August, 10 2016, 02:30pm EDT
Common Cause Statement on Municipal Broadband Decision by Sixth Circuit
Industry-friendly decision harms public interest says former FCC Commissioner and Common Common Cause Adviser Michael Copps
Today's decision to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's preemption of anti-municipal broadband laws is a setback for the public interest, Common Cause said today.
"Let's be clear: industry-backed state laws to block municipal broadband only exist because pliant legislators are listening to their Big Cable and Big Telecom paymasters. These corporate providers invest in campaign contributions rather than in deploying high-quality broadband," Common Cause Special Adviser Michael Copps said.
"This decision does not benefit our broadband nation. Nor is it a good reading of the law. But if the FCC cannot set aside these bad laws, then the people must. We will redouble our state-by-state efforts to repeal these odious policies." Copps continued.
View on the web: https://www.commoncause.org/press/press-releases/MuniBroadband2016.html
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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'Reverse of Robin Hood' 2.0: Trump Vows to Extend Billionaire Tax Cuts If Reelected
Trump's backers "are fine with stealing from the poor to give to the rich," said one critic. "And the rich pay Trump off to gain this favor."
Apr 08, 2024
At an exclusive fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida over the weekend, former President Donald Trump vaguely told reporters that he's running for president again because "people are wanting change"—but was more specific about the kind of change he plans to spearhead when he addressed some of his richest donors at the event hosted by a billionaire hedge fund investor.
A readout of the Republican's 45-minute remarks showed that Trump called for his supporters to help him "turn our country around" by taking steps including "extending the Trump Tax Cuts."
The cuts refer to those that were included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Trump and Republican lawmakers pushed through in 2017 and which helped billionaires' fortunes grow by a collective $2 trillion so far.
Many of the law's tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025, but the former president has told some of his wealthiest supporters at at least two fundraisers in the past four months that he plans to extend them if he wins the presidency again in November.
"So much for being the party of the working class," said pro-labor media organization More Perfect Union.
Despite Trump's continued attempts to position himself as the solution to the struggles of working Americans who are stretching their budgets to afford groceries, housing, childcare, and other essentials amid rising prices, Securities and Exchange Commission data showed just months after Trump's tax cuts went into effect that a quarter of large companies had returned the benefits of the cuts to their shareholders even as workers' average wages were declining.
Last year, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said that extending a tax break included in the GOP law for owners of so-called "pass-through" businesses, which are not subject to corporate income taxes, would cost the federal government $700 billion in revenue over a decade.
"Trump's base are truly rooting for the reverse of Robin Hood," said Yale University Prof. Howard Forman. "They are fine with stealing from the poor to give to the rich. And the rich pay Trump off to gain this favor."
Trump's promises to his wealthy donors amount to an admission that "the election is an auction and a class war," said journalist David Sirota, warning that the economic impact on working families of a potential second Trump term will likely get less attention than various "culture" wars.
Held at the home of hedge fund investor John Paulson, Trump's fundraiser on Saturday grossed $50.5 million for his campaign and the Republican Party, according to the former president's campaign—but as Rolling Stone noted, the amount "has not been independently verified."
"Reminder: A court found that Trump committed fraud by lying about his net worth," Peter Wade wrote at the outlet.
President Joe Biden's campaign had nearly $100 million more than Trump's at the end of March.
Days before Trump's latest appeal to his wealthy supporters, Biden released a video featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in which the two denounced "what Donald Trump says when he thinks you're not watching."
"When he thinks the cameras aren't on," said Biden, "he tells his rich friends, 'We're gonna give you tax cuts.'"
Trump's promise to the richest Americans is coming "at a time of massive wealth and income inequality," said Sanders.
"The hypocrisy is just outrageous," said the senator. "This is what he says to his billionaire friends. Not quite what he's saying at his rallies."
"You have one candidate who wants to cut Medicare and Social Security, and one who's going to protect it," he added, referring to the GOP's budget proposal released last month that promotes Medicare Advantage plans administered by the for-profit health insurance industry and calls for raising the retirement age.
Trump's speech at his latest fundraiser "just about sums it up," said James Singer, rapid response adviser for the Biden campaign. "Trump wants to cut taxes for his billionaire backers as [he] looks to rip away healthcare and cut Social Security and Medicare from hard working Americans."
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'Whatever They Decide': Trump Backs Eradication of Abortion Rights by States
Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is "responsible for the harm and chaos caused by Republicans' abortion bans in the states, and all he is saying is that he wants more of it," said one rights advocate.
Apr 08, 2024
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump released a video Monday bragging about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and expressing support for state-level efforts to ban abortion, declaring that "whatever they decide" must be allowed to stand.
In the four-minute video, Trump said he was "proudly the person responsible" for ending Roe and falsely claimed that "all legal scholars, both sides, wanted and in fact demanded" that Roe be overturned.
The 2022 decision rolled back decades of precedent and opened the floodgates to draconian abortion bans in Republican-led states across the country, including a six-week ban in Trump's home state of Florida that's set to take effect next month.
"Many states will be different, many will have a different number of weeks or some will have more conservative than others, and that's what they will be," said Trump. "You must follow your heart—or, in many cases, your religion or your faith."
While Trump did not explicitly endorse a national limit on abortion, reproductive rights advocates said his latest celebration of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization—a ruling backed by three Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices—and his past comments make clear that he would support a federal ban if reelected in November.
Notably, Trump did not say whether he would veto legislation that would enact a federal ban on abortion.
The former president said he is "strongly in favor of exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother"—but such exceptions have proven
woefully insufficient in the face of near-total abortion bans enacted by Texas and other GOP-led states.
"Trump is a liar who orchestrated the end of Roe v. Wade—and he's so proud of it that he bragged about it again in his statement," Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said in response to Trump's remarks, which came in the form of a video posted to Truth Social.
"He knows that publicly supporting bans loses voters, so he deployed dangerous disinformation about abortion in order to distract from the truth about what he will do if elected," said Timmaraju, alluding to Trump's false claim that Democrats support "execution after birth."
Timmaraju, who criticized corporate media outlets over their benign portrayal of the former president's stated position, added that Trump is "responsible for the harm and chaos caused by Republicans' abortion bans in the states, and all he is saying is that he wants more of it."
"The stakes couldn't be higher," Timmaraju continued, "and we need to elect reproductive freedom majorities in Congress and send President Biden and Vice President Harris back to the White House to restore the federal right to abortion and expand access."
Correction:
1. Trump brags about overturning Roe- AGAIN
2. Lies about the Democrats position & continues to push dangerous misinformation
3. By endorsing state limits, supports the most extreme bans in the nation https://t.co/zRytrWE5Jm
— Mini Timmaraju (@mintimm) April 8, 2024
Trump has pledged for months to announce a position on abortion that would "make both sides happy," and he previously floated a 15-week ban at the national level.
But his statement Monday angered both reproductive rights advocates and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the nation's leading anti-abortion organization. The group supports a national ban on abortion and has said it views any presidential candidate who declines to back a federal ban as "disqualified" for the White House.
"We are deeply disappointed in President Trump's position," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
But Dannenfelser signaled that the group would still throw its weight behind Trump in November, vowing to "work tirelessly" to defeat incumbent President Joe Biden.
Opinion polls have repeatedly shown that a majority of the American public supports abortion rights, a finding bolstered by state-level ballot victories in the wake of Dobbs—including in GOP-controlled states.
In a Monday statement, Biden said that Trump "made it clear once again today that he is—more than anyone in America—the person responsible for ending Roe v. Wade."
"He is—more than anyone in America—responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America since the Dobbs decision," the president said. "Trump once said women must be punished for seeking reproductive health care – and he's gotten his wish. Women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care. In states like Florida, abortion will likely soon be illegal before many women know they're pregnant."
"Trump is scrambling," Biden added. "He's worried that since he's the one responsible for overturning
Roe the voters will hold him accountable in 2024. Well, I have news for Donald. They will."
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'Very Serious Crime': Biden Urged to Demand Immediate Release of Ecuador's Former VP
Ecuador's raid of the Mexican embassy in Quito "threatens the security of embassies and diplomats throughout the world," said one expert.
Apr 08, 2024
The Biden administration on Sunday faced calls to demand the immediate release of Ecuador's former vice president after Ecuadorian police stormed Mexico's embassy in Quito and forcibly seized the ex-official, a flagrant breach of the 1961 Vienna Convention.
"Ecuador's government has committed a very serious crime, one that threatens the security of embassies and diplomats throughout the world—not least those of the United States, which has threats to its embassies in much of the world," said Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). "The international community cannot allow this to happen."
The move sparked a diplomatic crisis and global outcry, with Latin American leaders slamming the right-wing Ecuadorian government for its "unacceptable infringement" on Mexico's sovereignty and "kidnapping" of Jorge Glas, who served as vice president under Ecuador's leftist former president Rafael Correa. Glas has reportedly been transferred to a maximum-security prison.
Correa supported lawmaker Luisa González in Ecuador's 2023 presidential contest, which she lost to President Daniel Noboa, the son of the richest man in Ecuador.
"The United States is providing crucial diplomatic, military, and material support to Ecuador."
The illegal raid of Mexico's embassy late Friday came hours after the Mexican government granted political asylum to Glas, who has been living in the embassy since December, when he announced he would appeal a judge's decision ordering him back to jail. Glas has been convicted of corruption and imprisoned repeatedly in recent years; the former vice president has said the charges are politically motivated.
CEPR noted Sunday that Ecuadorian Attorney General Diana Salazar "has long engaged in a campaign of lawfare and political persecution against former president Rafael Correa and other figures from the former Correa government."
"The charges against Correa have been shown to have so little credibility, and the evidence is so lacking, that Interpol for years has refused to act on Ecuador's red notice against him," the group said. "Belgium has granted him political asylum, and he can travel freely to almost anywhere in the world without fear of extradition. And last year, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge annulled evidence against Glas after authorities admitted it may have been tampered with."
Weisbrot stressed in his statement that "the United States is providing crucial diplomatic, military, and material support to Ecuador."
"Canada is currently seeking a 'free trade' agreement with Ecuador," Weisbrot added. "All of this should be suspended until Ecuador releases its former vice president, who it has kidnapped from Mexico's embassy."
As the Financial Timesreported Sunday, Ecuador's right-wing president "is enjoying soaring popularity among Ecuadoreans and strong support from Washington after declaring an all-out war on drug trafficking." In February, the Biden administration declared its "unwavering support" for Ecuador's government and announced "$2.4 million in additional vehicles and security equipment to support the work of police."
FT noted that Noboa, the scion of a banana empire, has invoked "emergency powers to put troops on the streets and sent the army to take control of gang-ridden jails, using tactics partly borrowed from El Salvador's strongman leader Nayib Bukele."
While Noboa's "aggressive response initially reduced violence and brought a precarious sense of safety to places like Guayaquil," The New York Timesobserved, the "stability did not last."
"Over the Easter holiday, there were 137 murders in Ecuador, and kidnappings and extortion have worsened," the Times reported.
Thus far, the Biden administration's response to Ecuador's raid on Mexico's embassy has been tepid. In a social media post late Saturday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote that the administration "condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which says that "agents of the receiving state may not enter" embassies "except with the consent of the head of mission."
"We encourage our partners Mexico and Ecuador to resolve their differences in accord with international norms," Miller added.
Ecuadorian police assaulted Roberto Canseco, Mexico's acting ambassador, during Friday's raid.
"This is totally unacceptable," the career diplomat told reporters. "They have hit me, they have pushed me to the ground. I physically tried to prevent them from entering. They searched the Mexican embassy in Quito like criminals."
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