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Top Stories for April 20:
Marjorie Taylor Greene shut down by GOP committee chair
The rabid Georgia congresswoman behaved so abysmally during a House hearing that she was barred from speaking by the REPUBLICAN chair after she accused Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of having “a sexual relationship with a Chinese spy” and screamed at Homeland Secretary Mayorkas that he was a “liar.” Afterwards, a furious Greene accused her Republican colleague of doing the bidding of Democrats and went straight to the manager (Kevin McCarthy) to complain. It is political malpractice to let this woman have the floor ever again.
Take Action: Kick Marjorie Taylor Greene off the Homeland Security Committee!
VIDEO OF THE DAY: New Democratic star crushes Trump in must-see smackdown
Up-and-coming freshman Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz showcased his oratory skills in a brutal takedown of the disgraced ex-president’s failed policies.
Take Action: Tell Congress to vote NO on the bill to curb our online freedoms!
Winning one open Arizona seat is key to taking back the House
Yassamin Ansari for Congress: Winning in Arizona means we get our majority back — and losing means that some of the most unhinged election-denying, democracy-hating Trumpers in the country will be headed to Washington. Yassamin Ansari is a fantastic candidate running for Congress in a crucial Arizona seat to make sure we deliver President Biden a new majority for his second term! Can you chip in to help keep Trump’s most radical minions out of office?
Biden rejects McCarthy’s debt-limit plan
President Biden harshly rejected Speaker McCarthy’s austerity-laden debt-limit plan out of hand, dismissing it as nonstarter “wacko notions” that would require brutal cuts to key public programs, including Head Start, the VA, Pell Grants, and key Inflation Reduction Act tax credits. It also doesn’t make any sense, since it would repeal critical IRS funding that the tax-collection agency uses to collect revenue. If budgets are the manifestation of political values, then it’s clear that the GOP values unserious performative gestures and absolutely despises ordinary Americans.
Take Action: Pledge to boycott Fox News!
“Don’t Say Gay” rules expanded through 12th grade in Florida
Florida Republicans are predictably expanding their “Dont’ Say Gay” anti-LGBTQ suppression rules to every level of public school, proving once again their steadfast desire to force marginalized Americans — including adolescents — back into the closet in a regressive return to the bad old days.
Take Action: Disqualify Trump from holding public office!
Uvalde shooter wrote “LOL” on white board in victims’ blood, lawmaker tells emotional hearing
The Texas state House committee investigating the horrific massacre in Uvalde last May saw heartless Republican lawmakers force victims’ family members — many of whom are Hispanic — wait THIRTEEN HOURS to testify. While waiting, they learned from Democratic Rep. Joe Moody that the killer had used their children’s blood to smear the word “LOL” on a classroom whiteboard — while feckless cops dithered outside the school. When the grieving parents finally got the chance to speak, they begged Republican legislators to join Democrats and raise the age to buy an assault rifle from 18 to 21. “My daughter tried to buy Super Glue at Walmart the other day and was flagged as being under 18 … What’s wrong with this picture?” said Javier Cazares. But even this minuscule, sensible change in gun policy was met with fierce resistance, including from an NRA lobbyist, who you can bet did not have to wait thirteen hours to testify.
Autopsy report reveals “Cop City” activist had 57 gunshot wounds
The DeKalb County medical examiner’s autopsy of Manuel Paez Terán, the protestor killed by police for protesting the “Cop City” police academy near Atlanta, was shot FIFTY-SEVEN times by at least 13 different officers, NONE of whom were wearing body cameras. On top of that, the medical examiner did not find gunpowder residue on the activist’s hands, which is strong evidence that police lied when they claimed Terán fired a weapon.
Top Republican donor issues brutal news to his party
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Not a great day for Republicans…
Texas House approves sweeping limits on local regulations
The “small government” GOP strikes again, this time advancing a pair of bills that would seize control of local regulations that could range from worker protections to water restrictions during droughts. It’s a transparent effort to disempower the Democratic governments of major cities and disenfranchise their voters, instituting Republican dictatorship from the top as extremist lawmakers from heavily gerrymandered districts impose their will on an unwilling urban population.
Florida prosecutor’s racism policy leaked
If you’re wondering how things are going in Florida, the Jefferson County’s state attorney’s office had a policy memo literally printed out and hanging on the wall instructing prosecutors to be blatantly racist to Hispanics. We wish we were joking.
Tennessee moves to protect gunmakers from mass shooting lawsuits
In the weeks following the Nashville mass shooting that took the lives of three children and three adults, state Republican death cultists responded by expelling two Democratic lawmakers who protested against gun violence and subsequently passed heinous laws protecting gun manufacturers from being held liable for the brutal killings their murder-machines are used to commit. We cannot accept dead children and a terrorized American public as unfortunate, cost-of-doing-business byproducts of failed Republican policy. We must run the 2nd Amendment zealots out of power for good and enact common-sense gun safety reform.
Little girl, parents shot after basketball rolls into gunman’s yard
As if the epidemic of American gun violence doesn’t have enough bloody twists to it, “people getting shot for mistakes” is apparently the theme of the week as we now have a FOURTH such incident in just the past week. A six-year-old girl and both her parents were shot after a basketball rolled into the yard of a neighbor, a violent domestic abuser who somehow still had access to a firearm. “Bouncing a ball into the wrong yard” joins knocking on the wrong door, driving down the wrong driveway, and getting into the wrong car as actual reasons Americans have been shot in the past six days. The madness never stops.
But wait! There’s more!
Racism, unfortunately very much alive and well
As is transphobia
Hope…
JOIN THE RESISTANCE
Required Reading for the Resistance. Actions that make a difference.
Today’s Action: Tell Congress to do MORE to reduce gun violence!
Ten days ago, a disgruntled employee walked into Old National Bank in downtown Louisville and murdered five coworkers and injured eight more in Kentucky’s 50th mass shooting since 2014. While all 163 mass shootings this year have hurt our country in profound ways, this one has left a permanent mark on atAdvocacy. Our office is based in Louisville; this city is our home. Our community has lost five irreplaceable people to preventable violence that’s become all too common in America, and the grief is insurmountable. There aren’t words to express the continued loss we all experience just by living in America.
It’s long past time that we finally begin the job of curbing the epidemic of unspeakable — and very preventable — gun violence and pass the real, meaningful gun safety reform that is supported by a clear majority of Americans.
It’s unacceptable that after so much loss, our elected officials still haven’t managed to advance any meaningful anti-gun violence legislation through Congress. In the United States it is still legal to own an AR-15, the very killing machine that has been used time and time again to murder and maim innocent Americans en masse. AR-15-style rifles were used in the mass murders at Sandy Hook, Parkland, Aurora, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, San Bernardino, the Poway synagogue, the Tree of Life synagogue, the Buffalo supermarket, Uvalde…the list goes on and on — and will continue to be used to massacre innocent civilians unless we finally do something about it.
Call (202.224.3121) or email your representatives and demand Congress immediately take action to ban AR-15s and other assault rifles!
Once the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB) signed into law by President Clinton in 1994 expired in 2004, the number of deaths in mass shootings skyrocketed. Assault rifles are specifically designed to kill on the battlefield; there is no reason they should ever be in civilian hands.
There were 735 mass shootings in the United States last year, up from 693 in 2021. Excluding suicide, there were 20,726 gun deaths in 2021, as well. According to the Washington Post, a child is shot every hour in America. We simply cannot stand idly by and let 2023 continue this horrific trend. The cause of this problem is clear — it’s the guns!
Call (202.224.3121) or email your representatives to demand Congress ban assault weapons immediately!
PS — Please don’t forget to sign the petition to tell Senate Democrats to investigate Clarence Thomas, and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.