"The House GOP is spending this holiday season trying to block $2,000 survival payments for families struggling to keep food on the table."

By Jake Johnson, staff writer

Originally published by Common Dreams under a Creative Commons license 

December 24, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) - On the morning of Christmas Eve, the House Republican leadership blocked Democratic legislation that would provide $2,000 relief checks to Americans struggling to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, obstructing direct payments long supported by progressives and endorsed earlier this week by President Donald Trump.

By Brett Wilkins, staff writer

Originally published by Common Dreams under a Creative Commons license

December 14, 2020 (Washington, D.C.) - Members of the Electoral College convened in state capitals across the nation on Monday to cast their official votes for president, and despite a desperate and doomed attempt by President Donald Trump to put forth a slate of "alternative electors," the official tallies put Joe Biden that much closer to becoming the 46th president of the United States.

By Miriam Raftery

November 23, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – Today, President Donald Trump acknowledged that he has instructed his administration to begin the transition to President-Elect Joe Biden and his team.

The announcement came on Twitter, after Michigan and Georgia certified their electors and a judge dismissed Trump’s challenge in Pennsylvania.  Biden won the popular vote by more than 6 million votes and has 306 electoral votes; 270 are needed to win.

In a Tweet today, Trump stated that he was recommended that General Services Administration chief Emily Murphy “do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”

Trump rallies caused over 30,000 COVID cases and 800 deaths, Stanford researchers find

By Miriam Raftery

November 1, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – On Friday, the U.S. reported 100,233 new coronavirus infections in a single day – the highest daily total ever for any nation, Reuters reports.  The spike belies President Donald Trump’s claim during last week’s debate when he stated, “We’re rounding the corner. It’s going away.” 

Every second, the U.S. is now adding a new coronavirus case, overwhelming hospitals in many cities.  USA Today reports that some hospitals are running out of beds and staffers; as a result, the situation is so dire that some hospitals report they may soon have to ration care. 

Despite surviving coronavirus himself, the President has refused to set a role model for others to avoid transmission. Shortly after leaving the hospital he resumed holding in-person rallies to large crowds,  most not wearing masks. Now, Stanford researchers have found that Trump’s rallies between June and September alone were directly responsible for 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 700 deaths – including deaths of people who never attended the rallies, but were exposed by Trump supporters who did attend, CNBC reports.

By Chris Jennewein, Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Photo:  Asylum seekers gather in Tijuana in 2018. Photo by Chris Stone

October 28, 2020 (San Diego) - Jewish Family Service of San Diego is leading a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s controversial “remain in Mexico” policy to keep asylum seekers out of the United States.

By Miriam Raftery

September 29, 2020  (New York) – The New York Times has published an explosive exposé on President Donald Trump’s finances after obtaining 15 years of tax records through 2017, which he refused to make public.  Among the top revelations:

“It’s bad enough that seniors and people with disabilities are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using it as a subterfuge to undermine their financial security is unconscionable and unacceptable.” -- National Education Action

By Miriam Raftery

August 29, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – Disability payments will end next year and Social Security payments to the elderly will stop in 2023 under President Trump’s executive order to cut payroll taxes, which took effect Friday, unless alternative funding is provided, Market Watch reports. That dire warning was issued August 24 by the program’s Chief Actuary, Stephen Goss, in a letter to key Senators.

Effective Aug. 28, Trump’s executive order temporarily suspends the 6.2% payroll tax collections from employers for employees under $104,000, which is used to fund Social Security and disability payments. (Employers until now have matched a 6.2% deduction paid by workers.)

Trump wants to make that permanent if reelected. On Aug. 8, Trump stated, “If I’m victorious on Nov. 3, I plan to forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax.” He made clear, “In other words, I’ll extend it beyond the end of the year and terminate the tax.”

"This is a fight to save our democracy."

By Jake Johnson, staff writer, Common Dreams

Our work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. Feel free to republish and share widely.

Photo:  Police confront demonstrators in Portland, Oregon on July 4, 2020. (Photo: John Rudoff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

July 18, 2020 (Portland, Ore.) - The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon sued the Trump administration late Friday over its deployment of federal agents to Portland, where unidentified officials from the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service have been detaining Black Lives Matter protesters without explanation and using indiscriminate force to crush demonstrations.

By Henri Migala

June 20, 2020 (San Diego) -- Reflecting the sentiments of the entire country, San Diego hosted competing rallies on Saturday, June 13: a pro-Trump boat parade on San Diego Bay, and a Black Lives Matter rally at the embarcadero.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Sanders in San Diego in 2016

April 9, 2020 (San Diego) – Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders yesterday announced that he has suspended his candidacy for the presidency, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Sanders reportedly spoke with Biden earlier in the day and congratulated him, pledging to work with Biden in the November general election against Republican President Donald Trump.

Biden, long positioned as a moderate, issued a message to Sanders’ supporters stating, “I see you, I hear you, and I understand the urgency of what it is we have to get done in this country,” adding, “I hope you will join us. You are more than welcome. You’re needed.”

By Miriam Raftery

Photo via Bing: creative commons NA-SC

April 2, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. hit a grim milestone this week. With the death toll now at 5,794 COVID-19 deaths, more Americans have died from the coronavirus than the 2,996 people killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

But that’s just a fraction of the 100,000 to 200,000 U.S. deaths now predicted by the White House, with the peak expected over the next two weeks, authorities announced in a press conference yesterday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has placed orders for 100,000 body bags

“This is going to be a very painful, painful two weeks,” President Donald Trump stated, adding 100,000 is the minimum number of deaths forecast. As of today, 243,229 cases have been diagnosed in the U.S. and 10,365 have recovered. The U.S. now has a quarter of the more than one million cases worldwide.

But while many nations around the world locked down their supplies of ventilators, respirators, masks and other items needed to keep medical personnel safe and save lives of critically ill patients weeks ago, the U.S. allowed companies to continue profiting off exporting these vital supplies to other countries.

By Miriam Raftery

March 18, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – Today, President Donald Trump announced he will invoke the Defense Production Act to help combat the Covid-19 crisis and fill critical needs for ventilators, respirators, masks and productive equipment.

The Act gives the President the authority to order increased manufacturing of  these items as well as distribution of emergency medical supplies and equipment where needed most.  Trump also authorized two military hospital ships to be dispatched, one to New York, though it will take weeks to arrive. The other will be sent from San Diego to an as yet unnamed West Coast destination.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: President Donald Trump, via WhiteHouse.gov

March 13, 2020 (Washington D.C.) – After issuing a national emergency declaration today, President Donald Trump in a rare moment of bipartisan agreement urged Congressional Republicans to pass economic relief legislation authored by House Democrats.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi negotiated the economic relief deal with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin following days of plummeting stock prices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: screenshot from video uploaded by Sanders' campaign; speaking after in Texas after his Nevada win

View video of Sanders' victory speech, delivered  before a large crowd in San Antonio, Texas

February 23, 2020 (San Diego) – Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders scored a decisive win in yesterday’s Nevada caucus, winning 46% of the votes, more than twice as many as any other candidate. His big win raises questions over whether Sanders' has the potential to mobilize his substantial grassroots support to defeat President Donald Trump in November, or whether the divided moderate wing of the party should unify to block a Sanders' win.

 He also proved wrong critics who claimed he couldn’t appeal to minority voters in swing states, picking up support of over half of Nevada’s large Latino population and holding his own (along with former Vice President Joe Biden) with strong support among African-American voters, as well as most white voters according to exit polls. He had by far the biggest support among voters age 30 or younger, drew many moderate voters and even won five of seven caucus sites at casinos among rank-and-file union workers, despite the culinary workers union opposing his Medicare for All proposal.

With 60% of votes tallied, Sanders has 46%, Biden 19.6%, Pete Buttigieg 15.3%, Elizabeth Warren 10.1%, Amy Klobucher 4.8%, and Tom Steyer 4.1%.

Of note, Nevada’s early voting period had already closed before last week’s debate, in which Warren attacked billionaire Michael Bloomberg over efforts to buy the election and over Bloomberg’s history of demeaning comments toward women as well as settling many sexual harassment and discrimination claims filed against Bloomberg or his company.

Warren’s campaign reported a $14 million bump in fundraising after the debate, too late to help her in Nevada, but she could potentially see a rise in South Carolina, the next state to vote, and/or on Super Tuesday, March 3^rd, when 14 states will hold primary elections, including California.

Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, was not on the ballot in Nevada, skipping caucus states but investing over half a billion dollars on ads in Super Tuesday states.

By Miriam Raftery

January 24, 2020 (Washington D.C.)- - As  Democrats wrapped up their arguments for removing President Trump from office during the Senate impeachment trial this week, Republicans controlling the Senate have thus far refused to allow new witnesses to be called. The White house continues to defy requests for public records. 

Now, CBS news reports that a confidant of President Trump told CBS that senators were warned quote: “vote against the president & your head will be on a pike.”

Such a threat, if true, could amount to witness tampering and threatening federal officials with violence.

In addition, MSNBC reports hearing a tape in which Trump demands that Marie Yovanovich, the former ambassador to Ukraine, be removed, though whether he was calling for her firing or assassination is unclear.

 “Get rid of her...Get her out tomorrow. I don’t care. Get her out tomorrow. Take her out. Okay? Do it,.” A voice that sounds like  Trump is heard demanding on the tape, ABC News reports. 

The recording was allegedly made during a 2018 dinner party with Lev Parnas, a former associate of Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. Parnas’ attorney, Joe Bondy, has issued a statement which says of the recording, which he indicated was not released by his client, “It is yet another example of Mr. Parnas’s version of events being corroborated by evidence in the form of recordings, emails, text messages.”

Trump has used the phrase “take out” when he referred to his order to kill Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. air strike in Iraq.  Trump, who formerly starred in the Apprentice game show, famously used the phrase “You’re fired!” when referring to terminating a job.