January, 06 2021, 11:00pm EDT

There Must Be Accountability
Small businesses demand a restoration of democracy.
WASHINGTON
On the attack at the U.S. Capitol yesterday, Main Street Alliance Board Members and Executive Leadership had this to say:
Yesterday's attack on the Capitol was incited by a president who refuses to accept that millions of us turned out to stand with and for each other and elect Joe Biden by overwhelming margins. This is what treason looks like: an unhinged president inciting riot by an angry mob of armed white vigilantes. The threat to our government and the assault on our democracy was abetted by Republican leaders whose complicity in this attack must carry consequences including removal from office. Every official responsible, from the president to Senators, House Members to state legislators, who fed, fueled and fomented these attacks must be held accountable.
Accountability is necessary to ensure our democracy remains intact. Small businesses across the nation are appalled at efforts and attempts to undermine our elections - whether that be through voter suppression, bad faith lawsuits designed to make ordinary people believe there is an electoral controversy when there is not, or violent acts such as the invasion of the Capitol that we saw yesterday or the civil rights protest suppression and police brutality this summer. This instability affects our communities, our democracy and our economy. The world is watching.
Yesterday's events did not happen in a vacuum, they resulted from long term efforts to undermine the credibility of our elections. President Trump's lies, actions and incitement are an indication of his inability or unwillingness to perform his job as president. We are calling on Congress to support articles of impeachment for President Trump and full investigation.
Ultimately, we must heal our democracy, and rout out the corruption that has continued to hold our democracy hostage. A first step would be to pass urgently needed pro-democracy reforms, like the For The People Act (HR 1), as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (HR 4). These have been left languishing in a Republican controlled Senate for too long.
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.
LATEST NEWS
Evacuations in Minnesota After Fiery Derailment of Train Carrying Ethanol
The train was operated by BNSF, which has lobbied aggressively against safety regulations in recent years.
Mar 30, 2023
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
A BNSF train carrying ethanol derailed and caught fire early Thursday morning in Raymond, Minnesota, forcing residents living near the crash site to evacuate.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has faced backlash for responding inadequately to the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, said the Federal Railroad Administration is "on the ground' in Raymond following the derailment.
"At present no injuries or fatalities have been reported," said Buttigieg. "We are tracking closely as more details emerge."
\u201cSome video coming out of a firery train derailment that occured in Raymond, Minnesota about 1:00 am this morning. \n\nSeveral tankers were carrying a form of ethanol & corn syrup that caught fire and has caused a 1/2 mile evacuation to the surrounding area.\n\nVideo by Ashely Lucas\u201d— Rebecca Brannon (@Rebecca Brannon) 1680170887
BNSF, which is controlled by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, has lobbied aggressively against enhanced rail safety regulations at the state and federal levels in recent years.
An OpenSecrets analysis published earlier this month found that BNSF has spent nearly $13 million on state-level lobbying since 2003. BNSF's parent company is also among the rail industry's top federal lobbying spenders over the past two decades, according to federal disclosures.
BNSF said in a statement that more than 20 train cars "carrying mixed freight including ethanol and corn syrup" derailed in Raymond on Thursday.
The wreck and resulting blaze forced local authorities to issue evacuation orders for people living within a half-mile of the site. The Minnesota Department of Transportation said a nearby highway was also closed due to the fire.
The local sheriff's department said in a press release that "no travel is advised to the city of Raymond" as emergency workers attempt to contain the fire.
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Press Freedom Advocates 'Alarmed' as Russia Detains US Journalist on Espionage Charges
Reporters Without Borders said the arrest "looks like retaliation."
Mar 30, 2023
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Russia's security service said Thursday that it has detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, on charges of "espionage in the interests of the American government."
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) alleged that Gershkovich "collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."
Gershkovich has recently reported on the war in Ukraine and the role played by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, whose founder toldThe Daily Beast that he had not heard of the journalist's arrest.
"If you want, I can check the torture cellar in my house to see if he's there," said Yevgeny Prigozhin. "At first glance, I didn't see him among the American journalists I keep there by the dozens. I can, if you want, also look at the fresh graves of foreign journalists on my house plot. But if I'm not mistaken, we didn't bury him there either."
The Journalsaid in a statement that it "vehemently denies" the accusations against Gershkovich and is pursuing his immediate release. Gershkovich was accredited to work as a journalist in Russia by the nation's foreign ministry.
In response to news of Gershkovich's arrest, the global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said it is "alarmed by what looks like retaliation: journalists must not be targeted!"
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'Freaking Cowards!' Bowman Confronts GOP Colleague Face-to-Face on Gun Violence
"Republicans won't do SHIT when it comes to gun violence, but try to tell me to calm down," Rep. Jamaal Bowman wrote after a heated exchange with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
Mar 30, 2023
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman vocally condemned his Republican colleagues in a hallway outside the House chamber on Wednesday, calling them "freaking cowards" and "gutless" for refusing to support basic control measures in the wake of the nation's latest mass shooting—the 130th of the year.
As Bowman railed against GOP obstructionism, saying that Republicans "won't do anything to save the lives of our children," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) stopped to ask the New York Democrat, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about gun violence!" Bowman responded.
Massie—who in 2021 posted a Christmas photo in which he and his family members are holding guns—proceeded to tout a dangerous, NRA-backed proposal that Republicans float after virtually every school shooting in the U.S.: Arming teachers. (A number of states already allow teachers to carry firearms under certain conditions.)
Bowman, a former teacher and middle school principal, derided Massie's suggestion, replying: "More guns lead to more death. Look at the data." A study published in The BMJ in 2019 found that states with more lax gun regulation—and higher rates of gun ownership—experience higher rates of mass shootings.
Watch the heated exchange between Bowman and Massie, one of the most fervent opponents of gun regulations in Congress:
\u201cReps. Jamaal Bowman and Thomas Massie in a shouting match outside the House chamber on gun violence\u201d— Ellis Kim (@Ellis Kim) 1680129701
Bowman later posted the exchange to his Twitter account, writing: "Republicans won't do SHIT when it comes to gun violence, but try to tell me to calm down."
"We can't calm down," he added. "People are dying every day while we wait."
There's no indication that Republicans intend to drop their opposition to popular gun control measures in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville earlier this week.
"The things that have already been done have gone about as far as we're going with gun control," Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) toldCNN.
In an appearance on that same network on Tuesday, Bowman called gun violence "an American disease."
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