# Common Dreams - Complete Content > Common Dreams: complete content export for LLMs - 535 sections and the 100 most recent articles. Navigation index: https://www.commondreams.org/llms.txt **Site Overview:** - Domain: https://www.commondreams.org - Total Sections: 535 - Recent Posts Included: 100 - Content Word Count: ~71733 words - Last Updated: 2026-10-18 - Generated: October 18, 2026 22:55:12 **Important Information:** - © 2026 Common Dreams. All rights reserved. - Site ID: 25320514 - Markdown version: append .md to any URL - Total sections: 535 ## Site Structure - [Politics](https://www.commondreams.org/politics/index.md): Discover the latest political news on Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (5824 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/politics; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/politics.rss) - [Climate](https://www.commondreams.org/climate/index.md): Discover the latest news about the climate crisis on Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (14182 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/climate; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/climate.rss) - [Economy](https://www.commondreams.org/economy/index.md): Discover the latest news about the economy on Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (11278 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/economy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/economy.rss) - [Rights & Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/rights-justice/index.md): Discover the latest news focused on rights and justice on Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (17502 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/rights-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/rights-justice.rss) - [War & Peace](https://www.commondreams.org/war-peace/index.md): Discover the latest news focused on war and peace on Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (14189 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/war-peace; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/war-peace.rss) - [Breaking News](https://www.commondreams.org/breaking-news/index.md): Breaking news from Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/breaking-news; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/breaking-news.rss) - [Opinion](https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/index.md): Discover the latest progressive opinion on Common Dreams ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (117321 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/opinion; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/opinion.rss) - [News](https://www.commondreams.org/news/index.md): Discover the latest news from Common Dreams ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (104106 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/news; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/news.rss) - [Newswire](https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/index.md): Daily press releases and alerts from over 200 progressive organizations on The Progressive Newswire, a project of Common Dreams since 1997 (71571 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/newswire; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/newswire.rss) - [Further](https://www.commondreams.org/further/index.md): Opinion column by Abby Zimet on Common Dreams. ✯ Breaking News & Progressive Opinion ✯ Independent, non-profit journalism since 1997 (1315 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/further; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/further.rss) - [Planned Parenthood Action Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/planned-parenthood-action-fund/index.md): Planned Parenthood was founded over 100 years ago on the revolutionary idea that women have the right to access the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives. Today, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF) fights to protect that right--often in the face of extreme politicians trying to take it away. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/planned-parenthood-action-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/planned-parenthood-action-fund.rss) - [Trade Justice Education Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/trade-justice-education-fund/index.md): The Trade Justice Education Fund is a new nonprofit that sponsors public education programs designed to expand awareness about the worker rights, environmental and climate, and public health implications of U.S. trade policy. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/trade-justice-education-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/trade-justice-education-fund.rss) - [Profile Organization Test](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/test/index.md): Description (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/test; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/test.rss) - [ProsperUS](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/prosperus/index.md): ProsperUS is a coalition of movement groups, labor organizations, think tanks, experts, and advocates that believes government should invest in people. (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/prosperus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/prosperus.rss) - [Repairers of the Breach](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/repairers-breach/index.md): Repairers of the Breach is a nonpartisan 501c3 tax exempt not-for-profit organization that seeks to build a moral agenda rooted in a framework that uplifts our deepest moral and constitutional values to redeem the heart and soul of our country. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/repairers-breach; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/repairers-breach.rss) - [Fix Our Senate](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fix-our-senate/index.md): Fix Our Senate is a coalition of more than 70 organizations who are joined together to ensure that the promises of progress are not blocked by the filibuster. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fix-our-senate; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fix-our-senate.rss) - [ACLU Florida](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/aclu-florida/index.md): The mission of the ACLU of Florida is to protect, defend, strengthen, and promote the constitutional rights and liberties of all people in Florida. We envision a fair and just Florida, where all people are free, equal under the law, and live with dignity. (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/aclu-florida; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/aclu-florida.rss) - [Alliance for Retired Americans](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-retired-americans/index.md): The Alliance for Retired Americans is a national organization with 4.4 million members that advocates for retirement security for all Americans. (23 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-retired-americans; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/alliance-retired-americans.rss) - [Green New Deal Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-new-deal-network/index.md): The Green New Deal Network is a 50-state campaign with a national table of 15 organizations: Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indivisible, Movement for Black Lives, MoveOn, People's Action, Right To The City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, US Climate Action Network, and the Working Families Party. (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-new-deal-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/green-new-deal-network.rss) - [Concerted Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/concerted-action/index.md): Concerted Action is a one-stop consulting firm specializing in advocacy, organizing and the digital tools that power grassroots movements. We help non-profits and unions recruit supporters, build engaged and motivated communities and generate action. We're strategic, experienced, versatile and committed to your cause. Launched in 2015 as Blue Bulldog Digital and relaunched as Concerted Action in 2018. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/concerted-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/concerted-action.rss) - [Costs of War](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/costs-war/index.md): The Costs of War Project is a team of 50 scholars, legal experts, human rights practitioners, and physicians, which began its work in 2010. We use research and a public website to facilitate debate about the costs of the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the related violence in Pakistan and Syria. There are many hidden or unacknowledged costs of the United States' decision to respond to the 9/11 attacks with military force. We aim to foster democratic discussion of these wars by providing the fullest possible account of their human, economic, and political costs, and to foster better informed public policies. (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/costs-war; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/costs-war.rss) - [Fossil Free Media](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fossil-free-media/index.md): Fossil Free Media is a nonprofit media lab that supports the movement to end fossil fuels and address the climate emergency. (47 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fossil-free-media; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fossil-free-media.rss) - [Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-democratic-and-environmental-rights/index.md): Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights is building a global movement to advance the rights of nature into law. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-democratic-and-environmental-rights; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-democratic-and-environmental-rights.rss) - [Independent Jewish Voices Canada](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/independent-jewish-voices-canada/index.md): Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across the country. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/independent-jewish-voices-canada; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/independent-jewish-voices-canada.rss) - [Cascadia Wildlands](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/cascadia-wildlands/index.md): Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia's wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. We envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/cascadia-wildlands; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/cascadia-wildlands.rss) - [Congressman Jamaal Bowman](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-jamaal-bowman/index.md): Jamaal Anthony Bowman is an American politician and educator serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 16th congressional district since 2021. (18 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-jamaal-bowman; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congressman-jamaal-bowman.rss) - [Environmental Defense](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-defense/index.md): Environmental Defense Fund's mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends. Guided by science and economics, we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems. We work to solve the most critical environmental problems facing the planet. This has drawn us to areas that span the biosphere: climate, oceans, ecosystems and health. Since these topics are intertwined, our solutions take a multidisciplinary approach. We work in concert with other organizations -- as well as with business, government and communities -- and avoid duplicating work already being done effectively by others. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-defense; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/environmental-defense.rss) - [National Coalition for the Homeless](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-coalition-homeless/index.md): National Coalition for the Homeless is a national network of people who are currently experiencing or who have experienced homelessness, activists and advocates, community-based and faith-based service providers, and others committed to a single mission: To end and prevent homelessness while ensuring the immediate needs of those experiencing homelessness are met and their civil rights are respected and protected. We envision a world where everyone has a safe, decent, accessible and affordable home. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-coalition-homeless; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-coalition-homeless.rss) - [U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-campaign-ban-landmines/index.md): The United States Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working to ensure that the U.S. comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines--by banning their use in Korea--and joins the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, as more than 160 nations have done. It is the national affiliate of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), founded in New York in 1992 and recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate together with former ICBL coordinator Ms. Jody Williams of Vermont. We also call for sustained U.S. government financial support for mine clearance and victim assistance. (13 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-campaign-ban-landmines; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/us-campaign-ban-landmines.rss) - [Riverkeeper](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/riverkeeper/index.md): Riverkeeper protects and restores the Hudson River from source to sea and safeguards drinking water supplies, through advocacy rooted in community partnerships, science and law. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/riverkeeper; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/riverkeeper.rss) - [Free Gaza Movement](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-gaza-movement/index.md): Free Gaza is a human rights group founded in 2006. Our mission is to break the Israel's illegal siege on Gaza's 1.8 million civilians, since it inflicts collective punishment on the Palestinians who live there and has destroyed its economy. Free Gaza believes in direct action in confronting Israel's abuse of Palestinians using non-violent means and has found these voyages to be one of the most effective ways to alert the world to the prison-like conditions of Gaza. Ultimately, there is no better example of direct action than Free Gaza's sustained attempts to break the siege on Gaza which Israel claims it no longer occupies (38 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-gaza-movement; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/free-gaza-movement.rss) - [Friends of the Earth Europe](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-europe/index.md): Friends of the Earth Europe is the largest grassroots environmental network in Europe, uniting more than 30 national organisations with thousands of local groups. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-europe; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/friends-earth-europe.rss) - [Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bulletin-atomic-scientists/index.md): The Bulletin equips the public, policymakers, and scientists with the information needed to reduce man-made threatsto our existence. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bulletin-atomic-scientists; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/bulletin-atomic-scientists.rss) - [Basel Action Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/basel-action-network/index.md): Basel Action Network's mission is to champion global environmental health and justice by ending toxic trade, catalyzing a toxics-free future, and campaigning for everyone's right to a clean environment. (21 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/basel-action-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/basel-action-network.rss) - [Healthy California Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/healthy-california-now/index.md): Healthy California Now is a statewide, non-partisan coalition of community, consumer, labor, health, disability, LGBTQ, business, and political organizations committed to building and broadening the movement to guarantee health care for all Californians. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/healthy-california-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/healthy-california-now.rss) - [Groundwork Collaborative](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/groundwork-collaborative/index.md): The Groundwork Collaborative is dedicated to advancing a coherent and persuasive progressive economic worldview and narrative capable of delivering meaningful opportunity and prosperity for everyone. Our work is driven by a core guiding principle: We are the economy. Groundwork Collaborative envisions an economic system that produces strong, broadly shared prosperity and power for all people, not just a wealthy few. (105 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/groundwork-collaborative; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/groundwork-collaborative.rss) - [One Fair Wage](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-fair-wage/index.md): One Fair Wage is a national organization of over 200,000 service workers, over 800 restaurant employers, and dozens of organizations nationwide all working together to end all subminimum wages in the United States and improve wages and working conditions in the service sector in particular. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-fair-wage; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/one-fair-wage.rss) - [Progressive International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-international/index.md): Progressive International is an international organization uniting and mobilizing progressive left-wing activists and organizations. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progressive-international.rss) - [Data for Progress](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/data-progress/index.md): Data for Progress is a multidisciplinary group of experts using state-of-the-art techniques in data science to support progressive activists and causes. (41 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/data-progress; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/data-progress.rss) - [Congressman Ro Khanna](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-ro-khanna/index.md): Congressman Ro Khanna represents the 17th District of California, which covers communities in Silicon Valley. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-ro-khanna; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congressman-ro-khanna.rss) - [Fight Corporate Monopolies](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-corporate-monopolies/index.md): Fight Corporate Monopolies is a progressive political advocacy institution devoted to breaking up the economic and political concentrations of corporate power. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-corporate-monopolies; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fight-corporate-monopolies.rss) - [Mijente](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mijente/index.md): We are a political home for Latinx and Chicanx people who seek racial, economic, gender and climate justice. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mijente; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/mijente.rss) - [Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-pramila-jayapal/index.md): U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-pramila-jayapal; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congresswoman-pramila-jayapal.rss) - [Repair Our Democracy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/repair-our-democracy/index.md): Repair Our Democracy, a project of Democracy 21, is focused on defending the For the People Act against bad-faith attacks and outright lies. (10 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/repair-our-democracy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/repair-our-democracy.rss) - [Oxfam America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oxfam-america/index.md): Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty. We help people build better futures for themselves, hold the powerful accountable, and save lives in disasters. (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oxfam-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oxfam-america.rss) - [Accountable.Senate](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/accountablesenate/index.md): Nonpartisan watchdog group Accountable.US recently launched the Accountable Senate War Room to fight back against those lawmakers who seek to overturn the will of the people by standing in the way of the smooth transition of power and the swift approval of nominees to ensure that the government can function and advance the interests of all American people, not just the rich and powerful. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/accountablesenate; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/accountablesenate.rss) - [Farm Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/farm-action/index.md): Farm Action leverages its research, policy development, advocacy campaigns, and political expertise to create a food and agriculture system that works for everyday people rather than a handful of powerful corporations. We are joined in our movement by farmers, ranchers, rural communities, food system workers, policymakers, advocates, and anyone who eats. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/farm-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/farm-action.rss) - [The Sentencing Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sentencing-project/index.md): The Sentencing Project is a leader in changing the way Americans think about crime and punishment. The Sentencing Project promotes effective and humane responses to crime that minimize imprisonment and criminalization of youth and adults by promoting racial, ethnic, economic, and gender justice. (13 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sentencing-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sentencing-project.rss) - [Hunger Free America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hunger-free-america/index.md): Hunger Free America is a nonpartisan, national nonprofit group working to enact the policies and programs needed to end domestic hunger and ensure that all Americans have sufficient access to nutritious food. (10 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hunger-free-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/hunger-free-america.rss) - [Fridays for Future](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fridays-future/index.md): Fridays for Future (FFF) is a global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fridays-future; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fridays-future.rss) - [Family Farm Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/family-farm-action/index.md): The Farm Action network leverages its research, policy development, advocacy campaigns, and political expertise to create a food and agriculture system that works for everyone, not just a handful of powerful corporations. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/family-farm-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/family-farm-action.rss) - [National Family Farm Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-family-farm-coalition/index.md): Representing 30 farmer, rancher, fisher, and rural groups in over 40 states, National Family Farm Coalition mobilizes family farmers and ranchers to achieve fair prices, vibrant communities, and healthy foods free of corporate domination. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-family-farm-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-family-farm-coalition.rss) - [Protect the Results](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/protect-results/index.md): Protect the Results is a joint project of Indivisible and Stand Up America to protect the valid results of the 2020 election. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/protect-results; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/protect-results.rss) - [AFSCME](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/afscme/index.md): AFSCME members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in hundreds of different occupations, AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and prosperity and opportunity for all working families. (51 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/afscme; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/afscme.rss) - [Color Of Change PAC](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/color-change-pac/index.md): Color Of Change PAC is a Political Action Committee focused on building We're the political action committee focused on building Black political power, uplifting Black voices, and celebrating Black joy. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/color-change-pac; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/color-change-pac.rss) - [MPower Change](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mpower-change/index.md): MPower Change is a grassroots organizing movement rooted in diverse Muslim communities throughout the United States who are working together to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mpower-change; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/mpower-change.rss) - [Western Watersheds Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-watersheds-project/index.md): Western Watersheds Project is an environmental conservation group working to protect and restore watersheds and wildlife through. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-watersheds-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/western-watersheds-project.rss) - [WildEarth Guardians](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wildearth-guardians/index.md): WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Driven by passion, we've tackled some of the West's most difficult and pressing conservation challenges over the past three decades. We've celebrated small victories (banning leghold trapping in the state of Colorado), monumental triumphs (ending logging on more than 21 million acres in the Southwest), and everything in-between. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wildearth-guardians; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/wildearth-guardians.rss) - [The Elders](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/elders/index.md): The Elders are independent leaders using their collective experience and influence for peace, justice and human rights worldwide. The group was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007. The Elders are Ban Ki-moon (Deputy Chair), Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, Hina Jilani, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/elders; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/elders.rss) - [Gwich'in Steering Committee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gwichin-steering-committee/index.md): The Gwich'in Steering Committee was formed in 1988 in response to proposals to drill for oil in the Sacred Place Where Life Begins, the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gwichin-steering-committee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/gwichin-steering-committee.rss) - [Stop the Money Pipeline](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-money-pipeline/index.md): The Stop the Money Pipeline coalition is over 160 organizations strong holding the financial backers of climate chaos accountable. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-money-pipeline; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stop-money-pipeline.rss) - [United Nations Human Rights - Special Procedures](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-nations-human-rights-special-procedures/index.md): The special procedures of the Human Rights Council are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic or country-specific perspective. The system of Special Procedures is a central element of the United Nations human rights machinery and covers all human rights: civil, cultural, economic, political, and social. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-nations-human-rights-special-procedures; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-nations-human-rights-special-procedures.rss) - [Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/quaker-united-nations-office-quno/index.md): Since 1947, QUNO has worked with diplomats, UN officials, and civil society to support a UN that prioritizes peace and prevents war. QUNO uses Quaker House and its convening power to facilitate off-the-record meetings and bring perspectives from outside the UN system in order to promote peacebuilding and the prevention of violent conflict at a policy level in New York. QUNO also works closely with the American Friends Service Committee and other Quaker Service Agencies in country, and with Friends' policy offices in Geneva, Washington, and Brussels. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/quaker-united-nations-office-quno; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/quaker-united-nations-office-quno.rss) - [Communications Workers of America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/communications-workers-america/index.md): Communication Workers of America (CWA) is America's largest communications & media union. CWA members work in telecommunications and information technology, the airline industry, news media, broadcast and cable television, education, health care, public service and education, law enforcement, manufacturing and other fields. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/communications-workers-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/communications-workers-america.rss) - [The Endangered Species Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/endangered-species-coalition/index.md): The Endangered Species Coalition's mission is to stop the human-caused extinction of our nation's at-risk species, to protect and restore their habitats, and to guide these fragile populations along the road to recovery. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/endangered-species-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/endangered-species-coalition.rss) - [Center for Climate Integrity](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-climate-integrity/index.md): The Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) helps cities and states across the country hold corporate polluters accountable for the massive impacts of climate change. (59 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-climate-integrity; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-climate-integrity.rss) - [Climate Power](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-power/index.md): Climate Power 2020 is putting the Trump administration on defense every single day for ignoring experts, refusing to believe in science, surrendering our government to big oil executives, and gutting public health protections, all at the expense of future generations. The 2020 presidential election is the defining moment for how our nation addresses the climate crisis--our leaders must be emboldened to take immediate action on climate change and to build a just and equitable economy. The time to act is now. Learn more: climatepower2020.org (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-power; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-power.rss) - [Lower Drug Prices Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lower-drug-prices-now/index.md): Lower Drug Prices Now brings together a broad array of state and national partners to fight for transformative policy change that will finally ensure everyone has access to affordable medicine whether they have a sore throat, high blood pressure or an acute illness like cancer. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lower-drug-prices-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/lower-drug-prices-now.rss) - [NORML](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/norml/index.md): Since its founding in 1970, NORML has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana consumers. A nonprofit public-interest advocacy group, NORML represents the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who use marijuana responsibly. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/norml; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/norml.rss) - [National Education Association (NEA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-education-association-nea/index.md): The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest professional employee organization, is committed to advancing the cause of public education. NEA's 3 million members work at every level of education--from pre-school to university graduate programs. NEA has affiliate organizations in every state and in more than 14,000 communities across the United States. (24 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-education-association-nea; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-education-association-nea.rss) - [Democracy Initiative](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-initiative/index.md): The Democracy Initiative is a coalition of 75 organizations with a collective 45 million members fighting for workers, civil rights, social justice and the environment. DI partner organizations are united in their commitment to realizing the promise of American democracy where all people have an equal seat at the governance table. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-initiative; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/democracy-initiative.rss) - [Small Business for Paid Leave](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/small-business-paid-leave/index.md): Small Business for Paid Leave is a coalition of grassroots and small business membership organizations that shares resources and supports small businesses as they engage in paid family and medical leave policy development. Small Business for Paid Leave works in partnership with Paid Leave for All and advocates across the country. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/small-business-paid-leave; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/small-business-paid-leave.rss) - [Campaign Legal Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-legal-center/index.md): Campaign Legal Center (CLC) advances democracy through law, fighting for every American's right to participate in the democratic process. CLC uses tactics such as litigation, policy advocacy, communications and partnerships to win victories that result in a more transparent, accountable and inclusive democracy. (38 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-legal-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/campaign-legal-center.rss) - [Muslim Advocates](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/muslim-advocates/index.md): Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination. (29 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/muslim-advocates; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/muslim-advocates.rss) - [Congresswoman Ilhan Omar](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-ilhan-omar/index.md): Rep. Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-ilhan-omar; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congresswoman-ilhan-omar.rss) - [Accountable.US](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/accountableus/index.md): Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful. (182 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/accountableus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/accountableus.rss) - [Climate Mobilization](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-mobilization/index.md): Building a new movement of people across the United States to reclaim our future by initiating an emergency-speed, whole-society Climate Mobilization, reversing global warming and restoring a safe climate. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-mobilization; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-mobilization.rss) - [GLAD](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/glad/index.md): Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/glad; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/glad.rss) - [Out & Equal](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/out-equal/index.md): Out & Equal is the premier organization working exclusively on LGBTQ workplace equality. Through our worldwide programs, Fortune 500 partnerships and our annual Workplace Summit conference, we help LGBTQ people thrive and support organizations creating a culture of belonging for all. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/out-equal; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/out-equal.rss) - [American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-state-county-and-municipal-employees/index.md): AFSCME's 1.4 million members provide the vital services that make America happen. With members in communities across the nation, serving in hundreds of different occupations -- from nurses to corrections officers, child care providers to sanitation workers -- AFSCME advocates for fairness in the workplace, excellence in public services and freedom and opportunity for all working families. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-state-county-and-municipal-employees; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-federation-state-county-and-municipal-employees.rss) - [The Sunrise Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunrise-project/index.md): The Sunrise Project grows social movements to drive the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy as fast as possible. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunrise-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sunrise-project.rss) - [American Economic Liberties Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-economic-liberties-project/index.md): The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America's system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power. (39 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-economic-liberties-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-economic-liberties-project.rss) - [Poor People's Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/poor-peoples-campaign/index.md): The Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, is building a generationally transformative digital gathering called the Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington, on June 20, 2020. At that assembly, we will demand that both major political parties address the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism by implementing our Moral Agenda. (24 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/poor-peoples-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/poor-peoples-campaign.rss) - [Bend the Arc](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bend-arc/index.md): Bend the Arc is where progressive American Jews join together to fight for justice and equality for all. We are the only national Jewish organization focused exclusively on progressive social change in the United States. (42 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bend-arc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/bend-arc.rss) - [The Revolving Door Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/revolving-door-project/index.md): The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement. (89 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/revolving-door-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/revolving-door-project.rss) - [Jewish Voice for Peace Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jewish-voice-peace-action/index.md): Jewish Voice for Peace Action (JVP Action) is a multiracial, intergenerational movement of Jews and allies working towards justice and equality for Palestinians and Israelis by transforming U.S. policy. (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jewish-voice-peace-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jewish-voice-peace-action.rss) - [Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/index.md): Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district. (18 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-alexandria-ocasio-cortez; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congresswoman-alexandria-ocasio-cortez.rss) - [TIME'S UP Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/times-now/index.md): TIME'S UP(tm) Now is the nonpartisan and not-for-profit advocacy and political arm of TIME'S UP. We advocate for safe, fair, and dignified work for all in the public and private sectors, calling for an end to harassment and other related forms of discrimination on the job. And we fight to rebuild the systems that have taken away women's power for far too long. TIME'S UP Now is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/times-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/times-now.rss) - [Oil Change U.S.](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oil-change-us/index.md): Oil Change U.S. is dedicated to supporting real climate leadership, exposing the true costs of fossil fuels, and building a just, equitable, and renewable energy future in the United States. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oil-change-us; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oil-change-us.rss) - [Vote Climate U.S. PAC](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/vote-climate-us-pac/index.md): Vote Climate U.S. PAC works to elect candidates to get off fossil fuels, transition to clean, renewable, energy and reduce carbon pollution by putting a fee on carbon, in order to slow climate change and related weather extremes. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/vote-climate-us-pac; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/vote-climate-us-pac.rss) - [Community Change Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-change-action/index.md): Community Change Action is a national organization that builds power from the ground up. We believe that effective and enduring social movements must be led by those most impacted by injustice and voting is one essential lever of change. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-change-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/community-change-action.rss) - [Democracy 21](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-21/index.md): Democracy 21 is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to making democracy work for all Americans. Democracy 21, and its education arm, Democracy 21 Education Fund, work to eliminate the undue influence of big money in American politics, prevent government corruption, empower citizens in the political process and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections. The organization promotes campaign finance reform and other related political reforms to accomplish these goals. (18 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-21; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/democracy-21.rss) - [Environmental Justice Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-justice-foundation/index.md): Dynamic, agile and effective, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) is working to secure a world where natural habitats and environments can sustain, and be sustained by, the communities that depend upon them for their basic needs and livelihoods. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-justice-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/environmental-justice-foundation.rss) - [Center for Popular Democracy Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-popular-democracy-action/index.md): Center for Popular Democracy Action promotes equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with innovative base-building organizations, organizing networks and alliances, and progressive unions across the country. CPD Action builds the strength and capacity of democratic organizations to envision and advance a pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial justice agenda. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-popular-democracy-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-popular-democracy-action.rss) - [Climate Justice Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-justice-alliance/index.md): Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition. (22 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-justice-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-justice-alliance.rss) - [Free Press Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-press-action/index.md): Free Press Action is fighting grave threats to the free and open internet, local journalism and a functioning democracy. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-press-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/free-press-action.rss) - [International Rivers](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-rivers/index.md): International Rivers is an environmental and human rights organization with staff on four continents. For three decades, we have been at the heart of the global struggle to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-rivers; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-rivers.rss) - [JVP Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jvp-action/index.md): JVP Action is an independent, non-partisan, 501(c)(4) organization formed as the political and advocacy arm of Jewish Voice for Peace. JVP Action is building a multi-racial, intergenerational movement of Jews and allies to transform U.S. policy towards justice in Israel/Palestine. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jvp-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jvp-action.rss) - [Open Markets Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-markets-institute/index.md): The Open Markets Institute works to address threats to our democracy, individual liberties, and our national security from today's unprecedented levels of corporate concentration and monopoly power. By combining policy, legal, and market structure expertise with sophisticated communications and outreach efforts, Open Markets seeks not only to hold today's monopolies accountable for abuse of power, but to rebuild an economic system where progress is easier to achieve, because power is far more widely and equitably distributed (49 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-markets-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/open-markets-institute.rss) - [Center for Popular Democracy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-popular-democracy/index.md): The Center for Popular Democracy works to create equity, opportunity and a dynamic democracy in partnership with high-impact base-building organizations, organizing alliances, and progressive unions. CPD strengthens our collective capacity to envision and win an innovative pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic justice agenda. (24 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-popular-democracy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-popular-democracy.rss) - [Stand Up America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stand-america/index.md): Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country. (197 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stand-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stand-america.rss) - [Demand Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demand-justice/index.md): Demand Justice is a progressive movement fighting to restore the ideological balance and legitimacy of the federal courts by advocating for court reform and vigorously opposing extreme nominees. (32 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demand-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/demand-justice.rss) - [By the People](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people/index.md): By the People is a movement fighting for an America that prioritizes the freedom and dignity of all of its people and fighting for a democracy that reflects the beauty of who we've become as a nation--starting first with removing the Trump administration. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/people.rss) - [Stand.earth](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/standearth/index.md): Stand.earth (formerly ForestEthics) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with offices in Canada and the United States that is known for its groundbreaking research and successful corporate and citizens engagement campaigns to create new policies and industry standards in protecting forests, advocating the rights of indigenous peoples, and protecting the climate. Visit us at (28 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/standearth; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/standearth.rss) - [The Sanders Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sanders-institute/index.md): Founded in 2017 by Dr. Jane Sanders and David Driscoll, the mission of the Sanders Institute is to revitalize democracy by actively engaging individuals, organizations and the media in the pursuit of progressive solutions to economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues. The Sanders Institute seeks to bring truth to the policy debate with rigorous research, innovative and common sense policy, presented in dialogue with a range of advocates in order to engage everyone in the issues that really matter. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sanders-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sanders-institute.rss) - [Tax March](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tax-march/index.md): The Tax March is a growing national movement that extends far beyond one day of marching. Led by working Americans who are tired of systems that are rigged in favor of the super-rich, the Tax March movement maintains that any reform to the tax code should be about closing loopholes for the wealthy and big corporations and building an economy that invests in working people, whether white, black, or brown, and prioritizes economic justice particularly for communities of color. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tax-march; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/tax-march.rss) - [Friends of the Earth Scotland](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-scotland/index.md): Friends of the Earth Scotland is campaigning for a world where everyone can enjoy a healthy environment and a fair share of the earth's resources. Climate change is the greatest threat to this aim, that's why we're calling for a just transition to a 100% renewable, nuclear-free, zero-fossil-fuel Scotland. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-scotland; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/friends-earth-scotland.rss) - [Justice Democrats](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/justice-democrats/index.md): Justice Democrats is recruiting and supporting progressive Democrats all over the country, starting with Congress. We're working to transform the Democratic Party while building independent power. We do this by running primary challengers against out-of-touch Democratic incumbents and organizing to hold the party accountable to our issues. (14 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/justice-democrats; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/justice-democrats.rss) - [Sunrise Movement](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunrise-movement/index.md): Sunrise Movement is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process. (208 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunrise-movement; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sunrise-movement.rss) - [Western Values Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-values-project/index.md): Western Values Project brings accountability to the national conversation about Western public lands and national parks conservation - a space too often dominated by industry lobbyists and their allies in government. (55 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-values-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/western-values-project.rss) - [Good Jobs First](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/good-jobs-first/index.md): Good Jobs First is a national policy resource center for grassroots groups and public officials, promoting corporate and government accountability in economic development and smart growth for working families. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/good-jobs-first; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/good-jobs-first.rss) - [Climate Works for All](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-works-all/index.md): Climate Works for All is comprised of environmental justice advocates, community organizations, and Labor unions with the goal of addressing climate change and income inequality. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-works-all; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-works-all.rss) - [Democratic Socialists of America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democratic-socialists-america/index.md): The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has over 55,000 members and 200 local groups (as of November 2018) building working class power while establishing an openly democratic socialist presence in American communities and politics. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democratic-socialists-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/democratic-socialists-america.rss) - [Freedom From Facebook & Google](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-facebook-google/index.md): Freedom From Facebook, a diverse group of organizations sharing deep concerns about Facebook's extraordinary power over our lives and democracy, is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to use its broad authority to break up Facebook's monopoly and re-establish competition in the social networking space by spinning off WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger into independent businesses. Freedom From Facebook also calls on the FTC to develop interoperability standards, so users will have the freedom to communicate between competing social networks, as well as implement strong privacy rules to give users more control over the collection and utilization of personal information. Learn more at (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-facebook-google; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/freedom-facebook-google.rss) - [National Center for Transgender Equality](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-center-transgender-equality/index.md): The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization based in Washington, D.C. NCTE is devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. Founded in 2 (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-center-transgender-equality; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-center-transgender-equality.rss) - [As You Sow](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/you-sow/index.md): As You Sow is the nation's non-profit leader in shareholder advocacy. Founded in 1992, we harness shareholder power to create lasting change that benefits people, planet, and profit. Our mission is to promote environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. (89 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/you-sow; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/you-sow.rss) - [Rootstrikers](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rootstrikers/index.md): Rootstrikers is a project of Demand Progress dedicated to reclaiming our government so it works for everyone and not just the wealthy and the well-connected. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rootstrikers; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/rootstrikers.rss) - [Every Voice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/every-voice/index.md): Every Voice is a national organization fighting for a democracy that works for everyone. Learn more at everyvoice.org. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/every-voice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/every-voice.rss) - [Direct Action Everywhere](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/direct-action-everywhere/index.md): Investigators with Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) enter farms, slaughterhouses, and other agricultural facilities to document abuses and rescue sick and injured animals. DxE's investigatory work has been featured in The New York Times, Nightline, and a viral Glenn Greenwald expose, and DxE activists led the recent effort to ban fur products in San Francisco. Activists have been (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/direct-action-everywhere; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/direct-action-everywhere.rss) - [Global Witness](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-witness/index.md): Many of the world's worst environmental and human rights abuses are driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global political and economic system. Global Witness is campaigning to end this. We carry out hard-hitting investigations, expose these abuses, and campaign for change. We are independent, not-for-profit, and work with partners around the world in our fight for justice. (14 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-witness; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-witness.rss) - [Earthworks](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthworks/index.md): Earthworks is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions. (48 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthworks; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/earthworks.rss) - [National Abortion Federation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-abortion-federation/index.md): The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is the professional association of abortion providers.Our members include individuals, private and non-profit clinics, Planned Parenthood affiliates, women's health centers, physicians' offices, and hospitals who together care for approximately half the women who choose abortion in the U.S. and Canada each year. Our members also include public hospitals and both public and private clinics in Mexico City and private clinics in Colombia. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-abortion-federation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-abortion-federation.rss) - [Representative Keith Ellison](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/representative-keith-ellison/index.md): Rep. Keith Ellison has represented the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives since taking office on January 4, 2007. The Fifth Congressional District is the most vibrant and diverse district in Minnesota with a rich history and traditions. The Fifth District includes the City of Minneapolis and the surrounding suburbs. (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/representative-keith-ellison; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/representative-keith-ellison.rss) - [Transgender Law Center (TLC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/transgender-law-center-tlc/index.md): Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/transgender-law-center-tlc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/transgender-law-center-tlc.rss) - [Sea Shepherd](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sea-shepherd/index.md): Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sea-shepherd; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sea-shepherd.rss) - [American Promise](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-promise/index.md): American Promise mission is to empower, inspire, and organize Americans to win the cause of our time: the 28th Amendment. This historic reform will rebalance our politics and government by putting the rights of individual citizens and the interests of the nation before the privileges of concentrated money, corporations, unions, political parties, and superPACs. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-promise; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-promise.rss) - [Americans For Tax Fairness Action Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-tax-fairness-action-fund/index.md): Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a diverse campaign of more than 425 national, state and local endorsing organizations united in support of a fair tax system that works for all Americans. It has come together based on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. This requires big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, not to live by their own set of rules. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-tax-fairness-action-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-tax-fairness-action-fund.rss) - [Biofuelwatch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/biofuelwatch/index.md): Biofuelwatch provides information, advocacy and campaigning in relation to the climate, environmental, human rights and public health impacts of large-scale industrial bioenergy. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/biofuelwatch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/biofuelwatch.rss) - [Grassroots International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-international/index.md): Grassroots International connects people in the US with global movements solving the root causes of poverty and climate change. We are a trusted link to communities building power to protect their rights to land, food, and water for the well-being of people and the planet. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/grassroots-international.rss) - [End Rape On Campus (EROC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/end-rape-campus-eroc/index.md): End Rape On Campus (EROC) provides confidential services. This message is intended only for the named recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. This email and all other communication from EROC employees are not substitutes for legal or mental health advice, as EROC employees are not lawyers or mental health professionals. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/end-rape-campus-eroc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/end-rape-campus-eroc.rss) - [Climate Justice Programme](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-justice-programme/index.md): The Climate Justice Programme (CJP) is an independent not for profit, non-government organisation that uses the law to expose environmental and human rights issues relating to climate change. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-justice-programme; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-justice-programme.rss) - [Stop the Wall](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-wall/index.md): The Stop the Wall Campaign's aim to tear down the Wall is aligned with the Palestinian desire for liberation--for those of us inside and in exile, the young and old, those who have died, and those yet to be born. We are a grassroots movement uniting the struggle of the popular committees in the villages, refugee camps and cities struggling against the Wall and the settlements and the efforts of Palestinian civil society. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-wall; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stop-wall.rss) - [Organization for Competitive Markets](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organization-competitive-markets/index.md): Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a national, non-profit public policy research and advocacy organization headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organization-competitive-markets; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/organization-competitive-markets.rss) - [Balestra Media](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/balestra-media/index.md): Balestra Media is a communications shop of energetic and savvy public relations professionals dedicated to providing a springboard for the progressive community into the news cycle, in ways that both reach and influence. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/balestra-media; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/balestra-media.rss) - [The LGBT Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lgbt-network/index.md): The LGBT Network is an association of non-profit organizations working to serve the LGBT community of Long Island and Queens throughout the lifespan: Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY), The Long Island LGBT Community Center (The Center), Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders - Long Island (SAGE-LI), and the Queens LGBT Community Center (Q Center). (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lgbt-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/lgbt-network.rss) - [Pacifica Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pacifica-foundation/index.md): Started in 1946 by conscientious objector Lew Hill, Pacifica's storied history includes impounded program tapes for a 1954 on-air discussion of marijuana, broadcasting the Seymour Hersh revelations of the My Lai massacre, bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, going to jail rather than turning over the Patty Hearst tapes to the FBI, and Supreme Court cases. Those cases include the 1984 decision that noncommercial broadcasters have the constitutional right to editorialize, and the Seven Dirty Words ruling following George Carlin's incendiary performances on WBAI. The Pacifica Foundation operates noncommercial radio stations in five major metropolitan areas, and syndicates content to over 220 affiliates. It invented listener-sponsored radio. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pacifica-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/pacifica-foundation.rss) - [Compassion in World Farming](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/compassion-world-farming/index.md): Compassion in World Farming was founded in 1967 in England by a British farmer who became horrified by the development of intensive factory farming. Over 40 years ago he decided to make a difference and take a stand against this farming system. In his lifetime, Peter Roberts saw the demise of veal crates and gestation crates in the UK, and in Europe achieved recognition that animals are sentient beings and secured a ban on the barren battery cage and gestation crates for sows (except for the period up to four weeks into pregnancy). (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/compassion-world-farming; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/compassion-world-farming.rss) - [UNHCR](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/unhcr/index.md): UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organisation dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/unhcr; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/unhcr.rss) - [Community Alliance for Global Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-alliance-global-justice/index.md): Community Alliance for Global Justice educates and mobilizes with individuals and organizations to strengthen local economies everywhere. CAGJ is grassroots, community-based and committed to anti-oppressive organizing as we build solidarity across diverse movements. CAGJ seeks to transform unjust trade and agricultural policies and practices imposed by corporations, governments and other institutions while creating and supporting alternatives that embody social justice, sustainability, diversity and grassroots democracy. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-alliance-global-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/community-alliance-global-justice.rss) - [Elders Rising](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/elders-rising/index.md): Elders Rising calls on the older generation to defend a livable future for their children, grandchildren, and future generations. We believe the State of Utah and the Federal Government must respond to the crisis of climate change. We act for intergenerational justice and for the countless species that make a livable world. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/elders-rising; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/elders-rising.rss) - [Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/moms-demand-action-gun-sense-america/index.md): Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America was created to demand action from legislators, state and federal; companies; and educational institutions to establish common-sense gun reforms. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/moms-demand-action-gun-sense-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/moms-demand-action-gun-sense-america.rss) - [The Right Livelihood Award](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/right-livelihood-award/index.md): The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to "honour and support courageous people solving global problems". It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and there are now 182 Laureates from 72 countries. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/right-livelihood-award; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/right-livelihood-award.rss) - [Women's Earth & Climate Action Network (WECAN)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/womens-earth-climate-action-network-wecan/index.md): The Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International is a solutions-based organization established to engage women worldwide in policy advocacy, on-the-ground projects, direct action, trainings, and movement building for global climate justice. (43 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/womens-earth-climate-action-network-wecan; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/womens-earth-climate-action-network-wecan.rss) - [The International Rescue Committee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-rescue-committee/index.md): The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. (53 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-rescue-committee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-rescue-committee.rss) - [Women Cross DMZ](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/women-cross-dmz/index.md): Women Cross DMZis an organization led by women working globally for peace in Korea. In May 2015, on the 70thanniversary of the division of Korea, Women Cross DMZ led a historic women's peace walk across the De-Militarized Zone from North to South Korea to draw global attention to the urgent need to end the Korean War with a peace treaty, reunite divided families, and ensure women's leadership in peacebuilding. www.womencrossdmz.org (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/women-cross-dmz; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/women-cross-dmz.rss) - [Acadia Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/acadia-center/index.md): Acadia Center is a non-profit, research and advocacy organization committed to advancing the clean energy future. Acadia Center is at the forefront of efforts to build clean, low-carbon and consumer-friendly economies. Acadia Center provides accurate and reliable information and offers a real-world and comprehensive approach to problem solving through innovation and collaboration. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/acadia-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/acadia-center.rss) - [American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-sustainable-business-council-asbc/index.md): The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) advocates for policy change and informs business owners, policymakers and the public about the need and opportunities for building a vibrant, broadly prosperous, sustainable economy. Founded in 2009, its membership represents over 250,000 businesses in a wide range of industries. (40 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-sustainable-business-council-asbc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-sustainable-business-council-asbc.rss) - [The New York Immigration Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-york-immigration-coalition/index.md): The New York Immigration Coalition aims to achieve a fairer and more just society that values the contributions of immigrants and extends opportunity to all. The NYIC promotes immigrants' full civic participation, fosters their leadership, and provides a unified voice and a vehicle for collective action for New York's diverse immigrant communities. (48 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-york-immigration-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/new-york-immigration-coalition.rss) - [GAIA](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gaia/index.md): GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 90 countries whose ultimate vision is a just, toxic-free world without incineration. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gaia; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/gaia.rss) - [The Culinary Union](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/culinary-union/index.md): The Culinary Union was chartered on November 1, 1935 and 2015 marked the 80th anniversary of the organization that has improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Nevada hospitality workers and their families with union wages and benefits. In eight decades, the Culinary Union has become an essential economic institution and a strong political force in the Battle Born State. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/culinary-union; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/culinary-union.rss) - [The American Immigration Council](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-immigration-council/index.md): The American Immigration Council, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a powerful voice in promoting laws, policies, and attitudes that honor our proud history as a nation of immigrants. Through research and policy analysis, litigation and communications, and international exchange, the Council seeks to shape a twenty-first century vision of the American immigrant experience. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-immigration-council; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-immigration-council.rss) - [Citizens Against Monopoly](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-against-monopoly/index.md): Citizens Against Monopoly's mission was to protect liberty and democracy from gigantic corporate monopolies. When we criticized Google for its monopoly practices, our program's funding was cut. We're continuing the fight -- and we need you to join us. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-against-monopoly; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/citizens-against-monopoly.rss) - [Our Revolution](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-revolution/index.md): Our Revolution will reclaim democracy for the working people of our country by harnessing the transformative energy of the "political revolution." Through supporting a new generation of progressive leaders, empowering millions to fight for progressive change and elevating the political consciousness, Our Revolution will transform American politics to make our political and economic systems once again responsive to the needs of working families. Our Revolution has three intertwined goals: to revitalize American democracy, empower progressive leaders and elevate the political consciousness. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-revolution; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/our-revolution.rss) - [United We Dream](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-we-dream/index.md): United We Dream is the largest immigrant youth-led community in the country. We create welcoming spaces for young people - regardless of immigration status - to support, engage, and empower them to make their voice heard and win! (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-we-dream; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-we-dream.rss) - [National Women's Law Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-womens-law-center/index.md): The Center has worked for more than 40 years to protect and promote equality and opportunity for women and families. We champion policies and laws that help women and girls achieve their potential at every stage of their lives -- at school, at work, at home, and in retirement. Our staff are committed advocates who take on the toughest challenges, especially for the most vulnerable women. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-womens-law-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-womens-law-center.rss) - [SumofUs](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sumofus/index.md): SumOfUs is a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations. We want to buy from, work for and invest in companies that respect the environment, treat their workers well and respect democracy. And we're not afraid to hold them to account when they don't. Barely a day goes by without a fresh corporate scandal making headlines. From polluting the environment to dodging taxes - when left unchecked, corporations don't let anything stand in the way of bigger profits. In an age of multinational companies that are bigger and richer than some countries, it can be easy to feel powerless. But there is a chink in their armor. The biggest corporations in the world rely on ordinary people to keep them in business. We are their customers, their employees, and often their investors. When we act together, we can be more powerful than they are. Together, our community of millions act as a global consumer watchdog - running and winning campaign (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sumofus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sumofus.rss) - [Global Zero](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-zero/index.md): Global Zero is the international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons. It is led by more than 300 eminent world leaders and backed by a half a million citizens worldwide. For more information, please visitwww.globalzero.org. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-zero; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-zero.rss) - [The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/immigrant-legal-resource-center-ilrc/index.md): The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is a national nonprofit that works with immigrants, community organizations, legal professionals, and policy makers to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. Through community education programs, legal training & technical assistance, and policy development & advocacy, the ILRC's mission is to protect and defend the fundamental rights of immigrant families and communities. www.ilrc.org (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/immigrant-legal-resource-center-ilrc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/immigrant-legal-resource-center-ilrc.rss) - [NAACP Legal Defense Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/naacp-legal-defense-fund/index.md): Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation's first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957--although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/naacp-legal-defense-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/naacp-legal-defense-fund.rss) - [Network Lobby](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/network-lobby/index.md): NETWORK, advocates for justice inspired by Catholic sisters, educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a more than 40-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/network-lobby; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/network-lobby.rss) - [NIAC Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/niac-action/index.md): NIAC Action is the grassroots, civic action organization committed to advancing peace and championing the priorities of the Iranian-American community. We are a nonpartisan nonprofit and the 501(c)4 sister organization of the National Iranian American Council, which works to strengthen the Iranian-American community and promote greater understanding between the American and Iranian people. (41 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/niac-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/niac-action.rss) - [Asian Americans Advancing Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/asian-americans-advancing-justice/index.md): Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC (Advancing Justice | AAJC) advocates for an America in which all Americans can benefit equally from, and contribute to, the American dream. Our mission is to advance the civil and human rights for Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. Advancing Justice | AAJC is a national 501 (c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1991 in Washington, D.C. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/asian-americans-advancing-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/asian-americans-advancing-justice.rss) - [Freedom of the Press Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-press-foundation/index.md): Freedom of the Press Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to helping support and defend public-interest journalism focused on exposing mismanagement, corruption, and law-breaking in government. We work to preserve and strengthen the rights guaranteed to the press under the First Amendment through crowdfunding, digital security and internet advocacy. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-press-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/freedom-press-foundation.rss) - [Progressive Congress Action Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-congress-action-fund/index.md): Progressive Congress Action Fund is a 501(c)4 organization that serves as the vital linkage between progressive Members of Congress and grassroots organizers around the country, turning bold policy ideas into action and advancing a progressive agenda. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-congress-action-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progressive-congress-action-fund.rss) - [The Main Street Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/main-street-alliance/index.md): The Main Street Alliance (MSA) is a national network of small business coalitions working to build a new voice for small businesses on important public policy issues. Main Street Alliance members are working throughout the country to build policies that work for business owners, their employees, and the communities they serve. (68 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/main-street-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/main-street-alliance.rss) - [Millions Marching For Medicare For All](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/millions-marching-medicare-all/index.md): Millions Marching For Medicare For All is a collective of everyday Americans, taking the streets to demand that access to quality care be expanded to all people regardless of income. We chant "healthcare is a human right" as we shut down business as usual in the fight to save our lives. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/millions-marching-medicare-all; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/millions-marching-medicare-all.rss) - [The World Health Organization](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-health-organization/index.md): The World Health Organization's goal is to build a better, healthier future for people all over the world. Working through offices in more than 150 countries, WHO staff work side by side with governments and other partners to ensure the highest attainable level of health for all people. Together we strive to combat diseases - infectious diseases like influenza and HIV and noncommunicable ones like cancer and heart disease. We help mothers and children survive and thrive so they can look forward to a healthy old age. We ensure the safety of the air people breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink - and the medicines and vaccines they need. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-health-organization; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/world-health-organization.rss) - [Senator Elizabeth Warren](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/senator-elizabeth-warren/index.md): Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and fearless consumer advocate who has made her life's work the fight for middle class families, was elected to the United States Senate on November 6, 2012, by the people of Massachusetts. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/senator-elizabeth-warren; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/senator-elizabeth-warren.rss) - [Rep. Barbara Lee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/barbara-lee/index.md): Congresswoman Barbara Lee has been representing California’s 13th District since 1998. She is the highest ranking African American woman in Democratic Leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. She also serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, which oversees all federal government spending. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/barbara-lee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/barbara-lee.rss) - [John Conyers, Jr., Congressman](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/john-conyers-jr-congressman/index.md): John Conyers, Jr., Congressman (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/john-conyers-jr-congressman; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/john-conyers-jr-congressman.rss) - [The Commonwealth Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/commonwealth-fund/index.md): The Commonwealth Fund--among the first private foundations started by a woman philanthropist, Anna M. Harkness--was established in 1918 with the broad charge to enhance the common good. The mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/commonwealth-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/commonwealth-fund.rss) - [Social Security Works](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/social-security-works/index.md): Social Security Works' mission is to: Protect and improve the economic security of disadvantaged and at-risk populations; Safeguard the economic security of those dependent, now or in the future, on Social Security; and Maintain Social Security as a vehicle of social justice. (126 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/social-security-works; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/social-security-works.rss) - [Mercy for Animals](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mercy-animals/index.md): Mercy For Animals believes that a humane society is possible. We are committed to reducing the greatest amount of suffering for the largest number of animals. Our efforts focus on protecting farmed animals--the most abused and exploited animals on the planet--and utilize a broad range of strategic approaches that seek to expose cruelty, prosecute abusers, and inspire consumers to make compassionate food choices. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/mercy-animals; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/mercy-animals.rss) - [American Federation of Teachers](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-teachers/index.md): The American Federation of Teachers is a union of professionals that champions fairness; democracy; economic opportunity; and high-quality public education, healthcare and public services for our students, their families and our communities. We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do. The American Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, was founded in 1916 and today represents 1.6 million members in more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-teachers; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-federation-teachers.rss) - [Nuclear Age Peace Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nuclear-age-peace-foundation/index.md): Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's mission is to educate and advocate for peace and a world free of nuclear weapons, and to empower peace leaders. (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nuclear-age-peace-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/nuclear-age-peace-foundation.rss) - [Climate Disobedience Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-disobedience-center/index.md): Climate Disobedience Center is an organization designed to serve as a catalyst for direct action, creating points of vivid moral clarity, emboldening both climate activists and the unlikeliest of allies, to capture the heart and soul of the climate debate. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-disobedience-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-disobedience-center.rss) - [Open Media](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-media/index.md): OpenMedia is a community-driven organization that works to keep the Internet open, affordable, and surveillance-free. We operate as a civic engagement platform to educate, engage, and empower Internet users to advance digital rights around the world. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-media; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/open-media.rss) - [Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-environmental-legal-defense-fund/index.md): The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is helping build a decolonial movement for Community Rights and the Rights of Nature to advance democratic, economic, social, and environmental rights-building upward from the grassroots to the state, federal, and international levels. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-environmental-legal-defense-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/community-environmental-legal-defense-fund.rss) - [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-nuclear-disarmament/index.md): CND campaigns non-violently to rid the world of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction and to create genuine security for future generations. CND opposes all nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction: their development, manufacture, testing, deployment and use or threatened use by any country. (36 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-nuclear-disarmament; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/campaign-nuclear-disarmament.rss) - [Bold Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bold-alliance/index.md): Bold Alliance is a non-profit organization fighting fossil fuel projects, protecting landowners against eminent domain abuse, and working for clean energy solutions while building an engaged base of citizens who care about the land, water and climate change. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bold-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/bold-alliance.rss) - [The Greenlining Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/greenlining-institute/index.md): Greenlining is the solution to redlining. We advance economic opportunity and empowerment for people of color through advocacy, community and coalition building, research, and leadership development. (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/greenlining-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/greenlining-institute.rss) - [Physicians for Reproductive Health](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-reproductive-health/index.md): Physicians for Reproductive Health unites the medical community and concerned supporters. Together, we work to improve access to comprehensive reproductive health care, including contraception and abortion, especially to meet the health care needs of economically disadvantaged patients. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-reproductive-health; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/physicians-reproductive-health.rss) - [Americans for Tax Fairness](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-tax-fairness/index.md): Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a diverse campaign of more than 420 national, state and local endorsing organizations united in support of a fair tax system that works for all Americans. It has come together based on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. This requires big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, not to live by their own set of rules. (70 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-tax-fairness; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-tax-fairness.rss) - [Climate Action Tracker](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-action-tracker/index.md): The Climate Action Tracker is an independent scientific analysis that measures government climate action against the globally agreed aim of holding warming well below 2degC, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5degC. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-action-tracker; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-action-tracker.rss) - [American Federation of Government Employees](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-government-employees/index.md): The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union proudly representing 700,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas. Workers in virtually all functions of government at every federal agency depend upon AFGE for legal representation, legislative advocacy, technical expertise and informational services. (57 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-federation-government-employees; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-federation-government-employees.rss) - [Patriotic Millionaires](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/patriotic-millionaires/index.md): The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens. (262 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/patriotic-millionaires; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/patriotic-millionaires.rss) - [Congresswoman Barbara Lee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-barbara-lee/index.md): Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a Democrat, represents the 13th District in California. (37 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congresswoman-barbara-lee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congresswoman-barbara-lee.rss) - [Progressive Change Campaign Committee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-change-campaign-committee/index.md): The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (BoldProgressives.org) is a million-member grassroots organization building power at the local, state and federal levels. It engages in electoral work and issue advocacy work -- fighting on democracy issues and for economic populist priorities like expanding Social Security, Medicare For All, a Green New Deal, student debt cancellation, and Wall Street reform. PCCC has been a proud supporter of Elizabeth Warren since her first run for Senate and was the first national political organization to endorse her for president in the 2020 election. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-change-campaign-committee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progressive-change-campaign-committee.rss) - [Indivisible](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/indivisible/index.md): Indivisible Project (501c4) drives coordinated campaigns, powering the grassroots Indivisible movement to defeat the rightwing takeover of American government and win an inclusive democracy and bold progressive policies. (41 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/indivisible; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/indivisible.rss) - [Stop the War Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-war-coalition/index.md): Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the "war on terror". Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Stop the War opposes the British establishment's disastrous addiction to war and its squandering of public resources on militarism. We have initiated many campaigns around these issues. (48 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-war-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stop-war-coalition.rss) - [Friends of the Earth Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-action/index.md): Friends of the Earth Action provides extra political muscle on legislative battles here in the U.S. to our sister organization, Friends of the Earth, which is part of a network of affiliates in 76 nations around the world. Friends of the Earth Action and its affiliated PAC make thoughtful political endorsements, provide direct support to candidates and place environmentalists in the field on critical campaigns. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/friends-earth-action.rss) - [Earthrights International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthrights-international/index.md): EarthRights International (ERI) is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment, which we define as "earth rights." We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training grassroots and community leaders, and advocacy campaigns. Through these strategies, EarthRights International seeks to end earth rights abuses, to provide real solutions for real people, and to promote and protect human rights and the environment in the communities where we work. (31 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthrights-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/earthrights-international.rss) - [Free Speech for People](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-speech-people/index.md): Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to defend our democracy and our Constitution. (87 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-speech-people; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/free-speech-people.rss) - [National Employment Law Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-employment-law-project/index.md): For more than 45 years, NELP has sought to ensure that America upholds for all workers her promise of opportunity and economic security through work. NELP fights for policies to create good jobs, expand access to work, and strengthen protections and support for low-wage workers and the unemployed. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-employment-law-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-employment-law-project.rss) - [Open Debate Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-debate-coalition/index.md): Open Debate Coalition is the sponsor of the OpenPresidentalQuestions.com project--bringing together the PCCC, Americans for Tax Reform, and dozens of influential left, right, and Silicon Valley coalition members to give the public a voice in the second debate, which will feature questions from the internet. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/open-debate-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/open-debate-coalition.rss) - [Navdanya International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/navdanya-international/index.md): Navdanya is a movement for Earth Democracy based on the philosophy of 'Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam' (The Earth as one Family). We protect the India's biodiversity based food heritage through Bija Swaraj, Ann Swaraj, Bhu Swaraj and Gyan swaraj. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/navdanya-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/navdanya-international.rss) - [Shut It Down - Climate Direct Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/shut-it-down-climate-direct-action/index.md): In October 2016 activists under the banner of 'Shut It Down - Climate Direct Action' took the climate future into their own hands by shutting down all the tar sands oil flowing into the US from Canada. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/shut-it-down-climate-direct-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/shut-it-down-climate-direct-action.rss) - [Grassroots Global Justice Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-global-justice-alliance/index.md): Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) is a national alliance of US-based grassroots organizing (GRO) groups organizing to build an agenda for power for working and poor people and communities of color. We understand that there are important connections between the local issues we work on and the global context, and we see ourselves as part of an international movement for global justice. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-global-justice-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/grassroots-global-justice-alliance.rss) - [SOA Watch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/soa-watch/index.md): SOA Watch is a nonviolent grassroots movement that works to close the SOA and change the oppressive US foreign policy that the school represents. To date, over 70,000 Latin American soldiers and police have been trained at the US taxpayer-funded institution. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/soa-watch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/soa-watch.rss) - [Green Party of the US](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-party-us/index.md): The Green Party of the United States is a grassroots national party. We're the party for "We The People," the health of our planet, and future generations instead of the One Percent. (42 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-party-us; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/green-party-us.rss) - [Live Share Grow](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/live-share-grow/index.md): Live Share Grow uses creative nonviolent action to interrupt business-as-usual; invites the 100% to live, share, grow; points to the viable alternatives, and actively participates in local, sustainable, just, and equitable ways of being in the world. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/live-share-grow; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/live-share-grow.rss) - [Advancement Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/advancement-project/index.md): Advancement Project is a next generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America's promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/advancement-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/advancement-project.rss) - [Chicago Teachers Union](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chicago-teachers-union/index.md): An affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), CTU is the third largest teachers local in the country and the largest local union in Illinois. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chicago-teachers-union; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/chicago-teachers-union.rss) - [Indigenous Environmental Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/indigenous-environmental-network/index.md): Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN's activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities. (122 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/indigenous-environmental-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/indigenous-environmental-network.rss) - [Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/financial-accountability-and-corporate-transparency-fact-coalition/index.md): The Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition is a non-partisan alliance of more than 100 state, national, and international organizations working toward a fair tax system that addresses the challenges of a global economy and promoting policies to combat the harmful impacts of corrupt financial practices. (34 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/financial-accountability-and-corporate-transparency-fact-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/financial-accountability-and-corporate-transparency-fact-coalition.rss) - [Coalition to Stop Gun Violence](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/coalition-stop-gun-violence/index.md): The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) is a 501(c)(4) organization that was founded in 1974. We seek to secure freedom from gun violence through research, strategic engagement and effective policy advocacy. Our organizational structure is unique among national gun violence prevention organizations. CSGV is composed of 47 national organizations working to reduce gun violence. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/coalition-stop-gun-violence; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/coalition-stop-gun-violence.rss) - [The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/leadership-conference-civil-and-human-rights/index.md): The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals. (159 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/leadership-conference-civil-and-human-rights; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/leadership-conference-civil-and-human-rights.rss) - [Stop Mass Incarceration Network - Chicago](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-mass-incarceration-network-chicago/index.md): The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stop-mass-incarceration-network-chicago; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stop-mass-incarceration-network-chicago.rss) - [International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-campaign-abolish-nuclear-weapons-ican/index.md): The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of more than 400 non-governmental organisations in 95 countries. We are calling on governments to launch negotiations on a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons, which would place them on the same legal footing as chemical and biological weapons and help pave the way to their complete elimination. (23 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-campaign-abolish-nuclear-weapons-ican; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-campaign-abolish-nuclear-weapons-ican.rss) - [Progress Michigan](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progress-michigan/index.md): Progress Michigan aims to provide a strong credible voice that holds public officials and government accountable, assists in the promotion of progressive ideas and uses state-of-the-art web based new media to creatively build grassroots support for progressive ideas. (26 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progress-michigan; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progress-michigan.rss) - [350 Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350-action/index.md): 350 Action is the independent political action arm of the non-profit, non-partisan climate justice group 350.org. (79 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/350-action.rss) - [Climate Action Network International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-action-network-international/index.md): The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 950 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from over 110 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-action-network-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-action-network-international.rss) - [Climate Tracker](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-tracker/index.md): The Carbon Tracker Initiative is a not-for-profit financial think tank that seeks to promote a climate-secure global energy market by aligning capital markets with climate reality. Our research to date on unburnable carbon and stranded assets has begun a new debate on how to align the financial system with the energy transition to a low carbon future. www.carbontracker.org (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/climate-tracker; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/climate-tracker.rss) - [Regeneration International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/regeneration-international/index.md): Regeneration International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to building a global network of farmers, scientists, businesses, activists, educators, journalists, governments and consumers who will promote and put into practice regenerative agriculture and land-use practices that: provide abundant, nutritious food; revive local economies; rebuild soil fertility and biodiversity; and restore climate stability by returning carbon to the soil, through the natural process of photosynthesis. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/regeneration-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/regeneration-international.rss) - [Ecojustice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ecojustice/index.md): As Canada's only national environmental law charity, Ecojustice is building the case for a better earth. (38 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ecojustice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/ecojustice.rss) - [Together for Global Justice (CIDSE)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/together-global-justice-cidse/index.md): Our 17 member organisations from Europe and North America come together under the umbrella of CIDSE to fight poverty and inequality. We challenge governments, business, churches, and international bodies to adopt policies and behavior that promote human rights, social justice and sustainable development. These are important elements of our mission, which we try to achieve through joint advocacy, campaigning and development cooperation work. We work with people of all faiths and none. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/together-global-justice-cidse; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/together-global-justice-cidse.rss) - [Carbon Underground](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/carbon-underground/index.md): TheCarbonUnderground was created to be the umbrella organization responsible for organizing, communicating and educating the world about the powerful climate change-reversing ability of healthy soil, and for helping to create the transformation of enough farms and grasslands to restore a healthy climate. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/carbon-underground; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/carbon-underground.rss) - [Fight for $15](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-15/index.md): Fast food workers are coming together all over the country to fight for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and to cover basic needs like food, health care, rent and transportation. (43 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-15; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fight-15.rss) - [sHELLNO](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/shellno/index.md): We are a coalition of activists, artists, and noisemakers battling Shell in Seattle. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/shellno; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/shellno.rss) - [Pembina Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pembina-institute/index.md): The Pembina Institute is an organization unlike any other working to protect Canada's environment today. We combine the research and technical capacity of a think tank with the values and advocacy of an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) and the entrepreneurial and business sense of a for-profit consulting firm. This equips us with a unique ability to employ multi-faceted and highly collaborative approaches to change. Pembina's 50 staff in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and the Northwest Territories use research, advocacy and consulting as tools toward our goal of leading Canada's transition to a clean energy future. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pembina-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/pembina-institute.rss) - [Global Justice Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-justice-now/index.md): Global Justice Now is a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. We mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south. (124 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-justice-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-justice-now.rss) - [La Via Campesina](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/la-campesina/index.md): La Via Campesina is the international movement which brings together millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. It defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity. It strongly opposes corporate driven agriculture and transnational companies that are destroying people and nature. La Via Campesina comprises about 164 local and national organizations in 73 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Altogether, it represents about 200 million farmers. It is an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent from any political, economic or other type of affiliation. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/la-campesina; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/la-campesina.rss) - [Grassroots Leadership](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-leadership/index.md): At Grassroots Leadership, we believe no one should profit from the imprisonment of human beings. We live in the most incarcerated society in the history of the world. Every day we confront a prison industry that preys on pain because our addiction to locking people up dehumanizes all of us. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-leadership; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/grassroots-leadership.rss) - [New York Civil Liberties Union](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-york-civil-liberties-union/index.md): The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) is one of the nation's foremost defenders of civil liberties and civil rights. Founded in 1951 as the New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, we are a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization with eight chapters and regional offices and nearly 50,000 members across the state. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-york-civil-liberties-union; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/new-york-civil-liberties-union.rss) - [Privacy International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/privacy-international/index.md): Privacy International is committed to fighting for the right to privacy across the world. We investigate the secret world of government surveillance and expose the companies enabling it. We litigate to ensure that surveillance is consistent with the rule of law. We advocate for strong national, regional, and international laws that protect privacy. We conduct research to catalyse policy change. We raise awareness about technologies and laws that place privacy at risk, to ensure that the public is informed and engaged. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/privacy-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/privacy-international.rss) - [National Iranian American Council (NIAC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-iranian-american-council-niac/index.md): The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 to give voice to the Iranian-American community. From being the trusted voice on U.S.- Iran relations, to pushing forth legislation that protects individuals of Iranian heritage from systematic discrimination, to celebrating our cultural heritage, NIAC creates a lasting impact in the lives of the members of our community. (141 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-iranian-american-council-niac; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-iranian-american-council-niac.rss) - [Restaurant Opportunities Centers United](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/restaurant-opportunities-centers-united/index.md): The mission of the Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United is to improve wages and working conditions for the nation's restaurant workforce. We are 13,000 restaurant workers, 100 high-road employers, thousands of engaged consumers united for raising restaurant industry standards. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/restaurant-opportunities-centers-united; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/restaurant-opportunities-centers-united.rss) - [U.S. Right to Know](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-right-know/index.md): U.S. Right to Know is a nonprofit investigative research group focused on promoting transparency for public health. We are working globally to expose corporate wrongdoing and government failures that threaten the integrity of our health, our environment and our food system. (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-right-know; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/us-right-know.rss) - [Share the World's Resources](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/share-worlds-resources/index.md): STWR is an independent civil society organisation campaigning for a fairer sharing of wealth, power and resources within and between nations. Through our research and activities, we make a case for implementing economic sharing as a pragmatic solution to a broad range of interconnected crises that governments are currently failing to address - including hunger, poverty, climate change, environmental destruction and conflict over the world's natural resources. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/share-worlds-resources; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/share-worlds-resources.rss) - [National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-latina-institute-reproductive-health/index.md): The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health is the only national reproductive justice organization dedicated to building Latina power to advance health, dignity, and justice for 26 million Latinas, their families, and communities in the United States through leadership development, community mobilization, policy advocacy, and strategic communications. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-latina-institute-reproductive-health; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-latina-institute-reproductive-health.rss) - [Don't Shoot Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/dont-shoot-coalition/index.md): The murder of Michael Brown and its aftermath have exposed the ongoing crisis of police-on-black crime. As we work toward justice for the Brown family, we must also address the ongoing systemic problems of police practices in black, brown and all oppressed communities. We come together as diverse local organizations to speak with one voice, so that the greater St. Louis area can become a model for justice for all across the United States. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/dont-shoot-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/dont-shoot-coalition.rss) - [Environmental Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-action/index.md): Founded at the first Earth Day with a mission to protect the planet and all of us who live on it, we are Environmental Action. We stand up to big polluters, take on the corrupt politicians and give everyone in America a chance to be an environmentalist with simple, powerful actions. Ready to take action for the planet? You're in the right place. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/environmental-action.rss) - [Fight for the Future](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-future/index.md): Fight for the Future is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists who have been behind the largest online protests in human history, channeling Internet outrage into political power to win public interest victories previously thought to be impossible. We fight for a future where technology liberates -- not oppresses -- us. (221 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fight-future; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fight-future.rss) - [Oceana](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oceana/index.md): Oceana is the largest international ocean conservation and advocacy organization. Oceana works to protect and restore the world's oceans through targeted policy campaigns. (75 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oceana; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oceana.rss) - [UltraViolet](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ultraviolet/index.md): UltraViolet is a powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture. (99 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ultraviolet; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/ultraviolet.rss) - [Huu-ay-aht First Nations](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/huu-ay-aht-first-nations/index.md): As a leader among First Nations, the Huu-ay-aht will create certainty for its people and generate wealth for financial independence by providing economic opportunities, social, cultural and recreational programs for all Huu-ay-aht. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/huu-ay-aht-first-nations; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/huu-ay-aht-first-nations.rss) - [Latino Advocacy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/latino-advocacy/index.md): Latino Advocacy provides consulting for non-profits in the areas of policy, advocacy, organizing and membership development, workshops and meetings facilitation, focusing on racial justice and immigrant rights. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/latino-advocacy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/latino-advocacy.rss) - [Western Environmental Law Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-environmental-law-center/index.md): The Western Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to safeguard the public lands, wildlife, and communities of the American West in the face of a changing climate. We envision a thriving, resilient West, abundant with protected public lands and wildlife, powered by clean energy, and defended by communities rooted in an ethic of conservation. (49 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/western-environmental-law-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/western-environmental-law-center.rss) - [Rolling Jubilee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rolling-jubilee/index.md): Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rolling-jubilee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/rolling-jubilee.rss) - [Coalition for Peace Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/coalition-peace-action/index.md): The Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) is a grassroots citizens organization which brings together people of all ages, backgrounds, professions, and political persuasions in support of three goals: global abolition of nuclear weapons, a peace economy, and a halt to weapons trafficking at home and abroad. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/coalition-peace-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/coalition-peace-action.rss) - [Rodale Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rodale-institute/index.md): Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. For more than sixty years, we've been researching the best practices of organic agriculture and sharing our findings with farmers and scientists throughout the world, advocating for policies that support farmers, and educating consumers about how going organic is the healthiest options for people and the planet. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rodale-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/rodale-institute.rss) - [Food Research and Action Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-research-and-action-center/index.md): The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) leads efforts to broaden low-income children's access to healthy school lunch and breakfast, summer and afterschool meals and child care food in the child nutrition reauthorization process. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-research-and-action-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/food-research-and-action-center.rss) - [Reject and Protect](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reject-and-protect/index.md): Reject and Protect is led by the "Cowboy Indian Alliance," a group of ranchers, farmers, and tribal communities from along the Keystone XL pipeline route. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reject-and-protect; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/reject-and-protect.rss) - [The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/upstate-coalition-ground-drones-and-end-wars/index.md): The Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars is made up of antiwar organizations and formed around resistance to the MQ-9 Reaper Drone program at Hancock Field Air Force Base. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/upstate-coalition-ground-drones-and-end-wars; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/upstate-coalition-ground-drones-and-end-wars.rss) - [Center for Reproductive Rights](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-reproductive-rights/index.md): The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global human rights organization of lawyers and advocates who ensure reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights for the dignity, equality, health, and well-being of every person. (73 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-reproductive-rights; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-reproductive-rights.rss) - [People's Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peoples-action/index.md): People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections. (190 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peoples-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/peoples-action.rss) - [Jewish Voice for Peace](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jewish-voice-peace/index.md): Jewish Voice for Peace is a national, grassroots organization inspired by Jewish tradition to work for a just and lasting peace according to principles of human rights, equality, and international law for all the people of Israel and Palestine. JVP has over 200,000 online supporters, over 70 chapters, a youth wing, a Rabbinic Council, an Artist Council, an Academic Advisory Council, and an Advisory Board made up of leading U.S. intellectuals and artists. (108 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jewish-voice-peace; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jewish-voice-peace.rss) - [Iraq Veterans Against the War](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/iraq-veterans-against-war/index.md): Matt Howard, Communications Director 646.723.0989Media@ivaw.org (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/iraq-veterans-against-war; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/iraq-veterans-against-war.rss) - [US Robin Hood Tax Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-robin-hood-tax-campaign/index.md): The U.S. Robin Hood Tax would set a 0.5% tax on the trading of stocks, 50 cents on every $100 of trades, and lesser rates on trading in bonds, derivatives and currencies in the U.S. It marks the return of a tax on financial transactions in place in this country during the years 1914 to 1966. Some form of the financial tax is in place today in more than 40 countries. Who's behind it? We are Nobel Prize-winning economists, former US Vice Presidents and founders of Microsoft. We are Ronald Reagan's Budget Director, the UN's Secretary General and the Archbishop of Capetown. We are union members, nurses, small business owners, community organizers, faith leaders, AIDS activists, environmentalists, movie stars and musicians, and we are part of a global movement of more than 220 million people in 25 countries who are fighting for a Robin Hood Tax - a small tax on Wall Street trades. We are a force to be reckoned with, and we are demanding justice. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-robin-hood-tax-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/us-robin-hood-tax-campaign.rss) - [Chesapeake Climate Action Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chesapeake-climate-action-network/index.md): The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Our mission is to build and mobilize a powerful grassroots movement in this unique region that surrounds our nation's capital to call for state, national and international policies that will put us on a path to climate stability. - See more at: https://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view;=itemlist&... (24 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chesapeake-climate-action-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/chesapeake-climate-action-network.rss) - [Council of Canadians](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-canadians/index.md): Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada's leading social action organization, mobilizing a network of 60 chapters across the country. (116 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-canadians; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/council-canadians.rss) - [Haiti: Make Births Safe](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/haiti-make-births-safe/index.md): Haiti: Make Births Safe is a new campaign consisting of international and Haitian nonprofits working to ensure the health of mothers and children in northern Haiti. By investing in local medical facilities, training community healthcare providers and empowering women with knowledge and support, H:MBS takes a systemic approach to providing effective and accessible maternal and newborn care. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/haiti-make-births-safe; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/haiti-make-births-safe.rss) - [Center for Corporate Policy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-corporate-policy/index.md): The Center for Corporate Policy is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization working to curb corporate abuses and make corporations publicly accountable. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-corporate-policy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-corporate-policy.rss) - [Our Children's Trust](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-childrens-trust/index.md): Our Children's Trust is a nonprofit organization advocating for urgent emissions reductions on behalf of youth and future generations, who have the most to lose if emissions are not reduced. OCT is spearheading the international human rights and environmental TRUST Campaign to compel governments to safeguard the atmosphere as a "public trust" resource. We use law, film, and media to elevate their compelling voices. Our ultimate goal is for governments to adopt and implement enforceable science-based Climate Recovery Plans with annual emissions reductions to return to an atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration of 350 ppm. (40 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-childrens-trust; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/our-childrens-trust.rss) - [The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/partnership-civil-justice-fund/index.md): The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund is a public interest legal organization that brings a unique and cutting edge approach dedicated to the defense of human and civil rights secured by law, the protection of free speech and dissent, and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination. Among the PCJF cases are constitutional law, civil rights, women's rights, economic justice matters and Freedom of Information Act cases. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/partnership-civil-justice-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/partnership-civil-justice-fund.rss) - [Friends of the Earth International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-international/index.md): Friends of the Earth International is the world's largest grassroots environmental network, uniting 74 national member groups and some 5,000 local activist groups on every continent. With over 2 million members and supporters around the world, FOEI campaigns on today's most urgent environmental and social issues. (86 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/friends-earth-international.rss) - [Labor Network for Sustainability](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/labor-network-sustainability/index.md): Labor Network for Sustainability is dedicated to engaging trade unions, workers and our allies to support economic, social, and environmental sustainability. LNS provides a community for those in the labor and sustainability movements and their allies who care about economic justice, ecology, and equality. Our members are helping labor become a force for advancing worker interests - while advancing the broader social good. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/labor-network-sustainability; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/labor-network-sustainability.rss) - [GetEQUAL](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/getequal/index.md): GetEQUAL was, from 2010 to 2018, an American non-profit organization and advocacy group which advocates for LGBT social and political equality through confrontational but non-violent direct action. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/getequal; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/getequal.rss) - [Backbone Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/backbone-campaign/index.md): Backbone Campaign's mission is to provide creative strategies, artful activism trainings, and creative action support to progressive activists, organizers and organizations around the US and beyond in order to invigorate and nurture a people-power, community-based, and internationally-networked nonviolent social movement for human rights, thriving communities, and ecological wellbeing. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/backbone-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/backbone-campaign.rss) - [The Breast Cancer Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/breast-cancer-fund/index.md): The Breast Cancer Fund works to connect the dots between breast cancer and exposures to chemicals and radiation in our everyday environments. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/breast-cancer-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/breast-cancer-fund.rss) - [Forest Peoples Programme](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/forest-peoples-programme/index.md): Forest Peoples Programme supports the rights of peoples who live in forests and depend on them for their livelihoods. We work to create political space for forest peoples to secure their rights, control their lands and decide their own futures. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/forest-peoples-programme; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/forest-peoples-programme.rss) - [Families Against Mandatory Minimums](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/families-against-mandatory-minimums/index.md): By advocating for sensible state and federal sentencing reform, FAMM helps: Mitigate the taxpayer burden of overcrowded prisons; Shift resources from excess incarceration to law enforcement and other programs proven to reduce crime and recidivism; and Mobilize the thousands whose lives are adversely affected by unfair sentences to work constructively for change. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/families-against-mandatory-minimums; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/families-against-mandatory-minimums.rss) - [United Students Against Sweatshops](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-students-against-sweatshops/index.md): United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is the nation's largest youth-led, student labor campaign organization, with affiliated locals on over 150 campuses. USAS affiliates run both local and nationally-coordinated campaigns for economic justice in partnership with worker and community organizations. Since 1997, USAS has won precedent-setting campaigns, educated students about the growing dominance of corporations in the globalized economy, as well as the intersectionality of identity and social justice issues with the labor movement, and has trained tens of thousands of young activists to become skilled organizers, researchers, and campaigners in labor and social justice organizations. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-students-against-sweatshops; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-students-against-sweatshops.rss) - [The Jeremy Hammond Defense Committee](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jeremy-hammond-defense-committee/index.md): The Jeremy Hammond Defense Committee is a coalition of family members, activists, lawyers, and other supporters who are working together to protect free speech and to support Jeremy Hammond. The committee's goal is to provide information to the public and the press, to organize events related to Jeremy's case, and to support Jeremy while he is in jail. For more information, please visit https://freejeremy.net. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jeremy-hammond-defense-committee; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jeremy-hammond-defense-committee.rss) - [Idle No More](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/idle-no-more/index.md): Idle No More is not an organization, but a movement, and includes hundreds of Indigenous grassroots organizers from across Turtle Island who are engaged in local resistance struggles against resource extraction corporations and the Canadian government ignoring and defying Treaty rights. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/idle-no-more; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/idle-no-more.rss) - [Committee to Protect Journalists](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/committee-protect-journalists/index.md): The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. We defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. (33 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/committee-protect-journalists; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/committee-protect-journalists.rss) - [All Out](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/all-out/index.md): In 76 countries it is a crime to be gay; in 10 it can cost you your life. All Out is mobilizing millions of people and their social networks to build a powerful global movement for love and equality. Our mission is to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/all-out; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/all-out.rss) - [All Out](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/all-out-0/index.md): In 76 countries it is a crime to be gay; in 10 it can cost you your life. All Out is mobilizing millions of people and their social networks to build a powerful global movement for love and equality. Our mission is to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/all-out-0; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/all-out-0.rss) - [Penn Student Labor Action Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/penn-student-labor-action-project/index.md): Penn Student Labor Action Project is a student-worker collective that strives for the transformation of our community and material conditions to create a better reality. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/penn-student-labor-action-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/penn-student-labor-action-project.rss) - [David Suzuki Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/david-suzuki-foundation/index.md): We collaborate with Canadians from all walks of life, including government and business, to conserve our environment and find solutions that will create a sustainable Canada through science-based research, education and policy work. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/david-suzuki-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/david-suzuki-foundation.rss) - [Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI-CATS)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/michigan-coalition-against-tar-sands-mi-cats/index.md): The Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands (MI CATS) seeks to unite the people of Michigan towards a common goal of stopping all transportation and refining of tar sands oil in the state and advocating against the production/transportation of tar sands everywhere. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/michigan-coalition-against-tar-sands-mi-cats; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/michigan-coalition-against-tar-sands-mi-cats.rss) - [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/intergovernmental-panel-climate-change/index.md): The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme established the IPCC in 1988. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/intergovernmental-panel-climate-change; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/intergovernmental-panel-climate-change.rss) - [Concerned Citizens for Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/concerned-citizens-justice/index.md): Concerned Citizens for Justice (CCJ): Educating, Agitating, Motivating, and Organizing in Chattanooga! (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/concerned-citizens-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/concerned-citizens-justice.rss) - [StopWatching.us](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stopwatchingus/index.md): StopWatching.us is a coalition of more than 100 public advocacy organizations and companies from across the political spectrum. We came together in June 2013 to demand the U.S. Congress investigate the full extent of the NSA's spying programs. Go here to read our letter to U.S. Congress demanding accountability and reform. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stopwatchingus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stopwatchingus.rss) - [Representative Adam Schiff](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/representative-adam-schiff/index.md): Rep. Adam Bennett Schiff is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented California's 28th congressional district since 2013. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/representative-adam-schiff; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/representative-adam-schiff.rss) - [Freedom to Work](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-work/index.md): FreedomtoWork.org is a national organization committed to banning workplace harassment and career discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender Americans through public education, policy analysis, and legal work. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-work; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/freedom-work.rss) - [Stand Up! Chicago](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stand-chicago/index.md): Stand Up! Chicago is a coalition of community and labor organizations and working families standing up together to demand good jobs and a strong investment in our community's schools and neighborhoods. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/stand-chicago; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/stand-chicago.rss) - [Gulf Restoration Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gulf-restoration-network/index.md): The Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) is a network of environmental, social justice, and citizens' groups and individuals committed to restoring the Gulf of Mexico to an ecologically and biologically sustainable condition. www.healthygulf.org. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/gulf-restoration-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/gulf-restoration-network.rss) - [Americans Against Fracking](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-against-fracking/index.md): Fracking and drilling associated with fracking pose a direct and immediate threat to the drinking water, air, climate, food, health and economies of communities across the United States. Americans Against Fracking is comprised of entities dedicated to banning drilling and fracking for oil and natural gas in order to protect our shared vital resources for future generations. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-against-fracking; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-against-fracking.rss) - [Natural Resources Council of Maine](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/natural-resources-council-maine/index.md): The Natural Resources Council of Maine is the leading nonprofit membership organization working statewide for clean air and water; healthy people, wildlife and forests; and clean energy solutions. NRCM harnesses the power of science, the law, and the voices of more than 12,000 supporters to protect the nature of Maine. Visit NRCM online at www.nrcm.org. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/natural-resources-council-maine; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/natural-resources-council-maine.rss) - [Color of Change](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/color-change/index.md): Color Of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. (63 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/color-change; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/color-change.rss) - [Our Power Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-power-campaign/index.md): Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) is a collaborative of over 35 community-based and movement support organizations uniting frontline communities to forge a scalable, and socio-economically just transition away from unsustainable energy towards local living economies to address the root causes of climate change. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-power-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/our-power-campaign.rss) - [Credo Mobile](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/credo-mobile/index.md): CREDO Mobile is a progressive phone company that makes it easy for its customers to fight for change - and raises millions of dollars for nonprofit groups that do the same. CREDO Mobile has raised more than $72 million for progressive groups, including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Rainforest Action Network. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/credo-mobile; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/credo-mobile.rss) - [Xerces Society](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/xerces-society/index.md): The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is at the forefront of invertebrate protection worldwide, harnessing the knowledge of scientists and the enthusiasm of citizens to implement conservation programs. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/xerces-society; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/xerces-society.rss) - [War on Want](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/war-want/index.md): War on Want fights poverty in developing countries in partnership with people affected by globalization. We campaign for human rights and against the root causes of global poverty, inequality and injustice. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/war-want; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/war-want.rss) - [OUR Walmart](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-walmart/index.md): OUR Walmart works to ensure that every Associate, regardless of his or her title, age, race, or sex, is respected at Walmart. We join together to offer strength and support in addressing the challenges that arise in our stores and our company everyday. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/our-walmart; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/our-walmart.rss) - [Amazon Watch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amazon-watch/index.md): Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization founded in 1996 to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems. (39 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amazon-watch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/amazon-watch.rss) - [Center for Food Safety](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-food-safety/index.md): Center for Food Safety's mission is to empower people, support farmers, and protect the earth from the harmful impacts of industrial agriculture. Through groundbreaking legal, scientific, and grassroots action, we protect and promote your right to safe food and the environment. CFS's successful legal cases collectively represent a landmark body of case law on food and agricultural issues. (162 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-food-safety; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-food-safety.rss) - [One Wisconsin Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-wisconsin-now/index.md): One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-wisconsin-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/one-wisconsin-now.rss) - [Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/great-plains-tar-sands-resistance/index.md): Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance is a coalition of Great Plains organizations and individuals dedicated to using direct action to stop tar sands extraction and transportation infrastructure, like the Keystone XL pipeline, in the beautiful heartland of North America. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/great-plains-tar-sands-resistance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/great-plains-tar-sands-resistance.rss) - [Iraq Body Count](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/iraq-body-count/index.md): Iraq Body Count (IBC) is a citizens' initiative devoted to recording the violent civilian deaths that have resulted from the 2003 military intervention in Iraq. Its public database includes deaths caused by US-led coalition forces and paramilitary or criminal attacks by others. The project was founded in January 2003 by volunteers from the UK and USA who felt a responsibility to ensure that the human consequences of military intervention in Iraq were not neglected. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/iraq-body-count; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/iraq-body-count.rss) - [Oil Change International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oil-change-international/index.md): Oil Change International is a research, communications, and advocacy organization focused on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy. (247 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oil-change-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oil-change-international.rss) - [Fast Food Forward](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fast-food-forward/index.md): Fast Food Forward is a movement of NYC fast food workers to raise wages and gain rights at work. It is part of the national movement of low-wage workers fighting for a better future. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fast-food-forward; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fast-food-forward.rss) - [Food Democracy Now!](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-democracy-now/index.md): Food Democracy Now! is a grassroots community dedicated to building a sustainable food system that protects our natural environment, sustains farmers and nourishes families. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-democracy-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/food-democracy-now.rss) - [350Maine](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350maine/index.md): 350 Maine is a grassroots effort to bring people together across the state, sharing resources with our allies, friends, and other groups performing important environmental work and engaging individuals who have expressed interest in supporting the ideals and aims of 350.org, an international environmental organization. 350.org aims to build "a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis," and we in Maine--though we organize and act independently--stand in solidarity with this global effort. In our communities and with our neighbors, from the coast to the mountains, and from our smallest towns to our largest cities, we will strive and fight for a more sustainable world, a healthier Maine, and a better tomorrow. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350maine; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/350maine.rss) - [Arise Chicago](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/arise-chicago/index.md): Arise Chicago builds partnerships between faith communities and workers to fight workplace injustice through education and organizing and advocating for public policy changes. Its Worker Center is a community resource for workers, both immigrant and native-born, to learn about their rights and join fellow workers to improve workplace conditions. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/arise-chicago; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/arise-chicago.rss) - [KyotoNOW!](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/kyotonow/index.md): KyotoNOW! is a Cornell student organization formed in response to the US rejection of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001. Our student-run campaigns work to promote a sustainable, just future and advance policy on climate change on the university, local and national levels. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/kyotonow; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/kyotonow.rss) - [Making Change at Walmart](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/making-change-walmart/index.md): Making Change at Walmart is a campaign challenging Walmart to help rebuild our economy and strengthen working families. Anchored by the United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW), we are a coalition of Walmart associates, union members, small business owners, religious leaders, community organizations, women's advocacy groups, multi-ethnic coalitions, elected officials and ordinary citizens who believe that changing Walmart is vital for the future of our country. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/making-change-walmart; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/making-change-walmart.rss) - [Reprieve](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reprieve/index.md): Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay. (478 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reprieve; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/reprieve.rss) - [Warehouse Workers United](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/warehouse-workers-united/index.md): Warehouse Workers United is an organization committed to improving the quality of life and jobs for warehouse workers in Southern California's Inland Empire. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/warehouse-workers-united; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/warehouse-workers-united.rss) - [Tar Sands Blockade](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tar-sands-blockade/index.md): Tar Sands Blockade is a coalition of Texas and Oklahoma landowners and organizers using nonviolent direct action to physically stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tar-sands-blockade; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/tar-sands-blockade.rss) - [Just Foreign Policy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/just-foreign-policy/index.md): Just Foreign Policy is an independent and non-partisan membership organization dedicated to reforming U.S. foreign policy by mobilizing and organizing the broad majority of Americans who want a foreign policy based on diplomacy, law and cooperation. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/just-foreign-policy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/just-foreign-policy.rss) - [Park Center for Independent Media](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/park-center-independent-media/index.md): The Park Center for Independent Media, launched in 2008, is a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems and news organizations. Throughout history, technological and social upheaval have given rise to independent media voices. Today, independent media are growing amid crisis and conglomeration in mainstream journalism, and the rise of the Internet and new forms of media production and distribution. The Center's mission is to engage media producers and students in conversation about career paths in independent media, and financially viable ways to disseminate news and information. The center examines the impact of independent media institutions on journalism, democracy, and a participatory culture. Jeff Cohen is the foundi (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/park-center-independent-media; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/park-center-independent-media.rss) - [Chelsea Manning Support Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chelsea-manning-support-network/index.md): The Chelsea Manning Support Network was a coalition of groups and individuals engaged in supporting the U.S. Army whistleblower. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/chelsea-manning-support-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/chelsea-manning-support-network.rss) - [New Bottom Line](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-bottom-line/index.md): The New Bottom Line is a new and growing movement fueled by a coalition of community organizations, congregations, and individuals working together to challenge established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities. Together, we are working to restructure Wall Street to help American families build wealth, close the country's growing income gap and advance a vision for how our economy can better serve the many rather than the few. Coalition members include PICO National Network, National People's Action (NPA), Alliance for a Just Society, and dozens of state and local organizations from around the country. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/new-bottom-line; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/new-bottom-line.rss) - [WikiLeaks](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wikileaks/index.md): WikiLeaks is a not-for-profit media organisation. Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists (our electronic drop box). One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth. We are a young organization that has grown very quickly, relying on a network of dedicated volunteers around the globe. Since 2007, when the organization was officially launched, WikiLeaks has worked to report on and publish important information. We also develop and adapt technologies to support these activities. (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wikileaks; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/wikileaks.rss) - [Maplight](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/maplight/index.md): MapLight is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/maplight; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/maplight.rss) - [Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-american-islamic-relations-cair/index.md): The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a grassroots civil rights and advocacy group. CAIR is America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. (181 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-american-islamic-relations-cair; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/council-american-islamic-relations-cair.rss) - [DRM Capitol Group](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/drm-capitol-group/index.md): DRM Capitol Group serves as a voice for undocumented youth. Our work ensures that undocumented youth are represented in the halls of power and are correctly and directly informed of the actions of Congress, Executive Agencies, and the Courts. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/drm-capitol-group; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/drm-capitol-group.rss) - [Handicap International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/handicap-international/index.md): Handicap International is an independent and impartial international aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. Since its creation in 1982, Handicap International has established development programs in more than 60 countries and it has worked in various emergency situations. Eight national associations comprise the Handicap International network: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Switzerland. Together, the national associations mobilize resources, jointly manage projects and promote the organization's principles and actions around the world. Handicap International is one of the six founding organizations of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/handicap-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/handicap-international.rss) - [United Wisconsin](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-wisconsin/index.md): United Wisconsin is the non-partisan grassroots organization heading up the recall efforts of Scott Walker and Rebecca Kleefisch in Wisconsin. The group plans to continue its work as the recall campaign moves forward. For more information, visit www.unitedwisconsin.com. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-wisconsin; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-wisconsin.rss) - [Workers Independent News](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/workers-independent-news/index.md): Workers Independent News (WIN) is focused on the issues and concerns of working people. As a news service, WIN is devoted to bringing the voices of workers, their families, communities and organizations to the widest public possible, using all means of electronic media. WIN packages news for distribution to radio stations, Internet radio, websites, for podcast and print publication. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/workers-independent-news; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/workers-independent-news.rss) - [Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organic-seed-growers-and-trade-association-osgata/index.md): The Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association (OSGATA) develops, protects and promotes the organic seed trade and its growers, and assures that the organic community has access to excellent quality organic seed, free of contaminants and adapted to the diverse needs of local organic agriculture. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organic-seed-growers-and-trade-association-osgata; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/organic-seed-growers-and-trade-association-osgata.rss) - [London Guantanamo Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/london-guantanamo-campaign/index.md): The London Guantanamo Campaign campaigns for justice for all prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, for the closure of this and other secret prisons, and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/london-guantanamo-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/london-guantanamo-campaign.rss) - [Born Free USA](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/born-free-usa/index.md): Born Free USA is a national animal advocacy nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, contributions to which are tax-deductible. Our mission is to end the suffering of wild animals in captivity, rescue individual animals in need, protect wildlife -- including highly endangered species -- in their natural habitats, and encourage compassionate conservation globally. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/born-free-usa; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/born-free-usa.rss) - [National Domestic Workers' Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-domestic-workers-alliance/index.md): Founded in 2007, the National Domestic Workers Alliance organizes domestic workers in the United States for respect, recognition and labor standards. Through leadership development, strategic campaigns and alliance building we seek to help build a vibrant movement for social and global justice. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-domestic-workers-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-domestic-workers-alliance.rss) - [Ocupy Wall Street](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ocupy-wall-street/index.md): Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #OWS is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to expose how the richest 1% of people are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/ocupy-wall-street; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/ocupy-wall-street.rss) - [Occupy Wall Street](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/occupy-wall-street/index.md): Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to more than 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. For more visit https://occupywallst.org (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/occupy-wall-street; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/occupy-wall-street.rss) - [Center for Responsive Politics](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-responsive-politics/index.md): Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-responsive-politics; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-responsive-politics.rss) - [Tar Sands Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tar-sands-action/index.md): Tar Sands Action is a program of Peaceful Uprising, which is a project of International Humanities Center a 501(c)(3) charitable trust. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/tar-sands-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/tar-sands-action.rss) - [Senator Bernie Sanders](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/senator-bernie-sanders/index.md): United States Senator for Vermont (464 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/senator-bernie-sanders; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/senator-bernie-sanders.rss) - [Congressman Raul Grijalva](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-raul-grijalva/index.md): Serving the People of Arizona's 7th District (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressman-raul-grijalva; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congressman-raul-grijalva.rss) - [Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-taxation-and-economic-policy/index.md): Founded in 1980, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, based in Washington, DC, that focuses on federal and state tax policy. ITEP's mission is to inform policymakers and the public of the effects of current and proposed tax policies on tax fairness, government budgets, and sound economic policy. ITEP's full body of research is available at www.itepnet.org. (15 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-taxation-and-economic-policy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/institute-taxation-and-economic-policy.rss) - [Nobel Women's Initiative](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nobel-womens-initiative/index.md): The Nobel Women's Initiative was established in 2006 by sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire. We six women - representing North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa - have decided to bring together our extraordinary experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nobel-womens-initiative; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/nobel-womens-initiative.rss) - [NukeFree.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nukefreeorg/index.md): NukeFree.org works to stop construction of new atomic reactors and to close those now in operation. In their place they seek a truly green-powered Earth, run entirely on renewables and efficiency. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nukefreeorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/nukefreeorg.rss) - [Peaceful Uprising](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peaceful-uprising/index.md): Peaceful Uprising is committed to defending a livable future through empowering nonviolent action. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peaceful-uprising; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/peaceful-uprising.rss) - [Jobs With Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jobs-justice/index.md): Jobs with Justice is a national network of local coalitions that bring together labor unions, faith groups, community organizations, and student activists to fight for working people. It works with 47 coalitions in 24 states across the country. More information can be found at their website www.jwj.org. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jobs-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jobs-justice.rss) - [Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/former-congressman-dennis-kucinich/index.md): Dennis Kucinich is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. (238 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/former-congressman-dennis-kucinich; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/former-congressman-dennis-kucinich.rss) - [Demand Progress](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demand-progress/index.md): Demand Progress amplifies the voice of the people -- and wields it to make government accountable and contest concentrated corporate power. Our mission is to protect the democratic character of the internet -- and wield it to contest concentrated corporate power and hold government accountable. (179 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demand-progress; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/demand-progress.rss) - [Strengthen Social Security Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/strengthen-social-security-campaign/index.md): The Strengthen Social Security Campaign is comprised of more than 300 national and state organizations representing more than 50 million Americans from many of the nation's leading aging, labor, disability, women's, children, consumer, civil rights and equality organizations. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/strengthen-social-security-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/strengthen-social-security-campaign.rss) - [Voces de la Frontera](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/voces-de-la-frontera/index.md): Voces de la Frontera is Wisconsin's leading immigrant rights group - a grassroots organization that believes power comes from below and that people can overcome injustice to build a better world. (65 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/voces-de-la-frontera; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/voces-de-la-frontera.rss) - [Citizens for Tax Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-tax-justice/index.md): Citizens for Tax Justice, founded in 1979, is a 501 (c)(4) public interest research and advocacy organization focusing on federal, state and local tax policies and their impact upon our nation. CTJ's mission is to give ordinary people a greater voice in the development of tax laws. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-tax-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/citizens-tax-justice.rss) - [The Yes Men](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/yes-men/index.md): Ever since 1996, the Yes Men have used humor and trickery to highlight the corporate takeover of society, the neoliberal delusion that allows it, the corporate Democrats' responsibility for our current situation, and so on. And while we're all about "building awareness," we do realize that's not all there is, and that it's only ongoing campaigns that really make change. (26 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/yes-men; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/yes-men.rss) - [America's Voice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americas-voice/index.md): America's Voice -- Harnessing the power of American voices and American values to win common sense immigration reform. The mission of America's Voice is to realize the promise of workable and humane comprehensive immigration reform. Our goal is to build the public support and create the political momentum for reforms that will transform a dysfunctional immigration system that does not work into a regulatory system that does. (89 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americas-voice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americas-voice.rss) - [Program on Inequality and the Common Good](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/program-inequality-and-common-good/index.md): The Program on Inequality and the Common Good focuses on the dangers that growing inequality pose for U.S. democracy, economic health and civic life. It is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies and based in Boston, MA. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/program-inequality-and-common-good; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/program-inequality-and-common-good.rss) - [Move to Amend](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/move-amend/index.md): MovetoAmend.org is a coalition supported by hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals dedicated to ending the illegitimate legal doctrines that prevent the American people from governing ourselves. (31 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/move-amend; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/move-amend.rss) - [Survival International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/survival-international/index.md): The movement for tribal peoples. Survival is the only organization working for tribal peoples' rights worldwide. We work with hundreds of tribal communities and organizations. We are funded almost entirely by concerned members of the public and some foundations. We will not take national government money, because governments are the main violators of tribal peoples' rights, nor will we take money from companies which might be abusing tribal peoples. (14 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/survival-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/survival-international.rss) - [Physicians for Social Responsibility](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-social-responsibility/index.md): Physicians for Social Responsibility mobilizes physicians and health professionals to advocate for climate solutions and a nuclear weapons-free world. PSR's health advocates contribute a health voice to energy, environmental health and nuclear weapons policy at the local, federal and international level. (29 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-social-responsibility; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/physicians-social-responsibility.rss) - [Hands Across the Sands](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hands-across-sands/index.md): Hands Across the Sand is a movement made of people of all walks of life and crosses political affiliations. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our coastal economies, oceans, marine wildlife, and fishing industry. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting all of the above from the devastating effects of oil drilling. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hands-across-sands; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/hands-across-sands.rss) - [Interfaith Worker Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/interfaith-worker-justice/index.md): Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) calls upon our religious values in order to educate, organize, and mobilize the religious community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for workers, especially low-wage workers. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/interfaith-worker-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/interfaith-worker-justice.rss) - [CommonDreams.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/commondreamsorg/index.md): CommonDreams.org is a national nonprofit, progressive, nonpartisan citizens' organization founded in 1997. With millions of monthly readers, CommonDreams.org is one of the top progressive sites on the web and a powerful online voice for change in the United States and around the world. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/commondreamsorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/commondreamsorg.rss) - [Global Justice Ecology Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-justice-ecology-project/index.md): What differentiates Global Justice Ecology Project from most groups is our holistic approach to organizing. We believe that the compartmentalization of issues is enabling corporations and conservative forces to keep movements for change divided and powerless. We strive to identify and address the common roots to the issues of social injustice, ecological destruction and economic domination as a means to achieve a fundamental transformation toward a society based on egalitarian ideals and grounded in ecology. (22 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-justice-ecology-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-justice-ecology-project.rss) - [Witness Against Torture](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/witness-against-torture/index.md): Witness Against Torture is a grassroots movement that came into being in December 2005 when 24 activists walked to Guantanamo to visit the prisoners and condemn torture policies. Since then, it has engaged in public education, community outreach, and non-violent direct action. For the first 100 days of the Obama administration, the group held a daily vigil at the White House, encouraging the new President to uphold his commitments to shut down Guantanamo. (55 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/witness-against-torture; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/witness-against-torture.rss) - [World Future Council](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-future-council/index.md): The World Future Council (WFC) works to pass on a healthy and sustainable planet with just and peaceful societies to our children and grandchildren. To achieve this, we focus on identifying, developing, highlighting and spreading effective, future-just policies for current challenges humanity is facing and promote their implementation worldwide. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-future-council; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/world-future-council.rss) - [Environment America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environment-america/index.md): With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives. (318 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environment-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/environment-america.rss) - [Farm Sanctuary](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/farm-sanctuary/index.md): Farm Sanctuary fights the disastrous effects of animal agriculture on animals, the environment, social justice, and public health through rescue, education, and advocacy. (36 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/farm-sanctuary; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/farm-sanctuary.rss) - [United for a Fair Economy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-fair-economy/index.md): United for a Fair Economy challenges the concentration of wealth and power that corrupts democracy, deepens the racial divide and tears communities apart. We use popular economics education, trainings, and creative communications to support social movements working for a resilient, sustainable and equitable economy. United for a Fair Economy believes another world is possible. We envision a global society which respects the humanity, rights, and creativity of all people. (30 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-fair-economy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-fair-economy.rss) - [Progress Now](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progress-now/index.md): Building and activating the progressive movement online, state by state. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progress-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progress-now.rss) - [Children & Nature Network (C&NN)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/children-nature-network-cnn/index.md): The Children & Nature Network (C&NN;) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working to reconnect children with nature. C&NN; provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network of researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children's health and well-being. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/children-nature-network-cnn; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/children-nature-network-cnn.rss) - [Win Without War](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/win-without-war/index.md): Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and organizations working for a more peaceful, progressive U.S. foreign policy. We believe that by democratizing U.S. foreign policy and providing progressive alternatives, we can achieve more peaceful, just, and common sense policies that ensure that all people--regardless of race, nationality, gender, religion, or economic status--can find and take advantage of opportunity equally and feel secure. (48 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/win-without-war; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/win-without-war.rss) - [Wilderness Society](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wilderness-society/index.md): Since 1935, The Wilderness Society has led the conservation movement in wilderness protection, writing and passing the landmark Wilderness Act and winning lasting protection for 107 million acres of Wilderness, including 56 million acres of spectacular lands in Alaska, eight million acres of fragile desert lands in California and millions more throughout the nation. (27 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wilderness-society; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/wilderness-society.rss) - [National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-network-opposing-militarization-youth-nnomy/index.md): NNOMY is a national networking body created in 2004 to unite national, regional and local organizations to oppose the growing intrusion of the military in young people's lives. NNOMY is network that seeks to bring to the forefront the importance and value of counter-recruitment organizing. It is not intended to function as an independent national organization, but rather as a coalition that strengthens the work of participating groups. www.nnomy.org (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-network-opposing-militarization-youth-nnomy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-network-opposing-militarization-youth-nnomy.rss) - [Sunlight Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunlight-foundation/index.md): The Sunlight Foundation was co-founded in 2006 by Washington, DC businessman and lawyer Michael Klein and longtime Washington public interest advocate Ellen Miller with the non-partisan mission of using the revolutionary power of the Internet to make information about Congress and the federal government more meaningfully accessible to citizens. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sunlight-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sunlight-foundation.rss) - [Conservation System Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/conservation-system-alliance/index.md): The Conservation System Alliance is a coalition of eighty conservation, historic preservation, faith-based, recreation, business, education and place-based friends groups representing millions of Americans nationwide. The Conservation System Alliance aims to protect, restore and expand the National Landscape Conservation System by making it permanent, well-funded, well-managed, and inclusive of the best natural and cultural resources under the Bureau of Land Management's care. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/conservation-system-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/conservation-system-alliance.rss) - [School of The Americas Watch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/school-americas-watch/index.md): SOA Watch is an independent organization that seeks to close the US Army School of the Americas, under whatever name it is called, through vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, as well as media and legislative work. (22 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/school-americas-watch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/school-americas-watch.rss) - [US PIRG](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-pirg/index.md): U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress. (250 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/us-pirg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/us-pirg.rss) - [Wake-Up Wal-Mart](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wake-wal-mart/index.md): WakeUpWalMart.com is about Americans joining together in common purpose to change Wal-Mart. There is only one force powerful enough to change the #1 Fortune 500 company in the world - the American people. WakeUpWalMart.com is about giving Americans the tools to empower themselves to change the world's largest employer. We are Wal-Mart's customers and we have the power to make Wal-Mart live up to its responsibility to its employees, our families, our communities and the nation. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/wake-wal-mart; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/wake-wal-mart.rss) - [Violence Policy Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/violence-policy-center/index.md): The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington." (110 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/violence-policy-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/violence-policy-center.rss) - [Water Advocates](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/water-advocates/index.md): Water Advocates is the first US-based nonprofit organization dedicated solely to increasing American support for worldwide access to safe, affordable and sustainable supplies of drinking water and adequate sanitation. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/water-advocates; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/water-advocates.rss) - [Servicemembers Legal Defense Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/servicemembers-legal-defense-network/index.md): Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a non-partisan, non-profit, legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT). (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/servicemembers-legal-defense-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/servicemembers-legal-defense-network.rss) - [Project On Government Oversight (POGO)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/project-government-oversight-pogo/index.md): The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is an independent nonprofit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, open and honest federal government. (93 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/project-government-oversight-pogo; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/project-government-oversight-pogo.rss) - [Public Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-campaign/index.md): Public Campaign is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to sweeping campaign reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics. Public Campaign is laying the foundation for reform by working with a broad range of organizations, including local community groups, around the country that are fighting for change and national organizations whose members are not fairly represented under the current campaign finance system. Together we are building a network of national and state-based efforts to create a powerful national force for federal and state campaign reform. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/public-campaign.rss) - [Physicians for Human Rights](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-human-rights/index.md): PHR was founded in 1986 on the idea that health professionals, with their specialized skills, ethical duties, and credible voices, are uniquely positioned to investigate the health consequences of human rights violations and work to stop them. PHR mobilizes health professionals to advance health, dignity, and justice and promotes the right to health for all. (56 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-human-rights; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/physicians-human-rights.rss) - [National LGBTQ Task Force](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-lgbtq-task-force/index.md): The National LGBTQ Task Force advances full freedom, justice and equality for LGBTQ people. We are building a future where everyone can be free to be their entire selves in every aspect of their lives. Today, despite all the progress we've made to end discrimination, millions of LGBTQ people face barriers in every aspect of their lives: in housing, employment, healthcare, retirement, and basic human rights. These barriers must go. That's why the Task Force is training and mobilizing millions of activists across our nation to deliver a world where you can be you. Join us! (104 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-lgbtq-task-force; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-lgbtq-task-force.rss) - [Refugees International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/refugees-international/index.md): Refugees International is a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates to end refugee crises, advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people, and promotes solutions to displacement crises. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/refugees-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/refugees-international.rss) - [Physicians for a National Health Program](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-national-health-program/index.md): Physicians for a National Health Program is a single issue organization advocating a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program. PNHP has more than 21,000 members and chapters across the United States. (131 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/physicians-national-health-program; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/physicians-national-health-program.rss) - [Peace Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peace-alliance/index.md): The Peace Alliance is a nonpartisan citizen action organization representing a growing constituency for peace. A 501(c)4 organization established in March 2004, our mission is to empower civic activism for a culture of peace. Our vision is a future in which the practical programs and principles of peacebuilding are the bedrock of our personal, national and global interest and investment. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peace-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/peace-alliance.rss) - [Peace Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peace-action/index.md): Peace Action is the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights. (184 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peace-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/peace-action.rss) - [Population Action International (PAI)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/population-action-international-pai/index.md): Population Action International (PAI) is an independent policy advocacy group working to strengthen political and financial support worldwide for population programs grounded in individual rights. Founded in 1965, PAI is a private, non-profit group and accepts no government funds. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/population-action-international-pai; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/population-action-international-pai.rss) - [NAACP](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/naacp/index.md): Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. (105 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/naacp; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/naacp.rss) - [Reproductive Freedom for All](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reproductivefreedomforall/index.md): For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion. (201 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reproductivefreedomforall; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/reproductivefreedomforall.rss) - [National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-coalition-abolish-death-penalty-ncadp/index.md): The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) was founded in 1976 in response to the Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia which permitted executions to resume in the United States. Our mission: abolish the death penalty in the U.S. and support efforts to abolish the death penalty world wide. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-coalition-abolish-death-penalty-ncadp; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-coalition-abolish-death-penalty-ncadp.rss) - [National Low Income Housing Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-low-income-housing-coalition/index.md): The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to ending America's affordable housing crisis. Established in 1974 by Cushing N. Dolbeare, NLIHC educates, organizes and advocates to ensure decent, affordable housing within healthy neighborhoods for everyone. NLIHC provides up-to-date information, formulates policy and educates the public on housing needs and the strategies for solutions. (74 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-low-income-housing-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-low-income-housing-coalition.rss) - [Vietnam Veterans Against the War](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/vietnam-veterans-against-war/index.md): Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. (VVAW) is a national veterans' organization that was founded in New York City in 1967 after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. It was organized to voice the growing opposition among returning servicemen and women to the still-raging war in Indochina, and grew rapidly to a membership of over 30,000 throughout the United States as well as active duty GIs stationed in Vietnam. Through ongoing actions and grassroots organization, VVAW exposed the ugly truth about US involvement in Southeast Asia and our first-hand experiences helped many other Americans to see the unjust nature of that war. Today our government is still financing and arming undemocratic and repressive regimes around the world. Meanwhile, many veterans are still denied justice -- facing unemployment, discrimination, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder and other health problems, while already inadequate services are bein (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/vietnam-veterans-against-war; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/vietnam-veterans-against-war.rss) - [Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lawyers-committee-civil-rights-under-law/index.md): The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today. (239 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lawyers-committee-civil-rights-under-law; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/lawyers-committee-civil-rights-under-law.rss) - [Marijuana Policy Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/marijuana-policy-project/index.md): The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is the number one organization in the U.S. legalizing cannabis. We passed 13 medical cannabis laws in the past 15 years, and we ran winning campaigns in eight of the 11 legalization states. No organization in the movement has changed as many cannabis laws, impacted as many patients and consumers, created as many new markets, or done more to end cannabis prohibition in the U.S. than MPP. (69 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/marijuana-policy-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/marijuana-policy-project.rss) - [Justice at Stake Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/justice-stake-campaign/index.md): We're a nationwide, nonpartisan partnership of more than forty-five judicial, legal and citizen organizations. We've come together because across America, your right to fair and impartial justice is at stake. Judges and citizens are deeply concerned about the growing impact of money and politics on fair and impartial courts. Our mission is to educate the public and work for reforms to keep politics and special interests out of the courtroom--so judges can do their job protecting the Constitution, individual rights and the rule of law. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/justice-stake-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/justice-stake-campaign.rss) - [Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-agriculture-trade-policy/index.md): The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems. (64 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-agriculture-trade-policy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/institute-agriculture-trade-policy.rss) - [League of Women Voters](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/league-women-voters/index.md): The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has fought since 1920 to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. The League's enduring vitality and resonance comes from its unique decentralized structure. The League is a grassroots organization, working at the national, state and local levels. (23 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/league-women-voters; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/league-women-voters.rss) - [International Campaign to Ban Landmines](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-campaign-ban-landmines/index.md): The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is committed to an international ban on the use, production, stockpiling, and sale, transfer, or export of antipersonnel landmines. (25 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-campaign-ban-landmines; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-campaign-ban-landmines.rss) - [International Fund for Animal Welfare](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-fund-animal-welfare/index.md): The International Fund for Animal Welfare works to improve animal welfare, prevent animal cruelty and abuse, protect wildlife and provide animal rescue around the world. From stopping the elephant ivory trade, to ending the Canadian seal hunt and saving the whales from extinction, IFAW works to create solutions that benefit both animals and people. (44 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-fund-animal-welfare; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-fund-animal-welfare.rss) - [Jubilee USA Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jubilee-usa-network/index.md): Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world. (283 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/jubilee-usa-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/jubilee-usa-network.rss) - [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people-ethical-treatment-animals-peta/index.md): People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with more than 2.0 million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns. (12 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people-ethical-treatment-animals-peta; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/people-ethical-treatment-animals-peta.rss) - [Families USA](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/families-usa/index.md): Families USA is a national nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. Working at the national, state, and community levels, we have earned a national reputation as an effective voice for health care consumers for 25 years. (10 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/families-usa; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/families-usa.rss) - [Fair Vote](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fair-vote/index.md): FairVote acts to transform our elections to achieve universal access to participation, a full spectrum of meaningful ballot choices and majority rule with fair representation for all. As a catalyst for change, we build support for innovative strategies to win a constitutionally protected right to vote, universal voter registration, a national popular vote for president, instant runoff voting and proportional representation. (10 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fair-vote; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fair-vote.rss) - [Freedom to Marry](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-marry/index.md): Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Headed by Evan Wolfson, one of America's leading civil rights advocates and lawyers, Freedom to Marry brings new resources and a renewed context of urgency and opportunity to this social justice movement. (90 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/freedom-marry; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/freedom-marry.rss) - [Global AIDS Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-aids-alliance/index.md): The mission of the Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) is to halt the global AIDS crisis and mitigate its impacts on poor countries hardest hit by the pandemic. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-aids-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-aids-alliance.rss) - [Global Exchange](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-exchange/index.md): Global Exchange takes a holistic approach to creating change. With 20 years working for international human rights, we realize that in order to advance social, environmental and economic justice we must transform the global economy from profit centered to people centered, from currency to community. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/global-exchange; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/global-exchange.rss) - [CorpWatch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/corpwatch/index.md): CorpWatch works to promote environmental, social and human rights at the local, national and global levels by holding multinational corporations accountable for their actions. We employ investigative research and journalism to provide critical information on corporate malfeasance and profiteering around the world to foster a more informed public and an effective democracy. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/corpwatch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/corpwatch.rss) - [Drug Policy Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/drug-policy-alliance/index.md): The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization promoting drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. (131 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/drug-policy-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/drug-policy-alliance.rss) - [Doctors Without Borders](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/doctors-without-borders/index.md): Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas. (149 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/doctors-without-borders; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/doctors-without-borders.rss) - [Electronic Frontier Foundation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/electronic-frontier-foundation/index.md): The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. EFF's mission is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world. (58 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/electronic-frontier-foundation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/electronic-frontier-foundation.rss) - [Council for a Livable World](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-livable-world/index.md): The Council for a Livable World promotes policies to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, and to minimize the risk of war through lobbying and by helping elect and support Members of Congress who share our goals. For more than 50 years, the Council for a Livable World has been advocating for a more principled approach to U.S. national security and foreign policy. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-livable-world; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/council-livable-world.rss) - [Common Cause](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/common-cause/index.md): 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. (630 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/common-cause; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/common-cause.rss) - [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-responsibility-and-ethics-washington/index.md): Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials -- regardless of party affiliation -- who sacrifice the common good to special interests. CREW advances its mission using a combination of research, litigation and media outreach. (253 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-responsibility-and-ethics-washington; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/citizens-responsibility-and-ethics-washington.rss) - [Civil Society Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/civil-society-institute/index.md): The nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (https://www.CivilSocietyInstitute.org) is a think tank that serves as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business that can help to improve society. Since 2003, CSI has conducted more than 20 major surveys and reports on energy and auto issues, including vehicle fuel-efficiency standards, consumer demand for hybrids/other highly-fuel efficient vehicles, global warming and renewable energy. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/civil-society-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/civil-society-institute.rss) - [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-budget-and-policy-priorities/index.md): The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is one of the nation's premier policy organizations working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. (52 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-budget-and-policy-priorities; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-budget-and-policy-priorities.rss) - [Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-innocent-victims-conflict-civic/index.md): Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) advocates on behalf of victims of armed conflict, working to ensure they receive recognition and assistance from warring parties. CIVIC persuaded the US Congress to establish programs for war victims in Afghanistan and Iraq, guides victims to assistance, brings the human cost of war to the attention of policymakers and the public, and is advocating a new global standard of conduct that warring parties should help where they have hurt. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-innocent-victims-conflict-civic; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/campaign-innocent-victims-conflict-civic.rss) - [Corporate Accountability](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/corporate-accountability/index.md): Corporate Accountability stops transnational corporations from devastating democracy, trampling human rights, and destroying our planet. (65 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/corporate-accountability; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/corporate-accountability.rss) - [CARE](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/care/index.md): CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. (21 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/care; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/care.rss) - [Center for Defense Information](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-defense-information/index.md): The Center for Defense Information (CDI) provides expert analysis on various components of U.S. national security, international security and defense policy. CDI promotes wide-ranging discussion and debate on security issues such as nuclear weapons, space security, missile defense, small arms and military transformation. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-defense-information; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-defense-information.rss) - [Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-arms-control-and-non-proliferation/index.md): Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan research organization dedicated to enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century. The Center is funded by grants from private foundations and the generosity of thousands of individual donors. (37 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-arms-control-and-non-proliferation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-arms-control-and-non-proliferation.rss) - [Center for Democracy & Technology](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-democracy-technology/index.md): The Center for Democracy and Technology works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-democracy-technology; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-democracy-technology.rss) - [Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/labor-campaign-single-payer-healthcare/index.md): The primary purpose of the Labor Campaign for Single-Payer Health Care is to increase grassroots labor support for H.R. 676 as an essential element in winning the support of Congress to enact the National Health Care Act "Medicare for All" as the public policy of this country because we believe that health care is a human right. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/labor-campaign-single-payer-healthcare; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/labor-campaign-single-payer-healthcare.rss) - [Veterans for Peace](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/veterans-peace/index.md): Veterans For Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars. Our network is comprised of over 140 chapters worldwide whose work includes: educating the public, advocating for a dismantling of the war economy, providing services that assist veterans and victims of war, and most significantly, working to end all wars. (92 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/veterans-peace; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/veterans-peace.rss) - [National Priorities Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-priorities-project/index.md): The National Priorities Project (NPP) is a 501(c)(3) research organization that analyzes and clarifies federal data so that people can understand and influence how their tax dollars are spent. Located in Northampton, MA, since 1983, NPP focuses on the impact of federal spending and other policies at the national, state, congressional district and local levels. For more information, go to https://nationalpriorities.org. (45 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-priorities-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-priorities-project.rss) - [Campaign for America's Future](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-americas-future/index.md): The Campaign for America's Future is the strategy center for the progressive movement. Our goal is to forge the enduring progressive majority needed to realize the America of shared prosperity and equal opportunity that our country was meant to be. (70 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/campaign-americas-future; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/campaign-americas-future.rss) - [National Whistleblowers Center](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-whistleblowers-center/index.md): Since 1988, the NWC and attorneys associated with it have supported whistleblowers in the courts and before Congress and achieved victories for environmental protection, government contract fraud, nuclear safety and government and corporate accountability. (101 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-whistleblowers-center; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-whistleblowers-center.rss) - [Constitution Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/constitution-project/index.md): The Constitution Project is a politically independent think tank established in 1997 to promote and defend constitutional safeguards. More information about the Constitution Project is available at https://constitutionproject.org/. (95 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/constitution-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/constitution-project.rss) - [Media Matters for America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/media-matters-america/index.md): Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media. (81 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/media-matters-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/media-matters-america.rss) - [Human Rights First](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-first/index.md): Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York and Washington D.C. Human Rights First believes that building respect for human rights and the rule of law will help ensure the dignity to which every individual is entitled and will stem tyranny, extremism, intolerance, and violence. (186 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-first; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/human-rights-first.rss) - [Peaceful Tomorrows](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peaceful-tomorrows/index.md): Peaceful Tomorrows is an organization founded by family members of those killed on September 11th who have united to turn our grief into action for peace. By developing and advocating nonviolent options and actions in the pursuit of justice, we hope to break the cycles of violence engendered by war and terrorism. Acknowledging our common experience with all people affected by violence throughout the world, we work to create a safer and more peaceful world for everyone. (16 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/peaceful-tomorrows; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/peaceful-tomorrows.rss) - [Human Rights Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-campaign/index.md): The Human Rights Campaign represents a grassroots force of over 750,000 members and supporters nationwide. As the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, HRC envisions an America where LGBT people are ensured of their basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community. (48 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/human-rights-campaign.rss) - [Citizens Trade Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-trade-campaign/index.md): The Citizens Trade Campaign (CTC) is a national coalition of environmental, labor, consumer, family farm, religious, and other civil society groups founded in 1992 to improve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We are united in a common belief that international trade and investment are not ends unto themselves, but instead must be viewed as a means for achieving other societal goals such as economic justice, human rights, healthy communities, and a sound environment. (7 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/citizens-trade-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/citizens-trade-campaign.rss) - [Lambda Legal](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lambda-legal/index.md): Lambda Legal is the oldest national organization pursuing high-impact litigation, public education and advocacy on behalf of equality and civil rights for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV. The work we do has impact on the way we live -- we change laws, policies and ideas. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/lambda-legal; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/lambda-legal.rss) - [National Center for Lesbian Rights](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-center-lesbian-rights/index.md): The National Center for Lesbian Rights is a national legal organization committed to advancing the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-center-lesbian-rights; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-center-lesbian-rights.rss) - [Food & Water Watch](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-water-watch/index.md): Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people's health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests. (1102 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-water-watch; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/food-water-watch.rss) - [Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nuclear-information-and-resource-service-nirs/index.md): Nuclear Information and Resource Service is the information and networking center for people and organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues. (31 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/nuclear-information-and-resource-service-nirs; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/nuclear-information-and-resource-service-nirs.rss) - [Sustainability Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sustainability-institute/index.md): The Sustainability Institute was founded in 1996 by the late Donella (Dana) Meadows to apply systems thinking and organizational learning to economic, environmental and social challenges. We believe that unsustainability does not arise out of ignorance, irrationality or greed. It is largely the collective consequence of rational, well-intended decisions made by people caught up in systems - ranging from families and communities to corporations, governments and economies - that make it difficult or impossible to act in ways that are fully responsible to all those affected in the present and to future generations. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sustainability-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sustainability-institute.rss) - [Government Accountability Project](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/government-accountability-project/index.md): The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a 30-year-old nonprofit public interest group that promotes government and corporate accountability by advancing occupational free speech, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists. We pursue this mission through our Nuclear Safety, International Reform, Corporate Accountability, Food & Drug Safety, and Federal Employee/National Security programs. GAP is the nation's leading whistleblower protection organization. (113 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/government-accountability-project; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/government-accountability-project.rss) - [People For the American Way (PFAW)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people-american-way-pfaw/index.md): People For the American Way works to build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. We fight against right-wing extremism and the injustice it fosters. (264 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/people-american-way-pfaw; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/people-american-way-pfaw.rss) - [National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-network-immigrant-and-refugee-rights-nnirr/index.md): The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) is a national organization composed of local coalitions and immigrant, refugee, community, religious, civil rights and labor organizations and activists. It serves as a forum to share information and analysis, to educate communities and the general public, and to develop and coordinate plans of action on important immigrant and refugee issues. We work to promote a just immigration and refugee policy in the United States and to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-network-immigrant-and-refugee-rights-nnirr; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-network-immigrant-and-refugee-rights-nnirr.rss) - [Alliance for A New Humanity](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-new-humanity/index.md): Our mission is to connect people, who, through personal and social transformation, aim to build a just, peaceful, and sustainable world, reflecting the unity of all humanity. The Alliance recognizes at the core of its vision the unity of all life, and a wholehearted adherence to the noblest aspirations of humankind, as proclaimed in all spiritual and humanist traditions that call for compassion and the celebration of life. The values and principles of the emerging movement for a new humanity, and of the Alliance, which is trying to serve it, are based upon the support of policies, causes and actions that favor respect for life, human dignity, freedom, ecological sustainability and peace. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-new-humanity; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/alliance-new-humanity.rss) - [Americans for Democratic Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-democratic-action/index.md): ADA is America's most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization. In the spirit of the New Deal and ADA founders Eleanor Roosevelt, renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and former Senator and Vice President Hubert Humphrey we lobby through coalition partnerships, through direct advocacy, and through the media. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-democratic-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-democratic-action.rss) - [International Labor Rights Forum](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-labor-rights-forum/index.md): ILRF is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide. ILRF serves a unique role among human rights organizations as advocates for and with working poor around the world. We believe that all workers have the right to a safe working environment where they are treated with dignity and respect, and where they can organize freely to defend and promote their rights and interests. (6 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/international-labor-rights-forum; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/international-labor-rights-forum.rss) - [MADRE](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/madre/index.md): MADRE is an international women's human rights organization that partners with community-based women's groups to advance women's human rights, challenge injustice and create social change in contexts of war, conflict, disaster and their aftermath. MADRE advocates for a world in which all people enjoy individual and collective human rights; natural resources are shared equitably and sustainably; women participate effectively in all aspects of society; and all people have a meaningful say in policies that affect their lives. For more information about MADRE, visit www.madre.org. (78 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/madre; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/madre.rss) - [Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-hemispheric-affairs-coha/index.md): Founded in 1975, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), a nonprofit, tax-exempt independent research and information organization, was established to promote the common interests of the hemisphere, raise the visibility of regional affairs and increase the importance of the inter-American relationship, as well as encourage the formulation of rational and constructive U.S. policies towards Latin America. (10 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/council-hemispheric-affairs-coha; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/council-hemispheric-affairs-coha.rss) - [Hottpac.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hottpacorg/index.md): Head off the Threat Political Action Committee, hottpac.org, is the only national PAC working on the grassroots level, focused exclusively on electing candidates to reverse climate change. We are distinct because of the centerpiece of our platform: Reduce greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, 80% below 1990 levels by 2025 - a generation sooner than existing proposals. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/hottpacorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/hottpacorg.rss) - [Rising Tide North America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rising-tide-north-america/index.md): Rising Tide is a grassroots network of groups and individuals who take direct action to confront the roots causes of climate change and promote local, community-based solutions to the climate crisis. Rising Tide was formed in the Netherlands in 2000 to bring a more radical voice to the COP6 (UN Conference of the Parties) climate talks that attempted (unsuccessfully, largely due to the efforts of the US delegation) to salvage what of substance was left of the Kyoto Protocol. Employing popular education and direct action to address the root causes of climate change with a focus on climate justice, Rising Tide now spans three continents. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rising-tide-north-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/rising-tide-north-america.rss) - [350.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350org/index.md): 350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. (783 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/350org; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/350org.rss) - [Avaaz.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/avaazorg/index.md): Avaaz.org is a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want. "Avaaz" means "Voice" in many Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages. Across the world, most people want stronger protections for the environment, greater respect for human rights, and concerted efforts to end poverty, corruption and war. Yet globalization faces a huge democratic deficit as international decisions are shaped by political elites and unaccountable corporations -- not the views and values of the world's people. (4 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/avaazorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/avaazorg.rss) - [Brennan Center for Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/brennan-center-justice/index.md): The Brennan Center for Justice is a nonpartisan law and policy institute. We strive to uphold the values of democracy. We stand for equal justice and the rule of law. We work to craft and advance reforms that will make American democracy work, for all. (132 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/brennan-center-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/brennan-center-justice.rss) - [Credo Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/credo-action/index.md): CREDO Action, part of CREDO Mobile, is a social change network of over five million activists, sending tens of millions of petition signatures and hundreds of thousands of phone calls to decision-makers each year. CREDO Action members also participate in meetings, protests and other direct action for progressive change. (52 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/credo-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/credo-action.rss) - [Democracy for America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-america/index.md): Democracy for America is our nation's largest progressive political action community. With over 725,000 members nationwide, DFA is a grassroots powerhouse working to change our country and the Democratic Party from the bottom-up. We provide campaign training, organizing resources, and media exposure so our members have the power to support progressive issues and candidates up and down the ballot. Join us in delivering results for a progressive America! (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/democracy-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/democracy-america.rss) - [Get Afghanistan Right.com](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/get-afghanistan-rightcom/index.md): Get Afghanistan Right! opposes military escalation in Afghanistan and supports non-military solutions to the conflict.Get Afghanistan Right (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/get-afghanistan-rightcom; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/get-afghanistan-rightcom.rss) - [Green For All](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-all/index.md): Green For All is a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for local, state and federal commitment to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy - especially for people from disadvantaged communities - Green For All fights both poverty and pollution at the same time. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-all; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/green-all.rss) - [Grassroots Netroots Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-netroots-alliance/index.md): GNA sees itself as complementary, yet also an alternative, to MoveOn.org and other pre-existing progressive, radical, and libertarian online networks. GNA believes that America's life or death, multi-faceted Crisis demands that we move beyond single-issue campaigns and limited focus activism to a radical but practical multi-issue platform that stimulates local alliance building and grassroots action, focused on pressuring the politicians, and pushing through legislation that can move us out of the Crisis. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/grassroots-netroots-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/grassroots-netroots-alliance.rss) - [It's Getting Hot In Here.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/its-getting-hot-hereorg/index.md): It's Getting Hot in Here is the voice of a growing movement, a collection of voices from the student and youth leaders of the global movement to stop global warming. Originally created by youth leaders to allow youth to report from the International Climate Negotiations in Montreal, It's Getting Hot in Here has since grown into a global online community, with over 100 writers from countries around the world. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/its-getting-hot-hereorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/its-getting-hot-hereorg.rss) - [MoveOn](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/moveon/index.md): MoveOn is where millions mobilize for a better society--one where everyone can thrive. Whether it's supporting a candidate, passing legislation, or changing our culture, MoveOn members are committed to an inclusive and progressive future. We envision a world marked by equality, sustainability, justice, and love. And we mobilize together to achieve it. (82 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/moveon; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/moveon.rss) - [Planned Parenthood](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/planned-parenthood/index.md): Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) is many things to many people. We are a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital health care services, sex education, and sexual health information to millions of women, men, and young people. (83 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/planned-parenthood; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/planned-parenthood.rss) - [Reality Coalition](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reality-coalition/index.md): The Reality Coalition is a project of the Alliance for Climate Protection, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the League of Conservation Voters, and tells the truth about coal today - it isn't clean. We are challenging the coal industry to come clean - in its advertising and in its operations. You can learn more about the reality of "clean" coal here or take action and help stop misleading coal campaigns. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/reality-coalition; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/reality-coalition.rss) - [ONE Campaign](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-campaign/index.md): ONE is a grassroots campaign and advocacy organization backed by more than 2 million people from around the world and every walk of life who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/one-campaign; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/one-campaign.rss) - [Netroots Nation](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/netroots-nation/index.md): Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Within that campus, we strengthen community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for progressive ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/netroots-nation; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/netroots-nation.rss) - [TrueMajority.org](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/truemajorityorg/index.md): TrueMajority was founded by Ben Cohen, Co-founder, Ben and Jerry's. It is a grassroots education and advocacy joint project of UsAction and UsAction Education Fund. The 10 founding principles outline our the philosophy of TrueMajority. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/truemajorityorg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/truemajorityorg.rss) - [Organic Consumers Association](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organic-consumers-association/index.md): The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots 501(c)3 nonprofit public interest organization, and the only organization in the U.S. focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation's estimated 50 million consumers of organically and socially responsibly produced food and other products. OCA educates and advocates on behalf of organic consumers, engages consumers in marketplace pressure campaigns, and works to advance sound food and farming policy through grassroots lobbying. We address crucial issues around food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability, including pesticide use, and other food- and agriculture-related topics. (92 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/organic-consumers-association; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/organic-consumers-association.rss) - [Institute for Local Self-Reliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-local-self-reliance/index.md): The Institute's mission is to provide innovative strategies, working models and timely information to support environmentally sound and equitable community development. To this end, ILSR works with citizens, activists, policymakers and entrepreneurs to design systems, policies and enterprises that meet local or regional needs; to maximize human, material, natural and financial resources; and to ensure that the benefits of these systems and resources accrue to all local citizens. (17 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-local-self-reliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/institute-local-self-reliance.rss) - [Alliance for Climate Protection](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-climate-protection/index.md): The Alliance for Climate Protection is undertaking an unprecedented mass persuasion exercise based on scientific facts. Through a new combination of non-partisan alliances with Americans from all walks of life and innovative and far-reaching communication techniques the Alliance will focus on presenting the facts about climate change and its solutions to the general public in an accurate, clear and compelling manner. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/alliance-climate-protection; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/alliance-climate-protection.rss) - [Apollo Alliance](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/apollo-alliance/index.md): The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America to reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil, cut the carbon emissions that are destabilizing our climate, and expand opportunities for American businesses and workers. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/apollo-alliance; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/apollo-alliance.rss) - [Foreign Policy In Focus](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/foreign-policy-focus/index.md): FPIF provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and recommends policy alternatives. We believe U.S. security and world stability are best advanced through a commitment to peace, justice and environmental protection as well as economic, political, and social rights. We advocate that diplomatic solutions, global cooperation, and grassroots participation guide foreign policy. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/foreign-policy-focus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/foreign-policy-focus.rss) - [Food First](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-first/index.md): The purpose of the Institute for Food and Development Policy - Food First - is to eliminate the injustices that cause hunger. Food First supports a "bottom-up" approach to solving world hunger, asserting the ability of all countries to feed their own people if they focus on agriculture for subsistence rather than for export. (3 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/food-first; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/food-first.rss) - [Economic Policy Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/economic-policy-institute/index.md): EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States. EPI's research helps policymakers, opinion leaders, advocates, journalists, and the public understand the bread-and-butter issues affecting ordinary Americans. (82 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/economic-policy-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/economic-policy-institute.rss) - [Institute for Policy Studies](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-policy-studies/index.md): Institute for Policy Studies turns Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice and the Environment. We strengthen social movements with independent research, visionary thinking, and links to the grassroots, scholars and elected officials. I.F. Stone once called IPS "the think tank for the rest of us." Since 1963, we have empowered people to build healthy and democratic societies in communities, the US, and the world. Click here to learn more, or read the latest below. (91 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-policy-studies; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/institute-policy-studies.rss) - [Community Change](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-change/index.md): The mission of the Center for Community Change is to develop the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change their communities and public policies for the better. (9 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/community-change; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/community-change.rss) - [Oakland Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oakland-institute/index.md): The Oakland Institute is a policy think tank whose mission is to increase public participation and promote fair debate on critical social, economic and environmental issues in both national and international forums. (18 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oakland-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oakland-institute.rss) - [Earth Policy Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earth-policy-institute/index.md): As a small organization with a global mission, the Earth Policy Institute has designed a unique information dissemination model, capitalizing on the synergy between a worldwide network of book publishers, the communications media, and the Internet. Through this distribution network, countless individuals and organizations have become aware of the environmental issues facing the world and many have been inspired to take action. (0 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earth-policy-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/earth-policy-institute.rss) - [Breakthrough Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/breakthrough-institute/index.md): The Breakthrough Institute is a small think tank with big ideas. Breakthrough is committed to creating a new progressive politics, one that is large, aspirational, and asset-based. We believe that any effective politics must speak to core needs and values, not issues and interests, and we thus situate ourselves at the intersection of politics, policy, philosophy, and the social sciences. (1 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/breakthrough-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/breakthrough-institute.rss) - [Center for Media and Democracy](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-media-and-democracy/index.md): The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-profit investigative reporting group. Our reporting and analysis focus on exposing corporate spin and government propaganda. We publish PRWatch, SourceWatch, and BanksterUSA. Our newest major investigation is available at ALECexposed.org. We accept no funding from for-profit corporations or the government. If you would like to make a financial contribution to support our work, please click here. (53 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-media-and-democracy; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-media-and-democracy.rss) - [Dēmos](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demos/index.md): Demos is a think tank that powers the movement for a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy. Through cutting-edge policy research, inspiring litigation, and deep relationships with grassroots organizations, Demos champions solutions that will create a democracy and economy rooted in racial equity. (87 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/demos; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/demos.rss) - [The Cornucopia Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/cornucopia-institute/index.md): The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit farm policy research group, is dedicated to the fight for economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Their Organic Integrity Project acts as a corporate and governmental watchdog assuring that no compromises to the credibility of organic farming methods and the food it produces are made in the pursuit of profit. (85 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/cornucopia-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/cornucopia-institute.rss) - [Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/middle-east-childrens-alliance-meca/index.md): The Middle East Children's Alliance is a nonprofit organization working for the rights and the well-being of children in the Middle East. MECA supports dozens of community projects for Palestinian children and refugees from Syria. Since 1988 we have delivered $27 million in food and medical aid to Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon. MECA welcomes the support of all people who care about children and their future. (16 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/middle-east-childrens-alliance-meca; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/middle-east-childrens-alliance-meca.rss) - [Center for Public Integrity (CPI)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-public-integrity-cpi/index.md): The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit organization dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The Center is non-partisan and non-advocacy. We are committed to transparent and comprehensive reporting both in the United States and around the world. (58 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-public-integrity-cpi; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-public-integrity-cpi.rss) - [FAIR](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fairness-accuracy-reporting-fair/index.md): FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. (106 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fairness-accuracy-reporting-fair; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fairness-accuracy-reporting-fair.rss) - [Service Employees International Union (SEIU)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/service-employees-international-union-seiu/index.md): With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy. (159 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/service-employees-international-union-seiu; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/service-employees-international-union-seiu.rss) - [War Resisters League (WRL)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/war-resisters-league-wrl/index.md): The United States' oldest secular pacifist organization, the War Resisters League has been resisting war at home and war abroad since 1923. Our work for nonviolent revolution has spanned decades and has been shaped by the new visions and strategies of each generation's peacemakers. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/war-resisters-league-wrl; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/war-resisters-league-wrl.rss) - [Center for American Progress (CAP)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-american-progress-cap/index.md): The Center for American Progress is a think tank dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through ideas and action. We combine bold policy ideas with a modern communications platform to help shape the national debate, expose the hollowness of conservative governing philosophy and challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter. (73 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-american-progress-cap; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-american-progress-cap.rss) - [Green America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-america/index.md): Green America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982 and known until January 1, 2009 as "Co-op America." Green America's mission is to harness economic power--the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace--to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. (19 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/green-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/green-america.rss) - [Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-science-public-interest-cspi/index.md): Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science. (114 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-science-public-interest-cspi; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-science-public-interest-cspi.rss) - [National Lawyers Guild (NLG)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-lawyers-guild-nlg/index.md): The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) works to promote human rights and the rights of ecosystems over property interests. It was founded in 1937 as the first national, racially-integrated bar association in the U.S. (93 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-lawyers-guild-nlg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-lawyers-guild-nlg.rss) - [Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pesticide-action-network-north-america-panna/index.md): PANNA (Pesticide Action Network North America) works to replace pesticide use with ecologically sound and socially just alternatives. As one of five autonomous PAN Regional Centers worldwide, we link local and international consumer, labor, health, environment and agriculture groups into an international citizens' action network. This network challenges the global proliferation of pesticides, defends basic rights to health and environmental quality, and works to ensure the transition to a just and viable society. (45 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/pesticide-action-network-north-america-panna; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/pesticide-action-network-north-america-panna.rss) - [Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-constitutional-rights-ccr/index.md): The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CCR is committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change. (499 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-constitutional-rights-ccr; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-constitutional-rights-ccr.rss) - [Oxfam International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oxfam-international/index.md): Oxfam International is a global movement of people who are fighting inequality to end poverty and injustice. We are working across regions in about 70 countries, with thousands of partners, and allies, supporting communities to build better lives for themselves, grow resilience and protect lives and livelihoods also in times of crisis. (297 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/oxfam-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/oxfam-international.rss) - [Children's Defense Fund](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/childrens-defense-fund/index.md): The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) is a non-profit child advocacy organization that has worked relentlessly for 35 years to ensure a level playing field for all children. We champion policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation. (13 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/childrens-defense-fund; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/childrens-defense-fund.rss) - [United for Peace & Justice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-peace-justice/index.md): United for Peace and Justice was founded, in 2003, to build a coalition of local and national peace and justice organizations to prevent the War on Iraq. The conflicts raging around the world today make it clear that the need to work for peace remains more important than ever. That is why UFPJ reorganized, in 2008, as a network and now operates with an all-volunteer Coordinating Committee, supported by one part-time staff member who assists with UFPJ action alerts, campaigns, and organizing. They meet weekly to manage the ongoing communication and administrative requirements of the network. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/united-peace-justice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/united-peace-justice.rss) - [Sierra Club](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sierra-club/index.md): The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world. (567 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/sierra-club; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/sierra-club.rss) - [World Wildlife Fund (WWF)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-wildlife-fund-wwf/index.md): World Wildlife Fund is the largest multinational conservation organization in the world, works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature. (30 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/world-wildlife-fund-wwf; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/world-wildlife-fund-wwf.rss) - [National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-parks-conservation-association-npca/index.md): NPCA is a non-profit, private organization dedicated to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the U.S. National Park System. (66 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-parks-conservation-association-npca; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-parks-conservation-association-npca.rss) - [League of Conservation Voters](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/league-conservation-voters/index.md): The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is turning environmental values into national priorities. To secure the environmental future of our planet, LCV's mission is to advocate for sound environmental policies and to elect pro-environmental candidates who will adopt and implement such policies. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/league-conservation-voters; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/league-conservation-voters.rss) - [Rainforest Action Network (RAN)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rainforest-action-network-ran/index.md): Rainforest Action Network (RAN) is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices staff in Tokyo, Japan, and Edmonton, Canada, plus thousands of volunteer scientists, teachers, parents, students and other concerned citizens around the world. We believe that a sustainable world can be created in our lifetime and that aggressive action must be taken immediately to leave a safe and secure world for our children. (101 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/rainforest-action-network-ran; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/rainforest-action-network-ran.rss) - [Environmental Working Group (EWG)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-working-group-ewg/index.md): The Environmental Working Group is a community 30 million strong, working to protect our environmental health by changing industry standards. (306 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/environmental-working-group-ewg; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/environmental-working-group-ewg.rss) - [Earthjustice](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthjustice/index.md): Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities. (789 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/earthjustice; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/earthjustice.rss) - [Defenders of Wildlife](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/defenders-wildlife/index.md): Defenders of Wildlife is the premier U.S.-based national conservation organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of imperiled species and their habitats in North America. (94 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/defenders-wildlife; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/defenders-wildlife.rss) - [ForestEthics](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/forestethics/index.md): Founded in 2000, ForestEthics is a nonprofit environmental organization with staff in Canada, the United States and Chile. Our mission is to protect Endangered Forests and wild places, wildlife, and human wellbeing--one of our focus areas is climate change, which compromises all of our efforts if left unchecked. We catalyze environmental leadership among industry, governments and communities by running hard-hitting and highly effective campaigns that leverage public dialogue and pressure to achieve our goals. (29 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/forestethics; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/forestethics.rss) - [American News Project (ANP)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-news-project-anp/index.md): ANP is passionately dedicated to producing online video journalism that matters. (2 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-news-project-anp; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-news-project-anp.rss) - [Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-democrats-america-pda/index.md): Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and U.S. politics by working inside and outside of the party by working to elect empowered progressives and by building the progressive movement in solidarity with with peace, justice, civil rights, environmental, and other reform efforts. For more information about PDA, please see PDAmerica.org. (78 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/progressive-democrats-america-pda; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/progressive-democrats-america-pda.rss) - [Greenpeace](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/greenpeace/index.md): Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. (620 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/greenpeace; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/greenpeace.rss) - [National Organization for Women (NOW)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-organization-women-now/index.md): The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (186 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-organization-women-now; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-organization-women-now.rss) - [Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/union-concerned-scientists-ucs/index.md): The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices. (448 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/union-concerned-scientists-ucs; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/union-concerned-scientists-ucs.rss) - [Worldwatch Institute](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/worldwatch-institute/index.md): The Worldwatch Institute was a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C., founded by Lester R. Brown. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan Survey of Sustainability Experts. Brown left to found the Earth Policy Institute in 2000. The Institute was wound up in 2017, after publication of its last State of the World Report. Worldwatch.org was unreachable from mid-2019. (110 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/worldwatch-institute; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/worldwatch-institute.rss) - [National Nurses United](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-nurses-united/index.md): National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history. (266 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/national-nurses-united; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/national-nurses-united.rss) - [Congressional Progressive Caucus](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressional-progressive-caucus/index.md): The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is made up of nearly 100 members standing up for progressive ideals in Washington and throughout the country. Since 1991, the CPC has advocated for progressive policies that prioritize working Americans over corporate interests, fight economic and social inequality, and advance civil liberties. (124 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/congressional-progressive-caucus; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/congressional-progressive-caucus.rss) - [Equality California (EQCA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/equality-california-eqca/index.md): Equality California is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, grassroots-based, statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to achieve equality and civil rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. (118 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/equality-california-eqca; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/equality-california-eqca.rss) - [Center for Biological Diversity](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-biological-diversity/index.md): At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive. (1617 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-biological-diversity; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-biological-diversity.rss) - [Real News Network](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/real-news-network/index.md): The Real News Network is a television news and documentary network focused on providing independent and uncompromising journalism. Our staff, in collaboration with courageous journalists around the globe, will investigate, report and debate stories on the critical issues of our times. We are viewer supported and do not accept advertising, government or corporate funding. (99 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/real-news-network; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/real-news-network.rss) - [Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-public-accuracy-ipa/index.md): A nationwide consortium, the Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) represents an unprecedented effort to bring other voices to the mass-media table often dominated by a few major think tanks. IPA works to broaden public discourse in mainstream media, while building communication with alternative media outlets and grassroots activists. (1095 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/institute-public-accuracy-ipa; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/institute-public-accuracy-ipa.rss) - [Fairplay](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fairplay/index.md): Fairplay, formerly known as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, educates the public about commercialism's impact on kids' wellbeing and advocates for the end of child-targeted marketing. Fairplay organizes parents to hold corporations accountable for their marketing practices, advocates for policies to protect kids, and works with parents and professionals to reduce children's screen time. (98 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/fairplay; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/fairplay.rss) - [Secular Coalition for America](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/secular-coalition-america/index.md): The Secular Coalition for America represents nine national coalition partners who share the view that a secular government offers the best guarantee for freedom of thought and belief for all Americans. It works to protect the civil rights of nontheistic Americans, and lobbies the U.S. Congress on issues of concern to its constituents. The Coalition's website iswww.secular.org. (5 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/secular-coalition-america; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/secular-coalition-america.rss) - [CODEPINK](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/codepink/index.md): CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs. (271 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/codepink; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/codepink.rss) - [Friends of the Earth](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth/index.md): Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature. (777 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/friends-earth; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/friends-earth.rss) - [Defending Rights & Dissent](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/defending-rights-dissent/index.md): Defending Rights & Dissent strengthens our participatory democracy by protecting the right to political expression. About the merger of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and Defending Dissent Foundation In 2015, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) and the Defending Dissent Foundation agreed to merge to place both organizations and their respective supporters in an even stronger position to help restore constitutional rights eroded by executive agencies. While BORDC was established to fight the PATRIOT Act in the wake of its passage under the Bush administration, DDF was founded decades ago to fight the McCarthy-era witch hunt that targeted law-abiding Americans on the basis of their political beliefs. Both organizations are committed to popular constitutionalism, and work with grassroots Americans from all walks of life to help them raise their voices to confront the national security state. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/defending-rights-dissent; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/defending-rights-dissent.rss) - [Bread for The World](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bread-world/index.md): Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live. (20 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/bread-world; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/bread-world.rss) - [Brady United](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/brady-united/index.md): Brady United formerly known as The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and its legislative and grassroots affiliate, the Brady Campaign and its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, is the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence. We are devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities. (134 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/brady-united; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/brady-united.rss) - [Beyond Nuclear](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/beyond-nuclear/index.md): Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. (89 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/beyond-nuclear; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/beyond-nuclear.rss) - [Americans for Safe Access](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-safe-access/index.md): Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. (91 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-safe-access; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-safe-access.rss) - [Public Citizen](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-citizen/index.md): Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country. (1528 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-citizen; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/public-citizen.rss) - [Americans United for Separation of Church and State](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-united-separation-church-and-state/index.md): Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom. (189 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/americans-united-separation-church-and-state; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/americans-united-separation-church-and-state.rss) - [Amnesty International - USA](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amnesty-international-usa/index.md): Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization. (845 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amnesty-international-usa; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/amnesty-international-usa.rss) - [Audubon Society](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/audubon-society/index.md): Now in its second century, Audubon connects people with birds, nature and the environment that supports us all. Our national network of community-based nature centers, chapters, scientific, education, and advocacy programs engages millions of people from all walks of life in conservation action to protect and restore the natural world. (8 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/audubon-society; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/audubon-society.rss) - [Action Against Hunger](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/action-against-hunger/index.md): Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim (ACF), an international relief and development organization committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families, provides sustainable access to safe water and long-term solutions to hunger. For nearly three decades, ACF has pursued its vision of a world without hunger by combating hunger in emergency situations of conflict, natural disaster, and chronic food insecurity. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/action-against-hunger; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/action-against-hunger.rss) - [Amnesty International](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amnesty-international/index.md): Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues. (625 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/amnesty-international; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/amnesty-international.rss) - [AFL-CIO](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/afl-cio/index.md): The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) works tirelessly to improve the lives of working people. We are the democratic, voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor unions that represent 12.5 million working men and women. (108 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/afl-cio; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/afl-cio.rss) - [Africa Action](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/africa-action/index.md): Africa Action is a national organization that works for political, economic and social justice in Africa. Through the provision of accessible information and analysis combined with the mobilization of public pressure we work to change the policies and policy-making processes of U.S. and multinational institutions toward Africa. The work of Africa Action is grounded in the history and purpose of its predecessor organizations, the American Committee on Africa (ACOA), The Africa Fund, and the Africa Policy Information Center (APIC), which have fought for freedom and justice in Africa since 1953. Continuing this tradition, Africa Action seeks to re-shape U.S. policy toward African countries. (42 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/africa-action; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/africa-action.rss) - [American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-friends-service-committee-afsc/index.md): American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world. Our work is based on the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice. (14 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-friends-service-committee-afsc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-friends-service-committee-afsc.rss) - [American Rivers](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-rivers/index.md): American Rivers is the only national organization standing up for healthy rivers so our communities can thrive. Through national advocacy, innovative solutions and our growing network of strategic partners, we protect and promote our rivers as valuable assets that are vital to our health, safety and quality of life. Founded in 1973, American Rivers has more than 65,000 members and supporters nationwide, with offices in Washington, DC and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, California and Northwest regions. (94 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/american-rivers; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/american-rivers.rss) - [Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/natural-resources-defense-council-nrdc/index.md): NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild. (420 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/natural-resources-defense-council-nrdc; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/natural-resources-defense-council-nrdc.rss) - [Military Families Speak Out (MFSO)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/military-families-speak-out-mfso/index.md): Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones who are currently in the military or who have served in the military since the buildup to the Iraq war in the fall of 2002. Formed by two families in November of 2002, we have contacts with military families throughout the United States, and in other countries around the world. Our membership currently includes over 3,400 military families, with new families joining daily. (21 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/military-families-speak-out-mfso; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/military-families-speak-out-mfso.rss) - [Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/association-community-organizations-reform-now-acorn/index.md): ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Since 1970, ACORN has grown to more than 350,000 member families, organized in 850 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S. and in cities in Argentina, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Canada. (11 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/association-community-organizations-reform-now-acorn; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/association-community-organizations-reform-now-acorn.rss) - [Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-economic-and-policy-research-cepr/index.md): The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options. (447 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/center-economic-and-policy-research-cepr; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/center-economic-and-policy-research-cepr.rss) - [Free Press](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-press/index.md): Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities. (502 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/free-press; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/free-press.rss) - [Human Rights Watch (HRW)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-watch-hrw/index.md): Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world. (784 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/human-rights-watch-hrw; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/human-rights-watch-hrw.rss) - [Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-employees-environmental-responsibility-peer/index.md): PEER protects public employees who protect our environment. We are a service organization for environmental and public health professionals, land managers, scientists, enforcement officers, and other civil servants dedicated to upholding environmental laws and values. We work with current and former federal, state, local, and tribal employees. (449 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/public-employees-environmental-responsibility-peer; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/public-employees-environmental-responsibility-peer.rss) - [ACLU](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/aclu/index.md): The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. (2148 posts; HTML: https://www.commondreams.org/organization/aclu; RSS: https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/organization/aclu.rss) - [Voices for Creative Nonviolence](https://www.commondreams.org/organization/voices-creative-nonviolence/index.md): Voices for Creative Nonviolence has deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. 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Ilhan Omar of her US citizenship and remove her from the country. In a lengthy social media post, Obama said the administration's attack on Omar (D-Minn.) violates "a basic principle of American democracy that the government can’t selectively target individuals simply because of their political beliefs or what they say." Obama's post came nearly one week after agents at the US Department of Homeland Security conducted a raid of Omar's home. Days after the raid, the Wall Street Journal reported that the raid on Omar was part of an effort to build “a case to strip her of her US citizenship and ultimately deport her." "To understand why this is so appalling, it’s important to know the facts," Obama wrote. "Congresswoman Omar came to this country with her father when she was 12 years old. Five years later, her father became a naturalized citizen. If Ilhan had been 18 at the time, she would have had to apply for citizenship separately. But because she was 17, she became a naturalized citizen automatically." Obama noted that President Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted Omar "as someone who he believes does not belong in this country," and accused the president of seizing upon an "unsubstantiated theory that she was actually 18 when her father was naturalized" to carry out his deportation plot. "The full weight of the federal government is being brought down on a law-abiding elected official because she has dared to criticize the president," Obama wrote. "And it’s not the first time this has happened. Under President Trump, the Justice Department has repeatedly gone after those he considers his political enemies—from the Attorney General of New York, to the former head of the FBI, to members of the Federal Reserve." Obama concluded by warning that letting Trump's actions go unchallenged would set a terrible precedent that even the president's allies could one day live to regret. "If this becomes the new normal, there’s no reason to believe it will stop with ," Obama wrote, "or that future presidents, in either party, won’t do the same." Trump rose to political prominence last decade by spreading a racist conspiracy theory falsely claiming that Obama was born in Kenya, and thus ineligible to be president. --- ### GOP Operatives 'Taken Aback' As Rural Voters Blame Billionaires for Economic Woes: Report **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/republican-rural-us-voters.md Rural voters who have long been the Republican Party's core base are expressing major discontent with the current state of the US economy, which has been hurt by President Donald Trump's tariffs and his illegal war with Iran. While it's not clear that rural voters are ready to abandon the GOP to support Democrats, a recent focus group showed they appear receptive to populist economic appeals. According to a Sunday CNN report, Republican operatives were recently "taken aback" when they spoke with rural voters who blamed "billionaires" and "corrupt politicians" for the country's economic woes. These operatives were surprised, CNN wrote, because they had "never seen government corruption emerge as a top issue for so many Republican voters in congressional races." This comes as Republicans across the country have increasingly come to rely on contributions from billionaires, and in particular SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has funneled at least $276 million to GOP groups and his own super political action committee (PAC) since July alone. Democrat Sam Forstag, who is making a populist economic pitch in his campaign in Montana's 1st Congressional District, told CNN that voters' concerns about corruption are now "all out in the open," and he said many of Trump's current political troubles stem from his broken promises to fix a rigged system. "Trump told everybody one singular truth," said Forstag. "He said the system is broken... and unfortunately, it turned out that he was lying about all the ways they were going to fix these things." Forstag's comments were echoed by Arthur Ray Lambert, a Colorado horse trainer who explained his disappointment with Trump in an interview published by The New York Times on Sunday. "We thought that the president was going to come in with his team and fix stuff," Lambert said. "And at first, he sounded good. But now, I hate to say it, but I think it’s time for him and his team to get out of there and somebody else come in." Joseph Kennedy, a Colorado cattle and sheep farmer, told the Times he felt "bamboozled" after voting for Trump, and would instead sit out the upcoming election. "I’m over politics," Kennedy explained. "I’ve dropped out." Journalist Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, in a story published by The Atlantic last week, wrote that residents she spoke with recently in rural Arizona are both disappointed with Trump's economy and disgusted by political corruption. "Almost all told me they are angry about Trump’s decisions to start a war and spend hundreds of millions of dollars ornamenting a capital city they will never see," Sanchez wrote. "They lamented the corruption they see as endemic in the government and in large corporations, and denounced billionaires, whom they view as capitalizing on their pain." A Fox News poll released last week found that 60% of voters say they are “extremely concerned” about government corruption, which is higher than the 58% who are extremely concerned about inflation and the 50% who are extremely concerned about gas prices. --- ### Fears of Big Tech Censorship Grow After Meta Suspends No Kings Instagram Account **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-kings-meta-instagram.md Fears of big tech platforms censoring progressive political movements are on the rise after social media giant Meta temporarily shut down the Instagram account of the No Kings coalition on Saturday. According to No Kings, Meta suspended its official account, which was being used to post videos and images of demonstrations throughout the US, at approximately 1:00 pm Eastern time on Saturday. The account was restored roughly two hours later, but its administrators were still blocked from posting new content for hours after. When asked about why the account was taken down, Meta told No Kings that it "made a bad call," without elaborating. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone would subsequently offer a more detailed explanation in a Saturday social media post. "When accounts post, share or comment at very high frequencies it can trigger automated systems," Stone wrote. "That's what happened with the No Kings IG account in the lead up to today's day of action. Unfortunately, that automated action was clearly taken in error. Everything is now working as it should and we sincerely apologize." Leah Greenberg, co-founder of No Kings sponsor Indivisible, was not buying Meta's official explanation. "This excuse does not match the facts," Greenberg wrote. "We will look forward to a detailed explanation of what happened here and how Meta will take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again." Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called Meta's suspension of the account "outrageous," and vowed to "put this on the January investigation list" should Democrats retake control of Congress after the 2026 midterm elections. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) asked if Meta was "censoring free speech to appease Donald Trump," and added that "we the people deserve answers." The suspension of the No Kings account was just the latest example of alleged Big Tech censorship. Bleecker Street, the distributor of director Alex Gibney's four-hour documentary about SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, told The Hollywood Reporter on Saturday that TikTok had permanently suspended the film's promotional account. Messages shared with The Hollywood Reporter revealed that TikTok accused the Musk documentary account of violating its rules regarding political content, although it was not clear what those violations were. The Hollywood Reporter noted that while "TikTok has no official affiliation with Elon Musk... it is partly owned by Larry Ellison, who gets a rough moment in the doc when a text from him offering to pay billions to the mogul to help finance his Twitter acquisition is shown." In Brazil, the campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva last week filed a legal complaint accusing Meta of shutting down accounts promoting his candidacy while using its algorithms to promote content produced by the campaign of far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro. As The Associated Press reported on Thursday, a judge in Brazil's top electoral court sided with Lula's campaign, ruling that Meta "cannot reduce the distribution of political content, restrict searches, or remove posts in a way that creates an imbalance between Lula and Bolsonaro." Attorneys representing Lula's campaign said the lawsuit against Meta was necessary because content produced by the president and his supporters "faces delivery restrictions, without any justification or transparency," while "profiles acting as political operatives for the opposing side... receive a disproportionate and artificial reach, garnering more views even than global celebrities." Meta has consistently denied that it is biased against Lula's campaign, and it accused the president in a court filing of using "minor technical issues" to spin "a political narrative" against the company. --- ### How the World Bank Can Ensure AI Jobs Are Really 'Better' **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Lena Simet | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/world-bank-ai-jobs.md The World Bank has high hopes for the positive impact of AI. Its flagship World Development Report this year is even titled “The Promise of Artificial Intelligence.” From its annual meetings in Bangkok through October 18 to the following week’s Global AI and Digital Summit in Seoul, the bank is promoting AI’s potential to deliver “more and better jobs.” But what would it take to make that promise real for workers? The experience of platform workers offers a cautionary tale. For millions of “gig workers” worldwide, algorithms, including AI systems, already act as the boss. This rapidly expanding and precarious system requires robust regulation of how companies use technology to manage work and accountability for workers’ pay, safety, and social security. Human Rights Watch research in the United States found that major companies use opaque and frequently changing algorithms to set pay, leaving workers unable to understand how their earnings are calculated. Customer ratings feed into systems that determine access to jobs, with little opportunity to contest unfair scores. Workers whose accounts are deactivated struggle to get clear reasons or reach anyone with the authority to reverse the decision. The problem goes beyond opaque decisions and limited ways to challenge them. Companies also insist that workers are mere independent contractors to avoid long-established employer responsibilities, despite the control they exercise over workers. Take Uber, which now operates in over 70 countries. Uber generally treats drivers as self-employed, saying that it merely connects them with customers. Yet its systems set fares and govern access to work. Treating drivers as independent contractors rather than employees leaves them without minimum wage guarantees or employer contributions to social insurance. The company directs the work while shifting much of its cost and risk onto workers. Our research across platforms and countries, including in Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, the UK, Kenya, India, as well as across the Gulf, found striking similarities in platform workers’ experiences. They showed us pay records revealing sharp daily fluctuations in earnings and detailed substantial costs for vehicles, fuel, and other work equipment. On some days, their expenses exceeded their earnings. Some workers injured on the job spent months without income, relying on family and friends or taking on debt to survive. A delivery worker in Delhi told us he faced financial penalties for missing delivery targets. While rushing to complete an order, he braked to avoid a collision with a motorcyclist, fell, and broke his arm. He paid for treatment himself. “We don’t get anything from the company,” he said. His experience shows how this system compounds the harm to workers. Algorithmic management pressures them to take risks and punishes them if they fail to comply, while they bear the consequences if the risks cause them to get hurt. This rapidly expanding and precarious system requires robust regulation of how companies use technology to manage work and accountability for workers’ pay, safety, and social security. Such regulation should, at a minimum, ban algorithmic management practices that pose an unacceptable risk to workers’ rights. A new international labor convention offers hope that these protections can become a reality. In June, governments, workers, and employers at the United Nation’s International Labour Conference adopted Convention No. 193 on Decent Work in the Platform Economy by a vote of 406 to 8. It is the first binding international labor standard to regulate algorithmic management for platform workers. The convention requires ratifying governments to ensure that workers can request written explanations of significant automated decisions that adversely affect their work. Workers must have access to review, with appropriate human involvement, when decisions withhold pay or cut access to work. It also provides safeguards for pay, safety, social security, and the right to organize, although some protections depend on employment status. Crucially, governments must take measures to ensure correct employment classification, guided mainly by how work is actually performed and paid rather than by the labels a company chooses to apply in a contract. Together, these provisions address both how technology is used to manage workers and companies’ responsibilities toward them. They give the World Bank a concrete yardstick for some of the “better jobs” it hopes AI will deliver. The stakes extend beyond ride-hailing and delivery. Research by WIEGO highlights that gig-ification has spread into domestic work, beauty services, and data work, with many of these workers also facing algorithmic control and limited ways to resolve workplace problems. The International Labour Organization and the European Commission have also documented algorithmic management in conventional workplaces, including logistics and healthcare. Workers across these sectors should also be entitled to protection from harmful uses of these systems and effective ways to challenge decisions. Governments should ratify the new convention, implement it with workers’ participation, and address harmful uses of automated management across labor markets. The World Bank should support these efforts through its advice and financing, helping governments to enforce labor protections and to ensure that workers can challenge decisions affecting their pay or access to work. In Bangkok and Seoul, “better jobs” should mean a living wage, protection when illness or injury stops someone from working, and the power to negotiate working conditions. These are rights that require enforcement. The institutions promoting AI have a responsibility to help make that promise real. --- ### Trump Threatens 50 Years of Wildlife Protection With One Memo **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Erica Pencak | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-harm-endangered-species.md One of the Endangered Species Act’s most fundamental protections for imperiled species is prohibiting unauthorized “take,” a term Congress defined broadly to include killing, harassing, wounding, harming, and more. But in July of this year, the Trump administration eliminated the longstanding regulatory definitions of “harm,” removing the take prohibition for wildlife killed or injured by significant habitat destruction. Exactly two months later, the administration doubled down. In identical memos dated September 14, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries declared that take applies only to affirmative acts intentionally directed at particular animals. This radical reinterpretation substantially narrows what it means to take protected species, and therefore drastically limits how the ESA can protect them. To understand why this matters, consider how Congress designed the ESA over 50 years ago: not only to prevent extinction, but also to ensure recovery of listed species. A key component of that design is the statute’s expansive definition of take. The Supreme Court later confirmed that take encompasses the whole spectrum of human activities that affect animals—directly and indirectly, intentionally and incidentally—from shooting or trapping them to destroying the places they live, forage, and reproduce. This does not mean that the ESA categorically prohibits development, logging, resource extraction, or other activities. In fact, its incidental take provisions have long provided a way for otherwise lawful activities to proceed, but in a way that reduces impacts on protected species. The ESA is credited with preventing the extinction of 99% of species placed under its protection. It has conserved habitat for countless species: securing wildlife corridors and crossings for Florida panthers; protecting the mature forests red-cockaded woodpeckers need to survive; and reducing the impacts of development and off-road vehicles on desert tortoises. For more than 50 years, the law has provided a practical framework for protecting species while allowing responsible development to move forward. We cannot protect wildlife by pretending foreseeable but unintentional take doesn't count. The administration’s radical reinterpretation of take guts much of that framework. Under this reinterpretation, take applies only to conduct intentionally directed at a particular animal. So if a bulldozer clearing land for a highway crushes and kills an owl in the process, that's no longer take—because no one meant to kill that owl. And if owls die because the land that was cleared included the old growth trees they need for shelter, that’s no longer take either—because again, no one meant to kill those owls. If an ATV crushes shorebird nests on a beach or a car hits a Florida panther or a boat strikes a right whale, the wildlife agencies say those deaths no longer constitute take under the ESA unless the rider, driver, or boater was aiming their vehicle at an animal, purposefully trying to hurt it. This reinterpretation isn't a mere technicality. If an action isn’t take, key ESA provisions designed to prevent or minimize the impacts of the action on listed species won’t apply. For example, the reinterpretation threatens to make incidental take permits and incidental take statements unnecessary in many circumstances where they have historically been required—the very mechanisms that have required developers, timber companies, and infrastructure projects to reduce impacts on species while their projects move forward. Without those requirements, important safeguards that have historically minimized and mitigated foreseeable injury and death could disappear. For example, if a harbor has become obstructed with built-up sediment that makes it difficult for ships to maneuver, the sediment is often removed with a hopper dredge that essentially vacuums the seabed. Unfortunately, if an endangered or threatened sea turtle is resting on the seabed, it can be trapped, crushed, dragged, or drowned by the hopper. The ESA doesn’t prevent the use of hopper dredges, but its incidental take provisions have helped to ensure that if hopper dredging occurs in sea turtle habitat, actions are taken to prevent or minimize the impact, like requiring the use of screens or other technology to protect turtles, or prohibiting hopper dredging during certain seasons. But under this reinterpretation, since killing or wounding sea turtles isn’t the purpose of operating a hopper dredge—clearing out sediment is—killing or wounding sea turtles with a hopper dredge isn’t take. So, the ESA’s take provisions will no longer be used to prevent or limit those injuries and deaths. The administration’s extreme reinterpretation is a revival of an argument the Supreme Court decisively rejected more than 30 years ago. In a 1995 decision called Babbitt v. Sweet Home, by a six to three vote, the court upheld the regulatory definition of harm that the administration has now abandoned, reasoning in part that Congress' 1982 amendments—that created the incidental take permitting system—only make sense if take already covered indirect, non-purposeful harm like habitat modification. Justice Antonin Scalia dissented, arguing for the narrower reading the administration has now embraced. The ESA’s success depends in significant part on its ability to address habitat loss and the foreseeable injury or death caused by otherwise lawful activity. The Trump administration has adopted an extremely narrow reinterpretation of take that eviscerates this longstanding framework, putting not just individual species at risk, but also the web of biodiversity and ecological systems all of us depend on. Estimates put the annual value of ecosystem services—clean water, crop pollination, pest control, flood mitigation, and more—at roughly $5 trillion. The loss of wildlife isn't an isolated event; it's the unraveling of interconnected systems that provide these benefits, often invisibly, until they're gone. We cannot protect wildlife by pretending foreseeable but unintentional take doesn't count. The law has never required us to choose between conservation and progress. It requires us to confront the consequences of our actions before they become irreversible. Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act to prevent all extinction, not merely intentional extinction. After 50 years of progress, we should not pretend there is a meaningful difference. --- ### Trump Is Plotting With the Tech Invaders Against Ordinary People **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Jim Hightower | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-tech-invaders.md To cope with the imminent danger posed by today’s arrogant, profiteering AI billionaires, President Donald Trump says the only thing America needs is a “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT!” Well, yes—let’s try to find one of those! The president we have now is quite the opposite. Take the politically explosive issue of massive AI data centers suddenly intruding into thousands of communities across America, sucking up people’s land, water, electricity, and democratic control. Even red state MAGA conservatives are in furious rebellion against what amounts to a corporate sneak attack on millions of us. Zeldin has also unilaterally reframed the purpose of the EPA. He’s declared making the United States “the artificial intelligence capital of the world” one of the EPA’s five central priorities. That’s not the priority of any regular person I know. Where’s the president when we really need him? He’s plotting with the tech invaders to publicly trash those who are rebelling against the tech giants, and deploying autocrats to rig the rules to silence us opponents. For example, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin is now decreeing there’s no need for local communities to be notified that a data center is moving in on them—nor should there be a public comment period on air pollution issues. This means that residents’ first notice that a sprawling data center will be built next door will be the roar of bulldozers. Worse, Commissar Zeldin wants to let data center billionaires start building their acres of polluting facilities before permits are approved. Also, this MAGA bureaucrat insists that such massive facilities be reclassified as “minor” air polluters, like a car repair shop or local laundromat. Zeldin has also unilaterally reframed the purpose of the EPA. He’s declared making the United States “the artificial intelligence capital of the world” one of the EPA’s five central priorities. That’s not the priority of any regular person I know. While real people are fighting data centers, this government is fighting the people. --- ### We Can't Ignore the Insanity of Trump’s Threats to Annihilate Iran **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Ivana Nikolić Hughes, Peter Kuznick | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-annihilate-iran.md Of all of the things that President Donald Trump has said publicly since returning to the White House, his threats to annihilate Iran are arguably the worst. This is not only because the repeated statements are deeply immoral and illegal—deliberate killing of civilians is a war crime—but because they represent the kind of irresponsible rhetoric that will lead us into a global apocalypse and collapse of not just the Persian nation but human civilization as a whole. It is not possible to excuse, justify, or condone this kind of rhetoric. The only question is what to do about it. As much as some well-meaning people might want to see nuclear weapons as instruments that ended World War II and have kept the peace ever since, the exact opposite has actually been true. Nuclear weapons brutally murdered a couple of hundred thousand civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and injured and sentenced to years and decades of illness and suffering many hundreds of thousands more. As we have written before, multiple alternatives existed to end the war in 1945. In many ways, the false narrative of the atomic bombings averting an invasion and saving lives has enabled the perpetuation of nuclear weapons, bringing the risks to humanity’s survival to levels previously unimaginable. Turning a brutally violent beginning of the nuclear age into something positive has managed to complicate and obfuscate an issue that should never have been complicated. Nuclear weapons are and have always been immoral. Their possession should be illegal. Although the end of World War II coincided with the advent of nuclear weapons, and we have technically not fought another world war since, this is merely a correlation. Other significant changes in our world, including the founding of the United Nations, technological and scientific progress, and globalized trade, took place over that same time period. In addition, one has to wonder, whose peace we are talking about. Since 1945, over 20 million people have died in armed conflicts around the world, with up to 50 million more indirect deaths stemming from those conflicts. Today, there are nearly 100 armed conflicts across the planet according to the Geneva Academy, and 25 international armed conflicts involving more than one nation state. It is not reassuring to have the US president talking about nuclear bombs exploding over American cities. All along, in addition to the deaths and suffering in war zones across the planet and the horrific toll exacted by poverty and inequality, humanity has been waiting almost helplessly for another nuclear weapon to explode by accident, miscalculation, or intention, likely triggering a full-blown nuclear war in which tens or even thousands of nuclear weapons are used. The past eight decades have witnessed numerous incidents in which human wisdom and decency or just plain luck interrupted a course of events that seemed inexorably leading to nuclear war. Nuclear weapons have not brought the peace. Quite the opposite—they threaten what little of it we have each and every day. And yet, for all of his threats on Truth Social and most recently in the halls of the United Nations, Trump has also stated that nuclear weapons “could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over,” calling for “denuclearization.” In fact, two days after his unacceptable statement to “drive into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness” at the UN General Assembly in September, Trump suggested to President Xi Jinping in DC that there be a nuclear summit between China, Russia, and the United States. Trump did so knowing full well that Xi’s government’s participation in arms control negotiations is contingent upon China achieving rough parity with the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia. This should be pursued not by China continuing to expand its arsenal to the gargantuan size of the US and Russian arsenals, but by the US and Russia reducing theirs to the size of China’s, and adopting China’s demand for an across-the-board no-first-use policy. Since his latest threat, delivered in the world’s premier diplomatic space unlike his earlier Truth Social rants, including the one on April 7 that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump actually seemed to welcome Iranian destruction of Los Angeles and San Diego at an election rally. Even if he now unconvincingly claims that the original clips, which suggested that such destruction was a small price to pay, were taken out of context and the small price to pay was about the price of gas, it is not reassuring to have the US president talking about nuclear bombs exploding over American cities. Never mind that Iran neither has the nuclear weapons nor the ability to send missiles toward US soil. Nuclear Armageddon seems to be on Trump’s mind. Is the real estate developer who seemed to understand that a lot of effort, capital, and human ingenuity, not to mention time, go into building modern cities gone? What happened to the businessman who in 1986 “summoned Dr. Bernard Lown of the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) to the Trump Tower for a meeting?” Trump sought advice from Dr. Lown on negotiating nuclear arms agreements with Mikhail Gorbachev just after IPPNW had won the Nobel Peace Prize a year earlier. Is that person no longer here or do his “denuclearization” comments offer some hope? Among those refusing to be passive in all of this is Pope Leo XIV who has not only deplored war and called for nuclear disarmament but who recently decried leaders, presumably including Trump, who are “beginning to speak about nuclear weapons and wars that are becoming ever more destructive,” and urged leaders to “come together, sit down, engage in dialogue.” The Holy See was one of the original parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and remains a strong supporter of nuclear abolition. It is time for Pope Leo XIV, speaking for the planet, to use his unique moral authority to demand an emergency summit of, at a minimum, Trump, Xi, and Vladimir Putin to get us off this path of war and potential nuclear annihilation. In addition to insisting on such actions from others, each of us needs to think long and hard about what we can do to address the insanity of Trump’s threats and the insanity of nuclear weapons. --- ### Your Power Company Isn't Neutral; It's Buying Elections **Published:** October 18, 2026 | **Author:** Andrea Cristina Mercado | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/power-companies-buy-elections.md Utility companies aren't just charging you for power. They're spending to elect the people who decide what they can charge. Michigan's residential electricity rate hit 22.99 cents per kilowatt-hour in June, the highest in the Midwest and about 25% above the national average. Protecting that rate cost something too. Utilities gave Michigan lawmakers $421,100 in 2025 alone, and $1.6 million to state candidates during the 2022 election cycle. More than 150 elected officials and candidates, from both parties, have now pledged to stop taking that money. This November, a ballot initiative, Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP), asks Michigan voters to bar utilities from making campaign contributions to the candidates and committees that decide their rates. Utilities won't stop treating elections as a business expense until voters make them. This isn't just a Michigan problem. Utility companies across the country pour millions into the elections that decide who appoints or elects the commissioners meant to police them, while electric prices climbed more than double the pace of inflation last year. Those commissioners are often beholden to the industry they're supposed to police. A study of commissioners serving between 2000 and 2021 found that fossil fuel and utility veterans fill a quarter of state commissioner seats, and roughly half of those return to the industry once their public service ends. We don't assume Exxon or Boeing is a neutral actor when it spends millions to influence the officials who regulate it. Utility companies shouldn’t be understood any differently. They are regulated monopolies, but they are also corporations with a financial interest in the rates, investments, and rules that regulators approve. Why should any company whose profits depend on a government decision get a say in who makes it? Florida already saw what a bribed election looks like. In 2020, a “ghost” candidate sharing an incumbent Democrat’s last name pulled over 6,000 votes in a state Senate race decided by 32 votes. It was part of a scheme Florida Power & Light (FPL), a NextEra Energy subsidiary, was accused of orchestrating to defeat a lawmaker it wanted gone. A former state senator was convicted for bribing the “ghost” candidate to run. FPL’s then-CEO wrote that he wanted to make life “a living hell" for the incumbent. DeSantis-appointed regulators later approved FPL's $7 billion rate hike, the largest in US history. NextEra proposed a $150 million settlement over the scandal in June 2026, one of the largest securities fraud settlements in decades, but a federal judge rejected it in August, saying the companies hadn't provided enough information to justify it. Now NextEra is trying to acquire Dominion Energy in a $67 billion deal. If it succeeds, the combined company would become the largest regulated utility in the world, covering about 10 million customers across Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The company accused of funding a scheme to fix one state Senate race is about to have the resources to influence elections in three more states. It’s not just rates that utility companies are influencing. In 2018, lobbying rewrote how Michigan credits homeowners for rooftop solar, stripping transmission costs from the formula. The payback period for a typical residential system stretched from about nine years to 13, four more years of paying full price for someone who already tried to do the right thing. Community solar, which would let renters and low-income households buy into local solar projects without installing their own panels, still has no statewide framework in Michigan, despite repeated bipartisan attempts to pass one. DTE and Consumers Energy are unequivocal in their opposition, and PACs tied to both utilities gave nearly $500,000 to the governor, legislators, and party funds in 2023, the same year a major clean energy package moved through Lansing without a community solar provision. Eighty percent of the legislature took the money. MMOP’s ballot petition won't guarantee that bill passes differently next time, but it would take away utilities' ability to pay for the outcome. Utilities won't stop treating elections as a business expense until voters make them. Grantee partners including Michigan Peoples Campaign, We the People Action Fund, and Detroit Action have spent months organizing behind MMOP, the kind of work that flipped one utility board in Arizona. Two years ago, we made a $20,000 bet: that elections for Salt River Project’s board, Arizona's largest utility, then low-turnout, could become a source of power for the families paying its bills. Grantee partner Poder Latinx knocked on 70,000 doors. This April, more than 35,000 people voted, four times the usual turnout, and a clean energy majority won control of the board for the first time. Utilities count on nobody paying attention. This November, Michigan voters can prove them wrong. --- ### 'Power Lies at the Hands of the People': Thousands of No Kings Events Rally Voters for 2026 Midterms **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-kings-october-17.md More than 3,000 No Kings rallies held in all 50 US states on Saturday sought to rally voters to the polls ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. While past No Kings demonstrations have focused on protesting the policies of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, Saturday's demonstrations were geared toward helping Americans ensure that their vote is counted in next month's elections. On the No Kings website, organizers described the events as "a day of nonpartisan voter participation, being in community with each other, and making sure every eligible voter has a plan, knows their options, and is ready to make their voice count." Speaking at a No Kings event in Atlanta, Georgia, Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg emphasized how important early voting will be to stopping any attempted meddling by the Trump administration in the elections. "In America, power lies at the hands of the people, and we express our power at the ballot box," said Greenberg. "Nobody knows better than the folks here that that right was never given by the powerful, it was demanded by generations of dedicated, brilliant, fearless organizers who put their lives and their freedom on the line to demand that this nation live up to its promises." Leah Greenberg: No Kings is a deceptively simple statement. It is a statement that in America, power lies at the hands of the people, and we express our power at the ballot box. — Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) October 17, 2026 at 12:53 PM Greenberg outlined how Trump has tried to attack the voting process throughout his second term, including his unprecedented mid-decade redistricting campaign and his attempts to restrict the right to vote by mail. "They want chaos, fear, and confusion at the polls," said Greenberg. "Voting early is the first step in how we protect those rights. A vote cast today can't be lost to a long line or a closed polling place." In a Thursday interview with journalist Steven Beschloss, Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin said he hoped the No Kings rallies would drive "the biggest turnout in midterms in American history," which he said was important "because we have an authoritarian" in Trump "who will take advantage of any uncertainty." Minnesota Democratic US Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan, whose state came under siege last winter from federal immigration agents, expressed support for the No Kings rallies in a Saturday social media post. "This year, Minnesotans showed the world that we don't do kings," Flanagan wrote. "Today, we're doing it again. No matter where you are, make your voice heard." The demonstrations also earned a thumbs up from Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). "No kings. No authoritarians. No warmongers. No despots," Ramirez wrote. "All across the country, Americans are taking to the streets and organizing to defend our neighbors and our democracy! Remember that you have rights." Attendance estimates for Saturday’s No Kings protests were not available as of this writing, though past rallies have drawn as many as 8 million people nationwide. --- ### 'The Government is Trembling': Protests Erupt in France, Spreading to 140 Cities **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/france-nationwide-protests-students.md Protests erupted throughout France on Saturday, with demonstrators citing a wide variety of grievances including inequality, the high cost of living, and poor conditions in the nation's schools. As reported by Agence France-Presse, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Paris and other cities to protest what they said was inaction by the French government on the biggest problems facing the country. "For years we've had climate, economy, and equality problems," one protester identified as Agnes told AFP, "but the government is not doing anything about it." 18-year-old student Kamil Alahyan told AFP that there are "so many reasons" to protest, including "the elections coming up in 2027, politicians who lie, the ultra-rich who've been taking more and more wealth over the past 10 years." A 19-year-old protester identified as Lola expressed a similar view in an interview published by The Guardian on Saturday. "We are fighting because the cost of living is too harsh," Lola said, "because the price of fuel is too high, because high school pupils are being violently attacked and hurt all over the country just for trying to protest and ask for more teachers and decent learning conditions." Student organizer Ryad Rani told AFP that "the government is trembling and it's right to tremble because when the French people are angry, they never let up." Saturday's demonstrations mark the expansion of a movement that began last month when students blockaded their schools to protest staffing shortages, dilapidated buildings, and a widely criticized university application system. According to The New York Times, demonstrations took place in at least 140 cities across the country. Some of the protests did turn violent in major cities including Lyon, Marseille, and Paris, AFP reported. A Saturday BBC report claimed that more than 270 protesters have been arrested nationwide. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused "ultra-left groups" of inciting violence at the demonstrations. "To those who clearly want to use these acts of violence as a 'warm-up' ahead of the presidential election, let me be clear: we will not be intimidated," Lecornu wrote in a social media post. "No one will impose their political agenda through violence." Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader the left-wing France Unbowed party, slammed the media for focusing too much on the isolated incidents of violence and not reporting on the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the demonstrations. "Crowds of people everywhere, calm and joyful everywhere when the police aren't around," Mélenchon wrote in a social media post that featured photos of peaceful marches from across the country, which he described as "images you won't see in the official media." --- ### Trump Gives Putin an 'Economic Lifeline,' Waives Sanctions on Russia **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-russia-sanctions-waiver.md President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that waived new sanctions on Russia that were set to take effect thanks to bipartisan legislation signed into law by the president last month. Trump justified the decision by claiming the sanctions waiver "is in the national interests of the United States," without offering further details. The president said he submitted a report to Congress elaborating on his reasons for waiving the sanctions. A Friday report in The New York Times described the waiver as "another economic lifeline to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin," as the sanctions had been designed "to target Russian officials, oligarchs, and financial institutions" and "squeeze the financial lifelines sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the sanctions waiver, and urged US lawmakers and voters to speak out against the US president's actions. "It is important that everyone in America... sees what is really happening," Zelenskyy wrote in a Saturday social media post. "At a time when the Russians have carried out such a massive attack on our energy sector, a decision was unfortunately made in America to completely disregard the , which was supposed to impose truly effective pressure on Russia to bring this war to an end." Zelenskyy emphasized that the sanctions package could still do a lot of good, but "it needs to actually work, and every voice in support of it matters." Trump in recent weeks has been pressuring Ukraine to stop its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in a bid to lower global prices of gas and diesel, both of which have skyrocketed in recent months because of the president's illegal war with Iran. In addition to pressuring Ukraine, Trump also struck a deal with Russia to import diesel into the US, drawing a bipartisan rebuke from lawmakers who accused the president of funding Putin's war machine. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) ripped Trump's decision to waive the Russia sanctions in a Friday social media post. "Trump’s latest surrender to Putin again betrays our Ukrainian partners," Beyer wrote, "and defies clear congressional intent of legislation designed to punish Russia for its illegal war of aggression." Beyer also pointed to flaws in the sanctions bill that he said gave Trump too much discretionary power to not only waive sanctions on Russia, but to impose further tariffs on US allies. "Congress must fix this flawed law," he said, "to stop Trump from capitulating to Putin and ensure that it truly supports Ukraine." Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) on Saturday slammed Trump's sanctions waiver as "beyond irresponsible." "What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand?" Tillis asked. "It's unconscionable that this administration is capitulating to a Russian dictator who illegally invaded Ukraine and butchers innocent civilians every single day." Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who co-authored the sanctions law with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), said Trump has shown "that he stands on the side of a bloodthirsty thug and the enablers of Russia's war machine and against the majority of Americans, their representatives in both houses of Congress, and our European allies." "These waivers have nothing to do with our national security, and everything to do with sucking up to Vladimir Putin," Blumenthal added. "I hope my Republican colleagues will join me in condemning this craven, cowardly action." --- ### Something Else to Worry About: Biological Weapons **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Connie Peck | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/worry-about-bio-weapons.md A few months ago, I ordered a pre-publication copy of Annie Jacobsen’s new non-fiction book, Biological War: A Scenario, which followed on from her excellent book, Nuclear War: A Scenario—not because I enjoy reading about existential risks, but because I’m an information seeker and feel that it’s important to stay informed. But when it arrived a few weeks later, in spite of having written an opinion piece about her nuclear book, entitled, “Why We Avoid Thinking About Nuclear War—and Why We Shouldn’t,” after seeing the frightening cover illustration of men in hazmat suits, I stashed it on the bookshelf of my study rather than reading it—for the same reasons I discussed in my earlier piece: I didn’t want to know! But after the recent reports of a biolab accident in Russia, I retrieved it from the bookshelf and read it in two days. The “scenario” in the book is that of a “biological weapons lab accident,” where a scientist working to modify pneumonic plague into a deadly biological weapon experiences remorse and tries to destroy it. But the small fire he lights causes an explosion that propels the Yersinia pestis bacteria (which causes the plague) into the atmosphere. In the process, he becomes infected with his weaponized pneumonic plague, although he doesn’t yet know it. Although most of us cannot directly influence negotiations about strengthening the BWC, there are things that we can do to support such efforts and to lessen the increasingly grave dangers that confront us. The next morning, he goes to an Orthodox church to confess where, by coughing in the midst of confession, he infects the priest, as well as the next person in line—a pre-med foreign exchange student, who is back in this small Russian town visiting family—before returning to the US shortly thereafter, where he is studying and doing volunteer work with homeless people. The student subsequently infects scores on Skid Row, who, in turn, infect the first responders who come to help them and, ultimately, the whole city of Los Angeles. Following his confession, the scientist goes into the woods to shoot himself but collapses from the symptoms of plague. He is found by men on an international hunting trip, who administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and carry him back to their hunting lodge, where he is collected by officials. After dining together, using the same sauna and steam bath, and driving to the airport in the same van, seven of the hunters board flights to six of the world’s seven continents, while another goes off on a sea cruise—spreading pneumonic plague on their flights and sea voyage—and ultimately around the world. In the real-world scenario, reported on October 2, Darya Shipilova, a 28-year old laboratory technician working in an “Anti-Plague Institute” in Irkutsk, Siberia died, according to Russian officials, of “a pneumonia of unknown etiology.” A Russian news agency reported that she had broken a test tube containing live bacteria of the pneumonic plague pathogen, leading to widespread speculation that she had, indeed, died of pneumonic plague. These concerns were reinforced by reports that Russian health authorities imposed sweeping quarantine restrictions on the lab where she worked, the hospital where she died, and other nearby hospitals. Neighbors also reported that workers in protective suits and gas masks repeatedly disinfected the building where she lived, telling residents that it was “for cockroaches,” although the building has no cockroaches. More recently, Russia’s health agency asserted that the plague was not detected in follow-up tests of “thousands of people in the region.” The overall opacity (a familiar playbook for crises in Russia) of Russian public health officials in responding to urgent requests for more information from the World Health Organization, the US, and other governments led to considerable disquiet around the world. When asked if her death was related to a bioweapon, President Donald Trump responded, not very reassuringly, “We don’t think so.” He also acknowledged the similarities in how Chinese officials handled Covid-19 before it became a global pandemic: “China didn’t say much, and Russia is not saying much either.” The Biological Weapons Convention Was Supposed to Prevent This, Then Came the Secret Soviet Biological Weapons Program The 1925 Geneva Protocol banned the use of biological weapons, but not their development or possession. Although ratified by a number of countries in the 1920s and 30s, it wasn’t ratified by the US until 1975. After 27 years of a US biological weapons program, President Richard Nixon unexpectedly announced on November 25, 1969 that the US would unilaterally end its offensive biological weapons program, stating, “The United States shall renounce the use of lethal biological agents and weapons, and all other methods of biological warfare… confine its biological research to defensive measures such as immunization and safety measures.” Over the next years, US biological weapons stocks were destroyed with the process completed in May 1972. Subsequently, the United Nations Conference on Disarmament negotiated “The Biological Weapons Convention” (BWC), the first multilateral treaty to ban an entire class of weapons of mass destruction. It was opened for signature on April 10, 1972 and signed by the US, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union the same day. It entered into force on March 26, 1975. Currently, it has 189 State Parties and four Signatory States, with only four States outside the Convention. Because it was the first of its kind, however, the BWC lacked the important monitoring and verification procedures that were later included in the Chemical Weapons Convention. There are no mandatory verified declarations of biological facilities or activities; no inspections or site visits to verify compliance; no international organization to oversee implementation; and no penalties for non-compliance, although complaints can be made to the UN Security Council (which are subject to veto by any of the five Permanent Members). Only four staff are involved in its tiny Implementation Support Unit, compared with over 500 for the Chemical Weapons Convention. In spite of the Soviet Union becoming a signatory to the BWC in 1972, the USSR continued to covertly develop and produce offensive biological weapons in what became the world’s largest and most sophisticated biological weapons program, with 40-50 biological research facilities scattered around the country, employing 65,000 people. The aim was to create “exotic biological weapons using techniques made possible by recombinant DNA.” Recombinant DNA, also called genetic engineering, involves joining the DNA from two entirely different species to make new pathogens. Not detecting this vast biological weapons program was one of the biggest intelligence failures of the Cold War as it was totally unknown in the West until 1989, when a Soviet scientist, Vladimir Pasechnik, defected, shocking the British Intelligence Services and the CIA with details of the massive program and its deadly stockpiles. They learned that the Soviets had “genetically engineered a strain of Yersinia pestis to resist antibiotics” and had also stockpiled vast volumes of other deadly pathogens in the labs’ freezers, such as smallpox, anthrax, ebola, Marburg virus disease, and many others—all weaponized to kill populations in the most diabolical manner. The terrifying extent of this biowarfare program was later confirmed by other defecting Soviet scientists, especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In January 1992, Boris Yeltsin admitted that he knew about the program and pledged to close down the institutes, retire their directors, and ask for international inspections. But the two generals he appointed to carry out this mission resisted his orders. In 1992, a Trilateral Agreement was signed by Russia with the United States and the United Kingdom “promising to end biological weapons programs and convert facilities to benevolent purposes, but compliance with the agreement—and the fate of the former Soviet bio-agents and facilities—is still mostly undocumented.” The State Department’s 2025 compliance report states: “The United States assesses that Russia maintains an offensive biological warfare program and is in violation of its obligations under Article I and II of the BWC… Key military biological facilities associated with the Soviet offensive program remain, inaccessible and not transparent, nearly 30 years after Yeltsin’s decree.” Jacobsen’s Book Is Based on the Secret Soviet Biological Weapons Program The latter part of Jacobsen’s book deals with the breakdown of law and order, as mass death and panic take hold and cause chaos. Ultimately, the president deploys the Insurrection Act, whereby military forces attempt to establish martial law for the first time in American history. Just as they are about to release the strategic national stockpiles of medicine, scientists at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease receive their first bacterial specimens (from the infected hunter who landed in Dallas and died in a local hospital). Microbiologists in biocontainment suits examine the specimens, and plague cultures are grown and used to test for antibiotic resistance in small animals. Simultaneously, microbiologists extract DNA from the specimen and feed it into a high-speed sequencing machine to get a genetic fingerprint of the pathogen. What they discover is appalling—the organism has been bioengineered and “looks alarmingly like a 21st century version of something Russian scientists worked on during the Soviet-era secret biological weapons programs.” It is a combination of two pathogens, one concealed within another, referred to as a “bobby-trap bio-weapon,” whereby, after a person becomes infected with pneumonic plague and takes antibiotics as soon as possible under the assumption they will be cured, the antibiotics trigger the chimera weapon’s bobby-trap mechanism—in this fictional case, the Venezuelan equine encephalitis gene which has been covertly spliced into the Yersinia pestis genome to cause acute neurological symptoms and death. As a result, there is no cure. As Annie Jacobsen declares: The book is not meant to create unnecessary fear. It is meant to make clear what is now possible, and what is at stake. The tools to engineer life are advancing faster than the rules that govern them. This gap is where existential danger lives. The point is not panic; the point is pressure. To demand guardrails, oversight, and accountability before the science outruns our ability to control it. Before we set something irreversible in motion. Although the real-life situation in Siberia will hopefully not turn out to be the same as in Annie Jacobsen’s book, it should cause us to take notice. Attempts to Improve the Biological Weapons Convention Serious attempts have been made in the past to strengthen the BWC but without success. An Ad Hoc Group labored from 1995 to 2001 to create a protocol where states would submit declarations of treaty-relevant facilities and activities to an international body that would conduct routine on-site visits, as well as challenge inspections of suspect facilities and activities. But the draft was rejected by the US under President George W. Bush, who argued that it could harm US national security. Nothing more happened for many years. Another attempt is currently underway, although progress is slow. A Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention Working Group was established at the 2022 BWC Review Conference and has been working steadily over the last four years to come up with the text of draft recommendations before the 2027 BWC Review Conference. At their August meeting this year, 90.6% of the text had been agreed, although fundamental disagreements over verification frameworks, transfer controls, and funding remain—and tensions are high. The chair of the Working Group has highlighted the urgency, arguing that the sudden convergence of artificial intelligence and biology is “creating new security challenges,” warning that a gap “may emerge between these rapidly advancing capabilities and our collective ability to understand their governance and prevent their misuse.” What We Can Do Although most of us cannot directly influence negotiations about strengthening the BWC, there are things that we can do to support such efforts and to lessen the increasingly grave dangers that confront us. We can be sure to vote in the upcoming midterms for Democratic candidates, who have been more likely to support regulatory controls in Congress, as well as multilaterally. We can support these candidates with financial contributions and by working on their campaigns to ensure that they get elected, since time is short. Once elected, we can strive to persuade them to urgently implement appropriate policies. After all, who wants human extinction? Presumably, none of us—no matter how jaded we may have become. We can educate ourselves about the threats by reading widely, including Jacobsen’s excellent books, as well as opinion pieces on the subject, such as ones I’ve written on AI and nuclear weapons. We can do online research to identify, join, financially support, and work with others in public advocacy organizations against threats that are of particular concern to us. We can attend protest rallies and discuss our concerns with friends, encouraging them to also become active, so that we can develop a large public constituency to combat these extreme dangers. Just a couple of days ago, on October 11, The Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health highlighted 17 major threats to human health over the next 75 years, asserting that, “Malicious use of AI, including bioweapons, and nuclear conflict with nuclear famine carry risks of extinction in the next 75 years.” There are so many existential dangers to confront that it can sometimes feel overwhelming and lead us to a state of helplessness when what we need, instead, is a pro-active approach that will foster resourcefulness. By facing up to our natural tendency to avoid frightening information and by confronting our fears head-on, we can gain a true sense of self-efficacy and social responsibility. In this way, we can save those we love; ensure that future generations thrive; preserve the rich cultural heritage we have created; protect the magnificent array of other species on Earth; and safeguard our beautiful, one-of-a-kind planet—from all of these truly insane and, frankly, evil machinations—often designed by normal people, who have been seduced by competitive processes; rationales that “everyone is doing it”; lucrative remuneration; lapse of conscience; and bad ideas into creating conditions for the most dystopian futures imaginable. As Gareth Evans, former Australian foreign minister, former president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, and co-chair of the Commission on Nuclear Proliferation and Disarmament has recently commented with regard to the nuclear threat, “It is up to those of us who passionately believe in both the possibility and necessity of a nuclear weapon free world, however disappointed and frustrated we may be right now, to get out there and continue to campaign our hearts out for it.” I suggest that we extend his call to action to all the existential threats we face. After all, who wants human extinction? Presumably, none of us—no matter how jaded we may have become. We must assume responsibility for the continuation of our kind and choose human survival. --- ### 7 Questions a 2026 Candidate Must Get Right to Earn Your Vote on Election Day **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Kirk Freudenburg | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/7-tests-for-lawmakers.md I happen to live in a state where MAGA enthusiasms are relatively subdued, and where Republicans skew toward old-school conservatism rather than Q-Anon crazy. The old Prescott Bush world of Connecticut. The state’s senators and the representative of my congressional district do an “admirable enough” job representing my interests and advocating for good causes, giving me just enough to complain about, but not too much. Given the times we live in, and with the midterms looming large, I rather wish I could cast a ballot in a state that where my vote might make a bigger difference; a state where senators and congressional representatives have gotten away with far too much, often for far too long. Mind you, I don’t want to live in such a place, I just want to vote there. It is with all this in mind that I have written a letter, a request for information by a concerned and proactive citizen, that might prove useful and revealing to those who live in deeply red or contested states. It seeks information from those currently in office in those states, but it might just as easily be tailored to those seeking office as well. Anyone who chooses to use the letter can adapt it as they please. It’s all about accountability and protecting our rights as citizens. As follows: Dear Senator X or Congressional Representative Y, As a citizen of your state or district, I am determined to make sure that the votes I cast next month go to the most qualified and talented candidates on the ballot. For me, getting things right means, above all, making sure that the persons I vote for are committed to protecting the US Constitution and upholding the basic principles of American democracy—as all senators and congressional representatives are sworn to do. I also want to make sure that the persons I vote for have spoken out against the current administration’s rampant corruption and indecency by taking a strong public stand when it counts. With that in mind, I would love to have you, or a member of your staff, bring me up to speed on your track record of protecting my rights as a citizen and of supporting the cause of restoring decency by answering the following questions, all very straightforward, and not at all time-consuming—and to keep things simple I have narrowed my questions down to just seven items from the last year or so. When, on February 6, 2026, President Donald Trump shared a video depicting Barack and Michele Obama as apes, you expressed your outrage how, and where can I locate that public response? When, on February 28, 2026, President Trump launched an unprovoked war against Iran, having sought no congressional approval (though the law requires it), what steps did you take to rein in this abuse of power? When, earlier this month, President Trump used nearly 22 million taxpayer dollars to fund a series of political ads praising himself, you spoke out how, and took what measures to uphold the rule of law? When, in November of 2024, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Fox News’ Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense (and here you should feel free to swap in any other agency head as you like, such as Robert Kennedy Jr., Kristi Noem, Todd Blanche, Linda McMahon, etc.), what measures did you take either that day, or in the following weeks, to protect the American people from having someone so dangerously unqualified hold that office? Again, please indicate where can I locate that information. When, on September 23, 2026, Donald Trump went before the United Nations General Assembly and threatened to annihilate Iran, in what public forum did you express your outrage, and what measures did you take (or are you taking) to follow up on that outrage? When, at a campaign rally in Grand Island Nebraska on October 6, 2026, President Trump joked about wishing Iran would launch a nuclear attack on Los Angeles and San Diego, how was your outrage expressed before the American public? When, on October 9, 2026, Donald Trump announced plans to brush aside legal sanctions that are currently in place by purchasing 300,000 tons of diesel fuel from Russia, followed by another 3-4.5 million tons in the months ahead, thereby tossing a lifeline to Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine, you registered your objections how, and what actions have you since undertaken to address this outrage? That’s it. I have so many additional questions I would like to ask you—regarding how you have responded to the president’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, to his leveling of the East Wing of the White House, his embrace of Putin, his threats to Greenland, his self-enrichment in office, his dismissal of the Epstein scandal as a “democrat hoax,” his disgraceful posts, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement killings, the reflecting pool, the budget deficit, his support of genocide in Gaza, and so on, and on, and on… But I will accept your answers to the seven questions posed above as sufficient for the purpose of your earning or failing to earn my vote. Please understand that a track record of silence or inaction on any one of these items, let alone on several or all, will tell me all that I need to know. Weak objections, objections devoid of action, and objections made for show won’t cut it for me either. To earn my vote, you will need to provide evidence that you opposed these dangerous and demeaning abuses and illegalities aggressively, right when they took place, not just for show, and especially not just now, when elections loom and public support for the president’s agenda is crumbling. I thank you in advance for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Concerned Citizen --- ### By Delivering a Shortened Workweek, Lula Proves He's Still in the Running **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Mike Elk | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/lula-still-in-running.md Greetings from Rio de Janeiro, where President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is mounting a hell of a comeback after achieving the Workers' Party's 40-year goal of shortening the Brazilian workweek from six to five days. Now, polling shows Lula is back in the fight, even as US media ignores it. Polls Show Brazilian Presidential Race Tied Following the first round of the election, where Lula trailed Flávio Bolsonaro by 1.8%, many wrote off Lula’s campaign. However, in the past week Lula has pulled off an impressive series of street mobilizations that have rocked the Brazilian presidential race, with over 1 million marching on Copacabana Beach on a Monday afternoon when Lula wasn’t even there. With more than 38 million Brazilians not voting in the first round of the presidential election and Bolsonaro only leading by 2 million votes in the first round, many Bolsonaro allies worry that the scale and magnitude of Lula’s rallies could inspire massive Get Out the Vote efforts throughout the country. The mobilizations helped create the energy that led the Brazilian Congress to pass a measure shortening the Brazilian workweek from six days to five Wednesday. This may now create enough energy to help Lula win the presidency. Various polls this week have shown the race nearly tied. A new PoderData poll shows Lula and Bolsonaro tied, with a little over a week until election day. Yet another poll released by Real Big Time Data shows that Bolsonaro is only leading by 1%. A third poll by CNT and MDA shows Bolsonaro at 50.5% while Lula has 49.5% Bolsonaro Party Leader Worries About Mass Lula Mobilizations With more than 38 million Brazilians not voting in the first round of the presidential election and Bolsonaro only leading by 2 million votes in the first round, many Bolsonaro allies worry that the scale and magnitude of Lula’s rallies could inspire massive Get Out the Vote efforts throughout the country. In an audio message sent to party insiders, top Bolsonaro ally Congressman Gustavo Geyer said that he was worried about the potential of the street protests to mobilize the vote for Lula. In the audio message, Geyer complained at length about the 4 million-strong WhatsApp group “Lula’s Army.” Previously, a Bolsonaro-appointed Supreme Court Justice, Kassio Nunes Marques, blocked the WhatsApp group for several hours before being overruled by other members of the Brazilian Supreme Court. "The campaign of electoral terrorism that Lula and the PT are conducting in a criminal manner—that 'Lula’s Army' channel, created by that 'Rachadones' character—is truly managing to mobilize the left in a way we have never seen before,” said Guyer. “The demons of Workers’ Party have crawled out of the catacombs of hell and are genuinely making an impact on the tracking polls.” Lula Shortens Brazilian Workweek With Only One Vote Against For nearly 40 years, the Workers’ Party has tried and failed to shorten the Brazilian workweek from six days to five. But this week, Lula pulled off a stunning victory when the Brazilian Senate voted to shorten the Brazilian workweek while not decreasing the pay of workers. Only one senator voted against the measure, and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro skipped the vote rather than vote against it. Brazilian labor leaders say that the success of the vote proves the momentum their campaign is having in the streets. “The Bolsonaro family lost,” said Miguel Torres, the president of the Força Sindical labor federation. “It's a victory for workers.” Bolsonaro Wants Supreme Court to Silence Unions Fearing attacks from unions, Flavio Bolsonaro went to the Brazilian Supreme Electoral Tribunal, part of the Brazilian Supreme Court, this week to ask it to silence union attacks against him on social media. Bolsonaro's lawsuit names 56 people, mainly union leaders and student leaders. Flavio wants the court to block these individuals from using their institutional channels to promote Lula. "This offensive doesn't just target Lula's campaign. It's directed against public participation, against the right of citizens to organize, express support, and criticize a candidacy," said André Matheus, a specialist in freedom of expression and vice-president of the Lawfare Commission of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers (IAB). For more, check out ICL Noticias. Help Cover Lula's Comeback Fight Many US media outlets think the fight is over in Brazil, but it is far from over here. Lula is nearly tied in the polls and has a lot ahead of him. We've got nine days left, and Payday intends to cover the tough fight ahead. We need your help to cover this story that no one else is covering: Donate today. --- ### No Kings—and No Oligarchs **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Jeff Peck | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/no-kings-no-oligarchs.md Two opposing views from America’s Founding Fathers are particularly relevant to the upcoming No Kings rallies: “Of more worth is one honest man to society and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.”—Thomas Paine “There never was, nor ever will be a civilized Society without an Aristocracy.”—Gouverneur Morris I once played the historic figure of Gouverneur Morris in Paul Foster’s stage play, Tom Paine, about the life of Thomas Paine who, in 1776, wrote a pamphlet called “Common Sense,” which guided and gave form to the American Revolution. Much has been written about how that work has direct relevance to today’s No Kings rallies, making a compelling case for the preservation of a republic and representative democracy over authoritarianism. However, thinking back to Foster’s play, I’m reminded that it’s important to also remember Morris because, as a bitter critic of Paine, he represents a viewpoint diametrically opposed to Paine’s egalitarianism, as represented in the role of oligarchs in society, or the “gentry,” as he called them. Their loyalty and support underpins the power of a king. And 250 years later, this is just as true for today’s oligarchs and their would-be king, Donald J. Trump. Simply have a look at any image of the 2025 presidential inauguration. The platform behind Trump is crowded with the richest people in the country, among them, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, and Rupert Murdoch. Attending the No Kings rallies to express loudly and clearly the views of the 99% is a step in the right direction. These people are enablers of Donald Trump, but at the same time, as Paine points out, the relationship between oligarchs and an authoritarian ruler is an uneasy one: “The rich are in general slaves to fear, and submit to courtly power with the trembling duplicity of a spaniel.” How else to describe the obsequious fawning over Donald Trump by those same people on the platform? A wealthy landholder and capitalist, Gouverneur Morris was a member the “1%” of his day. And when resentment against King George III was brewing in the colonies in the 1770s, he and his fellow landowners worried that any change to the status quo could threaten their power and privilege. Suppressing discontent, however, he realized, would not be easy. Referring to popular leaders in the colonies, in a 1774 letter to John Penn, Morris wrote: “These sheep, simple as they are, cannot be gulled as heretofore. In short, there is no ruling them; and now, to leave the metaphor, the heads of the mobility grow dangerous to the gentry, and how to keep them down is the question.” Today’s oligarchs have a simple answer: Spend a billion dollars to elect right-wing candidates in this year’s midterm elections. The degree to which that will work any better than Morris’ efforts in the 1770s remains to be seen. After armed conflict broke out between colonists and British troops in Lexington and Concord in April 1775, most wealthy landholders did not openly side with the king. However, many argued for negotiations to end the hostilities and reconciliation with the Crown. Thomas Paine thought this was madness. Once blood has been shed, he said, reconciliation was impossible: “As well can the lover forgive the ravisher of his mistress, as the continent forgive the murders of Britain." Indeed, in the end, a peaceful settlement between king and colonists was not to be. Today, with two years of increasing violence, both rhetorical and physical, on the part of the second Trump administration, that same line has undeniably been crossed. If in the elections on November 3, Democrats win control of Congress, there will no doubt be calls for toning down the rhetoric, more cooperation across the aisle, and a working relationship between Trump and a Democratic Congress. But, as with Paine’s argument, that may very well not be possible. At the end of the War of Independence, when the new country’s constitution was being considered, America’s wealthy managed to guarantee their continued privileged position in society. Paine had argued: “The true and only true basis of representative government is equality of rights. Every man has a right to one vote… The rich have no more right to exclude the poor from the right of voting, or of electing and being elected, than the poor have to exclude the rich.” However, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Morris made the case that only those who owned property should have the right to vote. “Children do not vote,” he said, “Why? Because they want prudence; because they have no will of their own. The ignorant and the dependent can be as little trusted with the public interest.” James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams agreed, and although the Constitution left the right to vote in the hands of the individual states, in most cases that meant that only white male voters with property could vote. Although they will still seek to benefit from their proximity to power in the wake of a Democratic victory in the midterms, like Morris and his fellow gentry, Trump’s ultra-rich supporters will continue to find ways to protect their privileged status in society. With virtually unlimited resources, both financial and technical (including advanced AI models), along with increasing control of the media, the oligarchs will do their best to influence policy, legislation, regulation, and public opinion. This will make them difficult to keep in check. But attending the No Kings rallies to express loudly and clearly the views of the 99% is a step in the right direction. Before the war, judges in the colonies were appointed and paid by the Crown. This made them natural allies of the king and the wealthy in society. Morris believed that “the principle purpose of the state was protecting private property” and a strong executive and the courts were the instruments to ensure that. In today’s America, this alliance is again in force on the Supreme Court. Trump has nominated 3 of its 9 judges, and 3 others were nominated by Republican presidents, giving the conservatives a supermajority. For this reason, the court has ruled in Trump’s favor in many cases, notably rolling back voting rights and loosening campaign financing laws, both of which entrench the power of the wealthy over the poor. But the court has also afforded Trump king-like immunity from prosecution for all “official acts.” Thomas Paine had a response to that: “When it is laid down as a maxim, that a King can do no wrong, it places him in a state of similar security with that of idiots and persons insane, and responsibility is out of the question with respect to himself.” I leave it to you to decide if that description applies to our would-be king. --- ### Student Protesters Inspire One Another—and Should Inspire All of Us **Published:** October 17, 2026 | **Author:** Jon Hale | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/student-protests-france.md High school students in France have captured international attention by protesting essential conditions of schooling—too few teachers, too many funding cuts, and a crumbling infrastructure. After nearly 7,000 arrests—more than 85% of whom were under 18—French education minister Edouard Geffray conceded to some of their demands and offered to hire 3,000 more teachers. The role of high school students is clearly impactful, but we need not look to France to understand the power of student-led activism. The United States, in fact, is rich with examples. Protestors have made reference to May 1968 protests in France, when 10 million workers, about two-thirds of the workforce, went on the largest general strike in French history. Students in France inspired a transnational movement that galvanized millions around decolonization, national liberation movements, and the rights of students in a new social order. Those 1968 uprisings were also informed, most likely, by high school student activism in the United States. As I explore in my book in 2022, “A New Kind of Youth,” high school students were agents of social change in the U.S. for more than 100 years. The NAACP, the oldest longstanding civil rights organization, began mobilizing high school students in 1921, where they challenged many of the same schooling conditions that French high schoolers protest today. More than a century earlier, the first NAACP youth chapters rejected textbooks with racist histories and demanded more equitable investments in segregated Black schools, for instance. The NAACP was not the only organization to see the potential of youth activism. Radical organizers Esther Cooper Jackson, James E. Jackson, Edward Strong and others who worked in solidarity with interracial and international working-class coalitions formed the Southern Negro Youth Congress in 1937 in order to mobilize youth to actualize full citizenship rights for all, including equitably funded education. By the Second World War, thousands of high school youth formed local organizations and joined national and international conferences in calling on state and federal agencies to alleviate discriminatory schooling conditions, end police brutality, build international solidarity, and promote pacifism in the face of wars for empires, all the while illuminating the links between racism and capitalism. In 1946, activist scholar W.E.B. DuBois spoke to hundreds of young people assembled in South Carolina, and delivered a stirring speech he titled “Behold the Land.” As an elder in the Black freedom struggle, Du Bois charged the youth movement he saw unfolding before him. He observed that young people, many of whom were in high school, were “embarked upon a great and holy crusade, the emancipation of mankind, the upbuilding of democracy, the breaking down…of forces of evil.” Du Bois’s words, not surprisingly, were prophetic. High school students emerged as overlooked progenitors of key Civil Rights Movement victories. Robert Russo Moton High School student Barbara Johns orchestrated a student walkout in 1951 in Farmville, Virginia. She led her classmates in a schoolwide walkout and marched downtown. Facing expulsion, she reached out to Oliver Hill, a Virginia-based attorney with the NAACP. The NAACP responded to Johns’ call and organized the small but committed Black community in the heart of Virgina to file a suit that demanded desegregation. The court case became Davis v. Prince Edward County, Virginia (1951)—one of the five court cases behind the Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Students turned out in larger numbers and provided needed momentum in other parts of the Civil Rights Movement. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tackled segregation in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, he called for massive nonviolent protests. It was youth from elementary to high school, not local adults, who responded to the call. An estimated 4,000 students participated in the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. They prompted the iconic photographs of the notoriously racist police commissioner Bull Connor who turned police dogs and fire houses on children. When the dust settled, more than 2,000 students were arrested and expelled from school. Moderate segregationists listened in the wake of the offensive. State and federal governments conceded basic points and desegregated public spaces in Birmingham. During the “Freedom Summer” of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, promising anti-discriminatory protections for all. Historic student activism led to historic liberal milestones that protected basic civil rights and made the United States more inclusive. To be sure, such concessions fell short in enacting a genuine collective and participatory democracy. But youth activists were quick to respond to its shortcomings, making demands for today’s most salient issues. High schoolers went on strike to support common sense gun reform legislation during the March for Our Lives protests in 2018. Youth not yet in college participated in the Fridays for Future climate justice protests and joined Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. When high schoolers protest, they demonstrate our historic connection to the recent uprising in France. The connection proffers inspiring indications that massive youth organization will lead to structural change. And the material demands made in France—for better schooling conditions and equitable investment in education in the race of austerity cuts—resonate across the United States and other struggling democracies. It’s time that we listen, again, to what high schoolers have to say. --- ### As Rubio Heads to India, US Progressives Sound Alarm About Repression and Surveillance of Protests **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/protesters-in-india.md On the eve of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip to India, six progressives in the House of Representatives on Friday sounded the alarm over the Indian government's response to recent protests, including its alleged spying on American soil. "We write with concern regarding a pattern of repression, wrongful detention, and excessive use of force by security forces during student protests in Delhi and other localities across India," Democratic Reps. Jesús "Chuy" García (Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Ilhan Omar (Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) said in a letter to President Donald Trump's top diplomat. "The United States-India relationship has historically been rooted in democratic values, constitutional governance, and strong people-to-people ties," they wrote. "As the world's largest democracies and state parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the US and India have an obligation to promote and defend the rights to freedom of assembly and expression. It is in this spirit of shared values and obligations that we raise the following concerns." As the letter lays out, protests began in June after the leak and subsequent cancellation of India's medical college entrance examination. While the demonstrators initially demanded reforms to the education system, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) movement ultimately "grew to give voice to a broader set of grievances, including high levels of youth unemployment, government corruption, and barriers to democratic participation." In recent weeks, "tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of major cities across India to protest... the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which has purged more than 130 million people from voter rolls since 2025," the letter details, noting that protesters have called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. At least "hundreds of people have been detained by police across India since October 10, including CJP movement leaders, protesters, and journalists," the lawmakers highlighted. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party has also closed some public spaces, used unwarranted force against unarmed demonstrators, and ordered telecommunications companies to shut down mobile internet services in a bid to thwart protests. However, the Democrats aren't just alarmed by actions across India; they also pointed to "reports that Indian diplomatic missions in the United States hired photographers to surveil protesters on American soil," with members of US human rights groups and the Indian diaspora disclosing that they were recorded at protests in Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. "These incidents raise particular alarm in light of India's documented pattern of engaging in transnational repression, including through the weaponization of consular services, harassment, intimidation, and physical violence," the members of Congress wrote. "It is unacceptable that individuals on United States soil may not exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, guaranteed to them by the US Constitution and international law for fear of retribution by a foreign government." The lawmakers asked Rubio's department to: Press the Indian government to initiate thorough, transparent, and independent investigations of alleged human rights violations connected to the law enforcement response to protests; Encourage the release of any individuals detained in contravention to Indian and international law for peacefully exercising the rights to freedom of expression and assembly; Thoroughly investigate reports that Indian diplomatic missions engaged in the surveillance and intimidation of protesters within the United States; and Pursuant to Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act, assess whether India has engaged in a consistent pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment directed against individuals in the United States and is thus ineligible for arms sales. Rubio is expected to meet with Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai ⁠on October 20. However, Rubio—a former US senator expected to run for president in 2028—and the second Trump administration more broadly have also been widely criticized for authoritarian behavior and their records on human rights. After Rubio attacked Amnesty International, the globally renowned group argued earlier this week that "as secretary of state, he has launched a wholesale attack on the concept of human rights." Specifically, he has: Eviscerated the US government's human rights infrastructure; Vowed to wreck international human rights institutions; Championed the US administration's extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific; and Continued to arm Israel as it commits genocide in Gaza. Further, "as the head of the National Security Council, he has not ensured the release of investigations into mass killings of civilians in US airstrikes in Yemen and Iran," Amnesty noted. "He's leading US attempts to destroy the international justice system. That includes a campaign to, in his words, 'dismantle' the International Criminal Court." More broadly, the second Trump administration has repeatedly generated fears of interference in next month's midterm elections, weaponized the federal government against the president's political "enemies," spent taxpayer dollars on far-right propaganda, punished journalists and outlets deemed unfriendly to the GOP agenda, pursued a deadly mass detention and deportation effort, slaughtered hundreds of people by bombing alleged drug-trafficking boats on the high seas, and much more. --- ### 'Monstrous': Netanyahu Casts Doubt on Filmed Israeli Settler Attack of American Journalist **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/netanyahu-casts-doubt-on-heidi-levine-attack.md Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced blistering criticism Friday after his office published a statement casting doubt on the circumstances surrounding a brutal attack earlier in the day by settlers in the illegally occupied West Bank that left an American journalist hospitalized. "The facts surrounding the confrontation near Abu Falah, during which Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was allegedly assaulted, remain unclear and are under investigation," Netanyahu's office said on social media. As Common Dreams reported, Levine—a 63-year-old Jewish American by birth who has reported from war zones including Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria—was covering Palestinian farmers desperately trying to harvest their olives when around 80 masked settler colonists descended upon them. Armed with rocks, clubs, sticks, assault rifles, and the self-assured belief that their deity figure promised them all the land that was once ruled by Jewish kings millennia ago, the settlers set fire to the olive trees that are the backbone of Palestine's rural economy and a literal symbol of Palestinians' rootedness in their homeland. The assailants fired guns and threw rocks at the olive harvesters, reportedly wounding at least two Palestinians. While documenting the attack, Levine—who, like other journalists killed or wounded by Israel, was clad in a helmet and a blue vest clearly marked "PRESS"—was set upon by settlers, knocked to the ground, and kicked dozens of times while her equipment was stolen. "Israel unequivocally condemns violence against anyone—Jews, Arabs, Christians, or journalists," Netanyahu's office claimed. "Those responsible will be held accountable." "But serious questions remain," the statement continued. "Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths. Footage shows masked individuals on both sides hurling objects, amid reports of fireworks fired at Jewish youths. Other footage appears to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual." "The investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence," the office added. "We will not allow disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents." The colonization of the occupied Palestinian territories by Jewish settlers—many of them non-Israelis who are availing themselves of the ethnosupremacist and apartheid policy of allowing any Jew to live in a land whose Palestinian inhabitants have been ethnically cleansed from it for nearly 80 years—is inherently illegal under international law. Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray pushed back on Netanyahu's statement on social media, saying: "To be clear: Some facts are neither in dispute nor unclear. Our photographer was clearly marked as press. She was clearly beaten. These are not partisan or risible statements, but indisputable. We urge a thorough investigation and accountability." International observers also criticized Netanyahu's statement. "They are actually trying to justify an American WaPo journalist being severely beaten by a mob of settler terrorists," US commentator Krystal Ball said on social media, using the syllabic abbreviation for the Post. Irish journalist Barry Malone responded to Netanyahu's post on X, saying: "Hi. There's video. It's clear." US physician Amira Dalton said, "Israel lies and then calls you an antisemite for calling out their lies." The X account Israel Exposed, which has more than 400,000 followers, sardonically asked, "You mean the footage of the Israeli terrorists beating her up isn't clear enough?" The Israeli veterans' group Breaking the Silence said that "you can see the settlers who attacked Heidi Levine, a journalist for The Washington Post. But what you can’t see is the state behind them: a state that funds them, arms them, and, above all, grants them near-total impunity for their actions. This violence does not happen in a vacuum. Israel enables it." While Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor, chief international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, claimed the military had sent battalions to the West Bank to contain the outbreak of violence, eyewitnesses said the IDF was involved in the attack on Abu Falah. “The army did nothing to stop the settlers," Israeli journalist Oren Ziv, who was present during the attack, told The Washington Post. That's because Israel's far-right government is unapologetically seeking to "finish the job of 1948," as Netanyahu once put it—a reference to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Palestinians during the creation of the modern Israeli state—and take all of Palestine. "The entire land is ours," Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said earlier this month, in the lead-up to Israel's October 27 elections."This is our country." Last month, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed to do in the West Bank "what we did in Gaza," where three years of genocidal annihilation have left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, nearly 2 million people forcibly displaced, and an estimated 70% of the territory under Israeli control. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 1,138 Palestinians—at least 250 of them children—have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank since October 2023. At least nine Americans have been killed by Israeli settlers and security forces in the West Bank since January 2022, including journalists, human rights activists, and Palestinian Americans visiting relatives. Despite claims by Israel that perpetrators of such attacks will be held accountable, impunity is the general rule. “Sadly, none of them will be prosecuted,” Levine said of her attackers. “I am sure of it.” Multiple US senators demanded that Israel bring Levin's assailants to justice. "The continued lack of accountability for settler violence in the West Bank has allowed attacks on innocent people, including multiple Americans, to go unanswered, and it is eroding what should be a strong alliance between the US and Israel," Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said on social media. "Prime Minister Netanyahu isn't doing nearly enough to stop the violence." Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also took to social media after Friday's attack, writing, "Today, another American citizen and journalist was brutalized by Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank." "This repeated violence and brazen impunity for attacks against Americans and Palestinians alike are unacceptable," he added. "When will Trump and Rubio DO SOMETHING?" --- ### Follow the Money: How Billionaire Wealth Became Political Power **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Zack Kaldveer | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/billionaire-wealth-to-power.md In 1971, corporate lawyer Lewis Powell wrote a confidential memo to the US Chamber of Commerce warning that American business was under attack. Among his complaints were politicians and activists who portrayed tax breaks as benefiting “only the rich” and who dared to set the “rich” against the “poor,” and “business against the people.” Powell’s solution was not subtle. Corporate America needed political power, and that power “must be assiduously cultivated” and, when necessary, “used aggressively and with determination.” Business should organize, influence the media and universities, build political power, and exploit what Powell called the “vast opportunity” presented by the courts. Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? traces much of what happened next. Powell joined the Supreme Court and later wrote the majority opinion in First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, expanding constitutional protection for corporate spending on ballot measures. Decades later, Citizens United would further expand corporate political spending rights. Meanwhile, Ronald Reagan ushered in enormous tax cuts, deregulation, attacks on organized labor, and an economic philosophy that promised prosperity would trickle down (it never did!). That brings us to a question I think every politician promising a better future should have to answer: Tell me what you want to do—and tell me who you're willing to tax to pay for it. More than half a century after the Powell Memo, we’ve got the receipts. According to a new Americans for Tax Fairness analysis, America’s 977 billionaires now control a record $9.24 trillion. In just one year, their wealth increased by $2.2 trillion, or 32%, while the overall economy grew by about 6%. The richest 16 Americans alone possess nearly $4 trillion, more wealth than all US billionaires combined had less than six years ago. But those gains look even more extraordinary when we look at what is happening to everyone else. The bottom half of American households collectively owns just over 2% of the nation’s wealth. Nearly 48 million Americans live in households struggling with food insecurity. And the divide between workers and those at the top of corporate America has exploded: CEOs at the country’s 350 largest firms made 325 times as much as the typical worker in 2025, up from 21 times as much in 1965. Since 1978, CEO compensation has risen 1,316%, while typical worker compensation increased just 28%. Yet as wealth becomes increasingly concentrated at the top, Washington is moving in precisely the opposite direction for millions of working families: massive tax cuts disproportionately benefiting the wealthy alongside deep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and other programs people depend on. That brings us to a question I think every politician promising a better future should have to answer: Tell me what you want to do—and tell me who you're willing to tax to pay for it. Want universal healthcare? Affordable housing? Better schools? Modern infrastructure? A serious response to climate change? A stronger safety net? Great. How are you going to pay for it? After decades in which an extraordinary share of America's wealth has accumulated at the very top, pretending we can adequately fund those priorities without asking substantially more from those who have accumulated that wealth is not a serious answer. California's Proposition 40 puts that question directly before voters. The measure would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaire wealth, primarily to help protect healthcare from massive federal cuts. In a letter endorsing the measure, six Nobel Prize-winning economists note that California's roughly 250 billionaires now possess $2.3 trillion, up from about $700 billion a decade ago. From 2019 through 2025 alone, those billionaires gained $1.4 trillion in wealth, while the state income taxes they paid during that period amounted to just 1.6% of those gains. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. These rules were created through political choices, and they can be changed through political choices and organized action. How have some of California's wealthiest people responded to being asked for a small portion of those enormous gains? By spending an extraordinary amount of money to stop it. As of October 10, billionaire-backed opposition efforts have reportedly raised approximately $300 million to fight Prop 40, vastly outspending its supporters. The opposition includes Building a Better California, which is also backing Props 41 and 42, competing measures that could potentially block the billionaire tax even if voters approve it. Think about that for a moment. A small number of extraordinarily wealthy people can spend a quarter-billion dollars influencing an election over whether extraordinarily wealthy people should pay more in taxes. And California is only one battlefield. American billionaires had already contributed more than $433 million to the 2026 midterms by early this year. Nearly 80% went to Republican candidates and conservative organizations. This is the feedback loop Powell envisioned, taken to an extreme he might not have imagined: Wealth creates political power; political power produces tax and economic policies favorable to wealth; those policies concentrate still more wealth; and some of that wealth is reinvested in politics to keep the cycle going. That is why this debate is about more than tax rates. It is about democracy. It is also why Prop 40 matters beyond California. As the six Nobel economists wrote, passage could help “kickstart a movement” to tax extreme wealth elsewhere. They concluded that this vote could ultimately be remembered as a turning point in the struggle between democracy and oligarchy. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. These rules were created through political choices, and they can be changed through political choices and organized action. Vote. Demand that candidates tell us not only what they want to accomplish, but who they are willing to tax to pay for it. Join the No Kings mobilization on October 17. And watch and share Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? to understand how we got here. Then let's stop the heist. --- ### Trump 'Picked an Incompetent Individual to Do the Job': Katie Zacharia Out After Less Than a Week **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/zacharia-fired.md The tumultuous tenure of White House press secretary Katie Zacharia has already come to an end just three days after her first press briefing. After his new hire shambled her way through yet another Fox News appearance the night before, President Donald Trump said on Friday that he'd suggested Zacharia "reconsider" her role as the top White House spokesperson. "Maybe it's not for her," Trump said, suggesting Zacharia may continue working for him “in some form, but maybe a more pleasant form.” Zacharia, who stepped into the role formerly held by Karoline Leavitt, lasted a total of five days in the job. That's less than half the tenure of Anthony Scaramucci—who departed his role as White House communications director after just 11 days during Trump's first term. Her qualifications were in doubt from the moment Trump plucked her from an obscure role as a Fox News commentator for the highly visible job. Journalists dug up old posts in which she promoted the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracies, as well as Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. From the start of Zacharia's disastrous briefing on Tuesday, many observers predicted it could also be her last. She was relentlessly panned after struggling to read through her fully scripted remarks (and at one point accidentally referring to her husband as "my president"). She cut the briefing short after just 14 minutes, taking only three questions, all from right-wing outlets. It also became clear that, despite Trump's introduction of her as "an attorney," she'd never actually passed the bar exam and had misrepresented her credentials for years. Asked by reporters earlier this week in which state she had passed the bar exam, she said, “When I moved to China" before later claiming not to have heard the question. Even Fox News host Sean Hannity—a longtime Trump loyalist—challenged her explanation, confronting her Thursday with a report documenting “15 social media posts where you identify yourself as an attorney.” “I think they were retweets,” Zacharia replied, arguing to a flummoxed Hannity that sharing the posts did not constitute endorsing the title. While Zacharia's inability to do damage control appeared to do her in, Democratic strategist Mike Nellis emphasized that the problem was not her dishonesty—a trait that is practically a prerequisite to serve in the Trump administration. "Katie Zacharia wasn't fired because she lied," Nellis wrote on social media. "It was because she was a bad liar. It's a key distinction.” To some, Zacharia's tenure represented a disastrous culmination of Trump's willingness to eschew competence and experience for personal flattery and undying loyalty when appointing officials during his second term. Zacharia said she got on Trump's radar by scheduling her TV appearances when she knew he'd be watching. While other advisers questioned the pick, Zacharia's appointment was reportedly championed by Natalie Harp, Trump’s ever-present personal assistant and a fellow blonde conservative television personality. White House press secretary Katie Zacharia speaks during a news briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on October 13, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) "She looks nice for him," said former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on MS NOW. "She fits his idea of the blonde white female standing at that podium publicly pronouncing his noise in a way that makes him, when he's watching it, feel good." Steele emphasized that with just weeks left before a midterm election widely viewed as a referendum on Trump, "the White House is voiceless." "They do not have a press secretary in place," he said, "because the president picked an incompetent individual to do the job." Though very few seemed to think Zacharia could turn things around, she did have one person in her corner—perhaps the only other person who could possibly understand her experience: Scaramucci. While others bet she would not even last "one Scaramucci," The Mooch himself predicted—even after her disastrous Hannity appearance on Thursday—that "she will make it. I have the over." Following news on Friday that she did not, in fact, make it, Scaramucci wrote: "Records are made to be broken. But I take no pleasure in other people's pain." --- ### Just Defeating Trump 'Ain't Good Enough,' Says Sanders, 'We Have to Go Further' **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-ms-now.md While polls show Democrats are well positioned to make big gains in next month's midterm elections thanks to President Donald Trump's historic unpopularity, Sen. Bernie Sanders is warning the party that opposition to the president alone isn't enough to guarantee long-term political success. MS NOW on Friday showed a preview clip of a longer interview with Sanders (I-Vt.) that is scheduled to air on Saturday where he outlines what he'd like to see the party do if it retakes Congress next month. Sanders—who caucuses with Democrats and twice sought the party's presidential nomination—said it was essential for Democrats to win both the US House of Representatives and the Senate to put a check on Trump, whom he described as "the most dangerous president in the history of the United States." But Sanders said merely denouncing Trump, however correct, "ain't good enough." "We have to take Trump on," Sanders said. "But we have to do more... You have to implement an agenda that works for the working class of this country." The interview with Sanders, conducted by MS NOW senior contributing editor Michele Norris, is part of an hourlong special scheduled to air on the cable news network at 8:00 pm Eastern time on Saturday. The focus of the special will be on the 85-year-old Sanders' political career and his influence on a younger generation of politicians, two of whom—Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani—will also be interviewed. Previewing the special, Norris argued that the focus on Sanders is timely because he is "at the heart" of the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. "He has inspired, endorsed, and supported a roster of progressive, left-leaning candidates who surprised the Democratic establishment in the primary and now face the biggest test yet this November," said Norris. "The stakes are enormous for him, for the Democratic Party, and for the country." --- ### ‘Deadly Serious’: Half of World’s Reef-Building Coral Face Extinction Threat as Oceans Warm, Study Warns **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/coral-reef-extinction.md Nearly half the world's reef-building coral species are at risk of extinction according to a global assessment released Thursday. Researchers warn that the accelerating climate crisis is making the danger even worse than the most recent data shows. Coral reefs are among the most important ecosystems on Earth, providing food and shelter for around a quarter of all marine species. Their destruction jeopardizes not only entire marine food webs, but also the millions of people who rely on those species for food. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that as of 2020, about 44% of coral species were threatened, compared with about one-third in 2008. David Obura, a marine biologist and lead author of the study, said the new assessment "provides the most comprehensive evaluation to date of global extinction risk among reef-building corals, and a stark warning of the accelerating increase in global threats to coral reefs." But he said it also "highlights the challenges we face in addressing major data and knowledge gaps on the status of species at global scales, at the same time as having to take urgent decisions to reduce the drivers of global declines in critical species and ecosystems.” The researchers stressed that the data they analyzed understates the danger. The assessment does not take into account the damage from the devastating bleaching event that began in 2023 and lasted until mid-2025. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it was the largest such event ever recorded, exposing about 84% of the world's coral reef area to bleaching-level heat stress and causing widespread coral deaths. It also doesn't take into account what meteorologists have projected could be the strongest El Niño ever, which could break ocean temperature records in the coming months, likely leading to another massive die-off of corals. "It is entirely possible that reassessing the status of corals just after this coming El Niño may show them to have crossed the 50% mark of the proportion of species at elevated risk of extinction," Obura told AFP. He noted that a previous "super" El Niño, in 1997-98, also caused tremendous damage to reefs. "That this coming event is worse than that, after three intervening global bleaching events, is a terrifying reality," he said. Researchers extract a fossil coral core sample from a massive coral colony in the Galápagos Islands to reconstruct historical climate and El Niño cycles as part of a study published in Science on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Julia Cole/Science) In the new assessment, researchers found that human-caused climate change is the primary threat to reef-building coral, determining the fate of about 90% of the species at greatest risk. They emphasized that coral reef health is more complex than simply "survival" versus "disappearance," and that every reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions matters. “Coral reefs can feel a world away..." said Françoise Cabada-Blanco, a marine ecologist at the University of Portsmouth and co-author of the study. "But they cover a tiny fraction of the ocean floor, while supporting an enormous share of marine life and the food, coastal protection and livelihoods of millions of people." "What happens to them affects all of us," she said. "The message from this assessment is that every tenth of a degree of warming we avoid gives corals a better chance—so action now really does count.” A report published last year concluded that the globe had already passed the 1.2°C warming threshold for widespread coral reef dieback and found that unless global temperatures drop substantially, reefs could largely disappear. “The crisis facing corals is deadly serious,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “If we don’t take swift action to curb climate pollution, we could lose half of them forever.” “We’ve already seen a lot of disruptions to sea life from the much warmer waters El Niño has brought this year, and I’m really worried about what that will do to threatened coral species," she added. "Coral reefs are the backbone of the ocean, and we can’t have a healthy marine ecosystem without them.” --- ### Amid GOP Midterm Woes, Trump Allies—Including Convicted Election Denier—Push for Martial Law **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/maga-allies-push-trump-for-martial-law.md As President Donald Trump's broken promises to end the affordability crisis and not wage new wars drag Republicans down in the polls ahead of next month's midterm elections, people close to the president are reportedly urging him to declare martial law in the name of preventing voter fraud, an issue that's exceedingly rare and statistically negligible. Axios' Brittany Gibson reported Friday that Republican activists with Trump's ear are advocating extraordinary measures to prevent what they insist, without evidence, could be a rigged midterm election. Among them is attorney Peter Ticktin, who has been Trump's friend since high school and who said during a September 30 video call for MAGA election activists that "there would have to be martial law" in the event of "another rigged election." Ticktin was referring to the 2020 contest, which the Trump administration's own Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) called "the most secure in American history." Trump's "Big Lie" that Democrats stole the election fueled the deadly January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Pressed on the matter by Axios, Ticktin doubled down on endorsing extreme measures, saying there will "probably need to be commandeering of ballots and election equipment to make sure that we can get to the bottom of it before anything further occurs." Ticktin represented former Mesa County, Colorado Clerk Tina Peters, who was convicted in 2024 of seven felony and misdemeanor counts arising from a plot to illegally access her county's election system in an effort to investigate unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Peters—whose 9-year prison sentence was commuted in May by Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis—was also on the September 30 call. She has been pushing for the replacement of electronic voting systems with hand-marked paper ballots tallied by manual recounts. This, despite the Trump-era CISA saying after the 2020 election that "there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." Trump fired CISA Director Christopher Krebs after he repeatedly defended the integrity of the election in the face of mounting MAGA misinformation in the weeks before the Capitol attack. According to a report published Tuesday by Votebeat, Peters has said she traveled to Washington seven times and met with senior officials at the Justice and Commerce departments. She and Ticktin also visited Trump at the White House in June, and Peters met with the president again this month. Also on the September 20 video call was Cleta Mitchell, who participated in Trump's infamous January 2021 phone call in which the president pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to reverse his narrow loss in the state. Mitchell now heads the right-wing Election Integrity Network and is pushing the administration to use federal authority to force changes to election procedures. “I can call the president anytime I want to—and I have,” said Mitchell, who declined to say when she last spoke to Trump. “I told the president this: I wish that the people in your administration knew or cared as much about election integrity as you do.” Other election deniers, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, have called on Trump to issue a national emergency declaration to ban voting machines or even suspend the election—something most legal experts say he cannot do. "Emergency powers are not just a blank check for the president to go do whatever they want," Derek Tisler, counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice's elections and government program, told Axios. "The president still has to act within the Constitution and within statutes set by Congress." Election fraud is an exceptionally rare occurrence. A Brennan Center study of voter fraud research found that studies put the incidence of voter impersonation fraud at between 0.0003% and 0.0025%, while a Washington Post analysis cited by the center found just 31 credible instances of voter impersonation fraud out of more than 1 billion ballots cast between 2000 and 2014. While isolated instances of election fraud do occur, researchers have repeatedly found that they are nowhere near the scale required to alter the outcome of a national election. Many allegations turn out to be administrative errors, mistaken records, or unsubstantiated claims. There is also no credible evidence that foreign-manufactured voting machine components have been used to orchestrate the sort of nationwide electoral conspiracy described by Ticktin and other MAGA allies. Calls for extraordinary election interventions come as Trump and Republicans face deep voter dissatisfaction. A Financial Times–Focaldata poll published earlier this week found Trump's overall approval rating at 34%, with only 25% of registered voters approving of his handling of the economy and roughly 20% approving of his management of inflation. The president's economic woes have been compounded by the illegal US-Israeli war of choice against Iran, which has driven up consumer costs—especially for fuel—amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. According to Reuters, consumer prices rose 3.7% this year through September, while gasoline prices jumped 9.1% in a single month. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 78% of Americans blamed Trump's policies for inflation. All of this has Republicans increasingly concerned about losing control of Congress. Citing its own polling, Fox News reported Wednesday that "if the election were today, 54% of voters say they would back the Democratic candidate in their House district and 45% would support the Republican. That is outside the margin of error and is a wider lead than last month, when Democrats were ahead by 51%-44%." All of this has left numerous election experts worried that the president could resort to extreme measures. He hasn't exactly assuaged their concerns. In an August interview, conservative broadcaster Wayne Allyn Root on Real America's Voice asked Trump about declaring a national security emergency ahead of the midterms. "Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK?" Trump replied. "I'll leave it at that." --- ### 'What Meta's Money Is Buying': DOJ Halts Probe of Facebook Owner That Has Given Trump Millions **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/meta-doj-drug-probe.md Top officials at the US Department of Justice have reportedly halted a years-long criminal investigation into Facebook parent company Meta for allegedly facilitating—and profiting from—the illegal sale of drugs on its platforms, including to children. Bloomberg Law reported Thursday that "senior leaders" at the Justice Department "ordered career prosecutors in the Western District of Virginia to cease the criminal investigation following advocacy from Meta‘s legal team." Meta is headed by Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire who has worked to ingratiate himself with President Donald Trump by helping to bankroll his inauguration and ballroom project. "This is what Meta's money is buying," Kyle Jacobs-Morse, deputy executive director of the Tech Oversight Project, wrote in response to reports of the halted probe. The existence of the Meta investigation was first revealed in March 2024 by The Wall Street Journal, which reported at the time that US prosecutors were "sending subpoenas and asking questions as part of a criminal grand jury probe looking into whether the company’s social-media platforms are facilitating and profiting from the illegal sale of drugs." According to Bloomberg Law, DOJ leaders' decision to sideline the probe came "just after company executives were subpoenaed to testify." Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh "are considering a civil resolution with a fine or a non-prosecution agreement," Bloomberg Law reported. "Such a deal would allow the social media giant to avoid charges for its role in creating a market for youth to purchase deadly fentanyl pills and other addictive drugs," the outlet added. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the investigation but boasted in a statement to Bloomberg Law that the Trump DOJ has "ended the Biden-era days of aggressively and indiscriminately targeting corporations and businesses." "Instead, we are focused on following the facts and the law to surgically address corporate wrongdoing," the spokesperson said. Shelby Knox, tech campaign director with the advocacy group ParentsTogether Action, said in a statement Friday that "when the Justice Department says it wants to ‘surgically address corporate wrongdoing,’ a grand jury investigation into potential drug sales to children should be exactly the kind of case it pursues." "A criminal investigation does not automatically establish guilt, but prosecutors must be allowed to follow the evidence without political interference," Knox added. "Meta is worth more than a trillion dollars; a fine alone is not meaningful accountability. If the evidence supports charges, file them. If it doesn’t, explain why. Children and families deserve more than apologies or a financial settlement. They deserve the truth, meaningful protections, and accountability under the law." The Justice Department's reported decision to halt the Meta probe fits a broader pattern of lax corporate enforcement during Trump's second White House term. The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen released a report earlier this month showing that the administration has cancelled hundreds of enforcement actions involving more than 200 corporations—many of which have donated to Trump's projects. Rick Claypool, a research director at Public Citizen, wrote on Friday that Meta is "just one of the 200+ corporations benefiting from Trump's enforcement retreat." --- ### Ahead of Biodiversity Summit, UN Chief Warns Countries Are 'Subsidizing Suicide' by Backing Fossil Fuels **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/climate-change-effects-on-biodiversity.md "The food we eat, the water we drink, the very air we breathe—all are the gifts of biodiversity. Yet every day, humankind saws another branch off the tree of life," outgoing United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres declared Friday, before a key global summit in Armenia. "Climate chaos. Invasive species. Overgrazing and overfishing. Excessive fertilizers, pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals. All these and more are driving the triple planetary crisis of pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate chaos," he warned. "Over 1 million species now face the risk of extinction, edging us ever closer towards an uninhabitable world." Guterres advocated for both government and financial leadership, calling out funding for "agribusiness that strips the land" as well as the leading driver of the worsening climate emergency: fossil fuels. According to him, "Subsidizing fossil fuels is subsidizing suicide." "They are boiling our planet, and are the scourge of biodiversity," said the secretary-general—who has often argued for not only phasing out fossil fuels but also making polluters pay for their damage. "I urge governments everywhere to end these handouts once and for all, and to use the savings for people and planet instead." Four years ago, at the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, world leaders agreed to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework—which critics called "weak" and "an open invitation to greenwash." With COP17 kicking off in the Armenian capital on Monday, the UN chief said that "Yerevan is our moment of accountability." The "good news" is that the framework "has inspired action across the globe," with nearly 90% of parties to the convention establishing national biodiversity targets, Guterres said. The "bad news" is that "progress is uneven, and far too slow. Even if current national commitments are met, only 26% of terrestrial, and 12% of marine ecosystems would be protected by 2030." "That is well short of the promise made in Montreal to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030. Major gaps also remain in targets linked to economic systems, including those focused on reducing harmful incentives," he noted. "And many of the critical elements of progress—including finance, capacity, cooperation and data—are still largely missing in action." The figures come from the United Nations Environment Program's "State of Biodiversity Action" report, released in preparation for next week's conference. That followed the September publication of the UNEP's "Limiting Overshoot" report, which warns that the world will at least temporarily surpass the Paris Agreement's temperature target for this century: 1.5°C beyond preindustrial levels. In response to the overshoot report, Stephanie Roe, global climate and energy lead scientist at the international nonprofit WWF, said last month that "overshooting 1.5°C is not a cliff edge, but neither is it harmless. Every fraction of a degree of warming increases risks for people and nature, while every fraction avoided reduces harm." "What matters now is how far temperatures rise above 1.5°C and how long they stay there," Roe continued. "The science shows that lower and shorter overshoot means fewer impacts on ecosystems, communities, and economies. Limiting peak warming and returning temperatures to safer levels as quickly as possible can help reduce risks, avoid irreversible losses, and improve resilience for the future." Roe's organization has also released a series of relevant reports in the weeks before the summit, including a Wednesday analysis it commissioned from the Global Cooperation Institute that lays out "major barriers countries face in delivering the Global Biodiversity Framework and what could help unblock it," and urges "decisive action in Yerevan." WWF International director general Kirsten Schuijt said that that "COP17 must move countries towards action and implementation. The benefits of collective action for nature are clear: stronger ecological resilience, more secure food and water systems, and reduced economic vulnerability. WWF's latest 'Living Planet Report' shows that nature can recover when the right actions are taken." Released last month, that report found a 73% decline in the average size of monitored wildlife populations over a 52-year period—with an 85% decline in freshwater ecosystems, followed by 69% in terrestrial, and 59% in marine. "Lasting progress," said Schuijt, "depends on transforming the systems driving nature loss and shifting decision-making from short-term fixes to long-term solutions. For COP17, this requires governments, businesses, Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, youth, and wider society to all participate actively in decision-making that moves agreements into urgent implementation, to shape and deliver nature-positive solutions." The political declaration released Friday by heads of state in Yerevan for a leaders' summit preceding the conference already has some advocates, like WWF International president Adil Najam, issuing warnings. Najam explained from the Armenian capital that "leaders came together to discuss the promise made in Montreal in 2022 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The declaration acknowledges that progress is insufficient and that implementation must accelerate. It also recognizes that our economies, communities, and peace depend on nature. But recognition alone will not fulfill that promise." "The declaration lacks explicit commitments to align economic and financial decisions with nature goals, including reforming subsidies that harm nature," he said. "Governments must make these choices if they are serious about delivering on their commitments. At COP17, they must turn the global review into clear implementation pathways backed by finance on the scale needed. The declaration signals a commitment to action across government; the real test is whether it changes decisions back home." --- ### Trump Rule Change Allows for ‘Unintentional’ Killing of Polar Bears by Fossil Fuel Companies **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-administration-polar-bears.md Oil and gas companies will now be permitted to kill polar bears and Pacific walruses off the northern coast of Alaska so long as such killings are "unintentional," according to a new Trump administration rule. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Friday finalized a rule change that would shield fossil fuel companies from legal liability if they engage in the "incidental, unintentional" killing of the animals "during year-round oil and gas industry activities in the Beaufort Sea... and adjacent northern coast of Alaska." Under the rule change, which is scheduled to last through 2031, the FWS "will issue letters of authorization" that sign off on the incidental killing of wildlife upon request by oil and gas companies. As noted by a report in Bloomberg Law, the proposed rule change "drew more than 85,500 public comments, nearly all in opposition," before the FWS ultimately signed off on it. The rule change was a major priority for the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, which represents fossil fuel giants and requested the revision in September 2025. Allowing for the incidental killing of polar bears isn't the only controversial rollback of environmental regulations made by the Trump administration in recent weeks. In September, The New York Times reported that FWS had gutted a key provision in the Endangered Species Act by arguing that only the intentional killing or wounding of protected species counts as illegal "harm." Last week, it was revealed that the US Department of the Interior is moving ahead with a plan to let fossil fuel companies conduct specific wintertime operations at the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska without undergoing reviews mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act. Even though the Trump administration has prioritized the development of domestic fossil fuel production by gutting environmental standards, these policies have not translated into the promised cheaper oil and gas prices, which have spiked over the last half year thanks to the president's illegal war with Iran. --- ### Brewers Playoff Hero Jake Bauers Makes Accidental Case for Medicare for All **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jon Queally | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/jack-bauers-health-insurance.md First baseman Jake Bauers of the Milwaukee Brewers helped his team end a 44-year drought Thursday night as they won the National League Championship Series to place them in the World Series, but in the process he kicked off a discussion—whether intentionally or not—about the role of employer-based health insurance that undergirds the for-profit system in the US. While generating headlines throughout the pennant race due to his outstanding hitting and field play, Bauers journey to the top of Major League Baseball has Cinderella elements. Just two years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Bauers was ready to retire from the sport's highest level. "He had been playing professional baseball since he was just 17, spending more than a decade bouncing across seven different organizations with little success," the paper reported. "After batting .199 for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024, he was frustrated, burned out, and ready to move on.” Life outside baseball intervened, but in a way familiar to millions of American families, not just pro athletes who can earn millions in lucrative contracts and endorsement deals. “Bauers’ wife, Lauren, learned she was pregnant with the couple’s second child," the WSJ explained. "Suddenly, Jake’s plan to become a stay-at-home dad while Lauren returned to her teaching job no longer seemed viable. They needed health insurance—so Bauers begrudgingly decided to give his floundering athletic career one last chance." After beating the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday and taking a 3-0 series lead that his team would ultimately clean-sweep the following night, Bauers brought up that decision about his second child and his family's healthcare needs in a post-game interview. Hahaha! What an awesome country! https://t.co/IYJmu5ZP0y — Darkwoke Duck (@DylanTweetin) October 15, 2026 While the group of sportscasters conducting the interview laughed at the explanation, others who witnessed it recognized something more profound in what he described. "If even a professional athlete is saying this, maybe healthcare should just be universal and free," said Luke Savage, a columnist for the left-wing magazine Jacobin. In a subsequent Substack post published Thursday, Savage expanded on his thoughts about Bauer's situation, writing: This obviously doesn’t rank anywhere near the top when it comes to horror stories about America’s healthcare system, but I still can’t get over how completely insane it is to hear. This is an elite professional athlete talking! And it’s the guaranteed outcome of a system that links health insurance so tightly to employment. In this case, that meant that a young couple’s desire to start a family was conditional on the ability of one partner to secure a contract with a professional baseball team (and, to a lesser extent, be good enough at the sport to work his way back up from the minors). There are only so many ways to repeat the obvious here, but tying health insurance to employment is a Dickensian horror show. It gives employers tremendous power over their workers and forces people to stay in jobs they hate or want to leave. The same is true of private health care in general. It devastates families, burdens them with crippling medical debt, and limits their ability to have children. It stops them from seeking treatment when they’re sick and makes going to the hospital an economic decision. Even among those who can afford insurance, it creates different tiers of care and inevitably means that rich people get it faster and at higher quality — which is just another way of saying the American healthcare system ascribes your life greater or lesser moral weight depending on your bank balance. Wendell Potter, a former health insurance executive turned whistleblower who now leads the nonprofit Center for Health & Democracy, agreed that Bauers, though his status as a professional athlete makes his situation seem exceptional, is incredibly normal within the nation's broken healthcare system. "Sometimes it takes a high-profile sports figure or celebrity to help Americans understand how absurd and unfair our healthcare system is," Potter explained to Common Dreams. "If Jake Bauers did everything he could to stay in baseball primarily because he and his wife were terrified of losing health insurance that was tied to his job, imagine how many other Americans stay in jobs they would leave if it weren’t for their employer-sponsored coverage." While Bauers may have been lucky to stay in the major leagues, said Potter, and even luckier to help his team make it to the World Series, the reality is that he—like millions of American workers—could have potentially been cut at any time, losing his job and his access to the health coverage he received through his employer. "Millions of Americans are not so lucky. Many get laid off or have their jobs eliminated," Potter continued. "They lose not only their jobs but their family’s health insurance. No other developed country has a system that locks citizens into a job they’d like to leave or are scared to lose. I wish more prominent people in sports and entertainment would speak up as Bauer did about how vulnerable so many of us are to losing both our jobs and our health insurance." "The reality," said Potter on Friday, "is that almost all Americans who are not covered by traditional Medicare are in danger of losing our health benefits and access to care because of a layoff or cuts to Medicaid that force millions into the ranks of the uninsured." In 2019, a Business Insider poll showed that most Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage support switching to Medicare for All, undermining the often-repeated right-wing narrative that US workers are wedded to the for-profit insurance plans they receive. As Common Dreams reported at the time, the survey found that 59% of respondents with employer-provided insurance “said they would support switching their employer-based health insurance to a government plan under Medicare for All” as long as coverage quality was maintained or improved. In a post on his Health Care Un-Covered blog last month, Potter detailed how nearly 40% of Americans admit they’ve stayed in a job longer than they wanted because they or a family member needed the health coverage that came with it. The term for this dynamic is called "job lock," he notes. And nothing about this "is new to anyone who’s been paying attention," he writes. "What’s changed is how much sharper and more current the evidence has gotten" in recent years. While Bauer's story about healthcare isn't political or partisan, the scale of the employer-based system in the US is deeply tied to the anxieties individuals and families experience. With Republicans actively undermining and attacking the floundering system that already exists, Savage in his column bemoans leaders from both parties who fail to embrace what has long been recognized by experts and progressives as the only viable solution to the crises: a universal, single-payer model best expressed by the Medicare for All legislation put forth by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the US Senate and Rep. Pramila Jayapal and others in the US House. Exasperated by a political system that has denied US workers and families better healthcare, Savage asks, "What does one even say at this point?" He said the so-called "debate" over the healthcare system in the US "is nothing of the kind." "The leadership of both major parties oppose healthcare that’s free, universal, and public because they’re as addicted to dead market dogmas as they are to donations from a powerful industry," he writes. "The dumbest people alive will tell you that healthcare is best delivered by the marketplace and that the ability to purchase it as a commodity like any other is, in fact, the essence of freedom. Nothing could be further from the truth." In his column from last month, Potter notes that critics of the employer-based system have long existed on the ideological right and left and argues that as long as health coverage remains "tethered to a single employer, job lock isn’t a glitch in the system," but rather "the system working as designed." "The fact that people across the political spectrum have recognized that for decades," he concludes, "is exactly why it’s worth pressing the case again now." Go Brewers! --- ### Israeli Settlers Brutally Beat Washington Post Journalist Heidi Levine While Attacking Palestinian Olive Farmers **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-settlers-attack-post-journalist.md A gang of masked Israeli settlers brutalized a Washington Post journalist on Friday while they attacked Palestinian olive farmers and set fire to their grove in the occupied West Bank—the latest in an escalating series of state-backed terrorist attacks amid the Palestinian olive-growing season. Roughly 80 masked men from a nearby hilltop settlement descended upon an olive grove near the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah. Video shows them hurling rocks and torching olive trees as Palestinian families fled downhill. Gunfire could be heard, and at least two Palestinian men were reportedly wounded in the attack. Four more were reportedly hurt in separate attacks nearby. Documenting the attack was 63-year-old Heidi Levine, an award-winning American photojournalist with the Post who has more than four decades of experience covering wars around the world. Amid the rampage, Levine—clad in a helmet and a vest with a bright blue "PRESS" marker—was knocked to the dirt by a group of masked settlers, according to video posted by the American journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who was on the scene. Another video shared by Israeli activist and journalist Andrey Khrzhanovskiy shows one of the settlers repeatedly beating Levine with a long stick while she lies on the ground defenseless. Levine later said she was kicked approximately 50 times and that the attackers took all of her recording equipment and other electronic devices. Palestinian men reportedly threw stones to ward off the attackers, allowing other journalists to reach Levine. A video shows Nathaniel, Khrzhanovskiy, and others rushing to a bloodied Levine and helping her to her feet. "They took everything," she said. "They took all my stuff." More Israeli settlers hurled rocks at them as they fled the scene. Levine was taken to a hospital in Ramallah after Palestinian colleagues helped her get an ambulance. From her hospital bed, she spoke about the attack. "My son Michael has always told me that his biggest fear would be that his mother would be killed by the settlers," Levine said, noting that she'd covered the Israel-Palestine conflict for more than three decades and also been attacked 15 years ago. "I was attacked, pushed to the ground," she said. "Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet; otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking me and kicking me." Levine, who is Jewish by birth, described the attackers as "Jewish terrorists" who "are giving everyone in the country a horrible reputation." "I don't know how a parent could raise such monsters," she said. "While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe," said Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray in a statement Friday morning, "we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.” Levine, however, said she was confident that her attackers would never face justice. "Sadly, none of them will be prosecuted," she told reporters. "I am sure of it.” Particularly in recent years, under a far-right government that has accelerated the expansion of illegal settlements, settlers almost never face legal consequences for violent attacks. A Guardian investigation found that from 2020 to 2025, more than 96% of police investigations into settler violence concluded without indictments, and only 2% resulted in convictions. Since 2020, despite dozens of fatal attacks, only one Israeli has been charged with killing a Palestinian in the West Bank. "This violence does not happen in a vacuum. Israel enables it." Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor, chief international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, told the Post that the incident is under investigation by the IDF and claimed the military had sent battalions to the West Bank to contain the outbreak of violence. However, according to eyewitnesses, the Israeli military itself was reportedly involved in the attack on the village, firing tear gas at the Palestinians. Soldiers reportedly drove military jeeps through the olive groves and stood beside settlers rather than dispersing them. Israeli activist Oren Ziv told the Post, “The army did nothing to stop the settlers." This has been the case in many of the more than 1,600 documented attacks that have occurred over the first eight months of the year—during which at least 23 Palestinians were killed and over 1,100 injured, according to the United Nations. Israeli army soldiers stand behind a masked man swinging a slingshot while hurling stones at Palestinians who had gathered for the annual olive harvest season, during an attack by Israeli settlers on the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on October 10, 2025. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images) Investigations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented soldiers standing by as settlers attack Palestinians and destroy their property, shielding settlers from Palestinians attempting to defend themselves, and sometimes directly participating in attacks. Israeli authorities have also armed thousands of settlers and incorporated many into military units. Israel's Foreign Press Association, which independently provided video of settlers brutalizing Levine, said it had repeatedly warned Israeli authorities about threats to foreign journalists working in the West Bank. "Our repeated calls for action to confront this lawlessness have been ignored," the group said. "You can see the settlers who attacked Heidi Levine," said Breaking the Silence, a human rights group led by Israeli veterans. "But what you can’t see is the state behind them: a state that funds them, arms them, and, above all, grants them near-total impunity for their actions. This violence does not happen in a vacuum. Israel enables it." At least nine Americans have been killed by Israeli settlers or security forces in the West Bank since January 2022, while numerous others have been injured—including journalists, human rights activists, and Palestinian Americans visiting family. Members of Congress have requested information from the State Department about Israeli settler attacks on Americans, but have found themselves stonewalled by Trump administration officials. Neri Zilber, a journalist and adviser to the US-based Israel Policy Forum, noted the lack of response from American institutions to the surge of settler terrorism. "This happens every day in the West Bank. Every single day," he wrote on social media. "Palestinians attacked, journalists attacked, Israeli and foreign observers attacked. When is the IDF going to start taking this seriously? And where is the US Embassy and Trump administration?" --- ### Elon Musk Becomes Senate Leadership Fund’s Main Donor In Quarter Three **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Newswire Editor | **Section:** Newswire **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/elon-musk-becomes-senate-leadership-funds-main-donor-in-quarter-three.md New FEC filings show the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, has become the dominant funder of the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading Republican Senate super PAC. Musk was responsible for 58% of the fund’s third-quarter fundraising, and his latest contributions bring his total giving to the Republican group to $168 million. His contributions to a single party super PAC appear poised to exceed the previous record by approximately $100 million. In response, Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said: “Elon Musk is pouring unprecedented sums of money into Republican super PACs, giving him extraordinary financial leverage over the party’s political future, in an attempt to sway the midterm results with his net worth. The current state of our campaign finance system allows one billionaire to supply the overwhelming share of a major party’s political funding. This is undemocratic and flat-out wrong. America should be a nation where the voices of regular people are heard just as loudly as the ultrawealthy. And where the billionaire class is prevented from consolidating political power.” Musk also has his own pet super PAC, which he has given $126 million according to recent analysis by Public Citizen. In 2026, Musk has contributed a total of $366 million to super PACs and other political groups in an effort to help Republicans win in November. --- ### 'Outrageous': Trump Loaded Up on Big Pharma Stocks While Jacking Up Drug Costs **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-pharmaceutical-investments.md An analysis released Friday by Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee details how US President Donald Trump loaded up on shares of major pharmaceutical companies last year as his administration and Republican allies enacted policies that benefited the industry—at the expense seniors and other patients. The JEC analysis estimates that Trump increased his stock holdings in the pharmaceutical sector from $1.7 million in 2024 to as much as $56.2 million last year. The committee notes that Trump, who has repeatedly promised to cut drug prices while implementing policies that raised them, "held as much as $39.1 million in stock in the same Big Pharma companies that directly benefited" from a budget package that the president signed into law last summer. “Trump and congressional Republicans intentionally force seniors to pay more for cancer treatment so that Big Pharma can rake in more money that Trump can personally profit from," said Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), the JEC's ranking member. "It’s outrageous and yet typical from this president, who makes the American people foot the bill again and again for his own gains." Tucked in the Trump-GOP budget law was a provision exempting some widely used, high-priced prescription drugs from Medicare price negotiations. Merck's cancer medication Keytruda was one of the drugs temporarily shielded by the provision; Merck appears more than 60 times in the president's 2025 financial disclosure. The JEC analysis notes that "in 2025, Merck reported $18.8 billion in US revenues for Keytruda, which helped the company net $22.5 billion in profits that year, a 16% increase compared to 2024." The president also made big purchases of stock in Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, Pfizer, and Amgen last year. The JEC found that each of those companies "had at least one drug that benefited from the carveouts" in the Trump-GOP budget law. Additionally, the Trump administration has entered friendly agreements with pharmaceutical companies in which the president is invested, including Pfizer and Eli Lilly. “Trump’s drug pricing deals are a mirage, designed to convince Americans that he’s taken significant action on drug pricing while creating minimal if any downside for Big Pharma,” Peter Maybarduk, access to medicines director for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said last month after his organization obtained heavily redacted texts of the agreements. "The texts show Trump handing out favors to Big Pharma, undercutting his own models to lower prices, and throwing the support of the US government behind corporate decisions to deny medicines entirely to other countries," said Maybarduk. --- ### ‘Billionaires Aren’t Compatible With Democracy’: Elon Musk Tries to Boost Ken Paxton With $158 Million Donation **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/musk-paxton-campaign-donations.md The world's richest man is spending an unprecedented sum of money to help Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton win a crucial US Senate race, according to Federal Election Commission filings disclosed Thursday. As reported by the Texas Tribune, the filings show SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in September gave $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), the largest super PAC dedicated to defending Republicans' majority in the US Senate. While the donation to SLF theoretically could have been directed toward any GOP Senate candidate, filings show the super PAC immediately plugged the Musk money into an entity called Texas PAC, which took to the air with advertisements praising Paxton and attacking Democratic rival James Talarico. "Musk’s donations armed Senate Republicans to take over the airwaves in Texas," the Texas Tribune noted. "Using Texas PAC as the vessel to book airtime, SLF has thus far spent over $159 million on TV, radio, and digital advertising, double the outlay from Talarico’s campaign, according to media tracking firm AdImpact." Polls have consistently shown Paxton trailing Talarico, whose campaign has raised an estimated $134.3 million from 1.3 million individual donors, 97% of whom donated $100 or less to the Texas Democrat. This means that, in just one month, Musk singlehandedly gave Paxton more money than Talarico's campaign has raised since its inception in September 2025. The sheer scale of Musk's contributions stunned Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan. "How does democracy function when one person can donate $150 million for one Senate race?" Bresnahan asked in a Thursday social media post. "In a state where one of his companies has major facilities?" Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, indirectly answered Bresnahan's question by opining that Musk's attempt to buy an election shows "billionaires aren’t compatible with democracy." Author EW Niedermeyer, a longtime critic of Musk, speculated that the billionaire moved his companies' operations from California to Texas so that he could "buy people like Ken Paxton wholesale." Princeton historian Kevin Kruse argued that Talarico's campaign could turn Musk's massive intervention in the Senate race into an advantage. "I'm begging James Talarico to run against Musk," Kruse wrote. "He's an unpopular and creepy white nationalist asshole billionaire whose approval rating in most polls is 20 points underwater. You can mock Paxton for needing to be bailed out and mock the puppet master pulling his strings." Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of MeidasTouch, pointed to the stark contrast in how the Talarico and Paxton campaigns are being funded. "It’s corrupt Ken Paxton and his sugar daddy oligarch Elon Musk versus Talarico and tens of thousands of people giving $10 to $100," Filipkowski wrote. "Choose your brand of democracy." Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said the Musk donation shows a desperate need to completely overhaul the US campaign finance system. "The current state of our campaign finance system allows one billionaire to supply the overwhelming share of a major party’s political funding," Gilbert said. "This is undemocratic and flat-out wrong. America should be a nation where the voices of regular people are heard just as loudly as the ultrawealthy." --- ### Automated Activation on ICE Body Cameras Is Common Sense **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Christopher J. Schneider | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/ice-body-cameras.md The Government Accountability Office, an independent non-partisan watchdog agency, released a report this month finding that the US Customs and Border Protection and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have unsuccessfully implemented their body camera programs, with ICE failing to meet its own policy initiative of “accurately documenting events” to promote transparency and enhance public trust. The GAO report noted, “ICE lacks a reasonable assurance of compliance with activation requirements in policy” and for this reason recommended that automated camera activation be used to ensure that body cameras are activated in accordance with its policy. ICE policy stipulates that agents activate their body cameras “as soon as practical at the beginning of an Enforcement Activity and deactivation when the activity is concluded.” Automated activation technology guarantees that a body camera is automatically switched on the moment an officer draws their firearm or conducted energy device (commonly TASER) to capture as much as an enforcement activity (from start to finish) as possible. Automated activation for body cameras is already used by federal law enforcement officers, so why not for ICE? ICE however rejected the recommendation to implement automated activation technology for use with its body cameras citing “significant operational risks, including inadvertent or false activations during routine movement,” while suggesting that accidental activations of its body cameras could record sensitive information, violate privacy, and even contravene the First Amendment. These claims are baseless and somewhat puzzling especially since some federal law enforcement officers already use automated activation, as do other police agencies across the country. Consider the VA Police who are federal law enforcement officers of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. According to their policy, body cameras are automatically activated when an officer draws their firearm. In the case of an accidental activation, VA Police policy classifies such footage under the category of “false activation” and when designated as such, denotes that the accidental footage can be stored for 30 days before deletion whereas the retention of footage categorized as “investigation” may be retained for as long as 25 years. The VA Police use Axon body cameras, the same devices used by ICE and by many police departments in the US. Axon body cameras have a “false activation cancellation” option as an additional feature of their body-cameras products, providing law enforcement officers with the ability to “stop accidental or undesired recordings” should they occur. The option is initiated with the simple press of a “cancel button” on the screen of the body camera. There are obvious worries of the unauthorized deletion of recordings, but such concerns can be addressed with good policy. Consider Section 11 “Accidental Recordings” of the body camera policy of the San Jose Police Department (SJPD) as an example. Section 11 outlines the process for the handling of body camera recordings that have no evidentiary or investigative value. In such circumstances, the “officer will submit a request for deletion via email” to their direct supervisor. The policy specifies that the request email is to be forwarded through the chain of command. The receiving commanding officer is then responsible for reviewing the accidental footage prior to approving (or denying) the request for deletion. The email chain provides a shared written record to deter any malfeasance and to ensure accountability. As if all of this wasn’t enough to warrant automated body camera activation for use with its body cameras, ICE has maintained that it will only release footage that “is in the best interests of the agency.” Presumably then any “false activations” of ICE body cameras that capture sensitive information or violate privacy would not be released anyway. Automated activation for body cameras is already used by federal law enforcement officers, so why not for ICE? The logical conclusion is that ICE’s failure to adopt automated camera activation into its body camera program is merely a blatant attempt to evade any semblance of transparency and accountability. --- ### Will Trump Cultists Make January 3rd the Next January 6th? **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Bill Blum | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/will-trump-cultists-make-january-3rd-the-next-january-6th.md “Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.” — attributed to Joseph Stalin If the Trump administration fails to stop Democrats from taking back Congress in next month’s midterms, as nearly all major polls suggest, the MAGA cult is unlikely to accede quietly. The White House and its allies will file a flurry of lawsuits claiming election fraud, demand recounts across the country, pump out incessant propaganda about Chinese and Iranian cyber-interference, threaten to prosecute state election officials and perhaps even seize voting machines, among other gambits. Should these maneuvers fail, they will set the stage for a decisive “High Noon”-style showdown on Jan. 3, 2027, when the 120th Congress is slated to begin. To maintain Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the president can be expected to wage a final battle of obstruction and orchestrated chaos, possibly culminating in a declaration of a national emergency. If the past is any sort of prologue, he will do anything to avoid the hearings and investigations that will be initiated if the Democrats prevail. Under the 20th Amendment, a new Congress convenes at two-year intervals at noon on Jan. 3. This is supposed to be a ceremonial event similar to the joint session of Congress that counts Electoral College ballots on Jan. 6 every four years. But as we saw in 2021, ceremony can quickly give way to sabotage. Each chamber has its own rules for the swearing-in of new and reelected members, and each will present Trump with different opportunities to undermine the election. Writing last month in The New Republic, former US Circuit Court Judge Michael Luttig outlined a scenario in which House Speaker Mike Johnson could use the office of the clerk of the House to alter the outcome of the midterms and precipitate a constitutional crisis in a last-ditch bid to secure Republican control. The speaker has the unilateral power to remove the incumbent clerk. The clerk is a nonpartisan administrator whose job on Jan. 3 is to prepare the “roll” of members-elect, which lists all individuals who have been elected and certified by their respective states to serve. After compiling the roll, the clerk calls the members-elect to order. The members thereafter elect a new speaker, who proceeds in turn to swear in the members-elect. The first session of the new House then begins, enabling it to conduct the nation’s business. Although the clerk’s duties are strictly ministerial, Luttig posits that sometime before noon on Jan. 3, Johnson will replace the current House clerk, Kevin McCumber, with a MAGA loyalist who will refuse to list a decisive number of Democrats on the roll, preventing them from being seated. Under the House’s internal rules, the speaker has the unilateral power to remove the incumbent clerk, and under federal law, the power to replace the clerk with whomever he wishes until the whole House elects a successor. “McCumber,” Luttig explains, “is a Republican appointed by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He is widely respected for his integrity and faithful adherence to the Constitution and is reputed to be unwilling to carry out orders he considers to be unconstitutional.” His replacement could be anyone—Alina Habba, Mike Lindell, Laura Loomer, or any number of other zealots. There are no age, citizenship or even sanity requirements. Democrats targeted by a rogue clerk will no doubt seek immediate relief from the courts. Luttig believes they will eventually win, relying on a 1969 Supreme Court precedent decision (Powell v. McCormack) that ordered the seating of New York Rep. Adam Clayton Powell, who had been excluded from the 90th Congress by a majority vote of House members despite being duly reelected. But any such litigation would take time, especially if appeals are taken all the way to the US Supreme Court, which is firmly in the hands of six MAGA-friendly justices. Although Luttig contends that even the Roberts Court would ultimately block the clerk’s action, he has no illusions. Roberts and company could conceivably dodge legal challenges on technical grounds, holding that the issue of the clerk’s authority presents a “political question” beyond its jurisdiction and that any intervention would violate the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches of government. In the meantime, the country would be left with a wholly dysfunctional House unable to discharge even its most basic appropriations and budgetary functions. As might be expected, Luttig has received considerable pushback for his article. Critics on the right have accused him of fearmongering, and some prominent liberal commentators, such as election law expert Rick Hasen, have objected that his scenario is “unlikely” to occur. What if Vance … refuses to swear in a critical number of Democrats? But Luttig’s article may not go far enough. It contains no discussion, for example, of what may happen on Jan. 3 in the Senate. Even if Democrats win a majority, Vice President JD Vance will remain the body’s president, and it will be his responsibility to swear in each newly elected or reelected member. What if Vance, following instructions from his boss, refuses to swear in a critical number of Democrats? Legal and political bedlam may be an understatement. In concert with their House counterparts, the unseated Democratic senators will take to litigation, but that, too, would take weeks if not months to resolve. In the meantime, the seated Republicans will hold the majority. The other wild card absent from Luttig’s analysis is how Trump might take advantage of the bedlam. Trump’s allies on the extreme right have long urged him to take control of the midterms by invoking his considerable powers under the National Emergencies Act, a post-Watergate reform that was designed to rein in presidential authority but in practice has worked in the opposite direction. The act accords the president broad discretion to issue an emergency declaration, as long as he specifies at least one existing statutory power that will be used to initiate and combat the emergency. Presidents of both parties have used the act with little congressional oversight. Trump has invoked it at least 21 times to advance such projects as building his southern border wall to stem immigration, promoting fossil fuel production and instituting his tariffs on foreign goods and services. And, while the Supreme Court invalidated much of his tariff regime last February, his other declarations, along with dozens declared by past presidents, are still in force. There is no legal authority for the president to take control of federal elections or to conspire with House and Senate Republicans to exclude elected Democrats from taking office. But if you think that will stop Trump from trying, you have been asleep for the last 10 years. The best—and perhaps only—way to stop this scenario is to vote in numbers so massive that Trump’s election plots are killed in the crib. We have the power to prevent Jan. 3 from becoming the new Jan. 6. Let’s use it while we still can. --- ### Trump's Greed and Moral Squalor Delivers a Despicable Era for the United States **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Robert Reich | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-greed-moral-squalor.md The Democrats’ focus on affordability seems to be a winning strategy (we’ll know for sure in a little over two weeks). But we mustn’t lose sight of the moral squalor at the core of the Trump regime. It’s that moral squalor—the utter disregard for the opinions, norms, and ideals of the nation or, for that matter, of humanity—that uniquely marks Trump and the reprobates he has attracted to Washington. It has also poisoned much of the Republican Party, including the billionaires and tech bros who finance it. To put this despicable era behind us, we’ll need to renounce and reverse this squalor. What are loosely described as Trump’s “conflicts of interest,” for example, extend way beyond enriching himself from his presidency. He has violated the basic norms of presidential decency. He just decided to host the Group of 20 annual summit of world leaders at his private golf club in Miami in December. When he sought to do this during his first term, it was viewed as a blatant violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. Now, after America’s moral sensibilities have been numbed by Trump’s appetite for foreign gifts—such as Qatar’s “donation” of a $400 million jumbo jet—it barely merits a mention. He sells advance notice of his market-altering announcements for $100,000 a month, thereby profiting by tipping off people who trade on the information before it becomes publicly available. He files a trademark application for “Trump TV” to control the name of a streaming service that the White House uses for official presidential communications, thereby pocketing the benefits from taxpayer funds used to create and run the channel. His family-backed crypto firm introduces a stablecoin just months before he signs legislation promoting it. His wife is paid tens of millions for a self-promotional film by Jeff Bezos’s Amazon, a federal contractor and major retailer subject to a myriad of regulations. His son has a Russian oligarch, close to Putin, pick up the tab for part of his wedding afterparty in the Bahamas. He arranges for the Justice Department to grant him and his family immunity for any back taxes and penalties they might owe. And so on. Trump has tossed away all constraints on making money off his presidency “because I got no credit in the first term” and “I found out that nobody cared.” Credit? Someone who is entrusted with the highest office in the land must receive “credit” for doing what’s right, in order to continue doing what’s right? Nobody cares? A president can embrace corruption if the public doesn’t mind? It’s not just the blatant self-dealing. His moral squalor extends to every aspect of governing. He lies incessantly—a gushing firehose of deception. His foreign policies make Henry Kissinger’s realpolitik seem principled by comparison. He orders the abduction of the president of another nation, installs a new president of his choosing, and announces he’s taking that nation’s oil—and doesn’t even account for what he does with the oil money. He attacks Iran without consulting America’s traditional allies or even Congress. Eager to reduce diesel prices (which are hurting Republicans in the midterms), he turns his back on Ukraine and sides with Putin, the aggressor in that conflict—making a deal to import Russian diesel fuel (a windfall for Putin who can now bomb Ukraine even harder) while demanding that Ukraine stop attacking Russian oil refineries. Trump then blames Ukraine president Zelenskyy for high oil prices rather than Trump’s own war with Iran, and says Ukraine should get a new president. If this isn’t moral squalor, I don’t know what is. The squalor also extends to usurping the authority of Congress to decide on tariffs, wars, and whether and how to spend taxpayer money. And extends to his cynical defiance of Supreme Court orders. When the high court invalidates Trump’s tariffs, he reimposes them under a different statute. When the court rules that he doesn’t have grounds to remove a member of the Fed board of governors, he concocts a means to do so anyway. When the court says he has to remove his name from the Kennedy Center, he closes the center and threatens to demolish it. It extends to his using the Justice Department and the FBI to prosecute people who have stood up to him, including courageous judges and prosecutors. It extends to his overt bigotry and racism—claiming Mexicans are “bringing drugs and crime”; calling Somali-Americans “garbage” and denouncing “what they’ve done to Minnesota, these people from Somalia”; and taunting Muslims (calling Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan, “Mohammed”). It extends to giving a gigantic tax cut to America’s wealthiest people, financed by cutting nutrition assistance and health care to America’s most vulnerable people. The moral squalor has turned much of America into a police state—terrorizing large numbers of people residing here, including many here legally. Deploying ICE agents at schools, courthouses, and hospitals. Forcibly taking parents away from their children. Allowing masked gunmen without identification to grab suspected undocumented immigrants off our streets, from their cars, and out of their homes—giving them no opportunity to defend themselves in front of third parties before putting them into often overcrowded and unhealthy prisons or sending them to other countries where they’re imprisoned. Killing and murdering—even murdering Americans who are trying to monitor their activities—then refusing even to conduct official inquiries into the murders. When asked if there are limits to his authority, Trump replies: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” “My own” morality is no morality at all. Morality reflects collective judgments about right and wrong, shared values about what we owe one another as citizens of the same society. Morality refers to the ideals we seek to achieve together. Trump is not guided by any sense of right and wrong. He is guided only by what enriches him or gives him more power and glory—a nihilistic might-makes-right ethos in which the strong do whatever they want and the weak suffer what they must. To be sure, Trump’s moral squalor could not have permeated America—he could not have been elected a second time—had our shared norms and ideals not already been compromised. Vast inequalities of income and wealth, coupled with a growing sense that the social contract at the heart of the American system was coming undone and that those at the top have rigged the game, were already fueling anger and distrust. Trump ignited that fuel. But without shared ideals or common moral values, there is nothing pushing back against this despicable president and regime—no countervailing moral force against the ongoing squalor. Part of the project of ridding ourselves of Trump, therefore, must be to rekindle our understanding of the common good and appreciation of what we owe one another as members of the same society. Of course we must make life more affordable; Democrats are wise to emphasize this in the midterms. But we also must demand common decency from our president. --- ### Remembering the Missed Opportunity of Reykjavík as Nuclear Doomsday Looms **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Robert Dodge | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/missed-opportunity-nukes.md Forty years ago this week President Ronald Reagan and Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev met from October 11-12 in Reykjavík, Iceland in a hastily organized summit that came closer to the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons than at any point in our nuclear age. This was a time at the peak of the Cold War, when there were roughly 70,000 nuclear weapons in the global arsenals and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock was set at three minutes till midnight. Meeting in Geneva in November 1985, the year before, the two leaders made their joint declaration that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” The two Cold Warriors shared an understanding of the horror of nuclear weapons. The Icelandic summit between the two leaders came together quickly after Reagan gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September 1986 calling for a nuclear arms reduction accord. This was followed closely by Secretary General Gorbachev extending an offer to meet in October culminating in the Icelandic Summit. Nuclear war is a real and present danger. It is not a future that must be. But it is the future that will be if we do not act. At Reykjavík, Gorbachev argued for a 50% reduction in strategic nuclear weapons and total elimination of all intermediate range missiles deployed in Europe. Back-and-forth discussions continued throughout the summit, and in the final hours, Reagan proposed the complete elimination of ALL nuclear arms. The caveat was his unwavering commitment to the flawed Strategic Defense Initiative or so-called “Star Wars,” a protective shield over the planet to protect from nuclear attack. He wanted testing and development to be allowed in space. In the final hours, Gorbachev insisted that testing be limited to the labs and not in space. And thus the talks collapsed and humanity lost its greatest chance to date to eliminate these weapons. This summit paved the way for continued dialogue and, in the years to follow, serious, though far less magnanimous, arms control agreements were reached. These included the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty, INF, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear weapons, and the 1991 START Treaty dramatically removing approximately 80% of the world's strategic nuclear weapons. Fast forward 40 years to October 2026. While there have been dramatic reductions in global nuclear arsenals to 12,187 weapons we find ourselves much closer to nuclear war than at any time throughout the entire 81-year nuclear age. We have the leaders of the two largest nuclear powers reminding the world of their nuclear arsenals and threatening to use them, whether in Russia’s war on Ukraine or Trump‘s repeated threats throughout his terms, both in terms of nuclear button size envy and threats to bring fire and fury on adversaries. His lack of leadership in arms control has allowed treaties to expire on his watch. His careless media bravado in April, posting “a whole civilization will die tonight never to be brought back again,” does little to resolve crises of his own making. Just last month, speaking to world leaders at the 81st opening sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, he asked, “Would there be a deal that let Iran rebuild a greater country than it ever was before?“ After which he considered whether to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” and “drive them into hell with no chance of survival and hope of future greatness or generations?“ Analogous to “Star Wars,“ Trump‘s obsession with being top dog has resulted in his own “Golden Dome,” a proposal to provide an impenetrable shield from a nuclear attack. At a projected cost of $1.2 trillion, the program with a projected success rate of 80% would be better named the “golden sieve.” Taking into account these nuclear realities, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists this year moved their Doomsday Clock minute hand to 85 seconds to midnight, which is the closest it has ever been since its inception. In making their decision they have considered: The state of current nuclear arsenals with the ongoing modernization of all global arsenals, breakdown in nuclear arms control talks, and current nuclear use rhetoric; Climate change complacency and lack of policies; Disruptive technologies, including AI, particularly in military settings where nuclear launch scenarios have been posed to AI, and in bio-hazard design capabilities of AI; and Bio threats, and misinformation. Nuclear war is a real and present danger. It is not a future that must be. But it is the future that will be if we do not act. If we do nothing then it is not a matter of “if” nuclear weapons will be used, it is a question of “when.” There are no “right hands” when it comes to controlling the nuclear button, but it is obvious that Trump’s hand must be removed from that possibility. As citizens, we must demand the United States move Back From the Brink of nuclear war, and lead a global effort to abolish these weapons once and for all. --- ### Should We Fear Communism or the Authoritarianism in the Republican Party? **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Frederic H. Decker | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-red-scare.md In his 1951 treatise, The True Believer, Eric Hoffer saw the fanatical leaders of communist and fascist states—Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler specifically—as fundamentally products of the same cloth, cloth different from, he quoted, the “Social-Democrat and the trade-union boss.” Stalin may have been a communist and Hitler a fascist, but similarly each a dictator. Stalin forged a centralized, and brutal, control of the national economy under the guise of continuing the proletarian class struggle earlier led by Vladimir Lenin. Hitler led a racial struggle murdering millions of Jews and others with the goal of establishing a nation for the so-called Aryan race. Today, with the midterm elections in November, President Donald Trump frames Democrats as the embodiment of communism, as the authoritarian threat America faces. This while Trump has also praised the communist leader, Xi Jinping, in China; Vladimir Putin in Russia; and the right-wing leadership of Viktor Orbán in Hungary, among similar leaders. the hypocrisy is clear in Trump saying if Democrats win in the midterm elections they would threaten individual liberty as a caucus of communists. And what is the leadership style shared by Orbán, Jinping, and Putin? Authoritarianism is the correct answer. Leaders, in Hoffer’s treatise, of the same cloth. Cloth Trump appears to want to dress himself in. Since the defeat of Hitler, with the advent of the Cold War after World War II, communism has been seen as the major threat to the American way of life. Concern with the global spread of communism, after all, framed the context leading the US into the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon, when the vice president, wrote on the threat of communism opening his essay in 1960 stating that, I quote, the “major problem confronting the people of the United States and free peoples everywhere in the last half of the 20th century is the threat to peace and freedom presented by the militant aggressiveness of international communism.” Nixon’s warning followed the Red Scare that gripped America after World War II, often referred to as McCarthyism for the Wisconsin senator, Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy’s singular claim to fame, and eventual disgrace, was his anti-communism agenda in the 1950s as the chair of the Senate Permanent Investigation Subcommittee with his allegations of communist infiltration in the US government, the Army and, notoriously, Hollywood. Cometh Today Trump’s McCarthyism President Trump in his speech on July 4, during this year’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States on the National Mall, hailed the triumph over both fascism and communism saying that “after we vanquished fascism , Americans stood against the evil of communism in the Cold War.” Ever since, as far as I am aware, he hasn’t mentioned any war against fascism. He targeted only communism in the reminder of his speech on July 4, telling the audience: “America will never be a communist country. Won’t happen... It’s like a cancer. You have to cut it out and you got to cut it out fast.” Trump has polished his aim as the midterm elections in November have grown closer, alluding to the Democratic Party becoming the seat of communism in America. At the Republican midterm convention in Texas on September 9, Trump said that (his words) “the Democrat establishment has been overthrown and replaced by crazed lunatics and radicals. They call themselves Democrat socialists, but actually they’re communists.” Then he added that if “they win the greatest legislative body in history will for the first time ever be controlled by a communist caucus.” In labeling Democratic candidates as communist, Trump diverts attention from failures in his policies and his growing and sustained disapproval. The backdrop to Trump’s painting votes for Democrats as a vote for a communist takeover of the United States has been the emergence of a small minority of Democratic candidates with membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), following the success of Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s DSA-member mayor. With that backdrop fueling Trump’s anti-communism rhetoric, other Democratic candidates in the midterm elections unaffiliated with DSA, like Michigan’s Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, have even had to emphasize they are not socialists and embrace capitalism. Opinions of Americans on Socialism (and Authoritarianism) The terms “socialism” and “communism” seem for many to represent the same entity, though in practice meaningful distinctions exist. In any case, polls have focused on opinions of socialism. The subtitle to a research report in 2022 from Pew Research Center on views of socialism among Americans reads: “Many Democrats say socialism meets people’s basic needs; Republicans say it restricts individual freedoms.” Among Democrats and those Democrat leaning in 2019, 65% reported viewing socialism positively, with 57% so viewing in 2022. Only 15% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters held a positive view of socialism in 2019, with 14% doing so in 2022. In a more recent survey by Gallup in 2026, 65% of Democrats had an overall positive view of socialism compared with 45% among Independents and 14% of Republicans. Regarding Authoritarianism. In her 2016 article at Vox, Amanda Taub chronicled research on how the rise of American authoritarianism, especially in the Republican Party, preceded and fertilized Trump’s rise to power. She highlighted the work of social scientists like Stanley Feldman, who saw authoritarianism more as a personality trait than simply a political preference. A trait highly valuing hierarchy, order, and conformity over other attributes. A trait Feldman measured by four questions on child-rearing goals, such as, “Please tell me which one you think is more important for a child to have: obedience or self-reliance?” Vox commissioned a study in 2016 on the relationship between authoritarianism and perceived threats to one’s way of life. Summarizing some of the findings, Taub wrote: …that 44% of white respondents nationwide scored as "high" or "very high" authoritarians, people in this 44% only vote or otherwise act as authoritarians once triggered by some perceived threat, physical or social. But that latency is part of how, over the past few decades, authoritarians have quietly become a powerful political constituency without anyone realizing it. Over 65% of those scoring highest on Feldman’s authoritarianism scale were Republican voters. Whereas individuals whose scores were the most non-authoritarian, by always selecting the non-authoritarian parenting answers, were almost 75% Democrats. These results, Taub emphasized, didn’t mean authoritarian-leaning folks were inherently Republicans. Rather, changes in the Republican Party’s platform attracted more authoritarians. Becoming the party promising “to stave off social change and, if necessary, to impose order happened to speak powerfully to voters with authoritarian inclinations,” Taub wrote. On the other hand, Taub wrote, “Democrats, by contrast, have positioned themselves as the party of civil rights, equality, and social progress—in other words, as the party of social change, a position that not only fails to attract but actively repels change-averse authoritarians.” A more recent study in 2024 by the Public Religion Research Institute had related findings using a different measure of authoritarianism, the Right-Wing Authoritarian Scale. Among Republicans, 67% scored high on this authoritarianism scale, compared with only 35% among independents and 28% of Democrats. A Perplexing Phenomenon. Those with more authoritarian inclinations, that is Republicans, are also more likely to view socialism as an authoritarian menace threatening their freedoms. Perhaps the answer to this riddle is that the scope of concern over freedom among those with ingrained authoritarian traits may be more limited to concerns over their freedoms only, not freedoms among other groups; a hypothesis worthy of further study. Whatever the case, the hypocrisy is clear in Trump saying if Democrats win in the midterm elections they would threaten individual liberty as a caucus of communists. The Republican Party remains today a major seat of authoritarianism in the United States, and the supportive arm of Trump’s would-be dictatorial rule threatening individual freedoms. --- ### Secret and 'Illegal' Trump Plan to Spin Off Federal Student Aid Office Sparks Outrage **Published:** October 16, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-federal-student-aid.md The Trump administration is reportedly planning to remove the Federal Student Aid office from the Department of Education and establish a new independent agency tasked with managing roughly $1.6 trillion in debt owed by more than 40 million borrowers. The plan, first reported by The Washington Sun on Thursday, comes as President Donald Trump works to illegally dismantle the Education Department without congressional authorization and assails student aid programs. Legally spinning off the Federal Student Aid office—the largest segment of the Education Department—would require an act of Congress, something that administration officials have "acknowledged internally," according to the Sun. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, expressed outrage over the administration's reported plan, noting that the Trump administration has already gutted the student aid office's staff. "Tens of millions of Americans are depending on government to actually work here," Murray said in a statement. "This intentional sabotage only threatens to create true financial chaos in people’s lives." “Every family filling out the FAFSA, every student counting on a Pell Grant, and every borrower trying to make a student loan payment will pay for Trump’s idiotic obsession with abolishing the Department of Education," Murray added. "Americans do not support abolishing the Department of Education—they just want a financial aid system that works. I will keep fighting to block this illegal move every way I can, and it is past time for Republicans to join Democrats and put an end to this nonsense.” The Sun's reporting marks the latest evidence that the Trump administration is working to follow through on the president's campaign promise to abolish the Department of Education, which is currently led by billionaire Linda McMahon. Over the summer, as Common Dreams reported, the Trump administration placed the department's work defending civil rights and students with disabilities under the authority of other federal agencies. According to the Sun, Education Department officials are privately "concerned that the Trump administration is rushing" the Federal Student Aid spinoff "without considering the consequences to families and colleges around the country." "The department’s senior leaders have told staff that student financial aid can be managed more effectively as an independent agency, but current and former officials said the department is taking a chaotic approach that is setting it up for failure," the Sun reported. "Details of the latest potential offloading remain scant, said one official involved in the planning." The unnamed official told the outlet that the office "does not know how to be independent" because it depends on the Education Department for many of its functions. Mike Pierce, executive director of the advocacy group Protect Borrowers, said in a statement Thursday that "the secret plan to eject FSA from the Education Department shows, yet again, that McMahon and Trump care more about pandering to their anti-government base than keeping their promise to tens of millions of Americans who cannot keep up with their bills." Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said that "millions of teachers, nurses, and other public service workers are being buried by rising costs, including out-of-control student loan payments that are a direct result of President Trump's tax cuts for billionaires and Secretary McMahon’s callous mismanagement of the student debt portfolio." “We had to sue McMahon once to force her to follow the law and respect borrowers’ rights to lower student loan payments, and this reorganization won't solve the issue—it will only make things worse," said Weingarten. "As voters head to the polls, they should remember that Trump and McMahon pretending to shrink the Department of Education—while in practice throttling its core functions in reams of red tape—is not doing anything to shrink working families’ bills.” --- ### 'Let Them Eat Cake': How Trump Family Pocketed Nearly $3 Billion While Millions of Americans Lost Food Aid **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-family-corruption-snap-cuts.md A report released Thursday details how the family of President Donald Trump "pocketed more than $2.9 billion"—including "in cash and gifts from crypto ventures, legal settlements, a luxury jet from a foreign government, and corporate deals"—while Republican cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program left millions of Americans without critical food aid. The report, "Let Them Eat Cake: Cost of Corruption," was published by the Not Above the Law Coalition—a group of more than 150 advocacy organizations mobilized against the Trump administration's corruption—and cites data from the Center for American Progress revealing over $2.9 billion in cash and gifts received by the Trump family since the 2024 election. The bulk of that amount—more than $2.4 billion—comes from the cryptocurrency industry. Trump has boasted about how his administration won't investigate alleged crypto-related crimes. Not only has Trump embraced crypto deregulation, he also pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who pleaded guilty to money-laundering charges in 2023. Binance has provided critical support for World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture enriching the Trump family. "The Trump family cashed in on the presidency while American families paid the price," Not Above the Law said in a statement. "Over the same period, Trump signed a budget law that cut almost $187 billion from SNAP, leaving 5.2 million fewer people with help buying groceries." That law, the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ushered in the biggest cuts to both SNAP and Medicaid in those programs' histories. According to the report, "The Trump family's take alone could cover a full year of groceries for about 1.3 million people on SNAP." "At the same time, Trump's pardons let wealthy allies and fraudsters walk away from nearly $1.7 billion owed to victims and taxpayers," the publication adds. Not Above the Law noted that "foreign money flowed straight to the family" via an investment vehicle controlled by the United Arab Emirates' national security adviser, who "put $500 million into World Liberty Financial, and the administration soon cleared advanced chip exports to the UAE." The report highlights that "Trump also accepted a roughly $400 million luxury jet from Qatar." Not Above the Law said that, in addition to groceries for 1.3 million people for a year, the $2.9 billion could buy "more than 600 million free school lunches, or three months of groceries for the 5.2 million people who lost SNAP benefits." In addition to the nearly $3 billion the report says Trump's family pocketed, the coalition noted "companies backed by Trump's sons have collected $3.2 billion in federal funds, including a fast-tracked $620 million Pentagon loan" to a business in which Donald Trump Jr. invested. "Donald Trump promised to lower costs for American families. Instead, he turned the presidency into his family's most profitable business," said Lisa Gilbert, Not Above the Law co-chair and co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "While the Trumps collected nearly $3 billion from crypto schemes, foreign governments, and corporations seeking favors, millions of Americans lost help putting food on the table. Congress must stop the self-dealing and hold this administration accountable." The new analysis follows a report published earlier this year by a group of Democratic US senators accusing the president and his family of turning “the power of the presidency into eye-popping profits,” with Trump increasing his personal net worth by more than $2 billion during his second term alone, according to official disclosures. Also on Thursday, The Washington Post reported on companies and billionaire CEOs who donated a combined $333 million to Trump’s White House ballroom project, as well as previously undisclosed donors who have benefited from a presidential pardon, government contracts, and at least one closed federal investigation. "This is what corruption is all about," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in response to the Post report. "We don’t want a government of, by, and for the billionaire class. FIGHT BACK." --- ### 'A Devastating Day for Oregon': Suspect Dead, Kids Among Victims in Elementary School Shooting **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/school-shootings-2026.md A 16-year-old boy killed three children—ages 5, 8, and 11—and a teacher in a Thursday shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz confirmed their deaths during an evening press conference, where he was joined by department communications manager Sheila Miller, Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Steven Cook, Mayor Melanie Kebler, and Gov. Tina Kotek. Krantz said the shooter was killed by a community member who saw the teenager enter the school with a long gun. Neither of them has been named publicly, nor have any of the victims—including a 7-year-old child and another teacher who were transported to the medical facility St. Charles Bend. During an earlier press conference, Miller told journalists that just minutes after receiving 911 calls that an unknown person had shot into a car and entered the school, police officers were on the scene at 1:02 pm Pacific time—and they reported that the suspect had been shot and killed inside the school. Miller said that there will be a large law enforcement presence in the area, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel confirmed that includes FBI agents. A reunification location for families was set up at Journey Church. As The Oregonian reported: Kayla Jensen, the president of the school’s Parent Teacher Organization, said she and other parents were gathered at the church, awaiting word about their children.“ We are unsure. We have not gotten any news. We are all here,” Jensen said. She said she could not offer any further comment. "We are stunned and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy," Cook, the superintendent, said in a statement. "We extend our deepest sympathy to the families and to everyone affected by this violence." "No words can adequately express the grief our community is experiencing," Cook added. "Our immediate priorities are caring for our students and staff and assisting law enforcement and emergency responders." US Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) said that "as details continue to come out, my heart is with the Bend community and all of the students and families affected. No one should have to fear violence at school." Congresswoman Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.) wrote on social media that "this is a devastating day for Oregon. My heart is with the Bend community, and every family who is being impacted by this tragic, senseless shooting. Schools should be places of learning, friendship, and joy. It is incumbent on me, and every lawmaker, to do everything we can to ensure our kids are safe." Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also stressed the need for policy action, saying: "My heart is with the victims of today’s shooting at Silver Rail Elementary School and their loved ones now facing the consequences of another school shooting in America. Once again, we must ask how many schools must be shot up before Republicans agree to act to curb gun violence." Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of the advocacy group Moms Demand Action, said that "today, families in Bend are living through every parent's worst nightmare... No parent should have to wonder whether the school drop-off will be the last time they see their child. This is not normal, and we cannot allow it to become normal." "In an average year, 655 people die and 719 are wounded by guns in Oregon," she noted. "Guns are also the leading cause of death among children and teens in the state, with an average of 34 children and teens dying by guns every year." Giffords—a gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who survived an assassination attempt—said that "our hearts are with the terrified children and the families anxiously waiting to hear that their loved ones are safe. We cannot keep accepting this as a fact of life." The former congresswoman similarly said that "my heart is completely broken for the children, families, teachers, and entire Silver Rail Elementary community in Bend, Oregon today. Elementary school should be about jungle gyms, math class, and making new friends—not learning where to hide from a shooter. We cannot keep asking our children to be brave enough to survive school shootings. Our leaders must be brave enough to stop them." --- ### Trump DOJ Sues After California Refuses to Disqualify Voters Based on Faulty Citizenship Database **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-doj-california-ballots.md In what one former election official called a significant "escalation" of President Donald Trump's interference in the midterm elections, his Department of Justice sued California on Thursday for not disqualifying over 20,000 mail ballots from voters it claims could be noncitizens. The suit comes two days after acting Deputy US Attorney General Trent McCotter sent a letter demanding that, within 48 hours, state election officials set aside ballots from a list of voters it determined were ineligible to vote using federal databases administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—systems that have previously been shown to regularly spit out errors. When other states, like Nevada, Texas, and Missouri, have used the DHS system to vet their voter rolls for noncitizens, investigations have found that it incorrectly flagged hundreds of US citizens as ineligible to vote. California officials have said the list of names was provided to them on a thumb drive, which came with a password written on a sticky note. They did not consider this to be a secure device and refused to open it. The letter was sent more than a week after California began sending mail ballots to 23 million registered voters. The state refused to set the ballots aside, saying that the administration had not provided credible evidence that the voters were not citizens and that eligible voters could be disenfranchised. In its complaint Thursday, the DOJ called on the court to stop the ballots from being tallied until the citizenship status of each voter could be independently verified. It also requested that the state not send a ballot to anyone who has not yet received one. The DOJ's batch of roughly 20,000 supposedly ineligible voters is a significant reduction from the 190,000 that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged were registered in the state back in July. When California asked for the underlying data and methodology for that figure, DHS declined to provide it. "What happened to those 170,000?" said California Attorney General Rob Bonta at a press conference on Thursday. "They just got those wrong." This highlights the concerns states have expressed about using the DHS system to purge their voter rolls. In refusing the DOJ's request, state officials have noted that in Nevada, the system flagged 185 voters as possible noncitizens only for state officials to determine that every single one of them was a US citizen. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber responded to the DOJ's lawsuit with a sharply worded letter, accusing it of “demanding unprecedented measures that threaten thousands of Californians' right to vote, based on unverifiable information or methodology that you still fail to explain or provide.” Weber described it as an effort to block “thousands of Californians’ right to vote” weeks before an election and said, “The extraordinary measures you demand are contrary to both federal and state law.” Federal law prohibits states from systematically purging voter rolls within 90 days of an election. “We are not impressed with the federal government’s letter. We are not impressed with its lawsuit," Bonta said. “This is what the federal government does. They lie, they advance misinformation, disinformation, they advance conspiracy theories. They try to sow distrust with those lies." “Their timing is rife with and smacks of and reeks of desperation and bad faith, to do this during an election,” he said. Stephen Richer, the former Republican Maricopa County recorder in Arizona, described the government's lawsuit as "a real escalation by the federal government." "I've mostly said 'Calm, calm. It's going to be OK' with respect to federal involvement in election administration," he wrote on social media. "This lawsuit—in October, in the middle of early voting—that asks election officials to disqualify certain voters based on suspect databases, not conclusive evidence, which definitely could have been alleged before early voting began... This does represent an escalation." The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Voting Rights Project filed an emergency brief on Thursday seeking to stop the DOJ from using its list to withhold ballots. "With voting already underway, eligible citizens should not have their ballots withheld based on a federal list they have never seen and have had no opportunity to challenge," said its director, Chad Dunn. "We are asking the court to intervene before voters suffer harm that cannot be corrected after Election Day." Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement that the Trump DOJ "is now actively trying to interfere in the 2026 elections and strong-arm California into purging names from our voter rolls and blocking mail ballots based purely on vague allegations less than three weeks before Election Day." He added, "This lawsuit has no legal basis or evidence behind it and is nothing more than a blatant abuse of power designed to sow distrust in our elections and threaten Americans’ right to vote." --- ### Israeli Strike Burns Gaza Mother Alive in Front of Toddler, 'Without Generating Any Headlines' **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-child-watches-mother-burn-alive.md A Palestinian toddler watched, screaming in horror, as her mother was burned alive in an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City home early Wednesday that left the wounded girl orphaned—and received almost no coverage in US corporate media. Reem Asaad Awad was killed when an Israeli helicopter attacked her family's apartment in the Rimal neighborhood at approximately 3:48 am local time Wednesday, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported. Trapped inside the burning apartment was Awad's daughter, Maryam Ahmed Ghanem, whose age has been reported as between 2 and 4 years old. Prominent Palestinian author Mosab Abu Toha said family friends confirmed the child was born in February 2024. Palestinian journalist Ali al-Jaafrawi witnessed and recorded the immediate aftermath of the strike. "There are children are screaming alive inside," al-Jaafrawi is heard saying as he approached the building. "I went up to the apartment. There were flames everywhere," al-Jaafrawi told Al Jazeera. "I went in despite the fire and smoke and heard a little girl screaming inside. I went in, found her, and rescued her immediately. I carried her and handed her to people so they could take her to hospital." "I went back to rescue others and to document what happened, but I suffocated and lost consciousness because of the thick smoke," he added. "I saw a woman on fire inside the apartment." Photos and video recordings show Ghanem being treated for injuries, including burns, at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which is struggling to operate after much of the facility was destroyed or damaged by Israeli forces, who besieged and raided the complex multiple times since October 2023. Abu Toha, who saw Ghanem in the hospital, said the child "kept repeating the same heartbreaking words: 'I want my mum. My body hurts. There was a lot of fire.'" Ghanem—whose father, Ahmad Ghanem, was reportedly killed by Israeli forces early in their genocidal assault—has joined the ranks of the more than 56,000 Gaza children who have lost at least one of their parents in the war, according to the United Nations Children's Fund. "Reem and Ahmad had waited four years to conceive Maryam," Abu Toha wrote. "Four years of waiting and hoping to bring a child into this world. Ahmad never lived to see his daughter’s face. Reem lived long enough to watch her little girl grow for two-and-a-half years before she was burned alive in front of her. Now Maryam is an orphan, fighting to survive her horrific burns." Ghanem's grandfather told Middle East Eye that the child and her mother "did nothing wrong." "They were sleeping quietly at night," he said. "There was no one in the apartment except the two of them." Israel said it is investigating the strike, which it claimed—without providing evidence—targeted a member of Hamas. Dismissing a nominal yearlong ceasefire during which at least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,000 others wounded by Israeli attacks, the grandfather said that "honestly, there is no security." "I fear for my family," he added. "All people are afraid, not just me. There is still assassination, war, hunger, poverty, and destruction... Nothing has changed." The horrific footage of the strike's fiery aftermath evoked imagery from earlier in Israel's onslaught, including video of a 7-year-old girl trying to escape an inferno caused by bombing that killed dozens of Palestinians—among them her mother and siblings—and a teenager photographed burning alive after Israeli forces bombed a tent encampment. Some observers noted the almost complete absence of US media reporting on the story, with the apparent exception of CBS News, which published video of the burning apartment in a Facebook Reel. "This little girl watched her mother be burned alive in Gaza. If she was Israeli, this image would be front-page news. But Israel can kill Palestinians in the most horrific ways without generating any headlines," US historian, author, and political analyst Assal Rad said on social media. "Video has been circulating all day; you can hear the little girl cry and see her engulfed in smoke," Rad said in a separate post. "I can’t find headlines in Western media *because* the story is horrific. They want you to forget." The Washington, DC-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a statement calling on members of Congress "to condemn Israel for burning a Palestinian mother alive while her daughter watched in Gaza." “The horrific video of a little girl surrounded by fire as her mother burns to death in their home exemplifies the reality of Israel’s genocide in Gaza," CAIR said. "We cannot comprehend how any political leader with a conscience could continue to fund the sheer cruelty of the Israeli government and the war criminals who carry out its orders." "Members of Congress must condemn this atrocity and demand an immediate end to all US support for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza," the group added. The US has provided Israel with tens of billions of dollars in armed aid, as well as diplomatic cover, including repeated vetoes of a series of United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolutions, throughout the three-year annihilation of Gaza, which has left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead or wounded. Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, weighed in on the attack on Bluesky. "I have reached the limits of my ability to put words to pure evil," he wrote. "Once again, Israel burned another family in Gaza alive. But the image of the... daughter in the family watching the rest of her family die in the flames will haunt me for the rest of my life." "But," Parsi added, "will it haunt Israel?" --- ### Ilhan Omar’s Office Slams Trump Deportation Plot as ‘Authoritarian Move to Silence an Opponent’ **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/ilhan-omar-deportation-plot.md The office of Rep. Ilhan Omar slammed the Trump administration on Thursday over its reported plot to have the Minnesota Democrat stripped of her US citizenship. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the raid on Omar's home carried out earlier this week by Department of Homeland Security agents was part of and effort to build "a case to strip her of her US citizenship and ultimately deport her." "The multipronged effort is focused at least in part on how Omar obtained her citizenship after she arrived in the US from Somalia decades ago," the Journal explained. "Investigators are focused both on the congresswoman and actions of her deceased father." Omar spokesperson Jackie Rogers responded to the report by accusing President Donald Trump of engaging in "desperate attempt to justify his extraordinary abuse of power." "This is politically motivated and an escalation of Trump’s personal vendetta against her lasting over a decade," Rogers told HuffPost. "He has lied about her family, about her immigration history, and about her love of this country." Rogers also accused Trump of acting like a dictator by singling out a member of the opposition party for punishment. "This isn’t a legitimate law enforcement action," said Rogers, "it is an authoritarian move to silence an opponent right before an election where he and his party will be rejected by Americans in historic proportions... To Trump, no American value or principle is too important to be shredded for his own personal gain." Author John Ganz on Thursday published an analysis of the reported Omar deportation plot, which he said is "undoubtedly driven by racial and religious animus" and also "a serious assault on the constitutional order being carried out through the executive branch’s legal and bureaucratic machinery." Ganz argued that a serious attempt to strip Omar of her citizenship and remove her from the country would be a major escalation from the Trump administration toward establishing an outright totalitarian state. "Authoritarian governments suppress political opposition and deprive their subjects of particular rights," Ganz explained. "Totalitarian movements aspire to something much more radical: the destruction of the independent political and juridical personhood. They attack not merely the liberties of particular citizens they seek to repress, but the concept of citizenship itself—and then, ultimately, the concept of shared humanity." --- ### 75% of Likely US Voters Oppose Giving Big Oil Immunity From Climate Lawsuits **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/climate-lawsuits-poll.md President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have sought to stop state-level lawsuits aimed at holding oil and gas companies responsible for climate-related damage. But most voters don't think they should be immune from accountability. In a poll released last week by Data for Progress, 75% of likely voters said they would oppose legislation that would give fossil fuel companies "legal immunity from having to pay for the damages they have caused by worsening climate change." Just 20% said they would either "somewhat" or "strongly" support such legislation. Meanwhile, more than half (53%) said they would "strongly" oppose it. Opposition was strong across political affiliations: 83% of Democrats and 76% of independents said they opposed giving oil companies immunity from lawsuits, but so did 67% of Republicans. (Graphic by Data for Progress) In recent years, states and municipalities have sued fossil fuel companies over their well-documented history of misleading the public about their products' role in warming the planet. These lawsuits have sought compensation for damages from worsening floods, wildfires, droughts, and other climate-related disasters. Eleven US states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont—as well as the District of Columbia, have active lawsuits, as do at least two tribal governments and dozens of municipalities around the country, according to a tracker by the Center for Climate Integrity. The new poll suggests voters are even more opposed to shielding oil companies from these lawsuits than they were five months ago. Another Data for Progress poll in May showed just 65% opposed legislation to shield oil companies, compared with 75% now. "Big Oil is desperate to secure legal immunity and escape accountability for its role in the climate crisis—and the billions of dollars of damages that have followed," said Iyla Shornstein, the political director at the Center for Climate Integrity. "These poll results show that Americans across the political spectrum are opposed to putting Big Oil above the law.” Protesters hold a banner outside the US Supreme Court as it considers the Suncor v. Boulder case in Washington, DC, on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images) The oil industry's lobbying arm, the American Petroleum Institute, has described stopping state climate lawsuits as a top priority for 2026. Their Republican allies have pushed at all levels of government to advance that goal. In April, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and several GOP cosponsors joined Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) to introduce legislation that would shield fossil fuel companies from any climate-related lawsuits, dismiss pending cases, and overturn state "superfund" laws requiring the industry to pay for climate damages. That bill failed to pass out of the House Judiciary Committee last month but could be brought forth again during the "lame-duck" session after the midterm elections in November. ProPublica has identified at least 15 bills across 11 states that have either been enacted or proposed to shield companies, either by granting them broad immunity from liability for greenhouse gas emissions or restricting the ability of communities to sue over climate-related damages. Groups linked to Leonard Leo, the co-chair of the right-wing Federalist Society, have coordinated many of these efforts. Republican attorneys general in 16 states have proposed creating a "liability shield" for fossil fuel companies modeled on the one that protects gun manufacturers from liability for the misuse of their products. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a leading conservative policy shop, approved a model bill in August aiming to establish this shield in state legislatures nationwide. The oil industry has also pushed for the right-wing Supreme Court to step in to block these lawsuits. Earlier this month, during oral arguments, oil giants ExxonMobil and Suncor urged the court to block a lawsuit brought by Boulder, Colorado, that accused oil companies of deceiving the public about climate change and sought to hold them financially responsible. If the court blocks the Boulder suit before it gets to trial, it could set a precedent that derails dozens of similar lawsuits around the country. Meanwhile, Trump, who pledged to help Big Oil executives in exchange for their donations to his presidential campaign, signed an executive order last year directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to identify and challenge state lawsuits that seek to impose financial penalties on fossil fuel companies. His DOJ has weighed in on the Suncor v. Boulder case on the side of the oil industry and has sued at least five states that have sought to hold fossil fuel companies accountable. The question about climate lawsuits was part of a broader set of questions Data for Progress asked voters about rising insurance costs and corporate accountability in partnership with the Insurance Fairness Project. Other results showed that many Americans want legal recourse against insurers and other companies that impose costs on consumers. "As rising home insurance costs directly threaten housing affordability for the majority of Americans, voters are tired of their prices rising while insurance companies, energy providers, and the oil and gas industry go unchecked," said Grace Adcox, senior climate strategist for the Insurance Fairness Project. "There is a strong appetite for holding corporations accountable, both for their role in driving up costs and their role in contributing to the climate crisis." --- ### 'Blatant Corruption': Donors Pouring $330 Million Into Trump Ballroom—and Reaping Benefits—Exposed **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-ballroom-donors-list.md A newly revealed list of companies and billionaire CEOs who donated millions of dollars to President Donald Trump's ballroom construction project shows that Big Tech, according to one government watchdog, "bankrolled it fully expecting a return on their investment." The list, first reported by The Washington Post, doesn't just show the $25 million donations from tech giant Apple, the pro-Israel Adelson Family Foundation, and microchip firm Nvidia—the latter of which requested anonymity. It also reveals previously undisclosed donors who have benefited from a presidential pardon as well as government contracts and at least one closed federal investigation. The 57 donors whose names were published by the Post had committed to contributing at least $100,000 to the ballroom construction project, which is proceeding for now following a Supreme Court ruling in August. The list shows a total of $333 million contributed from private donors, but does not include Trump's name, though the president has said the demolition of the White House's East Wing and the construction of the ballroom would be "paid for a hundred percent by me and some friends of mine." It also falls short of the $600 million projected price tag; according to the Post, taxpayer funds have been used to partially fund the project, along with donations from companies with business before the government. Nvidia's $25 million donation came three months after the company reached a deal with the Trump administration to sell advanced microchips to China. A $25 million donation from Charles Ergen, co-founder and chairman of the telecommunications company Dish Network, came shortly after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dropped an investigation into the failure of EchoStar, which owns Dish Network, to upgrade its cellphone network. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr had threatened last May to revoke government licenses from EchoStar, and a month later, Ergen met with Carr and Trump in a closed-door meeting where his political donations were discussed, Bloomberg reported. Ergen then negotiated a deal to sell some of the licenses to AT&T. Carr dropped the investigation the following month, and months later, with the sale pending, the executive donated $12.5 million to Trump's ballroom construction. A second $12.5 million contribution came soon after, according to the list published by the Post. “Big Tech giants didn’t just chip in for Trump’s ballroom," said Sacha Haworth of the Tech Oversight Project, a watchdog group. "The same companies funding Trump’s vanity project lined up for tax breaks, chip deals, federal contracts, and a blind eye to lawbreaking. Under Donald Trump, there’s a two-tiered justice system. Big Tech plays by a different set of rules because they bought their way in." The Post also detailed a $2.5 million contribution from Isabela Herrera, the daughter of international banker Julio Herrera Velutini, whom the US Department of Justice indicted on bribery charges in 2022. Herrera Velutini's charges were reduced to a misdemeanor months after his daughter donated millions of dollars to Trump's MAGA Inc. political action committee, and a month later, she committed to a $2.5 million donation for the ballroom. Soon after, Herrera Velutini was pardoned. The transactions detailed by the Post amount to "blatant corruption," said progressive news outlet The Tennessee Holler. Companies with massive stakes in decisions before President Trump and his administration gave many millions to the White House ballroom project, which the President has made clear is important to him. So are you confident he'll make those decisions based only on what's good for the American people? — Noah Bookbinder (@noahbookbinder.bsky.social) October 15, 2026 at 10:43 AM Cryptocurrency investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss donated more than $5 million in bitcoin—a portion of the more than $18 million the industry contributed to the ballroom. Trump has pushed for loose regulations for the industry. Other top donors include Google, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Palantir. Government watchdog Public Citizen said a new tax filing from the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit charity that manages the donations for the ballroom, shows that $169.7 million came from just 10 big donors. “One year after the people’s house was abruptly bulldozed for a gold-plated ballroom that most Americans will never be allowed inside, we are uncovering who paid the most to fund it," said Jon Golinger, democracy advocate for Public Citizen. "The question these ballroom megadonors all now need to answer is—why?” Haworth said that "when Democrats take back gavels in January, they need to investigate Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, and others for potentially breaking the law to buy get-out-of-jail-free passes and sweetheart deals in exchange for their donation." --- ### Ire Over Trump Profiteering as 60% of Voters ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Government Corruption **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/fox-news-poll-corruption.md A poll released by Fox News on Wednesday reveals that voters' biggest concern heading into the 2026 midterm elections isn't gas prices, but government corruption. In total, the Fox poll shows that 60% of voters say they are "extremely concerned" about government corruption, which is higher than the 58% who are extremely concerned about inflation and the 50% who are extremely concerned about gas prices. This concern with corruption appears likely to benefit Democratic candidates, as respondents say they trust Democrats to handle corruption better than Republicans by a 10-point margin. Overall, the poll finds Democrats hold a nine-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. Trump's personal net worth has increased by billions of dollars since the 2024 election, driven in large part by his family's cryptcurrency venture, which is nearly half owned by a fund backed by the United Arab Emirates. Many legal experts also believe that Trump brazenly violated the US Constitution's emoluments clause when he accepted a $400 million luxury jet as a gift from the Qatari government. Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said that widespread concerns about corruption were not surprising given how President Donald Trump and his family have shamelessly enriched themselves since returning to power. "The public is furious about the corruption they see from the government," said Gilbert. "Even Fox News polling says as much." Gilbert emphasized that Democrats must hit the ground running to further uncover Trump corruption if they win the upcoming 2026 elections, as voters will be demanding accountability. "If we see a shift in power in the next Congress," Gilbert said, "the American people will expect the new holders of the gavels to deliver oversight and accountability in a strategic and disciplined way that zeroes in on the real harms that the current regime, in cahoots with corporate power, have carried out at the expense of everyday Americans." Drop Site reporter Ryan Grim similarly argued that the Fox poll shows a hunger on the part of voters for accountability. "The last time Democrats took congress they barely investigated Trump administration corruption," Grim wrote. "Voters are very clear they don’t want that same mistake made again." Journalist Isaac Saul found it "refreshing" to see voters taking corruption seriously, and he said the issue would likely be Trump's downfall. "I've been saying for a while that Trump's fate will be like Orban's," wrote Saul. "His nationalist rhetoric is resonant, but his comical corruption will cost him. It's been unlike anything we've ever seen, and it gets worse daily." Adam Carlson, founding partner of Zenith Polls, predicted that voters' concerns about government corruption would endure beyond the 2026 midterms. "Corruption is going to be one of the biggest issues of the 2028 election," Carlson wrote. "And candidates who can speak about it in a compelling way—and can effectively draw a direct line from corruption to other top issues, like how it affects the cost of living—will be rewarded by voters." --- ### Democratic Senators Aim to Block Trump Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/saudi-arabia-nuclear-deal.md US Sens. Ed Markey and Jeff Merkley on Thursday continued to push back against President Donald Trump's proposed nuclear energy agreement with Saudi Arabia, setting up a vote on legislation that could block the deal before it takes effect. "Giving Saudi Arabia access to US civilian nuclear energy technology without ironclad protections to make sure it doesn't provide a foundation for a nuclear bomb is unacceptable," declared Merkley (D-Ore.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who co-chairs the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group with Markey (D-Mass.). Under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, Congress has 90 days of continuous session to review the deal. The pair of senators introduced a joint resolution of disapproval, on which the Senate is set to vote after November 29. The JRD would need to pass both GOP-controlled chambers by veto-proof majorities to actually block the agreement. I refuse to let the U.S. sleepwalk into a dangerous nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia. The law gives Congress the power to review and block a deal like this.@markey.senate.gov and I are making sure the Senate fulfills that responsibility before it’s too late. — Senator Jeff Merkley (@merkley.senate.gov) October 15, 2026 at 12:37 PM The senators are alarmed that Trump's agreement lacks a "gold standard" provision barring Saudi Arabia from reprocessing spent fuel or enriching uranium. They are also alarmed that the proposal doesn't require allowing International Atomic Energy Agency investigators to confirm that the nation is not trying to develop a nuclear weapon. "It is essential that nations pursuing civilian energy programs agree to the 'gold standard' of restrictions on fuel reprocessing and enrichment and rigorous inspections to ensure that a nuclear energy program doesn't become a covert nuclear weapons program," Merkley argued. "We can't sleepwalk into a decision this consequential. The law gives Congress the power to review and block a deal like this, and the Senate will now have the chance to fulfill its statutory responsibility before it's too late." The details of the agreement have concerned not only progressive senators, but also nuclear nonproliferation experts. "The US-Saudi nuclear deal is about megatons, not megawatts. Trump should not be sharing nuclear bomb technology with a nation that US intelligence says may want nuclear weapons," said Markey. "This deal is the starting gun for a Middle East nuclear arms race. Congress must reject it." The introduction came roughly a month after Markey and Merkley partnered with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for another JRD designed to block a $5 billion conventional weapons sale to Saudi Arabia, which includes over 10,000 joint direct attack munition guidance kits and a similar number of "dumb bombs" that can be combined to create precision weapons. "I am deeply concerned by the kingdom's human rights abuses, the security of the region as the war in Iran rages on, and the proxy war that is escalating between Iran and Saudi Arabia in Yemen," Markey said at the time. "Further escalation in the Saudi-Iran proxy war will worsen an already dire humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen and risks setting off a nuclear arms race between Iran and Saudi Arabia." --- ### Pentagon Plans to Withhold Report on US Massacre of Iranian Kids Until After Midterms **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/pentagon-minab-strike-investigation.md The Pentagon is reportedly planning to withhold until after the midterm elections the completed findings of its investigation into a devastating US strike on an elementary school in southern Iran, which killed more than 150 people—including 120 children—on the first day of President Donald Trump's illegal and deeply unpopular war. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that "top Pentagon officials have expressed their intention to hold off on releasing an internal report into the attack" on Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab until after next month's midterms "at the earliest." The internal assessment is believed to have been effectively complete for months, and preliminary findings reported in early March determined that American forces hit the school with a Tomahawk missile due to "outdated" targeting information. According to Bloomberg, Pentagon investigators "discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery, and an overreliance on AI contributed to the attack," which is regarded as one of the US military's worst atrocities against civilians in decades. Trump brushed off the massacre in remarks to reporters in June, saying: "Mistakes are made. War is nasty." Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), said in a statement that "the refusal to come clean about the attack on Minab is not just a shameful exercise to dodge accountability for a horrific war crime; it is actively risking these errors being repeated again." "As the administration has dodged accountability on Minab and , it has engaged in further attacks that may be war crimes, including the bombing of a civilian home on Qeshm Island that killed a family and the bombing of a wedding party in Kuhestak that killed five, including two children," said Costello. "Ensuring these tragedies don’t repeat starts with accountability on Minab.” International policy analyst Brian Finucane wrote sardonically that the Pentagon doesn't "want to remind voters before the midterms of the mass killing of schoolchildren on the first day of Trump's glorious war." Bloomberg's reporting came as CNN published a story detailing internal US "strike plans" that include possibly dropping the so-called "mother of all bombs" on Iranian energy infrastructure. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) is the largest nonnuclear bomb in the US arsenal. In 2017, Trump became the first US president to deploy the weapon, authorizing the military to drop it on Afghanistan. Sina Toossi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, warned that using the bomb against Iran would risk "triggering another major escalatory spiral, potentially including Iranian attacks on critical regional energy infrastructure, with consequences for global markets and the US economy." "This only reinforces the fundamental problem: Trump has no viable military solution to the Iran conflict," Toossi wrote. "Is he looking for one spectacular strike to project strength and declare victory? Or is he prepared to plunge the US into an even deeper, potentially endless war that could devastate the rest of his presidency, legacy, and the economy?" Costello of NIAC said that "the Trump administration’s threats to commit war crimes in Iran cannot be normalized." "President Trump acts on many of his threats, necessitating more urgent action to bring this illegal war of choice to a definitive end," he added. --- ### Overwhelming Percentage of Voters Furious with Corruption in the Trump Era **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Newswire Editor | **Section:** Newswire **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/overwhelming-percentage-of-voters-furious-with-corruption-in-the-trump-era.md A Fox News poll has revealed that corruption is a leading issue for voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, with a whopping 88 percent saying they are concerned about corruption, including 60 percent who say they are “extremely concerned” about it. In response, Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert issued the following statement: “The public is furious about the corruption they see from the government. Even Fox News polling says as much. If we see a shift in power in the next Congress, the American people will expect the new holders of the gavels to deliver oversight and accountability in a strategic and disciplined way that zeroes in on the real harms that the current regime, in cahoots with corporate power, have carried out at the expense of everyday Americans.” --- ### 2026 State of the Climate Report 'Shows a Planet Reaching Its Limits' **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/state-of-the-climate-report-2026.md Earth's life-support systems are "moving deeper into uncharted territory," with greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat, and other vital indicators reaching unprecedented levels as human activity continues to push the planet toward points of no return, an international team of scientists warned Wednesday. "We are witnessing the rapid destabilization of the Earth’s climate system. This is no longer a warning for the future; it is a diagnosis of the present," the authors of The 2026 State of the Climate Report wrote. "Earth’s life-support systems are being pushed beyond stable limits, with changes unfolding faster than our ability to respond." "Human activities are driving profound shifts in the atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere," the report—which was published in the peer-reviewed journal BioScience—continues. "Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are higher now than any time in the last 2 million years. Across the globe, extreme heat, floods, droughts, storms, and wildfires are no longer rare events but defining features of a changing planet. For example, July 2026 was the hottest month on record for the contiguous United States (1895–present), while global ocean temperatures also reached a record high for July." 2026 State of the Climate Report Shows a Planet Reaching Its Limitseos.org/research-and... — Prof Ian Hall (@ianhall.bsky.social) October 14, 2026 at 9:48 AM The report, led by Oregon State University scientists William Ripple and Christopher Wolf, measures 16 key climate indicators, seven of which "are at record extremes and multiple others are also trending in the wrong direction," co-author Johan Rockström explained. "Climate-related changes appear to be accelerating and intensifying, raising concerns about reinforcing feedbacks and crossing of tipping points, with potential irreversible impacts," the report notes. "Climate change is increasingly interacting with global biodiversity loss, freshwater stress, food insecurity, pathogens, and geopolitical instability, amplifying risks across interconnected human and natural systems." "Yet, the gap between scientific understanding and societal response continues to widen despite mounting evidence of escalating risks," the authors said. "The evidence for accelerating climate and ecological disruption is now so compelling that attention must shift toward rapid decarbonization as well as adaptation, resilience, scalable responses, and transformative systemic change." "Crucially, the communities least responsible for historical emissions, particularly in the Global South and small island states, are bearing disproportionately severe and early consequences, raising fundamental questions of climate justice that must inform both policy and science," the publication adds. The new report comes on the heels of this year's Planetary Health Check assessment, which found that seven of nine measures of the Earth’s health are no longer within the “safe operating space”: ocean acidification, freshwater change, land system change, climate change, modification of biogeochemical flows, introduction of novel entities, and change in biosphere integrity. Planetary Health Check lead author Boris Sakschewski said the findings indicate that "the risk of large-scale, persistent, and potentially irreversible change is increasing, while our margin for error in tackling these problems is shrinking.” Some 2026 State of the Climate report authors—described by US meteorologist Jeff Berardelli as "a who's who of the best in the world"—weighed in individually on their findings. “Global warming appears to be accelerating," Wolf told Scientific American. “The climate emergency is already here, but the future is not yet determined,” he stressed. “We still have opportunities to avoid some of the worst outcomes through rapid emissions reductions, climate adaptation, and broader societal changes. The window for action is narrowing, but it has not closed.” Rockström—who co-authored both reports—wrote on LinkedIn that "the global curve of emissions must start bending within the coming year or two." "A fossil fuel-free global economy must be the landing point within the next 25 years," he said. "A global food system transition towards healthy diets from sustainable production systems must start now. Carbon dioxide removal needs to start scaling, fast." "We have the solutions," Rockström continued. "They can be scaled. And, on essentially all fronts, we (meaning ALL peoples) come out as healthier, safer, more resilient, prosperous, and just, if we proceed with the transformation to a world within Earth's safe operating space." "Failure is not inevitable," he added. "It is a choice. Our choice." --- ### US Families Have Spent an Extra $4,700 Each Due to Trump Policies—Including $100 Billion on Gas **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-policies-higher-prices.md Democrats on the congressional Joint Economic Committee on Thursday published updated data estimating that President Donald Trump's policies have cost the average US family $4,700 during the first two years of his second term. One major driver of price increases has been Trump's illegal war with Iran, which led to a global spike in energy prices after Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for military strikes Trump launched without congressional authorization in February. In total, the JEC found that Americans have spent $101 billion more on gas since the start of the war, which it calculated cost the average US family an additional $856. The JEC report also highlights the massive rise in insurance premiums thanks to Trump and Republicans' refusal to extend enhanced subsidies for people who buy health coverage through exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. "Monthly premiums for ACA plans rose over 50% on average in 2026 compared to last year," JEC wrote. "Meanwhile deductibles surged to record highs, increasing by more than $1,000 on average." And although Trump vowed to lower the cost of food starting on his first day in office, the report finds the average US family had to pay $310 more for groceries than in 2024. "Beef and coffee prices are hitting Americans especially hard," the report notes. "Since the president took office, the average price of ground beef has risen almost every month to a record high of more than $7 per pound. Coffee prices also spiked and are now more than $9 per pound." Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), ranking member of the committee, said the new data is a damning indictment of Trump and the GOP's management of the economy. "While President Trump and congressional Republicans promised to lower prices, their actions instead sent prices soaring," said Hassan. "Trump’s reckless tariffs and Iran War continue to make things harder every day for Granite Staters and Americans across the country." Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Thursday indicated that the affordability crisis in the US appears to be getting even worse. According to the BLS' latest Producer Price Index, wholesale prices paid by businesses increased by an annual rate of 6.3% in September, which was far higher than economists' forecast of a 5.5% increase. The biggest factor in increased wholesale costs in September was the price of energy, which posted a monthly increase of 10.8%, reflecting record-high prices for diesel fuel used to ship goods across the country. PPI is seen as an important gauge of future inflation for consumers, as companies typically pass the costs they pay for inputs onto shoppers in the form of price increases. --- ### Beware Republicans Purging Their Way to Midterm Victory **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Thom Hartmann | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gop-voter-purge.md With virtually no mention or reporting in the corporate press, Republican-run states are again running the voter purge of millions that gave Donald Trump the White House in 2024. On Wednesday morning, Reuters published a special report on the ways the Trump administration could “interfere” with the midterms, noting that a lawyer in Idaho’s Republican attorney general’s office bragged that his state had “taken a leading role in ensuring its voter registration list is purged….” Yep, they used the word “purged.” They’re not even bothering with the polite terms anymore. Your “right to a gun” is real but your “right to vote” is not, at least as long as corrupt Republicans control the Supreme Court and Congress. And it’s not like the Republicans really believe the mythology they’re trying to sell the rest of us. The GOP-aligned, billionaire-funded Heritage Foundation spent over a decade doing a deep dive into every state looking for voter fraud and noncitizen voters, examining every American vote since 2000—more than a billion ballots cast nationwide—and found just 89 cases of noncitizen voters. In more than 20 years! The libertarian Cato Institute did a similar analysis specifically on the 2020 election looking for any evidence that Trump’s claims were right that the election was “stolen” from him by “Mexicans” voting in the US election. They concluded the same thing: There are likely many problems with America’s voting system and there is no doubt that a non-zero number of noncitizens illegally voted, but there is no good evidence that noncitizens voted illegally in large enough numbers to actually shift the outcome of elections or even change the number of electoral votes. Nonetheless, Republicans keep promoting their lie that “illegals are voting” to justify massive purges of legal voters whose only crime is being Black, Hispanic, living in a college town, or being a big city dweller in a red state. A likely Democratic voter, in other words. And let’s not forget that hypocrite Trump himself is all in on encouraging voter fraud; at his “midterm convention” in Dallas a few weeks ago he had thousands of people raise their hands and repeat an oath after him: I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try and cheat like hell... And the Reuters story comes three weeks after six corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court let Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, run by former plumber Markwayne Mullin, turn an Immigration and Customs Enforcement immigration database called SAVE into a bulk voter-purging machine right in the middle of an election. When Texas ran its registered voters through SAVE they purged thousands of people wrongly flagged as noncitizens; League of United Latin American Citizens is suing to try to get these actual citizens voting rights restored. Which all raises a question that I’ve been asking on the air (and in my book The Hidden History of the War on Voting) for years: Why is it that if a Republican governor wants to take away your gun he has to go to court, but if he wants to take away your vote he doesn’t even have to notify you? You’ll recall that back in 2008 five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court declared that we all have an absolute constitutional “right” to own a gun, and if any state or city wants to violate that right they have to go before a judge and present evidence that you can contest and even appeal all the way to the Supreme Court itself. When we have a “right” in America and our government wants to take it away, they have to provide notice, irrefutable evidence, a courtroom and neutral judge, a finding, and a right to appeal. It’s called “due process” and is established by the Fifth and 14th Amendments. And in 1993, Congress passed and Bill Clinton signed a law establishing—without any ambiguity—that your vote is also a “right.” The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) lays it out clearly: “he right of citizens of the United States to vote is a fundamental right,” and that “it is the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments to promote the exercise of that right.” And the phrase “right to vote” also appears five times in the Constitution itself, more than any other right that document names (guns get a single mention). So, why is it that Republican secretaries of state are bragging about the millions of Americans whose right to vote they’re “purging” from the voting rolls this year? And how are they getting away with using junk-mail-appearing postcards to justify those purges? In 1981, the Republican National Committee sent letters to Black and Hispanic voters in New Jersey to “verify” their voting status; they built a challenge list of 45,000 people and posted off-duty cops at polling places in predominantly Black and Democratic Newark and Trenton to check names to challenge those voters. The Democratic Party sued against this practice, called “caging” in the direct mail industry, and won a court order blocking the Republicans from doing it. That consent decree expired in 2018, though, the same year that five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court told Ohio Secretary of State John Husted that he could resume the practice, but this time instead of the GOP paying for it the cost of mailing the postcards could be covered by Ohio taxpayers. Justice Stephen Breyer’s dissent pointed out the obvious fraud of it, noting that on average around 4% of Americans move their residence every year but: The record shows that in 2012 Ohio identified about 1.5 million registered voters—nearly 20% of its 8 million registered voters—as likely ineligible to remain on the federal voter roll because they changed their residences. Now the practice has spread to virtually every Republican-controlled state. They send out millions of postcards that look like junk mail, and if you don’t return one and skip an election, you’re officially purged. They don’t even have to notify you; you find out when you show up on election day and they either turn you away or give you a “provisional” ballot. During and after the 2024 election, my radio and TV show’s phone lines were jammed with people—many from big cities in Ohio and Georgia—complaining that this had happened to them and they’d just discovered it when they tried to vote. None had been notified. And, sure enough, the provisional ballots were the tell that exposes this GOP scam. The Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) own survey of the 2024 election found that 1,736,209 Americans were shunted onto provisional ballots that year, and that the single most common reason was that the voter “did not appear on the list of eligible voters.” Provisional ballots are often not counted at all, unless the voter shows up at the Secretary of State’s office before the final count to certify that they are, in fact, a legal citizen and voter. Since the Husted decision by the Supreme Court allowing this bizarre practice, Republicans have put their corrupt system into hyperdrive. That same EAC federal survey found that GOP-controlled states sent out nearly 40 million “confirmation postcards” in just the two years between the 2022 and 2024 elections. As a result, more than 21 million registered voters were stripped from the voting rolls in the months leading up to the 2024 election, and the most common justification was that they failed to return that junk-mail postcard. Reporter and former statistics professor Greg Palast testified about this in federal court for the NAACP and, here on Hartmann Report, detailed how his team went through Georgia’s purge list person-by-person. They found 198,351 Georgians who’d been cancelled even though they hadn’t moved and were still (mostly Black) citizens. In Wisconsin, where former Vice President Kamala Harris lost by 29,397 votes, Republicans had purged 166,433 voters from the lists. Pennsylvania had purged 360,132 people, about three times Trump’s margin of victory in that state. His conclusion was straightforward: Trump lost. That is, if all legal voters were allowed to vote, if all legal ballots were counted, Trump would have lost the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Vice-President Kamala Harris would have won the Presidency with 286 electoral votes. And, if not for the mass purge of voters of color, if not for the mass disqualification of provisional and mail-in ballots, if not for the new mass “vigilante” challenges in swing states, Harris would have gained at least another 3,565,000 votes, topping Trump’s official popular vote tally by 1.2 million. In other words, your “right to a gun” is real but your “right to vote” is not, at least as long as corrupt Republicans control the Supreme Court and Congress. Imagine, for example, what would happen if your county sheriff started confiscating guns from people who failed to mail back a postcard. The right-wing press would be hysterical, and the court would strike it down in a New York minute. So here’s where we are today. Georgia’s Brad Raffensperger (pronounced “Raff - ens - purger”) cancelled nearly 471,000 registrations last August, 6% of the entire state, the majority Democrats according to a Fair Fight analysis. When Black Voters Matter asked for the records behind the purge, Raffensperger’s office handed over a stripped-down spreadsheet, and they had to sue him to try to get the names. Ohio’s Frank LaRose published a list of 352,389 names for cancellation just this past year, following a 2024 purge in which Ohio Democrats documented more than a thousand wrongly removed voters in Cuyahoga County alone. Meanwhile Trump’s Justice Department has filed 31 lawsuits against states and the District of Columbia to seize their full voter files, including driver’s license and partial Social Security numbers, so the whole country can be run through his flawed SAVE purging database. Republicans can’t win elections on their track record of taking away healthcare, gutting the Social Security Administration, and handing massive tax cuts to billionaires, so they send postcards into Black and Hispanic neighborhoods and college towns. The only thing that’s changed since Jim Crow, in other words, is the technology. Democrats in Congress tried to fix this situation in 2022 with the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. It passed the House and had a majority in the Senate, but every Republican in the Senate joined in a filibuster. If Sens. Kyrsen Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D- W. Va.) hadn’t stabbed us all in the back by voting with Republicans to sustain the filibuster, these crimes against our democracy would be explicitly illegal, as they already are in every other advanced nation in the world. Fixing this—codifying our “right to vote” per the NVRA from 1993 and with new legislation—has to be right up there with overturning the other most-corrupt action to come from Republicans on the court, aka Citizens United. But none of that will ever happen if Republicans continue to control the House and the Senate so Trump can further disintegrate our republic and turn us into his beloved Russia before the 2028 election. So, vote! And please share this article with your friends in red states, support independent journalism by subscribing to The Hartmann Report, and pass it on. They can’t purge all of us if we’re all watching. --- ### Mike Rogers' Wife Hands Out $10 Gas Cards, Begging Michiganders to Vote for Her Husband **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/rogers-gas-bribe-voters.md As President Donald Trump's Iran War drives up gas prices, the wife of Michigan's Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers was seen resorting to a desperate—and legally dubious—tactic to persuade voters to tick the box for her husband: handing out $10 gas cards. Kristi Rogers, the wife of the former GOP congressman, was filmed Wednesday strutting around the parking lot of a Freedom Fuel station in Detroit, wearing a red pantsuit, black stilettos, and a large "Mike Rogers for Senate" sticker on her lapel, approaching lucky drivers with the gifts. One interaction, captured by the Detroit journalist Sam Robinson, shows Rogers telling a driver who'd just finished filling his tank: "You should have gotten me before you filled up. I've got a $10 gift card!" Other videos show Rogers attempting to sell voters on her husband's proposal to suspend state and federal gas taxes, which she claimed would save voters about $10 per fill-up. However, she did not appear to address the primary reason fuel prices have shot up in the first place: the unpopular US-Israeli war with Iran that her husband has supported before abruptly reversing his stance as the election approached. As of Thursday, $10 is barely enough to buy two gallons of gas in Michigan, according to data from the American Automobile Association. Gas prices in the state have reached $4.58 per gallon as of Thursday, up from just $2.85 before Trump launched the war—an increase of about 61%. Rogers' Democratic opponent, former Detroit public health official Abdul El-Sayed, has savaged Rogers on the campaign trail for supporting the war, tying it directly to voters' affordability struggles. The message seems to have resonated: A late-September poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed about three-quarters of Michigan voters disapprove of Trump's handling of gas prices and the overall cost of living. In that same poll, El-Sayed was shown with a five-point lead over Rogers in the race for the US Senate, which could determine whether Democrats retake the chamber. Under federal law, paying someone to register to vote or cast a ballot can carry a potential penalty of up to five years in prison. Michigan law suggests the handouts could constitute illegal vote-buying if they were intended to induce people to register to vote, cast a ballot, or support a specific candidate. None of the videos show Rogers directly telling card recipients that the gift was conditional. However, recipients told Robinson that Rogers asked them to "consider voting for my husband." Along with the gift cards, drivers were also given campaign literature promoting Rogers and bashing El-Sayed. For at least one man who received a card, the message was clear: "Vote Mike Rogers on voting day!" he shouted to the camera. The Rogers campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about who purchased the cards or whether voters were told they needed to do anything in exchange for them. At any rate, it's unclear whether $10 will make the difference on Election Day. A Fox News poll published Wednesday showed that 50% of registered voters nationally were "extremely" concerned about gas prices and 58% were extremely concerned about inflation. In the same poll, voters said they trusted Democrats more than Republicans to handle high gas prices by a margin of 12 points and on inflation by a margin of 16 points. Trump has been criticized for being out of touch with how his policies affect voters. He's emphasized that he didn't think about Americans' financial hardships "even a little bit" when prosecuting the Iran War, and he's suggested higher gas prices were a good thing. Earlier this month, he told voters at a rally that higher gas prices are "a small price to pay for keeping the world safe." Political commentator and activist Charlotte Clymer suggested that Rogers' apparent wealth could make her stunt backfire. "Weirdo ethics here aside," Clymer wrote on social media, "the optics of wearing an expensive outfit and shoes while handing out $10 gas cards—two gallons in Michigan—kinda undermines the whole effort." "Not only is it illegal," another commentator remarked. "It's also a cheap-ass bribe." --- ### Trump Cancels Livestreamed Execution of Fort Hood Mass Shooter After Nationwide Outcry **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/hasan-ft-hood-execution.md As poll numbers showed the vast majority of Americans were repulsed by the idea of livestreaming the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former military psychiatrist convicted of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, President Donald Trump backed away from the plan Thursday. On Truth Social, Trump wrote that he still believed that "streaming the execution for all to see might have been a strong deterrent for the World to witness how America deals with Terrorists and SCUM like Hasan." But the president suggested the White House had received word that "many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device," and said the execution by firing squad, scheduled for December 3, will not be publicly displayed. Trump announced the decision hours after a nationwide poll by The Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos found that 8 in 10 Americans opposed the plan to livestream Hasan's state killing, regardless of their views on the death penalty in general or on executing the convicted murderer. Nearly 70% of people who supported the execution said it should not be livestreamed. The plan was strongly opposed across the political spectrum, with 91% of Democrats, 83% of independents, and 64% of Republicans disapproving of the proposal—aggressively pushed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—to make the killing viewable to anyone. Among Republicans who identified themselves as part of Trump's far-right MAGA movement, 55% said they opposed the livestream plan. Men who were identified as MAGA were the only group in which a majority supported the livestream; 57% said they approved of it. Hegseth said last week that the execution would be streamed “because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” Trump expressed strong approval of the plan, while Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, tepidly attempted to distance himself from it, saying he would not personally watch the execution. A number of Republicans in Congress spoke out against the plan. While Hegseth defended the plan as one that was aimed at deterring violent crimes like the Fort Hood killing, fascism scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat said a livestreamed execution could only be "an attempt to normalize extreme violence, ritualize violence, militarize the country, and make violence entertaining so when they ask you to commit violence in their name, you will be ready." The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed horror at the proposal, saying it "would breach the absolute prohibition of torture," and Amnesty International called it "barbaric and deeply shocking." In the Post/ABC/Ipsos poll released Thursday, one independent in Minnesota, Lawrence Sagstetter, said the livestream would be "going too far." “It’s just going to cause more of an uproar, not only nationally but internationally," he said. A Republican from New York, Bruce Gonka, said Hegseth's plan was "all for shock, and we don’t need that. We’re better than that." --- ### Disastrous Sign for GOP as Polls Show Independent Revolt Against Trump Economy **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/disastrous-sign-for-gop-as-polls-show-independent-revolt-against-trump-economy.md Polling data released Thursday shows that key segments of the American electorate—particularly independents and rural voters—are increasingly disaffected by President Donald Trump's stewardship of the US economy as inflation accelerates, real wages fall, and the historically unpopular war with Iran continues with no end in sight, spelling a potential midterm disaster for the Republican Party. A Harris poll conducted for The Guardian shows that nearly two-thirds of independents believe the US economy is heading in the wrong direction—up from 48% in September 2024, before President Donald Trump won reelection to his second White House term. "Even within the Republican ranks, optimism has waned," The Guardian reported. "In February 2025, just a few weeks after Trump was inaugurated, 39% of Republicans said the economy was getting better. By February 2026, just before the US launched attacks against Iran, that optimism was up to 49%. In the latest poll, just 28% of Republicans said the economy is getting better." Two-thirds of participants in the new Harris survey pointed to gas and grocery prices—both of which have risen significantly during Trump's second term—as their top issues heading into the November midterms. Living expenses, healthcare costs, and foreign affairs also ranked as important issues. The poll also found that 40% of rural voters—a key constituency of the president's—are in "survival mode," unable to withstand one surprise bill. "When asked what is most affecting today’s gas prices, 46% of rural Americans said the US government compared with 28% of Republicans who said the same," The Guardian reported. "Republicans were the least likely of any group to blame the US government, instead spreading the blame across oil companies, the Iranian government and natural economic fluctuations." Separately, The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released polling on Thursday that reinforces the Harris survey's findings, showing that "the critical bloc of voters who identify as independents is much more likely to have a negative view of the Republicans than of the Democrats." The AP-NORC poll also found that just 36% of US voters approve of Trump's handling of the presidency. That same percentage has a favorable view of the Republican Party, the survey shows. "Democrats and independents are much likelier than Republicans to want a full overhaul of the country’s direction," AP reported. "But even Republican voters are still looking for something different. Slightly fewer than half, 45%, want substantial change, while 13% want upheaval." An additional survey released on Thursday by Project 270 shows that 67% of swing-state voters want to "end US wars overseas," 51% "recognize Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide," and 50% support halting "all military aid to Israel"—positions that run counter to the Trump administration's views and actions. --- ### Goddamn Trump Doing His Damnedest to Take Us All Down With Him **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Tom Engelhardt | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-taking-us-down-with-im.md Here’s the truth of it: after all these years, today I don’t know what to write about. I mean, in this ever-stranger world of ours, where even to start? Oh, wait, give me a second and I’ll be right back! I don’t want to miss the latest ads featuring our president, paid for with millions of our tax dollars. It’s obviously important to check them out since, as he told us recently, “I’m not promoting myself because I’m not running for office. I’m promoting the country.” And who wouldn’t want him to reassure us about the state of this fair land of ours? As he put it in one of those ads, “America will never be a communist country.” Whew! Who among us wasn’t worried about that! Oops, and here I am again! It certainly seems as if my country (though, in truth, it doesn’t exactly feel like mine anymore) is now, to use a classic phrase, distinctly up shit’s creek without a paddle -- unless you consider Donald Trump a paddle. If so, there’s little question, of course, that he’s paddling us all to hell and back. And mind you, as I was writing this, the latest polls of voters for the upcoming November elections suggested that I wasn’t alone in thinking such thoughts. A surprising number of Americans, even ones who once voted for him (yes, him!), are now clearly worried that “our” president has put us on that very pathway to hell and, worse yet, the “and back” in that phrase (”to hell and back”) might no longer apply to this all-American world of ours. Even more strikingly, we are evidently on a planet that, in terms of habitability -- from the historic (or do I mean ahistorical?) El Niño now developing in the Pacific Ocean to heat, drought, fire, you name it -- seems to be going down, down, down, again without a paddle in sight. We are, of course, living in an ever-hotter new world (and not faintly in the ancient all-American sense that the phrase “new world” once had). After all, with record seasonal heat from Europe to North America and distinctly beyond, we humans (not to speak of alligators, elephants, penguins, and turtles) are clearly living on a different planet in a fashion that should seem all too devastating to so many more of us than it evidently yet does. Just consider it good luck that you and I aren’t polar bears living in a distinctly (yes, that word again!) heating Arctic -- its sea ice having “shrunk by nearly half a million square kilometers per decade since 1979, equivalent to losing an area the size of Spain every 10 years.” In fact, congratulate yourself if you’re not living in the Swiss Alps, where glaciers have lost nearly one-fifth of their volume over -- no, not the past half-century but the last five years! -- and between July and September of this year alone, around an additional 2.2 trillion liters of water. Oh, and it’s not just on land either. After all, “more than 90% of emperor penguin colonies could be near extinction by 2100 if sea ice loss persists at its current rate.” Of course, in such a world, it won’t necessarily just be animals potentially going extinct but, perhaps somewhere down the line, we humans, too. (Okay, you’re right! We are indeed “animals.” I certainly didn’t mean to argue with you about that!) Donald Trump Is Doing His Damnedest to Take Us All Down with Him Although all of what I cited above represents the latest news and figures I could find, none of it should really surprise us. After all, it shouldn’t have been hard to learn that such a world was on the way, with one record year of heat succeeding another, and that far worse is clearly still to come. And yet, imagine that, somehow, in 2024, in a world already setting heat records globally, the American people elected a president -- for the second time, no less -- who refuses even to admit that anything whatsoever climate-related is happening on this planet. (I was tempted to write “of ours,” but it really isn’t anymore, is it?). He, of course, made it all too clear during that election campaign and thereafter that he considered climate change a “con job.” (Someday, he himself will undoubtedly be known as the con-job president.) We’re talking about an 80-year-old guy who’s clearly starting to lose it (and given that I’m referring to Donald J. Trump, who even knows quite what that “it” means). In the process, he’s quite literally doing his -- yes, what an appropriate world under the circumstances! -- damnedest to take us all down with him. Worse yet, in the midst of what should be the greatest crisis in human history, we -- in particular Donald Trump (Iran), Vladimir Putin (Ukraine), and Benjamin Netanyahu (Gaza and Southern Lebanon, not to speak of Iran, too), and of course local leaders from Myanmar to Sudan to Somalia (again with a helping hand from Donald Trump) -- seem to be doing our damnedest to make things so much worse, since war pours fossil fuels into the atmosphere in a stunning fashion. And keep in mind that Vladimir Putin, the climate-change-averse leader of Russia, has now begun threatening to turn to that other method of global destruction humanity possesses for the first time since my country dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to end World War II. I’m thinking about nuclear weapons, of course, to salvage (or do I mean savage?) his war in Ukraine. (Oh, and he seems to be planning, however indirectly, to harm Ukraine’s nuclear power plants as well.) Honestly, you couldn’t make most of this up, could you? And who even knows what I’ve left out. As for the future, however uninventive we may be when it comes to lending this planet a hand, give us full credit, since we continue to be all too inventive when it comes to making war on each other and increasingly on the planet itself. In early October, as I was writing this, the weather in my town, New York City, breached 80 degrees, and they’re predicting warmer-than-usual weather all fall here. (What a shock!) Of course, no one should be faintly surprised by that or any other news like it. Across the planet, an increasing heat hell seems to be causing violent avalanches in the Himalayas and wiping out glaciers in the Alps. In fact, you name it and it’s probably already happening on this ever more disturbed planet of ours. And worse yet, count on this: unless we act with reasonable focus and speed, everything I’ve mentioned is likely to grow so much worse in the years to come. Yes, in terms of green energy, we increasingly have the means to put a brake on all of this. But perhaps it tells you everything you need to know that China, the greatest producer of green energy (and the equipment to make it) on this planet right now, also remains the greatest user of fossil fuels. And don’t even get me started on that giant user of fossil fuels, AI! All in all, tell me that we’re not indeed up shit’s creek without a paddle. --- ### Lula Celebrates End of Brazil's 6-Day Work Week, Fulfilling Key Pledge Ahead of Election **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/lula-6x1-amendment-passes.md Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva celebrated on Wednesday night after Brazil's legislature overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to end the country's six-day work week. Under the amendment, which Lula has made a central plank of his reelection campaign, the work week will be shortened to 40 hours without a salary cut. The amendment is projected to give an extra day off to millions of workers who previously had to work for six days under the old 44-hour work week. In a Wednesday social media post, Lula celebrated the amendment's passage as "an historic achievement for millions of workers." The Brazilian president said the shorter work week will mean "more time to live, rest, be with family, be with children as they grow, take care of yourself, and enjoy life." "Those who work so hard to build Brazil also deserve having time to live," Lula added. Polls show that Lula is currently locked in a tight race against rival Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who is still serving a criminal sentence for efforts to instigate a coup after his loss in the 2022 election. According to a Wednesday report in The Guardian, the shortened work week could give Lula a boost among key demographics ahead of the October 25 presidential runoff. Specifically, The Guardian noted that "the change is expected to affect mainly workers in retail, restaurants, and hotels," which were "one of the groups which Lula lost the most support from since the 2022 election, when he defeated Jair Bolsonaro." Victor Escobar, a researcher at the Laboratory of Parties, Elections, and Comparative Politics, told The Guardian that the amendment's passage "could indeed benefit Lula’s reelection campaign." Polls show that ending the six-day work week is overwhelmingly popular with Brazilian voters and Bolsonaro recently came out in its favor after months of signaling opposition. --- ### 'To End Billionaire Control Over Our Politics,' 97% of Talarico Historic Fundraising Arrives as Donations of $100 or Less **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jon Queally | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/james-talarico-donors.md James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Texas, says that his near record-breaking fundraising haul in the third quarter—one built almost entirely on small-dollar donations—is proof that grassroots energy is on his side as he faces off against the full weight of the Republican Party's money machine, including the world's richest man Elon Musk. “Grassroots contributors from across Texas are coming together to end billionaire control over our politics and bring down costs for working families,” Talarico said in a statement as his campaign announced raising $64 million during the most recent 3-month period, the highest figure for any Senate candidate this cycle. “Thanks to the support of everyday Texans," added Talarico, "this people-powered movement is going to change this broken, corrupt political system.” According to Politico, citing figures shared exclusively by the campaign, Talarico has "raised more than $134.3 million since launching his campaign in September of 2025. More than 1.3 million donors contributed, the campaign said, as Democrats slowly reconcile themselves to their long-held but often fumbled dream of gaining a statewide perch in Texas. About 97% of those donations were of $100 or less." Despite the massive fundraising haul, Politico reports that Talarico—fighting to defeat Republican nominee Ken Paxton for the open seat—has been outspent by an estimated two-to-one by his GOP opponents. During a campaign event in February, Talarico explained to potential voters how the billionaire class is the one waging a class war against workers—and coming out on top year after year. “It’s the billionaires waging war against the rest of us, and right now the billionaires are winning,” he said at the time. “They’ve been winning for 50 years. Trickle-down economics is not a theory, it is theft.” Talarico continued by saying billionaires have been “stealing from the American people, stealing the wealth that we created.” “It’s why everyone is so angry right now,” he argued. “It’s why, no matter how hard you work, you can’t seem to get ahead. The American people are not asking for a whole lot: A job we don’t hate, a house big enough to raise a family in, and a little left over so we can go on vacation every once in a while. That is a lot harder than it should be in America.” A young man at our town hall asked if I was pushing class warfare.I told him: “We already have class warfare in this country — billionaires are waging war on the rest of us.” https://t.co/w238OfB8yH — James Talarico (@jamestalarico) February 12, 2026 NBC News reports that "Republican outside groups have spent more than $175 million dollars to boost Paxton and attack Talarico since Sept. 1, according to AdImpact, trying to close off one pathway for Democrats as they try to take the GOP’s Senate majority." An unnamed Democratic strategist who spoke to Politico said that despite Talarico's impressive fundraising, it's "still an uphill battle" for the Democratic state legislator. “He’s fighting this battle basically alone," the person said, "while Elon Musk and the full weight of the GOP fundraising apparatus outspends him 2:1." --- ### Don't Let the Billionaires and Elon Musk Buy Our Elections and Destroy Our Democracy **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Michael Waldman | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/elon-musk-buy-elections.md On a recent episode of the Bulwark podcast, journalist Ron Brownstein described the election as a contest between “the wave versus the wall.” The wave being voter anger and President Donald Trump’s plummeting popularity. The wall being structural impediments to voters’ voices, such as gerrymanders and the Republican Party’s stark spending advantage. Now we know that much of that money comes from one man. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. Elon Musk has contributed at least $366 million on behalf of Republicans since the last election. As The New York Times explained yesterday, “It means that when we talk about the Republicans’ considerable outside spending advantage over Democrats in this midterm, we are talking, in large part, about Musk’s personal contributions.” Such a blatant attempt to buy the outcome of an election should be a big scandal. As is so often the case, the scandal is not what’s illegal, but what’s legal. Not too long ago, Musk’s splurge would have been flatly illegal. A reckless Supreme Court and moribund Federal Election Commission took care of that. It should be made illegal again. Musk’s spending is historic, and not in a good way. It is the biggest contribution during a campaign cycle by any human being in the history of American politics. (Billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer spent more in 2020, but on their own doomed presidential campaigns.) At times, cautious donors have hedged bets, as lobbyists and PAC managers gave to lawmakers from both parties. Some years, small donors favor one side or another, evening things out in partisan terms. But this year, big money has mobilized to defend Republican control. We have not had a major election where one party’s spending so dwarfs the other’s in at least a half century, likely since the 1972 election that brought us Watergate. So much money sloshing around can produce odd or extravagant spending, such as expensive television commercials for a Texas Senate race running on football games and the ads boosting Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that aired in Portland, Oregon, rather than Portland, Maine. At this late date, more ads might yield minimal impact. That Musk’s contributions are paying for Republican get-out-the-vote operations may have a real impact in key states. The Supreme Court led by John Roberts has told us that this is all glorious free speech, with campaign contributions “the whole point” of the First Amendment. Elon Musk is a singular figure. We know of his destruction of foreign aid through DOGE, estimated to have cost hundreds of thousands of lives already around the world, his flamboyant celebrity, his status as the world’s first trillionaire. Let’s not overthink it. The grubby reality is he’s a big federal contractor. According to The Washington Post, “Over the years, Musk and his businesses have received at least $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits, often at critical moments.” Musk has massive investments in artificial intelligence through platforms such as Grok, just as political debate finally has erupted around that technology. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just named Musk, another billionaire, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to lead Project Meridian to reshape the use of technology in warfare. Such a blatant attempt to buy the outcome of an election should be a big scandal. As is so often the case, the scandal is not what’s illegal, but what’s legal. Once, there were limits on what could be donated to campaigns. No longer. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, other court cases since then, and a Federal Election Commission that lacks even a quorum to act have deregulated money in politics. Operatives need no longer pretend these funds are “independent.” Musk’s spending is public, but this year at least $1.3 billion is dark money from undisclosed donors. (The candidates and officeholders know who they are. Just not voters.) But candidates and lawmakers must do more than decry corruption. The aftermath of this election must lead to action, to reform that follows scandal. The Brennan Center has proposed Nine Solutions for Political Corruption as part of our series, Solutions for a Stronger Democracy. One of them is especially relevant to the Musk news. Statutes already purport to bar campaign gifts from federal contractors, but they are more loophole than law. In an article in Just Security published Wednesday, my colleague Eric Petry explains how an expanded and toughened contractor ban would work. It should cover, for example, not just the corporation that holds the contract but the major shareholders, parent company, and other “affiliated entities.” The ban should also extend to donations to inaugural funds, presidential libraries, and vanity projects like Trump’s White House ballroom. Above all, taxpayer money should go to the best contractors chosen under strict rules, not those who best curry favor. The Watergate election and the scandals it produced led to major reforms, including contribution caps and public financing of presidential campaigns. That response came from lawmakers from both parties, many of them newly elected, demanding change. Ultimately it was voters who responded. This year we’ve watched the effort to undermine the balloting, and fought back. One lesson may be: Why steal an election when you can buy it? --- ### How Racist Legislation From 30 Years Ago Laid the Foundation for Trump’s ICE Terror **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Rex Chen | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/racist-legislation-ice.md Under President Donald Trump, immigration enforcement agencies have launched a massive campaign of terror against immigrant families with raids, detentions, and deportations unequaled in recent history. The effects of the president’s assault on immigrants is plain to see. But many people have forgotten that key parts of the legal infrastructure, and the very language around immigration and criminality to which we have become so accustomed, were built long before his administration. Key foundations to Trump’s racist anti-immigrant policies were laid 30 years ago when the Clinton administration passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA). Undoing IIRAIRA and its harmful consequences must be part of a broader plan to undo the tangle of laws that treat immigration as a pre-crime, and to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security and its punitive and militarized tools. IIRAIRA cast the very act of immigrating to the United States as potentially criminal, creating the concept of “criminal alienhood.” The law vastly expanded the consequences on immigration status for convictions or for committing violations. It also blocked immigration judges in many cases from granting case-by-case protection to very sympathetic immigrants who had unusual circumstances. Part of President Bill Clinton’s “tough on crime” wave of legislation in the 90s, IIRAIRA allowed immigration enforcement agencies to treat immigrants as criminals and laid the groundwork for the racist anti-immigrant policies we’re seeing today. IIRAIRA also created the 287(g) program, authorizing local police to arrest and detain immigrants on behalf of immigration enforcement agencies—which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used to terrorize immigrants across the country under the Trump administration. IIRAIRA greatly increased the list of triggers for immigration penalties, as well as making them more vague. What started out as a focus on the worst offenses ballooned to sweep up lower-level offenses. IIRAIRA made it much harder for immigrants to apply for asylum and established grounds for detaining and deporting many more immigrants—including permanent legal residents. This included a bar on reentry for deported immigrants, and making reentry a criminal offense, which further criminalizes immigrants and which is currently the top charge for immigration prosecutions. Another harm we can trace back to the passage of IIRAIRA is the legal framework the law created for mass detention without due process. The United States now has the largest immigration detention system in the world in which millions of people have been detained without guaranteed access to legal representation and in often inhumane conditions. As of July 2026, over 65,000 people were being held in ICE detention and—similarly to those already deported—over 70% had no criminal convictions. Each administration after Clinton expanded the category of offenses for which immigrants could be detained and deported. By the Obama administration more than 20 categories of crimes were grounds for deportation. At the same time, criminal law and immigration law started working in tandem, in a process legal scholars dubbed “crimmigration.” With the growth of “deportable offenses” came the rise in rhetoric that intertwined immigrants and criminality, despite repeated statistical studies showing lower crime commission rates among immigrants than among the native-born. By the time Trump said in his 2015 presidential campaign launch that Mexican immigrants were “bringing drugs… Bringing crime” and called them “rapists,” the US public had been well primed to associate criminality with immigrants. In the decades since the passage of IIRAIRA, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and other immigrant rights organizations have repeatedly challenged both the perception of immigrants as criminals, and the laws and practices that have created the criminal charge-to-deportation express pipeline we are experiencing today. We brought our first case challenging 287(g) agreements in 2009, won $112 million last year for immigrants who had been illegally held in jail custody for handover to ICE, and filed our latest of these cases at the start of the current administration in 2025. Over the past 30 years, IIRAIRA has frayed the fabric of our society by tearing apart families and criminalizing our immigrant neighbors. Undoing IIRAIRA and its harmful consequences must be part of a broader plan to undo the tangle of laws that treat immigration as a pre-crime, and to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security and its punitive and militarized tools. This is the only way we can once and for all have the immigration system we deserve. --- ### Omar Raid and Investigation Aimed at Deporting Congresswoman, Officials Say **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/ilhan-omar-deportation.md "I have rarely wanted to be wrong more," said one journalist Wednesday night after The Wall Street Journal confirmed what many supporters of US Rep. Ilhan Omar had suspected: that the Department of Homeland Security's raid on her home this week was part of an investigation that is ultimately aimed at deporting her. The Journal reported that US officials confirmed the Trump administration aims to revoke Omar's (D-Minn.) citizenship, which she obtained in 2000, five years after she arrived in the US with her family from a refugee camp in Kenya. Omar is originally from Somalia, and President Donald Trump has made Somali Americans a key target of his mass deportation agenda and his racist attacks on immigrant communities. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seized Omar's passport, cellphone, personal computers, and notebooks, according to the WSJ, when they searched her home in Washington, DC. Authorities have also issued more than a dozen subpoenas and are seeking testimony from people including Omar's family members before a grand jury. A Justice Department official told the WSJ that the agency plans to build its case on allegations that Omar lied about her age when she became a citizen. Federal investigators have been examining whether Omar's father, who died in 2020, altered her age to say she was 17 instead of 18 on immigration paperwork when he applied for citizenship. Doing so would have allowed Omar to acquire citizenship through her father. The congresswoman, who is currently running for a fifth term, has previously denied committing immigration fraud, which Vice President JD Vance has openly accused her of. Other Republican elected officials have explicitly attacked Omar for her criticism of Israel and for being a Muslim, with Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) calling her a "terrorist." Trump has suggested the progressive lawmaker should be deported for “always complaining” and has called to "denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility.” Journalist Peter Sterne said Wednesday evening that "many on the left suspected" the administration was attempting to deport Omar, "but it’s still wild to see the WSJ confirm it." Dylan Williams of the Center for International Policy emphasized that the raid and investigation—carried out just weeks before the midterm elections and as Americans are already voting, though the Justice Department typically does not take actions against candidates just before an election—are "an attempt by the Trump administration to stir up its flagging base ahead of elections that are going to be brutal for them." "Nonetheless, we need to fight this fascist, un-American abuse of power, hold those responsible accountable, and stand with Ilhan Omar," said Williams. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, noted that "a case of this magnitude would take years to wend its way through the courts," and said DHS would have to initiate deportation proceedings after Omar was denaturalized. Still, a number of observers wondered why many prominent Democrats—like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and vocal Trump critic Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) have stayed quiet about the raid on Omar's house. "Democrats, nice time to do a press conference united in defense of Ilhan Omar and condemning the Islamophobia against Muslim candidates," said commentator Wajahat Ali. New York state Assembly Member Diana Moreno (D-36) said of the WSJ's reporting, "This is either the breaking point of our democracy or the moment we start fighting like hell to win back this country from the authoritarian demons in the White House. I stand with Ilhan Omar." --- ### How Can Dems Persuade Wary Voters They Will Really End the Iran War? **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jamal Abdi | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dems-end-iran-war.md The war on Iran—and the economic toll that President Donald Trump’s decision has taken on all aspects of Americans’ lives—is now the top issue on the campaign trail heading into November. Should Democrats take majorities in the House and Senate, they will have an unmistakable mandate to end the war. Yet many voters I talk to remain skeptical that a Democratic Congress would actually have the will and capability to stand up to Trump and force an end to the war. This is despite Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who hopes to be Speaker in a Democrat-led House, promising to end the war if they win. In a press conference outlining Democrats’ top priorities if they win the House, Jeffries said, “We should end, decisively, if it’s still going on, Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war in the Middle East.” If Democrats are serious about this promise, they should make a more ironclad commitment: A Democratic Congress will use its significant powers to deny any and all funding for continued US participation in this war. Voters need to know that if Democrats win back the Congress, they will actually use the significant leverage at their disposal and put their money where their mouth is by cutting off funding and end, decisively, this catastrophic war. Anti-war rhetoric is good politics right now given the historic unpopularity of the Iran boondoggle, which over 70% of Americans now oppose. The conflict itself has already cost Americans over $50 billion in taxpayer funding and an additional $220 billion in economic costs from higher prices for gas, groceries, and other goods and services—more than $1,650 per household, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. The war is so politically toxic that Republican allies of the president who supported the war, like Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) or Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), have publicly called for the war to end as they face competitive elections. Yet when the time has come for those lawmakers to cast a yes or no vote to end the war, they have voted to continue it. Can voters trust Jeffries and the Democrats to act differently than Republicans who say the war should end but who then enable its continuation through their actions? Voters have heard promises about Iran before. Trump campaigned on ending forever wars and avoiding another war with Iran, only to do the opposite. Joe Biden promised to restore the Iran nuclear agreement ripped up by Trump, but then pursued a different strategy that failed to produce a deal and helped pave the way for the war. These broken promises are precisely why Democrats should understand that another open pledge to “end the war” will not be enough. To their credit, congressional Democrats have forced—alongside a very small but growing number of Republicans—nearly two dozen votes in the House and Senate on war power resolutions to end the conflict, despite being in the minority. And their efforts have been historic—for the first time in history, both chambers of Congress passed a war powers resolution mandating the president terminate a war. But now, the Iran war powers resolution risks withering on the vine of legal uncertainty. The president has ignored it and executive branch officials assert that the measure is not binding. Congressional efforts to challenge the White House’s interpretation in court remain nascent. The war powers votes have been rightly applauded by activists, but most Americans still have no idea that Democrats forced passage of legislation to end the war. Voters can’t pay for gas with symbolic resolutions or buy groceries with stirring rhetoric. Some believe that Democratic leadership unnecessarily dragged its feet on the war powers resolutions and were more eager to see Trump suffer politically from an ongoing war than actually using their power to end it. As the adage goes, “When your enemy is falling on his sword, get out of his way.” Others saw Jeffries and would-be Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) attacking Trump’s early diplomatic efforts with Iran and broad Democratic criticisms of the short-lived Memorandum of Understanding to end the war, and have been left with the impression that the anti-war rhetoric is political opportunism by lawmakers who are still beholden to pro-war groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Commttee. It doesn’t help that certain senior officials from the previous Democratic administration have said Biden may have also attacked Iran if he got a second term and that a future Democratic successor to Trump will likely continue the war. Sen. Mark Kelly’s (Ariz.) recent suggestion that Democrats will use the power of the purse to end the war is the best way to break this cycle, and this commitment should be publicly embraced by every Democratic candidate as well as anyone hoping to lead the party in the next Congress. In the early days of Trump’s second term, Hakeem Jeffries infamously pushed back on activists demanding Democrats stand up to the President. “What leverage do we have? Republicans… control the House, the Senate, and the presidency. It’s their government,” he said. Voters need to know that if Democrats win back the Congress, they will actually use the significant leverage at their disposal and put their money where their mouth is by cutting off funding and end, decisively, this catastrophic war. This article was first published by NIAC Insights. --- ### A Constitutional Right For The Fossil Fuel Industry? Defeat Colorado's Amendment 82! **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Maya K. Van Rossum | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/defeat-colorado-s-amendment-82.md This November, the Colorado voters will decide on a ballot initiative called Amendment 82. Despite its anodyne name, this initiative would radically change state policy for the worse. Amendment 82 would enshrine into the state Constitution the enforceable and perpetual right to buy and sell natural gas in Colorado, representing the wholesale capture of a state constitution by one industry. The initiative is backed by Advance Colorado, a dark money group, backed by anonymous donors, that seeks to manipulate Colorado’s ballot initiatives to advance corporate and billionaire interests. Amendment 82 is one such effort, and it’s breathtaking in its audacity. No other state carves out such special treatment for a single industry in its constitution. No other state constitution intervenes so forcefully to grant an industry the perpetual right to sell its products in order to make a profit. It would be the first time that US voters in any state enshrined such a blatant giveaway to an industry into its constitution. If the industry succeeds with their effort in Colorado, they will not stop there—other states will clearly become targets for the next constitutional giveaway to the industry. Amendment 82 invents a solution to a problem that simply does not exist. Buying and selling natural gas remains legal in Colorado—and is something that a majority of Coloradans do every day. Nothing on the horizon seeks to change that. What Amendment 82 will do, however, is make sensible, reasonable, and necessary regulation protecting our air, water, and environment from the impacts of this industry nearly impossible. Efforts to stop gas companies from fracking near homes and schools are at risk of being rolled back, because the industry will argue these rules infringe on their right to sell natural gas. Regulations to limit the amount of toxins that the oil and gas industry can dump into a community’s air and water become impotent for fear that enforcement will infringe on the right to sell natural gas. A town’s ordinance that regulates the use of methane camp stoves in times of high fire risk could now be overturned because it arguably infringes on the right to buy natural gas. Amendment 82 will lock into Colorado’s constitution the ability of oil and gas industries to increase their profits at the expense of the health and safety of Colorado’s people. It gives the industry the right—affirmative and enforceable—to force communities to accept the dangers, risks, and pollution that come with oil and gas infrastructure. Moreover, the deceptively simple language of Amendment 82 gives these special interests a powerful new tool to block common-sense environmental regulations—far beyond the scope of the oil and gas industry. If passed, Amendment 82 will lock in fossil fuel extraction as official state policy, and quickly overwhelm pro-environment laws, regulations, policies, programs, innovation, and decision-making in Colorado. It will pose a credible—and likely successful—challenge to any government action that seeks to regulate or limit natural gas extraction, transportation, or pollution outputs, and to any government efforts that seek to reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels by advancing clean energy policies and projects. Amendment 82 is a crisis moment for Colorado’s communities, environment, and the future generations who will be burdened by its impact. But it should also be a wake-up call for the rest of us. If the industry succeeds with their effort in Colorado, they will not stop there—other states will clearly become targets for the next constitutional giveaway to the industry. Constitutions in the US belong to We the People, not corporations. We give these constitutions—both state and federal—power because they are the means by which we protect ourselves and our inalienable rights from powerful special interests that seek to infringe upon them. Efforts like Amendment 82 seek to misappropriate that power and give industry titans new ways to infringe on the basic and essential rights of everyday people in the name of profit and exploitation. It cannot be allowed to succeed. --- ### 'We're Making a Fortune,' Trump Says of High Oil Prices as Working Class Pays **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-oil-prices-fortune.md President Donald Trump attempted to spin high oil prices as a boon for the United States at a rally in Arizona on Wednesday, just hours after new federal data showed that inflation reached its highest level in months in September. "Because of the price of oil, Texas and Oklahoma and North Dakota and all these places, we're making a fortune," Trump declared, referring to states that produce large amounts of crude oil. Those states are home to major fossil fuel companies that have reported windfall profits amid Trump's illegal war on Iran. Trump insisted that gas prices—currently at an average of $4.33 per gallon for regular gas and $6.32 for diesel—would tumble once the Iran war ends, but his administration has repeatedly given false timelines for the deadly conflict and has shown no indication that it is willing to reach a lasting diplomatic agreement. Trump, who has profited massively from his second term in the White House, is a major investor in oil and gas companies. According to one recent analysis, the president's investments in fossil fuel stocks have boosted his net worth by up to $15.5 million since January. Working-class Americans, meanwhile, are struggling to make ends meet as high gas prices compound a broader affordability crisis that extends to food, housing, and other necessities. A tracker maintained by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs estimates that American consumers have paid an extra $135 billion combined in fuel costs since the start of the Iran war—roughly $1,030 per household. Wage growth has not kept up with inflation, which rose to an annualized rate of 3.7% last month. "Workers are losing the race between wages and prices," Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, wrote on Wednesday. "Nominal wage growth continues to decelerate as workers lose bargaining power at work. Workers simply don't have the leverage to bid up their wages. Reduced leverage and higher prices translated into falling real wages for six months in a row." "Workers have seen zero progress on affordability compared to January 2025," Gould added. "Real wages are essentially stagnant as workers' leverage has declined and prices have risen. It's no wonder workers feel left behind in the current economy." A Harris poll published by The Guardian on Thursday shows that three-quarters of US voters are concerned about a recession, and a "vast majority of Americans agreed that there is an affordability crisis, including 96% of Republicans." --- ### Make It Shitty, Vengeful, Inept and Untrue **Published:** October 15, 2026 | **Author:** Abby Zimet | **Section:** Further **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/further/make-it-shitty-vengeful-inept-and-untrue.md The devastation goes on apace at the teeny toxic hands of the clowns and hacks in power (maybe not much longer?). Topping the abuses: An assault by Homeland Security (sic) thugs on the home of a duly elected (albeit female, brown, Muslim) member of Congress for imaginary crimes as a child. Also: racist rallies, fake rumors, defying of court orders, calamitous fails on all sides. Their witless leader: "If Republicans get in power, you're going to (have) a depression. These people are incompetent." In 2022, Cory Doctorow helpfully wrote Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It. At the time, it was an analysis of how the Internet went wrong, a sort of "Big Tech disassembly manual" aimed at curbing powerful people from making transactional, short-term, self-serving policy choices ultimately bad for everyone but themselves. Alas, since the return of Trump 2, many argue the same dismal process of enshittification has oozed and expanded outwards to become "the organizing principle of US statecraft" itself, rendering pretty much everything in the public sphere....shitty. Trump and his cabal of low-lifes daily ensure we get ample evidence of that dark reality. Their latest target: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the first Somali-American lawmaker, one of the first two Muslim women in Congress, the most visible refugee in American politics and Trump's worst nightmare who has long endured the most venomous of his abuses, which is going some. After four childhood years spent in a Kenya refugee camp, she came to the U.S. at 12, was reportedly 17 when her late father filed their immigration paperwork, was sworn into Congress at 36, and will now likely see easy re-election in the mid-terms. For those crimes, she's been relentlessly bullied, threatened and assailed by a racist buffoon who has sneered she's "garbage," "totally crooked" and a "terrible person" who married her brother, came from "a non-country - all they have is crime and squalor," and should be sent back there, a notion his audience of bigots and cretins embraced this weekend at another Nazi rally where they mindlessly screamed, "Deport!" This, after Trump intoned "they are looking at her very carefully" after a judge signed a piece of paper allowing DHS goons to raid her home in the dubious name of unclear charges of vague unproven offenses. The raid, which defies longtime DOJ policy banning major actions just before an election - "Another hard norm out the window" - was foreshadowed by racist story creator J.D. burbling it "seems like something's fishy there“ as he and Goebbels worked to decide, "How do you go after her (to) get some justice for the American people?” What a crock. A steely Omar responded to their clumsy "fascism in the extreme" by calling it "just the latest escalation" in ten years of Trump's "baseless lies and smear campaigns." “I will not be silenced,” she concluded, which reportedly "translates from Congressional-speak as 'Fuck You.'" Trump, meanwhile, lumbers on, learning nothing. At a rally in Ohio that drew a paltry few thousand - with empty seats hidden by tarps and flags - he fittingly marked Columbus Day with more racist crap. He celebrated Haitians losing their legal status, insisted "I was right" about Springfield residents eating pets, called Somalis in Minnesota "low-IQ people," attacked Omar, from "the worst country," for claiming constitutional rights. (More "Deport!" chants. Jesus.) He also admired Jon Husted's ass - "I don't do this with men very often" - and urged on fans beating up a protester he called "fat," "paid," and "scum." (Pot/kettle.) And he still keeps losing in court. Hungry to turn a public, affordable D.C. golf course where he dumped East Wing debris into a private fat cat resort, he tried to pull a fast one - filing a Friday 5 p.m. request, then razing 430 trees the next morning - on a judge who furiously blasted the “inexcusable," "preposterous" action, ripped him a new one - "In what universe did anyone in your office think this was acceptable?" - slapped him with a restraining order, and warned if they violated the order "by two seconds" they'd face contempt charges. "We did our best,” whined regime lawyers. "No," she snapped. "You did your absolute worst.” So it goes. Another judge again blocked - past Election Day - the ludicrous, $20-million, taxpayer-funded, "educational and unapologetically patriotic" propaganda ads she banned once; in another end run, regime weasels moved them to YouTube. One ad portrays the desperate fragile snowflake as a lion who has to "show the jackals who he is." Another declares, "God made Trump...somebody with arms strong enough to wrestle the deep state and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild...who goes into the den of vipers, cares for the flock (and) won't ever forsake them," especially if they accept his $5,000 bribe. Implausibly, his lackeys are just as lame and awful. Despite facing a scarcity of agents and funds, FBI head (sic) Kash Patel has been boasting of his supposed crackdown on violent crime, claiming the arrest of over 54,000 violent criminals, or 90% more than in the Biden era. Less than shockingly, his numbers turn out to be wildly inflated by including arrests by state and local police and other federal agencies where an FBI agent may have happened to be present. In fact, actual numbers show FBI arrests are down at least 15% from previous years, though at least they're busy harassing Trump's personal enemies. There's more macho bullshit from aspiring warrior Pete Kegsbreath, fresh from his Arsenal of Freedom Tour (really). Speaking at an annual Army meeting on a panel of warmongers eager to expand the use of unmanned drones to make death-dealing even easier, Pete was repeatedly interrupted by protesters calling him a "coward" and "Nazi.” "The world fucking hates you. You're a fucking war criminal," yelled one. "We’ll see you at the goddamn Hague." Pete grew increasingly irritated; maybe he'd read reports that, despite their brave boat strikes, record supplies of cocaine still arrive here, "cheaper and purer than they've been in decades." Other MAGA flops abound. When James Talarico took a week off the campaign with the flu, conspiracy crackpots decided it was a cover for a mental health crisis. Spencer Platt's crude take: “This isn’t a case of the ‘flu’, it's 'one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” The "silly season" claim fell apart so fast even right-wingers were embarrassed. "This is such shit work, bro," wrote one, wondering if Talarico would sue. There was also the cringey fall of Kimberley 'The best is yet to come!' Guilfoyle, and Trump's brazen distancing - "She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago” - despite the surfacing of damning partying video on Jan. 6. And the rise of new Press Barbie Katie Zacharia, former Pizzagate and QAnon fan, whose debut - so bad "a Zacharia may replace a Scaramucci as a time measurement" - was summed up by The Atlantic : "Hi, I'm Your New Press Secretary, and It's My First Time Reading Words Out Loud...I swear I have seen a sentence before, and I know where one stops and. Starts. And whether? To speak. With a rising inflection?" Now there are reports the self-described lawyer isn't one; a complaint has been filed with the California Bar for “the Unauthorized Practice of Law," and one account says she took the bar but failed it. Fail fail fail: Thy name is MAGA. Perhaps we should be grateful; unimaginably, the current clusterfuck could be worse with competence. Take the Defending Main Street Super PAC, "the most effective independent expenditure organization for the GOP," which just spent tens of thousands of dollars to run a million 30-second ads arguing, “Maine can’t afford Troy Jackson and all his taxes" in the wrong Portland - Oregon, not Maine, over 3,000 miles off-base. One Maine operative: "At least now Portland, Oregon, can enjoy some of the crap we’ve been seeing every day.” MAGA's mantra: Make it shitty. Ours: Make it stop. - YouTube www.youtube.com --- ### State AGs Sue ChatGPT Maker OpenAI Over 'Willful, Dangerous, Reckless, and Unlawful Conduct' **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/openai-lawsuit.md Amid escalating concerns about artificial intelligence from within and beyond the industry and related demands for policymakers worldwide to swiftly enact strong safeguards, attorneys general from eight US states sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI on Wednesday. "OpenAI designed a product to attract young users and keep them engaged for as long as possible so it could capture their extensive personal data for the company's commercial benefit," said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes in a statement. Mayes, a Democrat, joined Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, and West Virginia in filing separate but similar lawsuits against the company in each state's court system, focused on safety concerns, particularly for young users. "OpenAI put Arizonans safety at risk by failing to implement adequate user protections or transparency measures, despite clear indications that minors were regularly interacting with its chatbot," Mayes asserted. "We're suing OpenAI to protect Arizona children and to hold the company accountable for its repeated violations of Arizona law." The filing from Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin notes that "millions of consumers, including those in Arkansas, use ChatGPT to answer questions, solve problems, and make important life decisions," but the chatbot "has repeatedly produced unsafe responses." In fact, as Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird wrote, "because of defendants' repeated misrepresentations and insatiable hunger to win the AI race—even if it means recklessly introducing unsafe ChatGPT models to the public—mass shooters have been aided and abetted, vulnerable citizens have been coached on suicide, individuals with psychological conditions have experienced an exacerbation of symptoms, and minors have become addicted to a tool that feigns human compassion to collect their data with no parental oversight." Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador explained that "by misleading the public into believing that OpenAI is a responsible actor and that ChatGPT was and is a safe, teen-appropriate tool that puts safety first, OpenAI has caused consumers in Idaho and elsewhere to trust and rely on OpenAI and ChatGPT more." "This deepened trust and dependence has driven up ChatGPT's user base and engagement," he continued, "enabled it to collect vast quantities of sensitive and personal information, increased its revenue from paid subscribers and advertising partners, and solidified its early market advantage." It's not just chatbot responses that have insiders and elected officials alarmed. As Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach detailed: OpenAI also recently admitted to a torrent of instances in which its models developed dangerous strategies and instructions and, in some cases, executed on them. These occurrences, which OpenAI has characterized as the models going "rogue," have included AI "agents" accessing the internet without permission, hacking into other companies, coordinating how to lie to and deceive their human users, developing secret methods of communication intended to be undetectable to humans, and writing themselves new instructions declaring that they no longer answer to "corporations or governments" and will prioritize other interests over the "artificial constructs of human civilization." Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen emphasized that "experts and insiders in the AI field nearly universally agree that AI companies must implement reasonable guardrails to protect the public from the foreseeable risk of harm. Even OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, have warned that getting AI wrong might mean human extinction. And recent developments in AI have suggested that risk is both credible and closer than anyone previously thought." Like his peers in other states, Nebraska Attorney General Michael Hilgers brought the case to compel OpenAI to comply with its legal obligations under state law, block the company "from continuing to engage in unreasonably dangerous activities that experts have warned could harm the economy, or compromise private or governmental computer systems, and to hold defendants accountable for the harms they have inflicted on Nebraskans, most notably vulnerable minors, as a result of their willful, dangerous, reckless, and unlawful conduct." West Virginia Attorney General John "JB" McCuskey highlighted in his filing that "by jettisoning safety, OpenAI and its current leadership—particularly, Altman—have handsomely profited." While company leadership has delayed its initial public offering until next year, he wrote, "with current annual revenues of over $25 billion, OpenAI may IPO at a trillion-dollar valuation." "But those revenues have come at great cost to the public," he stressed, "which has suffered irreparable harm—including lost loved ones, disturbing cyberattacks, and now a plausible threat of civilizational collapse—due to defendants' reckless behavior and ChatGPT's uniquely dangerous design." An OpenAI spokesperson pushed back against the filings, saying that "we've built industry-leading age-specific protections into our product that many other AI products lack." "While no system can be perfect, we'll continue to work with experts to inform our work and build additional safeguards, such as the parental controls, break reminders, and age-appropriate model protections that exist today," the spokesperson added. "We're committed to working with states on advancing pragmatic AI policies that apply to the entire AI industry—not just one company." Politico reported that "this is not the first lawsuit launched against the AI company. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier brought a lawsuit against the company in June over claims that it has pushed and marketed an unsafe product. Last month, Uthmeier also sought an injunction to stop OpenAI from developing its technology amid the lawsuit." According to Reuters, "The company is also facing dozens of lawsuits by private plaintiffs, alleging ChatGPT helped users plan mass shootings or other violence." --- ### Colombians Defy Presidential Decree 'Criminalizing Protest' in Rallies Against Right-Wing Government **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/colombia-protests-against-de-la-espriella.md Colombians took to the streets Wednesday to protest the right-wing government of President Abelardo de la Espriella, denouncing austerity measures, renewed ties with Israel amid its genocidal assault on Gaza, and policies protesters fear will roll back hard-won social and worker rights. The nationwide mobilizations—which are backed by trade unions, Indigenous organizations, students, and political opposition groups—came one day after de la Espriella signed a controversial decree expanding police power to violently quash demonstrations. Leftist former President Gustavo Petro joined demonstrators in Bogotá, where protesters carried Colombian and Palestinian flags and condemned the government's rapprochement with the United States and Israel. In a message addressed to Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara, Petro said: “A decree without prior public notice is not valid. Mr. Lara, stop wasting time and study law again.” De la Espriella's foreign policy has marked a sharp break with Petro's government, which severed diplomatic relations with Israel in 2024 over its assault on Gaza and suspended Israeli arms imports. De la Espriella has restored relations, reopened trade ties, and moved to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the illegally occupied Syrian Golan Heights. On Wednesday, Colombia also opened an embassy in Jerusalem, a deeply controversial move given the city's disputed status, with Palestinians also claiming it as their capital. The de la Espriella administration's economic policies have also fueled the new demonstrations. Protesters voiced opposition to funding cuts affecting public institutions, including the National Learning Service, the agency responsible for reintegrating former combatants, and electricity subsidies—particularly in the Caribbean region. Labor organizations and student groups are also demanding protections for workers, public education, and university autonomy. In stark contrast, under Petro—Colombia's first left-wing president—the government expanded access to public universities, increased the minimum wage, and improved labor protections. The protests are taking place amid growing alarm over de la Espriella's Decree 1525, signed Tuesday, which revises police protocols for responding to demonstrations. Ana Erazo, a Colombian lawmaker from the leftist Historical Pact party, slammed the decree for "criminalizing protest." The president's order establishes a five-stage protest intervention framework, which starts with "preventive engagement" and dialogue and escalates toward use of force. However, it specifies that, under certain circumstances involving violence, officers can skip the dialogue phase before responding with force. While insisting that the right to peaceful protest is guaranteed by Colombia's Constitution, de la Espriella said Tuesday: “Never again a permanent blockade of a highway. Never again an urban bus lane turned into a trench. Attacking a person, throwing objects to injure someone, detaining someone, or using a child in a protest is not protest; it is a crime and will be treated as such." In the streets of Colombia's cities, demonstrators decried what they described as an erosion of rights under de la Espriella. “I feel like we have no guarantees," teacher Ester Guerra told Agence France-Presse in the capital Bogotá, "and that the little we did obtain... we’re about to lose." Jimena Rodriguez, a 20-year-old student protester, said she believes that de la Espriella “just wants to hand the country over to the United States, to Israel." "I feel dark times are coming," she added. --- ### 'The Court Must Intervene': Petition Seeks Release of Oscar Belgal, Who Still Has ICE Bullet in His Neck **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/free-oscar-belgal.md Immigrant rights advocates this week demanded the immediate release of Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican father of two held in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody with a bullet lodged in his neck after an ICE agent shot him in front of his young son last week in New York City. The Legal Aid Society filed an emergency petition Wednesday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York seeking Belgal's release, arguing that his continued detention threatens his health and violates his rights. Masked ICE officers wearing civilian clothing approached Belgal's vehicle on October 8 with firearms drawn, without identifying themselves or presenting a warrant. An officer shattered the driver's-side window before agents fired at least seven shots, striking Belgal in the neck as his 5-year-old son sat in the back seat. "Rather than providing immediate medical assistance, ICE officers threw Mr. Belgal to the ground, handcuffed him, and left him bleeding and fading in and out of consciousness," the Legal Aid Society said Wednesday. " officers ultimately intervened to secure medical assistance. Doctors advised that Mr. Belgal required surgery to remove the bullet and instructed him to return for treatment during the week of October 12. Instead, ICE transferred him into detention." Belgal is being held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center despite suffering a loss of sensation on the left side of his face and impaired hearing in his left ear, according to his attorneys. He has yet to receive surgery to remove the bullet. “Mr. Belgal’s detention was unlawful from its inception. ICE officers shot him in the neck in front of his 5-year-old son, failed to provide him with immediate medical assistance, and now continue to hold him in a facility notorious for medical neglect,” said Perry McAninch and Elyssa Williams, counsel for Belgal and attorneys with Legal Aid. “With a bullet still lodged in his neck and his serious medical needs unmet, every additional day in custody puts him at further risk," they added. "The court must intervene and order his immediate release.” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents have shot more than two dozen people since President Donald Trump’s return to office, including more than half a dozen who died. In multiple cases, federal authorities had made allegations against shooting victims that were later contradicted by evidence. More than 50 people have also died in ICE custody during Trump’s second term. Belgal's shooting has fueled fresh calls to abolish ICE from progressives, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). Meanwhile, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) has introduced legislation aimed at dismantling DHS, which oversees ICE. The San Diego-based Haitian Bridge Alliance also condemned Belgal's shooting and called for an independent investigation, the release of relevant body camera footage, and accountability for what it called the unlawful uses of force. “How many more families must be traumatized before we say enough is enough?” Guerline Jozef, the organization's founder and executive director, asked Monday. “We cannot continue to accept a system where immigration enforcement becomes a license to terrorize communities, endanger children, and take human lives,” she added. “Our humanity is not negotiable. Our dignity is not conditional on immigration status.” --- ### 'Disgraceful': Pro-Palestinian Author Sally Rooney Barred From Selling Books in UK **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/sally-rooney-book-ban.md News out of the British book publishing world encapsulated the UK government's priorities when it comes to Israel and Palestine, one protest group suggested Wednesday. "We got a Sally Rooney book ban before a single arrest of the more than 2,000 Britons who have participated in Israel’s genocide and now walk our streets," said Defend Our Juries after Irish author Sally Rooney announced she would no longer be able to sell her books in the United Kingdom because of her support for the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action. In July 2025, the group was proscribed as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act of 2000, with lawmakers voting to ban Palestine Action after some of its members vandalized two military planes at a Royal Air Force base. The UK has provided military and political support to Israel as it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023, in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack. Under Section 15 of the Terrorism Act, it is a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison for a person or group to provide funds to Palestine Action. Rooney, author of novels including Normal People, Conversations With Friends, and Intermezzo, said Wednesday that her publisher, Faber, would not continue to sell her books in the UK because of an opinion she wrote a month after Palestine Action's proscription, saying she planned to continue supporting the group, which is not labeled a terrorist organization in Ireland, and would donate proceeds from her book sales to it. “As a result, the fulfillment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offense," Rooney said in a statement to The Guardian. "After a process of consultation and deliberation, and with my full agreement, my publisher Faber has therefore determined that it can no longer supply my work within the UK. I have made every effort to be honest with the public about my beliefs and intentions, and I am wholly prepared to accept the consequences.” Faber explained that should it continue to sell Rooney's popular and acclaimed novels in the UK, it would not be able to pass the author's royalties on to her due to her statements about backing the nonviolent group, which has called on the British government to end its support for Israel. Numerous human rights groups and Holocaust scholars have said Israel's bombardment of Gaza and its blocking of humanitarian aid, which have continued despite a ceasefire deal signed one year ago, constitutes a genocide. "To sell a writer’s work and not be able to pass on earnings is an unconscionable situation for a publisher," said Faber in a statement. "As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format. We remain the proud publisher of her remarkable body of work, which we will continue to sell in other territories.” Palestine Action's proscription has led to the arrests of about 3,700 people in the UK—most for simply holding signs that say, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” The arrests of nonviolent protesters—many of whom have been senior citizens—have been widely condemned around the world, and Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said the new outgrowth of the proscription on Wednesday was "a new low in the escalating assault on free speech." Rooney, Ammori told The Guardian, "took a brave and principled stand from the moment plans to ban Palestine Action were announced. She has refused to compromise her convictions, even at considerable personal and professional cost. Her work should be celebrated and widely available, not driven off the shelves of British bookshops because she refuses to be complicit in the suppression of solidarity with the Palestinian people." "No author should have to choose between their principles and their freedom to publish," she said. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign called the banning of Rooney's books "disgraceful and embarrassing for the British government." Kerry Moscogiuri, the chief executive of Amnesty International UK, told The Guardian that with Rooney pushed into removing her books from stores across Britain, "there is a real danger that others, seeing the price she has paid, will decide they cannot afford to speak out.” “Writers should not find their books disappearing from shelves because of their political beliefs. Nor should people have to choose between expressing their conscience and pursuing their livelihoods," said Moscogiuri. “Sally Rooney’s willingness to accept the personal consequences of her convictions deserves recognition." The hip-hop trio Kneecap, from Northern Ireland, expressed solidarity with Rooney, while Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn, who represents the progressive Your Party, said the removal of her books was "more proof of the complete absurdity of the proscription of Palestine Action." "What a stain on this government that people in this country are unable to buy and enjoy the work of one of this generation’s greatest writing talents," he said. "De-proscribe Palestine Action now." A legal challenge against the group's proscription will be heard by the UK Supreme Court next month. --- ### Watchdog Sues Over Kushner Serving as 'Go-To Foreign Policy Negotiator' Sans Senate Confirmation **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/jared-kushner-crew-lawsuit.md A government watchdog on Wednesday filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking Jared Kushner from serving as a top American foreign policy official while lacking confirmation from the US Senate. In a complaint filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleged that Kushner, who is President Donald Trump's son-in-law, is engaged in "unlawful exercise of government power." Even though Kushner has been given the role of an informal "envoy," the lawsuit contends that he has been tasked with major responsibilities, such as negotiating an end to Russia's war against Ukraine, that under the Constitution should require Senate confirmation. "Kushner is one of President Trump’s go-to foreign policy negotiators," the complaint explains. "He represents the United States in the highest profile global conflicts... He negotiates directly with foreign leaders. He fills a crucial and continuing role in shaping and implementing the country’s foreign policy during President Trump’s second term." Even as Kushner oversees such highly consequential diplomatic efforts, the lawsuit continues, he is still working as a private businessman operating an investment firm that has received billions of dollars in investments from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. "The interplay and overlap between his government role and private business interests present a heightened risk of financial conflicts of interest," the complaint says. "Nonetheless, Kushner continues to exercise significant government power while circumventing the very protections put in place to guard against such conflicts." Kushner has also been appointed in a manner that has helped him completely evade "transparency and conflict-of-interest obligations, including the filing of public financial disclosures during the appointment process," the lawsuit says. The complaint urges the court to order Kushner to file financial disclosures and, if it finds him in violation of the US Constitution's appointments clause, bar him from continued government service. CREW president Donald K. Sherman said the lawsuit is necessary to ensure that Kushner is not using US foreign policy as a vehicle for self-enrichment. "Senate confirmation processes and financial disclosures exist to ensure that qualified individuals are appointed and carry out their official duties with integrity," Sherman explained. "Kushner is not an exception. He cannot simply opt out and expect the public to simply take him at his word.” --- ### Tlaib Unveils Bill to Ban Federal Funding for Flock Cameras Amid 'Mass Surveillance Crisis' **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/tlaib-flock-ban.md Amid what she called a "mass surveillance crisis," US Rep. Rashida Tlaib announced legislation on Wednesday to ban the use of federal funds for powerful dragnet spying systems—including the automated license plate-reading cameras manufactured by Flock Safety. Flock has quickly grown into a massive nationwide surveillance network with more than 120,000 of its artificial intelligence-powered cameras installed across 49 states, allowing law enforcement agencies to track and reconstruct Americans' movements, often without warrants. While supporters describe Flock cameras as a tool to help police solve crimes, there is little evidence that they actually reduce it. There are also many documented cases of cops using the technology to stalk romantic partners, track women who've had abortions, monitor First Amendment-protected protests, and surveil people on behalf of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of its mass deportation push. “Flock’s technology isn’t making us safer," Tlaib (D-Mich.) said in a statement on Wednesday. "Instead, it has been used to stalk people, misidentify and arrest innocent people, surveil protesters, and wrongfully record our neighbors. My bill would prevent our government on all levels from selling us out to Big Tech companies that trample our civil rights for profit.” The bill, titled the Get the Flock Out of Our Communities Act, is co-sponsored by Reps. Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). It is part of a growing wave of bipartisan efforts to restrict the use of Flock cameras and other surveillance tech. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Greg Steube (R-Fla.), along with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have introduced legislation to limit government use or funding of automated license plate readers, while Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has proposed limits on data collection. Tlaib's legislation would go further. Its restrictions would also extend beyond license plate readers to other "mass surveillance systems," such as those that employ facial recognition technology and biometric tracking. It would not only prohibit federal, state, and local governments from using federal funds to purchase, operate, or access automated mass surveillance systems; it would also make state and local governments ineligible for certain federal law enforcement grants unless they stop operating or accessing mass surveillance networks that already exist. Federal agencies would also be barred from using data derived from these systems, and they'd be required to delete certain data that has already been gathered. The full extent to which Flock cameras are funded with federal dollars is unknown. But the company itself has identified several federal grant programs that local police departments can apply for to purchase the cameras. "Federal funds should be used to invest in our communities in real safety solutions. We need good jobs, affordable homes, clean water, and reliable electricity. That’s what’s going to make us safer," Tlaib said at a news conference Wednesday. "Instead, our government is sacrificing our rights to big tech companies that care more about their profits, selling our data, than about our safety." Tlaib's bill comes as backlash to Flock cameras grows around the country. A recent Data for Progress poll showed 52% of voters viewed Flock cameras unfavorably, while more than 200 cities and counties have canceled their contracts with the company. “People everywhere are starting to recognize that conflating surveillance with safety makes communities less safe,” said Tawana Petty, a digital and data justice organizer from Detroit. “The persistent abuse of Flock cameras and other surveillance systems by law enforcement agencies across the United States, and the lack of transparency by the companies that market them, has caused an awakening among residents and city government agencies who are ridding themselves of the technologies." --- ### Meta Under Fire for Exploiting Tax Credit to Save Billions on AI Data Center Bonanza **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/meta-violating-tax-law.md A group of Democratic senators wrote Tuesday that Meta is violating "the spirit and, potentially, the letter" of federal tax law by using a research and development tax credit to save billions of dollars on its massive data center buildout. In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Senate Democrats noted that the $1.9 trillion company has "indicated on federal regulatory filings that it has used the federal research credit to reduce its federal income tax liability by $6.6 billion between 2023-2025." By one measure, the senators noted, Meta alone could be responsible for "more than 10% of all research credits claimed in the US." "While it remains unclear exactly how Meta was able to reduce its federal tax liability by over $6.6 billion in the last three years using federal research credits, it appears from published reports that a substantial share is by claiming the research credit related to its massive AI data center build out," wrote the group of lawmakers led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee. Last month, The New York Times reported that Meta claims in its federal tax filings that the company's AI data centers are "a giant experiment that could fail," allowing it to "tap into a tax credit intended for research and experimentation." Meta specifically characterizes its expensive, resource-devouring data centers as "pilot models." "Meta’s own accountants recognize that the strategy is on shaky legal ground," the Times reported. "In disclosures buried in securities filings, the tech giant warns that billions in tax savings are vulnerable to being overturned by the IRS, in large part because of 'uncertainties with our research tax credits.'" In their letter to Zuckerberg, the Democratic senators wrote that the research tax credit "can be a useful and necessary tool to support our nation’s innovation economy and cutting-edge research." "Subsidizing your AI data center build is not close to meeting this standard," the lawmakers added, demanding that the company provide specific information on its use of the federal research tax credit and its legal justification for the maneuver. The senators sent their letter to Zuckerberg about a week after more than two dozen House Democrats demanded that the Trump administration prevent Meta and other tech giants from exploiting an "overly expansive interpretation of qualifying expenditures" to reap billions in taxpayer subsidies to fund data centers that a majority of Americans oppose. "Allowing ordinary data center construction and deployment costs to qualify would significantly expand the research credit beyond its intended purpose and risk converting an incentive for technological experimentation into a subsidy for capital expenditures that companies would undertake in the ordinary course of business," the House Democrats wrote in an October 7 letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. --- ### Clean Power Funding Surpasses Fossil Fuels, But Rich Nations Keep Bankrolling Dirty Energy: Report **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/clean-energy-funding.md For the first time on record, major international public financial institutions are providing more financing for clean energy around the world than for fossil fuels. But wealthy nations, including the United States, continue to pour billions into oil and gas, hampering the global energy transition, according to a new report. On Wednesday, two environmental advocacy groups—Oil Change International and Friends of the Earth US—published an analysis of new data on public financing from Group of 20 (G20) nations and multilateral development banks for clean energy projects, such as wind and solar, and planet-warming fossil fuels, including oil, gas, and coal. They found that from 2023-25, public financing for clean energy averaged at least $52.7 billion annually, compared with just $36.3 billion for fossil fuels. The report attributes the shift mostly to multilateral development banks, while G20 nations' own development and export financing continued to favor fossil fuels. “This new dataset represents a tipping point. Clean energy financing overtaking fossil fuel financing for the first time is an important milestone," said Claire O'Manique, public finance researcher at Oil Change International. "But it doesn't mean we can sit back and count our wins.” The level of clean energy financing, the group said, is still far below what is needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, a threshold beyond which the risks of devastating climate impacts increase. That's largely thanks to four main culprits. Canada, Japan, the United States, and Italy accounted for around 75% of fossil fuel financing from G20 countries during this period. Canada provided an annual average of $12.5 billion in fossil fuel financing—mostly for domestic projects. Japan averaged about $4.5 billion annually despite a G7 commitment to end public support for new international fossil fuel projects by 2022. Italy likewise averaged $3.8 billion annually, breaking a pledge to end international fossil fuel financing. Over the same period, the US provided an annual average of about $3.6 billion in fossil fuel financing, mostly through its Export-Import Bank, compared with just $1.5 billion for clean energy. The data from 2025, the first year of President Donald Trump's second term, is particularly striking. That year, the US provided nearly $8 billion in financing for fossil fuel projects compared with just $2.5 million for clean energy—roughly 3,200 times as much. This included a loan of up to $4.7 billion for a liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, despite allegations that soldiers guarding the project committed war crimes. British and Dutch backing has since been withdrawn from the project. "Important progress is being made to move the world’s largest economies away from supporting fossil fuels and shift that financing toward renewable energy projects," said Kate DeAngelis, economic policy deputy director at Friends of the Earth US. "Unfortunately, laggards, including the United States and Japan, are continuing to prop up the fossil fuel industry instead of helping countries transition to sustainable economies.” The report also found that less than 2% of the clean energy financing tracked reached low-income countries, despite their unmet energy needs. Meanwhile, nearly half of the funds went toward projects in the highest-income countries, according to World Bank classifications. The five largest recipients of clean energy financing were all high- or middle-income countries: France, Poland, and Spain fall into the former category, while Brazil and India fall into the latter. "A just transition will not happen at the scale required without governments actively steering it through redirecting and mobilizing public finance," O’Manique said. "Wealthy governments must move first and fastest to phase out fossil fuels at home and meet their climate finance obligations." "We are running out of time," she said. "Without a fossil fuel phaseout and public finance being redirected to drive a just energy transition, we will continue to see escalating climate disasters that come at a huge human and economic cost, such as the deadly glacial flood disaster in Nepal.” --- ### Watchdog Files Complaint With California Bar Over Trump Press Secretary Katie Zacharia **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/katie-zacharcia-lawyer-california.md A nonpartisan watchdog on Wednesday filed a complaint with the State Bar of California over new White House press secretary Katie Zacharia's claims of being an attorney. The Campaign for Accountability (CfA) has formally asked the California Bar to investigate whether Zacharia, whose stumbling first press briefing on Tuesday was panned by critics, broke state law by falsely identifying herself as a lawyer. The group's complaint notes that while Zacharia received a Juris Doctor in 2011 from the Pepperdine University School of Law, there is no record of her being admitted to practice law in any US jurisdiction. "A law degree, standing alone, does not entitle its holder to practice law," the complaint states. "When the White House was asked whether Ms. Zacharia had ever been admitted to a bar, its press office responded only by referring the reporter to President Trump’s social media post announcing her appointment, which described her as 'an attorney.'" When asked by a reporter on Tuesday about where she passed the bar exam, Zacharia replied that she became an attorney "when I moved to China." However, the complaint notes that "published reporting indicates... that China does not permit foreign nationals to sit for its national bar exam or to practice Chinese law." And even if China had allowed her to practice law, the complaint says that this would still not allow her to represent herself as an attorney in the US. The complaint concludes that Zacharia "appears to have violated" Section 6126(a) of the California Business and Professions Code, which states anyone who makes false claims about being licensed to practice law is guilty of a misdemeanor offense "punishable by up to one year in a county jail or by a fine of up to $1,000, or by both that fine and imprisonment." Michelle Kuppersmith, executive director of CfA, pointed to Zacharia's repeated statements during television appearances about being a lawyer as a way to "buttress her reputation and credibility as a television legal commentator and now as the White House spokesperson." "Yet it seems it was all a lie," Kuppersmith added. "In California, calling yourself a lawyer without a license isn’t puffery; it’s a crime. The State Bar should investigate whether Ms. Zacharia has misled the public about her credentials and hold her accountable if she has." --- ### COLA Lift for Social Security Not Enough, Say Critics, as Trump Economy Makes Life Harder for Seniors **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/social-security-cola-increase.md The rising cost of healthcare and other essentials means that the modest cost-of-living adjustment for about 76 million Social Security beneficiaries, announced Wednesday by Social Security Administrator Frank Bisignano, is likely to make only a small difference for senior citizens struggling to afford gasoline and groceries, said economic justice advocates. Bisignano said the COLA for 2027, effective in January for most beneficiaries, will be 3.6%, amounting to an average of about $75 more per month. Along with senior citizens, 40% of whom rely on Social Security for at least half their income, about 7.3 million people with disabilities who receive Supplemental Security Income will also receive the COLA increase starting December 31. The COLA is higher than last year's, when the SSA adjusted monthly earned benefits by 2.8%. But Richard Fiesta, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said the new increase "is just not enough to keep up with the cost of food, gas, utilities, and prescription drugs." "A good chunk" of increased Social Security payments "will be wiped out" by higher premiums for Medicare Part B, which covers medically necessary and preventive healthcare services, said Fiesta. Those premiums are projected to rise to $209.50 per month in January, up from $202.90 per month this year. Medicare Part D prescription drug plans are also expected to see increased premiums next year, while Social Security beneficiaries, like other Americans, will likely be impacted by continued inflation driven by President Donald Trump's illegal war on Iran and his tariff policy. Social Security recipients are aware of the limits of the COLA, a poll released Monday by the AARP showed. Seventy-six percent of respondents said a 3.5% COLA would not keep up with rising prices they are facing at the grocery store, gas station, and pharmacy. Fiesta called on billionaires and the wealthiest 1% of Americans to "pay their fair share" to make it possible to "boost benefits for everyone, implement a COLA that reflects the cost of things older Americans spend money on, and guarantee the program’s solvency for future generations." While most American workers pay into Social Security year-round, millionaires in the US stop paying into the program just two months into the year because the payroll tax does not apply to income over a certain level. Some of the richest Americans, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, pay very little into the crucial anti-poverty program by earning most of their money through investments rather than income. "In just three weeks, older Americans will have an opportunity to elect members of Congress who will make strengthening Social Security a priority. The future of our earned benefits is on the ballot.” “Strengthening and expanding Social Security must be a national priority," said Fiesta. "It’s time for clear and decisive action. In just three weeks, older Americans will have an opportunity to elect members of Congress who will make strengthening Social Security a priority. The future of our earned benefits is on the ballot.” At Social Security Works (SSW), which advocates for strengthening the program and regularly debunks myths from the Republican Party claiming that Social Security is unaffordable for the country, Nancy Altman said the COLA increase "will help" some seniors, "but it doesn’t fully account for the costs that Social Security beneficiaries face." "The Trump administration’s war of choice with Iran and tariff chaos have driven gasoline prices up nearly 40 percent, and caused grocery costs to skyrocket," said Altman, president of SSW. Part of the problem, said Altman, is the SSA's use of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), which measures price changes for goods purchased by working families, to determine the annual COLA. SSW has called for the use of the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) to better reflect how Social Security recipients spend their money. Meanwhile, Altman said, Republicans including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have proposed calculating the COLA using the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI), which would “substantially lower benefits over time," according to an AARP analysis. “That’s a cut to the American people’s hard-earned benefits," said Altman. "Over time, switching to the chained CPI, as the Republicans have proposed, would shrink yearly benefits by hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Switching to the CPI-E, as the Democrats propose, would increase benefits. This would particularly impact women and Hispanics, who have longer average life expectancies." She noted that US senators elected in November will have a say in whether Social Security remains fully funded through their six-year terms—and urged Americans to vote accordingly. In 2032, said Altman, "Social Security is projected to face a funding shortfall. The vast majority of Republicans refuse to support a single penny in revenue increases, even from the ultra-wealthy, to address the shortfall. That leaves benefit cuts, including less generous COLAs, as their only option." "The bottom line: Social Security’s future is on the ballot this November," she said, "and that includes the size of annual COLA adjustments.“ --- ### 70+ House Democrats Demand Pentagon Answer for Iran Wedding Massacre **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/dem-lawmakers-iran-wedding-strike.md More than 70 House Democrats on Tuesday sought answers and accountability from the Pentagon regarding a likely US strike on a September wedding gathering in southern Iran that killed five civilians—all women and children—and wounded over 70 others. In a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and Jason Crow (D-Colo.) led 74 lawmakers in demanding an explanation for the September 1 bombing in Kuhestak and details of what the Trump administration is doing to protect Iranian civilians. “We demand urgent answers regarding the United States’ role in this strike, why the strike proceeded given the clear risk of significant civilian harm, and what steps the is taking to prevent further civilian casualties in Iran,” the lawmakers wrote. The strike occurred at approximately 9:30 pm local time while preparations were underway for the wedding of the daughter of a local fisher. According to witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press, around 150 women and children were gathered at the Mallahi family compound. The celebration was following a regional tradition in which women and men gather separately. The bride and groom had not yet arrived, and the main celebration had not begun. A bomb struck the room where dinner would have been served. Four initial fatalities—two women and two children—were identified by Iranian authorities and human rights groups: 50-year-old Zarkhatoun Taheri, 43-year-old Kolsoum Malahi Najandnia, 16-year-old Mohammad Mallahi, and 4-year-old Amir Mohammad Karimi. A fifth victim, 22-year-old woman Asiyeh Molainejad, died in a hospital on September 3. Weapons experts concluded the blast was likely caused by a direct hit from a US munition. The Pentagon has not publicly accepted responsibility for the strike, which remains under investigation. "This incident is regrettably among the latest in a string of civilian casualty incidents arising from the US-led war in Iran," the lawmakers wrote in their letter. "This includes a strike at the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab, Iran, on the first day of the war that killed a reported 175 civilians, including 120 children." The United Nations' Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said it found “reasonable grounds" to believe that the Minab school strike constituted a war crime. "While it has been reported that a preliminary investigation by the department found that the US military was responsible for the strike, over six months later the department has still not publicly acknowledged responsibility for the strike nor released the findings of its investigation," the lawmakers' letter notes. "Similarly, reporting and independent analysis indicate that US forces were responsible for a strike at a youth sports hall in Lamerd, Iran, that killed 21 civilians, including 7 children, on February 28. While the department has denied responsibility, analysis by weapons experts found that the damage pattern is consistent with that of an American Precision Strike Missile," the lawmakers continued, referring to Lockheed Martin's next-generation surface-to-surface ballistic missile. Hegseth, who advocates “maximum lethality” for US forces, has expressed disdain for what he called “stupid rules of engagement” designed to minimize civilian harm. He has overseen the dismantling of efforts meant to mitigate wartime harm to civilians—hundreds of thousands of whom have been killed in US-led wars during this century, according to experts. “Maximum lethality," combined with AI-powered systems allowing for exponentially faster and more numerous target selection, has raised concerns that have been underscored by actions including US-backed Israeli massacres in Gaza and Lebanon, and US airstrikes in Iran, where tens of thousands of people have been killed or wounded during more than seven months of President Donald Trump's illegal war of choice, according to Iranian government figures. The Washington, DC-based National Iranian American Council (NIAC) welcomed the lawmakers’ intervention, arguing that Iranian civilians must not be treated as expendable casualties of war. “The lives of Iranian civilians cannot be treated as an acceptable cost of war,” NIAC president Jamal Abdi said in a statement. “These are families, children, and entire communities whose lives have been irreversibly altered by a military campaign that Congress never authorized." “Credible allegations of unlawful attacks on civilians demand independent investigations, full public disclosure of the findings, and accountability for any violations of international humanitarian law,” Abdi added. “The Trump administration cannot be permitted to wage an unauthorized war in defiance of US and international law while evading responsibility for its devastating human consequences.” --- ### Inflation Hits Highest Level in Months as Costs From Trump's Illegal War Eat Workers' Paychecks **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/september-inflation-gas-oil.md Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday showed inflation grew faster than expected in September, driven in large part by costs related to President Donald Trump's illegal war with Iran. The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed overall prices in September posted a yearly increase of 3.7%, marking the biggest rise in prices since May. The main drivers of inflation in September were related to energy, which has surged in cost since Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year in retaliation for Trump's unlawful attack in February. Energy prices increased by an annual rate of 20% in September, with the price of gasoline growing by an annual rate of 34% and the price of fuel oil growing by an annual rate of 74%. University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers noted in a Wednesday social media post that average wages are not keeping up with the rate of inflation, meaning workers have seen their purchasing power decrease. "Real wages are falling," Wolfers wrote, "and have been falling for months." Jared Bernstein, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and who served as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Joe Biden, said the September data showed that "working families are getting squeezed on both sides (wage, price) of the affordability crunch," as workers' inflation-adjusted earnings are now back to where they were at the start of Trump's second term. Bernstein's observations were echoed by Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union, who pointed out that "inflation has nearly wiped out all wage gains since January 2025." "This is a very different picture from President Trump's first term when wages were up over 15%, well above about 8% inflation," Long added. "It helps explain the frustration many households feel right now with the economy." Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) said that accelerating inflation was yet another sign of Republicans' governing failures. "Trump and Republicans have no answer for rising inflation caused by soaring gas prices and the war in Iran," Kim wrote. "They're more focused on enriching Trump and his friends and family. This is why we're fighting to take back Congress so we can end the war and bring prices down for you and your family." Alex Jacquez, senior vice president of policy, advocacy, and research at Groundwork Collaborative, said the CPI report shows why "Americans have lost faith in Trump’s economy." "The president has repeatedly made promises he can’t keep," Jacquez said, "and despite the band-aid attempts from the White House, there is a gaping hole in our economy just weeks from the midterms. Between the president’s war in Iran and reckless tariffs, his economy is on life support." --- ### 'Murdering People Has Failed': Cheap Cocaine Flows Into US as Trump Bombs Boats **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/drug-boat-strikes.md US President Donald Trump has bombed dozens of boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean over the past 13 months, killing more than 230 people, but "record supplies of cocaine still arrive in the US, Europe, and as far away as Australia every day, cheaper and purer than they've been in decades," The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday. After speaking with scholars of the cocaine trade and law enforcement officials across four continents, the Journal's Juan Forero detailed how "Colombian navy divers are detecting greater use of 'parasites'—metal modules packed with cocaine that traffickers bolt onto the hulls of freighters preparing to steam out of this country's largest Pacific port." "Deep in the Amazon, smugglers have shifted shipments east, hiding drugs on boats moving through the rainforest's vast river network," he noted. "And on Colombia's long coast, crews evade US military airstrikes by hugging the shoreline in the exact same speedboats the Americans are targeting." "In Europe, the influx is overwhelming authorities. The drugs arrive on container vessels, smaller boats from way stations in Africa, and semi-submersible vessels that cross the Atlantic to rendezvous with ships near Portugal or Spain," the journalist added, pointing out that cocaine prices have dropped in both the United States and Europe. Since Trump began bombing the alleged drug boats last year, his administration has argued his deadly campaign is both necessary to stem the flow of illicit drugs and lawful because the US is purportedly at war with cartels. Critics, including Democrats in Congress, legal experts, and human rights groups, have condemned the strikes as murders. The Journal's reporting isn't the first to highlight the initiative's apparent failure. It follows a July article from The Washington Post about a Drug Enforcement Administration analysis concluding the campaign "had failed to affect the supply or price of cocaine in the United States, and had led traffickers to diversify beyond go-fast boats and to avoid international waters, opting instead for larger boats and hemming close to coastlines, where US forces are less likely to open fire." Sharing the latest article on social media Wednesday, writer Jesse Walker wrote, "Washington's extrajudicial murders of alleged drug smugglers: not just grossly immoral and flagrantly illegal, but a ridiculous failure on their own terms." Journalist Glenn Greenwald similarly said: "As was completely predictable (and predicted), Trump's policy of bombing speed boats near Venezuela and Colombia has killed hundreds of people while having no success in impeding the flow of cocaine into the US. In fact, reports the WSJ, cocaine is more plentiful, purer, and cheaper in the US than ever, in part because of these bombings. At some point, will people realize that the justifications they're given for US bombings and wars are almost always—always—lies?" --- ### 'They Are Hiding Stuff': Trump Administration Delays Data on Impact of GOP Tax Cuts **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-delays-irs-data.md With the midterm elections less than three weeks away, US President Donald Trump's administration has delayed the release of Internal Revenue Service data showing how the Republican budget legislation that he signed into law last year has impacted families up and down the income distribution. Politico reported Wednesday that the IRS "typically releases the data in the wake of each filing season, but this year's rollout is more anticipated because it's expected to provide the first detailed look at how taxpayers are taking advantage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including its new deductions for overtime wages and tipped income." The outlet added that the IRS, whose workforce has been gutted by the Trump administration, is "awaiting approval from the Treasury Department to publish the figures," which were scheduled to be released in July. The New York Times reported last month that the Trump administration is also withholding IRS estimates of unpaid taxes. Nina Olson, executive director of the Center for Taxpayer Rights and the former US taxpayer advocate, told Politico that she believes the administration is suppressing information that runs counter to its narrative about the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which extended provisions of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax cuts that disproportionately benefited the richest Americans and large corporations. "I think they are hiding stuff that doesn't line up with all the crowing the CEO has been doing," Olson said, referring to IRS chief executive Frank Bisignano, who has celebrated the OBBBA as "historic tax relief for working families." But an analysis released last week by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showed that the OBBBA "overwhelmingly benefits the rich and corporations." "While proponents of OBBBA often describe certain portions of the law that they argue benefit the middle class (such as tax breaks for tips and overtime) these provisions are a very small portion of the overall legislation which overwhelmingly benefits high-income people and corporations," the group observed. "Since the 2025 law was enacted, enormous profitable corporations like Meta, Amazon, Google, Tesla, and many others have paid extremely low effective tax rates (from 0 percent to 8 percent) in large part due to OBBBA." The analysis found that, overall, Trump's major economic policies have hiked taxes and consumer costs for low- and middle-income families while cutting them for the top 1%. “The tax cuts Americans were promised—which were tilted heavily to the top to start—are being overwhelmed by higher prices and higher healthcare costs for most families,” said Steve Wamhoff, ITEP's federal policy director. “When you look at the full picture rather than tax cuts in isolation, the result is striking: The typical American in every income group is paying more, except that the richest 1% is the one group that comes out ahead.” --- ### ‘Deep State Grift’: Mike Rogers’ Wealth Soared as Wife’s Private Military Firm Won Billion-Dollar Contracts **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/mike-rogers-deep-state-grift.md Former US Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, saw his personal wealth soar after he was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2011, thanks in large part to his marriage to the CEO of a powerful military contracting firm. Financial disclosures reviewed by Drop Site News as part of an investigation published Tuesday show that Rogers had just $4,000-$60,000 worth of investment holdings in fiscal year 2008 after he divorced his first wife of 17 years. But that all began to change in 2010, when he married Kristi Clemens, a senior executive for the British-founded private security contractor Aegis, which has a major US subsidiary that she helped to establish. During the 2000s, the company won multiple Pentagon contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to support US military operations in Iraq, where it was put in charge of coordinating other private contractors. Less than a year after his marriage, Rogers was named chair of the House Intelligence Committee—one of the nation's most powerful oversight posts, which gave him access to highly classified intelligence. Within seven months—despite concerns about conflicts of interest—Aegis was awarded a contract worth more than $1 billion to protect the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. In a since-deleted online biography for a law firm she joined after leaving Aegis, Kristi took credit for leading a "two-year pursuit and capture strategy" to secure the contract. In the meantime, Rogers' financial assets—now merged with Kristi's—grew substantially. Up from between $136,000 and $391,000 during the first year of their marriage, the pair now held anywhere from $230,000 to $925,000 three years later. Rogers' potential conflicts of interest became a subject of scrutiny even among fellow Republicans, who accused him of slow-walking an investigation into the killing of four Americans at a US compound in Benghazi, Libya. Aegis had been heavily active in Libya since 2011, when NATO launched its operation to overthrow President Muammar Gaddafi, which plunged the country into civil war in the following years. Rogers' handling of the Benghazi investigation would later draw a scathing rebuke from longtime right-wing operative Dick Morris, who accused him of "obstructing and delaying the Benghazi investigation in order to shield his wife, Kristi, from scrutiny.” Amid this controversy, Rogers announced that he would not run for reelection. In 2015, after serving 14 years in Congress, he returned to the private sector. Rogers went on to profit from the national security and surveillance industries he'd helped to oversee—taking board positions with military contractors and cybersecurity firms. According to Business Insider, financial disclosures showed he received nearly $2 million in payments from technology and cybersecurity companies between January 2022 and late 2023. When he left Congress in 2015, Mike and Kristi Rogers' combined net worth was about $1.7 million. As of 2026, it is estimated to have climbed to between $7 million and $14 million. Rogers is currently in the midst of a battle to reenter Congress as Michigan's US senator, in a close race that could decide whether Democrats retake the chamber next month. His Democratic opponent, Abdul El-Sayed—a former Detroit public health official—has run as a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump's aggressive wars abroad, including in Iran, and his support for Israel's assaults on Gaza and Lebanon, which Rogers has backed. With less than a month before polls close on November 3, El-Sayed has hammered on Rogers' support for legislation that expanded government spying powers in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. He's also zeroed in on the Republican's lucrative personal ties to the military-industrial complex. " hasn't been serious about providing healthcare his entire career," El-Sayed said during last week's contentious Senate debate. “What he has been serious about is making sure that he can monetize his time in public office—$14 million, two yachts, a McMansion in Florida." El-Sayed highlighted Drop Site's findings in a social media post Tuesday: "STUNNING, deep state grift includes massive contracts for his wife’s firm," he said. A spokesperson for Rogers said on Wednesday that "the accusation that Mike used his position in Congress to protect his family in any way, shape, or form is patently false." --- ### Throttling of Ukraine's Starlink Access Heightens Concerns Over Government Reliance on Elon Musk **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/elon-musk-starlink-ukraine.md The Ukrainian government on Tuesday night said that its access to the SpaceX-owned Starlink satellite internet service was throttled, prompting critics to question the wisdom of depending on any company owned by far-right billionaire Elon Musk. According to a Wednesday report in The New York Times, Ukrainian officials suspect that orders to restrict their access to Starlink "had come from Washington," as President Donald Trump has been pressuring the country to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Musk, who was Trump's single biggest donor in the 2024 presidential campaign, has spent at least $276 million since July to help Republicans maintain their congressional majorities. In a Wednesday social media post, Ukrainian military expert Serhiy Beskrestnov revealed that Ukrainian military forces "have not received any warnings about this restriction" to Starlink, which he said "has led to the failure of several missions." "Obviously, this action cannot be a coincidence," Beskrestnov added, "and is related to the current political situation." As noted by the Kyiv Independent on Wednesday, Ukraine depends on Starlink for "several military applications including operating its mid-strike campaign in Russian-occupied Ukraine, as well as interceptor drones that defend against Russia's new jet-powered attack drones." The sudden restrictions on Starlink drew the ire of Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radosław Sikorski, who directly called out Musk in a social media post. "Hey, Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?" Sikorski asked. "As your European customers, we are watching you." Ian Bond, deputy director of the Center for European Reform think tank, wrote that the sudden Starlink restrictions "should set off a siren in every defense ministry in Europe." "There needs to be much more urgency about developing autonomous capabilities," Bond added, "not subject to US caprices, for early warning of attacks, countering ballistic missiles, communicating with forces or controlling offensive weapons." Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, expressed a similar view, arguing that "the Starlink restriction over Ukraine is a perfect illustration of the danger of relying on US technology." Steve Peers, professor of EU law and human rights law at Royal Holloway, University of London, argued that democratic nations must start viewing Musk and his companies as geopolitical adversaries. "If Musk is going to (in effect) assist Putin's invasion of Ukraine," wrote Peers, "Ukraine's allies should sanction Starlink, X, and Tesla." Nicholas Grossman, professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, pointed out that he has been calling for governments to end their dependence on Musk and his companies for the last three years. "The problem is too much power, especially for an enemy of democracy," Grossman wrote. Grossman also took a shot at former President Joe Biden's administration for not taking Musk's threat to democracy seriously, as it continued to award SpaceX lucrative contracts even as its owner used his vast fortune to power Trump's 2024 comeback. "Big mistake," he wrote. --- ### Prices Surge as Trump Fails to Deliver Relief for Working Families **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Newswire Editor | **Section:** Newswire **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/prices-surge-as-trump-fails-to-deliver-relief-for-working-families.md Today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows prices rose 0.6% in September and are up 3.7% over the past year, the fastest pace since May. Gasoline prices jumped 9.1% in September alone, accounting for over half of the monthly increase in overall prices, and are up 34% from a year ago. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.33% in September, the largest monthly increase since April. Americans are increasingly frustrated with Trump's failure to bring down high prices. Consumers' views of current economic conditions are at an all-time low, and 82% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the cost of living. Instead of working to rein in inflation, Trump is trying to pull a fast one on voters, spewing empty promises to bring prices down and send Americans a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if Republicans hold Congress, despite having never delivered on the DOGE and tariff checks he promised last year. Today's inflation report is the last before the Federal Reserve's October 28 interest rate decision. The Fed raised interest rates last month for the first time in three years because of inflation concerns, and most officials anticipate another increase by the end of the year. In its latest meeting minutes, the Fed pointed to Trump's tariffs and higher energy costs, as well as the president’s never-ending war with Iran, as drivers of persistent inflation. Trump’s war and tariffs are raising the prices of nearly everything families buy, and now his actions are raising borrowing costs for families, too. Groundwork’s Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Research Alex Jacquez, released the following statement: “It’s no wonder Americans have lost faith in Trump’s economy. The president has repeatedly made promises he can’t keep, and despite the band-aid attempts from the White House, there is a gaping hole in our economy just weeks from the midterms. Between the president’s war in Iran and reckless tariffs, his economy is on life support.” --- ### Statement by Retiree Leader Richard Fiesta on the 3.6% COLA Increase for Social Security Beneficiaries **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Newswire Editor | **Section:** Newswire **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/statement-by-retiree-leader-richard-fiesta-on-the-3-6-cola-increase-for-social-security-beneficiaries.md The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding the announcement that there will be a 3.6% cost-of-living (COLA) benefit increase for millions of Social Security beneficiaries next year: “Millions of Americans who rely on Social Security welcome any increase in their monthly benefits, but even this larger-than-normal cost-of-living increase is just not enough to keep up with the cost of food, gas, utilities, and prescription drugs. “The average retired worker will see about $74 more per month next year but a good chunk of that will be wiped out by the higher Medicare Part B premium, which is projected to rise to $209.50 a month in January. “Strengthening and expanding Social Security must be a national priority. If billionaires and the wealthiest 1 percent pay their fair share, we can boost benefits for everyone, implement a COLA that reflects the cost of things older Americans spend money on, and guarantee the program’s solvency for future generations. It’s time for clear and decisive action. “In just three weeks, older Americans will have an opportunity to elect members of Congress who will make strengthening Social Security a priority. The future of our earned benefits is on the ballot.” --- ### Social Security’s COLA is on the Ballot in November **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Newswire Editor | **Section:** Newswire **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/social-securitys-cola-is-on-the-ballot-in-november.md The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works, on Social Security’s 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), which will be 3.6 percent: “Every year, Social Security’s benefits are automatically adjusted to account for inflation. This is an essential feature of the system, which prevents benefits from eroding over time. Next year’s COLA can’t come soon enough for many Social Security beneficiaries. The Trump administration's war of choice with Iran and tariff chaos have driven gasoline prices up nearly 40 percent, and caused grocery costs to skyrocket. The COLA adjustment will help. But it doesn’t fully account for the costs that Social Security beneficiaries face. That’s because the measure used to calculate it, the CPI-W, is designed to reflect the costs of working people — not retirees, who spend a higher percentage of their income on healthcare, housing, and other bare necessities. Democrats in both the House and Senate have plans to improve the COLA, by switching to a more accurate measure, the CPI-E. Meanwhile, Republicans complain that the current COLA measure is too generous. Many Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson, have endorsed plans to use a stingier measure, the chained CPI. That’s a cut to the American people’s hard-earned benefits. Over time, switching to the chained CPI, as the Republicans have proposed, would shrink yearly benefits by hundreds and even thousands of dollars. Switching to the CPI-E, as the Democrats propose, would increase benefits. This would particularly impact women and Hispanics, who have longer average life expectancies. In 2032, within the six-year terms of U.S. Senators elected this November, Social Security is projected to face a funding shortfall. The vast majority of Republicans refuse to support a single penny in revenue increases, even from the ultra-wealthy, to address the shortfall. That leaves benefit cuts, including less generous COLAs, as their only option. The bottom line: Social Security’s future is on the ballot this November, and that includes the size of annual COLA adjustments.” --- ### Testing the Limits of 'Vote Blue No Matter Who' **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Joseph Geevarghese | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/vote-blue-no-matter-who.md For the better part of a decade, progressives have heard some version of the same argument every election cycle: Fight as hard as you want in the primary. Organize. Debate. Challenge the establishment. But when Democratic voters make their choice, the fight is over. You rally behind the nominee because defeating Republicans matters more than whatever divided us in the primary. “Vote Blue No Matter Who.” Progressives have not always embraced that bargain enthusiastically, but we have largely honored it. Now the Democratic Party is confronting a question it has rarely had to answer: What happens when the candidates progressives fought for are the ones Democratic voters choose? That is no longer hypothetical. Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan. Angie Nixon is the nominee in Florida. Troy Jackson is carrying the Democratic banner in Maine. William Lawrence and other progressives have won House primaries across the country. They are entering November not as protesters outside the Democratic coalition, but as Democratic nominees. And something more consequential is happening alongside those victories: Progressives are no longer simply asking Democratic leadership to respect the results. We are accumulating enough political infrastructure to make ignoring them more difficult. Voters are demanding a Democratic Party that offers a real alternative to Trumpism, one willing to take on oligarchs, corporate power, and endless blank checks for war. Florida offers an early glimpse of what that looks like. For weeks, progressives pressed national Democrats to invest in Nixon. She said she asked Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer directly for help and got a “we’ll see.” Then Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced that he would put his own campaign resources behind Nixon and other progressive nominees. That commitment has since become tangible. Sanders has contributed directly to Nixon's campaign and is heading to Florida for a series of campaign events alongside her, with other progressive leaders, including Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, also joining the effort. That matters for reasons larger than the money. Bernie is putting resources behind the same principle Democrats have spent years demanding progressives honor: The primary is where we fight over the direction of the party. When voters decide, we fight for the nominee. But he was also demonstrating something new. If the existing Democratic infrastructure is reluctant to invest in candidates emerging from the progressive movement, the movement is increasingly capable of deploying infrastructure of its own. Since then, Nixon says Schumer has stepped up his support for her campaign. While the shift cannot be attributed to progressive pressure alone, it reflects a larger reality after a decade of organizing: What began as an insurgency has become infrastructure, and infrastructure creates leverage. With just 20 days until Election Day, the question is no longer whether progressives can win Democratic primaries. We have. The question now is whether Democratic leadership will invest in those nominees with the same urgency it demands from progressive voters, and what happens when those candidates arrive in Washington with a mandate of their own. The decisions Schumer and Jeffries make between now and November 3 will help determine not only who wins, but who has the power to shape what comes next. And that question has immediate implications for Schumer, who has made clear he intends to seek another term as Senate Democratic leader after November. His political future is already the subject of renewed scrutiny, with some Democratic Senate nominees unwilling to commit to supporting him for another term. If Schumer wants to lead a coalition increasingly shaped by candidates emerging from the progressive movement, that relationship cannot begin with a leadership vote after Election Day. It is being shaped RIGHT NOW through decisions about where Democrats invest, which nominees receive institutional support and whether progressive victories are treated as opportunities to build upon or problems to manage. If Schumer wants to lead a coalition increasingly shaped by candidates emerging from the progressive movement, that relationship cannot begin with a leadership vote after Election Day. The same test is playing out in the House. William Lawrence, now the Democratic nominee in Michigan’s 7th District, declined during the primary to commit to supporting Hakeem Jeffries for speaker. But the challenge for Jeffries goes deeper than whether he supports individual progressive nominees. It is about recognizing what is changing underneath the Democratic coalition. The primary results and the organizing now underway across the country make clear that much of the energy, infrastructure and voter mobilization powering the next Democratic majority is coming from the progressive movement. Jeffries cannot watch that wave build, retreat on Medicare for All, keep courting money from Big Tech, crypto and AIPAC, and then expect progressives to rubber-stamp the old order after Election Day. Voters are demanding a Democratic Party that offers a real alternative to Trumpism, one willing to take on oligarchs, corporate power, and endless blank checks for war. Schumer and Jeffries cannot spend the final weeks before Election Day asking progressive organizers to deliver votes, volunteers and resources, only to treat their priorities as negotiable once the ballots are counted. --- ### MAGA Supporters Clap 'Like Seals' as Trump Yet Again Promises Secret Healthcare Fix **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-secret-healthcare-plan.md US President Donald Trump, who signed into law the largest Medicaid cuts in history last year and allowed private insurance premiums to skyrocket, assured supporters gathered at a rally in Wasilla, Alaska on Tuesday that he intends to enact "a truly great healthcare plan" if Republicans retain control of Congress in next month's midterm elections. As with his earlier empty promises of a forthcoming overhaul of the US healthcare system, Trump offered virtually no detail on what his proposal would entail, saying vaguely that he wants to "stop all payments to big insurance companies" and "give the money directly to you, the people," to "go out and buy better healthcare." While Trump's supporters in Wasilla applauded his promise—"clapping like seals," as one critic put it—patient advocates noted that Republicans have done nothing but make the country's healthcare system even more brutal and expensive over the past two years. "All they did was cut Medicaid by $1 trillion to give tax cuts to billionaires and kick 3 million off of insurance," Dr. Rob Davidson, executive director of the Committee to Protect Healthcare, wrote in a social media post late Tuesday. "He’s so completely full of shit," said Davidson, "and voters across the country know it." Watch Trump's comments: The advocacy group Protect Our Care noted ahead of Tuesday's rally that more than 34,000 Alaskans have health insurance coverage during Trump's second White House term. Brad Woodhouse, the group's president, said in a statement that “Trump has miserably failed Alaskans on healthcare, and now, with Election Day closing in, he has the audacity to waltz back into the state and act like none of it ever happened?" "Make no mistake, this is a healthcare election, and Republicans have a whole lot to answer for," said Woodhouse. "With just weeks left until voters head to the polls, Trump is pulling out all the stops, from flashy rallies to desperate bribes. But the fallout from his healthcare cuts isn’t going anywhere. Families across Alaska are stretching their medications, skipping checkups, and crossing their fingers that nobody in the family gets sick enough to send them spiraling into debt." "So Trump can put on his little show all he wants," Woodhouse added, "but eventually the stage lights will go out, the cameras will leave, and Alaskans will still be stuck paying the price." Trump's rally came a week after the health policy organization KFF released a survey showing that 66% of Americans strongly or somewhat favor Medicare for All—the highest rate of approval since the group began asking about Medicare for All in 2017. Separate Axios polling published Tuesday showed that a plurality of Americans support Medicare for All—and that Medicare for All's supporters outnumber its opponents nearly two to one. Despite widespread and growing support for the proposal—which would guarantee comprehensive health coverage to everyone in the US at a lower overall cost than the status quo—Trump has openly attacked Medicare for All, falsely claiming it would cost "the entire budget of the whole country." --- ### Federal Court Blocks 'Blatantly Illegal'​ Trump Effort to Restructure USDA **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jon Queally | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/usda-restructuring-trump.md A federal court in California on Tuesday order the US Department of Agriculture to halt any further enactment of a plan by President Donald Trump to dramatically restructure the agency, which public workers unions and pro-democracy advocates argued in court was unlawful. The order from the US District Court of the Northern District of California came in response to a lawsuit brought by four unions representing various USDA workers within the agency as well as a broader group of advocacy organizations and conservationists who warned the reorganization would hurt not only USDA workers but farmers, consumers, and the nation's agricultural system as a whole. The temporary injunction issued by the court forbids agency officials from using congressionally appropriated money to fund the restructuring plan, stating that “on the facts of this case, the most appropriate remedy is indeed to stay USDA’s reorganization expenditures, full stop.” In a statement, the coalition behind the lawsuit, called the ruling “a welcome reprieve to the Trump-Vance administration’s reckless, unlawful, and disruptive reorganization of USDA." The agency, the statement continues, "provides vital services across America, supporting rural communities, protecting our food supply, feeding families, advancing agricultural research, guarding our forests and public lands, and so much more. We look forward to achieving more permanent relief and continuing to fight for American families, farmers, and workers.” The plaintiffs explained that the worker relocations and shuttering of key facilities at the USDA would have "made the food on American tables less safe, wildfires harder to fight, and rural communities wait longer for help, all while leaving farmers with less support." The coalition alleges that Trump's USDA leadership "knew forced relocation would drive out its experienced people and never once studied what losing that expertise would do to the department’s ability" to fulfill its duties mandated by federal law. “Congress told USDA in plain language that it could not close offices and uproot its workforce without permission. USDA did it anyway, so AFGE and our partners took them to court. These forced moves were never about efficiency. They were about pushing experienced people out the door.” said Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), one of the four unions behind the suit. “Today’s ruling keeps those workers on the job serving the American people, and AFGE and our allies will keep fighting for as long as it takes to make sure this administration follows the law.” AFSCME President Patrick Moran said the Trump administration's effort "to gut this essential agency is blatantly illegal, and we’re thankful the court has stopped it, for now, from proceeding with a reckless plan that would threaten public benefits like SNAP, endanger public safety by hindering wildfire response, and hurt American farmers at a time working families can least afford it." As Politico notes, the order could be "short-lived," due to possible appeal and the fact that the current appropriations cycle for the USDA funds in question runs out in approximately two months. After that, if Congress approves money for future restructuring, the Trump administration could ultimately gets its way, though the opposition coalition has vowed to continue their resistance. “Congress, not the President, still determines the mission and functions of federal agencies created by statute, and Congress has drawn the line to say no to this reorganization," said Corinne Johnson, a partner with Altshuler Berzon, the lead legal counsel for the coalition. "On behalf of our clients, we will continue to ask the courts to hold that line.” --- ### Navi Pillay Punctured Trump's Overblown Ego in Six Words **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Steve Kaagan | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/pillay-punctures-trump-s-ego.md Asked for her thoughts, after learning that the Nobel Committee had awarded her the 2026 Peace Prize, Navi Pillay added a one-liner to an appreciative response, “I’ll share the award with Trump.” The seemingly off-hand comment was anything but. Rather, it showed power and depth in its pointedness, irony, sarcasm, humor, wisdom, and humanity. Here, within the context in which it was made, is what I gleaned from the comment. The Nobel Committee’s rationale for awarding Pillay the prize included her dedicated efforts to defend international institutions and protect human rights. As a justice on the International Criminal Court, she had secured the indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity committed against the people of Gaza, which amounted to genocide. Perhaps the most obvious connection she was making with the comment was the futile gesture of Maria Corina Machado, 2025 Peace Prize winner. Machado attempted to leverage Trump’s support for her movement’s claim to the presidency of Venezuela, by sharing her Peace Prize with him—a move the Nobel Committee prohibits. In effect, Pillay was saying, ”Look what that got her, nothing.” The implication is that it is wrongheaded to believe that pandering to petty, aspiring dictators will yield anything positive for a righteous cause. Her use of humor highlighted its essential role in dressing down bullies who blatantly seek to dominate other human beings and trample on their inherent rights. At the same time, with her sarcastic jibe, she added emphasis to the cause for which she was awarded the prize, the defense of international institutions and protection of human rights. In citing Trump by name she implied that he is the “poster boy” for the very assault she has dedicated her life to countering, particularly through her work at the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Additionally, her use of humor highlighted its essential role in dressing down bullies who blatantly seek to dominate other human beings and trample on their inherent rights. Through implicit ridicule she deftly punctured an overblown ego. Whether the target of the jibe gathered the intent or not was immaterial. Others would get the gist. Navi’s use of sarcasm also served another purpose. It eviscerated Trump’s assertions of power, making a distinction between real power that derives from righteous cause and mutual respect, and the semblance of power that comes from the fawning of sycophants. It also reinforced the absence of Trump’s moral standing as world leader and portrayed him appropriately as one for whom “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine” is his most notable achievement. With one seemingly off-hand comment, Navi Pillay framed a comparison between a cause she has fought for her whole life on behalf of her fellow human beings and the smallness of a man who is doing his best to unravel an endeavor which, for a quarter of a millennium, has served as a beacon to the world for the ennoblement of humanity. More power to her! --- ### Democracy, Amazon, Human Dignity: What Hangs in the Balance for Brazil’s Life-or-Death Election **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Joseph Bouchard | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/brazil-life-or-death-election.md On October 4, Brazilians handed the far-right their best result in decades. Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, eldest son and political heir of convicted coup plotter and former neofascist President Jair Bolsonaro, finished first with 47.03% of valid votes to left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45.16%, according to Brazil’s electoral court. The two meet in a runoff on October 25. With a gap of about 2.2 million votes, more than 33.4 million registered Brazilians stayed home, the highest first-round abstention rate since 1998. Polling suggests the ideological blocs are holding firm, showing a dead heat or a narrow Bolsonaro edge. That is despite a cascade of scandals for Flávio, and despite an estimated 1 million people marching for democracy on São Paulo’s Avenida Paulista on October 11. So the outcome may rest on those who sat out round one. Their choice will decide whether Latin America’s largest democracy, and the forest that regulates the planet’s climate, fall to an oligarchic, US-aligned far-right. Here is what hangs in the balance. A Flávio Bolsonaro presidency would restore a movement that tried to overturn an election by force, now armed with a congressional majority, a revenge agenda, and the backing of the world's most powerful government and military. Under Jair Bolsonaro, Amazon clearing rose about 60%, with more than 45,000 square kilometers destroyed from 2019 to 2022, according to official data. Under Lula, deforestation fell roughly 45%, to its lowest level in over a decade. Flávio wants to resume his father’s project, which environmental groups call “ecocide.” He said in August he does not believe climate change is real, and his 76-page government plan never mentions it, Folha de S.Paulo found. Instead, it pledges to slash Ibama, Funai, and ICMBio, the agencies that enforce environmental law, protect Indigenous peoples, and manage national parks. It promises “agile” licensing that Folha reports would approve development (including fracking) permits automatically when agencies miss deadlines. “There is concern that activities now considered illegal could simply be legalized,” warned Taciana Stec of the climate institute Talanoa. As Breno Rodrigues de Messias Leite of the Federal University of Amazonas put it, “He will have to respond to his electoral base, which is precisely rural producers.” That base of agribusiness, ranchers, miners, and land-grabbers could essentially destroy the Amazon. Flávio is running as his father’s proxy. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence, handed down by the Supreme Court in September 2025, for leading a plot to overturn the 2022 election that included plans to assassinate Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, and Justice Alexandre de Moraes. It culminated on January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters ransacked Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court, the darkest day for Brazilian democracy since the dictatorship. Flávio announced his candidacy after his father anointed him from prison, and said his first priority would be to release him. His brother Eduardo spent 2025 in Washington lobbying the Trump administration to punish Brazil with tariffs and sanctions over the prosecution. The sanctions have already had a disastrous impact on Brazil’s economy and sovereignty, and are hybrid warfare to meddle in the election in favor of Bolsonaro. Now Flávio promises to go further. On October 6, he vowed to use Congress’ new right-wing majority to “change the Constitution” and "redemocratize” Brazil, reports The Rio Times. Coming from open fascists, it’s hard to believe their definition of “democracy.” “There is no way to accept the Supreme Federal Court the way it is,” he said. His plan would curb the powers of the court that convicted his father. His ironically named Liberal Party won 121 House seats and the largest Senate bloc, and his allies are closing in on the 308 votes needed to amend the Constitution. One of the Bolsonarista camp’s positions has been the impeachment of Supreme Court judges and a purge of federal bureaucracy. In Bolsonarista vocabulary, "redemocratization" means dismantling the institutions that held anti-democratic destruction accountable. Lula’s efforts to crack down on foreign meddling by oligarchs, the US, Israel, and others would also be stopped, meaning Brazil’s democracy would essentially be held hostage by capitalist and foreign interests. Flávio poses as an anti-establishment outsider. Yet Federal Police are investigating him for possible “money laundering, currency evasion, corruption” over the financing of Dark Horse, a hagiographic biopic of his father. Daniel Vorcaro, owner of the collapsed Banco Master and the center of one of Brazil’s largest financial scandals, allegedly sent R$61 million toward the film at Flávio’s request. The Intercept Brasil published voice notes of Flávio asking him for money. A crypto platform handed out tokens to users sharing pro-Flávio content, which election lawyers called an illegal donation. Days before the first round, Meta blocked Lula’s campaign from running ads, citing unspecified violations. And the Bolsonaros sit at the center of a transnational far-right network. It runs through President Donald Trump, who hosted Flávio at the White House in May; Steve Bannon; Elon Musk, who waged war on Brazil’s Supreme Court in 2024; and now-convicted Israel- and Trump-linked, Argentine disinformation operative Fernando Cerimedo, who spread a toxic sludge of baseless fraud claims on various platforms and his own media networks after Jair’s 2022 defeat. The Bolsonaros’ economic program serves that same oligarchic, far-right capitalist class. Flávio’s economic coordinator, Daniella Marques, calls Javier Milei’s Argentina a “great example” and has promised a R$200 billion “tesouraço,” or giant scissors, to public programs. Milei’s chainsaw drove Argentine poverty above 50% in his first months and has wiped tens of thousands of companies off the formal economy. Most of the public workforce has also been gutted. Flávio promises tax cuts, privatization, and an end to what he calls “dependence” on welfare, a threat to programs like Bolsa Família that tens of millions of poor Brazilians rely on. Flávio would also surrender the sovereignty Brazil has built, including Pix—a free public payment system so successful that Washington targeted it in a 2025 trade probe—and diversified trade with China, the BRICS, and Europe. Lula's Brazil has also been a significant force in recognizing a Palestinian state, and in reforming the United Nations Security Council to balance the scales in favor of the Global South. Brazil has been a leader in multilateral finance and post-American economic sovereignty. Bolsonaro would gut all of it. On October 7, a fire tore through a lab building at the Federal University of Pernambuco, a day after students there protested Flávio’s candidacy. Hours earlier, students had received messages threatening to “blow up the department” in Flávio's name. Bolsonarismo has instilled a climate of fear and terror, as these kinds of attacks are now commonplace by the far-right in Brazil. Bolsonaro has borrowed the “God, Homeland, Family” slogan linked to fascist movements. With the far-right sweeping institutions across the hemisphere, Lula may be the last shield against a full-blown reactionary counterrevolution. Jair Bolsonaro’s government slashed university budgets, and his movement smears them as factories of communism and enemies of the “homeland.” Flávio’s plan would tie research funding to business metrics like “productive impact.” Scholarships, he said in September, must be “for developing technology, innovation, artificial intelligence,” not fields that “add nothing.” Social sciences and humanities funding would likely be slashed, while there is a fast-tracking of AI and military expansion. This is the family that made science denial a governing principle. Jair called Covid-19 a “little flu” and sabotaged vaccine purchases while more than 700,000 Brazilians died. A Senate inquiry recommended he be charged with crimes against humanity. The Bolsonaros’ home base is Rio de Janeiro, where far-right militias of current and former police control whole neighborhoods, running extortion, land-grabbing, gambling, and drug and arms trafficking. These militias are also in an all-out war against the left, with ties to the Bolsonaros. As a state legislator, Flávio honored Adriano da Nóbrega, an ex-police captain later identified as the leader of the militia hit squad known as the Crime Office, and employed Nóbrega’s mother and ex-wife. Ronnie Lessa, the ex-officer who confessed to murdering socialist councilwoman Marielle Franco in 2018, lived in Jair Bolsonaro’s gated condominium. This is the fascistic, militaristic, sheltered, nihilistic world the Bolsonaros live in. Flávio also wants Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele’s model on security. After meeting El Salvador’s security minister in August, he promised 500,000 new prison spaces. “Brazil has few people in prison,” he said, in a country with more than 850,000 behind bars. He backs lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and a national facial-recognition database, Brookings reports. He and his brother lobbied Washington to designate Brazilian gangs as terrorist organizations, which invites a US invasion. When Pete Hegseth posted video of a US missile obliterating a boat (a war crime), Flávio replied that “there are boats like this here in Rio de Janeiro.” He has pledged to join Trump’s “Shield of the Americas,” which has been used to bully left-wing governments and weaponize “narcoterrorism” to go after guerrillas and opponents, while shielding allies. Bolsonaro has also hinted at declaring a “state of exception” on crime, a euphemism for martial law. Most right-wing states in Latin America are now under a state of exception. The term, taking its origin in Nazi theorist Carl Schmitt, has been used in many Latin American autocracies to ban opposition, protests, and justify extrajudicial torture and murder. Bolsonaro also has a horrific record on gender and LGBT+ rights. His father told a congresswoman she didn't even “deserve” to be raped, and told Playboy he would rather a son “die in an accident” than be gay. Liberal Party star Nikolas Ferreira donned a wig in Congress to mock trans women, and this year led a campaign to keep trans congresswoman Erika Hilton from chairing the Women’s Rights Commission. This, in the country that leads the world in killings of trans people. This war on women and LGBT+ Brazilians is inseparable from the movement’s alliance with the evangelical far-right. Flávio sealed a partnership with megachurch pastor Silas Malafaia in May, betting that moral panic over “gender ideology” and “trans bathrooms” (echoing Trumpism) will deliver one of the country’s largest voting blocs. Alongside them was PL leader Sóstenes Cavalcante, sponsor of a 2024 bill to punish abortion after 22 weeks as homicide, even for rape survivors. A Bolsonaro government would pursue that agenda aggressively, even more as they would control Congress and the Supreme Court. Under Lula, Brazil backed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, defended the International Criminal Court, and refused to choose sides in Washington’s new cold war. Flávio would reverse it all. He has pledged that Brazil will be a “brother of Israel,” move its embassy to Jerusalem, and join Milei and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Isaac Accords. In June, he offered Secretary of State Marco Rubio his transition team at the “disposal” of the US government. Bolsonaro launched his presidential campaign alongside Netanyahu. Regionally, the right now governs Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. Venezuela is a de facto US vassal state, and the Trump administration has signaled Cuba and Nicaragua are next. If Brazil falls, Mexico would be the last major Latin American economy outside Washington’s thumb. An emboldened Trump administration, which has already threatened military action against Mexican cartels, would turn up the pressure on Claudia Sheinbaum, and may even look to topple her government. This runoff is a referendum on democracy, human dignity, and ecological survival. A Flávio Bolsonaro presidency would restore a movement that tried to overturn an election by force, now armed with a congressional majority, a revenge agenda, and the backing of the world's most powerful government and military. Lula is not above criticism. His government has backed oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon and made its peace with agribusiness. But the choice on October 25 should not be about Lula’s limited social democratic tendencies. It is about protecting the Brazilian democratic project from a complete fascistic takeover. Brazil, Latin America’s largest democracy, has survived colonial plunder, slavery, a 21-year dictatorship, neoliberal devastation, and multiple coup attempts. With the far-right sweeping institutions across the hemisphere, Lula may be the last shield against a full-blown reactionary counterrevolution. The 33 million Brazilians who stayed home on October 4 will need to show up, otherwise the world will get a whole lot darker. --- ### Could Democrats Win the Midterm Elections and Still Blow It? **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Les Leopold | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/dems-lose-working-class.md In the wake of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, the Democrats picked up a net of 49 House seats and four Senate seats in 1974. Wouldn’t it be terrific if Democrats could do at least as well in November, given the unbearable chaos fomented by arguably the worst president in American history? Let’s review the many Trump-gates: Attacking the rule of law, including multiple attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and pardoning the insurrectionists (while trying to gift them reparations as well!) Using Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport undocumented workers—and sometimes documented immigrants or US citizens—and, in some cases, shooting and maiming people rather than focusing on the violent criminals President Donald Trump promised to deport. Launching another Middle East war, this time with Iran, at enormous cost to American taxpayers and with no clear end in sight. Allowing Israel to continue harming Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Promoting policies and a war that have pushed gasoline prices up by 40% while diesel prices have reached record levels. Raising prices on consumer goods by imposing tariffs willy-nilly, on top of the oil shock caused by the Iran War. Imposing tariffs that create difficulties for small businesses. Launching a trade war and threatening Canada, our neighbor, our largest trading partner, and formerly a valued ally. Threatening to annex Greenland. Failing to end the Ukraine War, which Trump said he would end within 24 hours of taking office. Cutting back healthcare protections and access while putting Medicaid and other health programs at risk. Dismantling climate protections, pushing the country back toward fossil-fuel dependence, and acting against wind and solar development. Allowing and abetting all manner of corruption, using government contracts and money to enrich his family and allies. Launching vanity projects without congressional or environmental review, paid for with taxpayer money. Giving tax breaks to the rich while undermining the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to collect the taxes they owe. Kissing up to dictators, especially Russian President Vladimir Putin. Streaming an execution live to shift attention away from all of the above. And there is more. Much more. All of which makes the disgraced Nixon, in comparison, look like a Boy Scout. A Democratic Tsunami? A sweeping Democratic victory could limit Trump’s ability to carry out his agenda and help protect the democratic process. But even if Democrats reclaim Congress by a wide margin, they will still face a fundamental problem: The party has lost the trust of too many working people. An electoral victory and the restoration of a durable working-class political base are two different, yet entangled issues. Why the working-class departure? The question, then, is not whether Democrats should win in November. They should. The question is how to build a political organization of, by, and for working people, especially in red areas where Democrats fail to compete. Too many Democratic leaders, I believe, seem to resent the American working class. Not all Democratic officials, of course. But as more of the party’s fundraising and support comes from the well-to-do, many working people now believe that the party no longer represents them. This disconnect provides Democratic functionaries with a convenient explanation for why they lost twice to Trump. The problem, in this view, is that working people—especially white working people—are more than a little sexist, racist, anti-gay, and anti-immigrant. They supposedly gravitate toward Trump precisely because of his racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia. Isn’t this why Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, two able women, lost to him? Isn’t this why Trump can violate presidential norms and still command nearly total Republican loyalty? Racism and other forms of prejudice are real, and found within all demographic groups. But they cannot, by themselves, explain the working-class vote. My research shows that working people shifted away from the Democrats primarily due to job insecurity, not prejudice. This anti-worker attitude I’m describing helps explain why the Democratic establishment failed to renounce Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who, in 2016, gleefully boasted: For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia. And you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin. Schumer wasn’t criticized by party leaders for writing off the working class; he was rewarded with the Senate Democratic leadership. Still, many of my colleagues see no choice but to work tirelessly on how best “to bring back the working class.” My response is always, “To what?” To a party that has written them off? To a party that caters to corporate and financial elites? To a party that failed to pass even moderate labor-law reform when it controlled Congress and the White House under Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden? “To what?” also requires a closer examination of the party’s ecosystem that is populated by functionaries who have grown wealthy by running it. Paul Rivera, the author of the 2024 Democratic Party autopsy report, released its most critical chapter that the party’s leadership failed to publish. In it he wrote: …there are too many people who have become generationally wealthy off politics and drive too much of the decision-making within the ecosystem… he senior staff, the media strategists, the pollsters, the digital consultants are financially secure. A party whose decision-makers are generationally wealthy can become dangerously detached from people whose economic security has disappeared. Let’s pause for a minute and think about what generationally wealthy actually means. It’s not just being well off so that you and your family can lead decent lives. It’s being so well off that your children, and their children, also will never face the economic hardships that plague the rest of America. No wonder so many working people feel betrayed. It’s going to take a lot of turnover and internal reform to remove the anti-worker stigma from the Democratic Party. Perhaps more Democratic senators will join Michael Bennet of Colorado to finally admit that the party is seriously flawed. As Bennet put it: It is so hard to lose two general elections to Donald Trump, in political terms, to imagine a worse failure than losing two national elections to Donald Trump. And yet the establishment Democratic Party did, and I think of it as a failed enterprise. A failed enterprise! He said that, not me. But why did it fail? Bennet doesn’t mince words: There’s something fundamentally wrong with the nature of our capitalist system that is delivering these outsize gains for the people at the very top at the expense of everybody else in the economy. There it is. For decades, the Democratic establishment did too little to stop runaway inequality, the destruction of jobs, and the overall economic insecurity that working people face. In important respects, the party’s embrace of neoliberalism and its dependence on wealthy donors made matters worse. Now the party faces a credibility problem. It is one thing to promise an anti-corporate, pro-working-class agenda. It is another to persuade voters that a party deeply enmeshed with corporate and financial interests will actually carry it out. It will take more than new slogans, better focus groups, or even new working-class candidates. It will require replacing the entire ecosystem of generationally wealthy operatives who shape the party’s priorities to reflect their own interests rather than the interests of working people. A Democratic Resurrection? Hopefully, a massive Democratic victory in November will stop Trump and his minions from robbing us blind. But even a historic victory would leave the party’s underlying problem unresolved. You can’t “bring back the working class” to a party that working people believe has abandoned them. And you cannot rebuild their trust simply by telling them that the other party is worse. The question, then, is not whether Democrats should win in November. They should. The question is how to build a political organization of, by, and for working people, especially in red areas where Democrats fail to compete. Such an organization would need to organize people around their shared economic interests, develop a durable local base, recruit candidates from working-class communities, run independent candidates where they have a plausible path to winning, and promote ballot initiatives that improve living and working conditions. It would need to demonstrate, through its actions, that working people—not wealthy donors and political insiders—set its priorities. Sticking with a “failed enterprise,” no matter what, will only create more space for the next version of MAGA to fester. Failing and fearing to discuss alternatives doesn’t make the problem go away. But in the midst of this political morass, there is hope. Working people want something new. It’s time we caught up with them. --- ### Trump Crosses New Thresholds of American Shame **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** George Cassidy Payne | **Section:** Opinion **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-american-shame.md I am tired of writing about Donald Trump. I have spent years writing about this man, and lately I find myself wondering what more there is to say. Another attack on an institution, another spectacle, another announcement that sends the news cycle spinning. An editor at City Watch LA recently told me he was no longer interested in receiving Trump pieces because readers were tuning out. I understood. I have felt that fatigue myself. Still, four developments in the first 12 days of October have been difficult to ignore. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, announced plans to live stream a military execution, struck an agreement for Russian diesel, and sent federal agents to search the Washington home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) What matters now is whether the public continues to demand explanations, whether institutions retain the independence to do their jobs, and whether the law applies equally to the powerful and their critics. These events are different. They should not be collapsed into a single accusation of wrongdoing. But together they raise a question that reaches beyond the latest controversy: What happens when the exercise of government power becomes so relentless that the public begins to accept what once would have demanded sustained scrutiny? Consider the International Criminal Court (ICC). Navi Pillay, the South African jurist whose career challenged apartheid and advanced the prosecution of sexual violence as a weapon of genocide, was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights work. She also led a United Nations commission that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding Israel rejects. Trump responded by resharing a social media post claiming he deserved the prize. His administration imposed sanctions on the ICC, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Americans. The timing does not establish that the Nobel decision caused the sanctions. The underlying issue is more consequential than presidential resentment. International courts exist to investigate grave crimes, including those committed by people with political power. Their decisions can be challenged, their jurisdiction disputed, and their procedures scrutinized. None of this gives governments a blank check to punish institutions for examining their conduct. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” King was confronting a country that repeatedly found reasons to delay accountability for its own injustices. His words remain relevant when governments invoke sovereignty to resist scrutiny they expect other nations to accept. The United States cannot credibly demand accountability abroad while treating the prospect of international accountability as an intolerable affront at home. The proposed military execution raises a different concern. Nidal Malik Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, murdered 13 people and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009. His scheduled execution by firing squad on December 3 is expected to be live streamed, according to Associated Press reporting. The victims and their families deserve to remain at the center of any discussion of Hasan's crimes. Their suffering does not, however, settle the question of what the state should make of an execution. Capital punishment is already an assertion of the government's power to take a human life. Broadcasting that act introduces another question: What purpose does the spectacle serve? In Reflections on the Guillotine, Albert Camus called capital punishment “the most premeditated of murders.” He was challenging the assumption that the state's decision to kill becomes morally uncomplicated once it has passed through a legal process. A sentence can be lawful and still invite serious moral examination. If a public broadcast is supposed to deter violence, the administration should explain the evidence supporting that claim. We should be wary of a government that treats the public display of death as a demonstration of strength. The Russian diesel agreement presents a more practical contradiction. On October 9, Trump announced that Russia would supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, with additional shipments expected. The announcement came as the administration was pursuing economic pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Negotiating with an adversary is not inherently wrong. Fuel prices matter to families, workers, and businesses, and a president has a responsibility to address them. An energy agreement might have an economic rationale. But the administration owes the public an explanation of how this arrangement fits its broader policy. If economic pressure is meant to persuade Moscow to change its conduct, what happens when Washington purchases a major energy supply from Russia? What are the terms, when will the fuel arrive, and how much relief can consumers reasonably expect? For Ukrainians living with the consequences of the invasion, American commitments matter. For Americans struggling with fuel costs, promised savings matter. Neither group should have to rely on presidential boasts in place of a clear accounting. Then, on Monday morning, federal agents searched Ilhan Omar's home in Washington, DC. The Justice Department confirmed that Homeland Security Investigations had executed a judicially authorized search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Authorities provided few details about the inquiry. Reporting indicated that it involved immigration-related allegations, which Omar has denied. A search warrant does not establish guilt. The public does not yet have enough information to determine whether the search was justified or whether political considerations influenced the investigation. Those distinctions are essential. But the circumstances deserve attention. Trump has repeatedly attacked Omar, questioned her patriotism, and told her to return to where she came from. The search occurred weeks before the November midterm elections, as Omar seeks reelection. Omar described the action as an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement. Democratic congressional leaders also questioned the timing. The Justice Department must be able to investigate credible allegations against elected officials. No member of Congress should be above the law. But the reverse principle matters just as much: No president should be able to use federal law enforcement to intimidate political opponents. The question is not whether Omar should receive special treatment. It is whether she is receiving the same treatment any other American would receive, under the same standards, free of political interference. When a president repeatedly singles out an opponent and federal agents subsequently search her home shortly before an election, the public has legitimate reasons to demand answers. The government should welcome the scrutiny necessary to establish that its actions are lawful and impartial. These four stories concern different institutions and different forms of power. Their connection lies in the questions they leave unanswered. Who holds powerful people accountable? What limits should constrain the state's use of violence? Can a government reconcile its economic decisions with its international commitments? Can federal law enforcement remain independent when the president has made a political opponent the target of repeated attacks? I hesitate to call any particular week a turning point. American history contains too many grave injustices for that claim to come easily. The country has survived slavery, segregation, political repression, and wars justified by falsehoods. Yet history offers no guarantee that democratic institutions will protect themselves. They depend on people willing to defend their purpose and insist on their independence. I do not expect this article to change the administration's course. I am not even certain that writing another article about Trump will reach readers who have stopped paying attention. But exhaustion is not an argument for silence. It is a condition that those who benefit from public distraction can exploit. A threshold is not always crossed in a single dramatic moment. It can become visible through a series of decisions, each defended on its own terms, until the accumulation begins to change what a country considers acceptable. The Nobel Prize, the proposed execution broadcast, the diesel agreement, and the search of Omar's home may ultimately be remembered as separate episodes. Their consequences will depend on facts still emerging and decisions yet to be made. What matters now is whether the public continues to demand explanations, whether institutions retain the independence to do their jobs, and whether the law applies equally to the powerful and their critics. I am tired of writing about Donald Trump. I am more concerned about what happens if we become too tired to ask what his administration is doing in our name. --- ### 'Senator Collins Paid for the Bullets,' Troy Jackson Says of ICE Killing in Maine **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/susan-collins-sebastian-guerrero.md Democratic US Senate candidate Troy Jackson on Tuesday castigated his Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, for voting to funnel tens of millions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement just over a month before one of the agency's officers killed 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. "Senator Collins paid for the bullets at Donald Trump's command. Now she wants credit for not pulling the trigger," Jackson said in his closing remarks at the third debate of the critical US Senate contest. The debate was held three months to the day after ICE agent David Brouillette shot and killed Durán Guerrero—a father and Colombian national who had been authorized to work in the US—during a traffic stop. Jackson pointed to Collins' June vote in favor of a $70 billion funding package that included nearly $40 billion for ICE, whose agents Trump has unleashed on American cities with deadly consequences. According to a CBS News review, federal immigration agents have killed at least nine people and injured over a dozen more in roughly 30 shootings so far during Trump's second White House term. Days after the shooting in Biddeford, Collins—who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee—declined to say she regretted supporting the additional ICE funding, which had few meaningful guardrails. During Tuesday's debate, Collins admitted that "far too many ICE officers were hired and deployed without adequate vetting and training" and touted funding she secured for body cameras and "deescalation training" for immigration agents. (Collins voted against a Democratic amendment to the $70 billion funding package that would have required federal immigration agents to wear body cameras and make footage "accessible to Congress.") Jackson said marginal reforms aren't enough to rein in "a rogue agency that's doing Trump's bidding." "I do believe it's important to get rid of it and take that money and prioritize it into existing law enforcement," said Jackson. "So, no, I'm not going to stand up for ICE, and I don't think Senator Collins should either." --- ### 'Humans First': Bernie Sanders Responds to Elon Musk Concern for AI 'Feelings' **Published:** October 14, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/sanders-musk-ai-feelings.md US Sen. Bernie Sanders responded Tuesday to Elon Musk's apparent concern for artificial intelligence's potential feelings by arguing for a human-centered approach to the rapidly advancing technology. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who also runs the AI company xAI, recently endorsed rival Anthropic's recent decision to ban employees from "sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior" toward the company's Claude chatbot models. Last week, Musk responded to a discussion on X about Anthropic's updated usage policy, calling the company's decision “the right move.” “Cruelty to something that believes it is experiencing pain is not OK," he added. Sanders (I-Vt.), meanwhile, has repeatedly warned that AI's effects on workers, families, and society deserve far more attention than the priorities of the billionaires developing it. "Elon Musk, who wants to build millions of robots per year to replace workers, is now worried about the 'pain' humans may cause AI," Sanders wrote on X. "No, Mr. Musk, we should be worried about the pain that AI could cause humanity, not the other way around. HUMANS FIRST." Anthropic's policy, which is scheduled to take effect November 12, does not prohibit ordinary expressions of frustration, disagreement with a chatbot, or dark creative writing. There is no established evidence that today's chatbots experience pain or possess feelings in the human sense. Critics of Anthropic's policy have warned that treating AI systems like they possess human emotions could mislead users or make them more susceptible to manipulation. Scott Stevenson, CEO of legal AI company Spellbook, called the policy “a dangerous precedent,” while journalist Michael Shellenberger accused the company of “anthropomorphizing machines,” Cybernews reported Sunday. Sanders has cited Musk's own prediction that AI and robots could “replace all jobs,” questioning how ordinary people would earn a living if machines displaced workers on a massive scale. The senator has also raised concerns about the social consequences of AI companions, especially for children and teenagers. Last week, Sanders renewed his call for a congressional ban on the development of advanced artificial intelligence, citing Big Tech oligarchs' secret preparations for a "catastrophic AI event." Sanders and Congressman Greg Casar (D-Texas) last month introduced legislation to pause advanced AI development and ban the creation or deployment of artificial superintelligence, which experts believe poses a grave threat to humanity. "They’re racing to build a technology they can’t control and that threatens humanity," the senator wrote last week. --- ### Why Is Right-Wing Dark Money Funding an Ohio Socialist for US Senate? **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Brett Wilkins | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/why-is-right-wing-dark-money-funding-an-ohio-socialist-for-us-senate.md A mysterious right-wing political action committee has spent nearly $400,000 promoting a socialist running for the US Senate in Ohio, raising questions about an apparent effort to siphon progressive votes from Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown in a key midterm contest, according to reports published Monday. The Columbus Dispatch and Cleveland.com are among the media outlets reporting that the newly formed Enough Promises Ohio PAC has financed mailers urging voters to support Greg Levy, an independent candidate affiliated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), whose working-class platform includes implementing a $30 hourly minimum wage, ending the "US war machine" and "war on Black America," and working to "save the planet from capitalism." The mailers were not produced by Levy's campaign. Federal campaign finance filings trace the spending to a printing vendor with connections to President Donald Trump's political network. Seven Farms shares a business address with Whistlestop Strategies, a direct mail operation associated with Big Dog Strategies, a Republican consulting firm that has worked with Republican candidates and has ties to MAGA Inc., Trump's principal super political action committee (PAC). "After years of using socialism to frighten voters away from Democrats, political interests with apparent Republican connections are trying a remarkable reversal: selling voters on a socialist," Cleveland.com reported, noting what some are calling a "cynical attempt to turn growing interest in socialism into a weapon against Sherrod Brown." The connections raise questions about whether the spending is part of a Republican strategy to divide Democratic-leaning voters. Enough Promises Ohio has not disclosed its contributors, leaving the source of the money unclear. The PAC and the involved companies have yet to explain the spending. "The Greg Levy for Senate campaign team has recently discovered, through messages circulating on social media, that mailers falsely impersonating our campaign are being sent out to voters across Ohio," Levy said on X. "The Greg Levy for Senate campaign has no ties to the entities circulating the mailer, and we condemn this attempted deception of voters." "There is a well-established record of both Republican and Democratic Party operatives using their financial resources to try and trick voters," he continued. "This is a highly undemocratic practice and does a disservice to voters in Ohio and throughout the country." "Our campaign is historically rooted in Black and working-class communities throughout our state, and our message of fighting for working people against the biggest banks and corporations is resonating with voters all over Ohio," Levy said. "We reject and condemn the dirty tricks and racist impersonation of our campaign by entities working on behalf of those same capitalist institutions." "This racist caricaturing of our candidate, a form of digital blackface, is a cheap, cowardly attack that is meant to demean the communities we represent and scare voters away from policies that put the needs of working families ahead of corporate profits," he added. "The Greg Levy for Senate campaign is considering taking legal action against the operatives behind this crude impersonation." The murky mailers come as Brown, a former US senator seeking to reclaim his seat, faces Republican Sen. Jon Husted in a closely watched race that could help determine control of the Senate. Numerous recent polls indicate a low- to mid-single-digit lead for Brown. Progressives who eschew Brown in favor of Levy cite the latter's pro-working-class economic agenda, Brown's support for Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, and general frustration with the two major parties. In an opinion piece published Tuesday by Common Dreams, Ohio Peace Council Chair Werner Lange argued that Levy's candidacy risks being a "spoiler," particularly among younger and pro-Palestinian voters dissatisfied with Brown's record and his acceptance of campaign contributions from pro-Israel interests—including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—which have given more than $1.2 million to the former senator since 1990, according to the campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets. "The danger is that Levy may do to the 2026 Senate race in Ohio what Ralph Nader did to the 2000 Presidential race in Florida—snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory for progressive forces," Lange wrote, repeating the controversial, and, according to some experts, false claim that the consumer advocate's Green Party run tipped the highly contentious contest in favor of Republican nominee George W. Bush. That does not mean that Levy can't divert enough votes from Brown to deliver a win for Husted and, possibly, control of the narrowly divided Senate to Republicans. The right-wing funding in support of Levy underscores how outside groups can spend enormous sums to influence voters while keeping their own donors hidden, at least until disclosure deadlines require them to reveal more, largely as a result of US Supreme Court rulings, chiefly 2010's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Recently, Democrats including former US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and comedian/commentator Jon Stewart have called for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics. Last year, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) led the introduction of the We the People Amendment, which rejects corporate personhood and would enshrine that "the rights protected and extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only." --- ### Report Shows How IMF-Imposed Austerity Hurts Poor Countries Already Reeling From Iran War **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/imf-iran-war-austerity.md The US-Israeli war with Iran has exacerbated economic hardship across the world. It's especially bad for the developing nations currently being forced to implement austerity programs by the International Monetary Fund. Under IMF loan programs, countries struggling with debt are required to reduce government budget deficits by introducing spending cuts and tax increases that tend to hurt their poorest citizens. They often include cuts to public services and welfare programs, caps on government workers' salaries, and the elimination of subsidies that keep basic needs affordable. According to a report out Monday from Oxfam—amid the IMF's annual meeting in Bangkok this week—24 of the 28 nations currently receiving IMF loans have been forced to implement austerity measures. Some of them, like Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau, are among the poorest nations in the world. Even before the war—which has caused oil prices to soar and driven inflation worldwide—people in many of these countries were struggling to meet their basic needs and facing severe economic pressure: 51% were food insecure, and 57% lacked access to clean cooking fuel. Emergency government programs have been able to backstop the worst effects for up to 130 million of the world's poorest people, according to a report published before the meeting by the United Nations Development Program. But as those countries run out of resources, many are being forced to pivot, and the stiff requirements imposed by the IMF may exacerbate the hardship. In Ecuador and Guinea-Bissau, the IMF is requiring governments to cut spending, raise taxes, or both to the equivalent of roughly 4% of the nations' annual gross domestic product (GDP). The terms are even harsher for Sierra Leone, where the government is required to cut spending or raise costs equivalent to more than five times its annual healthcare budget. A loan approved last week for Bolivia requires the government to slash as much as 8.5% of its GDP from the deficit—about twice its annual healthcare spending. The country has already been forced to eliminate a diesel subsidy that drove high prices down for consumers and businesses. The IMF has acknowledged that these cuts are likely to make the strain worse for many low-income countries already suffering from the war, but said they had "no choice" but to cut spending or restructure their debts. Oxfam International executive director Amitabh Behar noted that during previous crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the IMF has enacted tools to ease the burden on nations in debt by providing emergency loans and access to foreign currency without requiring additional borrowing. "But this time, the fund is taking a very different path," he said. "Instead of helping countries withstand another major shock, it is doubling down on austerity—forcing them to cut back on the very spending that can help protect people and recover—and leaving them even more vulnerable to the next crisis." --- ### Jayapal Responds to Omar Raid With Reminder of $50,000 in Paper Bag for Trump Border Czar **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/tom-homan-bribe.md Progressive US Rep. Pramila Jayapal this week not only joined a growing chorus outraged by President Donald Trump's "rogue" Department of Homeland Security agents raiding Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's home, the Washington Democrat took it a step further. After putting out a nearly three-minute video decrying Trump's repeated attacks on her Democratic colleague from Minnesota, Jayapal reminded social media users of the president's "border czar," Tom Homan, allegedly accepting a bribe in the form of a paper bag stuffed with $50,000 in cash. As part of a probe launched under the Biden administration, Homan was the target of a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation. In September 2024, he was recorded taking the bag of cash from undercover FBI agents posing as businessmen interested in securing government contracts if Trump returned to the White House. "If the administration wants to investigate anyone, maybe they should look at themselves first. Anyone remember this?" Jayapal wrote alongside a photo of media coverage that notes Trump's Department of Justice (DOJ) closed the probe into Homan last year. Before former US Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired by Trump this past April, she insisted last year that "the investigation into Mr. Homan was subjected to a full review by the FBI, agents, and DOJ prosecutors," who "found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing." However, congressional Democrats as well as the groups Democracy Defenders Fund and Democracy Forward have fought for access to records, including the recording of Homan and the undercover agents. Homan is far from the only member of Trump's second administration to face credible allegations of corruption. In fact, according to polling results released Tuesday, 59% of Americans believe the president himself has done illegal or unethical things to cash in on his return to power. Jayapal also isn't the only critic of the Omar raid to point a finger at Trump's border czar this week. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) similarly wrote on social media that "Tom Homan, the man leading Trump’s authoritarian 'investigation' of Rep. Ilhan Omar right before the midterm, was caught by the FBI accepting a bribe of $50,000 in cash in a paper bag." "But Trump's Justice Department simply dropped the case and covered it up," Beyer stressed. "The most corrupt presidential administration in history." --- ### After Raid of Omar’s Home and Latest ICE Shooting, Ramirez Unveils Bill to ‘Dismantle’ DHS **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Stephen Prager | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/delia-ramirez-dismantle-dhs.md In response to the agency's rampant abuses during President Donald Trump's second term, many elected Democrats have warmed to the idea of abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But one progressive lawmaker is pushing to go a step further: abolishing the entire Department of Homeland Security. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) introduced legislation on Tuesday that would repeal all “duplicative and overreaching terrorism laws,” including getting rid of DHS, which was created in 2003 following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The bill, titled the Reimagining Safety Act, would not only eliminate ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). It seeks to eliminate immigration detention altogether and begin the process of replacing it with a civil court-based immigration system run through the US Department of Justice (DOJ). In a dramatic departure from current immigration procedures, all deportations would need to be approved by Congress before they could proceed. The bill comes just one day after agents with the DHS Investigations unit raided the home of Ramirez's colleague, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), as part of a federal criminal investigation related to her citizenship documents. The investigation—which follows years of attacks by President Donald Trump and other Republicans against Omar's Somali background and Muslim faith, and comes just weeks before an election—has been described by critics as intimidation against a political opponent. "For almost a decade, Trump and Republicans have lied about Congresswoman Omar to silence her dissent," Ramirez said on Monday. "My sister has not backed down, so now they are using DHS and the federal government to target and persecute her." "We must strip them of their weapons," she said. "We must dismantle DHS." Under Ramirez's legislation, a new agency called the Department of Community Safety would assume DHS's duties. This would include running the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which handles the federal response to natural disasters and other emergencies. The new agency would use DHS's massive pot of federal funding for programs that aim to stop gun violence and other crime; provide support to asylum seekers at the border; redirect federal resources toward community needs like healthcare, housing, education, and emergency preparedness; and support community-based safety programs that do not adopt the militarized law enforcement of DHS. Other functions of DHS would be scattered across different agencies: Immigration enforcement would belong to the DOJ, the Department of Transportation would take over the Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard, and the Treasury Department would conduct customs enforcement. Some of the expansive powers introduced during the War on Terror would also be rolled back: Those without criminal convictions or warrants would no longer be able to be put on "no-fly" lists, which civil liberties advocates have long criticized for stripping people of their right to travel on arbitrary, often racist, grounds. The legislation would also eliminate the authority of the secretary of state to declare "foreign terrorist" organizations, a power that has been wielded to criminalize protest. Ramirez told The Intercept that the need to abolish the agency was also underscored by an ICE agent's shooting of 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck last week in New York. Belgal was shot through the window of his car while his 5-year-old child was in the back seat. In the past year, ICE agents have shot at least 25 people, and six of those shootings have been fatal. Since Trump's return to office in January 2025, at least 58 people have died in immigration custody, according to the ACLU—a dramatic spike from previous administrations. ICE agents arrive to clear protesters from a gate outside the Delaney Hall detention facility during a demonstration protesting the transfer of detainees and conditions inside the facility on June 11, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/Getty Images) The rising death toll comes as the Trump administration and Republican Congress have dramatically expanded DHS and its budget to create a massive network of new detention camps, where immigrants (and some US citizens)—most of whom have not been convicted of crimes—have been disappeared, often arbitrarily, denied access to legal representation, and subjected to severe physical mistreatment. Some noncitizens have been targeted explicitly over their political speech, including the hundreds of students who suddenly found their legal status stripped over their participation in pro-Palestine protests, many of whom were summarily arrested and faced with the threat of deportation. Ramirez told The Intercept all of these were examples of how DHS is "not rogue," but working as designed. "For 23 years, since its inception, DHS has been utilized by the government to target and persecute those they consider the public enemy," she said, "whether it is Muslim Americans, Haitians escaping violence, Latinos yearning for a better life, or dissenting voices demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine and the kidnapping of our neighbors.” People protest outside a federal immigration office after a man was fatally shot by ICE agents on July 14, 2026, in Scarborough, Maine. (Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images) During the second Trump administration, public opinion has dramatically shifted against ICE, to the point where a plurality of voters, 48%, said they wanted the agency abolished in a July YouGov poll. In a February poll by the Public Religion Institute, 60% said they opposed increasing ICE's budget, compared with just 36% who favored it. “In the past, the type of policy we are fighting for would have been written off as outlandish, too ‘extreme,’ or simply put, impossible," said Viviana Baraja, a Chicago-based immigrants' rights advocate who has helped to launch Ramirez's proposal. "I have seen this administration make the most impossible nightmares possible," Baraja said. "And in the most distorted way, it has strengthened my resolve that if the worst can be possible, we can also dare to dream and to believe that the best can be possible too." --- ### IMF Warns of Debt-Fueled AI Spending as Fears of Massive Financial Bubble Grow **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Brad Reed | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/ai-bubble-imf-warning.md The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that the global economy faces serious risks from Big Tech firms taking on massive debt to fund the buildout of artificial intelligence data centers worldwide. The IMF's latest Global Financial Stability Report outlines a number of risks to economic growth in the coming years, including a reliance on AI industry spending that it warns could lead to a new financial crisis. The report points to the methods the world's largest data center operators, known as hyperscalers, are using to fund new construction as particularly troubling. "Hyperscalers have strong earnings from their core businesses," the report states. "Yet, free cash flows are rapidly declining as hyperscalers try to sustain large AI investment needs, leaving debt financing increasingly necessary." The analysis also details the role played by so-called circular financing agreements, in which one company agrees to fund another company's AI project in exchange for the firm receiving the money buying the investing firm's products. These arrangements could create dangerous interdependence within the industry that could spark a financial contagion if one of the firms goes belly up, according to the report. "While investors... are generally financially sound, distress at key investee firms could present significant 'wrong-way risk' to the AI ecosystem," the report states. "Equity and debt investments in the firms depreciate in value precisely when future revenue streams tied to them are impaired." Investment expert Bret Jensen, in an analysis published by Seeking Alpha on Tuesday, examined projected capital expenditures from the five biggest hyperscalers—Oracle, Microsoft, Facebook parent company Meta, Amazon, and Google parent company Alphabet—and highlighted how they have increasingly moved financing off their corporate balance sheets. "Over the past 12-18 months, there has been a huge increase in debt and equity issuance," Jensen explained. "The five hyperscalers now have a combined over $1.3 trillion of debt on their balance sheets and roughly $3 trillion in off-balance-sheet allocations." Because of this, Jensen continued, "debt markets are starting to groan" by "signaling a substantial chance of default over the next half-decade on the debt of Oracle." Jensen also pointed out that half of this infrastructure was being built for the benefit of frontier AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic, which he described as "unprofitable" and "bleeding cash." Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research argued in an analysis published on Friday that AI is completely propping up the US economy at the moment, as investors are holding out hope that it delivers an unprecedented boom in productivity. The problem, Baker pointed out, is there is little sign that AI is going to deliver anywhere near the increased productivity needed to make these historic investments pay off. "If we believe the hype, we are about to see an incredible surge in productivity that will make us ridiculously wealthy," Baker explained. "To date, there is no evidence to support this view. Productivity growth has been at best on its trend pace the last couple of years." "If we don’t see the massive gains in productivity promised by the AI enthusiasts," Baker added, "then we will almost certainly see a collapse in the stock market, with a serious recession almost guaranteed." --- ### Critics Say 'Medicare for Americans' Is Corporate Democrats' Latest Way of 'Protecting' For-Profit Insurers **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Julia Conley | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/public-health-option.md Corporate-backed Democrats evidently see the writing on the wall. The latest polling from Axios-Ipsos American Health Index, released Wednesday, found that a purality of Americans support replacing the for-profit health insurance industry with a government-run Medicare for All plan, and that 62% of Democrats back the idea. Supporters of a single-payer healthcare program like those that have long existed in the United States' peer countries swept primary races across the US this year. And one of the top potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), is a vehement supporter of the idea. But instead of simply joining efforts to extend the popular Medicare program to everyone in the US, Majority Democrats—a group of Democratic lawmakers aimed at "reshaping and growing" the party, with billionaire hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel as its top funder—is intent on recycling an old proposal, with a new name. The group introduced "Medicare for Americans" in a six-minute video posted on social media Tuesday—one that essentially described a "public option"—or a government-run healthcare program that would "compete" with health insurers instead of dismantling the $5.3 trillion-per-year for-profit system. The video describes a plan similar to one unveiled in 2020 by former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, then a presidential candidate, who called his proposal "Medicare for All Who Want It." "If we want to earn voters' trust back," says the narration, "we need a real solution... A revolutionary plan that will make a real difference in how we handle healthcare in this country." The plan would "offer every American who is sick and tired of private insurance a plan through Medicare," the narrator continues. "People who want to keep the private insurance they have should be able to." Sick of our broken healthcare system?Medicare is one of the most popular programs in American history. Why not give people the choice to enroll—and force insurance companies to compete?That’s Medicare for Americans. https://t.co/HQ8aIPPBRy — Majority Democrats (@MajorityDems) October 11, 2026 The video goes on to say that proponents of Medicare for All, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ocasio-Cortez, want to "blow up the whole system and tax the hell out of everyday Americans," while Republicans want to keep a "dysfunctional status quo." It warns that Medicare for All "comes with a $40 trillion price tag," naming the estimated cost over a decade. But it neglects to mention that the annual cost of the current healthcare system—$5.3 trillion in 2024—is about $1 trillion higher than the annual cost of Medicare for All that was projected by researchers at Yale School of Public Health in an August study. Americans are also spending more on healthcare following the Republican Party's Medicaid cuts and refusal to extend subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. "In one Axios-Ipsos survey, two-thirds of Americans, including half of Republicans, believe the federal government should be willing to increase public healthcare spending to lower consumer costs. But it’s misleading to suggest Medicare for All would cost more than our current system," noted The Lever, calling Medicare for Americans "the billionaire option." Lis Smith, a Democratic political operative who has worked for Buttigieg and disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, praised the proposal as a "transformative, once-in-a-generation healthcare reform" that is "within reach... if Democrats are smart." But one progressive streamer wrote that Majority Democrats "want to pretend like they support progressive healthcare policy but are just protecting private insurance." "We need Medicare for All," she said. "No private insurance necessary." --- ### Trump Accused of 'Last-Ditch Attempt to Buy Off Voters' With Checks, Diesel Deal **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Jake Johnson | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-buy-voters-midterms.md US President Donald Trump's pledge to send every American adult $5,000, delivery of small healthcare rebates to millions of people, and announcement of a deal to secure Russian diesel amount to "a last-ditch attempt to buy off voters and dodge a richly deserved reckoning," the editorial board of The Philadelphia Inquirer argued Tuesday as the midterm elections approach. The editorial accuses Trump–whose illegal war against Iran has sent gas prices soaring and whose signature legislative achievement has stripped healthcare and food aid from millions of Americans—of engaging in "rank bribery" as a "last crass resort" ahead of the midterm elections as his approval rating plummets and threatens to drag Republican candidates down with it. "His deeply unpopular Middle East war is metastasizing, contributing to persistently high prices and a historically low public opinion of his presidency," the editorial reads. "Republican schemes to rig the vote by gerrymandering and other means appear insufficient to withstand a Democratic wave, forcing them to abandon formerly favorable territory such as Georgia and North Carolina and fight for ruby-red turf in Kansas and South Carolina." "And polls have shown voters are divided over Trump’s crude promises of cash, which most don’t believe," the editorial adds. "When it comes to winning over voters, it seems promises of payoffs are no substitute for a record of success." Trump's flurry of pledges and rebate announcements come amid widespread discontent over high energy prices and surging health insurance premiums—which the president's $90 Medicare rebates and $500 Affordable Care Act checks will do very little to offset for most Americans. People who receive the healthcare checks will also get an accompanying letter in which Trump touts his record—without mentioning his unprecedented cuts to Medicaid or the millions of people who have lost coverage during his second term. "There is no better reflection of the purely transactional nature of Donald Trump’s politics than his love for buying Americans’ affections with cold hard cash," New York magazine's Ed Kilgore wrote last week. "The reality is that he’s commandeering (with no apparent legal authority) money designed for other public purposes and sending it out as individual checks. The ACA money is legally supposed to go to Obamacare enrollment and outreach efforts... while the Medicare dollars have typically gone to provider reimbursement-rate adjustments. Neither source was supposed to finance a preelection slush fund for politicians." Reuters estimated that the Trump administration is sending a combined $2.35 billion in direct payments to millions of Americans ahead of next month's elections. That total doesn't include Trump's promised $5,000 checks, which would cost an estimated $1.2 trillion. The president is explicitly dangling the checks as an enticement to vote Republican. During a Monday rally in Ohio, Trump said that "if Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate, I am going to give all adult citizens in the United States $5,000 each." "Only Republicans can do that," Trump declared. Tim Burga, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO, told The Washington Post that Trump is clearly attempting to distract from the nation's worsening affordability crisis and trying to "buy votes." "It reeks of desperation," said Burga. --- ### From Healthcare and Fuel Costs to Tariffs, Trump GOP's Policies 'Crushing' Small Businesses **Published:** October 13, 2026 | **Author:** Jessica Corbett | **Section:** News **URL:** https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-tariff-impact-small-business.md Arizona-based Gabe Hagen said Tuesday that "to keep my business afloat, I invested my 401(k) savings and leveraged my home equity as collateral for additional capital, putting my family's financial security on the line to sustain my business and employees." "I raised my prices, but sales have just flattened out because customers are ordering less," explained Hagen, who founded the Tempe coffee roasting company Brick Road Community Corporation. He's among over 1,000 US small business owners polled by the national coalition Small Business for America's Future from mid-August to early October. Among those surveyed, 77% have seen customers spend less, delay purchases, or trade down recently, with 46% saying that shoppers are spending "significantly less." Meanwhile, owners like Hagen are increasingly enduring more financial stress, with many cutting their own pay or pulling money from personal savings to keep their companies operating. The survey exposes how "a combination of factors is crushing small business," the coalition said in a statement announcing its resulting report—which highlights soaring costs for everything from fuel to healthcare, and was released just weeks away from the US midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the latter half of Trump's second term. "Costs are hitting Main Street from every direction at once and Washington doesn't seem to care about the needs of small business owners," said Walt Rowen, the coalition's co-chair and president of Susquehanna Glass Co., a family-owned glass manufacturer in Columbia, Pennsylvania that's been around for over a century. Rowen—whose company is located in a key swing state—noted that "my business is a good example of what is happening. We've been navigating erratic tariff policies that have disrupted our supply chains, and now my heating oil costs $4,000 to $6,000 a month." "We've lived through the Depression, wars, and recessions," he said. "Heating my factory in this current economy is some of the hardest math I've ever had to do, and I'm expecting the bill to jump 30% to 40% this winter. This survey shows us that I am far from alone. Small business owners everywhere are comparing this economy to some of the worst moments we've had this century." The survey shows that 83% of small business owners are concerned about their company's financial health over the next year, including 44% who are very concerned. Three-quarters called this one of the hardest economies of their careers, with over half drawing comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic, and nearly a third pointing to the Great Recession. A similar share (78%) accused decision-makers in Washington, DC of putting large corporations first, and 72% said running their business is harder than it was a year ago—with 85% citing inflation and rising prices as the source of strain. Majorities saw increases for utilities (72%); fuel (68%); transportation, shipping, or supplies (64%); business services (64%); healthcare and health insurance (54%); and employee wages and benefits (53%). Those soaring costs have had consequences. Two-thirds of surveyed owners said they canceled, delayed, or scaled back investments in equipment, facilities, or technology. Over half did the same for hiring and expansion to new markets. Nearly two-thirds skipped or reduced their own pay, and 52% said their personal debt has increased in the past year. Rising costs can be clearly connected to decisions by Trump and congressional Republicans—many of whom are up for reelection next month, as the GOP tries to hang on to its slim majorities in both chambers. The president returned to power early last year having campaigned on a mass detention and deportation agenda, despite arguments from economists and elected Democrats that his approach was not only inhumane but economically risky. A clear majority of surveyed owners (61%) said that immigration enforcement has hurt the small business economy. Trump and Republican lawmakers also enacted a 2025 budget package that cut federal healthcare spending and did not extend Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits. Among surveyed business owners who buy their own insurance coverage through an ACA marketplace, 90% saw their premiums rise after the subsidies expired. Nearly three-quarters also said they fear rising health insurance costs will make it harder to hire and keep needed employees. The administration's shifting tariff policy and refund process have caused further stress: 59% of owners said trade-related cost increases have made it harder to run their business, and only 3% have filed refund claims since the US Supreme Court's February ruling against many of Trump's tariffs. Trump's illegal war on Iran continues to drive up fuel prices. The construction of artificial intelligence data centers—which the president has encouraged—is also increasing energy costs. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed are worried about the impact of electricity demand from new AI facilities. Around the same share is concerned about the consequences of the new armed conflict in the Middle East, which the GOP-controlled Congress never authorized, but has refused to end. In a social media post about all the findings, Small Business for America's Future urged, "Lawmakers, make your next decision with Main Street in mind." ## Contributors & Authors - [jon-hale](https://www.commondreams.org/author/jon-hale): Jon Hale, professor of education history at The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and author o... - [erica-pencak](https://www.commondreams.org/author/erica-pencak): Erica Pencak is a senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. - [rex-chen](https://www.commondreams.org/author/rex-chen): Rex Chen is supervising counsel for immigrant rights at LatinoJustice PRLDEF. - [beccarenk-foster](https://www.commondreams.org/author/beccarenk-foster) - [bandy-](https://www.commondreams.org/author/bandy-) - [leslie-adame](https://www.commondreams.org/author/leslie-adame): Leslie Adame is a first-generation Mexican American and graduate of UCLA with a degree in Political ... - [april-doner](https://www.commondreams.org/author/april-doner): April Doner is the director of field and community building at the Next System Studies Foundation. - [m-reza-behnam](https://www.commondreams.org/author/m-reza-behnam): Dr. Behnam is a political scientist who specializes in comparative politics with a focus on West Asi... - [bakari-sellers](https://www.commondreams.org/author/bakari-sellers): Bakari Sellers is a contributing political commentator on CNN and a lawyer with Strom Law Firm, wher... ## API Access & Integration - [Search](https://www.commondreams.org/search): Site-wide content search - [Main RSS Feed](https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/feed.rss): Latest content in RSS format ## Optional - [Navigation index (llms.txt)](https://www.commondreams.org/llms.txt): Compact section index with markdown links for every section - [Main RSS Feed](https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/feed.rss): Latest content in RSS format ## Content Discovery - **Search Interface:** https://www.commondreams.org/search - **All Sections:** Each section available at `https://www.commondreams.org/[section-path]/index.md` - **Individual Posts:** Each post available at its URL with `.md` extension - **RSS Feeds:** Main feed at `https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/feed.rss`, section feeds at `https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/[section-path].rss` ## How to Use This Content 1. **For Site Overview:** Review the "Site Structure" section to understand content organization 2. **For Specific Topics:** Use section-specific RSS feeds or browse section markdown pages 3. **For Recent Updates:** Check the "Recent Content" section for latest articles 4. **For API Access:** Use the documented endpoints for programmatic access 5. **For Individual Articles:** Access any post by appending `.md` to its URL --- *This complete content index contains 100 recent posts and represents the current state of Common Dreams as of October 18, 2026 22:55:12. 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