It’s June, which means the Supreme Court is in the final stretch of its first term since Justice Anthony Kennedy gave his seat up for President Trump to fill. We will soon know what America looks like under a judiciary that’s been remade by a president that is actively lobbying the Supreme Court to permit racist voter suppression.
Indeed, the story of this term is likely to be a story about democracy — and the Supreme Court’s role in thwarting it. The court i...
politics
Rev. William Barber is on trial for trespassing over a health care protest he led 2 years ago
Rev. Dr. William Barber is on trial in North Carolina for leading a protest calling for Medicaid expansion in the state’s legislative building two years ago.
Barber, then-head of the state NAACP chapter and leader of the progressive grassroots movement “Moral Monday,” was arrested on May 30, 2017, after he led a group of more than 30 people to the legislative building in Raleigh to to discuss health care with lawmakers. Barber and others in the group were later cha...
Bernie Sanders brings the fight for a $15 minimum wage to Walmart’s shareholders meeting
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) brought his battle for a $15 minimum wage and workers’ rights to Walmart’s annual shareholders meeting in Arkansas on Wednesday.
The Walton family controls just over 50% of the company’s stock. They are the richest family in the United States. Sanders has called out the Walton’s refusal to raise wages for its workers, asserting that it is “outrageous that the Walton family makes more in one minute than a Walmart worker earns in a year.”
At the invit...
Biden still supports Hyde Amendment barring federal funding for abortion, campaign says
Last month, a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union cornered former Vice President Joe Biden on a rope line at a campaign event and pressed him for an answer to a simple question: Would he commit to repealing the Hyde Amendment?
As is often the case in spontaneous rope line interactions, Biden’s response was a bit meandering. Nevertheless, the takeaway from Biden’s exchange seemed clear. “It can’t stay,” he said, before quickly moving on to ...
Biden still supports Hyde Amendment barring federal funding for abortion, campaign says
Last month, a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union cornered former Vice President Joe Biden on a rope line at a campaign event and pressed him for an answer to a simple question: Would he commit to repealing the Hyde Amendment?
As is often the case in spontaneous rope line interactions, Biden’s response was a bit meandering. Nevertheless, the takeaway from Biden’s exchange seemed clear. “It can’t stay,” he said, before quickly moving on to ...
187 Republicans vote against the Dream and Promise Act
Eighteen years after the original Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, or DREAM Act, was introduced, the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed the Dream and Promise Act — a bill that would provide a path to citizenship for nearly 2.1 million immigrants brought to the United States by their parents as children.
The bill passed with a 237-187 vote. The vote was mostly along party lines, and only seven Republicans voted in favor of the bill.
What i...
The Religious Right holds a special day to pray ‘Trump’s enemies’ away
The National Day of Prayer is held on the first Thursday of May every year, which in 2019 fell on May 2.
But last week, Franklin Graham, Jr. called for Sunday, June 2, to be a “special Day of Prayer for the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump.”
In a statement on Facebook, Graham said, “President Trump’s enemies continue to try everything to destroy him, his family, and the presidency. In the history of our country, no president has been attacked ...
Navy acknowledges request to hide USS John S. McCain from Trump’s view
The U.S. Navy admitted that it received a request, presumably from White House aides, to hide the USS John S. McCain during President Donald Trump’s recent state visit to Japan.
But Rear Admiral Charlie Brown, chief of information, said in a statement released to NBC news on Saturday morning that although a request was received, Navy officials didn’t act on it, and insist nothing was done to obscure the battleship.
“A request was made to t...
Facing a close 2020 race, Martha McSally suddenly wants to defend John McCain’s honor
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), who was appointed to fill the vacant Senate seat of John McCain, is demanding an investigation to find out which administration official ordered the U.S.S. John S. McCain be hidden during the president’s visit to Japan last weekend. While this is far from the first slight by the Trump administration against the late senator, it is the first time Sen. Martha McSally has shown any interest in criticizing it.
The story, which might be a bigger scandal ...
Austin shows how cities in conservative states can move forward on climate action
AUSTIN, TEXAS — This month, the capital of Texas threw its support behind the Green New Deal resolution, a bold proposal that aims to tackle both climate change and social inequities in one fell swoop. In supporting the resolution, lawmakers and advocates hope Austin can lead the way for other cities in Republican-controlled states to chart their own path.
Turning the symbolism of supporting the Green New Deal into concrete action will take significant work, however, even as t...