Government & Politics

• Part 1: 'A Staggeringly Bad Idea': Outrage as Pelosi Pushes Tax Rule That Would 'Kneecap the Progressive Agenda'
• "This is a very bad idea, House Democrats. It makes no sense whatsoever to give Republicans veto power over progressive legislation."
• Part 2: 'This Is Political Cowardice': Fury at Schumer for Offering $1.6 Billion for Trump's Anti-Immigrant Agenda
• "We need Democratic leadership who are going to have a goddamn backbone and reject this racist ideology."
• Part 3: Left Winger Barbara Lee Loses Contested House Democratic Caucus Chair Race
• "We are for strong border security," Schumer declared when asked about Trump's request for $5 billion in border wall funding.

Compiled by David Culver, Ed., Evergreene Digest <http://evergreenedigest.org>

On October 15 we published a story entitled "Did Democrats do enough to stop Kavanaugh? Not even close, and don’t expect more from a “blue wave.”" warning us not to expect much from a "blue wave." The stories published here support the wisdom of that conclusion. We hate to say "We told you so," but … we told you so!

Part 1: 'A Staggeringly Bad Idea': Outrage as Pelosi Pushes Tax Rule That Would 'Kneecap the Progressive Agenda'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds a news conference following the 2018 midterm elections at the Capitol Building on November7,2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images)

"This is a very bad idea, House Democrats. It makes no sense whatsoever to give Republicans veto power over progressive legislation."

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

Friday, November 16, 2018 | Nearly three-quarters of the American public and a historic number of Democratic lawmakers support Medicare for All, but the House Democratic leadership is considering using its newly won majority to impose a rule that would "recklessly betray" the grassroots forces that put them in power by making single-payer and other progressive priorities impossible to enact.

According to a list of Democratic proposals obtained by the Washington Post, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)—who is currently fighting back against efforts to prevent her from becoming House Speaker—is pushing for a rule that would "require a three-fifths supermajority to raise individual income taxes on the lowest-earning 80 percent of taxpayers."

Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams

Full story …

Part 2: 'This Is Political Cowardice': Fury at Schumer for Offering $1.6 Billion for Trump's Anti-Immigrant Agenda

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls on reporters with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) following the weekly Democratic Senate policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol November27,2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

"We need Democratic leadership who are going to have a goddamn backbone and reject this racist ideology."

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams

Wednesday, November 28, 2018 | With the brutal consequences of President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant agenda on full display after U.S. Border Patrol fired tear gas at asylum seekers in Mexico, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sparked fury from progressives and immigrant rights groups on Tuesday by telling reporters that he is perfectly willing to cede ground to the president's xenophobic policies and offer up $1.6 billion for "border security" funding in upcoming budget talks.

"We are for strong border security," Schumer declared when asked about Trump's request for $5 billion in border wall funding.

Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams

Full story …

Part 3: Left Winger Barbara Lee Loses Contested House Democratic Caucus Chair Race

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (above) beat out fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Barbara Lee to take the Democratic Caucus chairman position. / AP

The congressman from New York beat fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Barbara Lee of California.

Matt Fuller, HuffPost

11/28/2018 | In perhaps the most contentious battle for House Democratic leadership, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) beat out fellow Congressional Black Caucus member Barbara Lee (Calif.) to take the Democratic Caucus chairman position, the No. 5 spot in Democratic leadership in that chamber.
Jeffries won the race with a vote of 123-113.

With the top Democratic leadership positions uncontested, the caucus chairman position became somewhat of a proxy election for calls of new blood in leadership.

Matt Fuller, Congressional Reporter, HuffPost

Full story …

Help grow the movement! Share this story with your friends.

Story 1: By Protecting Veterans' Health, You May Protect Your Own * Story 2: The V.A. in the Vanguard of Medical Care * Story 3: Five Questions For: Author Suzanne Gordon on the VA as a 'Model for American Health Care * Story 4: From the Archives | A Band-Aid Approach to Fixing the V.A.

Compiled by David Culver, Ed., Evergreene Digest
Thanks to Evergreene Digest reader/contributor Wayne Hornicek for this contribution.

Week Ending December 1, 2018 |

Photo Credit: Robert Adrian Hillman/Shutterstock.com

Story 1: By Protecting Veterans' Health, You May Protect Your Own, Suzanne Gordon, New York (NY) Times

Nov 10,2018 | I am not a veteran, nor is anyone in my family. But this year, I’m observing Veterans Day by putting a bumper sticker on my car that says “Save Our VA!” The V.H.A.’s successes are the fruit of 100 years of federal expenditures. Let’s hope that a new Congress and, eventually, a different president, will find that investment worthy of protection before it’s too late.

Full story …

Story 2: The V.A. in the Vanguard of Medical Care, Suzanne Gordon, New York (NY) Times

Nov 15, 2018 | A former secretary of the department discusses its achievements.
Full story … https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/opinion/letters/department-veterans-a...

Story 3: Five Questions For: Author Suzanne Gordon on the VA as a 'Model for American Health Care, Alexandra Tempus, the Progressive

Oct14,2018 | “Many liberals and progressives who don’t buy the propaganda about climate, or about education, buy the propaganda about the VA.”

Full story …

Story 4: From the Archives | A Band-Aid Approach to Fixing the V.A., Paul R. Pillar, Consortium News

Despite promises from the Bush-43 administration that the Iraq War would pay for itself, the price tag keeps soaring with the predictable impact on V.A. hospitals struggling to care for wounded warriors. But the political solution has been to make a change at the top.
Veteran Affairs scandal in context
Full story ...

Help grow the movement! Share this story with your friends.

Nora brings her four month-old son Saleh to Al Hudaydah’s main hospital. Close to half a million children and two million mothers in Yemen are at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition due to the ongoing conflict., UN OCHA/Giles Clarke

• Whatever happened to Jamal Khashoggi … is … a painful reminder of the selective nature of international outrage that the death of a single, well-connected Saudi Arabian journalist was able to spark a conversation which the deaths of thousands of Yemeni civilians could not.
• The murder of Jamal Khashoggi has forced new scrutiny of the Saudi role in the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis. But, despite calls for a Yemen ceasefire and other posturing, no Western country has pledged to end arms sales to the kingdom.

Evergreene Digest Editor's Note: Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and Finland stop weapons sales to Saudi Arabia in response to Yemen famine.

Elise Thomas, the Interpreter/Australia / Portside

To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up here to receive the latest updates from all reader supported Evergreene Digest.

November 3, 2018 | "Wait, let’s take a picture!” Osama Zeid al Homran shouted to his friends. In the video the boys, aged six to eleven, are laughing and joking with one another on the bus on the way to an excursion to celebrate the end of term at their school in Sa’dah, a region of Yemen bordering on Saudi Arabia.

"I tell you what I don't want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all these companies – I don’t want to hurt jobs. I don’t want to lose an order like that." -Trump

Hours later, Osama and at least 24 of his classmates would be dead. The bomb which killed them when it struck their school bus was a GBU-12 Paveway II, made in Garland, Texas, and sold to Saudi Arabia by Lockheed Martin in a deal approved by the US State Department.

Of the 51 people who died in the bombing on 9 August, 40 were children.

Elise Thomas is a Melbourne-based freelance journalist with an interest in humanitarian and human rights issues and the impacts of new technologies. She has studied international affairs at the Australian National University and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

Full story …

• Voting reforms should be top priority for all Democrats, now in states and later in Washington. What good are policy gains if you can't sustain them?
• Related: Republicans Are Casting Doubt On Normal Election Processes For The Sake Of Winning.
• Related: Overcoming Voter Suppression

Jill Lawrence,  USA Today

Nov. 20, 2018 | Let’s get real about fixing voting. There are some things Democrats can do now in the states, and there are some they can do the next time they control the House, Senate and White House.

Yes, Republicans are missing from that sentence. Democrats need to help themselves, not engage in another futile effort to get Republicans on board with what ought to be a no-brainer. The urgency of this cannot be overstated: It should be the top priority for every Democrat in America. Because what good are policy gains if you can't sustain them?

Jill Lawrence is commentary editor and a columnist at USA Today. A former columnist for U.S. News and World Report and Creators Syndicate, she is the author of the 2017 book "The Art of the Political Deal: How Congress Beat the Odds and Broke Through Gridlock" and a contributor to "The Surge: 2014's Big GOP Win and What It Means for the Next Presidential Race."

Full story …

Related:

Republicans Are Casting Doubt On Normal Election Processes For The Sake Of Winning. Sam Levine, HuffPost

• By characterizing basic safeguards as illegitimate, Rick Scott and President Trump are undermining democracy.
• Related: Special Report | The Worst Part About Election Day- The Voters Lose

Related:

Overcoming Voter Suppression, The Progress Report, Center for American Progress

• With midterm elections 20 days away, it’s never been more important to expose voter suppression efforts—and to overcome them.
• Check out this page from the ACLU for resources around knowing your rights and responding to voter intimidation.
• Related: Five Truths About Voter Suppression

Make sure many more people see this. It's literally a matter of life an death. Imperial lies kill! Share widely.