https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX-wiEPVI50&ab_channel=RedactedTonight
Saturday, October 17, 2020
With 170+ 'Protect the Results' Events Planned for Nov. 4, Pro-Democracy Groups Vow to 'Ensure Voters Have the Last Word'
"We will honor the valid results of the 2020 election, ensure that every vote is counted, and show up to demand that the losing candidate put their ego aside and concede for the good of our country."
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/16/170-protect-results-events-planned-nov-4-pro-democracy-groups-vow-ensure-voters-have
Pro-democracy advocates are organizing more than 170 events in anticipation of President Donald Trump illegitimately declaring victory in the Nov. 3 election before all the votes are counted, or potentially refusing to accept the election results.
Protect the Results, a coalition of more than 100 national groups including Indivisible, Stand Up America, 350 Action, and Mijente, released an interactive map on Friday showing events planned for Nov. 4 across the country. Voters can sign up to join a public action or create their own.
"Should Trump declare victory before all the votes are counted or prevent the legitimate counting of votes, we will mobilize in every corner of this country to ensure voters have the last word in November," Sarah Dohl, co-founder of Indivisible, said in a statement.
Numerous studies have found that fraudulent voting by individuals is extremely rare, and that the very few instances that have occurred were easy for officials to catch before they could ever have an effect on election results. For months, the president has repeated baseless claims that a rise in the use of mail-in ballots this year—in light of the pandemic that he has allowed to spread across the country without implementing a comprehensive national testing strategy or embracing basic mitigation guidelines from health experts—will lead to so-called "voter fraud," despite the fact that Trump himself has voted by mail.
Trump has also urged his supporters to engage in voter intimidation and has suggested that—although his approval rating has never risen above 49% during his nearly four years in office, his average rating is 41%, and he is trailing Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in several swing states—he will only lose the election if it is rigged.
In an NBC town hall Thursday night, after refusing numerous times to commit to a peaceful transition of power should he lose the election, Trump said, "I absolutely want that" before adding the qualifier that he wants "an honest election."
Such statements are a clear sign that Trump is "desperate," said Stand Up America President Sean Eldridge, and demonstrate that voters must commit to giving Biden an unequivocal victory on Nov. 3.
"We know that voting alone might not be enough when it comes to defeating Donald Trump—and that's why we'll be ready to mobilize to demand that every vote be counted and that state officials, Congress, and the Electoral College honor the final, accurate vote count," Eldridge said in a statement.
Accusations of cheating by the Democrats are "all he has left in his playbook," Dohl said. "But we are ready."
Pro-democracy campaigners have also urged Americans to prepare for a long vote-tallying process given the prevalence of mail-in and absentee ballots this year, as Democratic data firm Hawkfish warned last month warned of a possible "red mirage"—in which votes cast in person on Nov. 3 may give the impression that Trump has won the election, only to be eclipsed if votes that were sent in prior to Election Day favor Biden. Advocates have raised alarm that the president could declare victory before mail-in and absentee ballots are counted.
Fighting back against the president's misinformation about mail-in voting and the election is a matter of "preventing a constitutional crisis," said the Protect the Results coalition.
"We cannot ignore the threat that Trump poses to our democracy and a peaceful transition," said the groups. "We will honor the valid results of the 2020 election, ensure that every vote is counted, and show up to demand that the losing candidate put their ego aside and concede for the good of our country."
The Unlikely Coalition That Made the New Deal (with Thomas Ferguson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYm35zEB78&ab_channel=Jacobin
The Nightmare Facing the Poor and Working Class If There’s Not Another Stimulus
With time running out and Republicans balking at more Covid relief, U.S. workers are facing a future of financial misery.
JEFF SCHUHRKE OCTOBER 12, 2020
https://inthesetimes.com/article/stimulus-covid-pandemic-gop-checks-relief
As millions of U.S. workers face unemployment, food insecurity and eviction amid the coronavirus pandemic, the limited aid provided by the federal government’s flawed CARES Act from March has long since dried up.
Last week, following more than six months of stalled negotiations with congressional Democrats over a new economic relief package, President Trump abruptly announced he was halting talks until after the November election.
While the president quickly backtracked and is now reportedly continuing to negotiate, the federal government’s ongoing failure to pass a new relief package spells catastrophe for a U.S. working class already pushed to the brink by an economic crisis seemingly on par with the Great Depression.
Here’s a breakdown of what the continued lack of federal help means for workers:
Significantly reduced unemployment checks
Perhaps the most beneficial part of the CARES Act was the extra $600 a week it provided to workers on unemployment — a temporary lifeline that the GOP-led Senate allowed to expire on July 31.
Weekly unemployment benefits vary widely by state, ranging from $44 in Oklahoma to $497 in Washington. The $600 weekly supplement was an across-the-board benefit that ensured unemployed workers in any state maintained a decent income despite losing their jobs due to the pandemic.
The Economic Policy Institute found that the consumer spending generated by that extra $600 per week supported over 5 million jobs, and that continuing the supplement through the middle of next year would have raised U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by a quarterly average of 3.7 percent.
After this benefit expired, rather than agree to Democrats’ demands to extend it, President Trump signed an executive order slashing it by 50 percent — allowing states to use federal funds to provide only a $300 weekly unemployment supplement. At least seven states have already exhausted these funds.
Meanwhile, by losing the weekly $600 boost, unemployed workers saw their incomes drop by two-thirds, making it more difficult to pay the bills and afford groceries. There are currently 25.5 million workers receiving unemployment benefits. With at least 14 million more jobless workers than job openings, millions will be forced to rely on unemployment insurance for the foreseeable future — but now with a greatly reduced check.
Mass furloughs in the airline industry
Another one of the CARES Act’s most helpful provisions was the Payroll Support Program (PSP), which provided $32 billion in grants to the aviation industry for the sole purpose of keeping workers on payroll and providing benefits during the Covid-19 crisis. The aviation industry employs 750,000 workers, many of them unionized, and accounts for 5 percent of GDP.
The Senate allowed the PSP to expire on October 1, resulting in 40,000 airline workers immediately being furloughed without pay or health insurance. The industry’s unions are waging an aggressive campaign to extend the program. Without the federal government continuing the PSP, more furloughs are likely to come as passenger airlines suffer a loss in business due to the pandemic.
More layoffs at small businesses
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), another component of the CARES Act, offered up to $659 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to keep workers on payroll. The program has been criticized for allocating millions of dollars to large corporations and companies connected to politicians, but it has also offered much-needed financial support to small businesses across the country.
The application deadline for PPP loans was on August 8. While the Trump administration claims the program saved 51 million jobs, economists have put that number at anywhere from only 2.3 million to 13.6 million.
Whatever the precise number, the PPP’s impact is quickly running out of steam. Borrowers say they expect to lay off workers within six months, while a National Restaurant Association survey indicates that a whopping 40 percent of all U.S. restaurants could go out of business in the coming months, leading to millions of more layoffs.
No second $1,200 stimulus check
While Sen. Bernie Sanders and progressive Democrats have been calling on the federal government to provide a $2,000 monthly check to every U.S. adult for the duration of the pandemic, the CARES Act instead provided a one-time check of $1,200 — which excluded many undocumented immigrants and college-age adults. Economists report that the checks did virtually nothing to stimulate the economy, though they did help poor and unemployed workers partially cover a few weeks’ worth of basic expenses.
President Trump and congressional leaders have been saying for months that a second $1,200 check is on the way. But without another relief bill, even this meager financial assistance will not materialize.
An uncertain future
On October 1, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a scaled-down version of the HEROES Act, an economic relief package they originally passed in May that extends the limited aid from the CARES Act.
Among other things, the $2.2‑trillion bill would continue the $600 weekly unemployment supplement to the end of January (making it retroactive to September 6), allocate another $25 billion for airline workers, allow small businesses to apply for a second PPP loan, send out a second $1,200 stimulus check, provide $50 billion in emergency rental assistance, and give an additional $10 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Over the weekend, the Trump administration countered with a smaller, $1.8‑trillion proposal that would include a $400-per-week unemployment supplement, $20 billion for airlines, another $330 billion for PPP loans, and a second $1,200 check, among other measures — but neither House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor Senate Republicans appear ready to push this bill in their caucus.
While millions of U.S. workers are left in the lurch and mass layoffs continue to mount, Trump and Senate Republicans are instead focusing their attention on ensuring right-wing, anti-union judge Amy Coney Barrett is hastily confirmed to the Supreme Court in time for the election.
“If this government doesn’t work for us, then we need to focus on the fact that it is our labor that gives all the value to this country,” Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson — who famously called for a general strike to end Trump’s federal shutdown in January 2019—said last week. “This country doesn’t run without us as workers. So we have to think about that option as well.”
https://inthesetimes.com/article/stimulus-covid-pandemic-gop-checks-relief
As millions of U.S. workers face unemployment, food insecurity and eviction amid the coronavirus pandemic, the limited aid provided by the federal government’s flawed CARES Act from March has long since dried up.
Last week, following more than six months of stalled negotiations with congressional Democrats over a new economic relief package, President Trump abruptly announced he was halting talks until after the November election.
While the president quickly backtracked and is now reportedly continuing to negotiate, the federal government’s ongoing failure to pass a new relief package spells catastrophe for a U.S. working class already pushed to the brink by an economic crisis seemingly on par with the Great Depression.
Here’s a breakdown of what the continued lack of federal help means for workers:
Significantly reduced unemployment checks
Perhaps the most beneficial part of the CARES Act was the extra $600 a week it provided to workers on unemployment — a temporary lifeline that the GOP-led Senate allowed to expire on July 31.
Weekly unemployment benefits vary widely by state, ranging from $44 in Oklahoma to $497 in Washington. The $600 weekly supplement was an across-the-board benefit that ensured unemployed workers in any state maintained a decent income despite losing their jobs due to the pandemic.
The Economic Policy Institute found that the consumer spending generated by that extra $600 per week supported over 5 million jobs, and that continuing the supplement through the middle of next year would have raised U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by a quarterly average of 3.7 percent.
After this benefit expired, rather than agree to Democrats’ demands to extend it, President Trump signed an executive order slashing it by 50 percent — allowing states to use federal funds to provide only a $300 weekly unemployment supplement. At least seven states have already exhausted these funds.
Meanwhile, by losing the weekly $600 boost, unemployed workers saw their incomes drop by two-thirds, making it more difficult to pay the bills and afford groceries. There are currently 25.5 million workers receiving unemployment benefits. With at least 14 million more jobless workers than job openings, millions will be forced to rely on unemployment insurance for the foreseeable future — but now with a greatly reduced check.
Mass furloughs in the airline industry
Another one of the CARES Act’s most helpful provisions was the Payroll Support Program (PSP), which provided $32 billion in grants to the aviation industry for the sole purpose of keeping workers on payroll and providing benefits during the Covid-19 crisis. The aviation industry employs 750,000 workers, many of them unionized, and accounts for 5 percent of GDP.
The Senate allowed the PSP to expire on October 1, resulting in 40,000 airline workers immediately being furloughed without pay or health insurance. The industry’s unions are waging an aggressive campaign to extend the program. Without the federal government continuing the PSP, more furloughs are likely to come as passenger airlines suffer a loss in business due to the pandemic.
More layoffs at small businesses
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), another component of the CARES Act, offered up to $659 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to keep workers on payroll. The program has been criticized for allocating millions of dollars to large corporations and companies connected to politicians, but it has also offered much-needed financial support to small businesses across the country.
The application deadline for PPP loans was on August 8. While the Trump administration claims the program saved 51 million jobs, economists have put that number at anywhere from only 2.3 million to 13.6 million.
Whatever the precise number, the PPP’s impact is quickly running out of steam. Borrowers say they expect to lay off workers within six months, while a National Restaurant Association survey indicates that a whopping 40 percent of all U.S. restaurants could go out of business in the coming months, leading to millions of more layoffs.
No second $1,200 stimulus check
While Sen. Bernie Sanders and progressive Democrats have been calling on the federal government to provide a $2,000 monthly check to every U.S. adult for the duration of the pandemic, the CARES Act instead provided a one-time check of $1,200 — which excluded many undocumented immigrants and college-age adults. Economists report that the checks did virtually nothing to stimulate the economy, though they did help poor and unemployed workers partially cover a few weeks’ worth of basic expenses.
President Trump and congressional leaders have been saying for months that a second $1,200 check is on the way. But without another relief bill, even this meager financial assistance will not materialize.
An uncertain future
On October 1, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a scaled-down version of the HEROES Act, an economic relief package they originally passed in May that extends the limited aid from the CARES Act.
Among other things, the $2.2‑trillion bill would continue the $600 weekly unemployment supplement to the end of January (making it retroactive to September 6), allocate another $25 billion for airline workers, allow small businesses to apply for a second PPP loan, send out a second $1,200 stimulus check, provide $50 billion in emergency rental assistance, and give an additional $10 billion to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Over the weekend, the Trump administration countered with a smaller, $1.8‑trillion proposal that would include a $400-per-week unemployment supplement, $20 billion for airlines, another $330 billion for PPP loans, and a second $1,200 check, among other measures — but neither House Speaker Nancy Pelosi nor Senate Republicans appear ready to push this bill in their caucus.
While millions of U.S. workers are left in the lurch and mass layoffs continue to mount, Trump and Senate Republicans are instead focusing their attention on ensuring right-wing, anti-union judge Amy Coney Barrett is hastily confirmed to the Supreme Court in time for the election.
“If this government doesn’t work for us, then we need to focus on the fact that it is our labor that gives all the value to this country,” Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson — who famously called for a general strike to end Trump’s federal shutdown in January 2019—said last week. “This country doesn’t run without us as workers. So we have to think about that option as well.”
Trump Dumps Census as Part of the GOP's 10-Year Voter Suppression Plan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRbs5V-iXx0&ab_channel=NomikiKonst
What's About To Happen Is Not Good! (Moment of Clarity)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrrwridxDuQ&ab_channel=MomentOfClaritywithLeeCamp
Election experts on the right and left are ringing the alarm
Here’s why: State lawmakers in swing states are on the record stating that the President’s campaign has asked them to consider submitting false electors to the Electoral College who will disregard the vote count and vote for Trump no matter what.1
Could this really happen? Unfortunately, it's a real threat.
Below is our new Election Threat Report. Prepared by our top political strategists, it lays out the threat our Republic faces for you to read, share, and act upon.
The report is below and live on our blog. Please spread the word by forwarding this email to at least 3 of your friends & family.
Right now, most Americans have no idea that bypassing the vote count is even possible. This worst-case scenario is just one of many possible outcomes this November, but it’s one the American people must be prepared for. You can help by spreading the word so that everyone knows about this threat before it happens.
This isn’t about political party; it’s about democracy. See below for our report. And more soon,
Joshua Graham Lynn
Co-Founder
RepresentUs
The Atlantic recently reported that President Trump’s campaign is speaking directly to state lawmakers about the possibility of sending false electors to the Electoral College who would cast their electoral vote for the President no matter what, even if it means ignoring the will of the people.2 Since then, dozens of news outlets have reported on this real threat that could plunge our democracy into chaos.
Below, we analyze the circumstances that make this threat possible, identify the worst-case scenario, and lay out a path for preventing it – relying on a response from the American people.
How We Got Here: Disinformation Has Lead to Distrust in Election Results
This doomsday scenario is made possible by the President’s months of baseless attacks on mail-in ballots. This is critical to remember: All of the facts refute his claims.3
Even as COVID-19 infections surged, the President has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of mail-in ballots by lying about rampant fraud. He’s called to “get rid of the ballots” and even claimed, should he lose at the ballot box, that the election would be rigged.4
All in all, the President’s behavior has sowed distrust in our election systems. Despite any evidence of rampant voter fraud, most Americans report a loss of trust in the results of the upcoming election.5
What We Need to Be Prepared For: Lawmakers Disregarding the Will of the Voters
Should the President be ahead in the vote count on November 3, we expect Trump’s campaign to immediately declare victory before millions of mail-in ballots are counted.
The President has laid the groundwork for two paths forward that he could use to disregard the will of the voters:
Stopping the vote count: The President’s public statements suggest he will pressure elections officials to stop counting the votes in the event that he is ahead on Election Night, leveraging lawsuits and heightened disinformation campaigns. This would result in millions of votes – including those sent in by military service members — being thrown out.
Getting electors to ignore the vote count: Citing baseless claims about fraud or a rigged election, lawmakers in swing states could submit a slate of Electoral College electors who will ignore the vote count and install Trump as President against the will of the American people. This is the worst case scenario.
This threat is dire. It would violate our nation's founding principle: That the voters choose who represents them. This scenario can be avoided if we prepare now.
Our 3-Pronged Strategy to Prevent this “Doomsday” Scenario
RepresentUs is pursuing a 3-pronged strategy to make sure the rule of law is upheld and that the voters determine the outcome of the election, as they have since our founding. All three strategies will rely heavily on public awareness and activation, which is why these efforts are underway now, before Election Day.
1. Make Sure As Many Americans as Possible Vote
Power grabs are most successful when the public is not paying attention. An overwhelming turnout this November will show lawmakers that the American people are paying close attention and expect their votes to be counted.
What we’re doing: Through our 6 Steps to Save the Vote hub, we’re registering voters, staffing polling places, and making sure all Americans can vote safely – early, absentee by-mail, or at a polling place on Election Day.
2. Make Sure Every Vote is Counted
If the American people know that it will take time for the results to be tabulated – and hold their state lawmakers accountable – any attempt by President Trump to prematurely declare victory will fall flat.
What we’re doing: We’re changing the narrative, making it clear that Americans should not expect results on Election Day: It’s going to be #ElectionWeek as mail-in votes are validated and counted. We’ve enlisted top Generals and Admirals from all four branches of the military to join our Count Every Hero campaign and assembled a coalition of state elections officials & security experts with VoteSafe to combat disinformation about mail-in voting.
3. Ensure State Lawmakers Respect the Vote Count
If any lawmakers seem poised to disregard the will of the people, we must be ready to expose them.
What we’re doing: We’re getting daily updates straight from key swing states on the lawmakers who will ultimately choose the electors who elect our next President. We are scenario planning for legislative fights that could break out should the President continue to pressure lawmakers to disregard the will of the people. As we prepare for the crucial period between Election Day and the inauguration, we’re spreading critical information and preparing our grassroots supporters to mobilize.
While this threat is grave, we are confident that massive public participation from the American people can protect our election system this November. But to succeed, every American must know the extent of the threat we face – and, when necessary, how to take strategic action to prevent this doomsday scenario.
The Atlantic: What if Trump Refuses to Concede?
The Atlantic: What if Trump Refuses to Concede?
AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s big distortions on mail-in voting
NBC News: Trump on peaceful transition if he loses: 'Get rid of the ballots'
U.S. News and World Report: Majority of Americans Don’t Trust Elections, Poll Finds
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