Monthly Archives: April 2018

Caravan of Central American Asylum Seekers Greeted by Supporters at Border

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Immigrant rights advocates gathered on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border fence as hundreds of people prepared to apply for asylum

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-29-2018

Photo: krock

A caravan of hundreds of Central American asylum seekers arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday. The migrants prepared to turn themselves over to U.S. officials, in a direct challenge to the Trump administration, which has vowed to bar them from entering, even though doing so could violate international law.


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Tourists, Beware: Trump Administration Wants Your Social Media Handles Before You Travel

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Such scrutiny will affect people coming to the U.S. for work, for business, for tourism, or simply to visit family.

By Tahmina Watson. Published 4-25-2018 by YES! Magazine

Spring break. It’s a vacation I am getting used to now that I have school-age children. I figure I’ve got 10 good years before my older daughter will start college and spending spring break with me will be the last thing she’ll want to do. We visited Disneyland—along with what felt like a million other people—and I realized the place is really a series of terminally long lines. Standing in those lines gives you an opportunity to listen to languages and accents from all over the world.

It made me appreciate just how tourist-dependent many entertainment attractions in this country are. Continue reading →

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Recognizing Powerful Interests Running the Joint, More Than 75% of Americans Back Campaign Finance Reform

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“Let’s turn opinion into action by overturning #CitizensUnited and enacting public financing of elections nationwide,” says Public Citizen in response to new Pew survey.

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-27-2018

New findings from the Pew Research Center reveal widespread support for campaign finance reform. (Photo: Backbone Campaign/flickr/cc)

Amidst a widely-shared recognition that the country is effectively being run by powerful special interests, a new poll out Friday shows that more than 3 out of 4 Americans now support serious campaign finance reform as a way to mitigate the corrupting influence of money in the nation’s democracy.

The results of the extensive Pew Research Center survey, released Thursday, reveal Americans “see the country falling well short in living up to” democratic ideals and values, and believe core changes are needed in the political system. Continue reading →

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With Tax Scam Complete, GOP Caucus Unveils Insane Budget Blueprint to Attack Safety Net

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Programs like Social Security and Medicare are gutted while tax cuts are made permanent in plan

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-26-2018

Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC) is the chair of the Republican Study Committee, a far-right caucus for House Republicans.

An ultraconservative Republican House caucus on Wednesday put forth its spending plan that represents a draconian wishlist of attacks on the social safety net and consumer and environmental protections while including a plan to further enrich the wealthy by making making permanent parts of the GOP tax plan.

The budget blueprint from the Republican Study Committee (RSC)—and titled A Framework of Unified Conservatism—says it “would take unprecedented steps to begin the deconstruction of the administrative state” and would cut $12.4 trillion over the next decade from federal spending. Continue reading →

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‘The Stuff of Slumlords’: Ben Carson Unveils Plan to Triple Rent on Poor Americans Using Housing Assistance

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“It is ironic that a man who used taxpayer dollars to buy a $30,000 dining room table for the federal agency he leads wants to raise rent on poor people.”

By Julia Conley, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-25-2018

HUD Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday introduced a proposal to impose work requirements on Americans who receive housing subsidies, aas well as raising their rent. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)

Blatantly flouting his own agency’s recommendation for how much money Americans should spend on monthly housing costs, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson announced Wednesday a plan to triple the rent for low-income individuals and families who receive housing subsidies and to impose work requirements on many recipients.


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In Win for Women, New Jersey Enacts Nation’s Strongest Equal Pay Law

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“At a time when women’s rights are under attack in most of our country, New Jersey has become an exciting exception.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-24-2018

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed equal pay legislation into law on April 24. (Photo: @GovMurphy/Twitter)

While recent research shows that the gender wage gap is getting worse for women under 40, New Jersey took a major step forward on Tuesday by enacting the nation’s strongest equal pay legislation.


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Urgent Demands for Congress to Act as Net Neutrality’s “Slow and Insidious” Death Begins

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“Momentum is on our side, but time isn’t. Members of Congress need to know that there will be a price to pay for being on the wrong side of internet history.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-23-2018

Protest for net neutrality in New York City in December 2017. Photo: Mark Stanley/Twitter

Today is the day that net neutrality’s “slow and insidious” death at the hands of the Republican-controlled FCC officially begins, and Congress is facing urgent pressure to save the open internet before it’s too late.

With Monday marking 60 days after the FCC’s net neutrality repeal entered the Federal Register, parts of the GOP-crafted plan—spearheaded by agency chair and former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai—will now slowly begin taking effect, while some still need to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget. Continue reading →

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On Earth Day, Trump Gives Giant Pro-Capitalism ‘Middle Finger’ to Entire Planet

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And so at least a few people gave it right back.

By Common Dreams. Published 4-22-2018

In Trump’s statement released by White House on Sunday, the president said, “We know that it is impossible for humans to flourish without clean air, land, and water. We also know that a strong, market-driven economy is essential to protecting these resources.” (Photo: Instagram/@jaaawsh)

In a giant “middle finger” to the planet on Earth Day, President Donald Trump on Sunday put out a statement in which he called for an even deeper evisceration of environmental protections as he claimed a “market-based economy” was essential to protecting natural resources and also reaffirmed his commitment to “removing unnecessary and harmful regulations that restrain economic growth.”

As experts and environmentalists have detailed ad nauseam, Trump—with the dedicated help from his EPA administrator Scott Pruitt—has been relentless, if not consistently successful, in destroying environmental protections and undermining any and all quality efforts designed to protect the nation’s air, water, and natural beauty. In addition, the president has become the leader of a Republican Party that continues its cynical denial of the threat posed by global warming and the associated climate crisis.  Continue reading →

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CIA Operative Gina Haspel Who Tortured, Ordered CIA Torture Tapes Destroyed, and Now Wants To Lead CIA Did Nothing Wrong, Says CIA

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“Torture was illegal and immoral after 9/11, and it still is now,” warn critics. And Gina Haspel “should never be allowed to work for the American people again.”

By Jon Queally, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 4-21-2018

Gina Haspel, who was in charge of a black site in Thailand where torture occurred and ordered the destruction of CIA tapes of the human rights violations, has been nominated to become director of the spy agency. (Photo: CIA / with overlay)

In what critics are calling a bald attempt to help Trump’s controversial pick to lead the CIA get through a very difficult confirmation process, the CIA on Friday released a previously classifed memo in which Gina Haspel was “cleared” of any wrongdoing when she destroyed more than 90 videotapes of agency operatives torturing human beings.

According to the Associated Press, which first reported the story, the CIA on Friday “gave lawmakers a declassified memo Friday showing [Haspel] was cleared years ago of wrongdoing in the destruction of videotapes showing terror suspects being waterboarded after 9/11.” Continue reading →

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‘Incredible’ News as Banking Giant HSBC Ditches New Coal, Tar Sands, and Offshore Arctic Drilling Projects

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The development is “yet another signal to Donald Trump and the rest of the world that, despite their worst laid plans, the era of fossil fuels is coming to a close.”

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams, Published 4-20-2018.

Climate groups applauded HSBC’s announcement that it is moving away from fossil fuels. (Photo: ItzaFineDay/flickr/cc)

In another signal that “the era of fossil fuels is coming to a close,” Europe’s biggest bank, HSBC, announced Friday that it will no longer fund oil or gas projects in the Arctic, tar sands projects, or most coal projects.

The move was cheered by climate campaigners on social media, who said, “This is huge,” and called it “incredible news.”

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