“These are unprecedented times” is a phrase we hear often lately. But to us, that only means one thing -- we must meet these unprecedented times with unprecedented solutions. And the harsh reality is, folks: we’re not going to be able to vote our way out of this situation. We’ve got to have bigger ideas. 

On August 30, thousands of people from all walks of life gathered to discuss the state of the nation and forming a major new party in America! And our National Director, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was one of the speakers at the People's Convention 2020! Watch the her speech above, and watch the full People's Convention here. 

Also, check out these great clips we think you might find interesting. 

As if we hadn't been through enough -- the climate crisis season of 2020 is fully upon us now.

We are now seeing record breaking fire activity across the west -- with rare lightning storms, coupled with a heat wave and 20 year mega-drought, leading to over 1.3 million acres destroyed, at least 7 deaths, evacuations ,and extremely unhealthy air quality (at times the worst air quality in the world). Add to that the new normal of rolling blackouts imposed by Pacific Gas & Electric during fire season, as a result of decades of grid neglect. And the new twist: COVID-19 has so severely devastated our incarcerated population that the prison labor these states previously relied upon to fight these fires is now too sick to help, making it much more difficult to contain the fires.

The Trump administration is opening up retirement funds to private equity — at workers’ expense

August is coming to an end but things are not getting any better -- 

The Nation literary burns as fires in California have forced more than 119,000 people from their homes 

Firefighters are struggling to get a handle on the 560 wildfires burning throughout the state, scorching more than 900,000 acres, including a treasured redwood forest

In terms of covid… even though it is clearly human nature to try to move on -- and the powers that be are really trying to convince us everything is fine -- we are still very much in the middle of the pandemic…

The U.S. has 5.79M confirmed cases and 178k deaths (as of Aug 25)

The States with the most COVID-19 cases are:

• California 2. Florida 3. Texas 4. New York and 5. Georgia 

The States with the most COVID-19 related deaths are:

• New York - 32,887 deaths, 2. New Jersey - 15,946 deaths, 3. California - 12,235 deaths, 4. Texas - 11,749 deaths, 5. Florida - 10,397 deaths

And these numbers are before Trump pushed to resume classes -- wait until people start testing positive by the thousands! Assuming the statistics get reported correctly as some schools are keeping quiet about coronavirus infections. 

• • But they won’t be able to keep the secret for so long -- especially after more U.S. colleges were grappling with high numbers of students testing positive for the coronavirus just days into the start of the fall semester after some universities rolled back their campus reopening plans in recent weeks.On the first day of school in Camden County, Ga., local Facebook groups were already buzzing with rumors that a teacher had tested positive for the coronavirus. The next day, a warning went out to school administrators: Keep teachers quiet.
  • In the weeks since, parents, students and teachers in the coastal community on the Florida border have heard by word of mouth of more positive cases linked to district schools. 
  • But even as fears of an outbreak have grown, the district has refused to publicly confirm a single case, either to the local community or The New York Times, who covered this note.

It is absurd that many educational institutions are endangering their students’ health, mainly for the tuition money -- greed as always is at the root of it all. 

Don’t believe me? Just read what the CDC has on their website: “Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being, and future of one of America's greatest assets—our children….”

It is sickening how in the midst of all this full-blown apocalypse, profits can still be a motive...

In the United States, corporations enjoy many of the same rights as people — things like freedom of speech, the right to enter into contracts, and the ability to waste their money on Gary Johnson’s 2016 presidential campaign. Given how much they benefit from personhood, is it really so much to ask that the government treat them like its other citizens and start bombarding them with drone strikes?

I know what you’re thinking, “drone strikes are supposed to be reserved for terrorists in other countries, right?” Well, most of these corporations have already moved their headquarters abroad, and if charging $600 for designer jeans isn’t terrorism, then that word has lost all meaning. When you think about it, McDonald’s has killed more people than Al-Qaeda, anyway.

These radicalized corporations threaten our very way of life, and they must be stopped.

Prior to COVID-19, 44 million Americans were already uninsured, with millions more underinsured, and many more with marketplace plans that had high premiums, co-pays, deductibles and out of pocket expenses -- a deterrent to actually seeking needed care.

Fast forward to today. After hearing the praises of the "choice" of employer based healthcare throughout the primary debates, we are now watching in real time as the economic downturn is creating mass unemployment, with millions having their "choice" employer-based healthcare taken away from them, through no fault of their own. During a grossly mismanaged pandemic. It makes all of the healthcare debates from 6 months ago look...absurd.

So it makes sense that support for (single payer) Medicare for All has skyrocketed in popularity.

Aug. 5, 2020

208 ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSE CORPORATE IMMUNITY PROPOSAL: On Tuesday, the National Employment Law Project sent a letter to the congressional leadership signed by 208 organizations – from 44 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico – opposing the corporate immunity bill introduced last week by U.S. Senate Republicans. “If the Senate Republican proposal is enacted, there will be a race to the bottom in workplace health and safety, as even law-abiding employers will be disincentivized from implementing proper health and safety protections – endangering working people, their families, and their communities,” the letter reads. “The Senate Republican corporate immunity bill would also let employers off the hook for ‘pandemic related’ violations of minimum wage and overtime laws, discrimination laws, paid leave laws, and more. But a global pandemic is no excuse for employers to flout long-standing workplace protections.”

Among the many incidents over the past few weeks of uprisings on our nation’s streets against racism and police brutality, sparked by the murder of George Floyd, have been unprovoked assaults by the police against peaceful protestors, journalists and even individuals on their own property. 

A major factor for these attacks is “qualified immunity” -- a doctrine that shields police officers from lawsuits, even if officers violate the civil rights of those they brutalize. Such immunity both fuels abuses of power and chills victims from filing suits against violent officers -- knowing the chances of righting wrongs to people and communities are slim.

What is true of police officers is equally true of corporations. 

It’s day who knows! and many corporations in America seem antsy to reopen and go back to business as usual, but this pandemic isn’t over!

The Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington takes place this weekend!

The culmination of several years of grassroots organizing in all 50 states by the Poor People’s Campaign, this virtual event seeks to unite the 140 million poor and low income people in our country and their allies to tell their stories and present demands which “challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy and militarism, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality.”

We'll be there! Please join us at the virtual Assembly this Saturday at 10 AM and 6 PM (Eastern) and Sunday at 6 PM (Eastern). 

We are learning in real time the power of direct action. 

Since the horrific filmed murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police on May 25th, the long fight of marginalized communities against the police state has reached its tipping point.

Coast to coast, hundreds of thousands have been in the streets for weeks, with solidarity actions happening across the globe. And this has further lifted the veil of the problem of policing in the US, as we've seen endless footage of peaceful protestors and journalists being met with incomprehensible militarization, cruelty and violence. Many are finally starting to see with their own eyes what occupied communities experience every day.

And this uprising has coalesced into a clear demand: #DefundThePolice

Move to Amend stands in 100% solidarity with this Black-led, multi-racial uprising -- and we give full-throated support to their demands.

It's day 111 of the life during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States where people keep losing their jobs, their homes, and livelihoods, but corporations and the super-rich are living their best lives, making a killing out of the catastrophe -- some under the lead of ALEC.

Over the past few months, we’ve all faced unprecedented challenges -- from fighting off an invisible to the naked eye virus, to the newest threat: murderer wasps! 

But there’s a small group of ‘PEOPLE’ that seem to be doing just fine, thank you very much -- Billionaires and Corporations. 

Because, as always...

Capitalism Never lets a good crisis go to waste-- 

 Dear Secretary Mnuchin, 

The COVID-19 pandemic is upending our food system, threatening the livelihoods of our nation’s farmers who have already endured six years of depressed prices and farm income. Previous bailouts lined the pockets of agribusiness giants that wield extreme 1 market control, including Brazilian-owned JBS. We are concerned that the $500 billion 2 authorized under Title IV of the CARES Act “to provide liquidity to eligible businesses, States, and municipalities” and the combined $23.5 Billion allocated to USDA for direct disaster relief will likewise be funneled to large agribusinesses, enabling them to buy out struggling competitors and further consolidate their market power. 

We urge you to block any loans to and investments in major corporate players in the food system, including the largest meat and poultry processors, seed and fertilizer suppliers, and supermarkets. Instead, we urge you to use these funds to help family farms and smaller, independent meat processors and input providers survive these economic challenges, as well as farmers markets, farm stands, independent grocery stores, and other regional food infrastructure that is playing a pivotal role in meeting local food needs during this pandemic.