SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Latest News
'No Blank Checks for Big Tech': Schumer Faces Protest Over 'Dirty Data Center Deal'
A bill that could speed up data center construction is being pushed "in blatant disregard for the overwhelming public backlash to Big Tech that helped drive voters to the polls," said one environmental advocate.
Nov 05, 2026
Protesters are planning to gather outside the Brooklyn home of US Sen. Chuck Schumer on Friday morning, demanding he block what they've dubbed a "dirty data center deal" from passing through the Senate.
The bill, known as the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA), is aimed at speeding the permitting process for energy infrastructure, including renewable energy projects, transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, and other major industrial developments.
The Senate is preparing for a procedural vote on Monday to advance the bill, which will require Democratic support. Schumer (D-NY)—who is hoping to be reelected as Senate majority leader by his party next month—has not publicly taken a position on the legislation, according to Heatmap.
The bill has faced opposition from environmental justice and Indigenous rights groups who warn it will gut long-standing environmental protections, undermine tribal sovereignty, and fast-track fossil fuel and other polluting projects, while restricting the public's ability to challenge harmful developments in court.
They warn that the legislation would also accelerate the expansion of energy-hungry artificial intelligence data centers and the gas-fired power plants and pipelines needed to power them, while making it harder for state and local communities to block or challenge their development.
Specifically, the bill would expand the authority of the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which is chaired by an appointee of President Donald Trump, to approve permits for interstate transmission lines.
Jeremy Symons of the Environmental Protection Network has warned that under the BAAJA, the commission could hypothetically issue permits to Elon Musk to build a coal-powered data center in the Grand Canyon and “no one can do anything” about it.
The bill was introduced in September in the Senate by Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Whitehouse, the bill's lead Democratic sponsor and the ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, holds the most investments of any US senator in data center-related holdings—between $2.1 million and $8.6 million, according to Forbes. According to Sludge, he and his wife hold up to $12.3 million in AI-related stocks, including major tech companies and data center operators.
In a letter sent Thursday, Food & Water Watch and more than 160 other environmental, health, consumer, and religious groups urged Congress to reject the BAAJA.
"Data centers can have impacts beyond the lands they occupy, driving significant energy demand and need for grid infrastructure, which can increase cost for the public, as well as create new sources of air and water pollution, which can adversely impact public health and the climate crisis," they wrote. "This push to expand data centers comes as lawmakers in Washington, DC, are considering a backroom deal that will drive forward a massive buildout of AI data centers and the fossil fuel infrastructure to power them."
US Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) speak to reporters after a roundtable on rising energy costs on Capitol Hill on March 17, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Activists with Food & Water Watch, New York Communities for Change, 350Brooklyn, Climate Families NYC, and Indivisible Brooklyn plan to gather outside Schumer's Park Slope apartment on Friday with a large, smoking AI data center prop and a giant "blank check."
With signs that read “No blank checks for Big Tech” and “stop the dirty data center deal,” they plan to continue the protest afterward at the Fort Greene office of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who is currently the front-runner to become the next speaker of the House.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who has proposed banning data centers on federal lands and vocally opposed the BAAJA, noted that the bill would be brought to the floor just days after voters across the country sent "a clear message that Americans want their representatives to protect their health and environment, not sell them out to Big Tech and Big Oil."
On Tuesday, communities across 10 US states passed 43 out of 44 initiatives that proposed banning or pausing construction on data centers or infrastructure of a certain size. Meanwhile, candidates who made opposition to data centers central to their campaigns, including Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Troy Jackson in Maine, won convincingly over their Republican opponents.
“People across the country are rightfully chasing data centers out of their communities, and the industry is eyeing public lands as a way around this growing opposition," said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch.
He said that the lawmakers pushing for the BAAJA were doing so "in blatant disregard for the overwhelming public backlash to Big Tech that helped drive voters to the polls."
People participate in a protest against the CoreWeave AI data center outside the municipal building in Kenilworth, New Jersey, on October 21, 2026. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
After Tuesday's blue wave handed Democrats at least 54 Senate seats, Schumer predicted, "I’ll be reelected as majority leader.”
But many incoming Democratic senators, including El-Sayed, Jackson, and Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan (Minn.), were vocally critical of Schumer on the campaign trail. Meanwhile, pooled state and district polls found that 59% of Democratic voters wanted someone else to lead the Senate while just 22% backed Schumer.
A former aide to a lawmaker on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources told Common Dreams that the BAAJA is "a test for Schumer’s leadership campaign."
“Will the first thing Schumer does after the overwhelming rebuke of Trump that voters delivered be giving Trump nearly unlimited power to build data centers where he wants?” the former aide asked. "Or will he see the opportunity to send a message that he's up to lead the mandate voters gave Democrats?”
Keep ReadingShow Less
After Failed Effort by Billionaires Like Elon Musk to Buy 2026 Midterms, Call Grows for Federal Wealth Tax
“It is essential that we show the American people where we stand,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen. “If Trump vetoes it, it will just show people that he’s on the side of billionaires.”
Nov 05, 2026
With tech mogul Elon Musk pouring nearly half a billion dollars into the midterm elections and just 20 individuals spending over $2 billion in an effort to elect Republicans who would continue President Donald Trump's corporate-friendly MAGA agenda, the results—including at least seven US Senate seats, 30 US House seats, and five governorships taken over by Democrats—sent a resounding message to GOP megadonors.
But economic justice advocates on Thursday said the Democratic Party must not stop there, demanding that the party's new majorities take immediate action after the new Congress is sworn in in January to pass a federal wealth tax—the kind that was central to campaigns including those of Sens.-elect Troy Jackson (D-Maine), James Talarico (D-Texas), and Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.).
“This election was a referendum on who has control over our democracy and our economy," said Meghan Schneider, senior spokesperson for Tax the Greedy Billionaires. "The ultrawealthy funneled billions of dollars into state and federal races to manipulate public opinion and buy influence, to further enrich themselves. From Michigan to Texas, voters across the political spectrum rallied against the billionaires and the cronies they bankrolled."
By electing candidates including El-Sayed, Talarico and Sen.-elect Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.), said Schneider, voters sent a clear message: "We want leaders who will improve the lives of working people, not billionaires."
While billionaire opponents of California's proposed wealth tax, which would have established a one-time 5% tax on the state's richest residents, succeeded in crushing the proposal after spending more than $379 million against it, experts are expecting Democrats in Congress to consider bills, including one proposed by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).
"From Michigan to Texas, voters across the political spectrum rallied against the billionaires and the cronies they bankrolled."
The senator has called for a graduated surtax on people earning more than $1 million per year. Those who earn $1 million-$2 million would be taxed 5% and households earning more than $5 million would be taxed 12%, while the capital gains top tax rate would be raised from 23.8% to 35.8%.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has also joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in proposing the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which would establish an annual 5% tax on households whose net worth is more than $1 billion.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has proposed quadrupling a tax on stock buybacks, while Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), set to become the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a post-election statement Wednesday that "the committee will redouble its efforts to ensure billionaires pay their fair share and hold tax cheats accountable."
Van Hollen, who has been floated as a potential 2028 presidential contender or a successor to Schumer—but has said he doesn't plan to run for the latter—told Politico Thursday that even if President Donald Trump vetoes a potential billionaires' tax, putting forward the proposal would show the American public whose side the Democrats are on ahead of 2028.
“It is essential that we show the American people where we stand,” said Van Hollen. “If Trump vetoes it, it will just show people that he’s on the side of billionaires.”
Schneider said that with the artificial intelligence boom and looming initial public offerings by wealthy corporations "already accelerating historic wealth inequality and worsening the affordability crisis, the need to act decisively and quickly at the national level is dire."
"Leaders in the new Congress must deliver on their promises to put working people over billionaires," she said, "and introduce a national wealth tax within the first 100 days of the new Congress.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
Arrest of Palestinian Israeli Journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh Slammed as 'Campaign to Silence' Truth
“Abu Shehadeh’s imprisonment comes amid a targeted campaign of repression against Palestinian citizens of Israel," said one critic.
Nov 05, 2026
Palestine and press freedom advocates on Thursday demanded the immediate release of journalist and activist Abed Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who was arrested during a Tuesday raid on his home, with critics calling his detention part of a "campaign to silence" critical reporting and dissent.
Abu Shehadeh, 38, was arrested by a group of 15 Israeli police officers and agents from the internal intelligence agency Shin Bet, some of them masked, who stormed his family's home in Jaffa and seized him in front of his wife and two children, according to The New Arab.
The arrest of the prominent Arabic-language journalist, podcast host, and political activist was reportedly connected to an interview he conducted with Palestinian intellectual and former Knesset member Azmi Bishara, the exiled leader of the Balad party, which advocates for Israel to become a nation of all its citizens rather than what critics, including the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, describe as a Jewish supremacist apartheid state.
Bishara fled Israel in 2007 and is accused of helping Hezbollah during Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon. Israeli authorities suspect him of being a foreign agent.
On Wednesday, the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court prolonged Abu Shehadeh's detention after police sought an eight-day extension on suspicion of "contact with a foreign agent."
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ):
During the court hearing, a police representative initially acknowledged that Abu Shehadeh was a journalist, but after a recess she retracted this statement and instead said he is a political adviser. The defense objected to this new description and asked whether there was evidence that the meeting went beyond recording a podcast interview or contained information not available to the public.
Adalah, also called the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, noted Thursday:
The legal team representing Abu Shehadeh claimed that there was no justification for holding him in detention. The interview, which dealt with the Israeli election campaign, was widely published and available to all... The mere criminal investigation for a media interview is a serious violation of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, and his detention is completely arbitrary.
Abu Shehadeh's arrest sparked accusations that Israeli authorities are using national security allegations to intimidate Palestinian journalists and suppress political expression.
"Arrest for an interview is not a legitimate criminal procedure, but a tool for political silencing," Adalah civil and political rights attorney Hadeel Abu Salih said Thursday in a statement. "The police are asking to send a message to the entire Arab public: Even a public conversation with a political figure can lead you to the detention cell. Abu Shehadeh must be released immediately.”
Abu Salih told The New Arab that police illegally arrested Abu Shehadeh, lacking a court order for the apprehension and prosecutorial permission to interrogate.
"We cannot disconnect this arrest from the attack on the free speech of Palestinians of Israel since 7 October," she said, citing over 1,000 arrests for speech-related "offenses" in the years since the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
"This is not a criminal investigation, it is a campaign to silence Palestinian journalists and political activists," Abu Salih added.
CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said Thursday: "Journalists should not be punished for platforming views critical of the state. We demand the immediate unconditional release of Abu Shehadeh, the dropping of all charges against him, and an explanation of why he was targeted in what some have described as a political campaign.”
Adalah further called Abu Shehadeh's arrest "part of a broad pattern of arrests and investigations [of] Palestinian citizens in Israel due to political statements" that's "worsened" following last week's Israeli elections.
The editors of the progressive US magazine Jewish Currents (JC) wrote Wednesday that "Abu Shehadeh’s imprisonment comes amid a targeted campaign of repression against Palestinian citizens of Israel in the wake of the electoral gains made by Palestinian parties in last week’s elections."
"Spearheaded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shin Bet chief David Zini, this campaign follows years of systematic targeting, silencing, and killing of Palestinian journalists," JC continued, referring to Gaza, where at least 200 media professionals are among the more than 74,000 Palestinians, including upward of 21,500 children, killed during Israel's three-year genocide.
"These attacks reflect the Israeli state’s effort to ensure Jewish supremacy and silence the work of those reporting on its human rights abuses," the JC editors added.
Balad leader Sami Abu Shehadeh, who is the journalist's cousin, told The New Arab "Netanyahu and Zini are escalating their efforts to steal the election," calling his relative's detention "part of a broader campaign of arrests, interrogations, and threats against political activists designed to undermine the election results through the weaponization of the police and the Shin Bet."
The JC editors wrote that, as a media outlet, it "generally refrains from encouraging our readers and allies to take specific action."
"But as journalists in community with Abed Abu Shehadeh," they added, "we call on elected officials and others in the US government to demand his immediate release."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'We Need to Realize How Powerful We Are’: Workers Across France Strike Over Austerity Budget
"People just want to live, not survive," said one organizer.
Nov 05, 2026
Hundreds of thousands of workers across France held demonstrations to protest the high cost of living and the French government's proposed budget that includes a number of austerity measures.
As reported by Euronews, the government of French President Emmanuel Macron is attempting to pass a budget that has been decried by major trade unions for "targeting the most vulnerable and those who are ill, freezing social benefits, and undermining the protective role of the social security system."
Sophie Binet, head of the General Confederation of Labor, acknowledged the need to curb the country's budget deficit, but told Euronews that "we need to reintroduce taxes on the wealthiest individuals and the largest companies," which "will enable us to fund our public services."
The French Interior Ministry estimated that 600,000 people attended Thursday's demonstrations, which took place across 180 different locations, according to Bloomberg.
The Ministry of Public Action and Accounts estimated that nearly 10% of French public servants were on strike Thursday, including almost 16% of all teachers, according to The New York Times.
The nationwide protests began in September when students blockaded their schools to protest staffing shortages, dilapidated buildings, and a widely criticized university application system.
They have since spread to encompass a wide range of grievances in the country, including the cost of living and the high cost of fuel sparked by US President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran.
While earlier demonstrations had been marked by violent unrest, Thursday's protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, and included a festive performance from the Orchestre du Nouveau Monde in Paris.
« J'ai deux passions ! »Ambiance festive pour le concert géant de l'orchestre du Nouveau Monde sur la Place de la République à Paris.#grevegenerale #5Novembre #greve5novembre https://t.co/A5KhOjGxmN
— Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) November 5, 2026
In an interview with the Times, 27-year-old Antonia Barot said that she attended the Thursday protests because of the government's "disregard for young people's and workers' living conditions," adding that "we need to realize how powerful we are."
Florence Eliakine, 61, told the Times the protests should "make it clear to our government, which pursues right-wing policies, that there is a social and ecological crisis that must be taken into account."
Gaëlle Martinez, national secretary of the trade union Solidaires, told France 24 that the motive behind the demonstrations was a simple one.
"People just want to live, not survive," Martinez explained.
She also said that the government needed to draft "a new budget" that would "tax the biggest companies, the richest companies where the profits are made," while eliminating proposed cuts to vital programs.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Warren Lays Out How Democrats Can Deliver for the Working Class—Even With Trump in the White House
"Democrats won this election by claiming we are on the side of working people, and working people are counting on us to deliver."
Nov 05, 2026
"Americans need Democrats to deliver now, not in two years."
That was US Sen. Elizabeth Warren's (D-Mass.) post-election message to her fellow congressional Democrats on Thursday as she outlined how the party can use its impending control of the House and Senate to deliver real gains for the working class—even with corrupt billionaire President Donald Trump in the White House.
In an op-ed for TIME, Warren argued Democrats succeeded in midterm contests across the country "by being populist economic fighters who were unafraid to call out the corrupt politicians and corporate interests who have rigged the system at the expense of everyone else."
"Now, Democrats must deliver," the progressive senator wrote, urging her party to push Trump to live up to his vow to work with Democrats in the new Congress. "We should force him to do that on the affordability and corruption issues that drove this election—or call his bluff."
Warren laid out what she views as top priorities for the new Democratic majority, including: Ending Trump's illegal war in Iran, cutting costs for working families, moving to cancel Trump-GOP cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance, reversing Trump's tax cuts for the rich, and holding "Big Tech CEOs, Wall Street executives, and giant corporations" accountable for "ripping off the American people to make themselves richer."
The senator expressed openness to working with Republicans but wrote that Democrats must be willing to use the filibuster-proof reconciliation process—or eliminate the Senate's 60-vote filibuster entirely—to advance an ambitious agenda.
But what if Trump decides to wield his veto power against Democratic legislation, as he has suggested he could do?
Warren argued that Democrats must "test that out by passing legislation the American people support to make life more affordable and our government less corrupt."
"It would be a breach of faith with the people from South Carolina to Texas, who voted for us to address costs and corruption, to spend the next two years waiting for some future Democratic trifecta to hopefully deliver meaningful change," Warren wrote. "Democrats won this election by claiming we are on the side of working people, and working people are counting on us to deliver."
Another leading progressive in the Senate Democratic caucus, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), similarly argued that Democrats' historic midterm wins were "important," but "not enough."
"The American people want change. Real change. And the midterm election confirms just that," Sanders said in a video message, pointing to the urgent need to address out-of-control income and wealth inequality, the starvation-level federal minimum wage, unfettered artificial intelligence, the corrupt campaign finance system, the broken for-profit healthcare system, and more.
The solutions to those crises, he argued, "are not radical," pointing to broad public support for Medicare for All, expanding Social Security, and other progressive proposals.
"What we are talking about now is not only the need to fight for economic justice," said Sanders. "We are fighting to give hope to the American people—to allow them to understand that their government can work for them, can address the crises that they face, and will pay attention to the needs of the men, women and children in our country who are struggling, and not just the very, very wealthy campaign contributors."
"That is, in my view, what Democrats have got to do when they assume power in January," he added. "We can do it. We must do it."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Reviving Solar for All Could Save US Families Over $450 Million in the First Year
"Two federal courts have now said EPA broke the law when it terminated Solar for All grants. Instead of keeping families in the dark, EPA should take this opportunity to help a million households cut their electricity bills."
Nov 05, 2026
In the wake of recent court rulings against President Donald Trump's administration and voters ending his Republican Party's congressional majorities, the Environmental Protection Network on Thursday published an analysis that highlights how swiftly reviving a federal solar power program could save US households hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year alone.
EPN is an organization made up of former US Environmental Protection Agency officials, some of whom drafted the new brief, "Restore Solar for All: EPA Could Help a Million Families Cut Their Electric Bills by 25%."
Solar for All is a $7 billion grant initiative created under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund from former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Since returning to office last year, Trump has aimed to serve the climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry and waged a war on renewable energy. His EPA terminated the program's grants in August 2025, sparking legal battles.
On September 18, Trump-appointed US Judge Mary McElroy in the District of Rhode Island ruled that the EPA's termination of Solar for All violated the Administrative Procedure Act. On September 22, Judge Tanya Sue Chutkan, an appointee of former President Barack Obama in the District of Columbia, issued a similar ruling. Those decisions present an opportunity to restart the program.
"Families are skipping groceries to keep their lights on, yet restarting Solar for All could ultimately deliver more than $450 million a year in electricity bill savings," said EPN executive director Michelle Roos in a statement. "Two federal courts have now said EPA broke the law when it terminated Solar for All grants. Instead of keeping families in the dark, EPA should take this opportunity to help a million households cut their electricity bills."
Specifically, EPN projects first-year savings of $458 million, or about $456 per household, which could grow over time. The report breaks down the number of families reached and how much they would each save by state. It also details the locations and average savings of the over 74,000 tribal households reached by the program.
The Trump administration's appeal deadline is approaching, and the brief warns that if the legal fights push a restart past December 31, 2027, it "could permanently deny approximately 410,000 households almost $500 per year in bill savings."
"Once the deadline passes, the commercial solar credit is gone for every system not yet operating," the report explains. "Absent
subsequent action from Congress to restore the tax credit, the grant needed per household rises by about 70%, from about $7,000 to about $11,800."
"The same $7 billion would then reach about 594,000 households, roughly 410,000 fewer than a prompt restart," the publication continues. "Total first-year savings fall from about $458 million to about $271 million. The families who do participate still save about 25%, but far fewer families benefit."
About 1 million households could cut electric bills by 25% if EPA restarts Solar for All, an EPN analysis finds.Two federal courts ruled the termination unlawful. We urge EPA to forgo an appeal and restart the program.Read the full issue brief in the comments.
[image or embed]
— Environmental Protection Network (@enviroprotnet.bsky.social) November 5, 2026 at 9:55 AM
The report also emphasizes how needed the larger savings are as Trump's policies, from his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act and support for energy-sucking artificial intelligence data centers to his illegal war on Iran, drive up electric bills.
Even before Trump began bombing Iran in February, the average annual US electric bill had increased by $110, or 6.4%, last year, according to an analysis from Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee.
The report notes that "a recent Consumer Reports survey showed 1 in 5 American families are skimping on groceries to pay their power bills, and roughly 21.5 million US households are behind on their energy bills."
In addition to reviving Solar for All, EPN is calling on the EPA to take various related actions, which include approving work plan revisions within 30 days, extending a temporary waiver for domestically assembled modules, granting no-cost extensions for the months lost, prioritizing shovel-ready projects, and restoring staff in the office that runs the program.
The group also urged the US Department of the Treasury to give grantees certainty on tax credits, plus encouraged grantees to move quickly on projects and prioritize bill savings for low- and moderate-income households.
Michelle Moore, CEO of Groundswell, which received a $156 million Solar for All grant, said in EPN's statement that it "stands at the ready to restart our Southeast Rural Power Solar for All program," and "I'm confident we could reach thousands of families across the Rural South with deep bill savings by this time next year."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Democratic Socialist Nithya Raman Projected to Win Los Angeles Mayoral Race
"Even though every city councilperson said they were standing with Karen Bass, not very many of the people they represent followed them to the polls," said a labor leader who backed Raman.
Nov 05, 2026
With Los Angeles Council member Nithya Raman, the first democratic socialist city policymaker, leading Democratic Mayor Karen Bass by 26,000 votes or about 3 percentage points on Wednesday night, Decision Desk Headquarters projected a win for the progressive who entered the mayoral race late and centered her campaign on solving the city's homelessness crisis as well as addressing the cost of living.
With about 72% of votes cast late Wednesday, urban planner Raman had 51.7% of the vote compared to Bass' 48.3%.
Raman, who has a background in fighting homelessness and served as executive director of the anti-workplace sexual harassment group Time's Up before winning her City Council seat in 2020, was endorsed by climate action groups, the hospitality workers union UNITE Here Local 11, the public education advocacy group Eastside Padres Contra la Privatización, and the Los Angeles chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Kurt Petersen, co-president of UNITE Here Local 11, told Politico that Raman's projected victory was "a monsoon, an earthquake, a leveling, a restructuring" that served as a rebuke by voters of the nation's second-largest city's political establishment, including the rest of the City Council members, all of who supported Bass.
"It was all of the above," Petersen said. “The political class of Los Angeles was absent at the Nithya Raman party because they were all with the incumbent... Even though every city councilperson said they were standing with Karen Bass, not very many of the people they represent followed them to the polls.”
Polls ahead of Election Day showed younger voters across the city leaning towards Raman, who has called for a streamlined process for approving housing projects and an end to "indefinite delays," an Office of Tenant Protections for the roughly 64% of Angelenos who are renters, and a reorganization of the city's homelessness interventions "to quickly shelter and house the largest number of people with the same dollars."
She has criticized Bass' Inside Safe anti-homelessness program as ineffective and expensive, with more than $300 million spent to house 6,000 people and 40% of those served by the program returning to the streets.
"Despite repeated efforts from the City Council to reduce costs in the program, Inside Safe costs an average of $85,000 a year for a motel room and services, and some rooms go as high as $100,000 per year," reads Raman's campaign website. "It is the most expensive temporary housing program in the city by far, and people are staying in the motel rooms for close to a year. For the same amount of money, we could rent three apartments using a short-term rental voucher and provide intensive services—housing more people in a program that has delivered much better outcomes."
Raman also highlighted a nearly 50% reduction in homelessness in her own district, even as rates have risen across the city, and pledged to reduce city-wide rates by 50% before the 2028 Olympics.
Ballot-tallying continued past Election Day, with officials counting late ballots that typically are cast by younger and more progressive voters.
“This city’s government has made solving problems look impossible for so long that I heard from people across this city who started to believe that it was impossible,” Raman told supporters who gathered at her election night party on Tuesday. “Hopelessness can be fatal for a city, but this campaign refused to accept that. You refused to accept that.”
Raman has centered efforts to make the heavily car-dependent Los Angeles safer for pedestrians and bikers, crack down on "disgraceful" delays in fixing 30,000 street lights across the city, and ramping up public transportation with "permanent, dedicated bus lanes and more buses running more often."
"Nithya Raman winning the mayor's office in the second largest city in the US is in my opinion the most important election of this season," said Matthew Lewis, communications director for California YIMBY. "Just the ground shifting on housing, transit, bicycles, and walkable urbanism."
Raman also denounced the mayor for what she called a "dysfunctional" and "indefensibly slow" recovery from the wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles nearly two years ago. She championed the creation of a "Recovery District" to "coordinate the recovery across jurisdictions, bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Palisades, and ensure that local residents are at the table when decisions are made."
Bass received an endorsement from the Los Angeles Police Department's union, which poured more than $5 million into the push to defeat Raman. The union also donated $200,000 to the Republican Central Committee of Los Angeles County, which sent out anti-Raman mailers to voters.
Kenneth Meija, the progressive city controller who won his reelection bid in June, said on election night that he was “so damn proud to be the only one in City Hall who supported Mayor Raman."
“They were like, ‘Yo, the entire political establishment is supporting Mayor Bass,'" said Meija. "And I’m like, ‘So? She’s got Kenneth Mejia. She’s got the people.’”
Keep ReadingShow Less
‘Time for Some Accountability’: Advocate Says Democrats Must Subpoena Corporate Price-Gougers
“Haul in corporate CEOs. Put them under oath. Make them answer for the rip-offs,” said Groundwork Collaborative president Lindsay Owens after the midterm elections.
Nov 05, 2026
After receiving a resounding mandate to act on America’s cost-of-living crisis, Democrats are considering bringing corporate executives before Congress in January.
The Washington Sun reported Thursday that House Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees are examining a 181-page dossier created by Groundwork Collaborative, a consumer advocacy group that has chronicled “price gouging” by grocery chains and retailers like Walmart.
According to the Sun, the document singles out some of "the biggest tech giants, artificial intelligence labs, natural gas firms, private prisons and nursing home operators, among dozens of others," including for their alleged roles in driving up prices for cash-strapped Americans in recent years.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who is expected to take over as chair of the House Judiciary Committee in January, told the Sun that his staff had been examining potential investigations, but he remained vague about his plans.
“We’re not targeting particular corporations,” Raskin said. “We’re targeting systems and networks of corruption, and to the extent corporations are involved, they are subject to the oversight project of Congress and our subpoena authority like everyone else.”
Democrats steamrolled across the map in Tuesday's midterms, with 48% of voters saying that the cost of living was the single most important issue motivating them, according to a pre-election survey by Reuters/Ipsos.
Lindsay Owens, Groundwork’s president and CEO, said that, to fulfill their campaign-trail promises to fight for “affordability,” Democratic lawmakers must relentlessly pursue accountability for corporate greed.
“Last night made it pretty clear: People are sick and tired of corporate America scheming its way to record profits while the rest of us get stuck with the bill,” she wrote on social media Wednesday. “Haul in corporate CEOs. Put them under oath. Make them answer for the rip-offs. Time for some accountability.”
In a Tuesday podcast appearance with Theo Von before the election, Owens said Democrats must zero in on what she has called corporate America’s “reinvention of the rip-off” over the past five years, which has involved increasingly targeted and sophisticated methods—including algorithmic price-fixing, junk fees, and subscription traps—to squeeze every possible cent out of consumers.
Rather than focusing solely on investigating President Donald Trump and his administration, Owens said Democrats also need to bring in "everyone from corporate America" and take them to task for their pricing tactics.
“Put the CEO of Walmart in the hot seat and [say], ‘Tell me what’s going on with Sparky,’” she said, referencing an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot the company launched last year. Executives have boasted during an earnings call that consumers who use the shopping assistant spend an average of 40% more per order than those who do not.
She said the CEO of DoorDash should also be called to testify over its planned "agitation index," which would have monitored users' scrolling speed, jerky movements, battery level, and other variables to adjust what they see on the app. The company withdrew its patent application for the technology two days after Owens testified before the US Senate, warning it could be used to hike prices on hungry customers.
The CEO of Uber, she said, should also be brought in to explain why customers have been charged dramatically different fares for the same route using algorithms that the company has said are based on what a consumer is willing to pay.
Much of what has already been documented about these practices comes from publicly available sources, such as patent filings and “the stuff they’re stupid enough to say to their investors” on earnings calls, Owens said.
But with control of House and Senate committees, she said, Democrats will have the power to force companies to "turn over their books, their algorithm... all of the stuff that they don't want us to see."
She said, "That will require ticking off some companies and ticking off some lobbyists and doing business a little differently than Washington has done business in the past."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'If That's What's the American People Want,' Says Bernie Sanders, Let's Pass Medicare for All
"Our job is to do what the American people want and need."
Nov 05, 2026
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday made a case that Democrats should use their newfound majorities in the US Congress next year to pass Medicare for All legislation, and dare President Donald Trump to veto it.
Appearing on CNN, Sanders (I-Vt.) was asked by host Anderson Cooper how much he really expected to accomplish over the next two years with Trump still in the White House.
"Our job, Anderson, is to represent where working families are," Sanders replied. "The last poll that I saw, well over 60% of the American people want Medicare for All, they know the current system is broken and incredibly expensive. If that's what the American people want, let's do it!"
“Trump is a funny guy, I don’t think he’s all that ideological. I think he’s a politician and I’m not so sure that he will react all that negatively to a progressive agenda, believe it or not.”Bernie Sanders on pushing for a progressive agenda despite Trump having veto powers. https://t.co/dY0eEehzQh
— Substance (@SimplySubstance) November 5, 2026
Sanders then addressed concerns about Trump blocking the legislation.
"If Trump wants to veto it, that's his constitutional right," he said. "I'm not so sure, by the way, that he will because Medicare for All is extremely popular... Our job is to do what the American people want and need, Trump can do what he wants. But Trump is a funny guy, you know, I don't think he's all that ideological, I think he's a politician, and I'm not so sure he'll react all that negatively to a progressive agenda."
Sanders in recent days has been joined by fellow progressives, including Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), in pushing the new Congress to pass Medicare for All.
While it's certain to be a battle in Congress, even with Democratic majorities, Sanders argues that the party must not waste the opportunity that has now been put before them.
"The American people spoke loudly and clearly on Tuesday," Sanders said in a 15-minute recorded missive to the nation posted online. "The new Democratic majority cannot continue the same old, same old establishment policies. Working families want change, REAL change, and that’s what Democrats must deliver."
The American people spoke loudly and clearly on Tuesday. The new Democratic majority cannot continue the same old, same old establishment policies. Working families want change, REAL change, and that’s what Democrats must deliver. https://t.co/gCbDLLQM4O
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 5, 2026
"Yes, we must repeal the $1 trillion in cuts Trump made to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to prevent 15 million Americans from losing their healthcare," Sanders continued. "Yes, we must restore ACA tax credits to stop the outrageous premium spikes for 20 million Americans, but that is nowhere near enough. Healthcare must be considered as a human right, not a privilege. That means passing Medicare for all legislation now supported by 66% of the American people."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Thomas Massie Gives Pete Hegseth a Choice: Resignation or Impeachment
"There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," wrote Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
Nov 05, 2026
Republican US Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky said Wednesday that Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, the most prominent cheerleader and architect of the Trump administration's illegal war on Iran, will face an impeachment vote in the House of Representatives—unless he submits his resignation first.
"There is one contingency in which I won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," Massie, who unveiled eight impeachment articles against the Pentagon secretary in September, wrote following Democrats' rout of the GOP in Tuesday's midterm elections. Massie is expected to force a vote on the articles—which accuse Hegseth of extrajudicial killings, waging wars without congressional authorization, and kidnapping a sovereign foreign leader—as soon as next week.
The Kentucky Republican's ultimatum came as CNN reported that a "knives-out campaign" against Hegseth intensified following the midterm elections, in which Democrats won control of the House and Senate beginning in January.
"Many Republican lawmakers and allies alarmed by Tuesday’s wipeout are moving swiftly to pin blame for the election results on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing Trump to attack Iran with no exit strategy—and no plan for managing the inevitable political fallout," CNN reported.
It's unclear whether Massie's impeachment articles have enough Republican support to pass in the lame-duck House, which is narrowly controlled by the GOP.
President Donald Trump, who launched the illegal war on Iran in February and has threatened to escalate the assault following the midterms, insisted Wednesday that he has "every intention to keep" Hegseth in his post. (Trump has previously defended top administration officials in public just before firing them.)
NBC News reported Wednesday that Trump "has told some of his allies in recent days that he’s considering replacing" Hegseth, who has gleefully boasted of the "death and destruction" that the US military has inflicted on Iran, where American bombs have killed thousands of people—including many children.
The looming impeachment effort comes amid rumors that Hegseth is eyeing the US Senate seat that Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will vacate after winning Tennessee's gubernatorial election on Tuesday. Puck reported last month that Hegseth "has been angling" for Blackburn to appoint him to the seat once she takes office—a story that Hegseth denied through a spokesperson.
Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocacy organizations have expressed support for Hegseth's impeachment. Last week, as Common Dreams reported, Free Speech For People and two other national advocacy groups endorsed Massie's articles, calling them "a clear opportunity for Congress to hold Hegseth accountable for his dangerous abuses of power."
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), the lone Iranian American Democrat in Congress, introduced her own articles of impeachment against Hegseth in April, accusing the Pentagon secretary of targeting civilians in Iran and other abuses.
"Impeach Pete Hegseth," Ansari wrote Wednesday in response to the Pentagon secretary's election-day social media post urging Americans to turn out to vote.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Mamdani Joins Call for Democrats to Deliver for Working Class With Progressive 'Mandate'
"It is not enough to simply win power. We must use it," said the mayor. "And the American people will know the difference between hollow words and hard work."
Nov 05, 2026
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday evening joined the call for Democrats in Congress to ensure they deliver on the progressive "mandate" delivered by voters across the US in Tuesday's midterm elections, declaring that "it is not enough to simply win power."
"We must use it," said the mayor. "And the American people will know the difference between hollow words and hard work."
The democratic socialist, who has a 69% favorability rating among New Yorkers, according to a recent Siena poll, commented on the historic election results in a video posted on social media, saying, "It's morning again in America."
Like other progressives on Wednesday, the mayor suggested that with their new majorities in the US House and Senate, Democrats must deliver major legislative action to materially improve Americans' lives—or risk rapidly losing voters' confidence and the next elections.
"People are tired of being told there isn't enough to go around while Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire," said the mayor, an advocate for Medicare for All, universal childcare, and raising taxes on the country's richest people to pay for social services that would benefit all households. "They are tired of being told to ask for little, and expect even less. And last night, the people stood up."
It's morning again in America. https://t.co/zywVt0FW46
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 4, 2026
Mamdani also appeared on NBC News with anchor Kristen Welker, who asserted that "with the exception of Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, nearly all of the Democrats' biggest statewide victories were more moderate candidates."
Welker did not provide examples to back up the claim, and neglected to mention two key statewide races in which progressive leader Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed and campaigned with successful left-wing candidates: Sens.-elect Peggy Flanagan (D-Minn.) and Troy Jackson (D-Maine).
Beyond that, Mamdani emphasized that regardless of whether Tuesday's victories were by candidates who identified themselves as progressives or received endorsements from Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and other top left-wing leaders who push aggressively for economic justice, they sent a clear message about what voters across the country want from Congress.
"When we're thinking about James Talarico, we're talking about someone who campaigned on universal pre-K. When we're talking about Annie Andrews, we're talking about somebody who campaigned on an end to endless wars. When we're talking about Keisha Lance Bottoms, we're talking about somebody who campaigned on streamlining the construction of affordable housing," said Mamdani, referring to the Democratic senators-elect in Texas and South Carolina and the governor-elect in Georgia.
"Those are all hallmarks of what progressive governance also looks like in this country, and I think it's critically important that when we look at these victories, no matter where they are across the United States, that we understand the unity of purpose that comes out of it," said Mamdani.
Zohran explains how progressives have a MANDATE after last night’s election https://t.co/1KGcLd5A6V
— Secular Talk (KyleKulinskiShow@bsky.social) (@KyleKulinski) November 5, 2026
Justice Democrats co-founder Saikat Chakrabarti suggested that the corporate media must look past whether candidates called themselves "progressives" or "moderates."
"It’s about the promises these campaigns made," said Chakrabarti. "They promised to end endless wars, take on corporate power, make healthcare available to all. They’ll be held accountable to those promises, and if Democrats don’t deliver, we’ll lose."
In another interview with MeidasTouch, Mamdani added that the election results had provided Democrats with an "opportunity to understand that there is only one majority in this country, and that's the working class."
"Whether you're a working-class American who's living in California, whether you're living in Minnesota, whether you're living in Texas or South Carolina," said the mayor, "you deserve dignity that you can actually measure and feel in your life."
Keep ReadingShow Less
See More
Most Popular
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy