Categories
Members Uncategorized

Let’s celebrate Democratic wins for America!

Larry Parels

The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western MA.

President Biden and the Democrats have passed many laws to benefit all Americans, and now it’s time for us to celebrate these wins. They’ve made tremendous progress on the economy, jobs, fighting inflation, and tackling climate change. These important bills required Democrats as diverse as Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin to find agreement despite their differences. They did it to help all Americans. They did this over and over – and against the nearly unanimous obstruction of the extremist GOP.  Let’s celebrate these big wins:  

Read more: Let’s celebrate Democratic wins for America!
  • March 2021: American Rescue Plan Act, $1.9 trillion to save the economy during Covid, by supporting public health, governments, businesses, and everyday Americans.
    • November 2021:  Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, $1.2 trillion to rebuild our country’s infrastructure, such as roads and bridges.  
    • June 2022: Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first real gun control legislation in years.
    • July 2022: CHIPS and Science Act, a huge science bill including billions to make critical computer chips in America.
    • August 2022: Honoring our PACT Act to provide healthcare for vets exposed to toxins during their service. It passed despite multiple Republicans voting against it.  
    • August 2022: Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment our country has ever made to fight climate change. It’s a huge victory which will begin to save our planet. It also lets Medicare negotiate some drug prices to lower costs, and helps Americans pay for health insurance. And it includes a 15% minimum tax on rich corporations’ profits, too. 

    It’s easy to overlook the many good things being done in our country. While the MAGA Republicans focus on fear, hatred, and divisiveness, we are happy to celebrate these Democratic wins which will benefit all Americans, and make our country a better place to live and raise families in the future.  We are proud of these accomplishments that the Democrats delivered. Let’s be sure to  remember in November.  

    Pelle Lowe

    Pelle Lowe

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Capitalism Is Not The Problem

    By Seth Wilpan

    The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton.

    It has become commonplace in left and liberal circles to rail against the rapacity, cruelty and destructiveness of capitalism. But capitalism is not the problem and we’re scaring people away from our cause.

    At the most rudimentary level, capitalism is defined as a system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned. In the popular imagination this means that anyone is free to start a business, take the risks and reap the rewards. That’s in contrast to everything being run by a nanny state. In other words, when we rail against capitalism, many people think we are threatening their entrepreneurial freedom and it conjures up the bleak. dreary images of long lines and commodity shortages in Soviet Russia.

    In fact, it’s not capitalism that’s the problem, it’s the implementation.

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Congress Can and Must Reform the Extreme Court

    By Lawrence Pareles

    The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton.

    The U.S. Supreme Court just finished its most consequential term in decades. Its new extremist majority is out of control and is preparing to take away even more of our rights and freedoms. In a single year, six justices ended womens’ right to their personal freedom to make critical and personal decisions about their own reproductive care, ended states’ rights to make sensible gun rules, limited the ability of the EPA to reduce air pollution, and eroded the boundary between church and state. They have done this by ignoring past precedent and offering spurious “originalist” theory to justify their actions.These actions are radical and very unpopular, and seriously threaten Americans’ freedoms. This extreme Court is driving our country towards dictatorship and social upheaval.  

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Dear mainstream media: Please retire the word “conservative.”

    by Michael Dover

    Leave politics aside for a moment, if you can. What does the word “conservative” mean to you, outside of that cursed arena? To me, it connotes respecting tradition, caution when it comes to change, and hewing to the tried and true. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions; marked by moderation or caution; and marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners.”

    Returning to the political realm, does any of that apply to so-called conservatives today? When Mitch McConnell refused even to hold hearings on Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court on the specious grounds that it couldn’t be considered in a presidential election year, what manner of existing views, conditions or institutions was he maintaining? And when he upended that supposed rule to rush Amy Coney Barrett through the confirmation process just weeks before the 2020 elections (when early voting was already underway), how did that show moderation or caution? When candidate Donald Trump mocked a disabled journalist and trashed the parents of an American soldier killed in action, what traditional norms of taste or manners was he upholding? Once in office, when he lied again and again about almost anything, what principle of honest government was he serving? And when he knowingly and repeatedly lied that the 2020 election was stolen, and plotted to overthrow the results, how does that in any way conform to any reasonable concept of conservatism? 

    Fox TV’s Tucker Carlson is often described as a “conservative commentator.” How so? In what way does he respect tradition, caution or moderation? When he praises — “idolizes” is probably a better word — Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, what part of his tenure does he most appreciate: curtailing press freedom, moving to restrict or eliminate LGBTQ rights, or embracing “Christian democracy”? As if following Carlson’s playbook, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was held in Budapest this year. Speakers included Trump and Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff. Another speaker was described in The Guardian newspaper as a “notorious Hungarian racist who has called Jews ‘stinking excrement,’ referred to Roma as ‘animals’ and used racial epithets to describe Black people.” This is “conservative”?

    And what is conservative about the members of Congress who have tried to portray the January 6 mob as a bunch of “tourists” quietly visiting the Capitol, or those at the podium that day urging the crowd to “fight like hell,” or Senate Republicans refusing to approve an investigation into that day’s riot?

    Words matter. Calling McConnell or Carlson or a January 6 rioter conservative is to normalize their behavior. “Conservative” is such a comforting word; it connotes thoughtful consideration, reasoned debate, consideration of others’ viewpoints. It suggests adherence to the law, not gaming the system or trying to overturn an election based on lies. It allows the reader or hearer to relax: These are not crazy people, they’re just conservatives and patriots. When McConnell said when he took over as Senate majority leader that his first job was to ensure that President Obama was a one-term president, that was not a conservative statement. It was an extremist saying he had no interest in governing despite the fact that he was leading a government institution. When Missouri Senator Josh Hawley raised a fist in salute to the January 6 insurrectionists, that was not a conservative act. It was a direct violation of his oath of office.

    There are other words the mainstream media can use for these people. My favorite happens to be “extremist.” It’s short and businesslike. It doesn’t need any explanation; it nicely stands on its own. It could be modified, if desired, as in “right-wing extremist” or “anti-democracy extremist,” though that’s probably not necessary. Some members of this crowd can of course be further identified as white supremacists, neo-Nazis, racists and other such categories. I hope the wordsmiths in the media can and will find many other terms that both clarify and elaborate on “extremist” or “extremism.” What’s essential is to give the extremists no quarter, no place to hide behind comforting or compromising – and deceptive – words like “conservative.”

    Michael Dover is a co-founder of Swing Left Western Massachusetts and a steering committee member of Indivisible Northampton – Swing Left Western Massachusetts. He lives in Leverett.

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Kudos to Postcarders!!

    The opinions expressed in this post are strictly those of the author and do not reflect opinions or positions held by Indivisible Northampton.

    Last year, Indivisible Northampton (IN) held a fundraising campaign. Donations from you, our members, and a matching grant from the national organization (that provides us with ongoing support and guidance) raised over $1,000. We have chosen to use a significant portion of these funds to support our on-going postcard campaigns. IN has purchased and provided postcards free of charge, and is able to offer some subsidies for postage to make broader participation possible.

    Over the last few years, Indivisible Northampton volunteers have participated in postcard campaigns to diligently and effectively send postcards to voters in locations chosen to effect critical outcomes. We have provided information to help people register to vote, most recently Texas women, or to request mail-in ballots. We have supported constituents in numerous states to lobby their congresspeople for specific legislation. We have provided voters with information on the benefits of Democratic legislation, and we have lobbied hard for Democratic candidates.

    Literally hundreds of you have written thousands of postcards (more than 45,000 from the Florence porch alone!) and informed, alerted, encouraged voters all over the US. You have endured cramped muscles from lengthy hand-written messages, invested heavily in US postcard stamps, and spent hours doing this volunteer work.

    We send a big shout out of thanks and appreciation to all of you who make this work possible. Data collected by a wide range of organizations–from progressive groups (e.g.,Sister District, Reclaim Our Vote, Postcards to Swing States) to the State of Pennsylvania–have documented the positive impact of postcards, especially in getting out the vote. Organizations have also documented the impact of campaigns that have yielded significant constituent contact with their Congressperson on specific issues.

    All this is to say….Indivisible Northampton is committed to providing access to postcarding campaigns that put this tactic to effective use! We are currently planning where we will next focus our work. With your help, our members and donors, we will maintain and expand the impact of our progressive postcarding!