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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 Spotlight
Each week we spotlight an organization in the resistance who is working, like RISE, to make sure that we have a more transparent, accountable government. If your group is interested in being featured, email our Director of Strategic Partnerships at [email protected] with the subject line "Resistance Spotlight."
Save the Date for July 12: Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality
To spread public awareness and spur broader congressional support for net neutrality, more than 60 organizations, including major tech and internet-based companies, have organized the Internet-Wide Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality on July 12, 2017. Although the Washington Post has reported that executives at Netflix and AT&T believe the fight for net neutrality is "pretty much moot," the group is digging in for a more long-term battle. Planned protests are aimed at stopping the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) net neutrality rollback, addressing problems created by the rollback, and further improving safeguards against future measures to erode net neutrality. Notably, several of the organizers for the July 12 event were involved in 2012 internet protests of the SOPA and PIPA bills, in which over 50,000 websites went dark in protest.
44 States Say No to Kobach Request for Voter Data
Last week, Kris Kobach - Kansas Secretary of State and vice chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity - sent a letter to all 50 states requesting voter data. The requested information includes "full names, addresses, dates of birth, political parties, the last four digits of their social security numbers, a list of the elections they voted in since 2006, information on any felony convictions, information on whether they were registered to vote in other states, their military status, and whether they lived overseas." {source} Critics of the commission and this request raise concerns that the release of this data will lead to large scale voter suppression efforts.
To date, 44 states have said they will not give some or all of the information requested to Kobach and the Commission. As for the remaining states? CNN reports: "...two states -- Florida and Nebraska -- are still reviewing the commission's request. Another two states -- Hawaii and New Jersey -- have not returned CNN's request for comment. And while six states are still awaiting a letter from the commission, four of them -- New Mexico, Michigan, South Carolina and West Virginia -- have already pledged not to provide voters' private information. The other two of those six states, Arkansas and Illinois, have not released statements ahead of receiving the letter." If you live in one of these states, give your Secretary of State a call and ask them not to turn over this information, especially information that is not public.
FBI Nominee Christopher Wray: Who is He?
Donald Trump's new FBI nominee has a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing date - next Wednesday, July 12 at 10am. So who exactly is he?
- Yale Law School graduate
- Litigation Partner at King & Spaulding
- Served on the President's Corporate Fraud Task Force and oversaw the Enron Task Force
- Nominated by President George W. Bush as assistant attorney general in charge of the Criminal Division (2003-2005)
- Specializes in white collar law and internal investigations - Represented Chris Christie in the politically motivated 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal
The catch? Wray's law firm, King & Spaulding, represents Rosneft and Gazprom, two of Russia's largest state-controlled oil companies. USA Today reports on some serious conflicts that exist with these two companies. According to the USA Today, the fact that Wray's law firm represents these two companies may cause him to have an "ethical and legal conflict of interest that would prevent him from any involvement of the FBI's Russian probe." Take a look and stay tuned as his confirmation hearing gets under way.
Three Days Left to Comment to Save our National Monuments
The Department of the Interior, headed by Secretary Ryan Zinke, is undertaking a review of 27 national monuments, including the San Gabriel Mountains in California, Craters of the Moon in Idaho, and Bears Ears in Utah. More than 11 million acres of national public land are at stake. To date, more than 1.1 million comments have been submitted.
The comment period regarding these 27 national monuments ends July 10. Comment today. Tell the Department of the Interior about your own tie to our public lands - a story about a visit, why your job is connected, what you love about national parks, etc. We only have 3 days left, so take the two minutes and submit something today.
Will the GOP Fall Short?
Seems as though the Senate GOP's chances of passing healthcare legislation are getting slimmer by the day. At a lunch yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told attendees, “If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur...No action is not an alternative. We've got the insurance markets imploding all over the country, including in this state [Kentucky]."
The latest road blocks?
Investment Income Tax: GOP Senators are contemplating keeping ObamaCare's 3.8% net investment income tax, which would help pay for more healthcare subsidies for low-income people. In an earlier version of the Senate's healthcare bill, the tax was eliminated. Outside conservative groups are in favor of eliminating the tax. {source}
Ted Cruz: Cruz has proposed an amendment which would allow insurers to sell plans that don't comply with the ACAs regulations, while requiring that they sell at least one plan in each market that meets the current law's standards. He is also backing Trump's hardline stance that if the party cannot agree on a "replacement", they should outright repeal the Affordable Care Act. Earlier this week, Cruz said, “If we cannot bring the conference together and agree on repeal legislation, then I think President Trump's absolutely right that we should pass a clean repeal." {Source}
What to do? Continue putting pressure on your Senators. Tell the GOP to stop sabotaging and start saving. Urge your Senators to work across the aisle to find a solution that provides affordable, quality healthcare for all. Here are some tweets & graphics to use.
- @JerryMoran on June 27 you refused to support the Senate healthcare bill because it didn't do enough to protect Medicaid. #keepyourword {Graphic}
- @SenatorCollins on June 26 you refused to support the Senate healthcare bill because it didn't do enough to protect Medicaid #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
- @SenDeanHeller on June 23 you refused to support the Senate healthcare bill because it didn't do enough to protect Medicaid #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
- @senrobportman on June 27 you refused to support the Senate health care bill because it didn't do enough to protect Medicaid. #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
- @SenMikeLee on June 22 you refused to support the Senate healthcare bill because it didn't do enough to lower costs. #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
- @SenCapito on June 27 you refused to support the Senate health care bill because it didn't do enough to protect Medicaid. #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
- @SenRonJohnson on June 22 you refused to support the Senate health care bill because it didn't do enough to lower costs. #KeepYourWord {Graphic}
Missed our Explainer on Dodd-Frank Last Week? Here it is Again...
The Dodd-Frank Act is under threat. Republicans have long targeted the act, which was passed to strengthen and reform the US banking and financial system after the global financial crisis of 2008. Now they're acting to weaken it.
In May, the House of Representatives passed the Financial CHOICE Act, which repeals most of Dodd-Frank, and last week the Treasury released a summary of part of its proposal to weaken Dodd-Frank, which isn't as extreme as the Financial CHOICE Act, but still will have a large effect. We expect that any bill that's debated in the Senate will look more like the Treasury proposal than the Financial CHOICE Act, but we don't know that for sure yet. What we do know, though, is that Republicans will try to push through changes to Dodd-Frank that Wall Street wants, even if it makes another catastrophic financial crisis more likely.
Financial regulation can be confusing; this explainer is intended to demystify it and to arm you with a framework and context to understand the different proposals. The fight over Dodd-Frank repeal will be one of the big fights in the Senate this year. More detailed information from the RISE Stronger Economy & Jobs Policy Working Group is available here.
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Appropriations Bills Advance in House
The first appropriations bills for next year's budget (FY18) began coming out of House appropriations subcommittees last week, including bills that cover several of the scientific agencies. For the most part, House appropriators are ignoring President Trump's most egregious requests for deep budget cuts, with spending at agencies mostly held at roughly the same levels at the current year (FY17). However, House Republicans have made cuts to some key scientific programs and to scientific budgets overall (see below). Also, appropriations bills covering the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others, have not been released yet, and some these are likely to be more contested.
After passing their subcommittees, these appropriations bills will still have to be passed by the full House. The Senate will also have its versions, which will have to be reconciled with the House versions before going to the President. It is likely that the appropriations process could stretch on for many more months, including past October 1, when FY18 begins. The House and Senate have not yet passed budget resolutions, which set overall spending levels, and the appropriations process in the Senate is expected to proceed more slowly than in the House. Learn about specific cuts from our Science and Technology Working Group weekly summary.
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