Category Archives: Meta

3/19 News Roundup – Sanders Is Telling The Story Corporate Media Fails To; Indigenous Leaders Begin A Week Of Civil Disobedience & More

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Bernie Sanders Wants to Tell the Story That Corporate Media Fails To Tell

For decades, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has objected to the failure of major media outlets to cover the growth of economic inequality in America. As a presidential contender in 2016, he used every opportunity that was afforded him in the media to address poverty, plutocracy and the consolidation of wealth and power in the hands of “the billionaire class.”

Now, he’s doing something to tip the balance of the popular discourse away from the agendas of the super rich and toward the real life concerns of working-class Americans. Something big. On Monday, from 7 to 8:30 pm ET, he will host a livestreamed town hall meeting on “Inequality in America: The Rise of Oligarchy and Collapse of the Middle Class.” With Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, filmmaker Michael Moore, economist Darrick Hamilton and others, Sanders will lead a discussion about the “growing power of corporate interests and how we can build economy that works for all Americans.” Livestreamed on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by Sanders, Warren, Moore, The Guardian, NowThis, The Young Turks and Act.tv, the initiative will reach social media sites with a combined following of close to 50 million Americans.

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The Nation: You say there are two fundamental issues with inequality. What’s the first?

Sanders: The first one is that this country is moving into oligarchy. The three wealthiest people in this country own more wealth than the bottom half of American society. The top one-tenth of one percent now owns as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent. And then, politically, what we have seen since the Citizens United decision (by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010) is billionaires like the Koch brothers and a few of their friends pouring hundreds and millions of dollars into the political process to elect candidates who represent the wealthy and the powerful. That is an issue of huge consequence to the future of America – in terms of the economic life of this country and the collapse of the middle class, and a political system which is being corrupted by big money and Citizens United.

And the second issue has to do with how the first is covered?

The second issue deals with the fact that we have a corporate media, which is not as Donald Trump defines it “fake news.” That’s not the issue. It’s not that you have people on CNN, or writing for The New York Times, who are deliberately lying or trying to destroy politicians – that’s not the case. Everyday there are very good and important articles that appear in The Washington Post and The New York Times, on CBS News and everywhere else.

The problem is that, to a very significant degree, corporate media ignores, or pays very little attention, to the most important issues facing working people. That is the problem with corporate media today.

If you look at just the issue I described to you – the movement in this country toward oligarchy – you will find very, very little discussion about that. Stormy Daniels will get ten times more print and video coverage than will the movement toward oligarchy in this country. You will see very little discussion about poverty in this country. “Poverty” is just not a word that is used on television very often.

Bernie also spoke to Ana Kasparian of TYT about inequality and his upcoming national town hall:

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

Writing The Songs To Right The Wrongs: Kareem Dennis aka ‘Lowkey’

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

By now most people who have followed my posts probably know that I’m a fairly big fan of activism through music, and these days particularly via rap and hip hop. I’ve written about it in regards to the Bernie Sanders campaign and comment on it here fairly often here in regards to Indigenous artist highlighting their modern struggles through the art-form.

So in a continued effort to highlight the new era of musical activism (and to take a break from all the Trump talk), I thought I’d give 5 examples of why Kareen Dennis (aka ‘Lowkey’) is my 2017 activist artist of the year.

Lowkey (born May, 1986) is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist from London who rose to underground fame (and government notoriety) with his politically charged track Obama Nation and the’Soundtrack to the Struggle‘ and later an extremely highly viewed & reviewed ‘Fire in the Booth‘ appearance. Due to his activism and opposition of Zionism plus support of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Lowkey has been arrested or detained multiple times on various travels. This is probably also related to him being a sharp critic of United States and British foreign policy, claiming that the two powers are only interested in supporting leaders who are under their influence or are willing to assist them. He also claims American media overlooks those within the country who do not believe in American military supremacy. Israeli hawks describe the increasing influence of performers such as Lowkey as a “potential nightmare”.

In May 2017, Lowkey endorsed Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in the 2017 UK general election. He said: “We have a choice between policies which foster empathy and policies which foster greed, resentment, estrangement and alienation.”

Between 2012-2016 Lowkey took a hiatus from music to travel and further his education then mid 2017 he jumped right back into things with a stronger message than ever. Below are 5 of the best examples:

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Job Hunting

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Good morning world. I arrived at work to find out that… well work will not be much longer so I will not have a post today as I emergency job hunt. If anyone knows of anything in the DFW area (or pretty much anywhere), please point me to it as I sure could use the help.

Anyhow, if someone wants to put up an open thread that would be spectacular, and many thanks to whoever does!

-LD

Some Simple Ways You Can Help Promote TPW

Hello friends! And you know I mean that with the deepest sincerity, you are all in many ways closer to me than most people in ‘real life’. I know we have a variety of users of different ages using different devices, some who social medialize, some who do not (you smart bastards you), and well… though we are all fairly like minded, we are all quite different. This leads me to the point of ways to promote TPW, which has become one of my main goals (outside all the other ones) recently. Here’s a quick list of easy things you can do if you are able/willing that can increase our traffic:

More beyond the link.

Continue reading →

9/5 News Roundup – Bernie’s Labor Day Weekend Events, The Costs Of Not Acting On Climate Are Adding Up & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Good morning & happy post-Labor Day weekend friends! I hope you managed to get in a little leisure time. Bernie sure did not and held a multitude of events over the past few days and I’ll have the various videos in the comments. We’ll also be discussing the continued Harvey fallout & Irma’s incoming impact and the costs of climate change, Progressive candidate news, the latest water protector & pipeline news and updates, the looming split over single payer & a whole lot more.

Kicking things off with local coverage of Bernie’s NH stops:

Have a great day and if you have any site issues, the tpwheldesk@gmail.com should be able to to help you out.

7/5 News Roundup & Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Hello friends! Hope you all had a great 4th and are recovering well enough. As I catch up on the news this morning I’ll post the better findings in the comments and encourage you to do the same (as well as to write your own posts)! Until I figure out whats slowing us down I’ll skip the video of the day in the main-post to see if that helps a bit. Any issues can be reported in the comments, TPW-Mail, or tpwhelpdesk@[google].

Starting off with:

Local boy petitions Senator Ron Johnson for lifesaving health care

While the Republican bill in the United States Senate continues to suffer from recent setbacks, residents of Wisconsin have remained committed to stop the Ryan-Trump Health Care Plan. At stake is the loss of health coverage for 22 million Americans, with a direct impact to Milwaukee’s underserved population.

One of the challengers for Paul Ryan’s seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic congressional candidate Cathy Myers, launched a petition drive to stop the roll back of vital ACA protections. The 1,600 signatures were collected to urge a No vote by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson.

“The Ryan-Trump Health Care Bill stacks the deck against working people, middle-class families, and anyone who has a pre-existing condition. Whether your health care covers patients with genetic disorders as rare as Jack’s or people who have undergone routine C-sections like myself. The bottom line is that this bill touches all of our lives, and so many stand to lose.”

Among those supporters delivering the petition was a 9-year-old boy named Jack, who Myers met on a motorcycle trip through Wisconsin in early June. Jack suffers from a rare genetic disease, and his situation highlights the dangers proposed by the pending bill, which would end his medical treatments.

“I was born with this pre-existing condition that makes me have no antibodies. It’s called Bruton’s X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia, or XLA,” said Jack. When asked what would happen if he lost his health care, he added, “Basically, I dіе.”

Cathy for Congress

5/19 News Roundup & Open Thread – Quist Raises 5 Million From 200,000 Individual Donors, DNC Lawsuit Discussion & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Good morning friends! A mini Quist roundup to start things off and then more will be in the comments. (Including DNC lawsuit discussion, the latest Sanders news, environmental updates, etc). See you there!

Even With No Love from DNC, Sanders-Backed Montana Longshot Surges

Rob Quist, the once-longshot, banjo-strumming populist running for Montana’s empty U.S. House seat, is giving Republicans a scare.

On Thursday, Quist’s campaign announced a startling $5 million fundraising haul that came from more than 200,000 individual donations over the course of 85 days. What’s more, the political novice has refused contributions from lobbyists and corporate political action committees, earning him the respect of progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who will hold a campaign rally in Missoula on Saturday, as well as events in Butte, Billings, and Bozeman ahead of the May 25th special election.

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Many believe the healthcare issue could prove to be the GOP’s downfall in many state-level races, including Montana.

“Rob’s story is resonating with voters who want someone who will stand up for them,” Quist campaign spokeswoman Tina Olechowski told The Hill. “After medical complications following surgery, Rob got into debt. He paid off his debt, but Rob believes no one should ever face bankruptcy just because they get sick. Greg Gianforte supports the health care bill that would raise costs for consumers, eliminate health coverage for seventy thousand Montanans, and end protections for pre-existing conditions—all to pay for huge tax breaks for millionaires like Gianforte himself.”

Similarly, Sanders said last month, “Rob Quist is the only person in this race who understands that we need a government in Washington that works for all Montanans and all Americans and not just the special interests and the billionaire class.”

Democrat Running for US House Seeks College Students’ Votes

In the weeks leading up to Montana’s special congressional election, Rob Quist and his surrogates fanned out across college campuses throughout the state, hoping to tap into a trove of progressive votes in a place that’s known to elect Democrats while maintaining conservative values as sturdy as the nearby Rocky Mountains.

With just a week left to campaign before the May 25 election, Quist is counting on college-age voters to provide the sliver of ballots he needs to prevail in a nationally watched election for Montana’s open congressional seat, vacant since Ryan Zinke resigned to become U.S. interior secretary.

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Quist is running as a populist and political outsider who supports strengthening President Barack Obama’s health care law, not repealing it. He backs abortion rights, same-sex marriage, pay equity for women and lower interest rates for college loans — themes that resonate with younger voters.

“Democrats know they have to swing a lot of those middle or independent voters, so young voters are incredibly important. It should be a pretty coveted group of people because they aren’t always decided,” said Rachel Huff-Doria, executive director of Forward Montana, which helps get out the vote on college campuses across the state.

As he did in his bid for governor, Gianforte has largely ignored college campuses. His campaign has focused on rallying older, established voters to cast ballots.

5/17 News Roundup – The Sanders vs Kasich Town Hall, Chelsea Manning Gets To Go Home & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by


Bernie Sanders and John Kasich argue over whether Trump is a ‘liar’

Two 2016 presidential primary runners-up, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), met for a CNN town hall on Tuesday night. Of course the topic of President Trump came up, especially since hours earlier, The New York Times had dropped the latest bombshell about the president: allegations that he asked the FBI director to drop an investigation into Michael Flynn and, by extension, the Trump campaign. At one point, prompted by moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, Sanders and Kaisch discussed Trump’s truthfulness.

“Is Trump a liar, or am I using hyperbole here?” Sanders asked Kasich. “Is he a liar?” “Well, you know, sometimes he says things I don’t agree with and I think they don’t resemble the facts,” Kasich replied, to laughter, but he said using terms like “liar” is not helpful for America. “Let the facts speak for themselves and then we can draw a conclusion,” he said. Sanders asked what we should call a president who says millions of people voted illegally for his opponent.

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Kasich said Trump “doesn’t understand all the things about the job,” but there’s “a learning process for everybody” and he hopes Trump “will become a unifier, will more understand the gravity of this job, stop the tweeting, and bring people together.”

Sanders disagreed. “I’m not a psychiatrist,” he said, “but there’s something strange going on, I think, with Mr. Trump.” He said Trump lies all the time, mentioned Trump’s affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and argued that Trump has “an authoritarian-type mind” and isn’t “a great believer in dissent or democracy.” So no, “I don’t think this is just a learning curve, I think he’s a smart guy, but something else is going on,” Sanders said

More of what I’m reading/watching will be in the comments, including the full town-hall from above. See you there!

5/16 News roundup – Pelosi Challenger Stephen Jaffe Talks Issues, Dems Divide On Sanders 2020 & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Stephen Jaffe talks to Jimmy Dore about why Pelosi needs a primary challenge:

You can donate to Stephen Jaffe here.

Meanwhile…

Gianforte lends himself $1M in bid for Montana U.S. House

Republican Greg Gianforte loaned himself $1 million to finance his bid for Montana’s only seat in the U.S. House, as his Democratic opponent raked in huge sums of cash from small, individual donors ahead of a nationally watched May 25 special election to fill the seat vacated by now-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

New filings made with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend show that Gianforte, who made millions from the sale of his software business, has raised more than $3.4 million since launching his bid for Congress.

Meanwhile, Democrat Rob Quist, a musician and cowboy poet making his first bid for public office, has collected nearly $3.3 million through May 5, with most of it — $3.2 million — coming from individual donors.

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Quist’s campaign said 56,000 individual donors have given an average of $23 per contribution. The FEC does not require donors who give less than $200 to be identified.

“Greg Gianforte’s attempt to buy another election after losing last time shows he still doesn’t get Montana. He will get the message on May 25th that Montanans can’t be bought and will never be for sale.”

The rest of what I’m reading/watching/etc will be added to the comments. Have a great day!

5/15 News Roundup & Open Thread – Nina Turner Reflects On 2016, Sanders To Campaign With Quist & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Happy Monday friends! Hope you had a great Mother’s Day weekend! I was on a self imposed media-blackout so have no clue what’s really happened other than what I’ve read on the weekend open thread here, so will slowly add what I’m catching up on in the comments.

Starting things off with the always fantastic Nina Turner:

5/8 News Roundup & Open Thread – Sanders In CA: “Please lead the country and pass the single-payer bill.”

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

At a stop in Beverly Hills, Bernie Sanders vows Obamacare repeal bill ‘is never going to pass’ in Senate

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday called the GOP-backed Obamacare repeal bill “one of the most disgusting pieces of legislation ever passed,” and called it a “death sentence for thousands” of Americans who may not seek medical care when they get sick.

Speaking to a sold-out crowd of more than 1,500 people at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, Sanders vowed to help make sure that the bill, which passed the House on Thursday, is “dead in its tracks.”

“Let me tell you,” he said as the theater erupted in applause. “That legislation is never going to pass the United States Senate.”

In the wide-ranging speech, the latest of several appearances the senator has made in the Los Angeles area in recent months, Sanders hit many of his usual key talking points: the social ills of a shrinking middle class, the burden of student debt, and the need to rid politics of corporate money. Like he has in many post-election appearances, Sanders blamed last year’s election results on a Democratic Party and media that he said ignored the economic suffering of those in America’s heartland.

More:

Bernie Sanders wants California to lead on health care

Sen. Bernie Sanders, assailing Republicans in Washington for their health care bill, delivered a message Saturday to the Democratic-controlled California Legislature: “Please lead the country and pass the single-payer bill.”

“Please make my life easier,” Sanders, who is proposing Medicare for All, single-payer legislation at the federal level, said in a speech in Beverly Hills where he was accepting an award from the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. “The great state of California can send a message that will be heard all over this country and all over the world if you pass single-payer here.”

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Sanders, seizing on recent remarks by Trump, said he agrees with the president that Australia’s universal health care is superior to the one in the United States, remarks the White House later cast as merely complimentary.

“Everybody is right once in a while,” Sanders said to laughs. “And on this particular instance, Trump is quite right.”

“So, let me say to the president that if you think the Australian health care system is so good, well, I am going to give you the opportunity to support Legislation that I am going to introduce.”

More news/video/etc in the comments.

5/5 News Roundup & Open Thread – Sanders On Trumpcare: “Thousands Of Americans Will Die”, The DNC Digs Itself Into A Hole & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Thousands will die if House bill becomes law, Bernie Sanders says

Sen. Bernie Sanders did not hold anything back Thursday when he condemned the House passage of the Republican-backed bill to replace Obamacare.

“If the bill passed today in the House became law, thousands of Americans would die, because they would no longer have access to health care,” Sanders told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on “AC360.”

The Vermont lawmaker and former presidential candidate claimed the Obamacare replacement provides billions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest 2%.

“What kind of health care bill are we talking about when you throw 24 million people off of health insurance,” Sanders said.

Cooper asked Sanders to weigh in on health care giant Aetna pulling out of Obamacare in Virginia, citing major losses.

“What (Republicans) are doing now is consciously sabotaging the Affordable Care Act,” Sanders said. “For example, not enforce the individual mandate — many billions of dollars are not coming into the system and then rates are going up. And then they say, ‘Oh look, it’s a terrible situation rates are going up’.”

5/4 News Roundup & Open Thread – Jim Hightower On ‘Populism’, Keystone XL Pushback & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Populism is Not About Mobs, Anti-Government Rants or Opinion Polls by Jim Hightower

If a political pollster asked whether I consider myself a conservative or a liberal, I’d answer, “No.”

Not to be cute — I have a bit of both in me — but because, like most Americans, my beliefs can’t be squeezed into either of the tidy little boxes that the establishment provides.

I’ve observed that the true political spectrum in our society does not range from right to left, but from top to bottom. This is how America’s economic and political systems really shake out, with each of us located somewhere high or low that spectrum. Right to left is political theory; top to bottom is the reality we actually experience in our lives every day — and the vast majority of Americans know that they’re not even within shouting distance of the moneyed powers that rule from the top of both systems, whether those elites call themselves conservatives or liberals.

For me, the “ism” that best encompasses and addresses this reality is populism. What is it? Essentially, it’s the continuation of America’s democratic revolution. It encompasses and extends the creation of a government that is us. Instead of a “trickle down” approach to public policy, populism is solidly grounded in a “percolate up” philosophy that springs directly from America’s founding principle of the Common Good.

Few people today call themselves populists, but I think most are. I’m not talking about the recent political outbursts by confused, used and abused Trumpian ranters who’ve been organized by corporate front groups to spread a hatred of government. Rather, I mean the millions of ordinary Americans in every state who’re battling the real power that’s running roughshod over us: out-of-control corporations. With their oceans of money and their hired armies of lobbyists, lawyers, economists, consultants and PR agents, these self-serving, autocratic entities operate from faraway executive suites and Washington backrooms to rig the economic and governmental rules so that they capture more and more of America’s money and power.

Meanwhile..

5/3 News Roundup & Open Thread – Dem Divide Widens Over Obama’s 400k Speeches, DNC Lawsuit Discussion & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Obama’s Wall Street payday triggers Dem angst

Obama remains enormously popular on the left, but he has nonetheless come under fire from progressives who are angered by his decision to accept $400,000 from financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald for a speech at a healthcare conference in September.

The issue has renewed tensions between liberals and mainstream Democrats that emerged during the bitter 2016 primary contest between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who campaigned hard against the influence of money in politics.

Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have both registered their disappointment with Obama, showing that not even the most revered Democrat in the country can escape the populist wrath.

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Nina Turner, a former Sanders surrogate, said that it’s time Democrats wrestle with Obama’s legacy, which includes Wall Street executives in top advisory roles and a sharp rise in income inequality.

Turner said that money in politics will be a bellwether issue for liberal candidates in 2018 and beyond as emboldened progressives look to build on Sanders’s insurgent campaign.

“President Obama may not be in politics anymore, but he’s very much a symbol of what Democrats stand for, and so people are disappointed by this,” Turner said.

Meanwhile..

Ex-DNC chair to Warren and Sanders: Mind your own business

The former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee came out swinging Tuesday night in defense of former President Barack Obama’s plan to accept $400,000 for a speech to Wall Street in September, urging critics such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren to mind their own business.

Warren, a possible presidential candidate in 2020, said she was “troubled” by Obama’s decision, and Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, told CNN it was “not a good idea” and “distasteful.”

After being shown both criticisms during an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz fired back that “it is none of anyone’s business what someone who is a member of the private sector decides to accept in terms of compensation.”

Wasserman Schultz said that Obama and Clinton, who also faced criticism for paid speeches to Wall Street, both have “pristine” public records. “They both fought back against the big banks, and their practices, and I have every confidence in the service they both provided.”

“With all due respect to anyone who chooses to comment publicly on what Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or anyone earns as a member of the private sector,” she said, “it’s just, like, MYOB — it’s none of your business.”

5/2 News Roundup & Open Thread – Sanders Speaks In Cleveland, DNC Lawsuit Coverage, Pipeline Activism & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

In Cleveland, Bernie Sanders says Democrats need a ‘progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families’

In Cleveland on Monday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders railed against economic inequality, the influence of corporate America and argued for expansion of social safety-net programs.

In other words, Sanders’ 30-minute speech, delivered at the Global Center for Health Innovation, wasn’t all that different from the presidential campaign the independent, liberal firebrand from Vermont waged last year in his failed bid to secure the Democratic Party nomination.

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Left reeling from Republican President Donald Trump’s improbable victory in November, Sanders are other progressives are jostling to chart out a future path for liberals in America.

Although he fell short in his presidential bid, Sanders clearly has captured the energy of his party’s young, liberal base.

On Monday, Sanders called for a series of policy proposals — a $15 an hour national minimum wage, 12 weeks of guaranteed, paid family leave, tuition-free public college education and a “Medicare for all” single-payer healthcare system — that are reminiscent of European-style social democracies. (Not to mention the 2016 Democratic National Convention platform that Sanders and his supporters pushed for.) He said the policies could be paid for by taxing the rich, or as he put it, making them pay their “fair share.”

“It seems to me that our job is not to just oppose Trump’s reactionary agenda. Although we’ve got to do that and we’ve got to do it vigorously,” Sanders said. “… But in addition to that, what we need to do is put forth a progressive agenda that addresses the needs of working families in the country, an agenda that has a very different moral compass than that of President Trump.

More news/video/etc in the comments!