“Voting is the heart of our democracy, yet Americans continue to face voter suppression efforts that make it harder to vote or intentionally keep voters from the ballot box. . . .Democracy doesn’t exist unless every eligible voter can vote and have their vote counted.” Senator Jeff Merkley, at the Democrats’ reintroduction of the Freedom to Vote Act, July 18, 2023

We stand at the forefront of a technological sea change that will impact work and life significantly. Artificial Intelligence is here but our legislators are not yet having an adequate “informed civil discourse with its innovators that could help us to make wise policy decisions on its regulation.”

What kind of nation keeps out asylum seekers with treacherous razor wire that can kill those it ensnares? Or sets up insurmountable barriers to prevent them from claiming asylum in violation of US and international law? Until Congress reforms our dysfunctional immigration system, the answer is “America.”

The world is facing an unprecedented global environmental crisis, but MAGA Republican policies and, sometimes, even those of the Biden administration are exacerbating the crisis.

Our MoCs must continue pushing Biden’s agenda in Congress. In the Senate, that means ending blue slips so Biden can appoint district court judges in red states and supporting or improving on the Biden-McCarthy budget agreement. In the House, it means preventing MAGA Republicans from successfully ignoring that agreement.

In a series of Supreme Court decisions about affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and LGBTQ discrimination, SCOTUS’ MAGA Supermajority has pushed a personal agenda in defiance of the rule of law, the other branches of government, the Constitution, and expert opinions. We must expand the Court now.

“After a multi-decade, special interest-funded effort. . ., the fanatical MAGA right have captured the Supreme Court and achieved dangerous, regressive policies that they could never attain at the ballot box. This MAGA-captured Supreme Court feels free to accept lavish gifts and vacations from their powerful, big-monied friends, all while they refuse to help everyday Americans. The ill-founded and disappointing decisions from the Supreme Court are a stark reminder that it will take a sustained effort to rebalance our federal courts and restore the values that have made the United States a beacon for freedom, democracy, equality, and opportunity.”

—Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer

The brutal war in Ukraine is at a critical stage. Although Ukraine’s new counteroffensive is off to a slow start, the Wagner Group’s attempted coup has clearly weakened Putin. Promptly providing Ukraine with the additional weapons requested will help its forces take advantage of this opportunity.

The “suffocating conditions” now being experienced by much of the Northwest “that have become a regular occurrence in the West, [are] yet another stark reminder that the climate crisis is here. . . .We ought to treat it like the emergency it is.” 

--Representative Earl Blumenauer

The acceleration of attacks on the legitimacy of federal institutions over the past decade should alarm anyone concerned with the health of our democracy. We need to defend and uphold the FBI’s legitimacy and authority.

The MAGA Supreme Court Judges, beset by conflicts of interest and corruption, must be reined in. Last year, they overturned Roe, rewrote the 2nd Amendment, cratered church-state separation, and stymied the EPA’s regulation of carbon emissions. This year, they’ve prevented us from keeping water unpolluted, will soon allow corporations to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people, and will further gut voting rights, equity in higher education, Indigenous people’s rights to decide their futures, and student loan debt relief. 

President Biden’s newly announced border policy is a disaster in the making. Essentially an extension of Trump’s Title 42 program, it violates international human rights law, will negatively affect our economy, and will essentially close our doors to those seeking sanctuary in the United States.

President Biden’s newly announced border policy is a disaster in the making. Essentially an extension of Trump’s Title 42 program, it violates international human rights law, will negatively affect our economy, and will essentially close our doors to those seeking sanctuary in the United States.

We cannot let MAGA Republicans hold our economy hostage. If our Members of Congress cannot guarantee passage of a clean debt ceiling bill, they must convince President Biden to continue paying the government’s congressionally approved obligations, as the Fourteenth Amendment requires. Succumbing to the blackmailers now would only embolden them next time.

Tucker Carlson is only a symptom of a much bigger problem. How do we define “news” and identify propaganda masquerading as news? Is it possible to regulate the impact of misinformation on our democracy without its dismissal as partisan game playing or an attack on the press?