SONALI KOLHATKAR – A better takeaway from our current economic situation is that there is nothing natural about being at the mercy and whims of an economy designed by corporate profiteers for corporate profiteers.
Category: November 2020
Restoring Democracy, Strengthening the Right to Vote
MEL GURTOV – A complete overhaul of the political system is impossible because the system itself is rotting at the foundations and immune to fundamental change. Addressing the structural problems has to begin somewhere, and the voting system seems like that place.
Biden’s Hawkish Foreign Policy Picks Are a Very Bad Sign | Common Dreams Views
SARAH LAZARE – Biden’s incoming team helped shape some of the most militaristic policies of the Obama administration.
Governor Newsom, Oregon Governor Brown, Tribal Leaders and Klamath Dam Owner Announce Agreement to Advance Historic Salmon Restoration Plan
JENNIFER K. FALCON – California Governor Gavin Newsom today joined with Oregon Governor Kate Brown, leaders of the Yurok and Karuk Tribes and Berkshire Hathaway-owned PacifiCorp in announcing an agreement to provide additional resources and support to advance the most ambitious salmon restoration effort in history. The project, when completed, will address declines in fish populations, improve river health and renew Tribal communities and cultures.
Trump’s Massive, Lawless, and Immoral Legacy to Our Country Will Continue Unless…
RALPH NADER – It is difficult to overestimate the continuing harm to our beleaguered democracy and its people, should Trump and his cohorts not be brought to justice.
A Long Overdue Discussion on Pentagon Spending
WILLIAM D. HARTUNG and BEN FREEMAN – Although he has expressed skepticism, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) is open to further discussion on how much Pentagon spending is needed to protect us, as he noted in a recent meeting with the organization Win Without War. Savings, reductions, elimination of duplicate contracts overlapping with other government agencies can amount to billions of dollars. Let the discussion begin.
Corporate Democrats Are to Blame for Congressional Losses — So Naturally They’re Blaming Progressives
NORMAN SOLOMON – Corporate Democrats got the presidential nominee they wanted, along with control over huge campaign ad budgets and nationwide messaging to implement “moderate†strategies. But, as the Washington Post noted, Joe Biden’s victory “came with no coattails down ballot.†Democratic losses left just a razor-thin cushion in the House, and the party failed to win a Senate majority. Now, corporate Democrats are scapegoating progressives.
‘Historic Day’: Jubilation as Evo Morales Returns to Bolivia One Year After Military Coup
KENNY STANCIL – Twelve months after being driven into exile by right-wing forces, socialist former president Evo Morales was “received by the very social movements who defeated the coup and restored democracy.”
‘This Is a Really, Really Big Deal’: Michigan Gov. Moves to Shut Down Line 5 Pipeline to Protect Great Lakes
JESSICA CORBETT – Environmental and Indigenous activists celebrated Friday after Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer took action to shut down the decades-old Enbridge Line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines that run under the Straits of Mackinac, narrow waterways that connect Lake Huron and Lake Michigan—two of the Great Lakes.
What Is The “Biden Mandate” Really?
ROBERT C. kOEHLER – Joe Biden, in blatant defiance of the wishes of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, has won the vote and claimed the presidency. He will now, as he told the nation in his acceptance speech, begin attempting to “restore the soul of America†and “marshal the forces of decency,†which sounds great but means virtually nothing unless the words are linked to a clear and courageous agenda.
What Trump’s Claim of a ‘Stolen Election’ Means for Activists Today
GEORGE LAKEY – The point of claiming a stolen election is not to set the stage for a coup, but to add to the right’s list of grievances for building political power in the future.
Top Ten Jobs for Biden to Accomplish Right Away
MEL GURTOV – In the next several weeks, President-elect Joe Biden will be preoccupied with creating a 100-day action agenda. It might be called “Operation Renewal.” Here are top-10 choices, in no particular order.
Progressives Made Trump’s Defeat Possible. Now It’s Time to Challenge Biden and Other Corporate Democrats.
NORMAN SOLOMON – The evident defeat of Donald Trump would not have been possible without the grassroots activism and hard work of countless progressives. Now, on vital issues — climate, healthcare, income inequality, militarism, the prison-industrial complex, corporate power and so much more — it’s time to engage with the battle that must happen inside the Democratic Party.
Nuclear Disarmers Can’t Forget the Communities that Rely on Military Spending
TRICIA WHITE and MATT KORDA – If disarmament advocates really want to push for the retirement of the US ICBM force, we need to come prepared with answers to the economic problems it would have on these “nuclear sponge†communities. Is Congress willing to offer a guaranteed income to the constituents who will lose their jobs? Will there be an equivalent of the Paycheck Protection Program? How does a community that loses its predominant industry rebuild its economy, especially in the aftermath of a devastating pandemic?
Once We Recognize the Interdependence of the World, We can Shape a Better Future
SOVAIDA MA’ANI EWING – If there is one lesson that the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing global economic recession have taught us, it is that we live in a world that is so interconnected and inextricably interdependent that it has effectively become a single organism. This is a reality that no amount of denial will change. On the contrary, such denial will only cause us to suffer more intensely. We will be better off if we fully recognize and embrace this reality.
Labor Plans Action to Defend Democracy
STEPHANIE LUCE – Strikes are rare but political strikes are on the agenda more than they have been in many years. Labor Action to Defend Democracy has come together to “plant seeds and stir the pot,” and work with community partners to protect the vote.