Bill Moyers and Steven Harper | The Trump-Russia Story Is Coming Together. Here's How to Make Sense of It

23 November 17 AM

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Bill Moyers and Steven Harper | The Trump-Russia Story Is Coming Together. Here's How to Make Sense of It 

Bill Moyers and Steven Harper, Moyers & Company
Excerpt: "The news is coming so fast and furious, from so many sources and in so many fragments, that it takes more than a scorecard to keep up with the Trump-Russia Connection."
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President Trump and Accusations of Sexual Misconduct: The Complete List
Meg Kelly, The Washington Post
Kelly writes: "Many of the women have produced witnesses who say they heard about these incidents when they happened - long before Trump's political aspirations were known. Three have produced at least two witnesses."
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Web of Secret Money Hides One Mega-Donor Funding Conservative Court
Robert Maguire, McClatchy DC
Maguire writes: "When a small nonprofit called the Judicial Crisis Network poured millions into a campaign to stop the Senate from confirming Barack Obama's Supreme Court pick last year, and then spent millions more supporting President Donald Trump's choice for the same seat, political observers assumed conservatives from around the country were showering the group with donations. Not so."
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Sexual Harassment Doesn't Just Happen to Actors or Journalists. Talk to a Waitress, or a Cleaner
Alissa Quart and Barbara Ehrenreich, Guardian UK
Excerpt: "There are far too many think pieces about high-level actresses and far too few about the waitress at your local diner."
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House Republicans Have a Little-Known Plan to Raise Taxes on Teachers by $2 Billion
Heather Long, The Washington Post
Long writes: "The House GOP tax bill would scrap that educator deduction entirely."
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Immigrants Who Followed the Rules Are Set to Be Deported After Thanksgiving
Esther Yu Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress
Hsi Lee writes: "ICE agents told Liany Villacis that her father may be deported to Ecuador, his home country, within two weeks. Meanwhile, the agency gave her mother Liany Guerrero Lopez, who has the same first name, until January 15, 2018 to voluntarily leave the country or risk deportation. If deported, she would be sent to her home country of Colombia."
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Suburbanites Report Being Menaced by Turkeys
Karin Brulliard, The Washington Post
Brulliard writes: "Wild turkeys are causing troubles across the American suburbs."
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RSN: Naomi Klein: Trump Is the First Fully Commercialized Global Brand to Serve as US President

15 June 17 AM

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OFF THAT COUCH AND HELP OUT … YES YOU! We have overwhelming numbers in our favor. What we need “you” to say is, “yes me.” I’ll be the one. It’s never fair, it’s never ideal or perfect. The only way to make it work is reject failure and take responsibility. Yes you. Who is better suited? / Marc Ash, Founder Reader Supported News

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Naomi Klein: Trump Is the First Fully Commercialized Global Brand to Serve as US President 
 
Democracy Now! 
Excerpt: "There have been presidents with business interests before. But there has never been a fully commercialized global brand as a sitting U.S. president. That is unprecedented." 
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Mueller Starts Investigating Trump for Possible Obstruction of Justice, Officials Say 
Devlin Barrett, Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima and Sari Horwitz, The Washington Post 
Excerpt: "The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice." 
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Shaun King | Blaming Bernie Sanders or Progressives for Congressional Baseball Shooting Is Preposterous 
Shaun King, New York Daily News 
King writes: "In today's gotcha culture, thousands of statements are now being tweeted blaming Bernie, blaming progressives, blaming the Democratic Party, blaming the Julius Caesar play, blaming everything and everybody imaginable for this shooting. Just moments ago I saw some fool online saying 'Shaun King has blood on his hands.'" 
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Tax Evaders Exposed: Why the Super-Rich Are Even Richer Than We Thought 
Annette Alstadsæter, Niels Johannesen and Gabriel Zucman, Guardian UK 
Excerpt: "Recent leaks from tax havens suggest the gap between the rich and the rest is even wider than we think." 
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Trump Administration Quietly Rolls Back Civil Rights Efforts Across Federal Government 
Jessica Huseman and Annie Waldman, ProPublica 
Excerpt: "For decades, the Department of Justice has used court-enforced agreements to protect civil rights, successfully desegregating school systems, reforming police departments, ensuring access for the disabled and defending the religious. Now, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the DOJ appears to be turning away from this storied tool, called consent decrees." 
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ICE Director: Every Single Undocumented Immigrant in America Should Be 'Worried' 
Carla Javier, Fusion 
Javier writes: "Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan praised ICE officers and said undocumented immigrants should be 'uncomfortable' during a Tuesday House Appropriations Committee meeting on 'Immigration & Customs Enforcement and Customs & Border Protection Budget.'" 
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Environmental Groups Sue EPA for Failing to Protect Farmworkers From Pesticide Exposure 
Esther Yu Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress 
Lee writes: "Health and farmworker organizations filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for postponing a decision to protect farmworkers from exposure to restricted-use pesticides such as chlorpyrifos - a controversial pesticide linked to serious health issues." 
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Progressive Breakfast: Attention, Democrats: Voters Want More Government, Not Less

MORNING MESSAGE

Richard Eskow

Attention, Democrats: Voters Want More Government, Not Less

A recent poll finds a record number of Americans say the government should do more — not less — to solve the nation's problems. That's the highest it's been since the question was first asked, and we should all take note. Contrary to conventional Democratic wisdom, this suggests that moving to the left may not lose “persuadable” voters at all. They may be more responsive to a well-framed agenda based on an expanded role for government than they would to a 'split the difference' centrist approach - one that would also depress turnout among the Democratic base.

House Rushes to Vote on Health Care

GOP leaders confident they have votes but acknowledge the tally will be very close. Politico:

“Republican leaders have called a vote on a plan to replace the health care law, signaling surging confidence that they’re on the cusp of earning enough support to pass it…. About 18 Republican lawmakers are publicly opposed to the GOP plan, leaving leaders room for only a handful of additional defections.”

GOP wants vote on health care bill before you find out what’s in it. HuffPost:

“House Republicans are eyeing a vote on hastily cobbled together legislation to repeal and “replace” the Affordable Care Act… despite the evident lack of enthusiasm among GOP lawmakers themselves, widespread opposition from the health care industry and patient groups, and still no Congressional Budget Office evaluation of just what this bill would actually do to the health care system…This is not how lawmakers legislate when they’re advancing a good policy. This is how they legislate when they’re afraid that the voters they represent will figure out the game and refuse to go along.”

Harvard study shows GOP health bill will raise costs, lower access. NYT:

“It would force many low-income families to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more for insurance — and most of them would likely respond by not buying insurance. The people who still buy plans would disproportionately be sick people, which would then cause costs to rise even higher.”

Rush to Repeal Labor Rules

Trump Scrambles to Repeal Labor Regulations Before Deadline. International Business Times:

“Under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), lawmakers have only a certain amount of time to repeal such regulations passed toward the end of the previous president’s term. In February, the House passed two bills — which invoked the CRA — to reverse Department of Labor regulations permitting cities and states to offer retirement accounts to workers whose employers do not already offer retirement benefits.”

House Passes Changes to Rules on Overtime Pay. Fortune:

“Democrats think the bill undercuts the Fair Labor Standards act. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) was one Democrat who vehemently spoke out against it, tweeting on Tuesday that the bill is a “disgrace.”

Trump to relax tax rules on churches endorsing candidates. NYT:

“President Trump on Thursday will ease restrictions on political activity by churches and charities, White House officials said, but has backed away from a broader religious liberty order that would have allowed faith-based organizations and companies to avoid serving or hiring gay people… He will also direct federal agencies to exempt some religious organizations from Affordable Care Act requirements that provide employees with health coverage for contraception.”

Deportation Two-Step

NJ’s Top Judge Asks ICE to Stop Arresting Immigrants at Courthouses. NJ.com:

“Rabner waded into a fight bubbling up at halls of justice across the country, where deportation officials are turning up at routine hearings to catch defendants, witnesses and in some cases victims of crimes who may have entered the country illegally.”

Senator Casey Live Tweets ICE Deportation of Toddler and Mother. Politico:

“This is outrageous. This is the United States of America. We send a five-year-old back to Honduras? And they call that homeland security? That’s outrageous. Absolutely outrageous,” Casey said in an interview… “They’ve just allowed ICE to run wild. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of constraint.”

More from OurFuture.org:

The Right Doesn’t Understand Protesters; Big Surprise. Bryce Oates:

“Maybe that’s something that Heritage and Trump don’t understand. Millions of Americans fundamentally disagree with them. We don’t believe that cutting taxes for the wealthy is smart policy. That’s because we live a very different reality, far from the so-called “intellectual” bubble of Washington think-tanks and lobbyists on the corporate payroll.”

Fighting to Save Healthcare on the Jersey Shore. Jody Stewart:

“Now I’m scared to death that Congress and President Trump will take away our health care the same way Superstorm Sandy took our homes and our security… The ACA and Medicare gave us peace of mind. But now our peace of mind is gone, killed by the Trump-Ryan health care repeal plan. I’m fighting back, though, for myself, my husband, and everyone in my community. I’ve spoken to TV reporters, newspaper reporters, congressman and senators, even gone out and waved signs, saying, ‘Please, no more chaos. We’ve had enough of that.'”

Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast and OurFuture.org are projects of People's Action.more »