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doug jones
Civil Rights Groups Urge Biden to Nominate Attorney General Dedicated to 'Bedrock Principle of Equal Justice'
"We need an attorney general... committed to ending discrimination; addressing white supremacy and hate violence; and advancing racial, gender, disability, ethnic, religious, immigrant, and LGBTQ justice."
Dec 15, 2020
Dozens of advocacy groups on Wednesday signed an open letter calling on President-elect Joe Biden to nominate an attorney general and other senior Justice Department officials "who have strong records with regard to civil rights enforcement and justice reform."
"Americans deserve an attorney general with a deep respect for the fundamental principles of liberty and justice for all, a demonstrated commitment to protecting and advancing the civil rights of everyone, and an unyielding dedication to transforming the criminal legal system."
--Civil rights groups
"The Biden-Harris administration must make civil rights enforcement a priority, and the Department of Justice is a pivotal leader in that effort," the letter, which was coordinated by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, stated.
"We need an attorney general and other senior leadership who are committed to ending discrimination; addressing white supremacy and hate violence; and advancing racial, gender, disability, ethnic, religious, immigrant, and LGBTQ justice," the groups wrote. "We need leaders who understand the authority, processes, and mission of the department, and who will defend the bedrock principle of equal justice for all people in America."
The letter added that "Americans deserve an attorney general with a deep respect for the fundamental principles of liberty and justice for all, a demonstrated commitment to protecting and advancing the civil rights of everyone, and an unyielding dedication to transforming the criminal legal system."
Some of the letter's 76 signatories include Common Cause, Human Rights Campaign, NAACP, National Disability Rights Network, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and Voto Latino.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a broad coalition of over 220 national organizations, was founded in 1950 by civil rights icons A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins, and Jewish Council for Public Affairs director Arnold Aronson.
As Biden's transition team reportedly winnows the field of prospective attorney general nominees down to a handful of names, some civil rights advocates have voiced concerns over the likely frontrunner, former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.).
Some Democrats including Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) have praised Jones, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama during the Clinton administration, for ending decades of impunity by prosecuting the last living Ku Klux Klansmen who murdered four young Black girls during the infamous 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
However, some civil rights leaders say that any potential nominee should not be judged on the strength of a single case, and that Biden must focus on choosing someone who has a consistent record of upholding civil rights and advocating criminal justice reform.
"I would never look at one case for anyone to determine the full measure of their record on civil rights or criminal justice reform," Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of letter signatory NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, told the Washington Post last week.
"I think if you're looking at the full measure of their record, it's legitimate to ask how broad that record is in the matters that are of most interest to activists and communities of color around the country," Ifill added.
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In Letter to Mnuchin, Harris and 13 Other Senators Demand Stimulus Cash Be Exempt From Debt Collections
"Americans are in dire need of money to pay their rent and put food on the table—this is absurd."
Apr 17, 2020
Sen. Kamala Harris and 13 other senators on Friday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin demanding that coronavirus stimulus checks not be subject to debt collections as reports continue to increase of the one-time $1,200 payments being seized by creditors.
"Americans are in dire need of money to pay their rent and put food on the table--this is absurd," Harris tweeted Friday.
The letter, which was also signed by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), demands Mnuchin "exempt Americans' direct assistance payments from private debt collection so that American families can receive critical assistance to help them get through this unprecedented crisis."
"The American people are struggling right now to find ways to navigate the current crisis and keep themselves and their families healthy," the letter continues. "They need this assistance more than ever and it is Treasury's responsibility to act and ensure that every American family who is eligible for the assistance can receive its full benefit."
The senators add that Mnuchin must act quickly, "given the fact that direct assistance payments will be mailed or deposited directly into banking accounts very soon."
According to The Hill, private financial institutions which are seizing the money are issuing their own letter to lawmakers claiming the Treasury Department and Congress have made it impossible to know what is and is not permitted:
Top banking associations also sent a letter to Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) noting that under the coronavirus bill, "Congress failed to define these payments as benefits subject to preemption from garnishment."
"As a result, with regard to any legal garnishment, depository institutions have no discretion and are obligated to comply with applicable state laws and court-ordered garnishments," the groups said, adding that Congress should pass language clarifying future COVID-19 payments.
Despite the claims that banks have their hands tied by the law, USAA was able to cease seizure and refund money taken from checks for veterans and their families on Thursday. As Common Dreams reported, the decision came after outrage in the wake of an exclusive from David Dayen of the American Prospect on the seizures. Dayen made the case for federal guidance on the payments after the reversal by USAA.
"Only a global solution by Treasury can ensure that the payments get into the hands of individuals struggling to make ends meet and afford basic necessities," wrote Dayen. "A bank-by-bank or state-by-state solution will ultimately not protect everyone in time."
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With 'Baseless' Voter Fraud Claim, Roy Moore Challenges Alabama Election Loss
"This entire lawsuit is a taste of what Trump and Kobach's rhetoric and conspiracies lead to, and potentially a preview of what could follow if Trump loses in November 2020."
Dec 28, 2017
Just days after sharing an article from a right-wing website that blamed a "coalition of Muslim and Marxist-led groups" for his loss in Alabama's Senate election, Republican and accused child molester Roy Moore made his denial official late Wednesday night by filing a legal challenge alleging that he was the victim of widespread voter fraud.
The complaint comes just hours before Alabama officials are scheduled to certify the election results, which had Democrat Doug Jones winning by more than 20,000 votes.
At the center of Moore's challenge is the claim that "anomalous" high voter turnout in Jefferson County--where 43 percent of the population is black--constitutes evidence of voter fraud. But as analyst Daniel Nichanian noted, Moore's assertion that Jefferson Country turnout was unusually high is based on a "vast underestimation" of turnout from Alabama's Republican Secretary of State, John Merrill.
Merrill's prediction placed expected turnout in Jefferson County at 25 percent, "an implausibly low number he justified by citing low energy he saw while traveling," Nichanian writes. (Actual turnout was 47 percent.)
In effect, Nichanian concludes, "Moore cites high turnout in a county that's far higher-than-average African-American (a pattern that's not exceptional and is documented throughout state) as evidence of fraud. African Americans voting is apparently inherently suspicious."
On top of claiming that black Alabamians turning out to vote against a candidate who expressed nostalgia for the days of slavery is somehow inherently suspicious, the Moore campaign also cited a widely circulated YouTube video as proof that out-of-state voters propelled his Democratic opponent to victory.
Moore's challenge also quotes a poll worker who said she witnessed a large number of people voting with out-of-state drivers' licenses. (Alabama law allows voters to use photo identification from any state.)
In crying "voter fraud" and refusing to concede defeat, Moore is taking a page straight from President Donald Trump's playbook. Trump repeatedly claimed following last year's presidential election that he would have won the popular vote if it wasn't for millions of "illegal votes."
"This entire lawsuit is a taste of what Trump and [Kansas Secretary of State Kris] Kobach's rhetoric and conspiracies lead to, and potentially a preview of what could follow if Trump loses in November 2020," Nichanian concluded.
In a CNN interview on Thursday, Alabama Secretary of State Merrill--whose office has found "no evidence" of voter fraud--insisted that Moore's challenge would not effect Jones's certification.
"Doug Jones will be certified today," Merrill concluded.
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What Doug Jones' Win Means for People in Poverty
More than a quarter of Alabama residents are struggling to pay their water bill, which is an average of just $32.09 a month.
Dec 15, 2017
Doug Jones' victory in the Alabama Senate race is just over a day old, but the hot takes are still pouring in. For some, the outcome is a signal that Democrats can win both houses of Congress in 2018. For others, it is an outlier--a race that a Republican not accused of sexually assaulting children would have easily won. And for the kind folks at Fox & Friends, it wasn't much of a win at all--"a referendum on Harvey Weinstein, not on President Trump."
The only thing not up for debate is why Jones won: It's because people of color--particularly African Americans from Alabama's impoverished "Black Belt"--turned out to vote for him. But lost in the political discussion of the election is one key question: What does the election mean for the lives of Alabamans--especially the millions who voted for Doug Jones?
he state Doug Jones now represents is one of the poorest in the country. According to the latest county health rankings report, nearly 2,900 Alabamians died prematurely--in large part due to the toxic conditions within the state. The state's school quality report card shows that it lags behind the national average, with a solid D for K-12 achievement, and more than a quarter of residents are struggling to pay their water bill, which is an average of just $32.09 a month.
The state's poor rural residents--disproportionately people of color--face conditions that recently stunned investigators from the United Nations. In a damning report on the living conditions in Alabama's Lowndes and Butler counties, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights found communities suffering from hookworm outbreaks--a parasitic illness that was thought to have been eradicated in the United States more than 30 years ago. Known as a disease born of extreme poverty, researchers have linked the resurgence of hookworm in Alabama's Lowndes and Butler counties to the broken and inadequate septic infrastructure that creates open cesspools of raw sewage in residents' backyards.
"More than a quarter of residents are struggling to pay their water bill."
Lowndes county, much like the rest of Alabama, has a long and brutal history of racism and inequality. Nicknamed "Bloody Lowndes," the county is most known for its violent opposition to the civil rights movement and extreme racial oppression. It remains a hot spot of poor health, premature death, callous neglect, and severe disenfranchisement that harkens back 150 years to the time when it was part of the bedrock of the South's slave economy. The historical and ongoing plight of counties like Lowndes highlight the dogged mistreatment of vulnerable communities who can least afford it.
The tax bill currently making its way through Congress would exacerbate inequality in one of the most unequal states in the country. By 2027, it would raise taxes on 87 million Americans--including more than 640,000 Alabamans. It would repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act--jeopardizing health care coverage for 183,000 Alabama residents, a disproportionately high number--and strip the state of $419 million in Medicare funding next year alone.
The tax bill would also pave the way for deep cuts to benefit programs that keep people out of poverty. As House Speaker Paul Ryan signaled in a radio interview last week, House Republicans are planning on moving forward with deep cuts to so-called "entitlement programs" (permanent programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security) next year and have been quietly convincing President Trump to support the effort. "I think the president is understanding that choice and competition works everywhere in health care, especially in Medicare," Ryan said. With an aging population and a disproportionate number of people in poverty, Alabama is particularly vulnerable to these cuts.
It's rare for a political victory to immediately benefit its voters. Major national legislation can take decades to cobble together and is often passed with votes to spare after months of debate. But in Doug Jones' case, his Senate win could help stop one of the biggest shots of inequality adrenaline the country has ever seen--one that will hit Alabama particularly hard. And, while far from guaranteed, the election could jeopardize Senate Republicans' chances of passing the bill this year.
The people of Alabama turned out in record numbers on Tuesday. Now it's up to Jones to make sure his supporters aren't openly attacked in the coming legislative onslaught.
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'Wake Up Call': Charles Barkley's Wise Words to Democrats on Alabama
How long can Democrats count on being rescued by the very people our government is failing?
Dec 14, 2017
Before he became one of the great basketball players of his time, Charles Barkley was a son of the Alabama soil. He went home to help Doug Jones pull off his upset victory against Roy Moore in this week's special Senate election. Here's what he had to say on CNN after Jones was declared the winner:
This is a wake-up call for Democrats. Democrats, I told Mr. Jones this, and I love Doug, they've taken the black vote and the poor vote for granted for a long time. It's time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor. They've always had our votes and they have abused our votes .. This is a wake-up call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people.
Professional Democrats were not nearly as insightful. They overlook some of the most critical lessons of this election, including this one: They might not have won this election at all if Alabama Republicans like Richard Shelby had not encouraged voters to write in other names rather than vote for Roy Moore. As of this writing, the number of write-in votes is greater than Jones' margin of victory.
In other words, Democrats were rescued by a conservative Republican politician. How often is that likely to happen?
And instead of acknowledging this vote as a "wake-up call" for their party after a decade plagued by losses, however, centrist insiders are seizing on it as an opportunity to fortify their hold on an institution they're slowly strangling - and to take cheap shots at the left.
The Cornerstone
Charles Barkley is right: Black voters did play a critical role in Jones' victory. Without them, an accused pedophile would be preparing to assume one of the highest offices in the land. But this begs the question: Why did African American voters turn out in such heavy numbers, despite the barriers thrown in their way by Republicans eager to thwart democracy?
The answer is not yet entirely clear, but a clue can be found in an observation by Washington Post reporter Eugene Scott:
More than two dozen black voters here said they did not feel inspired to show up for a candidate who they felt did not aggressively pursue their vote. They were moved to wait in line -- some people for hours -- with the goal of keeping Moore from winning.
Their antipathy for Moore certainly understandable. The defrocked judge commented in the runup to the election that the last time America was great was "at the time when families were united - even though we had slavery - they cared for one another. Our families were strong, our country had a direction."
He went on to say he thought all constitutional amendments except the first ten should be repealed - including the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, and the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and equal rights to former slaves. And Moore said he had doubts about President Obama's citizenship, echoing Donald Trump's racist "birther" theory.
African-American voters were also aware of the well-documented claims that Roy Moore sexually abused teenage girls, and they undoubtedly heard his bigoted remarks against Muslims and Jews. Black Alabamians turned out in impressive numbers to save the country from the scourge of a Sen. Roy Moore, and they undoubtedly did so for a number of reasons.
Thank you.
The Poor Vote
Barkley is also right when he says this vote is a "wake-up call" for Democrats. They will not always have the good fortune to run against a candidate who reaches Moore's staggering levels of venality, ineptitude, and moral perversion.
Barkley's meaning couldn't have been clearer: Democrats can't take black voters, or poor voters of any race, for granted. They must offer concrete policies to improve their lives. There's not much time to waste, either, either in Alabama or nationwide.
More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, according to the Census Bureau. The U.S. has a higher rate of poverty than any other Western, developed country. And Philip Alston, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, recently told a reporter that Alabama's sewage disposal conditions were the worst he'd seen in a developed country. As AL.com reported:
On Thursday, Alston visited communities in the Black Belt's Butler and Lowndes counties, where residents often fall ill with ailments like E. Coli and hookworm - a disease of extreme poverty long eradicated in most parts of the U.S. - in part because they do not have consistently reliable access to clean drinking water that has not been tainted by raw sewage and other contaminants.
Jones carried that part of the state decisively. But how long can Democrats count on being rescued by the very people our government is failing?
Suburban Surprise
Interestingly, Alabama's GOP-friendly suburbs also went for Jones. Is that a sign of their growing discontent with Donald Trump, or was it a one-time effect -- the result of Moore's views, which are extreme even by Republican standards, and the impact of the stories of his sexual predation on family voters in these areas?
It's too early to know for sure, but Democrats shouldn't rush to assume this is a sign of victories to come. Some of them did anyway.
Throwing an Elbow
And yet, despite Barkley's clarity, a few short minutes later Democratic politician Bakari Sellers offered a completely different interpretation of his words. Sellers insisted that he and Barkley were friends, affirmed the former athlete "spoke the gospel," and added that he wanted to shout "amen" as Barkley spoke. But then Sellers said:
You have, you know, the Bernie Sanders, the Elizabeth Warrens, Joe Biden who are focusing specifically on the Trump-Obama voters and white working class voters, saying bring them back into the fold. There's a group of us who think we need to make sure that we're speaking to the base and giving them a reason to come out, because the country's getting browner and the way to electoral victories is through that.
That's a gross mischaracterization of Sanders, Warren, and Biden. None of them are "focusing specifically" on Trump-Obama voters or white working-class voters. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Democratic Party's progressive wing has taken the lead in addressing the social issues that plague black and brown Americans, as well as the economic issues that are hurting middle-and lower-income people of all races.
If any faction of the party places too much emphasis on Trump-Obama voters, it's the so-called Blue Dog Democrats who lean right on economic issues ranging from the minimum wage to Wall Street reform. They consider the Sanders/Warren wing of the party their nemesis - and they're right.
The Left Side of the Road
Sellers had already taken a swipe at the party's progressive faction earlier in the CNN broadcast, when he said, "What Doug Jones showed tonight is that there's a wing in the party that wants a litmus test. And Doug Jones doesn't fit anybody's litmus test."
That's not entirely accurate. Jones did say that he won because he was "center of the road," but that's a ritual disclaimer for any red state politician. While he wouldn't represent the leftmost wing of the party in Vermont or California, Doug Jones is quite progressive for a Southern Democrat.
His website includes this declaration, for example, which comes straight out of Bernie Sanders' platform: "Health care is a right, not a privilege limited to the wealthy and those with jobs that provide coverage." It celebrates the New Deal's impact on Alabama, while touting Jones's support for the Lily Ledbetter Act and a higher minimum wage.
Sellers appears to be defending his own faction within the party, but he does a disservice to progressives - and to Charles Barkley - in the process.
Waving Goodbye
But Sellers isn't the only professional Democrat to read this election result incorrectly. "The recriminations have been tough and stupid," says longtime Democratic operative Robert Shrum, "(and) the Bernie Sanders people arguing with the Hillary people has been counterproductive. Jones sends a powerful signal not to do that."
Does he? Jones' victory was by a far narrower margin than it should have been, because the national party has neglected states like Alabama for years. Part of the intraparty struggle that Shrum dismisses is a struggle to ensure that the party fights for all voters, in all states, with policies that will appeal to precisely the kind of white/black alliance Charles Barkley describes.
"We're looking at a wave election next year," says Shrum. But then, he has lost so many races that people sometimes talk about the Democrats' "Shrum curse."
Sadly, Shrum is far from the only party insider peddling bad advice to Democrats.
Double Negative
Writing for Fox News on the morning after Jones' victory, the serially incorrect Douglas Schoen asserts that if they want to win, "Democrats will need more than a message of resistance or opposition. They will need a centrist, pro-growth agenda of their own."
Schoen correctly notes on Alabama that "early indications from exit polling indicate deeply negative favorability and approval ratings for both major parties." This is also true at a national level, where Republicans are unpopular and support for Democrats recently fell to a 25-year low.
A reasonable person might conclude that these low approval numbers reflect a lack of faith in either party's ability to improve people's lives. But Schoen, like other veterans of the party's failed leadership, has yet to learn this lesson.
Insanity
Instead, Schoen proclaims Democrats will only "succeed in 2018'' if they implement an alternative governing strategy that is fundamentally different from what the most progressive voices in Washington are advocating."
That's exactly what Democrats have been doing for the last ten years. In the process, they've lost two thirds of state houses, two thirds of governorships, both houses of Congress, and the presidency. These failures were produced by 25 years of "centrist" leadership. They say that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
To hear these folks talk, you'd think they've been out of power for decades. But they've been in charge, and they're the ones who got us into this mess. Sure, they might win the day in 2018 or 2020 - but only if Republicans cooperate by running a slate comprised entirely of proslavery advocates and accused child molesters. Otherwise, Democrats better be prepared to learn how to win.
One thing's for sure: These aren't the people who can teach them.
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It's Not Just Scandal: Moore Lost In Alabama Because The GOP Agenda Is Toxically Unpopular
Republicans are now in trouble everywhere.
Dec 13, 2017
The easy thing for Republicans to tell themselves after the stinging loss of a Senate seat in Alabama is that they only went down to defeat because the party had the misfortune to nominate someone accused of preying on teenage girls.
And there is something to that. But the Republican Party nominated a man accused of sexual misconduct to run for president in 2016, and that didn't stop him from winning 62 percent of the vote in Alabama. Donald Trump didn't just win Alabama a year ago -- he won by a larger margin than Mitt Romney, John McCain, or George W. Bush. So while it's undoubtedly true that the allegations played a role in the race, they hardly work as a comprehensive explanation of the outcome.
The larger issue is that the Republican Party is led by an unpopular president and unpopular congressional leaders who are pursuing an unpopular agenda, and it's putting them in massive electoral peril.
Republicans have been ignoring warning signs all year
It is entirely normal for the party that occupies the White House to lose ground down ballot during midterm elections. That said, the GOP's results in 2017 have really been quite bad:
- Across about 65 special elections for House and state legislature, Democratic candidates have run 9 points ahead of Hillary Clinton on average.
- Republicans lost the governors' mansions in Virginia and New Jersey last month, while losing ground in both state legislatures.
- Trump's net approval rating is lower today than it was for any previous president on record at this point in his term, and, remarkably, that's been true for every day of his presidency.
- The Republican tax bill is less popular than any previously passed tax bill.
- Polling on all the different health care bills the GOP has tried and failed to advance has been dismal.
- Democrats are currently 10 points ahead in generic congressional balloting, which would be enough to win the House despite significant gerrymandering.
Republicans in Washington are aware of all these facts, but seem, strangely, a bit indifferent to them. The experience of watching Trump -- whom they all expected to lose as late as 7 o'clock on the evening of the 2016 election -- triumphing against the odds has them dazzled. And the fact that in office, Trump, despite considerable speculation that he wouldn't, has pursued a very orthodox Republican Party agenda has them pleased.
At the nexus of these two factors, they've decided to bank as many policy wins as they can and then hope to hit a stroke of good luck.
Republicans in Washington are aware of all these facts, but seem, strangely, a bit indifferent to them. The experience of watching Trump -- whom they all expected to lose as late as 7 o'clock on the evening of the 2016 election -- triumphing against the odds has them dazzled. And the fact that in office, Trump, despite considerable speculation that he wouldn't, has pursued a very orthodox Republican Party agenda has them pleased.
At the nexus of these two factors, they've decided to bank as many policy wins as they can and then hope to hit a stroke of good luck.
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After Black Voters Drive Historic Win for Doug Jones in Alabama, Demand Grows for Policies That 'Do More' To Serve Them
"Doug Jones and the grassroots who powered him to victory showed us a path out of the darkness of 2016 and gave us an ideal boost of momentum as we work to take back Congress in 2018."
Dec 13, 2017
Preliminary exit polls show that black voters in Alabama were vital to Senator-elect Doug Jones's victory over his Republican challenger Roy Moore on Tuesday night--but alongside a flood of praise and gratitude for the people of color who "saved" the U.S. Senate seat from a right-winger accused of child molestation came calls for delivering policies and societal progress to the voters in heavily black counties who turned out en masse for Jones.
Polling by Edison Research for the National Election Pool, The Washington Post, and other media organizations revealed that 93 percent of black men and 98 percent of black women voted for Jones, compared with 26 percent of white men and 34 percent of white women.
While poll results generated an outpouring of appreciation for black voters, and particularly black women--who "carry this nation on their backs" by "saving the world and the Democratic Party"--the social media frenzy in turn provoked demands to recognize that black voters were casting ballots in their own interest, and as activist Bree Newsome noted, "protecting themselves by pushing back against systemic racism within their state."
Calls for recognizing black voters' abilities to discern what was at stake with this special election were coupled with declarations that, as Charlene Carruthers, national director of Black Youth Project 100 put it, "No amount of verbal appreciation will do us justice." Instead of mere thanks, many used the moment to urge those who were celebrating Jones's win to "do more" to support and serve black Americans.
Trust Black women enough to donate to our campaigns, support our organizations and get out the way so we can win.
-- Charlene Carruthers (@CharleneCac) December 13, 2017
"Doug Jones would not have won today without the turnout we saw from African-American voters," Symone D. Sanders, a Democratic strategist, told Newsweek. "Black women have been absolutely clear in their support for Democratic policies and Democratic candidates. It's high time for Democrats ... to invest in that effort."
Sanders acknowledged the impact that grassroots organizing had on bringing black voters to the ballot box while also emphasizing that if Democrats want see similar victories 2018 midterms, they can't count solely count on black women. That "black women have been attempting to save America since the dawn of time," she added, "doesn't mean we should allow the fate of America to be laid at the feet of black women--it has to be a multicultural effort."
"By building a campaign that delivered unprecedented turnout from the new American majority and especially among black women, Doug Jones and the grassroots who powered him to victory showed us a path out of the darkness of 2016 and gave us an ideal boost of momentum as we work to take back Congress in 2018," said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America.
Praise for black voter mobilization efforts, and the overall organizing effort, also came from Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, who tweeted:
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As Final Tax Scam Vote Looms, Demands for McConnell to Seat Doug Jones 'Immediately'
"Alabama voters deserve to have their voices heard in this fight."
Dec 13, 2017
After "bigotry and hatred were defeated at the polls" in Alabama on Tuesday, progressives turned their sights toward defeating the GOP's attempt to deliver a trillion-dollar tax cut to the wealthy, demanding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) "immediately" seat newly elected Sen. Doug Jones before a final vote on the Republican tax bill.
"Doug Jones should be seated immediately--before we vote again on the tax bill."
-- Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), said in a statement late Tuesday that Jones's victory represents a repudiation of "the Trump-GOP agenda" and implored Republicans to "re-evaluate their support for the monstrous tax bill that will rip healthcare away from millions while raising taxes on middle class families."
"The Senate should slow the process down and allow the nation's newest senator to have a vote on this legislation that will affect the next generation," Clemente concluded. "It would be inappropriate for massive legislation rewriting the nation's tax code to be decided by a lame-duck senator who was just voted out of office."
ATF's call was echoed by several Democratic lawmakers Tuesday night--demands that came just hours after McConnell made clear that he has no intention of seating the winner of Alabama's special election until next year.
Senate Republicans would be left with just one vote to spare in their push for massive corporate tax cuts if Jones were to be sworn in ahead of a final vote.
In a tweet late Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on McConnell to "listen to the people of Alabama and seat Doug Jones without any delay."
"Doug Jones should be seated immediately--before we vote again on the tax bill," added Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). "Alabama voters deserve to have their voices heard in this fight."
On Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will hold a press event to demand that Republicans delay a final vote on their tax bill until after Jones is seated.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) also weighed in:
Moore's loss in the race to fill the seat left vacant by Attorney General Jeff Sessions was a "humiliating" blow to President Donald Trump, alt-right provocateur Steve Bannon, and the national Republican Party, which ended up backing Moore after withdrawing support early in November.
Now that a Democrat is set to fill a Senate seat Republicans once viewed as securely theirs, the GOP is likely to move even more aggressively to get their tax bill to Trump's desk as soon as possible, notes Vox's Dylan Matthews.
"The GOP will now focus obsessively on passing their tax scam bill before Doug Jones is sworn in. It's up to the rest of us to focus just as obsessively on stopping them."
--Ben Wikler, MoveOn.org
"The tax bill has so far relied on speed and the GOP's desperate desire for a 'win,'" Matthews writes. "That could still carry the plan through. If Republican leaders have their way, they won't wait around for Jones to become a senator or for [Maine Sen. Susan] Collins to have a change of heart. They're trying to send a tax overhaul to Trump's desk in less than a week's time. Just in case."
Ben Wikler of MoveOn.org highlighted this fact Monday morning and urged the tax bill's opponents to be prepared.
"The GOP will now focus obsessively on passing their tax scam bill before Doug Jones is sworn in," Wikler concluded. "It's up to the rest of us to focus just as obsessively on stopping them."
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Trump, Bannon, and Roy Moore Rebuked as Doug Jones Claims Victory in Alabama
"A crushing blow to [president's] agenda of bigotry, hate, and division... and a powerful reminder that progressives can win anywhere and everywhere if we stand up for an inclusive populist political agenda."
Dec 12, 2017
In a striking repudiation of President Donald Trump, his former top strategist Steve Bannon--and, of course, Republican candidate Roy Moore himself--Democratic candidate Doug Jones claimed victory Tuesday night in Alabama's hotly contested special election for the state's open U.S. Senate seat.
"I have said throughout this campaign that I thought that Dec. 12 was going to be a historic day," Jones declared in his victory speech to cheering room of supporters. "We have shown the country the way that we can be unified."
"This historic win is more than just a crushing blow to Donald Trump's agenda of bigotry, hate, and division. It's also a powerful reminder that progressives can win anywhere and everywhere if we stand up for an inclusive populist political agenda and build campaigns that welcome, energize, and mobilize the new American majority of Black, brown, and progressive white voters." --Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for AmericaDespite Moore's history of bigotry, outlandish religious extremism, and the credible accounts of sexual misconduct and assault levied against him by multiple women--both Trump and Bannon had campaigned aggressively on his behalf and said getting him to the Senate was vital for the president and the GOP in Congress to carry out their agenda.
Networks began calling the race for Jones shortly after 10 PM local time after it was clear that high voter turnout in key areas was the key in delivering a rare victory for a Democrat in a state that leans heavily Republican. But even with 100 percent of precincts reporting--with Jones winning 49.9 percent and Moore at 48.4 percent--as of this writing, Moore was still refusing to concede his defeat.
But as Jones was calling for a night of celebration and thanking his supporters, Trump's most ardent backers and the GOP establishment didn't wait to start pointing figures at one another, as Sean Hannity immediately said Senate Majority Mitch McConnell "deserves a lot of the blame" for Moore's loss while a former aid to McConnell blasted Bannon "for showing [Republicans] how to lose the reddest state in the Union."
Democrats, however, wanted to make sure it was on the record that it was the entirety of the Republican Party apparatus that ultimately backed Moore:
Meanwhile, the takeaway being offered by many progressives was that Jones' win proves the base of support for Trump, and the political strategy espoused by Bannon, is not only flawed but seriously vulnerable:
Former NBA star and Alabama native Charles Barkley, who had campaigned hard for Jones in the days leading up to the election, suggested the victory is not so much a rebuke of Trump, but said it should be "a wake-up call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people." Watch:
And Barkley wasn't alone in sharing that sentiment and numerous voices acknowledged the importance of black turnout and coalition building in Tuesday's victory.
"Make no mistake, this is a victory for the 50 state strategy, and it's a victory led by the new American majority," said Democracy for America's executive director, Charles Chamberlain, in an email Tuesday night. "Black, brown, and millennial voters--and Black women in particular--turned out in historic numbers to send a Democratic candidate to the Senate from Alabama for the first time since 1992."
"This historic win is more than just a crushing blow to Donald Trump's agenda of bigotry, hate, and division," Chamberlain continued. "It's also a powerful reminder that progressives can win anywhere and everywhere if we stand up for an inclusive populist political agenda and build campaigns that welcome, energize, and mobilize the new American majority of Black, brown, and progressive white voters."
And as the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said in a statement, "This shows what happens when Democrats compete everywhere."
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