Democracy hangs in the balance
The Supreme Court released two decisions on voting rights today, one a temporary reprieve from the racism of Trump’s administration, the other a body blow to democracy:
- Census citizenship question: The justices temporarily struck down the Trump administration’s racist citizenship question on the 2020 census, which was designed to target immigrants and suppress the counting of people of color, distorting virtually everything the federal government does. This is of course just one plank in the widespread GOP attempts to corrupt our democracy for their own benefit.
- Partisan gerrymandering: In a 5-4 decision, the conservative justices of the Court ruled that federal courts cannot intervene to stop partisan gerrymandering—a major blow to ensuring that every American is represented equally. Republicans notoriously use gerrymandering to make it nearly impossible for many of them to be voted out of office, often by targeting minority voting rights. If you need proof, just take a look at the 2018 midterms. It is now up to Congress and state legislatures to enact new policies to end partisan gerrymandering.
Imagine a president who cared about helping American families…
Last night’s first #DemDebate was a whirlwind of proposals and ideas to tackle the issues American families face every day.
Watch and share this roundup of the key moments from last night on Facebook and Twitter—and imagine what it would be like to have a president who wanted to make these ideas a reality:
The candidates addressed issues that impact American families every day:
- Economy: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) asked a key question: “Who is this economy really working for?” Warren addressed the need for an economy that works for everyone—not just the rich and powerful.
- Climate change: Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) addressed the urgent need to take action on the climate crisis and rebuked Trump, laying out a vision for a clean energy economy that creates millions of good-paying jobs.
- Reproductive rights: Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro (D-TX) condemned attacks on a person’s right to choose and promised to appoint federal judges who respect the precedent of Roe v. Wade.
- Foreign policy: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) blasted Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and his reckless foreign-policy-by-tweet antics: “This president is literally, every single day, 10 minutes away from going to war. One tweet away from going to war. I don’t think we should conduct foreign policy in our bathrobe at five in the morning.”
- Immigration: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) strongly condemned the treatment of immigrants at our southern border and promised to both reinstate DACA and provide pathways to citizenship for DACA recipients and other immigrants.
- Raise the minimum wage: Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NY) used his work in New York City as proof of the need for a $15 minimum wage in order to help more Americans make ends meet.
- Equal Pay: Secretary Castro pledged to pursue legislation to close the pay gap and ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
- LGBTQ+ protections: Sen. Booker highlighted the discrimination and violence that the LGBTQ+ community still faces in America and urged strong action: “We need to have a president that will fight to protect LGBTQ Americans every single day.”
- Manufacturing jobs: Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) slammed Trump’s broken promises to protect American manufacturing jobs, citing the General Motors plant closure in Lordstown, Ohio, even after the company received a massive tax cut from Trump’s tax bill.