We Resist: Day 246

Posted by Melissa McEwan at Friday, September 22, 2017
a black bar with the word RESIST in white text

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Here are some things in the news today:

Earlier today by me: Bernie Sanders, What Are You Even Doing? and Two Terrible Men Escalate Their War of Terrible Words.

Josh Dawsey and Burgess Everett at Politico: Trump Publicly Backs Health Care Effort, Privately Harbors Doubts. In other words, he's just like the rest of the lying liars in his party with zero integrity and the singular principle that winning is everything. "Several White House officials described the president as determined to sign something — anything, really." Cool.

Jessica Glenza and Molly Redden at the Guardian: Republicans' New Health Bill Would Hit Women Hardest, Experts Say. "[E]xperts said funding cuts and weaker insurance regulations would leave more female patients worse off, hitting access to reproductive health hardest. 'The Graham-Cassidy bill is an assault on healthcare, period. But I really think women, particularly poor women, are bearing the brunt of this,' said Jessica Schubel, a senior policy analyst at the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. ...One of the most concerning provisions in the Graham-Cassidy bill, advocates said, was a push to defund the reproductive health provider Planned Parenthood." Fuckers.

Apparently, this tweet is evergreen. Unfortunately.


Eugene Robinson at the Washington Post: This Republican Health-Care Bill Is the Most Monstrous Yet. "There is a rational motive for all of this, although it's a nefarious one that the GOP doesn't like to talk about: Slashing Medicaid spending would make room for huge tax cuts that primarily benefit the rich. Yes, senators, we see that, too. It is tempting to let the Republican Party drive itself, Thelma-and-Louise style, off this cliff. But the human impact of the latest repeal-and-replace measure would be too tragic. Call your senator. Make a deafening noise. We must do everything we can to kill this bill." YES.

MAKE YOUR CALLS.

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Y'all. I detest him so profoundly.

[Content Note: Islamophobia; video may autoplay at link] Toluse Olorunnipa and Greg Stohr at Bloomberg: Trump's Travel Ban Decision Could Set Off New Wave of Turmoil. "Donald Trump is on the verge of a fresh clash with business leaders and civil-rights advocates as he faces a critical deadline this weekend for continuing his travel ban on six predominantly Muslim countries. The president hinted he might broaden the initial ban, which is set to expire on Sunday, in his response to a terrorist attack in London last week. Even mere renewal of the prohibition on entry into the U.S. by most citizens of those nations would reopen controversy over an action that provoked sharp criticism from prominent corporate leaders, multiple court challenges, and internal strife within the White House. Trump may announce his decision on the next step as as soon as Friday." Deplorable.

[CN: Nativism; carcerality; exploitation; video may autoplay at link] Aimee Picchi at CBS News: Working for Peanuts: Detained Immigrants Paid $1 a Day.
If there's one aspect in a new battle over the treatment of immigrant detainees that both sides agree on, it's this: They're paid just $1 a day.

But whether that meager pay is legal is now a contested issue, with the Washington state attorney general's office suing private prison operator GEO Group (GEO) over the detainees' work pay. The lawsuit alleges the $1 a day payment violates the state's minimum wage laws; it also claims the detainees sometimes don't even earn cash, but rather are paid in chips and candy.

The legal dispute, which appears to be the first of its kind, poses a host of questions about the treatment of detainees in the U.S. at a time when arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants is on the rise. Many of them are housed in facilities operated by private prison companies such as GEO as they await their immigration court hearings. The detention centers aren't jails or prisons, nor have the detainees been convicted.

"They are breaking Washington state law and exploiting detainees for their profits," Bob Ferguson, the Washington attorney general, told CBS MoneyWatch. "It's not OK."

...Yet detainees haven't been convicted of breaking the law, and they aren't facing criminal charges, Ferguson pointed out. Some are asylum-seekers, while others may be found to be legally residing within the U.S. and released.
Meanwhile...


I hate the way this administration treats people. I hate it so much. It feels like getting a million paper cuts every single day.

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Damian Paletta and Mike DeBonis at the Washington Post: White House Plan for Tax Cuts Moves Forward. "The White House plan for a massive package of tax cuts is gaining new momentum as Republicans attempt to set aside months of intraparty squabbling and unify behind a key part of [Donald] Trump's agenda. Two developments are accelerating the effort: Key Senate Republicans reached a tentative deal this week to allow for as much as $1.5 trillion in tax reductions over 10 years; and there is a growing willingness within the GOP to embrace controversial, optimistic estimates of how much economic growth their tax plan would create." Fucking hell.

Nancy Cook at Politico: Trump Aides Begin Looking for the Exits. "Many who joined the administration in January did so with the explicit idea that they'd stay for at least a year, enough to credibly say they'd served. But in the aftermath of a wave of abrupt, high-profile departures over the summer that culminated with former strategist Steve Bannon's ouster in August, aides up and down the chain are reaching out to headhunters, lobbyists, and GOP operatives for help finding their next job. ...'There will be an exodus from this administration in January,' said one Republican lobbyist, who alone has heard from five officials looking for new gigs. 'Everyone says, 'I just need to stay for one year.' If you leave before a year, it looks like you are acknowledging that you made a mistake.'" OH YOU MADE A FUCKING MISTAKE. YOU WORKED FOR DONALD TRUMP. ONE DAY WOULD HAVE BEEN A HUGE MISTAKE. FUCK YOU AND WHOEVER HIRES YOU NEXT.

Teresa Walsh at McClatchy: Push to Unseal the Draft Whitewater Indictment Against Hillary Clinton Gets Court Date. "A federal appeals court will hear a case brought by Judicial Watch on Friday to make public draft indictments of Hillary Clinton from the Whitewater scandal in the 1990s." PERFECT. *jumps into Christmas tree*

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?
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