Benton County Democratic Central Committee

ACLU Supporter, ACLU supporters showed up big time for our rights last week.

Hundreds of ACLU members rallied with us outside of the Supreme Court for reproductive freedom while the justices inside heard arguments over nationwide restrictions on medication abortion.

And those who couldn’t make it to D.C. were represented, too. We and our partners delivered over half a million signatures from supporters like you calling for protections for medication abortion – with a banner as long as a city block!

If you didn’t get a chance to sign before last week’s hearings, join us now in calling for Congress to restore our rights and protect reproductive freedom once and for all – including abortion, birth control, and IVF.

Now, as we await a ruling, we’re turning our attention to another major case for our reproductive freedom – where the Supreme Court will rule on whether states can bar hospitals from providing abortion care to patients facing serious medical emergencies.

Far-right lawmakers want to put doctors in jail for providing pregnant patients necessary emergency medical care. Let’s be clear: Pregnant people shouldn’t be excluded from protections for medical emergencies.

ACLU Supporter, this extreme attack would force doctors to turn patients facing medical crises away. It’s unconscionable.

That’s why we’ve filed an amicus brief to defend people’s ability to get critical care at the Supreme Court – and why we’ll continue to show up to protect our reproductive freedom wherever our rights are under attack.

Thanks for all you do,

The ACLU Team

P.S. We’re only able to fight back – and win – major cases for reproductive freedom and more thanks to generous supporters like you. Will you help us sustain the fight for all of our rights and make a donation today?

Sign up for ACLU texts

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

We’re just one day away from the biggest event of the year – our 2024 Annual Luncheon! We want to take a moment to highlight our three notable congressional alums speaking at the event on Wednesday, April 3 at 12 PM PT/3 PM ET, in-person in San Francisco and live-streamed across the country! If you’d like to join these three trailblazers and more virtually tomorrow, you can RSVP here.

Congresswoman Becca Balint is the first woman and openly LGBTQ+ person to represent her home state of Vermont in Congress. Vermont was the last state to not have ever had a woman Congressmember until Becca changed that.

While Majority Leader of the Vermont State Senate, she led the passage of the first gun safety laws in the state’s history, aimed at keeping Vermont children, communities, and survivors of abuse safe. She also secured the largest housing investment in Vermont in decades to rebuild housing stock and expand middle-income housing. In Congress, Balint serves as Congressional Progressive Caucus Vice Chair for New Members and as a Co-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

Congresswoman Andrea Salinas is the proud daughter of a Mexican immigrant, a first-generation American, and dedicated public servant working for the people of Oregon’s sixth district.

A first-generation college student, Andrea decided to pursue a path of public service after graduation and worked as a US congressional aide and policy advisor to Senator Harry Reid and Congressman Pete Stark. Later, Andrea fell in love with the communities of the Willamette Valley while serving as a district aide for Congresswoman Darlene Hooley. Andrea stayed in Oregon and went on to serve as an advocate for labor unions, environmental groups, and reproductive rights organizations. In 2017, she was appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives and served through the end of her term in 2022.

Congresswoman Emilia Sykes became the first Black person elected to represent Ohio’s 13th Congressional District.

Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, Congresswoman Emilia Sykes grew up on the city’s west side and has dedicated her career to strengthening her community. For 8 years, Emilia served as the State Representative for Ohio House District 34, otherwise known as the “Birthplace of Champions.” In Congress, she has committed to fighting for economic opportunity, safer communities, and affordable healthcare for Northeast Ohioans.

In 2024, we’re committed to recruiting and training more bold Democratic women to expand our Congressional Caucus and join these three trailblazers in Congress, but we need your support to ensure we have the resources. If you’d like to join these three trailblazers and more virtually tomorrow, you can RSVP here.

–Team Emerge

Empowering Democratic women to run – and win!
www.emergeamerica.org

4 Embarcadero Center
Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94111
United States

ARTIFICIAL IRRELEVANCE

Everyone has something to say about AI lately, and very often these hot takes reveal less about how we can address the latest technological developments, and more about the general point of view of the person offering the take. Such is the case with the latest from economist Adam Ozimek, who explains that it’s “incoherent” for anyone to think that AI could cause mass joblessness, because if AI was able to do any such thing, that same AI “would have the ability to mitigate the social problems that would come with mass joblessness.” From Ozimek’s point of view, “There is no world where AI replaces us all at work but can’t help us reach our highest best selves.”

This line of thinking says less about our AI future than it does about how orthodox economic thinkers continue to fail to consider the role of power. Because the same statement could be made in the abstract about any technological change. Surely the invention of the cotton gin could make plantations so much more productive that owners would no longer enslave workers… but that’s not what happened in the pre-Civil War South. Surely the increased efficiency that comes from industrial automation could produce enough surplus to address job displacement…. but that’s not what was experienced by hundreds of thousands of American factory workers. Surely global free trade could knit people together across the world… but instead income inequality has increased and immigration restrictions have grown. Things that are technically possible don’t simply happen because they would be nice — power is central in determining how technology is deployed. That seems pretty obvious, but somehow you can still get treated as being a naturally intelligent economist without ever acknowledging that basic underlying reality of life on our planet.

When people call for increasing the retirement age, one of the easy arguments that always gets offered is that life expectancy has increased, so it’s only fair to give a few of those additional years to your job instead of oh, say, enjoying them. And while that’s hardly a convincing argument, it seems intuitively true that all the advances in medical care over the past few decades must mean we’re all living longer lives.

But as the chart below shows, there’s a stark divergence in life expectancy trends for adults with four-year college degrees, as compared to adults without such degrees. In fact, since 1992, life expectancies for those without degrees has declined slightly. Additionally, those without degrees are also more likely to work in more physical jobs that are more difficult to do in older age. So what’s the argument again for forcing people to work longer before they can retire?

For all the AI speculation and self-promotion by economists, investors, professional opinion-havers, and basically everyone else, it can be hard to find any actual information about how and where AI is actually being deployed. So when an actual living example shows up that’s not just a technology demo, it’s instructive to dig in — and there’s a lot to consider from this reporting on how fast food chains are beginning to deploy AI. And no, they’re not using the technology to ease physical and mental burdens on workers, to lower costs by minimizing food waste, to “help us reach our highest best selves” or to do anything else that sounds even vaguely helpful to the world.

Instead, some fast food outlets are using an AI-enhanced surveillance system to track and digest streams of audio and video data to evaluate which individual employees are most successfully “upselling” customers. Supersizing surveillance of minimum wage workers: that’s the piece of the AI future that seems to be actually arriving. Maybe that whole “robotic overlords” thing isn’t all that funny after all?

What did you think? Choose a reaction:

Civic Action
119 1st Avenue South Suite 320
Seattle, WA 98014
United States

Our biggest event of the year featuring our notable Congressional alums is on Wednesday, April 3 at 12pm PT/3pm ET, in-person in San Francisco and live streamed across the country!

We will introduce the Cecile Richards Impact Award onstage for the first time. Cecile is the former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and an Emerge Advisory Board Member. The award in Cecile’s name will be given to alums who are champions of the fight for reproductive freedoms.

This is your last chance to RSVP if you haven’t already!

See you at the Luncheon,

Team Emerge

Empowering Democratic women to run – and win!
www.emergeamerica.org

4 Embarcadero Center
Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94111
United States

My name is Shifra Bronznick. I’m a longtime activist, a lifelong feminist, and a senior advisor with Women’s March. 

Last Tuesday, my friend Diane and I got arrested to let the partisan Supreme Court know that, no matter what their decision is, we will make sure that medication abortion will be available to anyone who needs it. 

We were two of hundreds of feminists who were ready to put our bodies on the line that day, and two of the 13 who were arrested by Capitol Hill police.

I’m 69 years old and have been an activist since 1969. This was my 4th arrest, standing up for freedom, democracy, and women. This was my friend Diane’s first arrest – and I am so proud I was able to sit by her side in front of the Supreme Court, and then in jail on Monday.

Diane and I know that when the court no longer works in favor of democracy and upholding the Constitution, it is time for change. It’s time for us to keep putting our bodies on the line because our very freedom is at threat under this compromised court. 

Over these next few months, while the Supreme Court is hearing more key cases, we will be back in the streets, fighting this Court at every step. Will you join us in taking action, Kendall? Will you support this work so we can win our freedoms as women and safeguard our democracy?

As we invite you to join our actions, remember:  whether it’s your first time taking action or your 4th time, it’s going to take all of us.

In struggle, 

Shifra Bronznick, Women’s March, Senior Advisor 

Diane DeFries, Activist 

Women’s March is a 501c(4) organization. Your generous support helps us prepare for fights we see coming and those we don’t. Donations are not tax-deductible. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible gift, we encourage you to support the Women’s March Network. Gifts to the Network support our organizing, communications, advocacy, and public education efforts.

This week, hundreds of feminists put our bodies on the line to make sure that medication abortion will be available to anyone who needs it. Thirteen of us were arrested. 

To those of you who came out, thank you.

The week of April 22nd, the Supreme Court will be hearing a few more key cases that will bring into question our freedoms, our safety and our democracy. And we will be back in the streets – fighting them at every step. Will you join us?

SIGN UP TO TAKE ACTION

We have actions scheduled all week—sign up for the days that work best for you and our organizing team will follow up on the next steps. 

See you in the streets,

Tamika Middleton 

Women’s March, Managing Director 

Women’s March is a 501c(4) organization. Your generous support helps us prepare for fights we see coming and those we don’t. Donations are not tax-deductible. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible gift, we encourage you to support the Women’s March Network. Gifts to the Network support our organizing, communications, advocacy, and public education efforts.

ACLU Supporter – the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade unleashed a whirlwind of attacks across the nation:

Outright bans on abortion. Encroachments on birth control and even in vitro fertilization. Prosecutors and politicians have threatened criminal penalties against those who provide or help others access abortions in some states. As was the case before the fall of Roe, criminalization against pregnant people themselves has continued.

And Black, Brown, young, and low-income individuals are disproportionately bearing the brunt of these repercussions.

That’s why we’re fighting day in, day out to ensure that those facing risk of prosecution or criminal investigation due to providing, seeking, or helping others access abortion care have the criminal defense support they need. It’s also why I’m asking you today: Will you please make a 2x-matched donation toward the ACLU’s fiscal year-end goal now to help continue this vital work nationwide?

As the director of ACDI here at the ACLU, I want you to know that thanks to your generous support, patients, doctors, and supporters at risk of criminal investigation or prosecution relating to abortion will not stand alone. Alongside our network of over 100 experienced values-aligned defense counsel, including all states where abortion is banned or severely restricted – we will leverage our deep expertise in criminal defense and reproductive freedom advocacy to fight back.

But ACLU Supporter – I must press this upon you: Our ability to carry out this work hinges on whether the ACLU hits big fundraising goals, like our fiscal year-end goal tomorrow. That’s why I’m so grateful that a generous donor has agreed to match all donations.

Goals like this aren’t hypothetical: They represent the real cost of fully funding the fight to protect abortion access and more. These attacks on essential health care have put lives on the line, so we’ll never back down – and with so much left to be done, I hope that you won’t either.

On behalf of all of us at the ACLU, thank you for all you do to support our work.

In solidarity,

Lauren Johnson
Pronouns: She, her, hers
Director of the Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative, ACLU

Sign up for ACLU texts

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004, USA

March 29, 2024

---

In this issue: 

• The cost of repealing state laws on climate, health and capital gains 
• Progress made, but far more to do for kids 
• Hey, Eastern WA: Take the money from King County millionaires and run 
• Tax the rich, save the world. It is that simple.
• U.S. Billionaire Wealth Is Up 88% Since the Pandemic—Now Topping $5.5 Trillion

---

It’s seven months before our November ballots arrive, but lots of folks are talking now about what will be up for our votes. I-2109, for one, is getting lots of (negative) attention because it will take more than $5 billion away from education and childcare, directly impacting millions of families and students. 

What’s missing in much of the coverage is who will score big from I-2109’s rollback of our state’s capital gains tax: mega-millionaires and billionaires who make huge gains from selling stocks and other assets. How many Washingtonians would you say paid the capital gains tax for 2023? 100,000? 50,000?

The truth is fewer than 4,000 people saw big enough windfalls to pay the 7% tax on stock profits bigger than $250,000. And those super-rich will be able to take away even more money needed for our schools, young children, and more if I-2109 passes. 

Since 2020, 5 billionaires have doubled their wealth, while 5 billion of the poorest people in this world got even poorer. I-2109 would make that wealth gap even bigger by allowing the 12 known billionaires in Washington to keep even more funds that should go to Washington’s communities.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In Washington we’re fighting back. Want to find out what you can do to help defeat I-2109? Join our Rapid Response Team now. 

-Treasure

---

THE COST OF REPEALING STATE LAWS ON CLIMATE, HEALTH, AND CAPITAL GAINS

“The Legislature has never forwarded three initiatives to the voters in a single year since the state adopted the initiative and referendum process in 1912. But three key initiatives go to the voters in November. 

One affects the future of the state’s climate cap-and-trade law, the second concerns a payroll tax funding long-term care insurance benefits, and the third is about whether Washington should have a capital-gains tax on the richest investors.

Gov. Jay Inslee said: Those initiatives jointly would gut … would kneecap, would blow a hole in all of these benefits Washingtonians are now enjoying.

The capital gains tax produced nearly $900 million this past year. Rolling it back would mean cuts in numerous state programs, many of them essential. Providing the majority ($6 million) of funding for these initiatives is Brian Heywood, a hedge-fund executive who moved here from Arizona.”

More – Jon Talton, Seattle Times

PROGRESS MADE, BUT FAR MORE TO DO FOR KIDS

“This year’s 60-day legislative session went by extremely fast. Although the legislative session is now over, a serious threat to our state’s revenue remains in the form of a millionaire-backed initiative to repeal the capital gains tax, revenue from which is a crucial source of funding for early learning and K-12 education. 

We’re determined to do all we can to fight against this attack on our children’s future, but it will be up to voters to decide whether this tax remains in place when it appears on the November ballot.

We need every voice to continue to speak up for a better future for all Washington kids.”

More – Dr. Stephan Blanford, Seattle’s Child

HEY EASTERN WA: TAKE THE MONEY FROM KING COUNTY MILLIONAIRES AND RUN

“The reality is that school districts in more rural parts of the state are struggling to advance. They have smaller tax bases than the urban areas, and also more tax-averse voters. But there’s an answer for all this, at least a partial one. You can just take the money from King County and run.

Seriously: This past year, the state’s new capital gains tax on windfall profits from stocks and other assets poured $396 million into school construction projects, the state Department of Revenue reported in January. Many of the school projects given money in the just-ended session of the Legislature were in far-flung districts outside the urban core.

The state also reported the following astonishing figure: 84% of all the capital gains tax money was raised from a single county: King. The 20 counties east of the mountains contributed just 3%, combined.

Schools everywhere can benefit from this — for now. A Republican-backed initiative to repeal the capital gains tax has qualified for the fall ballot. If the tax goes down, the Legislature noted, the school-construction plan would lose a major source of revenue. 

Why would voters do this to themselves? It’s a tax almost entirely on the richest people in one place: King County. Why not hit King County’s millionaires to help defray the costs of your school buildings, Eastern Washington? The money to replace those old portables has to come from somewhere.”

More – Danny Westneat, Seattle Times

TAX THE RICH, SAVE THE WORLD. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.

“Over the last decade, the richest 1% have captured half of all of the new wealth created, and it is not because they are twice as talented as everyone else in the world. It’s how the system has been designed. Since 2020, 5 billionaires have doubled their wealth, while 5 billion of the poorest people in this world got even poorer. 

You may not care how much money a person has, but you likely do care how much power someone has. When too much money turns into too much power, It threatens us all.

There are no benevolent billionaires. We can and should ask how to tax the rich. We can and should ask how much to tax the rich. But alongside these questions, we must also ask ourselves the most important question of all: What will happen if we don’t tax extreme wealth?

That will not end well for anyone, including millionaires. The single only way to preserve the chance of freedom and democracy, the only way to save this planet and humanity, is to tax extreme wealth before it’s too late. Tax the rich. Save the world. It is that simple.”

More – Erica Payne, Inequality.org

U.S. BILLIONAIRE WEALTH IS UP 88% SINCE THE PANDEMIC – NOW TOPPING $5.5 TRILLION

“Four years ago, the United States entered the Covid-19 pandemic. Forbes published its 34th annual billionaire survey shortly after with data keyed to March 18, 2020. On that day, the United States had 614 billionaires who owned a combined wealth of $2.947 trillion.

Four years later, on March 18, 2024, the country has 737 billionaires with a combined wealth of $5.529 trillion, an 87.6 percent increase of $2.58 trillion, according to Institute for Policy Studies calculations of Forbes Real Time Billionaire Data.

In 2020, only one billionaire — Jeff Bezos — had $100 billion or more. Today, the entire top ten are centi-billionaires, bringing their collective wealth to a staggering $1.4 trillion.”

More – Chuck Collins & Omar Ocampo, In These Times

---

Join our Rapid Response Team!

---

Get in Touch Today

Info@investwanow.org

 Invest in Washington Now, 509 Olive Way Ste 1133, Seattle, WA, 98101

Hi, 

Nobody: 

Us: Who is the Alliance for Defending Freedom? Let us tell you! 

The Alliance for Defending Freedom is the ultra-conservative Christian legal fund that led the successful legal campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade. They are currently fighting to outlaw medication abortion. 

The ADF’s lawsuits are part of a legal strategy to restrict access to abortion, with the final goal being a constitutional ban on all abortions.

The only reason they are able to run any of this legal hustle successfully is because the courts have been packed with partisan hacks who are there to continue the attack on democracy, whittling away freedoms that a supermajority of Americans have voted to enshrine. 

They may have the power of corrupt courts, but we have the power of the people. Can you chip in $25 to fund our grassroots organizing?

These extremists are operating right under our noses. They are clear about their ultimate goal of implementing their agenda over the will of the people. The group openly says that their goal is to prevent the government and the courts from interfering in Christian ministry, and, more recently, to act as an obstacle to the Biden Administration and “the corrupt bureaucratic state.”

Alliance Defending Freedom has won fifteen major Supreme Court cases. It has pivoted to anti-discrimination laws and attacks on trans rights in the wake of their abortion-related victories. We need to build the people power that is our best hope to keep us safe. Can you chip in $25?

Day-to-day organizing isn’t as flashy as big actions, stages, and public spectacles. But it is critically important that we keep building the base that will be our best defense against the forces that are trying to strip our freedoms and overturn our democracy. 

Can you make a donation today? 

In struggle,

Rachel

Women’s March is a 501c(4) organization. Your generous support helps us prepare for fights we see coming and those we don’t. Donations are not tax-deductible. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible gift, we encourage you to support the Women’s March Network. Gifts to the Network support our organizing, communications, advocacy, and public education efforts.