March 1, 2024
Supreme Court showdown, McConnell on the way out, Biden’s environmental accomplishments, and more!
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- SUPREME COURT SHOWDOWNIt was a shock and a let down that the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case that will decide if a president has immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken while in the office. They did not have to. They could have let the lower court decision stand. It is just another delay tactic by the former president to push legal action further away and preferably after the November election. As former US Attorney Joyce Vance pointed out, “The substantive argument Trump makes—that presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for anything they do in office and more specifically, for trying to steal an election—has to be a loser. As we’ve discussed before, if it’s not, our claim to be a democracy is no longer viable. Presidents would be forever above the law.” Unless we are pining for the kind of “leader” that Putin is, this does not bode well for any American. We need to ratchet up our pre-election activities. We need to vote and help get out the vote so that we end up with people in government who still value and respect democracy. Let’s find a way to volunteer with Field Team 6 to get more people registered. Then let’s join in a postcard/letter campaign to help get out the vote. This will be won at the ballot box. Let’s help make it happen.
- MCCONNELL CALLS IT QUITS
Mitch McConnell will step down as the Senate Republican leader at the end of this year. His legacy will be one of corruption and empowering billionaires and big corporations, criticizing Trump while simultaneously enabling him, and helping stacking the judiciary branch with reactionaries whose rulings will burden us for decades to come. While the list of his possible successors does not bode well for our future and in particular for our efforts to counter Trump’s abandonment of our allies, his fall in and of itself is something to celebrate. Let’s mark this auspicious occasion by ensuring that whoever takes over the Republican caucus will do so as minority leader, signing up to volunteer to re-elect key Democratic senators like Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester and to flip seats in Arizona and Texas.
- SHRINKFLATION AND GREEDFLATION ARE REALShrinkflation, the practice of companies shrinking the contents of a product while leaving the pricing the same, often happens due to rising supplier costs. What’s different this time around is that despite those rising costs, post-COVID supply chain issues, and increases in worker pay, corporate profits are still at an all-time high. Likewise, greedflation, using inflation as an excuse to raise prices is also alive and well. When shrinkflation isn’t used, prices, on average, are 19% above where they were before the pandemic. A whopping 84 percent of all respondents said they believe “corporations being greedy and raising prices to make record profits” is a driver of inflation, according to the poll. On the bright side, Ikea stores owner Ingka’s deputy CEO said the company would be spending $1.1 billion to absorb inflation and bring down the prices of goods in its stores. It’s time for other companies to follow suit. Let’s tell them.
- CLOSING OUT BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Black History Month is now over, but we are always willing to learn more anytime. If we missed it in February, we can start with Anti-Racism Daily’s annual 28 Days of Black History project, which for four years running has published newsletters every day in February telling the story of figures from Black history. This year has been focused on art and culture, featuring folks like the composer Julius Eastman, the author Jamaica Kincaid, and the media mogul John H. Johnson. We can read through the whole archive here. - AMPLIFY BIDEN’S ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENTSAmplify, a project of Activate America, seeks to raise awareness of the many accomplishments of Democrats and the Biden administration. They’ve just released Part 3 in a series amplifying President Biden’s environmental accomplishments. Let’s take a look and spread the word.
