#Workers Pro-Trump

[mc-posts]

Union Management supports Biden. Workers support Trump.

Union Management supports Biden. Workers support Trump. In a strange interview, the UAW President admitted that the Joe Bag a Donut worker was not supporting the Union upper management pick. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said “a great majority” of American union workers in the auto industry “will not vote for” President Joe Biden against presumptive Republican presidential…

View On WordPress

#Biden #Trump #Union #Workers Pro-Trump

[defeat-project2025]

To quote the article: "...a 22-year-old Black college student...told the New York Times he hasn’t ruled out supporting the presumptive GOP nominee, either. That’s because he remembers his teen years under Trump as a time when a lot of things were a lot better than he sees them now — especially the economy.

“I don’t want to say it was just because he was president, but everything was definitely cheaper,” Fenuku told a reporter. “We weren’t just handing out money to other countries.”

In case anyone is sympathizing with this line of thought: The economy fluctuates. Your rights shouldn't. Furthermore, ANY president, has limited control over the economy. Biden is dealing with a post-pandemic economy, and companies that are cooperating with each other in price-gouging.

A single president is not going to be able to fix that, whether Republican or Democrat. Democrats are at least amenable to holding companies accountable. Meanwhile, Republicans are supporting anti-worker propaganda.

This should show you enough that Trump is not pro-worker or for 'the little people'. He doesn't want you to be able to fight for wages that allow you to live. He's for 'management rights'. He doesn't want the economy to get better for everyday people. He wants businesses to be able to do what they've always been doing; getting rich off other people's hard work.

#project 2025 #defeat project 2025 #vote blue #vote democrat #vote 2024 #fuck republicans #fuck trump #pro union #vote blue no matter who #worker rights #economy #gen z #gen z culture #likes dont do anything for the algorithm #please reblog

[tomorrowusa]

Trump's most famous promise was to make Mexico pay for his squalid and corrupt border wall.

Amount collected from Mexico: 0 centavos.

Trump did give tax breaks to billionaires while giving COVID-19 to much of the rest of the country.

Trump's promises are as worthless as degrees from Trump University.

#donald trump #trump's broken promises #republicans #trump's broken border wall #mexico isn't paying for trump's wall #tax breaks for the filthy rich #the trump pandemic recession #covid-19 #joe biden #bipartisan infrastructure law #inflation reduction act #biden's pro-worker policies #child tax credit #biden supports reproductive freedom #biden is lgbtq friendly #biden is pro-democracy #biden isn't a stooge of putin #election 2024 #vote blue no matter who

[vaguelyaperson]

To anyone who's considering throwing away their vote if the only option against Trump in 2024 is Biden: the federal labor union I work for has been desperately trying to establish bargaining rights that would be untouchable by executive orders, in case Trump wins. Or as our lawyer said today, "[Unions] face virtual annihilation in the next administration."

There is a difference between the two candidates. Even if it does come down to a lesser of the two evils, please vote.

#i was hired to this union during the trump years #i know EXACTLY how much worker's/union rights are at risk #trump literally defied core congressional laws on labor rights #biden has been enacting so many pro-labor policies its crazy #and that's just ONE area of policy #labor rights #labor unions #pro union #2024 elections #presidential election #politics #us politics

[booasaur]

Remember during the 2016 elections, we were so scared of what Trump might do? How afraid we were for Roe but were told by so many people, pro-choice people even, that it was such settled law and it would be such a flashpoint, they'd never touch it. Don't overreact, you sound hysterical, this fearmongering is ruining your credibility. Hell, maybe worry for gay marriage, but abortion? No chance.

We watched Kavanaugh and ACB confirmed with increasing trepidation and STILL there was so much shock when the Dobbs leak happened.

Remember that feeling of knowing what was going to happen, because of your experience and knowledge, and nobody believing you till it was too late? And the very people who smugly shut you up pivoting and continuing to act like the authority, that, ah, yes, now was the time to worry?

This guy above represents the mainstream Western narrative since Israel killed the World Central Kitchen aid workers.

Somehow, after everything we've already seen, Israel was still getting the benefit of the doubt. After killing hundreds of aid workers already, mostly Palestinian, after killing more than 15,000 children, after killing multiple people waving white flags. After literally a scenario where a Red Crescent ambulance arranged safe passage with the IDF--just as this WCKitchen convoy had--to rescue a 6 year old child and ending up bombed.

Why didn't the world listen before? Israel didn't suddenly change, only perceptions have. They're the same now as they were three days ago, as they have been for the last months, years, decades. This wasn't an escalation, it was an inevitability.

Chef José Andrés, who runs the WCKitchen, and recently a vocal critic of Israel, was actually strongly defending them earlier. I saw someone call that Western naivety, but... is it simply being too naive, too trusting, when your good faith is only extended to one side? Isn't that just bias? Now Pelosi is signing a letter to stop weapon transfers to Russia when she was accusing protesters of being paid by Russia? Now, Western governments are saying this is too much?

I'll take any help we can get in stopping this onslaught, but these recent shifts came too late to save so many, including the WCKitchen workers. What changed for so many people now? We can't ignore why THIS was so many people's red line when tens of thousands of Palestinians weren't. Not only would it be an injustice to them but until this bias is interrogated how are we going to stop this or from repeating if the same wrong ass people are making the same decisions with the same worldview?

#just some of the rhetoric #israel #palestine #gaza #world central kitchen #us politics #free palestine #I've been wanting to gif more as part of these posts #it's still one of the best ways to help people take in info #and something I can do at least #and re: that first para: yeah trump again will be horrible #he's telling us #so I personally would try to stop that in ways that would work and not ways that won't work?

[robertreich]

The Silent Revolution in American Economics

I don't think you're expecting what I'm about to say, because I have never seen anything like this in fifty years in politics.

For decades I've been sounding an alarm about how our economy has become increasingly rigged for the rich. I've watched it get worse under both Republicans and Democrats, but what President Biden has done in his first term gives me hope I haven't felt in years. It’s a complete sea change.

Here are three key areas where Biden is fundamentally reshaping our economy to make it better for working people.

#1 Trade and industrial policy

Biden is breaking with decades of reliance on free-trade deals and free-market philosophies. He’s instead focusing on domestic policies designed to revive American manufacturing and fortify our own supply chains.

Take three of his signature pieces of legislation so far — the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act, and his infrastructure package. This flood of government investment has brought about a new wave in American manufacturing.

Unlike Trump, who just levied tariffs on Chinese imports and used it as a campaign slogan, Biden is actually investing in America’s manufacturing capacity so we don’t have to rely on China in the first place.

He’s turning the tide against deals made by previous administrations, both Democratic and Republican, that helped Wall Street but ended up costing American jobs and lowering American wages.

#2 Monopoly power

Biden is the first president in living memory to take on big monopolies.

Giant firms have come to dominate almost every industry. Four beef packers now control over 80 percent of the market, domestic air travel is dominated by four airlines, and most Americans have no real choice of internet providers.

In a monopolized economy, corporate profits rise, consumers pay higher prices, and workers’ wages shrink.

But under the Biden, the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department have become the most aggressive monopoly fighters in more than a half century. They’re going after Amazon and Google, Ticketmaster and Live Nation, JetBlue and Spirit, and a wide range of other giant corporations.  

#3 Labor

Biden is also the most pro-union president I’ve ever seen.

A big reason for the surge in workers organizing and striking for higher wages is the pro-labor course Biden is charting.

The Reagan years blew in a typhoon of union busting across America. Corporations routinely sunk unions and fired workers who attempted to form them. They offshored production or moved to so-called “right-to-work” states that enacted laws making it hard to form unions.

Even though Democratic presidents promised labor law reforms that would strengthen unions, they didn’t follow through. But under Joe Biden, organized labor has received a vital lifeboat. Unionizing has been protected and encouraged. Biden is even the first sitting president to walk a picket line.

Biden’s National Labor Relations Board is stemming the tide of unfair labor practices, requiring companies to bargain with their employees, speeding the period between union petitions and elections, and making it harder to fire workers for organizing.

Americans have every reason to be outraged at how decades of policies that prioritized corporations over people have thrown our economy off-keel.

But these three waves of change — a worker-centered trade and industrial policy, strong anti-monopoly enforcement, and moves to strengthen labor unions — are navigating towards a more equitable economy.

It’s a sea change that’s long overdue.

#youtube #Joe Biden #politics #economics #video #videos

[kp777]

By Jessica Corbett

Common Dreams

March 20, 2024

"Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," said the head of Social Security Works. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him."

Defenders of Social Security and Medicare on Wednesday swiftly criticized the biggest caucus of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives for putting out a budget proposal for fiscal year 2025 that takes aim at the crucial programs.

The 180-page "Fiscal Sanity to Save America" plan from the Republican Study Committee (RSC) follows the release of proposals from Democratic President Joe Biden and U.S. House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)—who is leading the fight to create a fiscal commission for the programs that critics call a "death panel" designed to force through cuts.

The RSC document features full sections on "Saving Medicare" and "Preventing Biden's Cuts to Social Security," which both push back on the president's recent comments calling out Republican attacks on the programs that serve seniors.

The caucus plan promotes premium support for Medicare Advantage plans administered by private health insurance providers as well as changes to payments made to teaching hospitals. For Social Security, the proposal calls for tying retirement age to rising life expectancy and cutting benefits for younger workers over certain income levels, including phasing out auxiliary benefits.

The document also claims that the caucus budget "would promote trust fund solvency by increasing payroll tax revenues through pro-growth tax reform, pro-growth energy policy that lifts wages, work requirements that move Americans from welfare to work, and regulatory reforms that increase economic growth."

In a lengthy Wednesday statement blasting the RSC budget, Social Security Works president Nancy Altman pointed out that last week, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in the November election, "toldCNBC that 'there's a lot you can do' to cut Social Security."

"Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."

"Now, congressional Republicans are confirming the party's support for cuts—to the tune of $1.5 trillion. They are also laying out some of those cuts," Altman said. "This budget would raise the retirement age, in line with prominent Republican influencer Ben Shapiro's recent comments that 'retirement itself is a stupid idea.' It would make annual cost-of-living increases stingier, so that benefits erode over time. It would slash middle-class benefits."

"Perhaps most insultingly, given the Republicans' claim to be the party of 'family values,' this budget would eliminate Social Security spousal benefits, as well as children's benefits, for middle-class families. That would punish women who take time out of the workforce to care for children and other loved ones," she continued. "This coming from a party that wants to take away women's reproductive rights!"

The caucus, chaired by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), included 285 bills and initiatives from 192 members in its budget plan—among them are various proposals threatening abortion care, birth control, and in vitro fertilization (IVF) nationwide.

"The RSC budget would also take away Medicare's new power to negotiate lower prices on prescription drugs, putting more money into the pockets of the GOP's Big Pharma donors," Altman warned. "And it accelerates the privatization of Medicare, handing it over to private insurance companies who have a long history of ripping off the government and delaying and denying care to those who need it."

"In recent days, Trump has tried to walk back his support for Social Security and Medicare cuts," she noted. "This budget is one of many reasons why no one should believe him. The Republican Party is the party of cutting Social Security and Medicare, while giving tax handouts to billionaires."

"The Democratic Party is the party of expanding Social Security and Medicare, paid for by requiring the ultrawealthy to contribute their fair share," Altman added. "Everyone who cares about the future of these vital earned benefits should vote accordingly in November."

Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler also targeted the Republican presidential candidate while slamming the RSC plan, saying that "Donald Trump's MAGA allies in Congress made it clear today: A vote for Trump is a vote to make the MAGA 2025 agenda of cutting Social Security, ripping away access to IVF, and banning abortion nationwide a hellish reality."

"While Trump and his allies push forward their extreme agenda, the American people are watching," Tyler added, suggesting that the RSC proposal will help motivate voters to give Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris four more years in the White House.

#social security #medicare #fiscal year 2025 budget #republicans #2024 elections #donald trump

[mariacallous]

When the United Auto Workers announced the expansion of their strike on Friday morning, the cleverness of their strategy was immediately apparent. The union has gradually turned up the heat on the “Big Three” — as well Joe Biden, who now plans to head to Michigan on Tuesday in what is likely to be an unprecedented show of union solidarity by a sitting president.

The UAW started its work stoppage a week ago by walking out at three assembly facilities, one apiece for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. Then, this morning, the union’s president, Shawn Fain, said the UAW would expand its strike significantly — to 38 parts distribution facilities — but only at those belonging to GM and Stellantis, which owns the Jeep and Dodge brands.

Any parent understands what the union is doing here: Fain is patting one child on the head and giving her a candy bar, while sending the other two out back to rake leaves.

Fain made clear in a Friday speech that he felt Ford had made significant movement in talks and was determined to reach a good-faith deal. “At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story,” Fain said. Ford had made satisfactory proposals on cost-of-living increases, the elimination of “tiered” pay scales, and job security measures, the union leader explained, while its competitors still fell short in those areas.

When the union announced only limited strikes to start, some militant workers and supporters understandably grumbled that the union was holding back. But it’s obvious a big part of this plan — dubbed the “Stand Up Strike,” an homage to the UAW’s famous “sit-down strikes” of the 1930s — has always been to leave more options on the table. Not only can the union tighten the vise by adding more facilities to the work stoppage, it can punish or reward any of the Big Three individually as it sees fit. There is still plenty of time for the strategy to succeed or fail, but it’s hard to say the upsides aren’t becoming more clear.

Not only does this playbook keep the automakers on their toes, it continues to generate headlines in a way a more standard strike could not. Any expansion of the work stoppage will be newsworthy, ensuring the strike grows in scope and impact rather than peters out — and in turn courts responses from the White House as the political and economic stakes of the showdown grow.

Until now, Biden has voiced support for the workers but walked a careful line regarding the contract dispute. He said in public comments last week that the Big Three should “go further” with their offers, and that “record corporate profits” for the automakers should translate into “record contracts” for union members. “I respect workers’ right to use their options under the collective bargaining system. And I understand the workers’ frustration,” he said.

But Biden’s support is likely to look much stronger next week. Fain invited the self-described “most pro-union president” ever to stand side by side with striking workers, and Biden tweeted Friday afternoon that he plans to oblige. A presidential visit to a picket line will put even more pressure on the automakers to reach a deal with the UAW. And thanks to its strategy, the union still has more room to escalate.

[mc-posts]

Union Management supports Biden. Workers support Trump.

Union Management supports Biden. Workers support Trump. In a strange interview, the UAW President admitted that the Joe Bag a Donut worker was not supporting the Union upper management pick. United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said “a great majority” of American union workers in the auto industry “will not vote for” President Joe Biden against presumptive Republican presidential…

View On WordPress

#Biden #Trump #Union #Workers Pro-Trump

[batboyblog]

Governors 2022: You'd Better Vote!

A few days ago I made and blazed a post on important US Senate races but also coming up on November 8th there are equally (if not more) important races for Governor across the country. Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe V Wade its thrown abortion rights to the states. Who you vote for in this election will determine what abortion rights look like in your state, will they be protected? or will abortion be banned? up to the voters this election. Democratic Governors in red states have served as the thin blue line protecting the right to choice, vetoing radical anti-abortion laws and refusing to enforce antiquated 19th century anti-abortion laws.

Republican Governors however have declared open season on trans students in sports the families of trans children health care for trans kids trans healthcare for poor adults drag queens LGBT books the use of pronouns any conversation of race in school we can go on but it's clear that Republican state governments in 2022 have declared war on Queer people and Queer life, Trans people in particular and trans children most of all.

Finally many of the Republican candidates in 2022 are election deniers, they do not believe Joe Biden legally won the 2020 election and have made it clear that if they're in charge come 2024 they won't allow their states votes to be counted for any one but Donald Trump. How we vote in 2022 decides if we have a free and fair democratic election for President in 2024. So PLEASE look at this close Governor's elections, if you live in these states VOTE VOTE VOTE. But more than vote, volunteer your time, even if you don't live in this states you can call or text voters for a campaign. If you have even one dollar to spare for these campaigns give it to the candidate you like best. A lot of them also have merch stores you can buy stuff if you'd rather.

Arizona

Katie Hobbs (flip)

Arizona Security of State Katie Hobbs is running to replace term-limited Republican Governor Doug Ducey. As Security of State in charge of Arizona's elections Hobbs was in the center of the 2020 "stop the steal" conspiracy theory. In the face of death threats, doxxing of her home address and children's phone numbers, and armed protests in front of her home Hobbs did her job and made sure all of Arizona's votes were counted. Before becoming Security of State Hobbs was a social worker, a State Senator and Leader of the State Senate's Democrats. In the State House she helped push through medicaid expansion making Arizona one of the few Republican controlled states to do so. Republicans have nominated former news caster, Kari Lake for governor. Lake rose to prominence by being a vocal supporter of election conspiracy theories. Lake has called for Hobbs to be jailed for her role in the election as Arizona Security of State. She called for the Arizona election results to be decertified even after Biden took office, and for Trump to be re-instated as President. She declared she would not have certified the 2020 election result if she'd been governor at the time, bring what she'd do in 2024 as governor into question. Lake also called abortion "ultimate sin" and wants it banned in all cases, she wants to ban trans people from using the bathroom that conforms with their gender rather than assigned sex at birth, she declared she wouldn't follow/enforce federal gun laws, she wants to use Arizona state resources to deport undocumented people without federal government involvement, and to use Arizona tax payer dollars to finish Trump's wall. Also Lake has been vocal about Covid-19 conspiracies, supporting fake treatments, being against vaccine or mask mandates and being proudly not vaccinated herself. Lake would ban abortion, deport people illegally, victimize trans people, and can't be trusted with elections or public health, Katie Hobbs is 100% pro-choice, has already protected our democracy and isn't a bully, the choice is clear.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Florida

Charlie Crist (flip)

Congressman and former Governor Charlie Crist is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Crist served as Governor of Florida as a Republican from 2007 till 2011. When Crist decided to run for the US Senate in 2010 as a Republican. However hardcore Republicans were outraged at him for his support of environmental policies, his appointing of a black Justice to the state Supreme Court, his expressing a willingness to give President Obama "a shot", and his support of Obama's 2009 Recovery Act. Republicans backed Marco Rubio. Crist ran any ways as an Independent but due to vote splitting Rubio won with 48% of the vote. Crist endorsed Obama's re-election in 2012 and became a Democrat. He ran for Governor as a Democrat in 2014 and lost by 1%. In 2016 Crist ran for Congress becoming the first Democrat to represent St. Petersburg Florida in 62 years. While in Congress Crist has supported bills to legalize Marijuana, and introduced a bill to make it illegal to fire or not hire federal employees for using cannabis. Crist has also supported a federal assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. Crist has centered standing up for LGBT rights and Abortion rights as main issues in his 2022 campaign for Governor. Current Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is running for a second term after a narrow, 0.4% win in 2018. DeSantis has made an all out assault on the rights of LGBT people and reproductive rights the center of his re-election campaign. On June 1st 2021 DeSantis signed a law banning trans girls from participating and competing in middle-school and high-school girls' and college women's sports. He supported and signed the Florida "Don't Say Gay" bill banning any conversion of LGBT issues in younger grades. The Don't Say Gay bill has inspired a wave of banning LGBT related books from school and public libraries around America. DeSantis' Department of Health is in the process of banning transitioning, both medical AND social transitioning for minors in the state. DeSantis' Department of Health has already banned Florida Medicaid from covering medical transition/trans health care in the state. DeSantis is also 100% against abortion and is currently fighting in court to ban it totally in the state. He also took the extraordinary step of firing the elected Democratic State Attorney for Tampa for saying he would not enforce not yet passed laws against trans medical treatment for minors, as well as abortion. Florida in 2022 is the front line of LGBT rights and trans rights most of all. If DeSantis wins he'll try to ride bullying queer people, queer kids, to the White House. If you're queer, if you have any LGBT loved ones, if you care about LGBT rights, dig deep give Charlie Crist a dollar, if you're in Florida please do whatever you can to stop DeSantis.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Georgia

Stacey Abrams (flip)

Former Georgia State House Minority Leader and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams is running to unseat one term Republican Governor Brian Kemp. A rematch of their painfully close 2018 election face off in which it is widely believed Kemp used his then office of Security of State to weight the odds against Abrams. Kemp closed over 200 polling places in poor and minority areas thought to be strong for Abrams causing longer lines and longer trips to a polling place for her voters. He also purged over 600K voters from the voting rolls and slowed down processing of new voter registration. After her painful 2018 defeat Abrams launched Fair Fight Action. Fair Fight works to register people to vote, to fight unfair voting laws in court, and to boost turn out. It's understood Abrams tireless organizing in Georgia was key to Joe Biden's narrow 2020 win in the state and as well as the Senate run-off wins of Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock that gave Democrats control of the Senate. Expanding Medicaid is one of Abrams top goals for her governorship as Georgia is one of the last states to have not expanded coverage. If elected Abrams will not only be Georgia's first black governor, she'll be the first black woman governor in America. Since taking office Kemp has kept up his voter suppressing ways, signing laws that limit absentee voting, giving the Republican controlled legislature the right to overrule and replace local elected elections officials, and making it a crime to give food and even water to people waiting in line to vote. Kemp also banned mask mandates during Covid even banning local governments in Georgia from enacting them. He lifted the stay at home order in early 2020 against the advice of the CDC and again overruling Democratic mayors in his state. The result was Georgia having some of the worst Covid numbers of 2020. Georgia doesn't need more election suppression, support Abrams.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Kansas

Laura Kelly (re-elect)

Governor Laura Kelly was elected in an upset win in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Before 2018 Kansas suffered 8 years under Republican Governor Sam Brownback and the "Kansas experiment". Under Governor Brownback taxes on the wealthy and corporations were slashed in some of the biggest tax cuts in American history. The result was an implosion of the state budget and deep cuts in all services and the near collapse of Kansas' education system. Governor Kelly campaigned to reverse the effects of the "Kansas experiment" and drew wide support even from Republicans alarmed by the effects of Republican tax policy. In office Governor Kelly worked to push through Medicaid expansion through the Republican controlled legislature. Thanks to Kelly over 100,000 Kansans got health coverage through Medicaid. Kelly has managed to fully fund Kansas' schools and balance Kansas' budget. Her first official act in office was to sign an order protecting LGBT state workers from discrimination, something Governor Brownback had eliminated in 2015. Governor Kelly was a leading figure in the campaign to protect abortion rights in Kansas through the ballot referendum and she opposes any new restrictions on abortion. Republicans have nominated Kansas' Attorney General Derek Schmidt to try to unseat Governor Kelly. Schmidt has been Kansas' Attorney General since 2011. During the Obama Administration Schmidt sued the Obama EPA to try to block regulation of oil and gas companies, green house gases, and to block Obama's clean power plan. Schmidt sued the Obama Administration to try to overturn Obamacare, and also DACA. Schmidt even took part in an official Kansas government panel which heard "evidence" that President Obama was not an American citizen and shouldn't be allowed on the ballot in Kansas in 2012. In 2020 Schmidt joined other Republican AGs to sue to try to overturn the results of the Presidential election. Since Biden has taken office Schmidt has sued the Biden Administration over its climate change policies. Governor Kelly has been a common sense problem solver and the line of protection for LGBT people and abortion rights in Kansas, Kansas needs a second term of her, not another Republican.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Maine

Janet Mills (re-elect)

Governor Janet Mills was elected in 2018 and is running for her second term in office. Mills is the first woman governor in Maine and was also the first woman Attorney General of the state. On her first day in office Mills signed Medicaid expansion into law. The Medicaid expansion had been passed by citizen vote on a ballot measure but vetoed by the Republican governor. This brought health coverage to 90,000 low income Mainers. Mills has pushed for aggressive climate action putting forward a plan to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045. In 2022 the Maine climate council reported the state had over shot its goals. Mills stand on climate change lead to her being invited to address the United Nations on the topic in 2019. A life long feminist, a co-founder of the Maine Women's Lobby Mills has pledged to veto any restriction on abortion and voiced support for changing the state's constitution to protect abortion rights. Mills also declared she would work to make sure it was safe for people from outside of Maine to come to the state seeking an abortion that might be illegal in their home state. Republicans have nominated former Governor Paul LePage to try to unseat Mills. LePage was governor from 2011 to 2019 winning two elections with split voting. LePage earned national attention for his regularly inflammatory and often racist comments such as declaring "New York Drug Dealers" were coming to Maine to sell drugs and "impregnate a young, white girl before they leave" and "black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers". When a Democratic state rep called him a racist LePage called him in the middle of the night and left a voice message in which he called the state rep a "little son of a bitch" and a "cocksucker" repeatedly, later LePage challenged the rep to a dual. When Maine voters passed ballot measures to expand Medicaid and legalize marijuana LePage vetoed the bills that would implement the will of the voters. He also vetoed a bill that would have banned conversion "therapy" for Minors, Governor Mills signed the bill a year later. LePage cut and restricted welfare in Maine resulting in the state leading the nation in food insecure children by 2018. Maine need a climate change world leader as governor not a racist.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Nevada

Steve Sisolak (re-elect)

Governor Steve Sisolak was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Since taking office Sisolak has focused on climate change and protecting Nevada's fragile ecosystem. He appointed the first climate czar for the Governor's office in the history of the state. Under his leadership Nevada has become a world leader in solar power. Governor Sisolak set a goal of 50% of Nevada's power from renewables by 2030 and the state is on track to meet those goals. Sisolak stood up for Nevada's election integrity in the face of 2020 election conspiracies that heavily focused on the state. Since Roe V Wade was overturned Sisolak has spoken out in support of abortion rights. Sisolak worked to repel the state's anti-abortion law before Roe was struck down thus protecting abortion rights in the state now. Republicans have nominated Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo to try to unseat Governor Sisolak. Lombardo is against most if not all gun control measures. He worked to eliminate Clark County's (Las Vegas) gun registry even after the 2017 mass shooting, the deadliest in American history with 57 deaths. Lombardo also supports people being able to 3D print their own "ghost guns". Lombardo wants to get rid of Nevada's long standing system of universal mail in ballots and make it harder for people to vote. Lombardo bluntly declares himself "pro-life". Nevada can keep moving forward and be a climate leader or go backward and make it harder to vote.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

Pennsylvania

Josh Shapiro (hold)

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is running to replace term-limited Democratic Governor Tom Wolf. Shapiro has been Attorney General since 2017. During his term in office Shapiro was a consistent opponent of the Trump administration. Shapiro sued the Trump administration over it's travel ban and also sued the Trump administration over its plan to allow employers to not cover birth control in their health insurance plans. Shapiro pushed the federal government to ban the blue prints for 3D printed guns. He supported the legalization of marijuana in 2019, but despite support from Governor Wolf and other leading Democrats is still being blocked by Republicans in the state legislature. Shapiro conducted a extensive investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania. Shapiro's report uncovered over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse by over 300 priests and an extensive cover up by Church leadership. Republicans Nominated state Senator Doug Mastriano to face off with Shapiro in November. Mastriano is seen as a leading figure on the Christian Nationalist right who has worrying ties to far-right organizations and terrorist groups. Mastriano is known to have organized bus rides for Trump supporters to come to DC on January 6th. Mastriano and his wife were shown in video has being present when barricade around the US Capitol was breached and they can be seen passing beyond the barricade. It is unclear if Mastriano himself entered the Capitol building during the riot. Mastriano has refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation into January 6th or with the FBI criminal investigation. Mastriano's campaigned paid to have Gab, the racist far-right alternative to Twitter, make it so all new Gab users automatically fallowed Mastriano's account. Gab CEO Andrew Torba declared that electing Mastriano was his number one goal for the 2022 election. Torba also declared he had a personal policy that he didn't "conduct interviews with reporters who aren't Christian" and that he knew "Doug has a very similar media strategy where he does not do interviews with these people." Attorney General Shapiro is Jewish. It appears that members of Mastriano's security detail were also members of the far-right extremist militia group the Oath Keepers. Mastriano supporters at a public event he attended carried flags for another far-right militia, the Three Percenters. Both groups were involved in the January 6th rioting. Mastriano is a dangerous far-right anti-democracy candidate who was involved in the January 6th riot and hangs out with right wing terrorist groups, don't let him in office.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Texas

Beto O'Rourke (flip)

Former Congressman Beto O'Rourke is running to unseat 2 term Republican Governor Greg Abbott. O'Rourke represented El Paso Texas in Congress from 2013 till 2019. O'Rourke won his first election to Congress in an upset primary win. His campaign centered on his support for LGBT rights and drug liberalization two issues that would remain major themes for O'Rourke in future campaigns. While in Congress O'Rourke was a social supporter of LGBT rights, abortion rights, and gun control, taking part in a sit in with Congressman John Lewis inside the House chamber to try to force the then Republican controlled house to vote on gun control. In 2018 O'Rourke left the house to run for the US Senate in an effort to unseat Senator Ted Cruz. Many thought O'Rourke's campaign was a hopeless long shot but in the end it was a photo finish with Cruz 50.9% to O'Rourke's 48.3%. While he didn't win O'Rourke netted more votes then any Democrat in Texas history and energized long hopeless Texas Democrats. O'Rourke has run an aggressive no holds barred campaign, centering upholding LGBT rights, abortion rights, and even directly confronting Governor Abbott to his face over the failed response to the Uvalde shooting. Gregg Abbott has been governor of Texas since 2015. Abbott's reaction to mass shooting events in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 has been to uniformly reject tighter gun laws and call for prayer. Abbott was quick to endorse a false narrative of police heroism in the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting in line with his "back the blue" ideology. After the 2021 ice storm left most of Texas without power in the record cold Abbott still refuses to consider integrating the state's power grid into one of the two national grids for ideological reasons. Abbott has been aggressively anti-abortion his whole career. Texas' aggressive anti-abortion bill is what lead to the Supreme Court case overturning Roe. Under the law not only is abortion illegal it empowers random citizens to sue those who get or those who preform an abortion. Abbott has also targeted the trans community. in 2022 Abbott ordered the state child welfare agency to treat gender affirming treatment of trans children as child abuse and investigate parents of trans children, which is happening now. Greg Abbott thinks he can bully trans kids and ultra ban abortion his way to re-election, Texas can prove it doesn't want a bully and wants someone to keep the lights on this winter.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Wisconsin

Tony Evers (re-elect)

Governor Tony Evers was first elected in 2018 and is running for his second term in office. Before becoming governor Evers was Wisconsin's statewide Superintendent. In his role as head of schools in the state Evers focused on expanding mental health excess for students. He regularly clashed with Republican Governor Scott Walker, who he beat in the 2018 election, over the school system's budget. Since becoming Governor Evers has championed Wisconsin's school passing the first budget increase in years, moving the state from 18th to 8th in the nation, and overseeing the first increase in spending on special ed in decades. Evers has also focused on rebuilding and repairing Wisconsin's crumbling roads and bridges after years of Republican neglect. One of Evers first actions as Governor was to withdraw Wisconsin from a Republican lead law suit against Obamacare. Evers supports expanding Medicaid in the state but has been blocked so far by a Republican legislature. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe Governor Evers joined Wisconsin's Attorney General in suing to try to stop the state's antiquated 1849 anti-abortion law from coming into effect. Evers has stated if the law does come into effect he will pardon any doctor convicted under it. Republicans have nominated perennial failed candidate and businessman Tim Michels to try to unseat Governor Evers. Michels has declared on abortion "The 1849 law is an exact mirror of my position, and my position is an exact mirror of the 1849 law,". Michels stated he believes marriage is "between one man and one woman". Michels also supports plans to make voting harder in Wisconsin and would not commit to certifying the 2024 Presidential election results if Trump doesn't win the state. Wisconsin can pick a common sense Democrat who will protect the right to choose and our elections, or a candidate that wants to use 19th century laws against peoples bodies and won't protect our elections, choice is clear.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

Thank you SO much for reading all this! To keep an already very long post to a readable length I had to make some choices about which races to cover, so please check out Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), Tim Walz (Minnesota), Michelle Lujan Grisham (New Mexico) and Tina Kotek (Oregon) They need your support and your votes as well.

If you don't live in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin or New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Ohio (Senate list) Please look up your state/local Democratic Party I GUARANTEE there is an important winnable election going on in your state right now that needs your attention, your vote for sure, but also your volunteer hours, and your money if you got ANY to spare even a dollar is worth giving to a winnable race and a good candidate.

Trust me when I say if you feel hopeless, upset, frustrated, feel like you're going crazy, volunteering, going out for a lovely walk knocking on doors and talking to real people is the best best best therapy there is, every time I feel 1,000 better and I'm NOT a social butterfly.

If you care about LGBT rights, you care about trans people, this is the election to vote and get involved, Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott both think abusing trans people, particularly trans children, is their road to re-election and if they win it'll only spread and get much much worse. If you're Queer, or you care about LGBT people vote hard, and talk to everyone, have that hard awkward conversation with a family member about what voting Republican really means, talk till they understand guys. This is also true on Abortion Republicans everywhere are running on extreme total bans, we're talking pregnant teenage, pregnant 10 year old, rape and abuse victims being forced to carry their rapist baby to term when they're physically too young to give birth even close to safely.

finally thank you to @dduane one of my favorite childhood authors (I fangirled hard) and everyone else for helping my Senate post go viral, I hope this one does as well

VOTE NOVEMBER 8TH!

#election #vote #voting #LGBT #LGBT rights #trans #trans rights #abortion #politics #Texas #Florida #Georgia #Pennsylvania #Arizona #Democrats #don't say gay #Ron DeSantis #Greg Abbott #beto o'rourke

[im-just-a-mushroom]

Proud of all the Michiganders who voted “uncommitted”. I’ll be doing the same or “ceasefire now”.

As for the “blue no matter who” morons/blue MAGA screaming that you have to support Biden because Trump is worse, please fuck off and take a few moments to reflect on that. Realize that you’re treating millions of people as expendable to your own comfort. It’s not as if Biden keeps any of his decent promises anyway/he’s been doing conservative shit his whole career. I have problems with his drug policies, healthcare policy, lies about debt cancellation, and anti worker sentiments (his pro union stuff was weak as hell); all of this in addition to the genocide he is happy to participate in. Blue MAGA morons fuck all the way off 🖕

Free Palestine!

🇵🇸

#free palestine 🇵🇸 #palestine #free palestine #michigan #michigan primary #uncommitted #don’t vote for democrats unless they support a ceasefire

[wonderlandmoonrose7]

You may feel that after a month, it doesn't seem like anything is changing concerning Palestine. You may feel that you aren't helping or that you should give up. But that isn't true!

Especially in the US, politicians are being pressured by their own staffers, who see emails and calls and petitions come in, to stop being so vocally pro-Israel. Major news outlets such as the BBC, The LA Times, and The New York Times are publishing pro-Palestine articles and airing segments dissecting Israeli lies. Starbucks is literally begging for your money, doing sales they've never done before as their workers resign and go on strike. Things are changing. Yes, they aren't changing fast, and there's probably a long way to go, but change takes a lot of time and things are slowly shifting in our favor. Keep going to protests, keep boycotting, and keep speaking out.

And vote! (This is for the US in particular.) I'm seeing a lot of sentiment promoting voting third part en masse or not voting at all, and I can tell you right now that is a surefire way to get people even worse than we already have now into office. Getting third party representatives, especially on state and local levels may work, but I can tell you right now that the amount of zealous Republicans and ignorant Democrats far outnumbers anyone voting third party in 2024. Yes, Biden sucks ass and I wish I could knock some sense into him myself, but Trump is violently Islamophobic and has explicitly stated plans for turning the US into a dictatorship. Lesser of two evils sucks, but it's kind of our only option when the electoral college is in place. At least Biden might back out (and has already halfheartedly started turning) when this is no longer profitable for him. Trump will keep going out of sheer hatred and ego.

As much as it doesn't seem like it, you are never without power. What matters right now is consistent and unrelenting pressure against those in power. No matter what, don't stop talking, don't stop protesting, and don't give up.

#palestine #gaza #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #politics #social issues #anti israel #us politics #voting #boycotting #protesting #free palestine #free gaza

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Republicans can only pretend to support workers

Trump revealed the flaws in this strategy. If you lie to workers over and over again, eventually they’ll switch sides and vote for the party of plutocracy. Letting liberals sideline leftists in the Democratic Party coalition meant that the Republicans could claim to be the party of radical change, while Democrats insisted that “America is already great.”

As we saw in 2016: when Dems abandon workers, Republicans use their faux-populist “ workerism ” to destroy Democrats in elections.

But the Republican pro-worker position is an easily revealed shuck.Republicans hate workers . All they’ve got is empty rhetoric, China scare-stories, xenophobia, and culture war bullshit.

Money talks. Bullshit walks. By showing up for workers, Biden is offering something better than cathartic scapegoating: he’s offering economic security. A good job with a good pension and health benefits. A union that protects you from harassment and abuse.

Biden showing up on the picket line isn’t a mere gesture: “Organized labor has made gains when it had the support of the government and it has been beaten down when the government was trying to crush it.” Biden’s support can mean the difference between a workers’ victory and their defeat.

-Joe Biden is headed to a UAW picket-line in Detroit: “I want to do it, now make me do it.”

Image: Fabio Basagni https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/:Sahara_desert_sunrise.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

#joe biden #dark brandon #uaw #strikes #fdr #labor #hot labor summer #big three automakers #manchin-synematic universe #unions #i want to do it now make me do it #pack the court #workerism #money talks bullshit walks #jennifer abruzzo #personnel are politics #nlrb #populism #deliverism #doppelganger #republicans hate workers #class war #no war but class war

[w1ng3dw01f]

some resources for everyone on things I care about

#palestine #free palestine #free gaza #Pro Palestine protests #kosa #kosa bill #tiktok #tiktok brainrot #trump trial #There are officially too many things going wrong in America right now #abortion rights

[robertreich]

The Secret to the GOP’s Assault on Your Rights

Democracy is not just under attack in America. In some states, it’s being lost.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once suggested that states could serve as laboratories of democracy, but these states are more like laboratories of autocracy.

Take Wisconsin. The GOP has so successfully rigged state elections through gerrymandering that even when Democrats get more votes, Republicans win more seats. In 2018, Republicans won just 45% of the vote statewide, but were awarded 64% of the seats.

******

Btw, if you’d like my daily analyses, commentary, and drawings, please subscribe to my free newsletter: robertreich.substack.com

******

Wisconsin is one of several states where an anti-democracy movement has taken hold.

But it wasn’t always this way. In fact, Wisconsin pioneered the progressive era of American politics at the start of the twentieth century — with policies that empowered workers, protected the environment, and took on corporate monopolies. State lawmakers established the nation’s first unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, and strict child labor laws.

Teddy Roosevelt called the state a “laboratory for wise … legislation aiming to secure the social and political betterment of the people as a whole.”

But for the last decade, Wisconsin has become a laboratory for legislation that does the exact opposite.

After Republicans took control in 2010, one of the first bills they passed gutted workers' rights by dismantling public-sector unions — which then decimated labor’s ability to support pro-worker candidates.

This move aligned with the interests of their corporate donors, who benefited from weaker unions and lower wages.

This new Wisconsin formula has been replicated elsewhere.

Republicans in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina won a minority of votes in 2018, but still won majorities in their state assemblies thanks to gerrymandering.

In Texas, Ohio, and Georgia, Republicans have crafted gerrymanders that are strong enough to create supermajorities capable of overturning a governor’s veto.

Even more alarming, hundreds of these Republican state legislators, “used the power of their office to discredit or try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,” on behalf of Donald Trump.

How did this happen? Put simply: years of careful planning by corporate interest groups and their radical allies.

And the corporations enabling these takeovers aren't just influencing the law — their lobbyists are literally writing many of the bills that get passed.

This political alliance with corporate power has given these Republican legislatures free rein to pursue an extreme culture-war agenda — one that strips away rights that majorities of people support — while deflecting attention from their corporate patrons’ economic agendas.

Republicans are introducing bills that restrict or criminalize abortion. They’re banning teachers from discussing the history of racism in this country. They are making it harder to protest and easier to harm protestors. They are punishing trans people for receiving gender-affirming care and their doctors for providing it.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are still laboratories of democracy where true public servants are finding creative ways to defend the rights of us all.

Elected officials in Colorado and Vermont are codifying the right to abortion. California lawmakers have proposed making the state a refuge for transgender youth and their families. And workers across the country are reclaiming their right to organize, which is helping to rebuild an important counterweight to corporate power.

But winning will ultimately require a fifty state strategy — with a Democratic Senate willing to reform or end the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade, protect voting rights, and protect the right to organize nationwide.

America needs a national pro-democracy movement to stop the anti-democracy movement now underway — a pro-democracy movement committed to helping candidates everywhere, including in state-level races.

This is where you come in. Volunteer for pro-democracy candidates — and if you don't have time, contribute to their campaigns.

This is not a battle of left vs. right. It is a battle between democracy and autocracy.

#roe v wade #roe #Supreme Court #states #Wisconsin #democracy #videos #video

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

They’ve been scared of it for decades but it still isn’t stopping them. The youth vote never worked out for the Dems even when millions of young boomers took to the streets to protest Vietnam, Nixon, and Republikkkan terror at home. Their is no grand coalition of young people, marginalized people, and recent immigrants. Pundits like Van Jones can preach this all he wants in an attempt to make it reality but it’s simply not happening, never has, and likely never will.

The Republikkkans have had great and expanding success with their simple strategy of regional separation. The push the notion that the South is inherently more free, more moral, and more patriotic. Which is bullish-t on every level. They’ve even managed to expand this into the west and mid-west while making inroads into the rural counties of the few blue states left. They keep the people poor and angry and then they make the northern and west coast Dems the villains, the scapegoats just like Hitler did. Everything northern, blue, and urban is evil because propaganda works best when oversimplified to black and white.

The red states are so heavily radicalized that their youth vote red while many of our youth don’t bother to vote. Further the Republikkkans are still drawing deeply from the affluent “Log Cabin Republicans” (LGBT) who prioritize their pocket books and own racism over their very existence. Recent immigrants voting blue hasn’t existed since the mid 1800’s yet the Republikkkans still use it as a talking point. Immigrants nearly always side with the loud mouth autocrats in the GQP because it reminds them of the “strongman” autocrats they left behind. Anyone from a recent immigrant family or community can vouch for this. The only time it’s not true is in blue states where the Dems allow good paying entry level jobs that don’t require mastery of English. Voting Republikkkan makes immigrants feel like super patriots and they think it will help them blend in easier and quicker. Even with the massive rise in anti-Asian and anti-Semitic violence those two groups still vote their pocket books. And for the life of me I’ll never understand why 1/3, and growing, of the Hispanic population votes GQP. Especially in the border states where they are treated the worse. They literally chant “send those sp-cs” back at Trump rallies and other GQP events.

The biggest, and perhaps mortal, mistake the Dems ever made was to shift away from its base of union workers to embrace every group under the sun when all those groups have spotty voting records at best. They don’t vote, don’t vote regularly, and as mentioned often vote GQP. Some may not like that and find it insensitive but it’s a truth that is overlooked by the ultra-liberal, educated elite, and the so called mainstream media. The focus should always have been on expanding union rights since they had excellent Democratic turn out. At the same time attempts should have been made to attract marginalized people. It never should have been one or the other, that was a catastrophic mistake. Biden is the first high level Dem since the 60’s to realize this mistake and is working to bring unions back.

Many of us on the left still have bought into endless attacks on unions produced by Republikkkan oligarchs who want every hindrance to profit removed regardless of the human cost. Just like so many bought into the decades of repugnant attacks against Hillary which gave us Trump and MAGA. Nearly all unions are pro-Democrat. The only unions that are pro-Republikkkan are police unions that get everything they want from local Republikkkan officials who need them as foot soldiers. There are still a handful of law enforcement unions, mainly in the north, that are pro-Dem because they realize the value of unions as a whole. Once Repubs have stamped out all the other unions they will weaken and eventually eliminate them as well.

People on our side just don’t recognize what unions do for a free society. Most know the basics of higher wages, sick leave, benefits like over-time, health insurance, protections against unjust/illegal termination, guaranteed raises, vacations (often paid), and the basic human dignity of not having to grovel at the bosses feet. Further, and this is important and overlooked, unions provide work place safety and security for marginalized people. African-Americans, LGBT, immigrants, young, women, old, religious minorities, the handicapped and infirm all have a place where they are safe to work. Most importantly union workers have built in recourses if management becomes hostile or takes unfair or prejudicial action.

Yes all institutions have faults as they are run by people and people are not infallible. But your union dues provide you with shop stewards and if necessary legal representation. You don’t get that anywhere else. No non-union company will protect you if you are discriminated against you. Workers have a contract with their union that is contractually bound to protect them. It doesn’t always work in a very small number of instances where lower level union shop stewards are corrupted by management but 99% of the time it functions as planned and goes on smoothly without us even being aware. Of course when something doesn’t work out the media blows it out of proportion leading us to think every institution is corrupt.

How many workers hate their underpaid jobs where they have no chance of advancement, wage theft, long hours, at will scheduling, abusive bosses, unsafe working conditions, and fear of termination? That’s not how it is when you have a job with a strong union. Again nothing is perfect but union work places are vital to our democracy and the protection of marginalized people who would in millions of cases unable to even find work. That’s something to stop and think about before you go off on an imaginary blue collar white union worker you believe voted for Trump. Remember you are buying into Republikkkan propaganda whenever you disparage unions.

And if you want that youth vote to turn the tide then get off your backsides and start educating the young people in your orbit before Fox News MAGAts radicalize them.

#youth vote #unions