Today's Action: Pass the Raise the Wage Act!
Today's Top Stories:
Prosecutors hit Trump Organization with 10 felony charges, Weisselberg with 15 in epic tax scheme
The Trump Organization and its long-time CFO were hit with a host of charges, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, grand larceny, and other dirty, rotten, no-good things.
Take Action: Call for every insurgent involved with the Trump's coup on the Capitol to be arrested and charged!
VIDEO OF THE DAY: Jen Psaki schools Fox News reporter, smacks down bad-faith question
And we're back, yet again, with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy relitigating — and losing — the latest culture-war issue with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Bombshell update on the For The People Act
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: Whoa.
Attorney General Merrick Garland suspends federal executions
Garland said serious concerns have arisen about the arbitrariness of capital punishment, its disparate impact on people of color, and "the troubling number of exonerations" in death penalty cases.
Take Action: Tell DOJ: No white supremacists in federal law enforcement!
Nancy Pelosi names members of January 6 committee, including Liz Cheney
Pelosi has the authority to appoint the 13 members of the committee, with five of those picks made in consultation with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The speaker pledged to use one of her picks to appoint a Republican, which would give the committee a more even partisan balance of seven Democrats and six Republicans.
Take Action: Add your name to call on Congress to end America's massive backlog of untested rape kits!
Biden calls on Congress to "repair the damage" after Supreme Court's voting rights decision
A "deeply disappointed" President Biden sharply criticized the Supreme Court's ruling that upheld voting restrictions in Arizona, blasting the decision as "harmful."
Take Action: Add your name to tell Senate Democrats to DUMP THE FILIBUSTER!
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger responds to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's threat to punish any Republicans who join the select committee to investigate the MAGA insurrection: "Who gives a sh*t?"
Kinzinger is one of only two House Republicans who voted with Democrats to create a select panel to investigate the insurrection, an effort Pelosi advanced after the Senate GOP blocked legislation that would have created an independent bipartisan commission for the same purpose.
Boy Scouts of America reaches $850 million settlement over systemic sexual abuse claims
The BSA, which filed for bankruptcy last year, settled with some 60,000 victims, the largest sexual abuse settlement in US history.
Consoler-in-chief Biden comforts Surfside condo family members: "They’re going through hell"
Putting aside partisan politics, President Joe Biden spent Thursday in South Florida, meeting local officials coordinating the Surfside response, speaking with first responders — and in the way perhaps only Biden can — consoling families of the dead and missing for several hours.
Take Action: Tell Congress to pass Biden's infrastructure plan to create jobs and finally rebuild America!
Workers discovered extensive concrete damage and suspended a repair effort last fall at collapsed Florida condo
When a restoration team arrived to investigate and remediate work at Champlain Towers South, they found such extensive concrete deterioration and corrosion of reinforcement that some of the repair work couldn't be performed for fear it might affect the stability of the remaining adjacent concrete constructions.
Conservatives turn on each other over IRS
A conservative group focused on pressuring House Democrats to oppose President Biden's plan to increase funding for the Internal Revenue Service is now targeting fellow Republicans, because who needs tax revenue anyway?
Seriously?
Yes. Seriously.
Hope...
Today's Action: Pass the Raise the Wage Act!
Since 1978, the average worker has seen their pay increase by 12% while CEO salaries have increased a massive 940%. Meanwhile, taxes for the wealthy have plummeted, income inequity has shattered records, corporate profits are at record highs, and the minimum wage has gone a decade without an increase for the first time ever.
It would be comically absurd if lives were not being shattered by this reality.
Corporations and Republican politicians would have you believe this is an economic necessity rather than pure greed. Look at Chipotle, which took the important step of paying all its workers at least $15 per hour, only to raise prices and blame the increase on the higher salaries of its lowest paid workers — ignoring the fact that it simultaneously increased its CEO salary by $24 million. And in the two years since, Chipotle stock has more than doubled.
So yes, corporations can afford to raise the minimum wage, and America cannot afford to wait.
Call or email your members of Congress and tell them to support the Raise the Wage Act. If they’ve already co-sponsored, tell them thank you and to keep fighting for a federally mandated liveable wage!
The Raise the Wage Act would ensure that by 2025, the legal minimum wage across the nation is no less than $15. COVID-19 proved to us the fragility of finances for community members across our country. Every person deserves the right to stability and reassurance in regard to their food, shelter, and income. Every person, regardless of background, deserves the resources to build an equitable life. Our current minimum wage is making those basic opportunities unfeasible for millions of people living in America.
Our labor is extraordinarily valuable, no matter the occupation. Companies need to pay workers what they’re worth. A $15 dollar federal minimum wage is a good start.
Call or email your members of Congress and tell them our communities need the Raise the Wage Act. If they’ve already co-sponsored, tell them thank you — and remind them that millions of Americans are depending on them to get this done.
PS — Please don't forget to sign the petition demanding Congress ensure home care workers get paid a living wage, and be sure to follow OD Action on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
