Here Are the 9 Right-Wing Democrats Threatening to Tank Their Party's $3.5 Trillion Agenda

“The greatest threat to Biden's agenda is not the Progressive Caucus or the Squad, but these conservative Democrats."

JAKE JOHNSON

August 13th, 2021

A group of nine conservative House Democrats on Friday threatened to torpedo a $3.5 trillion budget resolution—the cornerstone of their party's social spending and climate agenda—unless Speaker Nancy Pelosi first allows a vote on a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill that has been criticized as inadequate and potentially harmful to the environment.

"It what world is it 'moderate' to kill a $3.5 trillion agenda against the majority of your own party? It's far-right austerity."
—Zack Burley, The Climate Mobilization

In a letter to Pelosi (D-Calif.), Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Carolyn Bourdeaux of Georgia, Filemon Vela of Texas, Henry Cuellar of Texas, Ed Case of Hawaii, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Jared Golden of Maine, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Jim Costa of California warned that they "will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/13/here-are-9-right-wing-democrats-threatening-tank-their-partys-35-trillion-agenda?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1628868619

Britney Spears' Father Jamie Spears Steps Down From Conservatorship

Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, has agreed to step down from his daughter’s conservatorship.

The turn of events is a massive win for the international pop star, who has been under a conservatorship for 13 years, ever since Mr. Spears placed his famous daughter under the court-ordered arrangement in 2008 when she suffered a very public breakdown.

But, in the 13 years since, Spears has been fit enough to perform, go on tour, hold a Las Vegas residency and earn hundreds of millions of dollars.

Speaking up more than ever before, Spears has been urging the judge to remove her father from her conservatorship through a series of blistering testimony this summer, even telling the court that she wants to “press charges” against her father for “conservatorship abuse,” and stating that she wants her father in jail.

https://variety.com/2021/music/news/britney-spears-father-jamie-spears-quits-conservator-1235040690/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's "Big, Beautiful Tax Cut"

In November 2017, with the administration of President Donald Trump rushing to get a massive tax overhaul through Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson stunned his colleagues by announcing he would vote “no.”

Making the rounds on cable TV, the Wisconsin Republican became the first GOP senator to declare his opposition, spooking Senate leaders who were pushing to quickly pass the tax bill with their thin majority. “If they can pass it without me, let them,” Johnson declared.

Johnson’s demand was simple: In exchange for his vote, the bill must sweeten the tax break for a class of companies that are known as pass-throughs, since profits pass through to their owners. Johnson praised such companies as “engines of innovation.” Behind the scenes, the senator pressed top Treasury Department officials on the issue, emails and the officials’ calendars show.

Within two weeks, Johnson’s ultimatum produced results. Trump personally called the senator to beg for his support, and the bill’s authors fattened the tax cut for these businesses. Johnson flipped to a “yes” and claimed credit for the change. The bill passed.

https://www.propublica.org/article/secret-irs-files-reveal-how-much-the-ultrawealthy-gained-by-shaping-trumps-big-beautiful-tax-cut

Democrats Introduce Right to Vote Act to Beat GOP Voter Suppression Blitz

The Right to Vote Act, introduced in the House by Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) and in the upper chamber by Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), would for the first time establish a statutory right to vote in federal elections, shielding Americans from laws making it harder to cast ballots.

If passed, the bill would allow Americans to mount legal challenges to any policies that restrict ballot access, and would counter governments' efforts to suppress the franchise by compelling them to prove claims of voter fraud—a statistically insignificant occurrence.

"The right to vote is foundational in our democracy, and must be protected as such," Jones said in a statement. "But in recent years, states like Georgia have launched an all-out assault on our democracy. The Right to Vote Act would stop this attack and prevent a new era of Jim Crow by requiring states to prove that any proposed restrictions on the right to vote advance an important interest in the least restrictive way possible."

"In this defining moment for our country, I'm proud to introduce this important legislation to secure the sacred right of every American to make their voice heard in our democracy," he added.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/05/democrats-introduce-right-vote-act-beat-gop-voter-suppression-blitz?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1628189878

Homes -- Not "Sanctioned Encampments" -- Are the Solution to Homelessness

BY
Tyler Walicek, Truthout
PUBLISHED
August 2, 2021

The crisis of homelessness, already disastrous before March 2020, has been aggravated by the widespread unemployment, evictions and shelter closures resulting from the pandemic. The COVID-19 recession dealt enormous damage to the most precarious layers of the working class, and the July 31 expiration of the federal eviction moratorium promises to inflict yet more destitution. According to some projections, COVID will eventually produce homelessness rates double those of 2008’s Great Recession — with disproportionate impacts on people of color. Compounding the issue are disasters like the fires attributed to climate change that have struck the West Coast, which can rapidly render large populations unhoused and destroy already sparse housing stock. Individual causes of homelessness vary, yet, in all cases, the catalyst of the crisis has been the severe nationwide deficit of affordable housing and social services.

These compounding breakdowns have compelled local governments to explore alternative means of addressing homelessness. Some have extended a measure of tolerance toward select street camps, tacitly accepting their presence, and, on occasion, supplying basic provisions and services. At the same time, authorities have warmed to the concept of “sanctioned encampments”: small-scale communities of tiny homes, fenced-in tent cities or other unconventional shelters that make services and infrastructure available to residents, usually administrated by a public agency or nonprofit.

It’s true that such projects and policies have offered genuine (if marginal) relief, but the sanctioned encampment model is founded on restrictions that can replicate the same shortcomings that limit the effectiveness of traditional shelters. Just as concerning, local governments have been able to point to sanctioned camps as proof of their benevolence, while, outside camp borders, they pursue the same punitive methods they have long favored. Criminalization, punishment and forcible displacement (a.k.a. “sweeps”) are many authorities’ preferred means of appeasing businesses and homeowning constituents who find unhoused people distasteful, a nuisance or a threat to profits. However, these practices can generate public controversy and organized resistance. Sanctioned encampments can represent a way to thread this needle: doing something to placate homeless advocates, while maintaining social control of unhoused people.

Sanctioned encampments might appear at first glance to represent a reasonably humane middle route between guaranteed housing and full-blown rugged individualism. They can house (though some would say “warehouse”) people with relative speed, at low cost. The intentions of those who institute and operate them can be sincere and beneficent. However, in some contexts, we may find more nuanced motivations behind local governments’ rapid embrace of the model.

https://truthout.org/articles/homes-not-sanctioned-encampments-are-the-solution-to-homelessness/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=252bb7b8-e2c8-4a6c-9b2f-b31d7d452b39

The For the People Act would prevent gerrymandering this cycle

Yes, the For the People Act would prevent gerrymandering this cycle. However, deadlines are fast approaching.

A recent Fulcrum column made the argument that, if passed, the For the People Act’s redistricting reforms wouldn’t take effect until 2030. The piece also chastised voting rights and pro-democracy groups for misleading their members and supporters about the bill’s impact on this cycle.

The reason RepresentUs and our allies are not telling people this “fact” is because it’s not true. The bill dedicates 28 pages exclusively to 2020 redistricting.

It’s important that we clear this up because a deadline is fast approaching and the public has to be aware of the stakes. Aug. 16 is the Census Bureau deadline for delivering local-level population data to states — and the date on which gerrymandering can begin.

https://bangordailynews.com/2021/08/01/opinion/contributors/the-for-the-people-act-would-prevent-gerrymandering-this-cycle/

Pelosi, Schumer call on Congress to take bold action on climate change issues