help, we will:

boost organizing for the student-led marches and walkouts in March and April by recruiting MoveOn’s millions of members and using MoveOn’s social media megaphone to help promote student-led events in Washington, D.C., and in communities across the country, and supporting as needed in other ways;
help ensure that millions of people hear what these young people are asking of all of us by amplifying videos of their speeches and interviews to our millions of social media followers;
keep campaigning to curb the power of the NRA all the way through this year’s election by shining a spotlight on the politicians who are doing the NRA’s bidding in Washington, D.C., and in states across the country, just as we helped do in the Virginia elections last year; and
look for ways to support youth leaders in future actions. The Parkland students have reminded all of us that young people will lead the way on this work. We will look for ways to support these and other student organizers as they plan and announce their next steps to fight for their lives against the gun lobby, and as students around the country identify specific needs.

Click below to chip in now to help rally behind student efforts to stop the epidemic of gun violence in our nation.

Sources:

“Florida student Emma Gonzalez to lawmakers and gun advocates: ‘We call BS,'” CNN, February 17, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34063?t=4&akid=199392%2E1195276%2E80lC8N
“Mission Statement,” March for Our Lives, accessed February 20, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/34068?t=6&akid=199392%2E1195276%2E80lC8N

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

From: Stop The NRA [ProgressiveTakeover.org]
Subject: Sign to pass strong gun laws NOW!

We need you to click this link right now to DEMAND Congress pass strong gun laws >>

The survivors of Florida’s shooting are heroic. These students are DEMANDING action!

But Republicans are cowards. In the face of constant tragedy and violence, they’re offering thoughts and prayers — but NO action.

So we’re standing with Democrats to pass strong gun laws state-by-state!

That means we need massive grassroots support from all 50 states. Will you sign your name for Ohio today?

Click to sign for OH >>

Children who survived unthinkable violence are demanding action.

Parents of children who will never come home are demanding change.

And we’re demanding action NOW to pass common-sense gun control.

Here are the facts:

75% of Americans think Congress needs to do more to reduce gun violence.
67% of Americans are in favor of an assault weapons ban.
83% of Americans are in favor of waiting periods before all gun purchases.^[1]

The public is on our side. Now is the time to do the right thing and finally end the scourge of gun violence!

Please add your name to our petition right now:

Click to Sign

Progressive states like California already have common sense gun control measures on the books — and they work!!

That’s why the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to California’s waiting period law:

But we need laws like these nationwide. That’s why we’re asking you to sign our petition today!

Click to Sign

[1] Qunnipiac University Poll | U.S. Support for Gun Control Tops 2-1, Highest Ever | 02.21.18

From: CLG_News
Subject: Explosion at US embassy in Montenegro

News Updates from CLG on 22 February 2018 http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here: http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Explosion at US embassy in Montenegro | 22 Feb 2018 | There has been an explosion at the US Embassy in Montenegro, the government says. An unidentified attacker threw an explosive device into the embassy compound in the capital Podgorica, before killing himself, it tweeted. It said the device thrown was likely a hand grenade. A guard at a nearby sports centre told the AFP news

From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: “The Snake” read by Trump & impeach Thomas for lying to get to the SupCt

Trump explicitly applies this to immigrants, appealing to his base through his performance. See:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/23/politics/trump-the-snake-song/index.html

impeach Thomas for lying to get to the SupCt. See:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/the-case-for-impeaching-clarence-thomas.html

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0205

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: [mpen-cincinnati] FW: MAJOR immigration vote; Far more than a ‘cover-up’; Working Peoples’ Day of Action; Medicare GONE; and more

FW: MAJOR immigration vote in the Senate this week
FW: Far more than a ‘cover-up’
FW: A letter by multiple Jewish organizations calls for Miller’s departure & Working Peoples’ Day of Action
FW: Cracking down on credit reporting companies like Equifax
FW: Will you take the next step to stop Trump’s tank parade?
FW: Medicare GONE
FW: New York Times Today’s Headlines

From: Bradley Williams; Digital Organizing Coordinator, People For the American Way
Subject: MAJOR immigration vote in the Senate this week, Munsup

After months of broken promises to DREAMers, the Senate is finally expected to begin debate on an immigration bill. Over 80 percent of Americans support an immigration law with a clear path to citizenship for DREAMers, and movement toward that goal is long overdue.

Sign now: Urge your senators to support the DREAM Act to protect young undocumented people today>>

Even if you’ve already signed on with your support of the DREAM Act, please add your name again. A message will be emailed to your senators letting them know you want them to PASS the DREAM Act without delay… and they can’t hear from their constituents enough!

It’s very important that the bill that passes does not pander to Trump and White House aide Stephen Miller’s white supremacist demands. Senators must support a bill that protects DREAMers and only includes common-sense border protection measures.

Please take action today to protect DREAMers and urge your senators to pass the DREAM act in the Senate>>

Every day that this goes unaddressed 122 more DACA recipients lose their protected status, and that status will fully expire on March 5. This is one of the most important issues on the table right now, and senators need to do the right thing.

From: Eric Kramer
Subject: Far more than a ‘cover-up’

The SCROTUS, and his Administration (which has been a shambles since Day One), are doomed, and what I love about this article is that it lays out the ‘why and the wherefore’ in a format so clear and concise that even the most fact-blind of his fawning minions should be able to understand it. It’s based on FACTS, all of which are now a matter of public record, and not mere surmise and conjecture.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-russia-isnt-about-the-cover-up-its-about-the-crime

From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: Letter by multiple Jewish organizations calls for Miller’s departure & Working Peoples’ Day of Action

Letter by multiple Jewish organizations calls for Miller’s departure: See https://www.ncjw.org/news/4062/

Working Peoples’ Day of Action

On February 24, join thousands of working people and our allies standing up for our freedoms and demanding an end to a system that’s rigged against us. We will rise up and fight.

Fight for the freedom to come together in strong unions.
Fight for equitable pay.
Fight for affordable health care.
Fight for quality schools.
Fight for vibrant communities.
Fight for a secure future for all of us.

When we join forces and stick together, we are unstoppable. Search for an event near you and join us.
Looking for the event in your neighbor? Please visit and search this website:
https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/working-peoples-day-of-action

Don’t see an event near you or can’t attend an event? Stand in solidarity with the Working People’s Day of Action.

For more information about the Working People’s Day of Action, visit www.ItsAboutFreedom.org.

From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: Cracking down on credit reporting companies like Equifax

I just signed this petition I just stood with Sen. Elizabeth Warren to tell Congress to pass legislation cracking down on credit reporting companies like Equifax, and I hope you will, too.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/equifax_warren_2018?sp_ref=386294661.4.185980.e.598508.2&referring_akid=27267.1920731.Cc–YO&source=mailto_sp

From: Amy and the team at Win Without War
Subject: Will you take the next step to stop Trump’s tank parade?

Wow. You and 250,000 more activists signed the petition urging Washington, D.C.’s government to block Trump’s authoritarian war parade. And our immediate outcry worked: We got the Pentagon to backpedal on holding the parade in D.C. [1]

But we can’t stop there — not while Trump’s still planning an authoritarian show of force in our streets at the expense of our democracy and our tax dollars. If we can turn our incredible surge of momentum into hard and fast legislation to refuse federal funds, then we can keep Trump’s authoritarian parade off our nation’s streets for good.

Take the next step and urge Congress to permanently defund Trump’s war parade >>

We got Washington, D.C.’s Mayor and City Council on the record against Trump’s parade, plus dozens of members of Congress. [2] But the second our backs are turned, the Pentagon is going to try to cram Trump’s tanks down the streets of another American city. So we’ve got to stay two steps ahead of them.

Our nationwide pressure got two bills introduced in Congress to cut off funding for Trump’s massively wasteful and undemocratic war parade. [3] Now, we need to push hard to get these bills through Congress before Trump’s next horrible idea steals the spotlight… and the Pentagon quietly grabs taxpayer money to put Trump’s tanks on American streets.

Tell Congress: Block funding for Trump’s tank parade.

[1] MSN: Washington is Trump’s preferred parade route, options open

[2] Win Without War’s tracker: Members of Congress Speak Out Against Trump’s Military Parade

[3] Dems introduce bills to block funds for Trump’s proposed parade

From: AlterNet
Subject: Medicare GONE

The following sponsored email was sent to you by AlterNet on behalf of DCCC:

JUST RELEASED: TRUMP BUDGET CUTS $1.7 TRILLION FROM SOCIAL SAFETY NET, INCLUDING MEDICARE

5OO,OOO SIGNATURES NEEDED:
Fight back against Trump and Republicans’ Medicare-GUTTING budget >>

Donald Trump’s newly-released budget slashes TRILLIONS from our social safety net — but reserves BILLIONS for his disgusting wall.

We will NOT let Republicans steal Americans’ Medicare and Social Security to fund their bigotry and hate.

5OO,OOO DEMOCRATS NEEDED: Sign the petition and condemn Trump’s brutal attacks on Medicare and our social safety net >>

Sign Your Name >>

We’re so furious, we can barely write this email.

We just finished reading Trump’s new budget, and it’s the most heartless document we’ve ever seen.

In short, it’s a $1.7 TRILLION attack on Americans’ social safety net:

– Medicare? GUTTED
– Medicaid? DECIMATED
– Social Security? SLASHED
– Nutrition assistance? EVISCERATED

But can you guess what it prioritizes BILLIONS in funding for?

You guessed it — the Wall. (The same wall Trump promised Mexico would pay for)

Trump and his Republicans are STEALING from hardworking Americans and seniors to fund their bigotry and hate.

We. Won’t. Stand. For. It.

We need to rise up and fight back like never before. Will you be one of the 5OO,OOO Democratic signatures we need to protect our social safety net?

ADD YOUR NAME: We won’t let Trump and his Republicans
ROB us of our social safety net! >>

From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headlines:
(1) Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn
(2) Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Puts Burden on State and Private Money

Russia Sees Midterm Elections as Chance to Sow Fresh Discord, Intelligence Chiefs Warn
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, CHARLIE SAVAGE and MICHAEL WINES
As the midterm elections approach, Russia is likely to throw more propaganda at Americans in an effort to deepen political divisions, American intelligence chiefs said.

Trump’s Infrastructure Plan Puts Burden on State and Private Money
By PATRICIA COHEN and ALAN RAPPEPORT
The president’s $200 billion plan recasts the federal government as a minority stakeholder in the nation’s new infrastructure projects.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0204

From: Munsup @Siscom Seoh
Subject: FW: Asian Registry? No drilling on sacred Native lands; How to spot ‘Fake News’ with a corollary and …; and more

FW: As I See It: Stop Massachusetts from creating an unconstitutional ‘Asian Registry’
FW: NYT Today’s Headlines:
(1) Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil
(2) Kelly Says He’s Willing to Resign as Abuse Scandal Roils White House
(3) Kentucky Rushes to Remake Medicaid as Other States Prepare to Follow
FW: Oppose Senator Rubio’s proposal that could lead to Social Security benefit cuts
FW: Sign if you agree: No drilling on sacred Native lands
FW: How to spot ‘Fake News’ with a corollary and Trump Shows Us the Way

From: SB WOO
Subject: FW: As I See It: Stop Massachusetts from creating an unconstitutional ‘Asian Registry’

WE must stop such a legislations, and don’t let it spread from MA to other states. – SB Woo

Please sign the petition here:
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stop-bill-h3361-profiling-people-based-on-race-and

As I See It: Stop Massachusetts from
creating an unconstitutional ‘Asian Registry’

A controversial Massachusetts bill, the Asian Data Disaggregation Act (H.3361), is under consideration by the state legislature. If enacted, it would require “all state agencies, quasi-state agencies, entities created by state statute and sub-divisions of state agencies” to identify Asian American, and only Asian American, people based on their country of origin or ancestry.

Continue reading by clicking one of these links:

From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headline: (1) Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil
(2) Kelly Says He’s Willing to Resign as Abuse Scandal Roils White House
(3) Kentucky Rushes to Remake Medicaid as Other States Prepare to Follow

Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil
By PETER BAKER and MAGGIE HABERMAN
Aides to President Trump said they remained confused and upset over the handling of the accusations against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who stepped down.

Kelly Says He’s Willing to Resign as Abuse Scandal Roils White House
By MAGGIE HABERMAN, JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
A resignation by the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, was not considered imminent, but his suggestion reflects the turmoil engulfing President Trump’s staff.

Kentucky Rushes to Remake Medicaid as Other States Prepare to Follow
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
The state will require many people to work, volunteer or train for a job to qualify for coverage — and to prove it with frequent documentation.

From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: Oppose Senator Rubio’s proposal that could lead to Social Security benefit cuts

I just signed a petition to urge Congress to reject a new proposal from Sen. Marco Rubio that could lead to Social Security benefit cuts. I hope you will sign and share it:
https://act.credoaction.com/sign/ss-trump-rubio?sp_ref=385260781.4.185850.e.597870.2&referring_akid=27205.1920731.Ysj_H4&source=mailto_sp

From: Josh Nelson, Deputy Political Director, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Sign if you agree: No drilling on sacred Native lands

No drilling at Chaco Culture National Historical Park

The petition to the Bureau of Land Management reads:
“Protect one of our nation’s most significant cultural and historical Native sites. Stop the proposed fossil fuel lease sales near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.”

Add your name: Sign the Petition

If the Trump regime’s war on public lands wasn’t already dangerous enough, Big Oil is now set to destroy one of the nation’s most significant cultural and historical sites if we don’t stop them.

On the heels of Donald Trump’s reckless decision to slash the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, Trump and his fossil fuel regime are ready to hand over drilling rights near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, threatening more than 1,000-year-old Puebloan artifacts and structures of immense cultural, historical and tribal value.

Public lands enemy Sec. Ryan Zinke, who oversees the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), plans to put these lands up for lease to the fossil fuel industry this March. We must act now to prevent these sales from moving forward.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling across the Greater Chaco Landscape. Click here to sign the petition.

The areas in and around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park contain the threatened ruins of Chaco Canyon – what some have referred to “as close as the U.S. gets to Egypt’s pyramids and Peru’s Machu Picchu” – as well as “the remnants of great houses, kivas, ancient roads and sacred places built a millennium ago by an indigenous people who became proficient in architecture, agriculture, astronomy and the arts.”^1,2 Today, the Navajo people rely on the Chaco Landscape to sustain their livelihoods and traditional practices, and modern New Mexican Pueblos, the descendents of Chaco culture, still consider these sites sacred.³

In response to massive backlash by the public and Native people to potential drilling and fracking in the region, the BLM promised tribal leaders and lawmakers that it would delay lease sales inside a 10-mile radius of the park until 2020, when the agency could complete a full assessment to determine the impact drilling would have on ancient sacred sites and public health.

But last summer, the BLM reversed course, and in accordance with Sec. Zinke’s plan to rapidly open up public lands for fossil fuel drilling, put up nearly 4,500 acres of land in Greater Chaco for sale, some of which lay within the buffer zone, potentially endangering sacred sites.⁴

Right now, progressive activists and tribal leaders are organizing protests on the ground to resist this wholesale giveaway of sacred Native lands to the fossil fuel industry.⁵ We must have their backs and demand that the Trump regime back down from these lease sales immediately.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling across the Greater Chaco Landscape. Click the link below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_chaco_drilling?t=7&akid=27217%2E1004336%2Es7wdkh

Add your name: Sign the Petition

Elizabeth Miller, “‘As close as the US gets to Egypt’s pyramids’: how Chaco Canyon is endangered by drilling,” The Guardian, Nov. 8, 2017.
Richard Moe, “The Treasures of Chaco Canyon Are Threatened by Drilling,” The New York Times, Dec. 1, 2017.
Sen. Tom Udall, “Udall, Heinrich, Luján Urge Secretary Zinke to Defer All Leases on Land Near Chaco Culture National Historical Park,” Sept. 6, 2017.
Rebecca Moss, “N.M. leaders urge feds to protect Chaco from oil and gas encroachment,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, Sept. 8, 2017.
Rebecca Moss, “Over 100 protest BLM plans to lease land near Chaco Canyon for fracking,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 17, 2017.

From: Eric Kramer
Subject: How to spot ‘Fake News’ with a corollary and Trump Shows Us the Way

How to spot ‘Fake News’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7eCB2F89K8
with a corollary:

https://thedailybanter.com/2018/02/study-shows-trump-supporters-now-basically-unreachable/

and Trump Shows Us the Way
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/opinion/sunday/trump-shows-us-the-way.html?smid=fb-share

We want a president who understands that sexual and physical abuse are wrong. As a more lucid Trump tweeted in 2012 about Rihanna getting back together with Chris Brown, “A beater is always a beater.”
We don’t want a president who bends over backward to give the benefit of the doubt to neo-Nazis, wife beaters, pedophiles and sexual predators — or who is a sexual predator himself. We don’t want a president who thinks #me is more important than #metoo.

and Trump Gives Wife Beater Praise He Usually Reserves for Child Molesters and Nazis
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-gives-wife-beater-praise-he-usually-reserves-for-child-molesters-and-Nazis

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0203

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Sound familiar??? Sign the petition against ‘Military Parade’; MoveOn official vote results on “Launch ‘Resist and Win’?”; and more

FW: Sound familiar???
FW: Schumer Agrees to Give up Shutdown Fights for Two Years, in Deal That Would Deprive Senate Democrats of Power
FW: ** Official vote results on “Launch ‘Resist and Win’?” **
FW: Sign the petition re: Military parade
FW: This U.S. Senator just tore Trump to pieces
FW: Nancy Pelosi is NOT backing down [read before dinner!]
FW: I just signed this petition telling governors not to collaborate with Trump to end Medicaid.
FW: Happening now: Resist Trump’s racist, xenophobic plan to rip apart families.
FW: One of History’s Foremost Anti-Slavery Organizers Is Often Left Out of the Black History Month Story
FW: Just received this: THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!

From: Eric Kramer
Subject: Sound familiar???

From the physician’s medical diagnosing coding guidebook. Sound familiar???

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: Schumer Agrees to Give up Shutdown Fights for Two Years, in Deal That Would Deprive Senate Democrats of Power l Truthout

Schumer Agrees to Give up Shutdown Fights for Two Years,
in Deal That Would Deprive Senate Democrats of Power

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43483-schumer-agrees-to-give-up-shutdown-fights-for-two-years-in-deal-that-would-deprive-senate-democrats-of-power
Thursday, February 08, 2018 By Sam Knight, The District Sentinel | News Analysis

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer make their way to the Senate floor after announcing a two-year deal on the budget earlier in the day on February 7, 2018. (Photo: Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call)

No ads, no subscription fees — instead, Truthout is fueled by generous donations from readers. Want to support our work? Click here to donate.

Senate Democrats look poised to relinquish significant leverage — the threat of withholding government funding — well into the next Congress.

Leaders from the Senate Majority and Minority said Wednesday that they agreed to a budget deal that would roll back short-term funding norms spearheaded by Congressional Republicans during the Obama administration.

The agreement would eliminate so-called sequestration caps created by the Budget Control Act of 2011. The spending limits were agreed to by Congress after Tea Party Republicans threatened to shutdown the government.

The compromise would hike spending on defense and domestic programs by $300 billion, and it would keep the government funded through October 2019.

“After months of legislative logjams, this budget deal is a genuine breakthrough,” said Chuck Schumer (D-NY) from the Senate floor. “After months of fiscal brinkmanship, this budget deal is the real first sprout of bipartisanship, and it should break the long cycle of spending crises that have snarled this Congress and hampered the middle class.”

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also hailed the agreement. Speaking just before Schumer, he said: “For the first time in years, our armed forces will have more of the resources they need to keep America safe.”

The Pentagon, which received $700 billion this year, would see funding increase by $169 billion.

According to Schumer, the deal would boost spending on healthcare programs, infrastructure and higher education. The agreement would bolster community healthcare grants, while extending funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) by four years until 2027.

It would also deprive Senate Democrats of a tool they could use to stymie the Trump administration, which has been plagued by repeated accusations of Executive Branch abuses, including unprecedented nepotism and conflicts of interest, and obstruction of justice in the FBI inquiry into alleged election meddling in 2016. Republicans have the majority in both houses of Congress, but need Senate Democrats to guarantee that budget legislation won’t be filibustered.

Schumer said the deal was hammered out “without a great deal of help from the White House,” but Presidential aides praised the development. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that it would offer “certainty” and a “much needed” boost in defense spending.

The House might have other plans, however. Influential hardline conservatives look set to oppose the agreement. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC), chair of the Freedom Caucus, came out early against the proposal, according to NBC News.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also said that she won’t back the deal, according to The Hill.

Pelosi repeated demands for a government funding agreement that includes consideration of Dreamers — 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children. The cohort had been granted protections from removal proceedings under the Obama administration. Last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the program would expire in March

In his floor speech on Wednesday, McConnell said that the Senate would soon have an open debate on immigration legislation. He said there would be a “level playing field at the outset,” and that the Majority and Minority would “alternate proposals for consideration and for votes.” According to Reuters, the debate is expected to occur next week.

Before backing the Senate deal, Pelosi is asking House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to schedule similar deliberations.

“Without a commitment from Speaker Ryan, comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support,” she said on Wednesday.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Sam Knight is a reporter, editor and cofounder of The District Sentinel, a news co-op reporting on Washington and federal policy for the left.

From: Ilya, Stephen, Maria, Marie, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: ** Official vote results on “Launch ‘Resist and Win’?” **

The votes are in: MoveOn members have voted 91% to 9% for MoveOn to run the biggest midterm elections program in our history, so today we are taking a big leap and launching the program.

And this decision comes not a moment too soon, because the past week has brought a spate of troubling headlines from the nation’s top election experts, such as “What Happened to the Democratic Wave?” and “The Last Two Weeks of Polls Have Been Great for Republicans. Do They Signal a Shift?”^1,2

The New York Times put it this way: “Last month it seemed that Democrats might ride a giant tsunami to control of the House and Senate. Now, some are wondering whether there’s a Democratic wave at all.”³

If we needed evidence that winning big in November is not a foregone conclusion, we have it. So we are getting to work right now systematically putting the pieces in place to win in November.

But launching a campaign of this size is a huge leap of faith, because it will require a substantial and consistent flow of funds between now and November in order to succeed. And our funding comes from you, our members, not billionaire donors. So to pull off this $15 million campaign, we need your support.

Can you start a monthly donation to MoveOn today to help power our campaign to win big at the ballot boxes this November?

Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

So what’s behind headlines like these today from CNN and The Washington Post: “Republicans are suddenly more optimistic about the midterms” and “Improving poll numbers give Republicans hope that the midterms might not be so bad”?^4,5

Polls are swinging toward Republicans. Donald Trump’s approval rating is the highest it’s been in nearly a year.⁶ And the Democrats’ large advantage on the “generic ballot”—polls that ask people which party they would support in upcoming congressional elections—has evaporated to only a small lead.⁷

Here’s our best understanding of what’s happening: Corporate America has teamed up with Republicans in Congress and their billionaire donors to boost public opinion on the new tax law, touting and shining attention on companies announcing meager, one-time bonuses for some workers rather than the multibillion-dollar windfalls showered on the top 1%. And it’s working.

Public opinion of the new tax law is shifting, even though the reality is that the vast majority of tax giveaways benefit billionaires and big corporations. And a majority of voters now say they approve of how Trump is handling the economy—and that Trump, not President Obama, is primarily responsible for the economy’s health.⁸

That’s why the road to winning in November begins now. Together, we’re launching our largest midterm campaign ever, a $15 million effort to end Republican control of the House, win key Senate races, support 100 strong, diverse, progressive candidates for state and local office, and mobilize voters in every corner of the country. And we need to start right now if we are going to have enough funds to sustain us through November.

Click below to start your monthly donation today to help fund this critical grassroots election campaign.

Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

We’ve resisted mightily this past year. Sometimes we’ve even succeeded against all odds.

And now it’s time to electoralize the Resistance. November is coming. Let’s resist—and win.

Thanks for all you do.

P.S. Here’s our elections plan in a nutshell:

We’ll work to support 100 candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives to end Republican control of Congress—so we can expand the map, support a slate of progressive challengers, hold incumbent Republicans accountable for their votes, and put an end to attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, give handouts to massive corporations, and continue countless attacks on our communities.

We’ll endorse progressive candidates in key Senate races and support 100 diverse, dynamic, fierce down-ballot candidates to build up progressive power at the state and local level around the country.

We’ll build on the grassroots organizing tactics and technology that we developed and tested in 2017—tactics in the areas of recruitment, training, voter persuasion, mobilization, organizing, social media, mobile tools, tech, analytics, and video. For example, last year with our partners, we led a series of Ready to Resist mass mobilizing calls that regularly engaged tens of thousands of activists, and we also organized a Resistance Summer training program that supported 1,000 MoveOn members across the country as they developed powerful organizing skills. We will mobilize these members and train even more to lead this year.

We’ll run a campaign that stands shoulder to shoulder with the communities most impacted by GOP attacks and policies—including Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ folks, and people of color. These communities have been consistently used as scapegoats to mobilize Republican voters during elections. We will push back on candidates of either party who throw vulnerable communities under the bus to win elections, and we’ll elevate candidates who authentically channel the voices of the diverse American electorate.

We’ll scale our innovative social media persuasion testing and delivery technology that proved effective at persuading and turning out thousands of voters in both Virginia and Alabama last year. MoveOn’s tech and mobile teams developed a new peer-to-peer messaging platform, Spoke, that has already been responsible for mobilizing 60,000 grassroots actions. We will put all of these tools to work in service of our electoral objectives in 2018.

We’ll fund this work with hundreds of thousands of small-dollar contributions from MoveOn members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. And, if necessary, we will launch a Super PAC to enable us to collect more resources to maximize the power of MoveOn members. (The Super Pac would be time-limited, we’d disclose the names of donors giving over $200 publicly to the FEC, and we’d shut it down after the close of the election.)

It’s a big, ambitious plan, but it will be possible only with your support. Will you start a monthly donation now?

Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

Sources:

“What Happened To The Democratic Wave?” FiveThirtyEight, February 1, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33484?t=8&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
“The Last Two Weeks of Polls Have Been Great for Republicans. Do They Signal a Shift?” The New York Times, February 2, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33485?t=10&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
Ibid.
“Republicans are suddenly more optimistic about the midterms,” CNN, February 8, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33486?t=12&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
“Improving poll numbers give Republicans hope that the midterms might not be so bad,” The Washington Post, February 8, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33487?t=14&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
“Trump’s Approval Rating Is the Highest It’s Been in Nearly a Year, Poll Finds,” Time, February 3, 2018
http://act.moveon.org/go/33488?t=16&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
“Are Democrats Winning The Race For Congress?” FiveThirtyEight, last accessed February 8, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33104?t=18&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks
“Republicans are suddenly more optimistic about the midterms,” CNN, February 8, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33486?t=20&akid=198521%2E1195276%2EXONrks

Donate monthly or make a one-time gift

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

From: Stephen Miles, Win Without War
Subject: Sign the petition re: Military parade

Donald Trump wants a massive demonstration of military power in Washington, D.C. A war parade would be a waste of our taxpayer dollars, would not do anything to keep our country safe, and would not honor the men and women in uniform. Its entire purpose is to let Trump play dictator for a day, further eroding democracy, and pushing our country even closer to authoritarianism.

Sign the petition calling on D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council to reject Trump’s plans for a military parade through our nation’s capital.

Trump’s war parade must not be treated as normal.
Prevent Trump from holding a dangerous war parade in Washington, D.C.

Sign Stephen’s petition

Trump wants to send tanks, troops, and guns down the streets of Washington, D.C. This is the kind of parade that dictators around the world use to try and intimidate their enemies and, more importantly, their own citizens.

The truth is the money wasted on feeding Trump’s desire to see tanks and missiles paraded past his luxury hotel is money our nation desperately needs turning the lights back on in Puerto Rico, providing treatment for the opioid epidemic, making college affordable, and countless other needs Trump seems to have no interest in meeting.

This is not democracy.

Urge Washington, D.C.’s Mayor Muriel Bowser and the DC Council to act immediately and shut down Trump’s war parade by refusing to issue permits, allocate resources, or otherwise cooperate with such an outrageous idea.

Click here to stop Trump’s war parade, and then pass the petition along to your friends.

From: Important! Progressive Takeover Update
Subject: This U.S. Senator just tore Trump to pieces

SIGN YOUR NAME: [24 hr deadline]
Stand with Tammy Duckworth to take down Donald Trump >>

Tammy Duckworth just took Trump to task for being a DICTATOR:

Yes Tammy!! We’re so grateful that she’s speaking truth to power — so we’re asking 5,000 Democrats to stand with her.

If you want to take down Donald Trump, sign your name right now:

SIGN YOUR NAME >>

Trump’s bruised ego is undermining our democracy. He’s certainly not a dictator of an authoritarian regime (even if he might act like it):

But Senator Tammy Duckworth won’t have any of it.

We think Tammy is so right! Donald Trump ALSO took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. It’s high time he started doing so!

Let’s stop Trump’s dangerous nonsense in its tracks!

We need just 5,000 Progressives to sign on by midnight tomorrow.

SIGN YOUR NAME >>

From: BREAKING [SIGN THIS PETITION by PROGRESSIVE TAKEOVER]
Subject: Nancy Pelosi is NOT backing down [read before dinner!]

SIGN NOW: [12 hour deadline]
Sign to STOP Republicans from deporting Dreamers>>

We’re working on borrowed time.

We only have just hours to force Republicans to do the right thing — and pass a budget that PROTECTS Dreamers.

So we’re sending a massive grassroots petition to Washington.

If we don’t get enough signatures — 800,000 Dreamers could face deportation.

There’s NO time to spare. Sign to STOP Republicans from deporting Dreamers:

SIGN THE PETITION >>

Trump is playing games with our immigration system and threatening ANOTHER government shutdown if he doesn’t get his way.

Even with a new bipartisan bill on the table, Trump continues his racist rhetoric to dismantle President Obama’s efforts to defend Dreamers.

Demand Congress take action NOW to protect Dreamers.

SIGN THE PETITION >>

It’s time we settle this once and for all. Dreamers are American in every way, but one. Congress must act before time runs out.

Click the link below to sign our petition:

https://act.progressivetakeover.org/go/Protect-Dreamers-Now

From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: I just signed this petition telling governors not to collaborate with Trump to end Medicaid. I hope you will sign and share it.

I just signed this petition telling governors not to collaborate with Trump to end Medicaid. I hope you will, too.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trump_medicaid?sp_ref=384670421.4.185477.e.596332.2&referring_akid=27171.1920731.8MVmQR&source=mailto_sp

From: Monique Teal, Daily Kos
Subject: Happening now: Resist Trump’s racist, xenophobic plan to rip apart families.

Yesterday, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took to the House floor to share stories of young undocumented people who have been put in peril by Trump and Republicans in Congress. She bore witness to their struggle for a little more than eight hours.

She spoke of people like Denea, who has lived in the U.S. since she was seven and now as an adult is a community organizer. She shared stories of sisters like Alex, a 19-year-old college student, and Daniela, a 24-year-old small business owner. She uplifted patriots like Zion, who is currently enlisted as a reservist cargo specialist in the U.S. Army.

Immigrant youth are in a fight for their lives. We need Republican members of Congress on board to get a floor vote for the Dream Act. Please, make a call today.

Call Representative Michael R. Turner at (202) 225-6465. Demand he support a floor vote for the Dream Act ASAP.

Hi, my name is _______ from ___________ in city ____________. I am calling to urge Representative Michael R. Turner to demand a floor vote on the Dream Act. Immigrant youth are already losing their DACA protections. We can’t wait for Congress to work out a massive immigration overhaul and it’s cruel to leave immigrant youth in limbo. Enough is enough. Please demand a vote on the Dream Act TODAY. Thank you for your time.

Once you’ve placed the call, click here to tell us how it went. We are keeping a running tally of calls.

Finished your call or can’t get through? Sign and send a petition to Representative Michael R. Turner: Immigrant youth can’t wait. Pass the Dream Act NOW!

ADD YOUR NAME

As Pelosi was speaking, immigrant youth took over the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress finally pass the Dream Act, legislation that would protect them from deportation and provide a pathway to citizenship, provided they fulfill a laundry list of requirements.

Donald Trump and his racist, xenophobic administration are demanding an extreme, sweeping immigration overhaul in exchange for protecting immigrant youth. But his deal would rip families apart, further criminalize people of color, and cut legal immigration by half. It’s a non-starter for anyone with a conscience.

Eighty-one percent of Democrats, 51 percent of Republicans and 66 percent of independents support providing legal status to immigrant youth. There is no reason for Republicans to continue holding immigrant youth hostage.

Representative Michael R. Turner needs to feel the same urgency as Leader Pelosi and immigrant youth. Tell them to reject Trump’s racist, anti-immigrant plan. Pass the Dream Act now.

Call Representative Michael R. Turner at (202) 225-6465. Demand he support a floor vote for the Dream Act ASAP.

Hi, my name is ______ from ________ in the city of ________. I am calling to urge Representative Michael R. Turner to demand a floor vote on the Dream Act. Immigrant youth are already losing their DACA protections. We can’t wait for Congress to work out a massive immigration overhaul and it’s cruel to leave immigrant youth in limbo. Enough is enough. Please demand a vote on the Dream Act TODAY. Thank you for your time.

Once you’ve placed the call, click here to tell us how it went. We are keeping a running tally of calls.

Finished your call or can’t get through? Sign and send a petition to Representative Michael R. Turner: Immigrant youth can’t wait. Pass the Dream Act NOW!

ADD YOUR NAME

From: Wahls, Myron DDS Detroit [mailto:Myron.Wahls@ssa.gov]
Subject: FW: One of History’s Foremost Anti-Slavery Organizers Is Often Left Out of the Black History Month Story

I thought you would be interested in this story I found on MSN:
One of History’s Foremost Anti-Slavery Organizers Is Often Left Out of the Black History Month Story
http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BBIPVi2?ocid=se

From: Jedith
Subject: Just received this: THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!

A woman dies at age 65 before collecting one benefit check. She and her employer paid into the system for almost 50 years and she collected NOTHING!

Keep in mind all the working people that die every year who were paying into the system and got nothing! And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it’s now going broke. BEAUTIFUL! and they have the audacity to call today’s seniors “vultures” in an attempt to cover their ineptitude. DISGRACEFUL! The real reason for renaming our Social Security payments is so the government can claim that all those social security recipients are receiving entitlements thus putting them in the same case as welfare, food stamp recipients.

THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!

F.Y.I. By changing the name of SS contributions it gives them a means to refute this program in the future. It’s free money for the government to spend under this guise.

The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a *Federal Benefit Payment*? I’ll be part of the one percent to forward this. I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you.

Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it. The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a “Federal Benefit Payment.” This isn’t a benefit. It is our money paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too. It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.

(This should be enough for you to forward this message, If not read on.)

If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that’s would make your Social Security investment close to $180,000. If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you’d have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved! This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month. That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. (Google it – it’s a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you’re 98 if you retire at age 65)!

I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts. Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger *Ponzi scheme* than Bernie Madoff ever did. (Lyndon Johnson) They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot (oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn’t have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they’ve told us that the money won’t support us for very much longer.(Isn’t it funny that they NEVER say this about welfare payments?) But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a *benefit*, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.

Just because they borrowed the money, doesn’t mean that our investments were a charity! Let’s take a stand. We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare.. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government. Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it.

Then call it what it is: Our Earned Retirement Income.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0202

From: Munsup @MPEN Seoh
Subject: FW: Breaking: Trump ordered tanks in D.C.; NYT Today’s Headlines; Paul Ryan ridiculed for bragging…; and more

FW: Breaking: Trump ordered tanks in D.C.
FW: Petition updates
FW: Several Eagles players already refusing to celebrate Super Bowl win with Trump
FW: Today’s Headlines:
(1) Thousands of ISIS Fighters Flee in Syria, Many to Fight Another Day
(2) As F.B.I. Took a Year to Pursue the Nassar Case, Dozens Say They Were Molested
FW: Everything Terrible The Trump Administration Has Done So Far
FW: House Republicans Rush To Get In On The Big Obstruction Of Justice Party
FW: House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI’s FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump
FW: Paul Ryan ridiculed on social media for bragging about secretary’s tiny raise under GOP tax cut

From: Stephen, Cassandra, Amy, and the Win Without War team
Subject: Breaking: Trump ordered tanks in D.C.

Urgent: Trump just ordered a massive military parade in D.C.
Tell D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to shut it down immediately >>

Last night, the Washington Post broke the story that Donald Trump has ordered a giant military parade with tanks, guns, and troops taking over the streets of our nation’s capital. [1] This is the kind of parade that dictators around the world use to intimidate their enemies and, more importantly, their own citizens.

This is what authoritarian dictatorships look like.

But Trump can’t change the fact that we still live in a democracy — which means Washington, D.C.’s local government gets to have a say before Donald Trump’s tanks roll down its streets. If we put immediate pressure on Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, we can force her to step in and shut down Trump’s blatant warmongering. So it’s up to us to spark a massive response from coast to coast: NO WAY, NOT NOW, NOT EVER.

Please, act now to demand Mayor Bowser stop Trump’s brazen war parade.

[1] Trump’s ‘marching orders’ to the Pentagon: Plan a grand military parade.
(Munsup’s Note: He has seen the imagination many times when he was in Korea under late President Park.)

From: Maria, Pulin, Alex, Iram, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: Petition updates

Our aspirations and hopes for the nation are reflected in what MoveOn members and partners do—locally and nationally.

In the past few months, we’ve been busy fighting against the Trump agenda, working to rebuild progressive power, and laying the groundwork for victories in 2018. We supported the electoral wins in Virginia and Alabama, took on a fierce fight against the GOP corporate tax giveaway, continued work in solidarity with Dreamers and immigrants under attack, and are organizing to defend the Mueller investigation—including a rapid-response network of more than 700 events and 220,000 participants ready to spring into action if Trump fires Mueller.

Many times, the catalyst for change is a MoveOn member, like you, who starts a petition or signs on to support an issue that’s important to them.

With all that we are doing, it’s important to reflect on the progress this movement is making, so let’s take a look at what MoveOn members and partner organizations have been up to on our petition platform in the past couple of months.

Standing with families threatened by Trump’s cruel deportation regime

After grassroots support from her community, including more than 10,000 signatures on a MoveOn petition, Connecticut resident Nelly Cumbicos will be allowed to stay with her family instead of facing deportation. While it’s great news for her family, hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members are still fighting for a Dream Act, equality for same-sex couples, and ending cruel deportations, which destroy many other families. As ICE becomes more emboldened and given extra powers by the Trump administration, it will take all of us to stand up to protect families from being torn apart.

If you know people or communities who are being attacked by the Trump administration’s policies, launch a petition now.

Ensuring that Net Neutrality is not dead

Nearly 100,000 MoveOn members have signed Demand Progress’ petition to overturn the FCC’s repeal of Net Neutrality. And thanks to a groundswell of support, the campaign is on the verge of winning a bipartisan victory in the Senate—50 senators have already signed on, and there’s a real chance your additional support will help win this battle by persuading Republicans who are currently undecided.

You can start a petition asking your senators to commit to protecting Net Neutrality or other issues important to you.

Protecting the integrity of the Mueller investigation

Trump and the Republicans stepped up their attacks on the Mueller investigation. They’re taking extreme measures against the FBI and Department of Justice and leveraging the so-called “Nunes Memo,” which is simply a piece of propaganda designed to undermine the rule of law. More than 140,000 MoveOn members are demanding Speaker Ryan remove Rep. Nunes from this investigation and the House Intelligence Committee.

Start your own petition against government corruption now.

Holding Trump accountable for sexual abuse and harassment

A petition asking the Department of Justice and Congress to investigate Trump’s history of sexual assault and harassment continues to gain massive support. We teamed up with UltraViolet and CREDO to deliver more than 500,000 signatures to Senate Minority Leader Schumer and House Minority Leader Pelosi this week. We’ll keep the pressure up until Congress takes these allegations seriously.

It’s empowering to start your own petition to hold people in positions of power accountable for their destructive actions.

Spotlight: 11 campaign updates you don’t want to miss

Lawyers for Cyntoia Brown, imprisoned for killing one of her abusers in self-defense, filed paperwork appealing her sentence and seeking clemency. More than 480,000 MoveOn members who signed a petition are hoping for good news in the days ahead.
Trump confirmed that he plans to keep the current trophy hunting ban in place after animal advocates, including 180,000 MoveOn members, denounced his administration’s plans to lift it.
Nearly 40,000 people signed a petition which asked Congress to release testimony from Fusion GPS as part of the investigation into Russian interference in U.S. elections. After massive public pressure, the transcript was released by the House panel.
120,000 of us signed on to a petition from Karine Jean-Pierre—an immigrant, Haitian, and former White House aide who is now a national spokesperson and senior adviser at MoveOn. Her petition called on Congress to condemn Trump’s racist comments about people from Haiti and Africa.
MPower Change took the lead on a petition asking Twitter to delete Trump’s account. Over 50,000 people signed, because we agree it’s reprehensible for Trump to use the platform to threaten international nuclear war with North Korea, disseminate hateful anti-Muslim videos, condemn a free press, and attack civilians.
After Trump cut tens of millions of dollars in funding for refugees, nearly 20,000 of us signed a petition from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), demanding Trump continue supporting “education, healthcare, social services, and emergency protection to refugees in need.”
Bill Nye (yes, the Science Guy) was at the State of the Union as a guest of anti-science Rep. Jim Bridenstine, who is under consideration to head NASA and looking for ways to boost his reputation. Petitions started by Climate Hawks Vote and other allies asking Nye to skip the address drew widespread support and media attention.
Shannon Watts petitioned CNN to feature a State of the Union response from women in the Resistance. Despite 50,000 signatures of support, CNN denied her request. Inspired by the momentum, Shannon and allies decided to stream their own programming!
The House introduced the Marijuana Justice Act to accompany a Senate version of the bill. This issue received a great deal of support on multiple petitions, because if passed, it will decriminalize the use of marijuana on the federal level.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Power 4 Puerto Rico continue to push Congress to provide relief to the island months after a deadly hurricane hit. Their petition has 209,000 signatures and is growing every day.
In New Hampshire, a MoveOn member and organizer delivered hundreds of petition signatures asking the NH Democratic Party to reduce superdelegates by 60% in time for the 2020 primary cycle during the state party’s meeting last week. It drew loud applause from attendees.

Our core values and institutions are under unprecedented attacks, and while it may not seem that petitions will make all the difference, we’re here to inspire each other each day. Resistance doesn’t always lead to immediate victory, but it’s an important step to take to get our nation headed in the right direction.

Thank you for being an inspiration to us as we continue to move ahead into a crucial 2018 year of opportunity, organizing, and victories!

Will you start your own petition for progressive change now?

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Evan, Rashad, Arisha, Brandi, Jade, Johnny, Future, Corina, Chad, Mary, Saréya, Eesha, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
Subject: Several Eagles players already refusing to celebrate Super Bowl win with Trump

Join me in thanking Chris Long, Torrey Smith and Malcolm Jenkins of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles for taking a stand against Donald Trump’s bigotry and white supremacy.

One year into Trump’s presidency and we’ve already seen his racist and nativist rhetoric come to life in devastating ways: ripping apart families through deportation, increased violence by white supremacists, and the attempted destruction of the middle class through his horrendous tax policy. It’s usually customary for the winning Super Bowl team to visit the White House, but this isn’t a normal president. Chris Long, Torrey Smith and Malcolm Jenkins of the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles have publicly rebuked Trump and his policies by boycotting the traditional White House visit.

By refusing to visit the White House, these players continue to take a bold stance against this illegitimate President and the racist, xenophobic, and sexist policies he stands for. They are risking the alienation of their teammates, coaches, and fans in order to stand up for their principles.

Let’s show these Eagles’ players just how much we support their bold stand. Thank Chris Long, Torrey Smith and Malcolm Jenkins for standing against Trump.

The quiet national anthem protests begun by Colin Kaepernick two years ago turned into a firestorm this year with more and more athletes taking a stand, Kaepernick continuing to be blackballed, as well Trump’s and some NFL owners’ racist comments about these athletes. While this will mark the second year in a row that Chris Long has boycotted the White House after a Super Bowl win, it’s not the first time athletes have turned their back on the former Apprentice host.

Last spring, Steph Curry announced that he and the championship Warriors wouldn’t visit Trump’s White House and numerous teams from the NBA, NHL, and MLB have taken to boycotting Trump hotels.¹ ² They’re following in a long tradition of athletes taking a stand for Black lives and rights, from Muhammad Ali to Tommie Smith and John Carlos giving the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, to NBA players invoking the legacy of Eric Garner by wearing “I Can’t Breathe” shirts on the court. These are athletes who demand that America live up to its values of liberty and justice for all.

Join me in thanking Chris Long, Torrey Smith and Malcolm Jenkins for standing up against Trump.

We’re in a pivotal moment when everyday Americans and public figures with shared values of justice and equity are using their powerful voices to say enough is enough–no more racism, no more anti-Muslim bigotry, no more misogyny, and no more Trump! We need to continue to support the athletes that are risking their livelihoods to stand up for justice.

Thank Chris Long, Torrey Smith and Malcom Jenkins for standing with Black communities.

References:

“Donald Trump rescinds White House invitation to Stephen Curry, Warriors.” 23 September, 2017. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/17556?t=10&akid=9041%2E239715%2EwAH4-K
“Sports teams are deserting Trump’s hotels, and it’s hitting his wallet hard.” 12 October, 2017. https://act.colorofchange.org/go/17557?t=12&akid=9041%2E239715%2EwAH4-K

Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change.
Help keep our movement strong.

From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today’s Headlines: Thousands of ISIS Fighters Flee in Syria, Many to Fight Another Day

Thousands of ISIS Fighters Flee in Syria, Many to Fight Another Day
By ERIC SCHMITT
As some militants go into hiding and others slip into Turkey, the flow risks tarnishing American declarations that the Islamic State has been largely defeated.

As F.B.I. Took a Year to Pursue the Nassar Case, Dozens Say They Were Molested
By DAN BARRY, SERGE F. KOVALESKI and JULIET MACUR
The agency was seemingly slowed by jurisdictional issues, and athletes went unwarned that a potential child molester was in their midst.

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Everything Terrible The Trump Administration Has Done So Far

https://paperspaperspapers.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/the-everything-terrible-the-trump-administration-has-done-so-far-omnibus/

The “Everything Terrible The Trump Administration Has Done So Far” Omnibus

Here’s a list of all the awful things done the Trump Administration has done so far. It can be to used as a quick reference source in arguments against anyone who tries…

From: MARGARET PETERS [mailto:mpeters0312@sbcglobal.net]
Subject: FW: House Republicans Rush To Get In On The Big Obstruction Of Justice Party

On Saturday, February 3, 2018 7:38 AM, The Pen <theteam@activist149.peaceteam.net> wrote:

We know we don’t have a lot of Republicans on our distribution list. But for the ever diminishing minority, if they’re following any of this out there, hurry, hurry, you too can get in on the big obstruction of justice party.

If it turns out that Nunes, so close to Trump he was on the transition team, conspired with the White House, exactly like he has before, in any way to cook up a slimy and deceptive attack on the FBI, solely intended, and already admitted as such, to pave the way for aborting the Mueller investigation, Nunes will be doing the perp walk himself before long.

For those Republicans who claim they are just going after some supposed bad apples at the top, while still supporting the rank and file, guess what? The rank and file, the FBI Agents Association, is standing strongly behind FBI director Wray.

Trump was caught on a hot mike promising release of the memo before anyone would admit that he had even read it. It literally represents rendering a verdict before even a due consideration of the facts, with Nunes himself never having read the material underlying the one-sided memo he is pushing, and with Republicans on the so-called Intelligence Committee vetoing the idea of even being briefed by the FBI before their rush to publish.

There are rumblings from the inside the White House that the whole thing is just big fat dud, and that all this is just about the handling of the investigation into Carter Page. What’s the scandal the Republicans are ranting about, that a known Russian asset, albeit an inept one who even the Russians thought was an idiot, was kept under surveillance?

Nixon was desperate to stop the Watergate investigation, and couldn’t. But at some point he stopped committing additional crimes of obstruction of justice to do so. Trump seems determined to make the special counsel’s case for him, missing no opportunity to pile on additional evidence of his intent.

As we predicted, Trump will never voluntarily submit to any kind of Mueller interview, let alone testify. His attorney released a statement asserting the Mueller had not met the so-called “high bar” required to question an Oval Office occupant.

Unfortunately, there is no bar too low for Trump himself to slink under.

But you can raise the bar again, with any of our Lock Trump up message gifts.

Trump, YOU’RE Fired caps: https://www.utalk.us/?g=2:Y
Lock Him Up Trump popcorn boxes: https://www.utalk.us/?g=5:PB
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Trump the Fraud bumper stickers: https://www.utalk.us/?g=1:SF
Custom Trump Resistance bumper stickers: http://www.peaceteam.net/custom_trump_sticker.php

Or if you’d just like to make a valiant contribution to support these insights of truth, you can use this page, and you can even make it recurrent by checking the option box for that now.
Donations: https://www.utalk.us/?p=donate
And here is the mailing address if you would prefer to send a check.
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Contributions to The People’s Email Network or ActBlue are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.

You may forward this message to any friends who would find it important.
If you would like to be added to our distribution list, go to http://www.peaceteam.net/in.htm

From: CLG_News
Subject: House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI’s FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump

News Updates from CLG on 03 February 2018, http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here: http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI’s FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump | 02 Feb 2018 | A much-hyped memo that shows alleged government surveillance abuse during the 2016 campaign has been released to the public and cites testimony from a high-ranking government official who says the FBI and DOJ would not have sought surveillance warrants to spy on a member of the Trump team without the infamous, Democratic-f-nded anti-Trump dossier. Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee released the memo Friday. The White House responded by saying the memo “raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI to use the government’s most intrusive surveillance tools against American citizens.”

Republican memo: What you need to know about alleged FBI and DOJ abuses | 02 Feb 2018 | The four-page memo compiled by the GOP Chair of the House Intelligence Committee accuses the FBI and DOJ under the Obama administration of securing a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign based on the notorious ‘Steele dossier.’ Declassified by President Donald Trump and published by the committee Friday over strong objections by Democrats, the DOJ and the FBI, the memo lays out the origins of the warrant to spy on Trump adviser, Carter Page, in the dossier f-nded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The so-called Steele dossier “formed an essential part” of the FISA probable cause order obtained by the FBI from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) on October 21, 2016. The warrant was extended three times, also on the basis of the Steele dossier. [See also: 370598711 House Intelligence Committee Report on FISA Abuses.]

GOP-Nunes memo released alleging FBI cover-up [and FISA surveillance improprieties] | 02 Feb 2018 | The House Intelligence Committee on Friday made public a Republican memo that raises questions about the FBI surveillance of one of Donald Trump’s campaign aides, acting after the president declassified the entire document, which he says shows the law enforcement agency was biased against him. The disclosure came despite the opposition of the FBI, which feared it would reveal investigative methods bias and illegalities, and the Justice [sic] Department. The three-and-a-half-page memo was prepared by the intelligence committee’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and is a critique of the FBI’s application for surveillance authority that was presented to the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court.

Read the full transcript of the GOP memo | 02 Feb 2018 | This is the 3.5-page memo prepared by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes. It is derived from the FBI’s application for surveillance authority before the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court. The memo was released Friday after President Donald Trump decided to declassify it in full, White House spokesman Raj Shah. Purpose: This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the Committee’s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) during the 2016 presidential election cycle. Our findings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abused related to the FISA process.

Donald Trump says FBI memo ‘totally vindicates me’ | 03 Feb 2018 | Donald Trump says a controversial memo alleging FBI surveillance abuse “totally vindicates” him but added the “Russian witch hunt goes on and on”. He approved Friday’s release of the congressional memo which claimed the FBI and Department of Justice were biased against him while investigating alleged collusion between his 2016 election campaign and Russia. The US President said the inquiry had found nothing and “collusion was dead”. In the tweet posted on Saturday, he wrote: “This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe. “But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. “Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!”

‘A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that’: Furious Trump says FBI and DOJ heads should roll as explosive memo is published | 02 Feb 2018 | President Donald Trump signaled Friday that he expects heads to roll at the Department of Justice after reviewing a classified memo alleging FBI misconduct. Trump said ‘it’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country’ as he formally announced his decision to declassify the document that quickly made its way into the hands of news outlets. ‘A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that,’ he added during a meeting with North Korean defectors in the Oval Office. Asked directly if he wanted Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gone, Trump would only say, ‘You figure that one out.’ CNN reported that Trump read the memo along with his advisors. According to a summary of the memo, it concludes former FBI deputy director McCabe confirmed that the bureau would not have sought a surveillance warrant without information in the dossier of information compiled by ex British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, the Washington Examiner reported.

New FBI messages reveal agents sought way to evade federal record requirements | 01 Feb 2018 | There’s an important but little-noticed subtext in the revelations about alleged FBI misconduct in the investigations into Hillary Clinton’s email practices and Donald Trump’s Russia associations. It’s the light they shine on what has come to be routine obstruction of public records laws by federal officials. The records that federal agencies generate while in our employ aren’t owned by faceless bureaucrats or political officials who can choose to withhold or disclose at their discretion and convenience. The records are owned by us: the public. That includes text messages.

Justice Department says Mueller probe lawful | 03 Feb 2018 | The U.S. Justice Department has backed Special Counsel Robert Mueller over a lawsuit filed against him by Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, and argued that the case should be dismissed. Manafort sued Mueller on Jan. 3, saying his office’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 presidential election exceeded its legal authority. The civil lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accused Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, of exceeding his legal authority to “grant Mr. Mueller carte blanche to investigate and pursue criminal charges in connection with anything he stumbles across.”

Trump team setting up legal defense fund for Russia probe – report | 02 Feb 2018 | President Trump’s campaign has reportedly hired a law firm to set up a legal defense f-nd for costs incurred by staffers ensnared by the special counsel investigation or other legal f-es. A document from the Wiley Rein LLP law firm posted on the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website describes the “Patriot Legal Expense F-nd,” which would provide financial support to any individual who “was an employee, consultant, f-ndraiser or volunteer” of Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Russian Su-25 jet downed in Syria, pilot killed – Defense Ministry | 03 Feb 2018 | A Russian Su-25 jet has crashed in Idlib province in north-western Syria, the Russian Defence Ministry confirmed, adding that it was probably shot down by MANPAD. The pilot ejected but was killed by militants on the ground. Preliminary data showed the Su-25 plane was downed by a man-portable air-defense system (MANPAD), the ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The attack took place when the jet was flying over the Idlib de-escalation zone on Saturday. The pilot parachuted down into the area controlled by Al-Nusra terrorist group, the statement said.

US uses ‘routine’ aerial incidents to stir up Russophobia, avoids dialog – Moscow | 01 Feb 2018 | The US deliberately “fusses” over ordinary plane encounters to accuse Moscow of aggression, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, responding to the latest incident over the Black Sea. Moscow notes Washington’s “repeated attempts to make a fuss over what has in fact become routine episodes of escorting each other’s planes,” the ministry said in a statement. It regards this approach as nothing but a desire to “stir up Russophobic sentiments in the media and to accuse Russia of aggressive actions.” …Moscow and Washington signed an agreement – which particularly addresses and regulates such incidents – more than 30 years ago, the statement reminded. It went on to point out that Russia has repeatedly suggested further refining this document, but “the US side has always avoided professional dialog” on the matter.

Another US antiballistic missile test fails, officials say | 31 Jan 2018 | A test of an American missile defense system failed early Wednesday morning in Hawaii, two U.S. defense officials tell Fox News. It’s the same type of antiballistic infrastructure the Pentagon depends on to shoot down intermediate-range North Korean ballistic missiles. It was the second failure of an SM-3 antiballistic missile interceptor since June. “We’re now one for three,” a U.S. official with knowledge of the test told Fox News…A spokesman from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency only would acknowledge a test took place, but refused to reveal the results.

N. Korea would see blanket ban of oil supplies as declaration of war – Russian envoy | 31 Jan 2018 | Imposing a total ban on oil exports to North Korea would mean a full blockade and will be considered as a declaration of war by Pyongyang, Russia’s ambassador to North Korea has cautioned. The UN Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a new round of sanctions on the North in December last year, slashing the country’s oil and petroleum imports. Russia’s envoy to North Korea Alexander Matsegora warned against cutting oil supplies to the country any further.

Up to 7,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan – Russian diplomat | 01 Feb 2018 | Some 7,000 fighters and thousands of reservists of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS [but still I-CIA-SIS]) currently reside in Afghanistan, Russian special presidential envoy Zamir Kabulov said on Thursday. The Taliban fighters’ number in Afghanistan currently stands at around 60,000 or 70,000, according to Kabulov, who is also director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department.

Air Force general behind 5G memo leaves White House | 03 Feb 2018 | The author of a memo arguing for a government takeover of development of the nation’s [deadly] 5G m-bile network has been removed from the National Security Council staff. The memo’s unauthorized release this week caused uproar in the telecom community and created embarrassment for the White House. A senior administration official confirmed that Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding is no longer serving as NSC senior director for strategic planning. Spalding was not fired, according to the official, who said his detail had ended and was not renewed. His last day as a White House staffer was Jan. 31.

Lethal radiation detected at Fukushima nuclear plant –42 sieverts per hour of radiation also detected outside foundations of reactor | 01 Feb 2018 | The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has released the results of its latest probe of the site. A remote-controlled inspection of the Unit 2 reactor containment vessel last month detected a maximum of 8 sieverts per hour of radiation. Experts say exposure to such radiation for about an hour would be fatal. Officials from Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, released the results on Thursday. The finding shows that nearly 7 years after the meltdowns, radiation levels remain so high that they present a major challenge to decommissioning work.

Regulator urges Tepco to release radioactive water from damaged Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the sea | 11 Jan 2018 | A decision should be made sometime this year over whether to release into the sea water containing radioactive tritium from the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the chief of Japan’s nuclear regulator said Thursday, emphasizing it would pose no danger to human health. [!?!] “We will face a new challenge if a decision (about the release) is not made this year,” Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa told Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto, referring to the more than 1 million tons of [radioactive] coolant water and groundwater that has accumulated at the crippled facility. Naraha is located close to the Fukushima No.1 plant.

Judge orders release of Las Vegas shooting autopsy reports; coroner refuses to comply | 30 Jan 2018 | A District Court judge on Tuesday ordered the Clark County coroner’s office to release the autopsy reports of Stephen Paddock and the 58 people he [allegedly] killed in the Oct. 1 Las Vegas massacre. But as of late Tuesday, Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg had not complied with the order. He indicated he wouldn’t release Paddock’s autopsy report until it was “finalized.” “I don’t believe this is consistent with what the court ordered,” said Las Vegas attorney Maggie McLetchie, who represents the Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Associated Press in their November action demanding the release of the reports.

Rep. Trey Gowdy to leave Congress, becoming latest high-profile committee chairman to retire | 31 Jan 2018 | South Carolina Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, announced Wednesday that he is retiring from Congress at the end of his term, becoming the latest high-profile committee chairman to opt against re-election. Gowdy said in a statement. The former federal prosecutor was elected to Congress in 2010…The 53-year-old Gowdy, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, has been outspoken about the FBI’s investigations into 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email practices, as well as the Russia probe involving President Trump and his aides. Most recently, he has been a proponent of publicly releasing the House Intelligence Committee memo on alleged government surveillance abuses.

Trump expected to approve release of memo following redactions requested by intelligence officials | 01 Feb 2018 | President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial congressional memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, after the White House agreed to some redactions at the bureau’s request, but the document may not be made public before Friday, according to senior administration officials. The redactions were the result of a review of the memo’s classified contents by White House and intelligence community officials. The memo, which has created a political firestorm, suggests that the early origins of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe into [alleged] Russian interference in the 2016 election were tainted by political bias.

GOP case: FBI probe based on tainted evidence linked to Clinton | 01 Feb 2018 | Congressional Republicans are seeking to make the case that the FBI’s investigation into President Trump’s campaign and possible collusion with Russia was based on flawed or politically tainted evidence connected to partisans loyal to Hillary Clinton. The House Intelligence Committee memo spearheaded by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that is the talk of Washington will be at the center of the argument. The release of that four-page memo is expected as early as Friday. Another document — an eight-page criminal referral filed with the Justice Department by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — is also part of the GOP case.

Dow closes down more than 660 points | 02 Feb 2018 | U.S. stocks slumped Friday, pulling down the Dow Jones industrial average by more than 660 points and placing the market on track for its worst week in two years. The Dow ended the day at 25,520.96, down 665.75 points or 2.54 percent.

‘Deplorable’ NYU prof slaps university, colleagues with lawsuit –The New York University professor made popular by his undercover ‘Deplorable NYU prof’ Twitter account is now suing his colleagues for defamation. | 31 Jan 2018 | The New York University professor [and CLG Founder] who launched an undercover Twitter account to attack identity politics on his campus is suing four colleagues and his school for defamation. Michael Rectenwald revealed in October that he was the professor behind the growing “Deplorable NYU Prof” account on Twitter, which claimed to expose the “viral identity politics of academia and its destruction of academic integrity.” Rectenwald contends that “all hell broke loose” soon after, alleging in his lawsuit that he was unfairly forced to take a medical leave of absence, and that he was the subject of numerous “false” claims made in email threads among university staffers…Rectenwald told Campus Reform that the cumulative damage has nearly destroyed his academic future at NYU.

Disabled US Army veteran’s service dog found shot in head, dumped near railroad tracks | 02 Feb 2018 | A disabled Army veteran’s service dog was found this week shot in the head and dumped by railroad tracks in Boone County, Ky. The dog, Gunner, had belonged to Bryan Vallandingham, a 14-year U.S. Army veteran in Richwood, Ky., who relied on the service animal for safety, Cincinnati’s Fox 19 reported. Gunner would alert Vallandingham’s family members whenever the disabled veteran was having a seizure. The family said Bryan wasn’t doing well after learning of Gunner’s death, and has been having repeated seizures.

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CLG News Editor-in-Chief: Lori Price. Copyright © 2018, Citizens for Legitimate Government ® All rights reserved.

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: Paul Ryan ridiculed on social media for bragging about secretary’s tiny raise under GOP tax cut

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/paul-ryan-brags-woman-tiny-raise-gop-tax-plan-article-1.3797130

Paul Ryan ridiculed on social media for bragging about secretary’s tiny raise under GOP tax cut

Paul Ryan brags about woman’s tiny raise under GOP tax plan
BY Megan Cerullo, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Updated: Saturday, February 3, 2018, 7:41 PM

House Speaker Paul Ryan was ridiculed on social media Saturday after he tweeted, then deleted a post citing a woman’s tiny raise as an accomplishment of the GOP tax cut.

Ryan was responding to an Associated Press story about the controversial tax overhaul’s effect on Americans’ paychecks.

He highlighted Julia Ketchum, a secretary earning an additional $1.50 a week under the new withholding guidelines from the IRS following the passage of the bill.

“A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week …she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” read Ryan’s tweet.

Ryan was responding to an Associated Press story about the controversial tax overhaul’s effect on Americans’ paychecks.
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Ketchum will see her pay increase by $78 a year, which she said she will put toward her membership at warehouse club Costco, according to the Associated Press.

The richest 1%, meanwhile, will earn an extra $51,000 per year, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Ryan’s Democratic opponent, Randy Bryce, used the blunder as a fund-raising opportunity.

“Moments ago, @PRyan deleted this tweet after we told him just how out of touch he was. Show Paul Ryan what you think of his tax bill. Chip in $1.50 now to help us repeal and replace Ryan permanently this November.” He linked to a fund-raising page that suggests a $1.50 donation to his campaign.

Social media users and Democratic lawmakers blasted Ryan over the since-deleted tweet.

Speaker Paul Ryan on Saturday deleted this tweet about a Pennsylvania woman whose paycheck increased by $1.50 a week because of the recently passed GOP tax bill.
(Twitter)

“$1.50 doesn’t even buy you a pack of gum,” one Twitter user responded to a screenshot of the tweet.

“We’ll work an extra 2 mins a day for our $1.50/wk. Can we have our 1.5 TRILLION back now?” another wrote.

“If only he would delete himself,” said another.

Earlier this week, Republicans attacked House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when she called the payouts after the tax bill “crumbs.”

“If you’re going to say that $1,000 is crumbs, you live in a different world than I’m living in,” Vice President Mike Pence said.

Ryan preserved a second tweet in reaction to the AP story quoting a man saying, “I have heard time and time again that the middle class is getting crumbs, but I’ll take it!”

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0201

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Ohio Redistricting – Outside Game; The truth about Trump’s war; If Trump fires Mueller…; and more

FW: Remove Devin Nunes
FW: CA 22nd HR district – running against mr. obstruction-nunes is….
FW: NYT Today’s Headline: Trump Issues Appeal for Unity in First State of the Union
FW: The truth about Trump’s war
FW: The Hacking of the American Mind: Pleasure vs. Happiness
FW: Trump signs executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open
FW: This billionaire raped his staff
FW: Idaho Insurers Ignore Obamacare?; Ousted Professor Speaks; Sheriffs Starve Prisoners in ‘Bama; William J. Barber
FW: If Trump fires Mueller …
FW: The Nunes memo
FW: U.S. commerce lobby to wage war on Elizabeth Warren

rom: Aimee Martinez, Common Cause
Subject: Remove Devin Nunes

Remove Representative Devin Nunes

Rep. Nunes must be removed from participating in the Russia investigation, so we can get the answers we deserve.

Sign Aimee’s petition

The FBI just challenged the accuracy of the so-called “Nunes memo”—a document that was drafted at the direction of the House Intelligence Committee’s GOP chairman and Trump crony, Rep. Devin Nunes.¹

This memo is just the latest in a long string of attempts by Republicans in Congress to undermine and smear Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Donald Trump and his team’s connection to Russian efforts to meddle in U.S. elections.

Rep. Nunes’ attacks on the integrity of the Mueller investigation are a shameful partisan stunt. Click here to sign and share my petition pressuring Speaker Paul Ryan to remove Nunes from participating in the Russia investigation completely.

We can’t allow Rep. Nunes to continue spreading unfounded innuendo about the Russia probe to undermine its credibility. Last year, Rep. Nunes had said he’d remove himself from this investigation due to conflicts of interest, but instead has sought to misdirect the committee’s investigation and disrupt Mueller’s work.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Source: 1. “FBI raises ‘grave concerns’ about GOP intelligence memo, warns against its release,” Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32726?t=18&akid=198084%2E1195276%2E62h01o

You’re receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump’s agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation’s pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us? Donate monthly or make a one-time gift
Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Andrew J. Tierman; Saginaw MI
Subject: FW: CA 22nd HR district – running against mr. obstruction-nunes is….

Devin Nunes, Republican US Congressman from the 22nd House District of CA, has been the leading Trump co-conspirator in obstructing justice, impugning the FBI in concert with the President’s attempt to thwart investigation into wrongdoing by himself and his cohorts.

Andrew Janz is the Democrat running against Devin Nunes next November. I have given, and will give further small contributions to Andrew Janz’ campaign in order to help replace Nunes, who is an advocate for obstruction, with a Representative who will serve the people of his District, and thereby serve all Americans in promoting a U.S. Congress that works for the people and under the law, rather than against both. Perhaps others receiving this mail list may wish to contribute as well.

The website for House Candidate Andrew Janz is http://andrewjanzforcongress.org/

From: New York Times
Subject: Today’s Headlines: Trump Issues Appeal for Unity in First State of the Union

Trump Issues Appeal for Unity in First State of the Union
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and MICHAEL D. SHEAR

The president asked Democrats to join him in overhauling immigration and rebuilding infrastructure as the Russia investigations are intensifying.

From: Stephen, Michelle, Cassandra, and the Win Without War team
Subject: The truth about Trump’s war

Tonight, Trump invited Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean refugee, to his State of the Union speech. He talked about North Koreans like Seong-ho “yearning to be free.”

If Ji Seong-ho had tried to enter the United States this year, Trump’s travel ban would have blocked him.

Make no mistake — human rights abuses in North Korea are terrible, and we must work to end them. But Trump’s war will not end human suffering in North Korea — it will only put millions more people in harm’s way.

Trump’s sudden apparent concern for the North Korean people follows a year full of reckless threats, childish name calling, and other dangerous moves. He has brought both countries to the brink of a deadly war that would kill millions. Trump’s speech tonight is yet another tactic to drag us into a war of choice with North Korea.

We need to act without delay to ensure the media and Congress aren’t fooled by Trump’s crocodile tears for North Korea.

Chip in $6 to help jam on the brakes before Trump starts a war with North Korea

Fifteen years ago, another president stood before Congress, talking about a “madman” with dangerous weapons harming his own people, claiming the only thing that could save us was military might. We’re still living with the horrors unleashed by President Bush’s disastrous war of choice in Iraq. We can’t afford to let another president bluff our country into an even more deadly and catastrophic war with North Korea.

Donald Trump is playing with nuclear fire. And it’s up to us to stop him.

Will you give $6 to reverse course on Trump’s reckless slide into war with North Korea?

From: Judy Burnette
Subject: “The Hacking of the American Mind: Pleasure vs. Happiness” l Forbidden Knowledge TV

https://forbiddenknowledgetv.net/the-hacking-of-the-american-mind/

The Hacking of the American Mind: Pleasure vs. Happiness

I’d been trying to figure out what might be peculiar about American culture that was driving the opioid, obesity and depression crises. Then a longtime subscriber sent me a video with Dr. Robert Lustig, who’s totally on the case. He’s cracked the neurochemical-cultural and economic codes of the country where “Happiness” is legally enshrined as a foremost right in the founding document.

Lustig is a professor of endocrinology at UCSF, where he specializes in neuroendocrinology and childhood obesity. He’s the author of The Hacking of the American Mind, in which he reveals a massive conflation that exists in American ideology (and in the American consumerist ideals that have propagated throughout the planet) between pleasure and happiness, which Lustig explains are completely different:

“Pleasure is short-lived, happiness is long-lived; pleasure is visceral, happiness is ethereal; pleasure is taking, happiness is giving; pleasure can be achieved with substances; happiness cannot be achieved with substances; pleasure is experienced alone; happiness is experienced in social groups. The extremes of pleasure all lead to addiction, whether they be substances or behaviors, yet there’s no such thing as being addicted to too much happiness.

“Finally and most importantly: pleasure is dopamine and happiness is serotonin.

“These are two neurochemicals that the brain makes and uses to communicate between one brain cell and another. It turns out dopamine excites the next neuron and when they’re excited too much, too frequently, they tend to die, so the neuron has a defense mechanism against that. What it does is it reduces the number of receptors that are available to be stimulated, in an attempt to try to mitigate the damage…that process is called down-regulation and a lot of different chemicals in the body do that. You get a hit, you get a rush. The receptors [get down-regulated]. Next time, you need a bigger hit to get the same rush because there are fewer receptors to occupy – and then you need a bigger hit and a bigger hit and a bigger hit – until finally, taking a huge hit to get nothing is called ‘tolerance’. Then, the neurons start to die. That’s called ‘addiction’.

“Serotonin, however is inhibitory. It’s not excitatory. It inhibits its receptor to provide contentment, to Zen-out, if you will. You can’t overdose the serotonin neuron…it binds and doesn’t activate the process beyond the receptor. It basically slows down those neurons instead of causing them to fire up and in so doing, you end up with the process of contentment, that feeling of oneness with the world, if you will, that thing we call ‘happiness’.

“But there’s one thing that down-regulates serotonin: Dopamine.

“So, the more pleasure you seek, the more unhappy you get – and Las Vegas, Madison Avenue, Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Washington DC have very specifically and in a coordinated fashion confused and conflated the term ‘happiness’ with the term ‘pleasure’, so that you can ‘buy happiness’, so that they can sell you their junk. It’s called the American economy and it’s based on hedonic substances, substances that drive pleasure, rather than happiness. In the process, we have become most decidedly unhappy and the problem is, you can’t fix a problem unless you identify what the problem is.”

Dr. Lustig prescribes simple things which support serotonin: sleep, mindfulness and exercise, all of which work to reduce cortisol (which acts against serotonin) and a diet low in fructose (which depletes serotonin), high in L-tryptophan (a serotonin precursor) and high in omega-3 to support serotonin transmission, aka “real food.”

From: Legitgov On Behalf Of CLG_News
Subject: Trump signs executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open

News Updates from CLG on 31 January 2018 (http://www.legitgov.org/)

All links are here: http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Trump signs executive order to keep Guantanamo Bay prison open | 30 Jan 2018 | U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order announcing his intent to keep the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay open, the White House announced Tuesday. Trump made it clear during his 2016 campaign for president that he wanted to keep Guantanamo open…The order says the U.S. maintains the option to detain additional enemy combatants at the detention centre in Cuba, when necessary. It requires the defence secretary to recommend criteria for determining the fate of individuals captured by the United States in armed conflict, including sending them to Guantanamo Bay.

Trump pledges to ‘make America great again for all Americans’ | 30 Jan 2018 | President Donald Trump sought to infuse his maiden State of the Union address with an undercurrent of optimism, declaring Tuesday the nation was thriving a year after he took office. “Let us begin tonight by recognizing that the state of our union is strong because our people are strong,” Trump said inside a crowded House chamber. “Together, we are building a safe, strong, and proud America.” “Tonight, I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground, and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people we were elected to serve,” Trump said. “We have gone forward with a clear vision and a righteous mission — to make America great again for all Americans,” he said.

State of the Union 2018: Read the full transcript | 30 Jan 2018 | President Donald Trump gave his first State of the Union address on Tuesday. Read the President’s speech as prepared for delivery and released by the White House.

Read Joe Kennedy’s full Democratic response to the State of the Union | 30 Jan 22018 | Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy III is delivering this year’s Democratic response to the State of the Union. Read his remarks as prepared, or watch here.

FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe stepping down | 29 Jan 2018 | FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who has been attacked by President Donald Trump, stepped down Monday, multiple sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. McCabe will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March, the sources said. One source said McCabe was exercising his retirement eligibility and characterized his decision as “stepping aside.”

(Read more by clicking here!)

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CLG needs your support. http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html or please mail a check or m*ney order to CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142, Bristol, CT 06011-1142

Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible. Feel free — and CLG encourages you — to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name.

From: Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet
Subject: This billionaire raped his staff

Last Friday, news broke that billionaire casino mogul, Trump ally, and former Republican National Committee (RNC) finance chairman Steve Wynn, has been sexually abusing his employees for over a decade.¹

Dozens of women, who worked in positions such as manicurists and massage therapists in his hotels, recounted stories of Wynn exposing himself to them and pressuring them to perform sex acts. These women feared the power he wielded in Las Vegas and worried about losing their jobs. Some even reported he would trap them in a confined office with his German shepherds, trained to respond to commands in German.²

Over the weekend, Wynn was forced to resign as RNC finance chair and his company’s stocks continue to fall. The board of Wynn Resorts could fire him–but they haven’t yet.³ An accused rapist should not be allowed to continue running a company. If we make this call now, we can add to the growing pressure and the Wynn Resorts board will be forced to oust him to save face. Can you add your name to demand the board fire Wynn?

Tell the Wynn Resorts board: “Fire Steve Wynn
for his history of assault and harassment.”

Sign the petition

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Former employees said their awareness of Mr. Wynn’s power in Las Vegas, combined with the knowledge that the jobs they held were among the best-paying available there, added up to a feeling of dependence and intimidation when Mr. Wynn made requests of them,” and added “Most of those who spoke to the Journal about Mr. Wynn said they worried that doing so could hurt their ability to work elsewhere because of his influence in the casino industry and the state.”⁴

Wynn is one of the worst examples we’ve seen so far of a powerful man abusing his role in an industry notorious for high rates of harassment that’s disproportionately impacting women of color.⁵ In fact, the hospitality industry made up the largest portion of sexual harassment claims filed to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 14.2%, from 2005 to 2015, but only makes up about 7.2% of total workers.⁶

In a recent survey, 58% of hotel workers and 77% of casino workers said they had been sexually harassed by a guest–and 65% of casino cocktail servers said a guest tried to touch them without permission.⁷ Abuse of hotel workers has gotten so bad that some cities are working to mandate panic buttons for workers to carry with them.⁸

If we can force Wynn out of his own company, we’ll shine a bright spotlight on the pervasive abuse all hotel and hospitality workers face.

Will you add your name to demand Wynn is fired?

Sources:

Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Accused of Sexual Harassment and Assault, Time, January 26, 2018
Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn, Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2018
Harassment Claims Add to History of Issues With Wynn Board, Bloomberg, January 29, 2018
Dozens of People Recount Pattern of Sexual Misconduct by Las Vegas Mogul Steve Wynn, Wall Street Journal, January 27, 2018
Women of color in low-wage jobs are being overlooked in the #MeToo moment, Vox, December 19, 2017
These are the industries with the most reported sexual harassment claims, Vox, November 27, 2017
‘He Was Masturbating… I Felt Like Crying’: What Housekeepers Endure To Clean Hotel Rooms, HuffPost, November 20, 2017
Maids to ask Las Vegas hotels for panic buttons, CNBC, January 26, 2018

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

From: Thomas Scott
Subject: Idaho Insurers Ignore Obamacare?; Ousted Professor Speaks; Sheriffs Starve Prisoners in ‘Bama; William J. Barber

From: David, Brian, Jo, Karine, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: If Trump fires Mueller …

Donald Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the only independent federal probe into Trump’s Russia ties.¹ And though Trump was stopped last summer, we have every reason to believe that his administration and some Republican members of Congress continue to actively lay the groundwork to discredit and remove Mueller and now Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller’s investigation.

That’s why MoveOn members and allies have been signing up by the hundreds of thousands for rapid-response actions to defend the Trump-Russia investigation.

Will you RSVP now to one of our more than 700 events around the country so that you’ll be notified of an action near you if Mueller is fired? (And if there isn’t an event near you, will you consider signing up to host?)

Thus far, a stunning 200,000 people have signed up to hit the streets in over 700 actions to defend our democracy should the Trump-Russia investigation be threatened, successfully signaling to national media and congressional Republicans that the American people demand that truth and that the rule of law will prevail.

Here’s a little more background on what’s been moving over the past 72 hours and why this is both an urgent and perilous moment. GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee, chaired by Representative Devin Nunes, just voted to release a memo which many believe will set the stage for the dismissal of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Special Counsel Robert Muller and is overseeing Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation.²

Congressional opponents have blasted the memo, saying it’s “profoundly misleading” and dangerous.³ The Department of Justice called Nunes’ plan to release the memo “extraordinarily reckless” and a threat to national security.⁴

That’s why, especially today—just hours from Donald Trump’s State of the Union address—MoveOn and our allies are doubling down to strengthen the “Nobody Is Above the Law” network and expand its ability to defend our democracy against these escalating attacks. And we need you to help sound the alarm.

Please. Will you take five minutes and sign up to defend the Mueller investigation?

You can read on to see MoveOn’s email from last month for more context.

Sources:

“Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit,” The New York Times, January 25, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32646?t=16&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“House Intel Committee votes to release Nunes memo on FBI,” CNN, January 30, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32647?t=18&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Nadler calls GOP memo criticizing FBI ‘profoundly misleading,'” Politico, January 23, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32648?t=20&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“In letter, DOJ tells Devin Nunes releasing memo would be ‘extraordinarily reckless,'” CBS News, January 24, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32649?t=22&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36

————————————–

Donald Trump, Fox News, and the GOP are coming for Special Counsel Robert Mueller—looking to upend the federal criminal investigation into possible collusion with Russia in the 2016 presidential election, and subsequent efforts to cover it up.

That’s why MoveOn members and our allies from 25 major national organizations are out in force, preemptively planning “Nobody Is Above the Law” rapid-response actions across the country, ready to deploy if Trump fires Mueller.

This collective organizing is a powerful signal to Trump and the GOP that people in cities and towns across the nation are paying attention to the attacks on Mueller and are ready to defend our democracy and the rule of law. And the actions are already earning national media attention with headlines such as “Americans Will March in the Streets in 48 U.S. States If Trump Fires Robert Mueller.”¹

There are more than 600 actions nationwide—now in all 50 states.² Let’s double the number of possible attendees, and let’s make sure there are actions to defend the Mueller investigation all across the nation.

Click here to find an action in your local area, and if you don’t see one, please consider signing up to host. (MoveOn’s team will be with you every step of the way.)

Six months ago, when Mueller was put in charge of the Trump-Russia investigation, Republicans were glowing about his record and fitness for the task. But now that the investigation has landed its first guilty pleas, attacks on Mueller and the investigation are coming from all parts of the GOP message machine.³

And despite his recent comments to the contrary, Trump himself has thrown a relentless barrage of insults and threats at Mueller and the investigation.⁴

Trump’s lawyers have even called for an absurd second special counsel to investigate the investigation.⁵ And right-wing pundits on Fox News have been acting as wingmen, creating scandals out of thin air and casting doubt.

As Mueller digs deeper and deeper into Trump’s finances and possible obstruction of justice, the risk that Trump will take unilateral action only increases.⁶

So here’s the plan: If Trump fires Mueller before 2:00 p.m. local time on any given day, MoveOn members and our allies will be in the streets at 5:00 p.m. local time the same day. If news breaks later in the day, we will rally at noon the following day.

Our response in the hours following an authoritarian move to put Trump above the law will help drive the national media narrative and could certainly help determine whether we’re able to make sure Congress holds Trump accountable.

Click here to find a “Nobody Is Above the Law” action in your local area. And if you don’t see one, please consider signing up to host.

MoveOn members have been a first line of defense against Trump’s corruption for more than a year, helping to win Steve Bannon’s removal, force Jeff Sessions’ recusal from the Trump-Russia investigation, and shine a relentless light on Republican hypocrisy.⁷

By packing congressional hearing rooms and generating hundreds of thousands of petition signatures and tens of thousands of calls, we’ve also ensured that Democrats in Congress know we’ll have their backs when they step up to fight Trump’s corruption and demand the truth about Trump-Russia that our nation both deserves and desperately needs.

Most recently, we’ve helped champion bipartisan legislation in Congress to prevent Trump from firing Mueller. And we’ll continue to do this kind of dogged, proactive work, so that we hopefully never have to respond to a firing of the team investigating the president. But with the stakes this high for our country, we need to simultaneously prepare for the kind of constitutional crisis that would occur should Trump fire Mueller.

Together, we’re saying through our actions—again and again—that no one is above the law and that we’re prepared to defend our democracy—for as long as it takes.

Sources:

“Americans Will March in the Streets in 48 U.S. States If Trump Fires Robert Mueller,” Newsweek, October 30, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/20258?t=27&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Nobody Is Above the Law—Mueller Firing Rapid Response,” MoveOn.org
www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org
“Fox News v. Robert Mueller,” The New York Times, December 12, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/27539?t=30&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Nearing the end game: The 6 phases of Trump’s plan to fire Robert Mueller” Salon, December 12, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/27540?t=32&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Trump lawyers want second special counsel appointed now,” Axios, December 12, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/27541?t=34&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Focus on Flynn, Trump timeline suggests obstruction is on Mueller’s mind,” NBC News, December 11, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/27542?t=36&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36
“Trump Leaderboard,” TrumpTruthHiders.com, accessed December 14, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/9977?t=38&akid=198027%2E1195276%2E-j_J36

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Ben Betz; Digital Advocacy Director, People For the American Way
Subject: The Nunes memo

Add you name if your agree that Rep. Devin Nunes must be REMOVED from the Intelligence Committee and that the committee should not be used as a propaganda arm of the Trump administration>>

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes has reliably been Trump’s biggest sycophant in Congress — and that’s saying something, considering the stiff competition he has from other members of the GOP.

For months, he has abused his authority as the Chair of this powerful committee to serve as Trump’s personal henchman and, now, along with his fellow Intelligence Committee Republicans, he is in the process of crossing a dangerous line.

Last night, the Intel Committee voted along strict party lines to release a memo by Nunes alleging supposed misdeeds by the FBI in the Russia investigation. According to Democrats on the Committee, the memo contains cherry-picked, misleading information that amounts to a set of propaganda talking points to undermine the investigation and mislead the public in an effort to cover for the Trump administration.

Nunes has proven repeatedly that he cannot be trusted to be privy to or handle classified information, to provide a check on Trump or his possible abuses, or to serve the public interest if it’s in conflict with the personal interests of Donald Trump.

While Trump wants the Nunes memo — which his friends at Fox News have been promoting and Trump clearly sees as “good for him” — released, his own Department of Justice has warned against its release due to the danger of potential sensitive, classified information in it being made public. Meanwhile, Democrats on the Committee, led by Ranking Member Adam Schiff, have written their own counter memo to put the information into context and refute the disinformation reportedly contained in the Nunes memo.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has the power — and the responsibility — to get HIS GOP majority in order; to rein in corruption among his own party leadership and stop a flagrant betrayal of checks and balances and of the American people.

Sign the petition: Tell Speaker Ryan to REMOVE Devin Nunes from the Intelligence Committee and, if Nunes’s memo is released, to allow for the release the Democratic counter memo>>

Thank you for standing up! After you sign, please share the petition so we can get as many voices speaking out as possible.

From: AlterNet on behalf of Team Warren
Subject: U.S. commerce lobby to wage war on Elizabeth Warren

The following sponsored email was sent to you by AlterNet on behalf of Elizabeth for MA:

Dear Friend,

Elizabeth Warren just introduced a bill with Mark Warner that would hold credit reporting agencies like Equifax accountable for data breaches – like the hack that left millions of Americans vulnerable to fraud and identity theft.

Surprise, surprise: Equifax’s right-wing corporate lobbyist friends at the US Chamber of Commerce are declaring war. They compared Elizabeth to Nazi sympathizer Steve Bannon – and encouraged other outside groups to pour money into Massachusetts to defeat Elizabeth in 2018.

As the Boston Herald columnist wrote:

“Warren herself has a campaign war chest of nearly $13 million, according to the latest reports, but outside groups are likely to at least match that if they feel she is vulnerable this year.”

Our team has been fighting at every turn to build the strongest grassroots force that the Senate has ever seen. But all of that could go away if these outside groups decide to cut a few checks to buy the Massachusetts Senate seat this November.

If we want to fight off attacks from outside groups and their deep-pocketed corporate allies, we must show them the strength of our grassroots support. Will add your name to stand with Elizabeth Warren?

The US Chamber of Commerce isn’t the local, friendly Chamber of Commerce that promotes the small businesses in your neighborhood. No, this is the largest conservative lobbying group in the country – spending tens of millions of dollars to rig the rules for giant corporations and fund right-wing candidates who will help them. When Elizabeth says that Washington works for the big guys who can hire armies of lawyers and lobbyists, the picture next to it should show the US Chamber of Commerce.

They don’t want giant corporations to be held accountable when they put millions of working Americans at risk. They want to get away with it – or even profit off of it, just like Equifax did.

The US Chamber of Commerce won’t stop Elizabeth Warren from going after them with everything she’s got. Elizabeth never, ever backs down from a fight. No matter how big, rich, or greedy her opponents are, she’s going to fight for working people in Massachusetts and across the country.

But if a few billionaires and giant corporations decide to pour money into Massachusetts in 2018, it’s going to become our biggest and most important fight yet. While Elizabeth is fighting for us in the Senate, we need to have her back in this campaign.

The best way to stop the billionaires and outside groups is to show them that Elizabeth Warren’s grassroots support is stronger than ever.

Add your name to join our grassroots team and help Elizabeth Warren fight back.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0109

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Hearing for Single Payer Bill; Trump ordered the firing of Mueller; No drilling on sacred Native lands and more

FW: Today’s Headline: Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing
FW: NY Times: Trump ordered the firing of Mueller
FW: Burger King explains net neutrality..
FW: Call Sen. Portman: Save net neutrality
FW: MSU’s president is out!
FW: Stop President Trump from … threatening 1,000 year old Pueblan artifacts and structures of immense cultural, historal and tribal value
FW: Sign if you agree: No drilling on sacred Native lands
FW: FW: Disgusting. Just Ban It.
FW: One year after the Muslim ban

From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today’s Headline: Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing

Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing
By PETER S. GOODMAN

For the first time since the global economic downturn, there is a wave of expansion that is creating jobs, lifting fortunes and tempering fears of popular discontent.

From: Ben Betz; Digital Advocacy Director, People For the American Way
Subject: NY Times: Trump ordered the firing of Mueller According to the New York Times, Trump ordered the firing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller just one month after Mueller was tasked with heading the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Trump gave the order for the firing, through White House Counsel Don McGahn, who refused to carry it out and threatened to resign because he knew it would be crossing a bright red line.

Of course, Trump denies that this happened, despite multiple sources corroborating the story, calling the Times report “Fake News” and saying that he has no intention of interfering with Mueller’s investigation.

But this is a stark reminder of how urgent it is that Congress protect the investigation — and the Republic itself — by passing the bipartisan legislation that has already been introduced to do just that.

Please add your name now to demand that Congress protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation!!>>

Even if you’ve already taken action to protect the investigation, please add your name here to make sure Congress keeps hearing from the American public about the urgency of protecting the investigation!

When Trump tried to have Mueller fired back in June, his supposed reason was that Mueller had conflicts of interest due to things like a previous dispute over his membership at a Trump golf club and his working for a law firm that had done some past work representing the Kushner family. It would have been a major stretch — truly laughable — and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who would presumably have been the one tasked with actually firing Mueller, would most likely have refused the order. That could have triggered a scenario similar to Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre,” in which Nixon’s attempts to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox led to the resignations of the DOJ’s top officials, who refused to carry out that order.

Even IF Trump was successful in having Mueller fired on those “conflict of interest” grounds, then it wouldn’t have stopped the investigation. A new special prosecutor would have been appointed. Would Trump have kept concocting reasons to fire each special prosecutor one after another?

Last night’s New York Times report further clarifies a picture of a president who has zero regard for the law, zero regard for our democratic institutions, and zero regard for justice. Congress must act without delay.

Sign now: Tell Congress to protect the investigation!>>

From: Andrew J. Tierman
Subject: Burger King explains net neutrality..

or the loss of net neutrality rather.

see https://www.cnn.com/videos/cnnmoney/2018/01/24/burger-king-net-neutrality-whopper.cnnmoney/video/playlists/atv-trending-videos/

From: Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Call Sen. Portman: Save net neutrality

Call the Senate: Save net neutrality

Trump’s FCC voted to kill the open internet, but Congress has the power to overrule it. Fifty senators have already signed onto a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality. We need just one more, and Sen. Rob Portman has not yet signed on to save the internet. Call now.

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take Action

Fifty senators signed on to the resolution of disapproval to overturn the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and save net neutrality.¹ We need just one more.

If Sen. Portman signs on, the resolution will pass the Senate and move on to the House.

Call Sen. Rob Portman: Support the resolution of disapproval to save net neutrality. Click here to make your call.

When Trump’s FCC voted to kill the open internet, they ignored millions of Americans and gave big cable companies control of what we say and do online.

But this fight isn’t over. Congress has the authority to overturn the FCC’s vote. Congress can use a “resolution of disapproval” to reverse this disastrous decision and restore the rules that protect the open internet.²

Thanks to the Congressional Review Act, Congress can review new regulations (in this case, the FCC’s Orwellian-sounding “Restoring Internet Freedom” rule) and overrule them by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. Republicans in Congress used the process last year when they repealed important broadband privacy protections. And in the Senate, even the minority party can force a resolution of disapproval to a vote – making every senator go on the record for or against net neutrality.

Trump’s FCC chair has shown that he is in the pocket of Big Telecom companies. But unlike the FCC, our senators are elected and they must answer to us.

Call Sen. Rob Portman: Support the resolution of disapproval to save net neutrality. Click the link below to make your call:

https://act.credoaction.com/call/call-NN-CRA/?t=7&akid=26976%2E1004336%2EWhFHwR

Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

Take Action

References:

Brian Fung, “The Senate’s push to overrule the FCC on net neutrality now has 50 votes, Democrats say,” The Washington Post, Jan. 15, 2018.
Kate Conger and Dell Cameron, “Wait, Can Congress Stop the FCC From Trampling Net Neutrality?” Gizmodo, Dec. 14, 2017.

From: Nita, Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Adam, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Shannon, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, and Ryan, the UltraViolet team
Subject: MSU’s president is out!

Yesterday was a huge milestone for sexual assault survivors–Larry Nassar, former Michigan State University (MSU) employee and team doctor for USA Gymnastics, was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison after a week of powerful testimony from over 150 women he abused. Hours later, in advance of a planned Friday demonstration and under pressure from MSU students, Michigan leaders, survivors, and UltraViolet members like you, MSU President Lou Anna Simon resigned for her complicity in Nassar’s abuse.¹

Thank you for standing with survivors and pushing MSU to hold an enabler of abuse accountable. After only a week, hundreds of calls and tweets, and tens of thousands of petition signatures, Simon is out. This is what we can accomplish when we take action together.

Source: 1. MSU president quits over Larry Nassar case and says ‘tragedies are politicized’, Guardian, January 24, 2018

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

From: MARGARET PETERS
Subject: Stop President Trump and his friends from handing over drilling rights in Chaco Canyon, threatening 1,000 year old Pueblan artifacts and structures of immense cultural, historal and tribal value

President Trump and his fossil fuel friends are about to hand over drilling rights near Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, threatening 1,000-year-old Pueblan artifacts and structures of immense cultural, historical and tribal value. That’s why I just signed an important petition to stop Trump and Big Oil from drilling near these sacred Native lands. I hope you will sign the petition and encourage others to also sign it.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_chaco_drilling?sp_ref=381911015.4.185534.e.596531.2&referring_akid=27001.1920731.3PP6eS&source=mailto_sp

From: Josh Nelson, Deputy Political Director, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Sign if you agree: No drilling on sacred Native lands

No drilling at Chaco Culture National Historical Park

Add your name: Sign the Petition

On the heels of Donald Trump’s reckless decision to slash the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, Trump and his fossil fuel regime are ready to hand over drilling rights near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, threatening 1,000-year-old Pueblan artifacts and structures of immense cultural, historical and tribal value.

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Click here to sign the petition.

The areas in and around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park contain the threatened ruins of Chaco Canyon – what some have referred to “as close as the U.S. gets to Egypt’s pyramids and Peru’s Machu Picchu” – as well as “the remnants of great houses, kivas, ancient roads and sacred places built a millennium ago by an indigenous people who became proficient in architecture, agriculture, astronomy and the arts.”^1,2 Today, the Navajo people, whose land surrounds the park, regard the Chaco region as culturally important, and a number of New Mexican Pueblos consider these sites sacred.³

But last summer, the BLM reversed course, and in accordance with Sec. Zinke’s plan to rapidly open up public lands for fossil fuel drilling, put up 4,800 acres of land near Chaco for sale, some of which lay within the buffer zone, potentially endangering sacred Native sites.⁴

Tell the Bureau of Land Management: No drilling at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Click the link below to sign the petition:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_chaco_drilling?t=7&akid=27001%2E1004336%2E3Ug0GV

Add your name: Sign the Petition

Elizabeth Miller, “‘As close as the US gets to Egypt’s pyramids’: how Chaco Canyon is endangered by drilling,” The Guardian, Nov. 8, 2017.
Richard Moe, “The Treasures of Chaco Canyon Are Threatened by Drilling,” The New York Times, Dec. 1, 2017.
Sen. Tom Udall, “Udall, Heinrich, Luján Urge Secretary Zinke to Defer All Leases on Land Near Chaco Culture National Historical Park,” Sept. 6, 2017.
Rebecca Moss, “N.M. leaders urge feds to protect Chaco from oil and gas encroachment,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, Sept. 8, 2017.
Rebecca Moss, “Over 100 protest BLM plans to lease land near Chaco Canyon for fracking,” The Santa Fe New Mexican, Jan. 17, 2017.

From: Andrew Tierman
Subject: FW: Disgusting. Just Ban It.

I want to make sure you see this.

We recently teamed up with award-winning filmmaker, Jon Bowermaster, to create a video that exposes Big Oil, large food corporations, and the legislators who have allowed food that is sold across the country be grown with toxic oil wastewater.

Together with the help of our partners, we’ve already caught the attention of the Wonderful company after sending over 130,000 petition signatures last year. We need to keep building on this pressure.

Watch the video today and take our pledge to get Wonderful to BAN this dangerous practice!

We won’t let them get away with this.

Onward together,

————————-

Dear Andrew,

Our country’s multi-billion dollar food industry is getting away with growing our food with toxic oil wastewater from polluting corporations like Chevron.

This practice has been happening for too long with little to no regulation. These companies are exploiting consumers like you and the farmworkers who grow the crops — all to profit off putting our health at risk. It’s time that we expose Big Oil, large agribusinesses and the politicians who have enabled this practice!

Check out our video on oil wastewater irrigation made by renowned filmmaker Jon Bowermaster, then sign our petition to ban the practice!

In a scheme to get rid of and save money on oil wastewater disposal, oil companies are selling billions of gallons of it to irrigation districts in California for cheap.

We’re putting pressure on Wonderful, a large food company known for popular brands sold across the country, such as Halos, POM Wonderful juice and Wonderful Pistachios, by asking YOU to pledge to stop buying their products until oil wastewater irrigation is banned!

Watch our video and tell Wonderful: I pledge to stop buying your products until you Stop Tainting Our Produce.

Wonderful owners, the Resnicks, are huge players in California water politics who donate to several electoral campaigns every year — as a stakeholder, they can and should use their influence to call for a ban on this practice.

We’ve already caught their attention after sending them over 130,000 pledge signatures last year.

In response, their website claims that the oil wastewater is “carefully treated, tested and approved for agricultural use.” Meanwhile, our research shows that there is no regular testing or reporting required, which means the water used in this highly unregulated practice could contain toxic chemicals linked with cancer and reproductive harm.

Together we can build on the pressure that we’ve already started and get Wonderful to BAN this dangerous practice!

In solidarity,

Luz Hernandez; Online Organizer, Food & Water Watch

From: Iram, Robert, Ilya, Jo, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Political Action
Subject: Trump’s attempt to keep Black and brown people out

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s first Muslim Ban—an early manifestation of Trump’s infuriating campaign promise of a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims from entering the country” and his ongoing white supremacist agenda.¹

Right now, Trump’s Muslim Ban 3.0 is in effect and is indefinitely blocking people from five majority-Muslim countries: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen—while placing restrictions on a sixth majority-Muslim country, Chad.²And just yesterday, Trump also released a proposal to cut immigration by 50%, including ending major portions of the family reunification program that allows people to sponsor their siblings, parents, and other close family members.³ Meanwhile, the livelihoods of over 800,000 DACA recipients and millions of others with post-natural disaster temporary protected status are still uncertain, because Trump is using them as a bargaining chip to get his border wall and pass more inhumane immigration policies.⁴

Make no mistake: These policies exemplify Trump’s and the GOP’s willingness to cater to white supremacists, inhumanely tear apart families, and keep Black and brown immigrants out of the United States.

Despite this, MoveOn members have stood strong in resistance against Trump’s policies—and we can be proud of our work, drawing a clear moral line in the sand. Since Trump’s election,

MoveOn members took his campaign promise to implement a Muslim registry seriously and worked with our allies at DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), the ACLU, and many partners to proactively shut down a Bush-era Muslim registry program so Trump wouldn’t be allowed to use it;
when the first Muslim Ban was released, thousands of MoveOn members showed up to airports across the country to stand with Muslim communities, and tens of thousands more hung signs in their neighborhoods reading, “No Muslim Ban. No Border Wall. Our Cities Stand Tall”;
our Video Lab team made 22 videos around the Muslim Ban and combating Islamophobia that garnered over 15 million views—including a video that told the powerful story of Areej Ali, a green card holder, who was detained during the first Muslim Ban;
we released a timely guidebook to progressive members of Congress, allies, and organizations on how to speak about the Muslim Ban while avoiding talking points that would harm Muslim communities;⁵
we took the opportunity to contribute over $250,000 to many organizations on the front lines of Trump’s attacks—including those working on immigrant rights;
tens of thousands of MoveOn members have also added their signatures to petitions calling on Facebook and Twitter to take hate speech and the incitement of violence seriously on their platforms;
and so much more!

While MoveOn members have focused during the past year on defending communities on the frontlines of Trump’s attacks, in 2018, we’re going on the offense, taking up the long-term fight against anti-Muslim racism along with allies in Muslim communities.

The fight against the Muslim Ban is far from over. And we know, from all the systemic ways Muslim communities have been targeted through surveillance, Guantánamo, wars, and law enforcement, that we need some serious change to shift the narrative and build pro-immigrant political power before it’s too late.

We’re also at an unprecedented moment where there is an opportunity to drastically shift the conversation around Muslim communities and get Democratic candidates, along with progressive organizations, the right tools for the 2018 elections. We already started the process by looking into existing research on Islamophobia and planning out our video persuasion tests to find the right messaging. If this is the year Democrats win big, we need to make sure they are clearly standing with Muslim communities against the anti-Muslim hate we will inevitably witness during an election year.

As we continue to stand against anti-Muslim racism, click here to watch and share Areej’s powerful story of being detained during the first Muslim Ban to remind people of the ways Trump’s policies are tearing families apart—and that these policies have real consequences on the lives of many.

Sources:

“Donald Trump Calls for Barring Muslims From Entering U.S,” The New York Times, December 7, 2015
https://act.moveon.org/go/32204?t=16&akid=197799%2E1195276%2EDzdb8n
“Muslim Ban 3.0 Is Heading to Court — Here’s What You Need to Know Right Now,” ACLU, October 13, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/32317?t=18&akid=197799%2E1195276%2EDzdb8n
“Trump’s ‘chain migration’ obsession: The Nazis thought of it first,” Salon, January 17, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32318?t=20&akid=197799%2E1195276%2EDzdb8n
“A New Clock Starts for a DACA Deal, but Time’s Already Running Out,” The Nation, January 23, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/32319?t=22&akid=197799%2E1195276%2EDzdb8n
“No Muslim Ban Ever: How to Be a Progressive Ally,” MoveOn, December 5, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/32436?t=24&akid=197799%2E1195276%2EDzdb8n

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

From: Dina El-Rifai; Communities Against Islamophobia, AFSC
Subject: One year after the Muslim ban

Photo: Sarah Jane Rhee

One year and three versions later, President Trump’s Muslim ban is still discriminatory, Islamophobic, and one of the most shameful examples of this Administration’s racist attacks on the liberties of Muslims and immigrants in the United States.

On Jan. 27, seven days after Trump was sworn into office, he signed the Muslim ban as part of a larger slew of racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-Black executive actions. Communities across the U.S. responded immediately as people were blocked from entering the country—staging mass airport protests, organizing teach-ins and know-your-rights workshops, plastering posters across their cities, and signing petitions to stand against this immoral policy.

AFSC’s Communities Against Islamophobia (CAI) project was launched to help change the dominant narrative about Islam that feeds racist policies like the Muslim ban. Since its inception, CAI has trained more than 700 people in five U.S. cities to become informed and active allies. Participants have taken part in mobilizations and educational events in support of the Muslim community.

Despite the Trump administration’s changes to the ban over the past year, its original intent remains the same: barring Muslims from entering the country. It’s still discriminatory and immoral.

Last week, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear Hawaii’s challenge to the current version of the ban, and a ruling is expected by June. In the meantime, the ban is in full effect, effectively barring 150 million immigrants and visitors—the vast majority of them Muslim—from Iran, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and other countries from entering the U.S.

For numerous individuals from these countries and their families here in the U.S., the impacts of the Supreme Court decision will be severe and far reaching. As a member of the Muslim community, I have seen firsthand the devastation of a mother repeatedly being denied a visa to travel to the U.S. to be with her dying daughter.

All of us deserve to feel safe from hatred and to live and pray in peace. The Muslim ban has no place in our society—not now, not ever.

For more resources about how you can oppose Islamophobia—and engage others in our efforts—explore our Communities Against Islamophobia resources.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0108

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Press Conference: Ohio redistricting advocates oppose Republican lawmakers’ plan & FW: Increase Immigration from Norway

FW: NYT Today’s Headlines: (1) Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says,
as Progress on Immigration Unravels
(2) Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller
FW: The “states’ right” to purge voters may soon be affirmed by the SCOTUS
FW: Sign if you agree: No compromise when it comes to Dreamers
FW: Why companies are giving big bonuses
FW: Increase Immigration from Norway
FW: #TrumpShutdown ends, DREAMers need protection now!
FW: This cover-up is horrifying

From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today’s Headlines: (1) Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Progress on Immigration Unravels (2) Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller

Wall Is ‘Off the Table,’ Schumer Says, as Progress on Immigration Unravels
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and MAGGIE HABERMAN

With emotions still hot over the government shutdown, Senate negotiators found themselves back at Square 1 in their efforts to strike an immigration deal.

Trump Says He Is Willing to Speak Under Oath to Mueller
By MAGGIE HABERMAN and JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS

President Trump said he was willing to speak under oath to the special counsel, appearing to conflate

From: Eric Kramer
Subject: The “states’ right” to purge voters may soon be affirmed by the SCOTUS

“America’s Trump-run FBI/KGB/Savak apparatus may now have the power to silently and invisibly remove enough potential voters to elect and re-elect whoever it wants.”
http://columbusfreepress.com/article/are-supremes-about-give-trump-second-term

From: Murshed, Nicole, Brandy, Carly, Elizabeth, Heidi, Jordan, Josh, Kaili, Mark, Mark and the rest of the CREDO team, CREDO Action from Working Assets
Subject: Sign if you agree: No compromise when it comes to Dreamers

Tell Democrats: No compromise with Trump’s racism

Tell Senate Democrats:
“Use the Feb. 8 government funding deadline to enact a clean DREAM Act and protect Dreamers without a single compromise to Republicans’ racist anti-immigrant agenda.”

Add your name:

Sign the Petition!

Sen. Chuck Schumer is the worst negotiator in Washington – even worse than Donald Trump. Unfortunately he is also the leader of Senate Democrats.

Yesterday, Sen. Schumer caved to the white supremacist base of Trump’s Republican Party and led the Senate Democrats to a total surrender – during the heat of the the Trump shutdown – that did nothing to protect Dreamers.¹ As a result of Sen. Schumer’s sellout on the Senate floor, 33 Democrats gave away all their leverage and helped embolden the nativist extremists who run Trump’s racist regime.

We now have until Feb. 8 to force the entire Senate Democratic caucus to come together with one goal: using the next government funding deadline to protect Dreamers without compromising one bit with Republicans’ racist anti-immigrant agenda.

Tell Senate Democrats: Find your spines and use your power. No compromises with Trump’s racism. Click here to sign the petition.

Schumer is justifying his appalling decision by saying he got a promise from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – a serial liar and unrepentant bigot – for a vote on a bipartisan bill to make permanent the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But we know that even a career compromiser like Schumer would never have agreed to a deal if he thought he’d be alone – moderate, cowardly Democrats had his back.

That means that – despite months of passionate and intense organizing from our allies in the immigrants rights and progressive movements, and after a weekend when millions again took to the streets for women’s marches to protest Trump’s dangerous agenda – 33 Democrats, in a misguided attempt to protect themselves electorally, decided to sacrifice Dreamers. Their craven calculus puts more immigrant families at risk of separation and exposes even more Dreamers to Trump’s racist deportation force. It also lays the groundwork for a DACA compromise that would include unacceptable capitulation to the extreme anti-immigrant wing of the Republican Party.

Yesterday, 16 Democrats said no to Schumer’s deal.² Right now, we need to put massive pressure on the Democrats who caved to make sure they stand with the Democrats who showed their solidarity with Dreamers when the next deadline arrives. Can you add your name today?

Tell Senate Democrats: Find your spines and use your power. No compromises with Trump’s racism. Click here to sign the petition.

A year ago, and again this weekend, we were marching in the streets, rushing to the airports and gathering in our local communities to stand up and speak out against Trump. When we said #NoBanNoWall and #ImmigrantsAreWelcomeHere, we meant it. And we thought Democrats, who were desperately trying to claim the mantle of the resistance, meant it as well.

But last week, Schumer offered to give Trump all the funding he needs to build his racist border wall.³ And the current compromise in the Senate, from Sens. Dick Durbin and Lindsey Graham, is rumored to not only fund border security and interior enforcement, but also help Republicans advance racist right-wing immigration reforms that would prevent immigrants from reuniting with their families and keep Black and Brown people out of the country.⁴

Democrats cannot to give an inch when it comes to enabling Trump’s dangerous racism. Click here to sign the petition.

Some Democrats, and even some progressives, seem to think that the wall is no big deal, or that it’s OK to give in a little to Trump and Republicans in order to save Dreamers. But we cannot ever forget that Trump’s entire campaign – from calling Mexicans rapists to promising to build the wall – was a public expression of a white supremacist fantasy. That ugly fantasy has seeds in Trump’s challenge to President Obama’s citizenship and Republicans’ refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of the first Black president.

That white supremacy fuels Trump’s immigration agenda, which aims to make America whiter by walling off Black and Brown people from “shithole countries” in detention centers and at the borders. It drives the inhumane racism of Trump advisors, from Steve Bannon to Stephen Miller to Jeff Sessions, who see whiteness and white privilege under such threat that they are willing to use any means necessary to maintain white majorities and white power.

We can never accept, normalize or legitimize even a shred of this white supremacist fantasy. And right now, time is of the essence. If Sen. Schumer and the Democrats who voted with him this week do not face massive pressure from the progressive community, they will continue to compromise. Democrats’ inability to do anything but surrender will be a fatal sign of weakness to Trump and congressional Republicans who will look for even more opportunities to spiral our country further into racist xenophobia.

Click the link below to tell Democrats to use the Feb. 8 government funding deadline to protect Dreamers without a single compromise to Republicans’ racist anti-immigrant agenda:

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Democrats_Backbone?t=9&akid=26955%2E1004336%2EdBljLE

Add your name:

Sign the Petition!

References:

Will Drabold, “‘They folded immediately’: Progressives fume at Dems over deal to reopen government,” Mic, Jan. 22, 2018.
Melanie Schmitz, “These 16 Democrats voted against reopening the government without protections for DREAMers,” ThinkProgress, Jan. 22, 2018.
Bob Bryan, “SCHUMER: I put ‘the wall’ on the table in my meeting with Trump, but he backed out of the deal

From: LinkedIn
Subject: Why companies are giving big bonuses

Why companies are giving big bonuses

Corporate American workers continue to reap the benefits stemming from a recent corporate tax cut. Disney, American Airlines, Boeing, AT&T, Wells Fargo, Comcast, Bank of America and Walmart are just some of the companies that have announced one-off payments to employees late last year and early this year, while dozens of other firms have followed suit. Apple recently said it will give $2,500 worth of restricted stock units to most of its employees. But why give bonuses rather than simply salary raises? The Washington Post explains that salary bumps drive up fixed costs for companies; how workers are compensated is also changing, with discretionary bonuses becoming an increasing share of compensation. • What do you make of the current bonus bonanza? Join the conversation.

From: Thomas Scott
Subject: Increase Immigration from Norway

From: Katie O’Connell; Digital Communications Coordinator, , PFAW
Subject: #TrumpShutdown ends, DREAMers need protection now!

The three-day Trump shutdown ended today with a very disappointing deal that neglected to protect vulnerable DREAMers.

Although this delay means that more DREAMers will be deported, we need to make sure that this is just a delay and not the end.

Tell Congress to pass the bipartisan DREAM Act without delay!

There is no more time for excuses on passing a clean DREAM Act, and every time that Congress fails to act more young people are deported and families torn apart.

Sign now to demand Congress passes the DREAM Act!

It has been 139 long days since Trump ended the DACA program, upending the lives of hundreds of thousands of DREAMers and their families across the country. Trump has also ended protected status for Haitian and Salvadoran immigrants, another part of his all-out anti-immigrant assault.

This is no longer an immigration policy debate… passing the DREAM Act is a moral imperative for Congress.

Sign the petition NOW to demand your legislators pass the DREAM Act>>

Every single member of Congress needs to decide which side they are on: the side of divisiveness, racism, white supremacy, and hate or the side of American values of freedom and equality for all. The DREAM Act as it exists is a bipartisan bill, and there is no reason for Republicans to be wasting time and playing politics with young peoples’ lives.

This fight is about who we are as a country. It’s about our values. And it’s about every person who could be deported from their home because of the nativists and white supremacists in the White House and Congress.

News broke last week that at least 14 university officials at Michigan State University–where serial child molester and doctor Larry Nassar worked–knew and ignored reports of Nassar assaulting young female athletes in his care.¹

While at MSU, Nassar also worked as the team doctor for USA Gymnastics. He sexually abused at least 150 girls over three decades, including gold medalists Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and McKayla Maroney–and it could have been stopped years ago.²

The complicity at MSU goes all the way up to the university president, Lou Anna Simon, who kept Nassar on even after he was fired from USA Gymnastics for abuse and has since done nothing to hold officials who knew accountable.³

Now, elected officials in Michigan are calling on Simon to step down.⁴People who cover up sexual abuse must be held accountable. If we can add national pressure today, we can force Simon out. Can you add your name now?

Tell the Michigan State University Board of Trustees: “Remove President Lou Anna Simon immediately.”

Sign the petition

The reports from young girls and women about the pattern of abuse hidden in plain sight are truly heartbreaking. Nassar used his position of trust and authority at USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University to assault girls he claimed to be healing.⁵

This story finally came to light in 2015 thanks to the persistence of brave survivors. But according to recent reports, Nassar has been abusing women and girls through his job since at least the early 1990s.⁶ That shows a clear failure by the people who should have been protecting these girls.

The good news is university officials have been held accountable before for this kind of complicity. Last year, Penn State University’s president, vice president, and athletic director were all sentenced to jail terms and fines for failing to report the abuse of dozens of boys by assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.⁷

Survivors around the world are watching to see if decades of cover-up will go unpunished–we can’t let that happen.

Can you add your name to demand Simon goes immediately?

Sources:

What MSU knew: 14 were warned of Nassar abuse, Detroit News, January 18, 2018
Victims Continue Confronting Larry Nassar With Stories of Abuse on Second Day of Sentencing, Sports Illustrated, January 17, 2018
Victims confront Larry Nassar in court: ‘Little girls don’t stay little forever’, CNN, January 16, 2018
Michigan State hasn’t faced consequences for enabling the biggest sex abuse scandal in U.S. sports, ThinkProgress, November 27, 2017
Lawmakers call for MSU’s Simon to resign, Detroit News, January 18, 2018
Gymnasts Share Stories of Abuse at Doctor’s Sentencing Hearing, New York Times, January 16, 2018
Nassar surrounded by adults who enabled his predatory behavior, ESPN, January 16, 2018
Three ex-Penn State officials get jail in Sandusky child sex abuse coverup, Reuters, June 2, 2017

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter

MPEN e-Newsletter No. 2018-0107

From: Munsup @SISCOM Seoh
Subject: FW: Government Remains Shut Down; Join a #TrumpShutdown action near you; Comcast + Trump = disaster; and more

———————————————————-

FW: Today’s Headlines: Bitter Bickering Muddies the Path to Ending the Government Shutdown
FW: Government Remains Shut Down
FW: Join a #TrumpShutdown action near you
FW: BREAKING: #TrumpShutdown
FW: [SHUTDOWN] How did this happen?
FW: Take Action: Stand With Dr. Laurie Rubel at Brooklyn College
FW: Comcast + Trump = disaster
FW: Speaking up about injustice is a good thing. No elected official should threaten our right to do so.

———————————————————-

From: New York Times
Subject: NYT Today’s Headline: Bitter Bickering Muddies the Path to Ending the Government Shutdown

Bitter Bickering Muddies the Path to Ending the Government Shutdown
By THOMAS KAPLAN and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

With the government shut down and the two parties faulting each other, senators from both parties were looking for an agreement to end the crisis.

From: Jedith
Subject: Government Remains Shut Down

U.S. government shuts down after Senate talks fail
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/government-shutdown-likelihood-grows-amid-senate-standoff-n839301?cid=eml_nbn_20180120
Republicans Just Lost The Midterm Election As Trump Gets The Government Shutdown That He Wanted
http://www.politicususa.com/2018/01/19/trump-causes-government-shutdown-republicans-couldnt-get-together-avoid-shutdown.html
A List of Everyone Who Will Be Screwed by a Government Shutdown
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/01/a-list-of-everyone-who-will-be-screwed-by-a-government-shutdown/
What Will Happen if the Government Remains Shut Down
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/19/us/politics/government-shutdown-employee-effects.html

From: Katharine, Elsie, Ben, Jackie, and the rest of the team, MoveOn.org Civic Action
Subject: Join a #TrumpShutdown action near you

Donald Trump and his GOP Congress just shut down the federal government.¹

Our National Parks are closing down.

9 million kids who depend on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) still have their coverage unfunded.²

And 800,000 Dreamers are without the protections they were promised under DACA.

All because Donald Trump and the GOP chose to shut down the government rather than give up their reckless and racist policies, including billions in funding for a border wall.

Trump is tweeting up a storm to pass blame for his shutdown off onto Democrats because they stood strong for Dreamers and resisted his radical agenda. But we won’t stand for it—and MoveOn members and our allies are going to show up at speak-out actions across the country this next week to demand that the GOP end the #TrumpShutdown and get back to work to pass the Dream Act and fund CHIP.

Click here to host or join an urgent speak-out this week to demand Congress end the #TrumpShutdown and protect Dreamers—find and RSVP for an event near you, or start a new one! (If there isn’t an event near you yet, hosting one is easy! MoveOn staff and volunteers will support you every step of the way and even recruit other MoveOn members and partners in your area.)

Yesterday marked exactly one year since Trump’s inauguration—and one year of the resistance to Trump’s administration. In the past year, so many of us have stepped up our civic engagement in ways we may never have expected. We’ve been vigilant in defending health care coverage, standing with communities bearing the brunt of Trump’s attacks, and resisting the Trump agenda as we’ve mobilized to win key elections and lay the groundwork to rebuild progressive power.

And we’ve had incredible impact! We’ve been able to defeat horrible Republican policies and support leadership from Democrats who have stood strong—even now, the fact that the Democrats are so united in their opposition to Trump’s and the Republicans’ cruel legislative games is a testament to the power of the Resistance, which has stiffened the spines of Democrats and showed we’ll have their backs in a moment like this.

And now it’s critical to make sure Republicans feel the pressure—to get back to work, pass Dream, fund CHIP, reopen the government, and reject Trump’s racist agenda and reckless actions.

MoveOn and our allies are organizing a national wave of protests to end the #TrumpShutdown, beginning Monday and lasting through Wednesday (unless we can win before then!).

Can we count on you to join or host a speak-out event in your area to end the #TrumpShutdown?

Republicans have shut down the federal government before, and they suffered a political cost from holding our country hostage to their extreme agenda. If we all come together to stand up to this egregious negotiating tactic, we can win public opinion, help secure a deal that protects Dreamers, and emerge as a stronger country. It all starts with what we do next.

Thanks for all you do.

P.S.: One year ago, the day after the Women’s March, MoveOn and our allies held the first Ready to Resist call—and broke the Guinness World Record for the largest conference call in history. Tonight, Sunday January 21, we’re marking that anniversary with another Ready to Resist call, live from the Women’s March in Las Vegas and featuring leaders of the Women’s March, where we’ll focus like a laser on urgent steps to stop the #TrumpShutdown.

Sources:

“The government has officially shut down,” Vox, January 20, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/31180?t=17&akid=197431%2E1195276%2ExlND84
“9 million kids get health insurance under CHIP. Congress just let it expire,” The Washington Post, October 19, 2017
https://act.moveon.org/go/30949?t=19&akid=197431%2E1195276%2ExlND84

Contributions to MoveOn.org Civic Action are not tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.

From: Nancy Treviño; Reform Immigration FOR America
Subject: BREAKING: #TrumpShutdown

Somehow, the Republicans have managed to shut down the government. Again.

How could this happen? The GOP has complete control of the House and Senate, not to mention their President sitting in the Oval Office. The DREAM Act has bipartisan support and remains overwhelmingly popular with a majority of Americans. They’ve also had a full year to pass the budget and ensure CHIP was reauthorized.

It seems that, in their unwillingness to govern outside of their white nationalist agenda, Trump and the GOP derailed the process of creating permanent protections for DACAmented youth.

The new reality of American politics is that racism has a seat at every table. So, what now?

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers and contractors will lose pay
Vital programs like Medicare and Medicaid, social security, and veterans services will experience significant delays
Trump and his GOP allies will place the blame everywhere but where it actually belongs: on themselves

Don’t be silent. Take action right now by tweeting or posting:

Instead of acting as POTUS for all Americans, @realDonaldTrump has doubled down on his racist agenda & caused a government shutdown to appease the white nationalists he really works for. And the @GOP let it happen. #TrumpShutdown #RacistinChief

Last week, Trump sent a clear message with his shameful “s—hole” comment: that he and the extremists in the Republican party intend to support their white nationalist agenda, no matter the consequences.

The most powerful tool we have in this fight is our collective voice. We can’t let Trump, the white nationalists who control him, and the spineless GOP use this moment to further attack immigrants and people of color.

From: MARGARET PETERS on behalf of Dorian Warren, CCCAction President
Subject: FW: [SHUTDOWN] How did this happen?

…”Instead of acting as POTUS for all Americans, @realDonaldTrump has doubled down on his racist rhetoric and the GOP let it happen.”…Dorian Warren, President, Center for Community Change Action
—————————————————-
Somehow, the Republicans have managed to shut down the government. Again.

Despite their majorities in the House and Senate, not to mention their President sitting in the Oval Office, the Republicans have failed. How could this happen?

Incompetence? Obviously. The GOP has been in control of every branch of government for an entire year, and has failed to pass a budget, reauthorize CHIP, or take the necessary steps to pass a bipartisan DREAM Act.

Ideology? Sure. After all, Republicans are the anti-government (and apparently, anti-governing) party. Many of them have dreamed about a shutdown – Trump even encouraged the idea just months ago.

But really, it all goes back to white nationalism. The new reality of American politics is that racism has a seat at every table.

Trump, the white nationalists who control him, and this spineless Republican leadership are using this moment, and the budget, to prioritize attacks on immigrants and people of color:

Threatening a “wall” that will cost billions of taxpayer dollars
Terrorizing immigrant communities with gestapo-like raids
Emboldening racists to spread their vitriol online, in our communities, and in our government

Don’t be silent. Take action right now by tweeting or posting:

The shameful “s—hole” comment heard around the world wasn’t a slip – it was a clear and direct signal to every American: the Presidency has been compromised by the white nationalist agenda of Trump and the extremists in the Republican party. The question now is whether the rest of the GOP-controlled Congress will fall in line.

From: Munsup @MPEN Seoh
Subject: Take Action: Stand With Dr. Laurie Rubel at Brooklyn College

I thought you might want to sign on to the petition by the AAUP excerpted below:

Together with the Brooklyn College chapter of the Professional Staff Congress, we stand in support of Laurie Rubel, professor of mathematics education, who has become the latest “click bait” for the right-wing media’s outrage machine. Dr. Rubel’s recent article in the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education was caricatured and decontextualized by Campus Reform, an online “watchdog” outlet seeking to curb academic freedom.

To sign and read more, click here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/stand-with-dr-laurie-rubel?source=email&

It probably took you only a second to open this email. Those days may soon be over, as big internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon just got a green light to mess with your internet access.

Internet service providers (ISPs), with the backing of Trump’s Federal Communications Commission, are about to implement a plan to create fast and slow lanes on the internet–and we’ll all pay the price.¹ No matter how fast your internet is, ISPs will be able to decide which sites to slow down or even block. That could get in the way of paying bills, searching for urgent medical care, streaming Netflix, using Facebook, even just Googling information. And websites that big telecom companies don’t agree with–like news articles or advocacy sites critical of them or Trump–could be blocked entirely.²

Fortunately, due to the outcry, all 49 Democrats and independents, along with Republican Senator Susan Collins, support a bill to overturn the FCC rules. Under Senate rules, because it has the support of 50 senators, the Majority Leader is forced to bring it up for a vote. Now we just need one more vote to pass it. History shows that when telecoms mess with our internet access, Congress listens closely.³ That’s why we’re joining our allies at Free Press to demand the Senate take action. Can you sign the petition?

Tell Congress: “Reinstate net neutrality. Save our internet.”

Sign the petition

A free and open internet is essential not just to our everyday browsing, but also to our work together on behalf of women’s equality. Just think about what would have happened if the New York Times story about Harvey Weinstein’s years of abuse broke when millions of AT&T customers could not read it, or Verizon customers could not sign UltraViolet’s successful petition to get him fired, or Comcast customers had to pay a fee just to share the petition on Facebook.

In fact, for years, net neutrality has helped UltraViolet members win rapid social change. Think of the lightning fast and enormous outcry to the outrageous sentencing of Stanford University rapist Brock Turner. Placing a huge volume of calls to successfully protect the Affordable Care Act last year through all the rapid twists and turns in Congress–news we learned about quickly through the internet. Forcing the termination of Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly after we organized a petition and protests outside Fox’s headquarters.

None of this would be possible without an internet that emphasizes quality and importance of news and ideas over the ability to pay. Net neutrality has been baked into the internet since it was invented–and we cannot allow companies like Comcast to act like gatekeepers and pick winners and losers in the online marketplace of ideas. Simply put, the ability of advocates fighting for justice depends on net neutrality, as does the power of the internet to make our lives better and easier. That’s why this petition is so important.

Sign the petition demanding the Senate save our internet.

Sources:

Senate Dems searching for one last vote to revive FCC’s net neutrality rules, CNBC, January 16, 2018
Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know Now, Free Press, accessed January 19, 2018
Five Lessons From the SOPA/PIPA Fight, Slate, January 20, 2012

Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

From: Sarah Hogg, Daily Kos
Subject: Sign if you agree: Speaking up about injustice is a good thing. No elected official should threaten our right to do so.

Sign the petition: Denounce GOP Senator Tom Cotton for sending cease and desist letters to constituents.

SIGN THE PETITION

In the year since Trump was inaugurated, activists have been heating up White House and Congressional phone lines, demanding accountability and ethics from their elected officials.

But apparently one Republican—Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton—can’t handle his constituents exercising their First Amendment rights.

Cotton recently sent letters to local community activists demanding they cease and desist ALL communications with the Senator’s office. If they don’t comply, Cotton’s office will report them to the U.S. Capitol Police.

It is outrageous that activists who were calling Senator Cotton’s office to express grave concerns about his support of the Trump administration will now be met with police action if they try to speak up again.

This is not okay. Click here to IMMEDIATELY sign the petition denouncing Senator Cotton for trying to silence his constituents.

IMMEDIATELY SIGN THE PETITION

By signing this petition you will receive periodic updates on offers and activism opportunities from Daily Kos. You may unsubscribe at any time. Here’s our privacy policy.

End of MPEN e-Newsletter