Re: Poverty is a policy choice

                                                            

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As we commemorate the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. today, let us remember that he once said: “There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it… In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied in a single garment of destiny.”1 The United States is the richest country in the world, and yet we’re seeing more people struggle to afford food, housing, and health care during this administration. We’ve seen this administration weaponize SNAP nutrition benefits during the government shutdown, seeking to punish more than 41 million people who rely on food assistance. This administration is fine with millions of people and families going hungry and going without health care in order to pay for tax cuts for the rich and corporations.2 But we are not staying silent. We are resisting, we are raising our voices, and we are peacefully fighting back through mass mobilizations and continued advocacy. Last year, we sent over 2 million messages to Congress and governors, demanding they stand up for our rights and our democracy. Donate $5 today to power our campaigns to fight back against this cruel administration and create a better future for all of us. DONATE TODAY Whether it’s cuts to SNAP or Medicaid, denying immigrants due process, illegally deploying troops in our streets, or handing trillions of dollars in tax cuts to the rich and corporations while denying our communities the resources we need to survive, none of this is acceptable. Poverty is a policy choice. And this administration keeps making that choice over and over. Together, through activism and advocacy, we are holding them accountable and working to overturn the harm. Rush a donation of $5 today to power our resistance, peacefully fighting back against this administration’s relentless attacks. Thank you for all you do, Deborah Weinstein Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1964 2 As enhanced ACA subsidies lapse, millions poised to drop health insurance -- MEREDITH'S EMAIL -- This coming week represents one year into Trump’s second term. We’re holding him accountable. The Trump administration has frozen funds, dismantled entire government agencies, fired federal workers, and disregarded laws passed by Congress. They are abducting immigrants without regard to due process, deporting people despite court orders, and arresting, assaulting, and killing citizens. But, together, our resistance is stronger than their campaign of terror. We’re working hand-in-hand with our national grassroots allies and our champions in Congress to hold Trump accountable and stop this authoritarian regime. Whether it’s national mass mobilizations, educating people about their rights and how to peacefully resist, sending hundreds of thousands of messages to Congress, or ensuring organizers on the ground have the tools they need to mobilize their communities, help power our peaceful resistance by rushing a donation of $5 or more today. DONATE TODAY Over the summer, Trump signed his Big Brutal Bill into law. This legislation supercharged Trump’s mass deportation machine, sending $170 billion to DHS and ICE by making draconian cuts to critical human needs programs like SNAP and Medicaid. Now, Congress is finalizing 2026 funding bills and some want to send even more money to ICE to expand their inhumane detention centers, when more people died in ICE custody last year than in any of the previous 20 years. Even now, as we’re watching ICE and Customs and Border Protection incite chaos in our streets and attack our friends and neighbors, we’re working with allies in Congress and on the ground to make sure the Trump administration doesn’t increase funding for the mass deportation machine that has already ruined countless lives. None of this peaceful resistance is possible without your support. Power our peaceful resistance with a donation of $5 today and help remind Trump and his enablers that there are no kings in America. If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately: Chip in $15 now   Chip in $30 now Chip in $60 now   Chip in $100 now Chip in $250 now   other amount Thank you for all you do, Meredith Dodson Senior Director of Public Policy, Coalition on Human Needs

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“I welcome their hatred”

 

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During Trump’s presidential campaign, he talked a big game about helping working people. He spoke to the economic pains that families were feeling. He said that the system is “rigged” every day. Now that he’s president, has he done anything to actually make that problem better? Nope – Trump has further rigged the economy in favor of the wealthy and well-connected. In reality, he has surrounded himself with lobbyists, billionaires, and grifters who feed off government favors. In many cases, these special interests even run the government themselves — abusing their power and the public’s trust to scratch each other’s backs and turn their billions into hundreds of billions more. In reality, Republicans passed a bill that takes meals away from hungry children and seniors, strips health care from millions, and marks the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in our history. They smiled, clapped, and cheered when it was signed into law. In reality, Trump has done everything he can to tip the economic scales toward billionaires and corporations even more than they already were. He’s taken every opportunity to stir up racial hatred in this country and place the blame for his economy on vulnerable people. That’s his whole political strategy. What can we do about it? Democrats must earn back the trust of working people to chart a different direction for our country. And we do that by embracing bold economic policies that will make a real difference in the lives of working people. We know these ideas are popular. American voters showed up in force for Democrats who unapologetically ran on aggressive affordability agendas — like in New York City, Virginia, and New Jersey. We’ve got to keep championing those ideas and not shy away because we’re afraid of upsetting corporate billionaires. For inspiration, I think back to Franklin Roosevelt. When FDR said he would take on corporations and Wall Street, he didn’t mince words. He called out the “privileged princes” and “economic royalty” running corporate America. And when the titans of commerce went after him with vicious attacks, he didn’t back down. Instead he declared, “I welcome their hatred.” What did we get out of this approach? Social Security. Unemployment insurance. Abolition of child labor. Minimum wage. The right to join a union. Even the very existence of the weekend. All we need today is that courage. Courage to stand up to billionaire and corporate donors. Courage to make the wealthiest and most powerful people in this country a little uncomfortable. Courage to shake off any instinct to show how eager we are to compromise and stand by a half-baked plan. At every turn, Democrats need to expose the hypocrisy between what Trump says he’ll do for working families, and what he actually does for billionaires and corporations. We must speak to the real economic anxieties that families are feeling right now, and have the courage to fight for the policies that will make their lives easier — even if cynics say it’ll never happen. And we need to be unwavering when it comes to standing up for immigrant families, trans people, patients seeking an abortion, and everyone else who will be targeted by this administration. I know times are hard right now, and things feel scary. That is the point: Donald Trump and the Republicans want us to feel powerless, get tired, and give up. But the political position we’re in is not permanent. America does not have to be this way. Every step toward progress in American history came after the darkness of defeat. Abolitionists, suffragists, Dreamers, advocates for marriage equality, and marchers for civil rights behind Dr. King all faced impossible odds, but they persisted, and they won. Right now, a clear majority of Americans disapprove of what Trump is doing — the only president who has ever been less popular is Donald Trump in his first term. The razor-thin majority that lets Republicans control the House was decided by a little more than 7,000 votes. That’s certainly no mandate. So next year, a majority of Americans will have the chance to speak up and loudly reject Republicans in Congress in the midterm elections. And that’s a chance we can’t afford to waste with half-measures and nibbling around the edges. I promise you: I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that Democrats make the right choices when it comes to our priorities and our economic policies. And I’m going to fight every day to resist the far-right and billionaire agenda that harms so many people. If you believe in this fight, please pitch in $15 or anything you can so we can succeed in 2026. If you've saved payment info with ActBlue Express, your donation will process automatically: DONATE NOW: $15 DONATE NOW: $28 DONATE NOW: $50 DONATE NOW: $100 DONATE NOW: $250 OTHER AMOUNT Thanks for being a part of this, Elizabeth

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The Cruelty Is the Policy

The destruction of USAID, the loss of America’s soft power, and genocide

Mary L Trump Nov 23

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Trump Truth: Gilded Ballroom, Empty Plates

 

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A different situation this year

 

This week, we celebrated World Food Day. I've spent much of my career dedicated to eradicating hunger from our country, so I usually take this opportunity to promote legislation that I'm working on or encourage people to make a donation to their local food bank. But I would be remiss if I didn't first say something about the recent and unprecedented GOP attacks on food assistance and other programs that allow families to put food on the table. We are over 2 weeks into a government shutdown created by Donald Trump and his cronies in Congress. But amongst the litany of problems the Republicans have caused is the lack of appropriated funds. Without a hard budget or Continuing Resolution, food assistance programs like SNAP and WIC are forced to operate using contingency funds, which are only meant to bridge small gaps in funding (days, not weeks). The programs have received some temporary funding through October, but with each passing day, the risk that they run out of money grows ever larger. With Republicans digging their heels in, we aren't any closer to reaching an agreement to open the government and making sure that children and families across the country have access to the nutritional support they need. Millions of Americans are waiting for Speaker Johnson and his majority to stop playing games and get back to work on our country's most pressing issues. It's up to them, but I'll keep fighting for these programs that Americans rely on. Someone has to. More soon, Jim McGovern

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Could Canadian offshore wind help Mass. meet climate goals?

 

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New from CommonWealth Beacon EMERGENCY SHELTER: The state’s housing secretary determined that the emergency assistance shelter system is not capable of meeting all current and projected demands. Colin Young from State House News Service has the story.  UNTENABLE PROBLEM: As the bar advocate work stoppage crisis ramps up in the courts, public defenders say an already “untenable” problem securing counsel for juvenile offenders is also hitting a breaking point. Jennifer Smith reports.  OPINION: Mary Tamer, the head of a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization geared toward K-12 student success, lays out an ambitious to-do list for Pedro Martinez, the new commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which includes pushing hard to close achievement gaps and maintaining high standards.

Could Canadian offshore wind help Mass. meet climate goals?

July 22, 2025 By Bhaamati Borkhetaria

With the Trump administration creating roadblocks to Massachusetts’s push to meet its climate goals, the Healey administration is eyeing Canadian offshore wind to bring more clean energy to the state, and a key lawmaker is looking to support that effort.

In January, President Trump hit pause on wind projects nationwide, halting all new federal permits on onshore and offshore wind. The latest federal tax bill also dealt the industry a major blow by phasing out the tax credits for offshore wind projects that aren’t in service by the end of 2027.

Massachusetts faces a statutory deadline: It must lock in contracts for at least 5,600 megawatts of offshore wind by 2027. Currently, the state has one offshore wind project – Vineyard Wind 1 – under construction, which will is projected to bring about 800 megawatts to the grid by the end of 2025. The state has delayed finalizing pricing contracts with two other wind developers, which are expected to bring an additional 1,878 megawatts. The state was also planning on purchasing electricity from another project – Vineyard Wind 2 – but the project was shelved in December 2024.

In light of setbacks to wind energy in the US, Massachusetts’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is potentially looking to procure electricity from planned offshore wind farms in Canada – a development first reported by Canada’s National Observer. Massachusetts officials are exploring the possibility both to meet clean energy goals and to address energy affordability by bringing more electrons to the grid.

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Switching from homegrown to Canadian offshore wind will come with challenges like installing more transmission infrastructure to carry the electricity to the state and will result in fewer construction jobs based in Massachusetts.

A spokesperson for the energy office, Maria Hardiman, said in an email that the state is in “regular communication about emerging opportunities to build new energy sources,” and that they are exploring partnerships with Canada to leverage “significant opportunities to construct new onshore and offshore wind projects across Canada and the Northeast region.”

Sen. Michael Barrett of Lexington, the chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, said that he congratulated the governor’s team for coming up with a creative solution and that he would lead the push for laying the legislative groundwork to enable the Healey administration to seek Canadian offshore wind by extending the procurement deadline for the state.

“This becomes a serious possibility for the mid-term and the long-term,” Barrett told CommonWealth Beacon. “It isn't a short-term substitution for the damage that President Trump is doing to our current offshore wind projects, but there's a lot of promise here.”

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More Context Big wind farm project in doubt (September 2024)  Healey again puts offshore wind on back burner (June 2025)  CHINA IS PROMOTING CHEAP CLEAN ENERGY & THEIR ECONOMY IS  PROSPERING!  GAS = METHANE, derived by FRACKING is not a solution!   Healey’s energy affordability bill gets support, tough questions on Beacon Hill (June 2025)  excerpt:  Healey’s legislation would also phase out a program that provides incentives to businesses for installing “alternative energy systems” that contribute to the state’s clean energy goals by increasing energy efficiency, reform the competitive supply market to protect customers from predatory practices by third-party electric suppliers, and allow the Department of Public Utilities to cap the amount of month-to-month bill increases. Carrie Katan from the nonprofit Green Energy Consumer Alliance said that her group supports the consumer protections in Healey’s bill around third-party electric suppliers – which have come under fire for predatory marketing and major price hikes. Many environmental and energy affordability advocates, including Katan, as well as more than a dozen municipal leaders across the state support an outright ban on third-party suppliers. “If we cannot get a ban, we would love if there is legislation that protects people from the worst abuses of the system,” Katan said in an interview. “That would still be a massive win for the people of the commonwealth.”

More from CommonWealth Beacon OPINION: The deadly fire at the Gabriel House in Fall River is a stain on our conscience and a wake-up call when it comes to state oversight of assisted living facilities, writes former state senator Richard Moore, co-founder and legislative chair of Dignity Alliance Massachusetts, a statewide coalition advocating for older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers.

What We're Reading MOBILE MAMMOGRAM: Asian women in Boston are getting mammograms at rates on par with the citywide average – a big change from 1999 when only a quarter of Asian women reported getting the screening test for breast cancer. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s mobile mammography van, a traveling breast cancer screening service, has played a major role in the shift. (WGBH)  CONTROVERSIAL REINSTATEMENT: Some community members in Amherst are expressing frustration over the reinstatement of a school counselor who was accused of misgendering LGBTQ students at the Amherst Regional Middle School and bringing religion into the schools. (MassLive – paywall)  HUNGER TASK FORCE: Gov. Maura Healey has launched a task force to help the state navigate massive federal cuts to food assistance benefits in the recently passed tax bill. Healey established the group through an executive order. (State House News Service – paywall)  BUY NOTHING: Brookline’s gift economy is thriving with residents using “buy nothing” groups to furnish their apartment and even adopt aquatic pets. The idea is that participants can ask or offer any object in order to encourage people to not buy things that are new or throw away old things that could be useful for other people. (Brookline News)  FOOD BANKS: With cuts to the SNAP program in the big tax and spending bill signed this month by President Trump, more low-income people will look to food banks, but they are also facing steep federal cuts to food supplies and grant programs. (WBUR)

Massachusetts leans into artificial intelligence This week on The Codcast, it’s the state angle on artificial intelligence. CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Sabrina Mansur, director of the Massachusetts Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub. Mansur explains how she uses AI in her daily life and why keeping Massachusetts competitive means a $100 million taxpayer-funded effort to get into the AI race. LISTEN NOW

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