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The United States of Resistance is a weekly industry newsletter sharing the top news from across the resistance. Please share with others! Sign up | Archived Newsletters
Resistance Tech Spotlight: Affinity
Affinity is a worker co-operative which is building a platform for local grassroots groups to organize themselves, and to work together in networks. Its goal is to help the movement last, by making it easier for groups to share leadership and avoid burnout, and for national networks to maintain continuity when volunteer group leaders change.
The tool is a modern Rails/React web application, built from the ground up on the OSDI data interchange standard. It's an open source project, with volunteer developers and designers joining in together with our core team. It's designed to interoperate with the widest possible universe of existing progressive tools; the current beta works in tandem with the ActionNetwork platform, and integrations with other activist CRM's are on the roadmap. Learn more http://www.affinity.works/.
Science Matters. Join our Op-Ed Project: Building a Better Society Through Science.
Science matters. We know that. You know that. Yet despite the fundamental importance of science in our daily lives, the agencies and departments that promote and utilize science are under attack by the current administration. This is why we are kicking off the Op-Eds for Science campaign.
RISE Stronger, together with 500 Women Scientists, Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy (ESEP) Coalition, are calling on you to speak up for science by writing an op-ed to your local newspapers in support of government funding for science, technology, and the programs that enrich and improve our society and local communities.
We'll help make it easy for you. We have topic suggestions, background information, two webinars scheduled on July 24 at 8pm EDT and July 27 at 1pm EDT, a team ready to edit and publicize on our platforms, and more. Interested?
- Learn more here or email us at [email protected]
- Attend a webinar on 7/24 or 7/28 by filling out the sign-up form here (Webinar Link | Call-in number: 641-715-3580, Access code: 609621#)
22 million to 32 million to Lose Health Coverage
At this point, the GOP is ping-ponging back and forth between repeal, replace, repeal and replace. Earlier this week, it was repeal and replace. Then the GOP couldn't get the votes. Next it was repeal without replacement. The CBO released a new analysis saying 32 million people would lose coverage by 2026 under a repeal only option.
Mid-week, Senate Republicans gathered and following that meeting, it appears repeal and replace is revived. Again, the CBO scored the 'newer' version of the GOPs bill. Under this version, 22 million would be uninsured in the next decade. Premiums would skyrocket 20-percent, and more than 25-percent would be gutted from Medicaid.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said the Senate is “very likely" to vote Tuesday to start debate on a healthcare bill. At this point, it's really unclear whether McConnell can get the necessary votes. Murkowski, Capito, Collins, Portman, and Heller are among the handful of GOP Senators who appear to be swingable 'NO' votes. Continue to call - every Senator is a possible NO vote. Here's a list of key resources and talking points.
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Environment Wins as EPA Loses
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently halted the Trump administration's efforts to roll back the EPA's Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions from oil and gas operations. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced in June that he would delay implementation for two years so the agency could reconsider the rule. Six environmental groups filed suit against the EPA, and the Court agreed that the EPA had no legal authority to prevent the regulations from taking effect. If the agency wishes to undo the rule, then it must go through the normal administrative process. The Court's ruling is likely to have consequences for numerous other regulations that the Trump administration has attempted to delay or revoke, including EPA's ozone pollution rules and the Waters of the United States Rule.
Two Down, Twenty-Five to Go: National Monument Review
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke withdrew two national monuments from his department's review for removal or reduction of their monument designation. An announcement from Interior stated that Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and Hanford Reach National Monument in Washington are no longer under review and the Secretary will recommend that no modifications should be made to the monuments. Zinke offered no legal reason for his announcement, only pointing out that Craters of the Moon "is a living timeline of the geologic history of our land on the Great Rift," and Hanford Reach is a destination for "sportsmen and women from all over the country." Twenty-five monuments remain under review. More from RISE's Energy & Environment Working Group here.
Trump's In-Depth Interview with the New York Times
President Trump spoke with three New York Times reporters — Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman — in an exclusive interview in the White House. Excerpts from the Interview are available here.
Notable quotes from Trump:
- “Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job and I would have picked somebody else..."
- "The Paris Accord — I wasn't going to get along with France for a little while, because people forget, because it is a very unfair agreement to us. China doesn't get [garbled] until 2030. Russia goes back to 1994 as a standard — a much, much lower standard. India has things that are [garbled]. I want to do the same thing as everyone else. We can't do that? We can't do that? That's O.K. Let me get out. Frankly, the people that like me, love that I got out."
- "The energy stuff is going really well. We're going to be an exporter — we already are an exporter of energy. We're doing well. I mean, the banks, you look at rules and regulations, you look at Dodd-Frank, Dodd-Frank is going to be, you know, modified, and again, I want rules and regulations."
- "Because I have done nothing wrong. A special counsel should never have been appointed in this case."
- "Well, Sessions should have never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and I would have picked somebody else."
- "The country's doing well. We are, we are moving forward with a lot of great things. The unemployment is the lowest it's been in 16 years. The stock market is the highest it's ever been. It's up almost 20 percent since I took office. And we're working hard on health care. Um, the Russian investigation — it's not an investigation, it's not on me — you know, they're looking at a lot of things."
- "Look, this is about Russia. So I think if he wants to go, my finances are extremely good, my company is an unbelievably successful company. And actually, when I do my filings, peoples say, “Man." People have no idea how successful this is. It's a great company. But I don't even think about the company anymore."
Sessions Implements Civil Forfeiture Rules
Jeff Sessions implemented civil forfeiture rules, making it easier for police to seize cash and property from people suspected of crimes. These rules circumvent more than two dozen state rules which prohibit law enforcement from seizing property without first securing a criminal conviction.
The issue: This system gives law enforcement a financial incentive to pursue certain types of cases, even if they aren't strong enough to prove in court. What often ends up happening is that local agencies skirt state laws, seize property, and send 80% of the funds derived from the seized property back to the state. The Atlantic cites a DOJ report which claims the forfeiture program has taken in almost $28 billion over the last decade.
What Critics are Saying: Critics say that civil forfeitures breach constitutional due process rights against taking property without cause. Others say it is "government overreach." Still others call it "policing for profit."
Supreme Court: It's likely the Supreme Court could take up the issue of forfeiture. Justice Thomas wrote in an April decision not to take up the issue of forfeiture, “Whether this Court's treatment of the broad modern forfeiture practice can be justified by the narrow historical one is certainly worthy of consideration in greater detail." {Read more here}
Must Read: I'm a scientist. I'm blowing the whistle on the Trump administration.
"I am not a member of the deep state. I am not big government...I am a scientist, a policy expert, a civil servant and a worried citizen. Reluctantly, as of today, I am also a whistleblower on an administration that chooses silence over science....
Nearly seven years ago, I came to work for the Interior Department, where, among other things, I've helped endangered communities in Alaska prepare for and adapt to a changing climate. But on June 15, I was one of about 50 senior department employees who received letters informing us of involuntary reassignments." {Read More}
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