Right now, Trump and the Republicans are trying to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion dollars to cut taxes for the rich. Republicans in the House and Senate are working overtime to push a huge tax bill through Congress by the end of the year, at Trump's direction. They've approved a budget resolution that will allow them to increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over 10 years in order to reduce taxes. The House is hoping to pass their bill this Thursday (November 16) Almost all of the benefits of the tax cut will go to the very wealthy; only 50% of households making less than $100,000 will get a tax cut at all, and their average annual tax cut will be roughly $350. Households making more than $100,000 will get an average tax cut of $3,821, not including the benefits of the lower business tax rate and the estate tax repeal (which will almost all go to high-income households).[1] A tax cut for the rich will do very little to help the economy right now....

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Call to Action:In 2016, the Obama administration expanded the right to overtime pay to more than four million salaried workers who make less than $47,500 per year.The Trump administration distanced itself from the Obama-era rule in court, signaling that it intends to issue a watered-down replacement rule that would protect fewer workers.The Department of Labor is asking for information on the impact of the 2016 overtime rule; now is our chance to tell them that workers deserve to be paid fairly for overtime work.Before September 25, please visit https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=WHD-2017-0002 and tell the Department of Labor:To implement its 2016 Final Rule on overtime pay;To continue defending the 2016 Final Rule in ongoing litigation; andNOT to propose a replacement rule that would give fewer workers the right to overtime pay.Share your story, especially if you or somebody you know would personally benefit from the 2016 Final Rule's proposal to require overtime pay for salaried...

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Introduction The August recess for Congress is here, making it a critical time for you to engage with your elected officials. Representatives began their break on July 28, and the Senate a few days later on August 3. Congress will be back in session after the Labor Day weekend on September 5.This document will arm you with the information you need to ask challenging, hard-hitting questions of your representatives at town halls, meetings or other events. The RISE Stronger Policy Working Group Program has prepared for you overviews of key topics on the national agenda across a range of areas, including the economy and jobs; education; energy and the environment; ethics and open government; foreign policy and national security; healthcare; infrastructure and urban policy; justice and civil liberties; science and technology; and trade and development. These key issues are summarized with background information and relevant questions for you to ask, as well as additional resources for yo...

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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: It Starts Today Last fall, the Republicans won 241 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democrats won 194. You might think that this means that the Democratic party fought and won in 194 districts and fought and lost in 241. But y...

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Introduction 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 undermine it. In May, the House of Representatives took a step towards weakening Dodd-Frank Act by passing the Financial CHOICE Act, which repeals most of it. In addition, 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 yet. What we do know, though, is that Republicans will try to push through changes to Dodd-Frank that Wall Street wants, even if they make another catastrophic financial crisis more likely. Financial regulation can be confusing; this explainer is intend...

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CALL TO ACTIONPlease call your U.S. Representative and both U.S. Senators to express your opposition to the Trump administration's short-term budget request for Fiscal Year 2017, which artificially insists on $33 billion in new defense and border spending and $18 billion worth of spending cuts elsewhere in order to prevent the federal government from shutting down on April 29. Instead, urge your Member of Congress to work across party lines to pass a "clean" spending bill that keeps the government funded at or near its current levels. Find your Congressional members at WhoIsMyRepresentative.com. Feel free to customize the suggested script below with your own words.Suggested Script:My name is _____________, and I am a constituent of [Congressional member]. I strongly oppose the President's short-term budget request for the remainder of this fiscal year, for a number of reasons.First, the military does not need an additional $30 billion dollars in defense spending over the next five m...

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Call your Senator and tell them to oppose HJRES 66/67 that seek to stop states from making retirement savings accounts available to small business employees. HJRES 66/67 would jeopardize state savings initiatives. Tell your Senator to vote no.Longer (Talking Points)Support DOL Rule on Work and SaveInnovative solutions to America's saving crisis are at risk.• A 2016 Department of Labor rule provides guidance on how states can enter into public-private partnerships to increase personal savings rates for small business employees. The rule is clear: Small business owners have no operational burden for these plans. Their only interaction with a Work and Save plan is to facilitate payroll deductions for these individual savings plans.• We urge Congress to vote no on a Congressional Review Act resolution – H.J. Res. 66/67 – to overturn the Department of Labor's rule giving states flexibility to help small business workers save for retirementMillions of Americans Don't Have Enough Saved for...

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