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12/8 News Roundup – Nurses Back Call ForKeith Ellison To Fill Senate Vacancy, DNC Leaders Call For SuperDelegate Cuts & More

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As Franken Steps Aside, Nurses Back Call for Keith Ellison to Fill Senate Vacancy

On the heels of Sen. Al Franken’s announcement Thursday that he will resign following accusations of sexual harassment by several women, National Nurses United (NNU) began circulating a petition calling on Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton to appoint Rep. Keith Ellison to fill Franken’s soon-to-be vacant Senate seat.

“At a time when the Senate is poised to enact a disgraceful tax bill that shifts more resources from working people to big corporations and the one percent, on top of repeated attacks on health coverage, environmental and workplace protections, and other critical fights, we need the proven progressive voice of Keith Ellison in the Senate,” NNU co-president and Minnesota resident Jean Ross, RN, said in a statement.

According to news reports, Ellison is on Dayton’s short list of possible candidates, alongside Lt. Gov. Tina Smith and Rep. Tim Walz. Because Franken did not specify the precise date of his departure, it is unclear when Dayton will announce his replacement. Whoever is chosen will face a special election in November of next year.

If selected, Ellison would become the first Muslim to ever hold a seat in the U.S. Senate. He would also “provide a critical voice of leadership in the Senate at this pivotal moment for working people in Minnesota and across the U.S.,” Ross argued.

“Keith has been an outspoken advocate for nurses and other working people in his distinguished service in the House, and has shown a broad national reach and worked to build coalitions across the country this year as the Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee,” Ross concluded. “He is exactly the representative we need in the Senate today.”

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

9/28 News Roundup – Sanders Slams Trumps Tax Plans, Ellison Backs Bernie’s Healthcare Advocacy & More

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‘Morally repugnant’: Bernie Sanders, top Democrats slam Trump’s tax plan

Democrats on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump’s tax reform plan, calling it “morally repugnant,” suggesting there would be little to no cross aisle support for the initial outline of the plan.

President Donald Trump’s plan would reduce the number of personal income tax brackets and overhaul business taxes, lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, reduce the pass-through tax rate from almost 40% to 25%, and “streamline” business tax breaks.

Democratic leaders immediately condemned the bill, casting it as a proposed tax break that would largely benefit the wealthy by lowering the top income tax bracket from 39.5% to 35% and lowering the pass-through tax rate, something largely used by wealthy earners.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer decried the proposal in a speech on the Senate floor, saying Republicans “designed their tax plan to be cheered in country clubs and corporate board rooms.”

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Sen. Bernie Sanders argued that the plan would exacerbate income inequality, singling out its proposal to repeal the estate tax, noting that the top 10% of earners pay 90% of estate taxes.

“At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, Trump’s tax plan is morally repugnant and bad economic policy,” Sanders said in a statement.

More news/video/etc. in the comments, including:

*Bernie Sanders Thinks War Is Overrated, And He’s Right
*Shocker! Health Insurers Condemn Bernie Sanders’ ‘Medicare for All’ Bill
*Meet Roy Moore’s Opponent: Full Doug Jones Interview
*Pipeline & Water Protector Updates
*Puerto Rico In Crisis As Corporations/Wall Street Make Things Worse
*Some Cities, Native American Activists, Reject Columbus Day
& More

Bernie Sanders: How Democrats Can Stop Losing Elections

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The NY Times has an Op-Ed by Bernie Sanders up, advocating the Democratic party adopt a more progressive agenda. Bernie Sanders: How Democrats Can Stop Losing Elections In 2016, the Democratic Party lost the presidency to possibly the least popular candidate in American history. In recent years, Democrats have also lost the Senate and House to right-wing Republicans whose extremist agenda is far removed from where most Americans are politically. Republicans now control almost two-thirds of governor’s offices and have gained about 1,000 seats in state legislatures in the past nine years. In 24 states, Democrats have almost no political influence … Continue reading →

Majority of Democratic Senate & House caucus co-sponsor $15 minimum wage bill.

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Full video is below, the bill would raise minimum wage to $15 by 2024 and pegs it to inflation. The bill has 30 co-sponsors in the Senate and 152 in the House. Bobby Scott (VA-3) who is introducing the bill in the House, noted that there has been no increase in the federal minimum wage for 10 years. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLhwEuP0xLU[/embedyt] In the Senate, Patty Murray (WA) and Bernie Sanders (VT) will introduce the bill, they have 30 co-sponsors which is a majority of the Democratic caucus in the Senate. In the house, Robert “Bobby” Scott (VA-3) and Keith Ellison (MN-5) are introducing … Continue reading →

2/25 TPW News, Ellison is DNC Deputy Chair, & Open Thread

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In Atlanta, the Democratic National Committee is meeting to pass resolutions and elect a new chair. Currently there is debate about an amendment added last night to resolutions concerning the corporate lobbyist donations to the DNC–to keep it in the package for the DNC Unity Commission to review. The question is whether or not to continue the debate (motion to strike the amendment or not). The body voted to strike out the amendment, which means corporate money will be in the package for consideration. So much for taking big money out of politics. Update: Tom Perez has won the DNC … Continue reading →

12/15 News Roundup – Sanders & Ellison Fight For A Progressive DNC, Standing Rock Updates & More

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Sanders makes pitch for Ellison as DNC chair

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) campaigned for Rep. Keith Ellison to be the next Democratic National Committee chairman on Wednesday night, casting the Minnesota Democrat as the new face of a party in need of a dramatic overhaul.

Speaking at the American Federation of Teachers headquarters in Washington, D.C., in an address that was live-streamed by progressive groups across the country, Sanders made the case that Ellison’s liberal vision is the way forward for a party whose ranks were decimated in the November election.

“Now is the time for real change in the Democratic Party, to revitalize the Democratic Party and to bring in people who have not been welcomed in the past,” Sanders said to a packed room of about 100 enthusiastic labor union members donning blue shirts.

“We should not be afraid of new energy and new faces,” Sanders said. “We should welcome and embrace new energy and faces. Now is the time for a chair of the Democratic Party who has a very different vision of the party than those in control today. Now is the time for Keith Ellison to become chair of the Democratic Party.”

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Ellison on Wednesday night showed why he is a rising star on the left.

He is a folksy, engaging and natural speaker with a style that rouses his supporters, and he laid out Democrats’ path forward under a President Donald Trump.

“We have got to reset the future of the Democratic Party on a basis of grassroots activism,” Ellison said to cheers. “On the basis of working people striving every day to make a better life for themselves. African-Americans, white Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Jews and Muslims and Christians and Hindus or people of no faith at all. Folks like you and me. Folks like us need to say the Democratic Party has to be democratic and that starts with getting leadership in there to fight for that.”

More news in the comments. Thanks for sticking through all the technical difficulties!

TPW News Roundup – Bernie On Colbert, Water Protectors Rally Worldwide, Ellison For DNC Chair

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Good morning friends, watching Bernie on Colbert sure made me wishful for a campaign that could have been. If you missed it I just so happen to have some links for you:

Meanwhile not content to sit around waiting for a new administration Water Protectors are gathering worldwide in an attempt to urge Obama to take action against the Dakota Access pipeline:

With Post-Election Urgency, Water Protectors to Rally Worldwide Against Dakota Access

Water protectors battling the Dakota Access Pipeline are taking their increasingly urgent fight directly to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, making a final push for the Obama administration to reject the pipeline’s permit before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Trump has invested in the pipeline company and denies climate change, promising to reinvigorate the coal, oil, and gas industries and strip away environmental regulations.

On Tuesday, supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will demonstrate and march at Army Corps offices across the country, along with over 200 solidarity actions planned around the world.

“[T]he election last Tuesday made this Tuesday’s demonstrations in support of Standing Rock even more important,” wrote environmentalist Bill McKibben.
“We’ll be gathering in nearly 200 cities worldwide to demand that the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Obama Administration, do their jobs and reject the Dakota Access Pipeline’s final permit.”

“We don’t know if we can make President Obama act—so far he’s been noncommittal and vague. And we don’t know if Trump would simply overturn his actions if he took them. But we do know that now more than ever we have to stand by our allies, and make our battles loud and public,” McKibben continued:

Please join me in the comments with your news, thoughts, analysis, etc!

Keith Ellison & Josh Fox: Sanders Pushed Party Platform to Left, But We Failed on TPP, Medicare, Gaza

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DemocracyNow! Interviews with Keith Ellison, Josh Fox and Shailene Woodley in regards to Sanders and the party platform: … Continue reading →

Rep. Keith Ellison: Arrest the Officer Who Killed Philando Castile, He Has to Be Held Accountable

More than 300 people were arrested over the weekend as protests against police brutality erupted in more than a dozen U.S. cities over the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Philando Castile’s death comes on the heels of massive protests over another fatal police shooting in Minnesota last year: the police killing of Jamar Clark. Authorities say Clark was shot in the head after a scuffle with officers who responded to a report of an assault. But multiple witnesses say Clark was shot while handcuffed. For more we speak with Minnesota Democratic Representative Keith Ellison. He is also one of the five people picked by Bernie Sanders to serve on the Democratic National Committee platform drafting committee.

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#NoBillNoBreak: Democrats House Floor Protest Continues!

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Reaching what some have called mutiny level, Democrats continue the House floor protest as Paul Ryan attempts to get control. Democrats have been holding a sit in all day while protestors gather outside the Capitol building. Speeches, chanting, holding up signs with names of shooting victims and even singing of “We Shall Overcome”  have been heard of the House floor today as legislators push for a vote on gun legislation. Bernie Sanders visited the House to show his support and was met with a standing ovation! H/T Benny   Amazing scene on MSNBC right now as Paul Ryan tries to … Continue reading →

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