November, 09 2017, 07:45am EDT
WASHINGTON
Grassroots organizers cheered the loud and clear message in Tuesday's election results: voters are eager for progressive candidates with the bold ideas that People's Action and its state organizations are proposing and supporting.
Throughout the country, candidates fighting for health care for all, a $15 minimum wage, race and gender justice, ending mass incarceration, tuition-free higher education and climate justice won seats from city council to state legislature, from Washington state to Maine.
"Tuesday's elections mark a turning point. Among the most hopeful signs of a more hopeful future were the victories down ballot, where working class progressive candidates won," said George Goehl, co-executive director of People's Action. "Already we have 70 people from our membership signed up to run in 2018. The new generation of truly progressive people, especially women and people of color, running for office and winning is one of the most important takeaways from this election.
In New Jersey, Governor-elect Phil Murphy, supported by People's Action member organization New Jersey Citizen Action, proposed a state-owned bank that would invest in local communities.
In Maine, voters won Medicaid expansion that would bring health care to 77,000 more people in the state. The referendum was endorsed and led by Maine People's Alliance and People's Action.
In Pennsylvania, Reclaim Philadelphia and 215 People's Alliance, endorsed Philadelphia's Larry Krasner who was elected district attorney on a platform to end mass incarceration.
In Virginia, People's Action leaders helped elect strong progressives in three House of Delegates districts to take out three corporate, conservative incumbents.
In Washington state, People's Action organizations OneAmerica Votes and Washington Community Action Network helped push Manka Dhingra into the state senate giving Democrats full control of state government.
Here are some of the newly-elected leaders who were endorsed and supported by People's Action and its members:
Colorado
Colorado People's Action has built a progressive block on the Aurora City Council with three candidates elected: Crystal Murillo and Nicole Johnston both defeated incumbents; Allison Hiltz led in an eight-way race for two at-large seats
Iowa
Ross Grooters won a seat on the Pleasant Hill City Council running under the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action banner.
Maine
A ballot measure led by Maine People's Alliance to expand Medicaid in the state passed easily with 59 percent of the vote.
Maryland
Progressive Maryland candidate Laurie-Anne Sayles was elected to Gaithersburg City Council.
Massachusetts
Neighbor to Neighbor Action members Adam Gomez and Nelson Roman were re-elected to the Springfield and Holyoke City Councils respectively.
Michigan
Michigan United member Tasha Green was elected to the Westland City Council.
Minnesota
TakeAction Minnesota's city council candidate Andrea Jenkins won in Minneapolis and is the first transgender woman of color elected to public office in the country. Jeremiah Ellison,looks likely to claim a city council victory on the northside of Minneapolis. In Duluth, TakeAction Minnesota candidate Renee Van Nett, elected to the city council, will bring a progressive and Native American voice to the table. Justice4All leader, Londel French is poised to be elected to the Minneapolis Park Board.
New Jersey
New Jersey Citizen Action-endorsed Phil Murphy easily won the governorship. Murphy won on a platform of state-owned banks and a $15 minimum wage. His election returns the state to full Democratic control.
New York
Three candidates from Community Voices Heard Power candidates won: Corazon Pineda was re-elected to the Yonkers City Council; Ann Finney was elected to the Poughkeepsie Common Council creating a progressive majority; and Christopher Johnson to the Westchester County Board. In Albany, Citizen Action of New York candidate Alfredo Balarin won his seat on the Albany Common Council. Long Island Progressive Coalition candidate Laura Curran was elected Nassau County executive. People's Action candidate Lynn Eckert won election to the Ulster County Legislature and Alfredo Balarin became the first Latino elected to Albany city council..
Pennsylvania
Reclaim Philadelphia and 215 People's Alliance endorsed progressive Larry Krasner who was elected to district attorney with a strong racial justice platform.
Virginia
The People's Action Virginia leadership team won three huge upsets in the House of Delegate races: Elizabeth Guzman, Chris Hurst and Kelly Fowler.
Washington
OneAmerica Votes and Washington Community Action Network candidate Manka Dhingra won her State Senate election giving Democrats a new majority and full control of Washington government. OneAmerica Votes candidates Lorena Gonzalez and Teresa Mosqueda were elected to Seattle City Council and De'Sean Quinn and Zak Idan won seats on the Tukwila City Council.
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.
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Biden Commutes 1,500 Sentences and Issues 39 Pardons—But Leaves 40 People on Death Row
"State-sanctioned murder is not justice, and President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to save lives," Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley said earlier this week.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
But the president's sweeping use of his clemency power as his term nears its conclusion did not appear to extend to any of the 40 men currently on death row—some of whom have been there for decades.
According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
"That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer," the president said. "I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
But he's running out of time, human rights organizations, religious leaders, former federal judges, and progressive lawmakers have warned in recent days as they've ramped up pressure on Biden to act.
"State-sanctioned murder is not justice, and President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to save lives and make good on his campaign promise to address the federal death penalty before leaving office," Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said at a press conference earlier this week. "With the incoming administration planning to execute the 40 individuals on death row, we're calling on the president to use his clemency authority to commute their death sentences and resentence them to a prison term."
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Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
"Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex with even more unaccountable funds," they continued. "After a seventh failed audit in a row, it's disappointing that our amendment to hold the Pentagon accountable by penalizing the DOD's budget by 0.5% for each failed audit was stripped out of the final bill. It's time Congress demanded accountability from the Pentagon."
"While we're glad many of the poison pill riders that were included in the House-passed version were ultimately removed from the final bill, the bill does include a ban on access to medically necessary healthcare for transgender children of service members, which will force service members to choose between serving their country and getting their children the care they need," the pair noted. "The final bill also failed to expand coverage for fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization (IVF), for service members regardless of whether their infertility is service-connected."
Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
"Once again, Congress has passed a massive military authorization bill that prioritizes endless military spending over the critical needs of American families. This year's NDAA designates $900 billion for military spending," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), noting the audit failures. "While I recognize the long-overdue 14.5% raise for our lowest-ranking enlisted personnel is important, this bill remains flawed. The bloated military budget continues to take away crucial funding from programs that could help millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet."
Taking aim at the GOP's push to deny gender-affirming care through TRICARE, the congresswoman said that "I cannot support a bill that continues unnecessary military spending while also attacking the rights and healthcare of transgender youth, and for that reason, I voted NO."
As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
Israel—which receives billions of dollars in annual armed aid from the United States—faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court last month issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The NDAA includes over $627 million in provisions for Israel.
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who voted against the NDAA, directed attention to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to be run by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
"How do we know that DOGE is not a good-faith effort to address wasted funding and unaccountable government? The NDAA passed today," Ramirez said. "Republicans overwhelmingly supported the $883.7 billion authorization bill even though the Pentagon just failed its seventh audit in a row."
"Billions of dollars go to make defense corporations and their investors, including Members of Congress, rich while Americans go hungry, families are crushed by debt, and bombs we fund kill children in Gaza," she added. "No one who voted for this bill can credibly suggest that they care about government waste."
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who also opposed the NDAA, wrote in a Tuesday opinion piece for MSNBC that he looks forward to working with DOGE "to reduce waste and fraud at the Pentagon, while strongly opposing any cuts to programs likeSocial Security, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau."
"We should make defense contracting more competitive, helping small and medium-sized businesses to compete for Defense Department projects," Khanna argued. "The Defense Department also needs better acquisition oversight. Defense contractors have gotten away with overcharging the Pentagon and ripping off taxpayers for too long."
"Another area where we can work with DOGE is reducing the billions being spent to maintain excess military property and facilities domestically and abroad," he suggested. "Finally, DOGE can also cut the Nuclear-Armed Sea-Launched Cruise Missile program."
The congressman, who is expected to run for president in 2028, concluded that "American taxpayers want and deserve the best return on their investment. Let's put politics aside and work with DOGE to reduce wasteful defense spending. And let's invest instead in domestic manufacturing, good-paying jobs, and a modern national security strategy."
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The General Assembly also voted 159-9 with 11 abstentions in favor of a resolution supporting UNRWA.
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Following yet another United States veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza, members of the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of an "immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire" in the Palestinian enclave, where Israeli forces continued relentless attacks that killed dozens more Palestinians, including numerous children.
The veto by the United States, a permanent Security Council member, came during an emergency special session and was the lone dissenting vote on the 15-member body. It was the fourth time since October 2023 that the Biden administration vetoed a Security Council resolution on a Gaza cease-fire.
"At a time when Hamas is feeling isolated due to the cease-fire in Lebanon, the draft resolution on a cease-fire in Gaza risks sending a dangerous message to Hamas that there's no need to negotiate or release the hostages," Robert Wood, the United States' deputy U.N. ambassador, said ahead of Wednesday's vote.
The 193-member U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) subsequently voted 158-9, with 13 abstentions, for a resolution demanding "an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire, to be respected by all parties," and calling for the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages" held by Hamas.
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Nine UNGA members opposed the measure, while 11 others abstained. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, while General Assembly resolutions are not, and are also not subject to vetoes.
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toldThe Associated Press.
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, at least 162,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, maimed, or left missing by Israel's bombardment, invasion, and siege of the coastal enclave, according to officials there. More than 2 million others have been forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened by Israel's onslaught.
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