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Sunday, June 14, 2020





JUNE 12, 2020

PROGRESSIVE OPINION AND NEWS

JUST THE FACTS, MA’AM. TODAY WILL BE A DAY OF LITTLE COMMENT AND LOTS OF NEWS. I APOLOGIZE, OR YOU MAY THANK ME, HOWEVER YOU HAPPEN TO FEEL ABOUT THAT. I WILL LINK THEM, EXPLAIN OR HEADLINE THEM ONLY.


SLASH THE PENTAGON BY 10%. I HAVEN’T HEARD HIM SAY THAT BEFORE, BUT IT IS LONG OVERDUE. THE WASTE INVOLVED IN THE MILITARY BUDGET HAS BEEN DISCUSSED IN CONGRESS AND THE PRESS FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. SEEING IT HAPPEN? MAYBE IT’S LIKE THE FAIRIES. UNTIL YOU BELIEVE IN THEM, YOU CAN’T SEE THEM.

Published on
Friday, June 12, 2020
byCommon Dreams
Sanders Proposes Slashing Pentagon Budget by 10% to Reinvest Funds in Communities 'Devastated by Poverty and Incarceration'
Instead of spending $740 billion on the Department of Defense, said the Vermont senator, the United States should reinvest in "cities and towns that we've neglected and abandoned for far too long."
byJake Johnson, staff writer

PHOTOGRAPH -- This picture taken 26 December 2011 shows the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Staff/AFP via Getty Images)

Sen. Bernie Sanders is planning to introduce an amendment in the coming days to slash the Pentagon budget by 10% and redirect that money toward healthcare, housing, and education funding for U.S. communities ravaged by poverty and mass incarceration.

"Instead of spending $740 billion on the Dept. of Defense, let's rebuild communities at home devastated by poverty and incarceration," the Vermont senator tweeted Friday. "I'll be filing an amendment to cut the DoD by 10% and reinvest that money in cities and towns that we've neglected and abandoned for far too long."


Bernie Sanders
@BernieSanders
Instead of spending $740 billion on the Dept. of Defense, let's rebuild communities at home devastated by poverty and incarceration. I'll be filing an amendment to cut the DoD by 10% and reinvest that money in cities and towns that we've neglected and abandoned for far too long.

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The Sanders amendment, which is still being crafted, will seek to impose a $74 billion cut on the $740.5 billion military budget proposed by the Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2021. The sprawling annual defense policy bill passed the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 25-2.

The NDAA is expected to reach the Senate floor the week of June 22.

Politico reported Thursday that the bill in its current form authorizes "$636.4 billion for the base Pentagon budget, $69 billion for overseas operations, and $25.9 billion for national security programs under the Energy Department"—e.g., nuclear weapons programs.

"The bill includes $9.1 billion to buy 95 F-35 fighters—60 Air Force F-35As, 12 Marine F-35Bs and 23 carrier-based F-35C variants—or 14 more than requested," Politico reported. "It also prohibits the Air Force from retiring the A-10 and from divesting older KC-10 and KC-135 tankers until technical issues with the new KC-46 are fixed."

The United States is projected to spend close to $660 billion on non-defense discretionary programs in fiscal year 2021—around $80 billion less than the defense budget proposed by the Senate NDAA. If Sanders' amendment is added to the bill, the U.S. would instead spend more on non-defense discretionary programs—which encompass education, the environment, housing, healthcare, and other areas—than on defense.

Sanders is not the only member of Congress pushing for substantial cuts to the military budget and more funding for healthcare and other domestic priorities. As Common Dreams reported last month, a group of 29 House Democrats demanded a substantial reduction of the Pentagon budget and reinvestment of those funds into the fight against Covid-19.

"Year after year, the Pentagon budget has inflated to historic levels while the vital needs of everyday people are left unmet," Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said in a statement. "The Covid pandemic has laid bare how America has failed to make its budgets reflect the real needs of our everyday families. It's long past time that we address our bloated military budget and retarget resources towards policies and programs that matter the most for keeping us safe, healthy, and secure."

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TWO RELATED ARTICLES FROM COMMON DREAMS ON CLIMATE ISSUES

Published on
Friday, June 12, 2020
byCommon Dreams
Research Shows 'Linking Climate Policy to Social and Economic Justice Makes It More Popular'
"The public wants a Green New Deal. The public wants green stimulus. The public wants to address inequality."
byJessica Corbett, staff writer

PHOTOGRAPH -- Sunrise NYC, a climate activist group, rallies in front of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office in Midtown Manhattan demanding that he support the Green New Deal. (Photo: Gabriele Holtermann-Gorden/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Amid persistent calls for a green and just recovery from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests against systemic racism and injustice, researchers on Friday detailed recent studies showing "policy packages that address the climate crisis alongside income inequality, racial injustice, and the economic crisis are more popular among voters."

The protests sparked by Minneapolis police killing George Floyd have renewed pressure on all levels of government to pursue racial justice—and not just in terms of police violence against historically marginalized groups, particularly black Americans, but also when it comes to economic and environmental injustice.

In their piece for the Washington Post, the three researchers acknowledge the current slate of urgent crises facing the country and how these crises are linked to racial inequality before detailing the results of two nationally representative public opinion studies they conducted over the past year. "The take-home message is clear," the researchers write. "Linking climate policy with social and economic reforms makes climate action more popular with the public."


Parrish Bergquist
@ParrishB
Our country faces linked crises, and the public supports addressing these crises together. My research with @leahstokes and @mmildenberger: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/12/protesters-want-justice-including-social-economic-climate-demands/ …

Analysis | Protesters want justice — including on social, economic and climate demands
Our surveys suggest the public supports green stimulus plans.
washingtonpost.com
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One example of this policymaking approach that the researchers highlight is the Green New Deal resolution introduced in February 2019 by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). The resolution calls for tackling "the existential threat posed by climate change" through a 10-year shift to 100% clean energy that ensures a just transition for workers and frontline communities, in part by creating millions of new, well-paying jobs.

The researchers behind the studies and Post piece are Parrish Bergquist—a postdoctoral researcher at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and an incoming assistant professor of public policy at Georgetown University—along with Matto Mildenberger and Leah Stokes, who are both assistant professors of political science at the University of California at Santa Barbara and have each published books on climate policymaking.

In a tweet about the Post piece Friday, Stokes reiterated their finding that "linking climate policy to social and economic justice makes it more popular" and drew attention to the resolution from Ocasio-Cortez and Markey, writing that it turns out they "had a really popular idea when they proposed the Green New Deal."


Leah Stokes
@leahstokes
The public wants a Green New Deal.
The public wants green stimulus.
The public wants to address inequality.

How do I know? We asked them. The question is: will Congress listen?
My latest with @ParrishB + @mmildenberger in @washingtonpost. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/06/12/protesters-want-justice-including-social-economic-climate-demands/ …
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The first study—detailed in a peer-reviewed, open access paper published last month in Environmental Research Letters—surveyed 2,476 Americans online last summer. Some respondents reviewed climate packages that included social or economic programs while others reviewed packages with only climate policies.

"We found unambiguous evidence that Americans support the key idea behind the Green New Deal: addressing climate change alongside economic and social problems," the researchers write in the Post. As they explain:

“Compared with a policy package with only climate reforms, including economic policies such as a jobs guarantee, unionized clean energy jobs, and retraining for fossil fuel workers increased support for the package by an average of 12 percentage points. While Democrats in our survey viewed these policies more favorably, including economic measures in a climate package does not drive Republicans away.

We found similar results when we added some social policy planks, such as affordable housing and a $15 minimum wage. The social policies we tested increased support for a climate policy package by an average of 11 percentage points. That said, some social policies—such as universal, government-run health insurance and free college—increased the package's overall popularity but decreased Republican support.”

The second study, conducted last month, surveyed 1,049 Americans to determine the popularity of including climate policies in the stimulus packages necessitated by the ongoing pandemic. Similar to the first study, the researchers found "packages that invest in clean energy and transportation are more popular than coronavirus spending that ignores the climate crisis."

"In our survey, including investments in wind and solar increases support by 8.5 percentage points, making it one of the most popular policy planks that we tested. While clean energy investments are mostly popular among Democrats, including them does not decrease Republican support," they write. "Yet, so far, Congress has not focused on green stimulus."

The researches note that "the climate crisis will not take a break during the pandemic" and "climate impacts will fall disproportionately on communities of color, including black Americans—the same groups who are already hit hardest by the Covid-19 crisis, unemployment, and police brutality."

Given the popularity of pairing urgently needed climate action with policies that address inequality, racial injustice, and the economic crisis, the researchers conclude that "in the future, we might find Congress taking this approach."

The piece comes about a week after the DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis put out a Democratic Party platform recommendation—directed at presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden—calling for a national plan through 2050 that is "informed by the vision and aspirations of the Green New Deal."

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Published on
Thursday, June 04, 2020
byCommon Dreams
'The Planet Is at Stake': DNC Panel Pushes Biden to Back $16 Trillion Plan to Fight Climate Crisis
"Trump's going to call Biden a lefty no matter what, right? So let's energize our base, let's energize the middle. Let's do what's right."
byJake Johnson, staff writer

PHOTOGRAPH -- Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Philadelphia City Hall on June 2, 2020. (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

A DNC panel composed of progressive environmentalists and several allies of Sen. Bernie Sanders is urging presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to commit to spending up to $16 trillion over the next decade to combat the climate crisis and put the U.S. on track for near-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

INSERT -- "These platform recommendations would be the most ambitious policies addressing the climate crisis ever adopted by the Democratic Party."
—Michelle Deatrick, DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis

On Thursday, the 12-member DNC Council on the Environment and Climate Crisis unveiled a 14-page (pdf) Democratic Party platform recommendation calling for "urgent action on the climate and environmental emergencies" that centers the needs of frontline communities and ensures a just transition away from fossil fuels.

"Our platform provides a blueprint for ambitious action to fight the climate crisis and advance climate and environmental justice," Michelle Deatrick, chair of the DNC Climate Council, said in a statement. "There's dwindling time for us to act before devastating damage to our planet, country and people is inevitable and irreversible."

"These policies center environmental justice for frontline and vulnerable communities, urgent climate action, and worker empowerment," said Deatrick, who served as Michigan co-chair for Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. "These platform recommendations would be the most ambitious policies addressing the climate crisis ever adopted by the Democratic Party."

The committee is calling for the immediate development of "a national climate and environment action plan through 2050, informed by the vision and aspirations of the Green New Deal and aligned with these aggressive, necessary emissions and energy generation goals."

The panel specifically urges Biden and the DNC to adopt a platform that supports:

Transitioning the U.S. to 100% renewable energy in electricity, transportation, and buildings by 2030;
Permanently banning fracking nationwide;
Rescinding the Trump administration's rollbacks of environmental regulations;
Establishing a Just Transition Task Force to support the workers and communities that are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis;
Ending federal funding for fossil fuel projects at home and overseas;
Banning crude oil exports; and
Ensuring "massive investments" in clean infrastructure projects to create millions of jobs.

"These recommendations result from diverse expertise and experience of its contributors, and they can help shape the policies of the new administration to address the environmental and climate action needed to create a sustainable nation," said Peggy Shepard, a member of the panel and executive director of advocacy group WE ACT for Environmental Justice. "This moment requires us to increase our resilience and commitment to dismantling the systemic, racial, social justice, and income inequalities that plague this country."

The committee said it now plans to push for the full adoption of its policy recommendations at the Democratic National Convention in August.

"We urge the DNC to adopt our recommendations, and will be campaigning hard to ensure they do," said Deatrick. "Now more than ever, the Democratic Party must show it is serious about doing the hard work of combating the climate crisis."


DNC Environment and Climate Council
@DNCClimate
Our new policies are a significant step toward tackling climate change & advancing environmental justice. https://www.dncclimate.org/the-platform

EMBEDDED ARTICLE -- Our Platform Recommendations
A comprehensive set of climate and environmental policies for the 2020 Democratic Party Platform
dncclimate.org
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The platform recommended by the DNC panel is far more ambitious than the $2 trillion climate plan Biden put forth during the 2020 Democratic primary, and environmentalists have been pushing the former vice president to move closer to Sanders' sweeping Green New Deal proposal.

Deatrick told Politico that a bold climate platform is both necessary for the planet and good politics for Biden and the Democratic Party, given that the climate crisis is "one of the top two issues for Democrats and a lot of independents."

"Trump's going to call Biden a lefty no matter what, right?" said Deatrick. "So let's energize our base, let's energize the middle. Let's do what's right because the planet is at stake."

Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.



VIDEO -- BRIAHNA JOY GRAY, WHO IS A JOY TO LOOK AT IN MY VIEW, SPEAKS TO THE PRESS.

RED AND BLUE
Former Bernie Sanders press secretary discusses police reform and what reform looks like
George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, went before a congressional committee on police brutality and delivered an emotional opening statement advocating for reform. Former Bernie Sanders National Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray joins the CBSN special, "Red & Blue: State of Our Union," to discuss police reform and what next steps look like to enact such changes.
JUN 10, 2020



THE ISSUE HERE IS JUST LIKE THE ISSUE OF CLIMATE JUSTICE. CHEMICAL REFUSE IS DUMPED ON AMERICAN INDIAN LAND, FLINT MICHIGAN WHICH HAS DANGEROUS WATER IS A PRIMARILY BLACK CITY. AS FOR BEING JAILED FOR POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA, ESPECIALLY WITHOUT THE MEANS OF PAYING FOR BAIL, PEOPLE OF DARKER SKIN COLORS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BECOME THE DETAINEES. I DO WISH THAT WHEN WE LIBS / PROGRESSIVES SAY SUCH THINGS IT WOULD BE “JUST ANOTHER HOAX.”

Bernie Sanders And Cory Booker Talk Racial Injustices Of Marijuana Criminalization At Virtual Town Hall
Published 14 hours ago on June 12, 2020
By Kyle Jaeger

PHOTOGRAPH – Purple marijuana

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) discussed the role of marijuana criminalization and the broader drug war in perpetuating racial injustices during an online town hall on Wednesday.

The former 2020 presidential candidates touched on a variety of drug-related policy issues. For example, Booker brought up an ongoing ban on access to coronavirus relief programs for business owners with prior drug convictions and said it’s an example of why the two senators “talk about marijuana justice all the time.”

VIDEO – The fight for racial and economic justice, a virtual town meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders

“I’m all for legalization,” Booker said. “But to say that in the same breath and not to include expunging records, reinvesting profits into communities that have been economically devastated by the drug war—you’re not talking about justice if you suddenly say, ‘okay, everybody started in the same field, go ahead.'”

“All these big companies—pharmaceutical companies, others—are getting into the marijuana business,” he said. “Yet blacks in many states can’t even qualify for a license because they have nonviolent drug charges. All of these issues, you’re stripping people of their political power, their economic power, by over-criminalizing a population.”


Bernie Sanders
@BernieSanders
All over this country, the American people are demanding justice and an end to police brutality. Join me and Sen. @CoryBooker for a live town hall on the fight for racial and economic justice and how Congress must act in this moment: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1djGXogBOkPKZ …


THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE (7:30PM ET)
Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders

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Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) discussed the role of marijuana criminalization and the broader drug war in perpetuating racial injustices during an online town hall on Wednesday.

The former 2020 presidential candidates touched on a variety of drug-related policy issues. For example, Booker brought up an ongoing ban on access to coronavirus relief programs for business owners with prior drug convictions and said it’s an example of why the two senators “talk about marijuana justice all the time.”



“I’m all for legalization,” Booker said. “But to say that in the same breath and not to include expunging records, reinvesting profits into communities that have been economically devastated by the drug war—you’re not talking about justice if you suddenly say, ‘okay, everybody started in the same field, go ahead.'”

“All these big companies—pharmaceutical companies, others—are getting into the marijuana business,” he said. “Yet blacks in many states can’t even qualify for a license because they have nonviolent drug charges. All of these issues, you’re stripping people of their political power, their economic power, by over-criminalizing a population.”


Bernie Sanders
@BernieSanders
All over this country, the American people are demanding justice and an end to police brutality. Join me and Sen. @CoryBooker for a live town hall on the fight for racial and economic justice and how Congress must act in this moment: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1djGXogBOkPKZ …


THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE (7:30PM ET)
Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders

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A virtual attendee later asked the senators: “What would legalizing marijuana, expunging the records of those arrested for marijuana, mean for people of color?”

Booker weighed in and said that in 2017, “there were more marijuana possession arrests than all the violent crime arrests in America combined. And again, they’re arresting people of color.”

“And by the way, that’s an expensive proposition,” Sanders said.

“Very expensive, and it’s ridiculous,” Booker agreed. “This demonization of marijuana, the prohibition on marijuana, is ridiculous.”

Sanders then talked about how, during his presidential campaign, he would ask people in the crowd at his rallies to raise their hands if they or someone they knew had ever been arrested for cannabis possession.

“I was astounded by the hands that went up,” he said. “Then if you get a criminal record, as you discussed earlier, right? You’re looking for a job and the boss says, ‘have you ever been arrested?’ ‘Well, yeah, I have been.’ ‘Okay, well, thank you, we’ll interview somebody else.'”


Bernie Sanders
@BernieSanders
We must end the criminalization of marijuana, expunge past records for marijuana-related offenses, and invest in communities harmed by the failed war on drugs.

Embedded video – “What would legalizing marijuana, expunging the records ...”
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Booker noted that there’s “no difference between blacks and whites for using drugs. In fact, young white men have a little bit higher rates of dealing drugs than black men.” Yet black people are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for a marijuana offense.

“Now you get a nonviolent drug charge for doing something that two of the three last presidents admitted to doing,” the senator said. “Now you have 40,000 collateral consequences that strip you from your economic power. You can’t get Pell grants, can’t get public housing, can’t get jobs, can’t get loans from the bank.”

Booker raised many of these points earlier this month during an interview with MSNBC, where he highlighted systemic social issues—including racial disparities in marijuana enforcement—that need to be addressed as people across the country protest police killings of black Americans.


COMPANION STORY –

POLITICS
Nevada Governor Introduces Measure To Pardon Tens Of Thousands With Marijuana Convictions
Published 1 day ago on June 11, 2020
By Kyle Jaeger

Tens of thousands of Nevada residents who’ve previously been convicted of low-level marijuana possession could receive blanket pardons under a new resolution the introduced by the governor.

Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced the development on Thursday, stating that he placed the clemency resolution on the Board of Pardons Commissioners agenda for next week.


Governor Sisolak
@GovSisolak
 · Jun 11, 2020
Today, I announced I am placing a resolution on the Board of Pardons Commissioners agenda next week to provide relief to tens of thousands of Nevadans previously convicted for possession of small amounts of marijuana, which is no longer a crime in the State.

View image on Twitter


Governor Sisolak
@GovSisolak
If approved, this resolution will clear the slate for thousands of people who bear the stigma of a conviction for actions that have now been decriminalized.

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Last year, the governor signed a bill providing people with cannabis convictions a means to petition the court for expungements, but this resolution would offer proactive pardons for anyone convicted of possession up to an ounce of marijuana.

“The people of Nevada have decided that possession of small amounts of marijuana is not a crime,” Sisolak said, referencing the state’s 2016 vote to legalize cannabis for adult use. “If approved, this resolution will clear the slate for thousands of people who bear the stigma of a conviction for actions that have now been decriminalized.”

The board is set to meet on Wednesday, June 17. The agenda designates time for “a discussion that may include but not limited to the resolution regarding pardons for persons convicted of minor marijuana possession.”

While pardons don’t void convictions, they can restore rights such as the right to vote, own a firearm or serve on a jury.

The governors of Washington State and Illinois have both issued pardons for cannabis offenses since their states legalized the plant.

Meanwhile, other top state officials have recently made arguments that marijuana reform is a necessary civil rights issue that’s particularly important to pursue as a means of addressing racial inequities.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said last week that legalization was “about addressing the ills of this war on drugs.”

The governor of Virginia said on Tuesday that the passage of marijuana decriminalization legislation this year represents an example of how his state has addressed racial inequities that are inspiring mass protests over recent police killings of black Americans.

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

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RELATED TOPICS: FEATURED UP NEXT
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