JUNE 12, 2020
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.
24.2K
1:32 PM - Jun 12, 2020
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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."
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
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
15
8:07 AM - Jun 12, 2020
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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/
…
311
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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."
Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.
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
20
9:45 AM - Jun 4, 2020
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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
4,712
7:29 PM - Jun 10, 2020
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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
4,712
7:29 PM - Jun 10, 2020
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1,469 people are talking about this
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 ...”
9,340
5:35 PM - Jun 11, 2020
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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.
745
10:29 AM - Jun 11, 2020
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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.
Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If
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RELATED TOPICS: FEATURED UP NEXT
*Colorado Governor Issues Proclamation Declaring Official ‘Hemp
Week’
*Federal Reserve Bank Highlights Economic Potential And Health
Impacts Of Marijuana Legalization
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