PEG 6th Congressional District Newsletter 325
Monday, July 17, 2023
Our Planet on Fire: Governor Whitmer Becomes a Leader in Stemming Climate Change
Michigan, the auto state, whose regulations have been controlled by the iron hand of the car industry, is about to join the twenty-four states committed to a 52% reduction of Greenhouse Gases by 2030. In addition, in 2020, Governor Whitmer signed the Executive Directive 2020-10 which committed to carbon neutrality no later than 2050. It calls for a phaseout of coal and stricter energy requirements for electric utilities by 2030, a standard opposed by DTE who’s committed to 100% electric generation by 2050.Dallas Burtraw, an analyst at Resources for the Future, observed, “For Michigan to do this would put it at the vanguard not just of state clean-energy policy but of global clean-energy policy.”
Bidenomics – It is Working
President Biden has an economic vision for the future of all Americans. According to ADP, the private sector jobs experienced a significant surge in June, exceeding expectations. Annual pay rose by 6.4%. Most of the job growth occurred in companies with less than 50 employees.
With Biden’s eye consistently on the economy and, in addition, the future of planet Earth, Bloomberg’s Cailley LaPara reported that “the incentives in Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act for emerging technologies to address climate change have long-term and short-term benefits.”
“LaPara noted that while much attention has been paid to the short-term solar, EV, and wind industries in the U.S., emerging technologies for industries that can’t be electrified—technologies like sustainable aviation fuel, clean hydrogen, and direct air capture, which pulls carbon dioxide out of the air—offer huge potential to reduce emissions by 2030.”
Many of these new opportunities and jobs are landing in the Red States. ”Analysts have said that the new laws Democrats have passed will do more for Republican-dominated states than for Democratic ones. “Well, that’s okay with me,” Biden said, “because we’re all Americans. Because my view is: Wherever the need is most, that’s the place we should be helping.”
Lawmakers criticizing these economic laws and voting against them returned to their districts, taking credit for the outcomes. While not alone, “Senator Lindsey Graham called the Inflation Reduction Act ‘a nightmare for South Carolina,’” then, “[j]ust two months later, he called BMW’s electric vehicles announcement ‘one of the most consequential announcements in the history of the state of South Carolina.’”
In addition, according to Heather Cox Richardson’s July 7, 2023 newsletter, “In the past two years, according to a recent working paper by economists David Autor, Arindrajit Dube, and Annie McGrew, Biden’s policies have wiped out a quarter of the inequality built in the previous forty. And at the same time that Biden’s resurrection of the liberal consensus of the years from 1933 to 1980 is illustrating that the economic problems in the country were the fault of Republican policies rather than of marginalized people, the extremism of those angry Republican foot soldiers is revealing that they are not the centrist Americans they have claimed to be.”
Judge limits Biden administration contact with social media firms
On July 4, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty, a Trump appointee, issued a preliminary injunction restricting certain agencies and officials in the Biden administration from communicating with social media companies to moderate their content. The injunction came in response to a lawsuit by Republican attorneys general from Louisiana and Missouri who claimed that the government went too far in pressuring social media companies to address posts related to vaccine hesitancy and election concerns. The ruling prohibits government agencies and several federal officials, including the FBI, the Surgeon General, and the Health and Human Services Secretary, from contacting social media companies to discourage or remove protected speech. However, the order includes several carve-outs and allows the administration to inform social media companies of posts involving criminal activity, threats to national security and public safety, foreign attempts to influence elections, and illegal efforts to suppress voting.
On Monday, July 10, 2023, Judge Doughty turned down a Justice Department request to temporarily pause the order rejecting the government’s claims that the injunction was too broad and threatened to chill lawful conduct. Following this denial, the Justice Department filed an emergency stay motion in the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals requesting to pause the lower court’s order pending appeal and is requesting relief by July 24th.
The decision is considered a win for Republicans who argued that the administration was using the pandemic as an excuse to suppress opposing views.
The ruling is not final but remains in effect during the ongoing lawsuit. The Biden administration can appeal the decision.
Events and Volunteer Opportunities
July and August are months for representatives to share important legislative updates and focus on constituent input and feedback, as well as time for us to ask questions about what they have been up to for the past six months.
Monday, July 17. Young Dems Kickoff Mixer
The Washtenaw Dems are working with Young Democrats of Michigan (YDM) (a chapter of Young Democrats of America) to launch YDW to engage young Dems 16–36. Stop by for pizza, cookies, and other refreshments to meet each other and young elected leaders. AADL- Downtown Branch, Multi-purpose room, 343 S. 5th Avenue, Ann Arbor. 6–8 pm
Tuesday, July 18. Constituent Coffee Hour with Senator Sue Shink
Join Michigan Senator Sue Shink (D-14) for coffee and conversation at the Dexter Senior Center, 7720 Ann Arbor Street, Dexter. 10–11 am
Wednesday, July 19. Letter to the Editor Party
Join Common Cause with The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) as they help us write letters to our local media outlets about issues facing our country, from voting rights to ending mass incarceration. Sign up here. 8–9 pm EST
Volunteer at Voters Not Politicians booth at the Ann Arbor Art Fair
Help is needed Friday 7/21 and Saturday 7/22. You can see all the available 2-hour shifts & sign up by clicking this Mobilize link. Share the link with friends who might be interested. We plan to have 2 volunteers for every shift so we definitely need lots of your bright, energetic selves to help us out.
The primary mission to be at the Art Fair booth is to sing (not literally) the praises of this statewide nonpartisan grassroots group working to promote democracy reform. Also to continue to build and strengthen a volunteer pool for current and future work. In order to remain a predominantly volunteer organization focused on electoral policies & transparency in government, people must be reminded who VNP is and what it’s done.
Zoom training for messaging will be held. Please consider giving 2 hours of your time at this festive event where Michiganders from all over the state can be reached.
Help Wanted!!
One of our dedicated, long-serving newsletter team members has left us to more fully enjoy his retirement. One of his primary commitments was to search for and update events on our website. If you have 2-3 hours to spare per week, we will teach you the ropes. Plus, our newsletter team is hilarious!! Please reply to equalityingovinfo@gmail.com to express interest.
Visit the PEG Events Page for all upcoming events at www.equalityingov.org/events!
A special thanks to our Newsletter contributors:
Write us at equalityingovinfo@gmail.com if you would like help create our weekly newsletter OR if you would like to be a guest contributor! It’s fun and no ongoing commitment is required.
Cartoon of the Week
PEG is a (mostly) non-partisan volunteer organization whose mission is to assure that our government will treat all Americans with equality and acceptance. PEG’s work is primarily done by recruiting, educating and nurturing supporters for worthy organizations, actions and events that reflect our beliefs. The weekly PEG Newsletter typically goes out each Thursday. To subscribe to this free newsletter, go to our sign up form by clicking here.
