Week of 6/16/25: OUR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

The FACT: NO KINGS DAY – How many participated?

While the methods for estimating crowds are just that, estimates, what we know so far from multiple sources (Fox, NPR, ACLU, Mobilize) is that more than 5 million showed up to peacefully protest the Trump administration’s authoritarian power grab and the destruction of our democracy.  One source, the Alt National Park Service, estimated over 13 million! The protests happened in over 2,100 locations across the U.S. and in 27 other countries.

Here on the North Shore protests took place in many communities. From what we’ve heard, more than 5000 people showed up on the North Shore, in Gloucester, Swampscott, Salem, Ipswich and Beverly.

One of our members, Isabella Bates, sent her impressions of the Gloucester protest: We slowly gathered at Stage Fort Park greeting each other and enjoying the many creative signs and posters. By the appointed time of 12 noon, many hundreds of people were talking together and feeling the growing power of our collective witness.  As we marched towards the Boulevard, we became aware of the huge number of people who had come to witness their belief in "We the People."  We gathered near the beautiful Fishermen’s Wife’s statue for songs and speeches that reminded us of our collective strength.

Today was another step in each of us taking power from the many gathered together.  We know we need to keep at this work, but there was a strong sense that "we SHALL overcome" together.

Below are photos and video from local and national events, showing both the frustration and fear people feel and the joy and community created by coming together to say, No Kings in America.

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Northshore & Boston

The VIDEO: NO KINGS -- Gloucester

• Boston Common, Boston, MA – Tens of Thousands for a combined Pride and No Kings rally (ABC Boston)

• Middle Green, Ipswich, MA – 1,000+

• Riley Plaza, Salem, MA

• King's Beach, Swampscott, MA - 1,000 (The Salem News)

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Nationwide

The VIDEO: NO KINGS -- From Coast to Coast

• Des Moines, Iowa @ At the State Capitol – 7,000 (Fritz Nordengren / ZUMA Press Wire / REUTERS; Des Moines Register)

•  Philadelphia PA @ Philadelphia Museum of Art -- 80,000 in PA (Iwamura, AP; NBC Philadelphia)

• Salt Lake City, Utah State Capitol – 10,000 (Urquhart, REUTERS; Salt Lake Tribune)

• Cal Anderson Park, Seattle, WA – 70,000 (Capitol Hill News, Seattle)

Week of 6/8/25:  THE BUDGET | IMMIGRATION

The FACT:  Republicans are seeking to expand their aggressive police state tactics through their Big Bad Billionaires Bill. While providing $4 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthy and decimating funding for popular programs like Medicaid and SNAP, they propose to nearly triple the budget for ICE to $9 billion per year. Overall, $150 billion is allocated to immigrant enforcement in the Bill, including building new detention prisons, border wall construction, and deportation flights. [SB1] [KK2] 

In Massachusetts ICE has been ramping up its deportation actions, detaining nearly 1500 people  during the month of May alone. ICE claims that 790 of the targeted immigrants had been convicted of crimes or had outstanding warrants. The other 710 people whose lives were upended do not have criminal records.

The Trump administration clearly understands that immigration enforcement plays well with its base and draws attention away from the real goal: a massive transfer of wealth from working Americans to the extraordinarily wealthy. The Billionaires’ Bill says it all – more for me, less for you.

The VIDEOS:

• Students Walkout in Milford MA in Support of Marcelo Gomes CBS News Boston

• ICE Raids in Chelsea MA CBS News Boston

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The STORY

Last Saturday, May 31, masked ICE agents abducted Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old Milford high school student. Marcelo is an honors student and a member of the school band and the volleyball team. He came to the U.S. from Brazil when he was six, initially on a visitor visa, which was later changed to a student visa. Though Marcelo’s student visa eventually expired, he has been a student at Milford’s public schools since his arrival.

After Marcelo’s arrest, ICE announced that Marcelo was not their intended target but a “collateral arrest.” They were looking for Marcelo’s father, who had been targeted because of a single traffic violation in July 2023. Nonetheless, ICE continued to hold Marcelo, first at their Burlington field office and briefly at the detention facility in Plymouth. An attempt to move him to a Rhode Island facility failed, after U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr denied the government’s request in order to allow Marcelo to attend his hearing the next day in Chelmsford. On June 5, the Immigration Court ordered Marcelo temporarily released from ICE custody on $2,000 bail.  He’ll have to return to court in the future to fight ICE’s effort to deport him to a country he barely remembers.

In addition to his hearings in Immigration Court, a habeus corpus petition has been filed in Federal District Court in Boston based on the fact that Marcelo was arrested without any explanation, a violation of his due process rights.  And he is not alone.  ICE agents pulled Daniel Flores Martinez of Chelsea from his car, broke the car’s windows and took him from his wife and three children; and Jose Pineda was detained at work despite Temporary Protective Status and no criminal record. Others have been arrested while attending asylum hearings at immigration court.  Hard working people, contributing to their communities, are literally being ripped away from their families, schools, and jobs, creating a climate of fear. Meanwhile federal law enforcement’s focus is shifted away from persons who’ve actually committed crimes, making all of our communities less safe.

Sources:

• Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill could supercharge ICE detention and deportation, KJZZ, 5.28.2025  

• “ I was in shock, I didn’t know what was going on.” Milford teen released from ICE detention, Boston Globe, 6.5.25

• ICE arrests at Massachusetts immigration courts target immigrants seeking permission to stay in US, Boston Globe, 5.30.25    

• As ICE officials publicize surge in immigration enforcement in Mass., Democrats call for more oversight, Boston Globe, 6.3.25

• Nearly 1500 in Massachusetts detained by ICE last month. WBZ News, 6.2.25

The Week of 6/1/25:  OUR RIGHTS & FREEDOMS

The FACTS: Buried in Section 70302 of the Big Bad Billionaires Bill is language that would weaken the contempt power of our federal courts, by making it far-more-difficult for judges to enforce their contempt rulings.  This judicial power exists to enforce court orders—for example, a temporary restraining order or injunction—or to punish behavior that disrupts court proceedings.  It is a crucial underpinning of the Constitution’s separation of powers among our three co-equal branches of government: the Courts, the Congress and the President.

Punishments for contempt may include fines and prison time. In the case of a party that disobeys or flaunts a court order, the punishment for such “civil contempt” may last until compliance with the order happens. Arising from the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the Contempt of Court Act of 1831, our courts’ contempt power has remained largely unchanged over the last almost 200 years and is codified at 18 USC s. 401.

The stealth language in the Republican bill is part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to restrain the power of the courts. The administration, which has been sued relentlessly for its unconstitutional behavior, has lost 96 percent of the time in federal court. The language in the BBB bill, which is retroactive, would make it more difficult for the courts to enforce those rulings.

The VIDEOS

• U.C. Berkeley Law: Law Prof. Chemerinsky on the contempt power of Federal Courts

• Sheet Metal Workers News: Sheet Metal Air Rail Transport Workers on Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The STORY

On March 12 of this year, ICE detained Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 14-year U. S. resident and Sheet Metal Workers Union apprentice. Three days later, despite a “withholding of removal” order forbidding his deportation to El Salvador, ICE flew him along with another 200+ people to an infamous prison for Salvadoran terrorists and gang members in El Salvador.

Kilmar is married to an American citizen and is father to 3 children, all American citizens.  ICE has admitted that he was forcibly removed from the U.S. due to “an administrative error.”  The U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland have both ordered his return. President Trump has stated that with one phone call he could have Mr. Abrego Garcia home.  However, he remains imprisoned in El Salvador because, according to the Trump administration, he is a gang member. The administration has produced no evidence to support this claim.

If the administration continues to ignore court orders to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia, the district court judge can identify a person/persons in Trump’s administration who are responsible for his continuing imprisonment and enforce compliance using the court’s contempt powers.  The Big Bad Billionaires’ Bill would, among its many horrors, weaken this clearly very needed power.

I would use the sheet metal workers and NYT video. I think we don’t need the others. If I were to choose one, I think it would be NYT explanation of contempt because it goes into the challenges of enforcement.

Sources:

• Federal Judicial Center, The Contempt Power of Federal Courts

• CBS Local News: May 28, 2025, Con. Ivey Denied Access to Mr. Abrego Garcia

• NYTimes, May 29,2025, Trump Officials Intensify Attacks on Judges as Court Losses Mount

• Campaign Law Center, These hidden provisions of the budget bill undermine our democracy

 Week of 5/25/25:  THE BUDGET & GOVERNMENT SERVICES

The FACT: On May 22, in the dead of night, House Republicans narrowly passed their One Big Beautiful Bill by a vote of 215 to 214. The bill, which defunds popular government programs to finance $4.6 trillion in tax cuts that primarily benefit the wealthy, would be better named the Big Bad Billionaires Bill. The programs that will suffer the largest funding cuts are those related to affordable healthcare and nutritional assistance for low- and middle-income Americans.

Healthcare Cuts

• Medicaid provides care to 71 million Americans. A $716 billion cut to Medicaid spending would result in between 9.7 million and 14.4 million people losing coverage, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.  Medicaid provides health insurance for low-income Americans and nursing home and home health care services to income-eligible seniors and adults with disabilities.

• Another 22 million people who buy coverage through Affordable Care Act marketplaces will see their costs skyrocket or will lose coverage altogether as a result of ending a vital tax credit.

• Because the Bill adds $3.8 trillion to the deficit, the Office of Management and Budget will be required to issue a sequestration order to reduce this amount over 10 years. While Congress has previously found ways around the legally mandated sequestration of funds,, this Administration has sought deep and haphazard cuts to budgets. Given this Administration’s program chopping history and Medicare’s its large size, Medicare make it a would likely target for be subject to these cuts., The result--an estimated $500 billion in cuts in Medicare over the next 10 years.

 Food Assistance

• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to 41 million Americans; 62 percent of recipients are families with children. Expanded work requirements for adults between age 55 and 64 as well as parents with children over the age of 7 could reduce enrollment by 11 million people, including 4 million children. All this at a time when prices for food have risen dramatically, thanks to the chaotic Trump economy.

• In Massachusetts, 1.1 million residents or 16 percent of the population (1 in 6) rely on SNAP. That is higher than the national average of 1 in 8. In MA, more than 50 percent of recipients are families with children; 48 percent are families with older adults or people with disabilities; 33 percent are working families.

The CHART:

Republicans’ Big Bad Billionaires Bill would cut working-class families’ taxes by an average of $300 in 2027, while the average taxpayer earning $1 million or more would receive about $90,000 in tax breaks.  Including the cuts to programs many moderate- and low-income Americans rely on, it is a massive transfer of wealth from those least well-off to the ultrawealthy. 

Budget Would Hurt the Poor, Help the Rich

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the budget bill would reduce the annually available resources of the lowest 10% of households while increasing the resources available to the top 10% of households. 

The STORY: The Closing of the Daily Table -- A WBUR segment aired on May 13, 2025

Residents in some neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roxbury, Cambridge and Salem suddenly have to find new places to buy nutritious groceries and prepared meals cheaply.

Nonprofit grocer Daily Table shut down abruptly over the weekend due to financial problems. It had four locations. A fifth, in Mattapan, closed in January.

The stores sold food other grocery businesses would have discarded because it didn't look perfect or was close to expiring. It served retirees on fixed incomes, families and individuals on Medicaid and others in need, according to the organization's leaders. A report from Daily Table said more than 260,000 customers used its stores in 2024, a 24% increase from the year before.

Dorchester resident Robert MacEachern walked to Daily Table to shop once or twice a week. The 49-year-old cemetery administrator said he's on a tight budget and doesn't own a car. He was unemployed during the pandemic but was still able to eat well.... I feel devastated that it's closing."

Bill Walczak helped establish Daily Table and served on the board from the time the first location opened in Dorchester's Codman Square 10 years ago. He's the co-founder and former CEO of Codman Square Health Center, which partnered with Daily Table. Walczak says the sudden closing of the nonprofit grocery stores is a shock.

" Part of [what led to the closing] was the fact that the price of food has gone up tremendously. And so we were continuously trying to adjust," Walczak told WBUR's All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins….. The organization also tried but failed to secure state funding and learned recently it would lose federal funding from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Walczak said.

Sources:

• WBUR News, May 13, 2025 Shutdown of Boston area non-profit grocer

• Congressional Budget Office Preliminary Analysis, May 20, 2025 Distribution of Budget Bill's Impacts

• Urban Institute Brief, May 9, 2025, Who Gains and Who Loses

• Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, May 21, 2025, By the Numbers

• Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, January 21, 2025, A Closer Look at SNAP

• CNN, May 21, 2025, Cuts to Medicaid and Food Stamps: Here’s who could be impacted 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Week of 5/18/25:  CORRUPTION

The FACT: On January 17, 2025, three days before his inauguration, Trump-affiliated companies created and launched a $TRUMP meme coin. By the end of January, three block chain analysis firms estimated that these companies, CIC Digital LLC and Fight, Fight, Fight LLC, had earned $86-100 million in fees. Additionally, Trump’s companies earned another $312 million from sales of the meme coin.

Now Trump is enhancing his wealth by launching a “stablecoin” known as “USD1.” The coin will be launched by World Liberty Financial, Inc, a decentralized finance company, which is 60 percent owned by an entity “affiliated“ with President Trump. This newest crypto scheme would allow for a variety of criminal scams and outright bribery, as foreign leaders could invest in President Trump’s coin with no public record of the transactions. In fact, already the United Arab Emirates have announced they will be “investing” $2 billion in one of Trump’s cryptocurrencies, making Trump millions.

The VIDEO:

Ever wondered “What the heck is crypto currency? And what is a meme coin?”  The simple answer is that they are digital assets and exist only online. Further, meme coins are not even mediums for transactions. They are created around internet memes or jokes.  Here is the most straightforward explanation we’ve found.  It’s from the grassroots group, Our Revolution: Organize to win and is a bit long but worth the time:   Our Revolution: Crypto Corruption 

The STORY

So how did investors do when they bought Trump’s meme coin?  The price of the “coin” has fallen from its high near $75 to about $16. 

Of those who invested, a total of $1.1 billion was made by just 58 investors, while 764,000 mostly small investors lost money.  The Washington Post surveyed 67,000 of these investors and found that, on average, they spent $100 and lost $62 on paper.  Here are the very different stories of two investors:

From the Washington Post:  Rebecca Davis bought President Donald Trump’s meme coin while lying in bed one January morning in Little Rock, scrolling through photos of a glitzy Trump inauguration gala called the “Crypto Ball.” The host of a local conservative radio show, she knew nothing about cryptocurrency but believed in Trump’s business savvy. He “kind of knows how to make money,” she said.

Her $TRUMP coin’s value climbed for a few days but has since plunged 85 percent from its peak. Though some coin holders, including Trump’s allies, have profited handsomely on paper from the coin, she is not one of them; her $32 investment is now worth about $11.

“There was definitely a lot of influential people that had posted online about it that got me hyped up,” she said. “Then when it tanked, I was like, ‘Whoa, what the hell?’”

Meanwhile, Fortune reports, On the first day of $TRUMP’s trading, one user bought nearly 6 million tokens at a share price of just 18 cents. Two days later, the mystery user sold their shares and racked up a profit of $109 million.

As prices fell, Trump attempted to boost the coin using a classic pay-to-play scheme, offering a private dinner and glittering party to the 220 top holders of the coins, e.g. those who held the most, giving investors an incentive to buy more. The CEO of a Houston-based logistics firm, Freight Technologies, said the firm planned to buy $20 million of the coin as “an effective way to advocate” its preferred trade policy. With no record of crypto transactions, anyone currying favor can do the same.

Sources:

• Washington Post, May 8, 2025; Small-time Trump coin buyers have seen their investments collapse

• Fortune, February 11, 2025; Trump meme coin traders lost $2 billion while Trump family made $100 million in trading fees

• Reuters, February 3, 2025; Trump's meme coin made $100 million in fees while small traders lost

• Salon, May 7, 2025; 764,000 have lost money while only 58 profited

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Week of 5/11/25: THE BUDGET & GOVERNMENT SERVICES

The FACT: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s premier biomedical research center. NIH funding contributed to the development of 99 percent of prescription drugs from 2010 to 2019, including block-buster weight loss drugs Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro and the mRNA vaccines that brought the COVID pandemic to an end.  According to former NIH director Francis Collins, in 2024, every dollar spent by NIH returned $2.46.

Now NIH is reeling:

• 1300 staff fired by DOGE

• cancellation of $2 billion in research grants for academic medical centers and research institutes

• proposed cuts of about $18 billion (40 percent) from a total budget of $47 billion

Last year, the Commonwealth received $3.5 billion to support research on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s disease, to addiction, to vaccine development, the highest level of funding per capita of any state.  According to United for Medical Research, that funding:

• fueled more than 5000 research projects at 219 organizations

• supported 30,000 jobs

• drove nearly $8 billion in state economic activity

The VIDEO: Choose Europe for Science

Europeans are capitalizing on the attack on science in the US. As Governor Maura Healey says, undermining what has made America great is not putting America first. Now our scientists will be moving to Europe to find the stability and funding that is being pulled out from under them.

The STORY

Though some may think that these across-the-board cuts to biomedical research effect only elite institutions, every American will feel the impact. Many patients participate in clinical trials to test new drugs, treatments, and medical devices. Some of these trials have already been terminated, leaving patients unable to continue treatments that could save their lives. Here is one story, reported by Patrick Boyle of AAMC News, about what happened before the cuts and what may happen now: 

In 2013, at age 31, [Katie] Doble was diagnosed with uveal melanoma, a rare form of eye cancer. It later spread to her liver, and she was told she had 16 months to live.

That set off a series of four clinical trials to stave off death: at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, two at UCHealth in Colorado (the state where she lives with her husband), and another at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh. At various times along the way, Doble had to leave the studies because of the progression of her disease (at one point it had spread to her brain) and the requirements of the trials.

The last trial, at UPMC, used her body’s own T cells to fight the cancer. It worked. “We were seeing tumors disappear,” says Doble, who has been cancer-free for more than three years.

No one can pinpoint the impact of each experimental treatment, but Doble suspects that some of them enabled the others, slowing the spread of cancer to a degree that a subsequent therapy could become available and work.

Doble has a strong reaction to the cuts that are affecting clinical trials today.

“I’m terrified. I’m devastated,” says Doble, who now guides other cancer patients toward finding help, including clinical trials and specialists. “I think about so many people that I know who are still in the fight for their lives — mothers, fathers, sons, daughters. The continuity in research is crucial, and we’re going to lose that. It’s shortsighted and selfish.”

Sources:

•  "NIH," by Sharyn Alfonsi. 60 Minutes, April 27, 2025.  

•  "AG Campbell Sues Trump Administration for Defunding Medical and Public Health Innovation Research," Press Release, Office of the Attorney General. 

•  "MassBio issues dire warning: Federal cuts will upend U.S. biotech dominance." Boston Business Journal, May 6, 2025. 

• AAMC” "What's at stake when clinical trials research gets cut," April 24, 2025 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Week of 5/4/2025:  IMMIGRATION & DUE PROCESS

The FACTS:

• Mr. Kilmar Abrego Garcia remains “disappeared,” in prison in El Salvador.

• The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump Administration to “facilitate” his release to the United States.

• The Administration admitted that he was erroneously deported and, on Wednesday, Trump’s 100th day in office, Trump said that he could get Mr. Abrego Garcia back with a phone call.

Due Process:  The Administration says Mr. Abrego Garcia is a gang member who entered the country illegally. Despite offering not a shred of evidence, the Department of Justice argues this is reason enough to justify his rendition to El Salvador. However, in a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals begged to differ about this being the basis for deportation.   Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a Reagan appointee, writes regarding the Administration’s claim of gang membership: “Perhaps, but perhaps not.  Regardless he is still entitled to due process.” 

The VIDEO + TRANSCRIPT:

• President Reagan on Open Doors for the American Dream

• Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum: Remarks at the Medal of Freedom Ceremony for Mike Mansfield & George Schultz

The STORY

The Administration’s reckless deportation policies are leading to more cases in which innocent people are being caught in the ICE dragnet. On April 29, a mother and her three daughters, all U.S. citizens, were forced to stand in the rain in their nightclothes while ICE agents searched their home in Oklahoma City. The family had recently moved from Maryland to Oklahoma City, hoping for a more relaxed life.  Instead, two weeks after their arrival, ICE agents burst into their new home in the middle of the night.  Despite the fact that the names of the residents were not those on the search warrant, the agents took all of their cellphones, computers and cash and left – without providing official identification, or leaving information about how to get their personal belongings back.  It did not seem to matter to the agents that they had the wrong family or that they were attacking and traumatizing U.S. citizens.

Sources:

•  NY Times: The Story of the Mistakenly Deported Maryland Man

• ABC News: "I could get Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador" says Trump

• Time Magazine: "Perhaps, but perhaps not... Regardless he is still entitled to due process."

• Oklahoma News Channel 4, KFOR: "We're Citizens!"

• Oklahoma News Channel4, KFOR: Homeland Security Admits Mistake

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The FACT: 18 U.S.C. section 208 prohibits government employees from working on matters that affect their own or their family’s financial interests. Special government employees who serve on an advisory committee may be exempted from this requirement but only after disclosing their financial interests and a certification that the government’s need for them outweighs any financial conflicts.

The Trump Administration has attempted to classify Elon Musk as a special government employee, but since Mr. Musk, as the leader of DOGE, has had employees of multiple federal agencies reporting directly to him (e.g. requiring weekly submission of “5 things I did this week” reports), this seems a stretch. In addition, no conflict-of-interest form from Mr. Musk has been made publicly available as is common practice.

The VIDEO 

• Last Week Tonight: Musk's Conflicts of Interest

The STORY

Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest arise primarily from his significant interests in Tesla, the electric auto maker, and SpaceX, the rocket company, and its subsidiary Starlink, the satellite communications company.  Musk owns 12.8% of Tesla and 42% of SpaceX.  Musk’s conflicts of interest take two forms:

1.      Securing additional contracts for these companies from federal agencies and

2.      Stopping regulatory actions against these companies by federal agencies.

While it is difficult to keep track of the specific numbers of agencies involved as the scope of Musk’s potential conflicts of interest is vast, there have been at least five agencies where Musk’s companies appear to be advantaged by significant procurements:

• The Federal Aviation Administration – where Musk is attempting to elbow out a $2.4 billion contract the FAA has with Verizon to modernize its communications systems.  Starlink terminals are already in testing at several locations.

• The Department of State – where the Department announced its intention to purchase $400 million of armored Tesla cybertrucks.  For the moment, this seems to have been stopped by a public outcry.

• The Department of Commerce – where the rules governing the provision of broadband service to rural areas were changed from allowing only fiber optic cable systems to allowing satellite companies like Musk’s Starlink, to also compete.  A former director of this program says that Starlink will offer slower speeds at higher costs to rural customers.

• The Department of Defense – where Space X and Starlink provide substantial rocket launch and communications services, $2 billion of which is under classified contracts

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration – where Space X currently has $15 billion in various contracts related to the U.S. Space program.

Further, Musk’s companies have a significant number of regulatory actions in process with at least ten federal agencies.  They are:

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

• Federal Aviation Administration

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• Federal Election Commission

• Securities and Exchange Commission

• Department of Defense

• Environmental Protection Agency

• The National Labor Relations Board

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 

Sources:

• Criminal Conflict of Interest Laws: Summary for Executive Branch Employees

• USA Today, Where Is Elon Musk's Financial Disclosure Form?

• Rep. Sherrill Calls for Investigations into Elon Musk’s Vast Conflicts of Interest and Self-Dealing

• Investor's Business Daily: Elon Musk: A Look at His Business Empire

• Los Angeles Times, Departments investigating Elon Musk have been cut by DOGE

• House Judiciary Committee, FACT SHEET: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, DOGE PUNISH AGENCIES

• Jessica Craven, Dependence on NPR v. Musk Companies

Week of 4/20/25:   IMMIGRATION & DUE PROCESS

Due Process:  There are many aspects of the Republicans' cruel deportations that are reprehensible, but the one that should be of concern to every single American is the failure to observe due process.  Due process is guaranteed to everyone within the boundaries of the United States. This means that if you are accused of a crime, including the crime of crossing the border illegally, you have in almost all instances, the right to an immigration court hearing or to appear before a judge, to dispute the charges, and to prove your innocence. This right is guaranteed by the 5th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Power of the Courts: United States courts have the power to compel parties to a case to obey judicial orders and to refrain from behavior that disrupts the orderly conduct of judicial proceedings. Judges exercise this power through contempt of court citations and/or by disciplining a case’s attorneys.

The U.S. Marshals Service may be used to enforce contempt citations, which may involve fines, jail time or other remedies.  The Marshals operate under the authority of the U.S. attorney general and, by law, their primary role is “to obey, execute and enforce all orders” of the federal courts. Further, for helping clients defy a court order, a judge may impose professional penalties including, in extreme circumstances, suspending or disbarring an uncooperative attorney.

The STORY:

The most public case of the violation of due process is the case of Kilmer Abrego Garcia, the undocumented  Salvadoran father and steel worker wrongly removed from the United States to CECOT, the infamous Salvadoran prison. But it also applies to all 238 Venezuelans and Salvadorans sent to the prison: of those so-called criminals, CBS found 75 percent of the Venezuelans deported had no criminal records. None were given the opportunity to make their case in court prior to being removed.

In Mr. Garcia’s case, the U.S. government admits that it made an “administrative error” when it deported him.  Previously, he had been granted a “withholding from removal” order by an immigration judge in 2019 because of credible evidence that his life would be endangered if he were returned to his home country, El Salvador.

Despite a 9-0 Supreme Court decision, which ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Mr. Garcia, the administration claims that now that Mr. Garcia is in the custody of El Salvador, nothing can be done.  As the Fourth Circuit affirmed in its decision to deny a writ of mandamus, this argument is simply not credible. It appears the administration is trying to create a legal quagmire it can then exploit. As Judge Wilkinson writes,

“If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive’s obligation to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ would lose its meaning.”

The VIDEOS:

• Here's Why We All Need to Care About Kilmar Abrego Garcia

• A Violent ICE Arrest in New Bedford, MA 

Sources:

• National Constitution Center, Amendment V: Nor shall any person be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

• The Brennan Center: What Courts Can do if the Trump administration defies Court Orders

• The Federal Judicial Center: The Contempt Power of the Federal Courts

• Axios: How Judges Can Hold Trump Accountable for Defying Court Orders

Week of 4/13/2025:  OUR RIGHTS & FREEDOMS

This past week our Fact and Action Workgroup took a break (we’ll be back next Sunday!).  However, there was major legislation moving this week and we wanted to let you know about it.  On April 10th the U.S. House passed the SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – safeguard it does NOT do!). It passed narrowly, 220-208 and now moves on to the Senate. 

Here are 3 facts about the bill:

• The Act requires that either when you register to vote initially or change something about your information (e.g. a change of address/partisan affiliation), you must appear IN PERSON at your town clerk’s/voter registrar’s office to become/continue to be able to vote. This effectively eliminates registering by mail or online options.

• The clerk/registrar will only be allowed to put/keep you on the rolls of registered voters if you have identification specified in the Act: passports or birth or naturalization certificates. No longer will a government issued photo ID be enough.

• Millions and millions of Americans will be disenfranchised by this Act:

o   In 2024 approximately 22 million U.S. citizens registered/made changes by mail/online;  

o   Approximately 146 million U.S. citizens do not currently have passports, nearly half the country;

o   73 million U.S. citizens have changed their names so their current name and birth certificate name do not match.  The vast majority of these are women who changed their names upon marrying.

Sources:

• How the House Bill Could Affect Citizens' ability to vote

• What You Need to Know About the SAVE Act

• The SAVE Act Would Disenfranchise Millions of Citizens

Week of 4/6/2025:  THE ECONOMY 

The FACT: On Wednesday, April 2, Trump declared a “national emergency” and announced new tariffs of 10% on goods from all countries with adjusted rates much higher by country. The announcement led to a catastrophic drop in the stock market and, according to most economists, is likely to send the country into a recession.

To understand the complex topic of tariffs and the impact on individuals, let’s look at the automotive industry. On April 3, the administration enacted a new 25% tariff on cars and car parts imported into the United States. This tariff is on top of a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum. These new tariffs impact not only foreign car models, but also U.S. car manufacturers that assemble some cars and trucks in Mexico and Canada.  These include Ford, Stellantis and GM. It also affects manufacturers who assemble cars in the U.S. but import some auto parts (45 percent of parts come from Mexico and 10 percent from Canada). Few cars are assembled entirely from American-made parts.

Complex supply chains make it difficult to predict the full impact of Trump’s tariffs, but  Anderson Economic Group predicts gas-powered vehicles will cost from $4,000 to $10,000 more than in 2024, while EVs will increase in price by $12,000. Though some automakers may return some production to the U.S., industry forecasters predict a 10 to 30 percent drop in car manufacturing across North America.  Immediately following the implementation of the tariffs on April 3, Stellantis announced layoffs for 900 workers at its U.S. auto plants. As the industry contracts we can expect job losses across multiple sectors, including auto assembly plants, auto parts suppliers, automobile dealers, retail sales, and shipping. A total bust for both prices and jobs.

These additional costs constitute a deeply regressive tax on everyday Americans who are being forced to pay more for their cars to help fund tax breaks for the ultrawealthy.

 The VIDEO:  Watch Jessica Craven’s explanation on what Congress can do.  

The STORY:

For lower income Americans, affording a car, along with car insurance and maintenance, is often a significant stretch. Yet many people who live outside of major metropolitan areas cannot get and keep jobs without cars. Even in urban areas, riding on public transportation can add hours to a commute. A story from Oprah’s Pay It Forward Challenge illustrates the critical importance of cars to low-income workers. In the story, a mother and three daughters each received $1000 from Oprah.  They combined their gifts and worked with a local car dealership to purchase a car for Rashawnda, a single mother of four who was spending 2 hours each day commuting and getting her children to school and daycare by bus. Following the gift of the car, Rashawnda’s commute and drop-offs became 15 minutes, greatly reducing her daily stress and allowing her to spend more time with her children. Watch Rashawnda’s reaction.

Sources:

• Wharton Knowledge: How Tariffs will Impact the U.S. Auto Industry

• NY Times: Affect of Trump's Tariffs on Major Car Brands

• CNN Business: American auto jobs could be quickly lost

• NY Post: Jeep maker laying off 900 after Trump's tariffs

Week of 3/30/2025:  THE ECONOMY 

The FACT:  The U. S. Consumer Confidence index fell 7.2 points in March, a decline for the fourth straight month, making it the lowest since 2021. Further, the measure of Americans' expectations for income, business, and the job market fell 9.6 points, the lowest it has been in 12 years.

In part this is due to continuing inflation in the prices of many basic goods. Let’s take eggs, for example. In February 2024, the average price of a dozen large, grade-A eggs across the U.S. was $2.99. In February 2025, the price was $5.89 (nearly double), with retail prices as high as $9.99/dozen in some locations. And the USDA predicts the price will continue to rise this year by another 20%.

Two principal reasons for the rise in price of eggs are bird flu and monopolies in the egg supply chain. While bird flu has decreased the number of laying hens by millions of birds, resulting in smaller flocks, it has only produced a 4% reduction in the supply of eggs. So clearly bird flu is not the primary reason for the spike in egg prices.

Meanwhile, at Cal-Maine Foods, the largest producer of eggs in the US, profits have increased dramatically between 2021 and 2024:  from a slight loss in 2021, before bird flu took hold, to a pre-tax profit of 15.5 percent.  Farm Action, a group comprised of a broad coalition of farmers, ranchers, and local rural leaders, notes that this suggests that price increases are not solely from supply constraints but from the dominant producers increasing their profits.

The INTERACTIVE GRAPH:  fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1EpWd 

The VIDEO: Jessica Craven on the new Consumer Confidence Index numbers

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The STORY:

In 1942, New Deal-era Secretary of Agriculture and then Vice President Henry A. Wallace built a new model for producing eggs based on creating better birds through cross-breeding for specific qualities. The resulting hens laid more or better eggs, required less feed, and were more adapted to specific production systems. Land-grant colleges shared these breeding techniques with the public. Within a few years, dozens of “primary breeders” emerged, creating a dynamic chicken genetics industry with many local and regional players.

Hybrid hens originating from the United States were soon introduced worldwide, rapidly expanding global egg production. In tandem with the mid-century revolution in chicken breeding, there was a revolution in egg production systems. Although these innovations gave rise to some efficiencies of scale, the industry as a whole remained highly decentralized at every stage of production and distribution well into the late 1970s. 

In sharp contrast to these earlier markets with many companies, currently Cal-Maine controls a significant share of the egg market.  In February 2025, FarmAction sent a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Trade commission and the Antitrust Division of the DOJ requesting that they take action to reduce the monopolistic control of Cal-Maine Foods and restore healthy market competition.  This would drive down egg prices for consumers.

Sources:

• A BIG Investigation into Egg Prices

• Economic News Release: US Bureau of Labor Statistics

• Federal Reserve Average Price: Eggs-Feb 1980 to Feb 2025

• Consumer Confidence Tumbled Again in March

Week of 3/23/2025:  IMMIGRATION & DUE PROCESS

The FACT:  In January 2023, nearly 13 million people in the U.S. held green cards. These individuals are Legal Permanent Residents of the U.S., putting them one step away from citizenship, for which they may apply after three to five years. Recently, several green card holders have been brutally detained and threatened with deportation by ICE, without due process: no charging documents explaining why they’re being detained, no notice to appear in immigration court, and no hearing before an immigration judge.

In other recent incidents, groups of immigrants with various levels of standing, have been seized haphazardly and deported.  The Trump administration has openly defied court orders regarding these acts while calling for judges who challenge these actions to be impeached, provoking a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. The Trump administration is so desperate to look tough on immigrants that they invoked a 1798 law, the Alien Enemies Act, which has been used only three times in our history, most notably to incarcerate Japanese American citizens during World War II. The United States is neither at war nor being invaded by a foreign power.

 The STORY:

On March 7, a German electrical engineer with a green card and resident of New Hampshire, Fabian Schmidt, was detained by ICE at Logan airport and told he must surrender his green card. He refused and was strip searched and thrown in a cold shower.  He passed out and was taken to MGH hospital but is now imprisoned in the Wyatt Detention Facility in Rhode Island.

Fabian moved to the U.S. with his mother in 2007 and received a green card in 2008. In 2015 Fabian, living in California, was charged with a misdemeanor for having marijuana in his car (later dismissed because marijuana became legal). In 2016, he had one DUI charge and paid the required fine. His green card was renewed last year, so presumably neither of these minor events were an issue. He currently has no legal issues before a court. Minor infractions may lead to deportation for visa holders, but not typically for green card holders.

According to Curtis Morrison, an immigration attorney in California, “Only the immigration judge can take away that green card. The Trump administration thinks that they can expand that and do some crazy things, but the law as it is now — he needs to be able to appear before an immigration judge.” Meanwhile, more than 2 weeks after his seizure by ICE, Schmidt’s family in NH and his lawyer still do not know why he was detained and what the charges against him are. With this happening randomly to green card holders, citizens could be next.

Sources:

• How Many Green Card Holders in US, from USAFacts

•  What Protections Do Green Card Holders Have; PBS News

• Green Card Holder Detained at Logan; NBC News

Week of 3/16/2025:  

The FACT:  As of January 2025, the Social Security Administration deposits monthly payments into the accounts of 73 million Americans, more than 75% of whom are elders. The average payment they receive is $1,800/month. The average SSI payment (for people with disabilities) is about $700/month. In its nearly 90-year history, Social Security has never missed a payment.

Musk is cutting agency staff – 7,000 dismissals planned for now – and is in the process of shuttering 47 offices all across the country.  Former Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley says Musk’s actions put the system at risk of collapse, with a possible interruption to benefit payments.

Though Trump and Musk claim 16 million people over 100 years old are receiving payments (most of them dead), the truth is that about 89,000 Americans over 100 receive payments.  The Social Security system is one of the most efficient parts of the federal government; experts agree there is little waste and fraud.

At the same time, by running amok in the Social Security data system, Musk and his minions have exposed all Americans to the risk for identity theft and fraud.  Musk has overridden every data safeguard in his determination to overwhelm and destroy the most-loved program of the federal government.

The VIDEO:  From Jessica Craven about her Mom – Republicans Are Gaslighting Us about Social Security.

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The STORY:  Temporary chaos at birthing centers in Maine

Brad White, whose wife, Ashton, gave birth to their son recently at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, filled out the form for a birth certificate and checked the box requesting a Social Security number, a typical way for a newborn to get a Social Security number.  A short time later, his wife got a call stating that the rules had changed, and they would have to go into the Social Security office in person.  White then tried calling Social Security headquarters for an explanation. An automated greeting told him the wait would be 120 minutes to talk to a person. He hung up and instead called the local office in Bangor.

“They had no clue what I was talking about,” said White, who lives in Bangor.  It turns out the hospital had been informed of the change—and that it was a result of Musk having cancelled critical SSA contracts.  White said he was prepared to schedule an appointment at the local Social Security office Friday morning, but learned, after intervention by Maine’s congressional delegation, the contractors who processed birth papers had been reinstated.  With a newborn, he’s hoping the issue is settled so he won’t have to make a trip to the Bangor office. 

“They keep talking about efficiency,” he said. “This seemed to be something that worked incredibly efficiently, and they broke it overnight.”

Sources:

• Social Security Statistics Snapshot

• Portland Press Herald: Where to register newborns? Confusion Reigns

• Republicans' Tall Tales about Social Security

Week of 3/9/2025:  

The FACT:  Currently 66 million Americans rely on Medicare for their primary health insurance.  Another 79 million Americans rely on Medicaid, including children in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).  AND over 9 million veterans depend on the healthcare provided by the Veterans’ Benefits Administration. Together these programs cover over 150 million people, nearly half of all Americans.

The Republicans plan to smash all of this. 

• The Republican Budget Resolution mandates the Committee that oversees Medicare and Medicaid to make $880 billion in cuts, making reductions to these programs inevitable.

• The Republicans’ new Secretary of the VA plans to lay off 80,000 public servants, damaging the VA’s ability to effectively deliver care.

• The Republicans’ stopgap spending bill, the “budget patch,” keeps the government open but turns it over to Elon Musk, an unelected bureaucrat and the world’s richest man, to decide the details about what government programs will be eliminated.

 The VIDEO: This is not what we want to happen to our healthcare:   SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes

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The Story:  Reliable Healthcare is an Essential Part of the American Dream

One Family’s Story: from Isabella Bates a SLNS/CA member who recounts how important the VA’s health coverage was to her family

“When my husband was serving in the Marine Corps, I learned that the military has a complete medical system that was available to my husband and to me and our children at no cost to us.  I cannot tell you what a profound experience it was to be able to receive medical care without the worry of whether we could afford it.  I received excellent prenatal care, but after our daughter was born we learned that she had a severe heart defect. She received excellent care from her military pediatrician and the pediatric cardiologist at Walter Reed Hospital.  She was hospitalized twice and sadly she died during her second hospitalization.  The heartbreak of that experience would have been made unbelievably worse if we were forced to consider how we would pay for her care.”

The Context: Hurting children and their grandparents

• Medicare provides a safety net to seniors and many people with disabilities.

• Medicaid covers about one in five Americans (21 percent), including 4 in 10 children.

• Medicaid covers half of all nursing home care and 41 percent of all births.

Today, Medicare, Medicaid and the VA offer the kind of medical support that Isabella and her family received to nearly half of our fellow citizens. How can our representatives consider curtailing this care when it is so important to so many of their constituents? How can they allow many smaller hospitals and nursing homes to close, especially in rural areas, leaving large swaths of the country without the care they need?  Because the Republicans’ ultimate goal is privatization, turning our healthcare over to private companies that will profit by decreasing access and increasing costs.

Sources:

•  Kaiser Family Foundation

• What Can House Republicans Cut Instead of Medicaid? Not Much.

• Illinois Veteran Speaks Out on Detrimental Cuts

Week of 3/2/2025:  

The FACT: Tuesday evening, February 25, the House Republicans passed a huge, harsh Budget Resolution. It passed by a single vote. It requires program cuts of $2 trillion over the next 10 years and increases the deficit by $2.8 trillion over the same period. How can this be? Massive spending cuts and the deficit increases???

This is because the Resolution also mandates tax reductions of $4.5 trillion primarily for the billionaire elites, the 0.1%. No Democrat voted for this cruel bill.

The VIDEO: Jessica Craven explains what a budget resolution is and how to push back on the lies from Republican representatives who claim the bill does not affect Medicare and Medicaid:   Republicans are now lying about what they've done

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The STORY:  All is not lost – YET

The Budget Resolution is not a budget. It is a set of monetary goals, assigned to specific committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. The idea of a resolution is to pass a budget through the reconciliation process. Reconciliation allows a budget to be approved in the Senate by a simple majority, not the typical 60 votes. It is a maneuver to be able to pass a budget without any Democratic votes.

The next step in the process is for the House and Senate to agree on the resolution. The Senate had previously passed its own resolution that differs from the House resolution. Once that agreement is reached, the work then moves back to the House committees.

Almost 75% of the $2 trillion in cuts is assigned to three committees:

• Energy and Commerce Committee -- mandated to cut $880 billion in programs. Medicare and Medicaid are about 90% of all the programs this committee oversees.

• Education and Workforce Committee – mandated to cut $330 billion in programs. This is almost half of all the spending the Committee oversees. The single largest item is school nutrition programs.

• Agriculture Committee – mandated to cut $230 billion in programs. The Committee oversees the SNAP food assistance program for working and poor families and a number of farm programs, including crop insurance.

Sources:

• What's in the House's Budget Resolution, NYTimes

• Budget Reconciliation Simplified, Bipartisan Policy Center

• How Reconciliation Works, NPR

Week of 2/23/2025:  

The FACT:  Elon Musk is rampaging through the federal government, firing workers and closing down agencies haphazardly, despite his companies being some of the largest federal contractors. He is a case study in conflict of interest.

SpaceX alone has $22 billion in contracts, with $15 billion coming from NASA. Another $733 million is with the Department of Defense National Security Space Launch. Yet Musk is tasked with auditing Department of Defense and NASA budgets, a position from which he can eliminate competitors and increase his own share of federal business.

THE VIDEO: Ari Melber explains Musk’s conflict of interests: www.swingleftnsca.org/Video_F-A_250223.

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The STORY: 

Musk is hurting Red and Blue America. Huntsville, Alabama, home of the Marshall Space Flight Center, has 21,000 federal workers who are vulnerable to mass firings. The Center was founded in 1960 and was the creator of the Apollo mission rockets that launched American astronauts into space. It is leading NASA’s next generation rocket design for manned trips to the Moon, making it a possible competitor of Musk’s SpaceX.  "A reallocation of NASA contracts could divert funding away from MSFC projects, potentially benefiting Musk’s SpaceX at the expense of Huntsville’s workforce,” writes the Huntsville Business Journal. 

Sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html

• https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elon-musks-us-department-defense-contracts-2025-02-11/

• https://huntsvillebusinessjournal.com/news/2025/02/19/elon-musks-doge-auditing-nasa-a-conflict-of-interest-with-big-consequences-for-huntsville/

The heavens belong to all of us, like our water and our air.  But Musk thinks he owns them because 7,000 (2/3rds!) of the satellites in low-Earth orbits are his. They are Starlink’s. Ukraine depends on these satellites for crucial military communication, and now the communications links they provide are up for grabs.  There is something very wrong – and very un-American – about one man controlling the welfare and sovereignty of a country of almost 40 million people. 

Read more about it:  U.S. could cut Ukraine's access to Starlink  

Week of 2/16/2025:  

The FACT: Musk's DOGE stops billions of dollars in purchases from U.S. farmers as part of its USAID shutdown. This destabilizes the U.S. farm economy, one of America's largest sources of exports.

THE VIDEO: More USAID info from Jessica Craven of Chop Wood, Carry Water -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzYkk3mP0BA.

Please amplify this information by sharing it through your social media platforms. (First Blue Sky Training, Feb. 19, 7-8pm, SIGN UP HERE)

The STORY: 

The Food for Peace program, the idea of Peter O'Brien, a farmer from Cheyenne County, KS, was turned into legislation by U.S. legislators from the Midwest and signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1954.  The program used American agricultural surpluses to fight world hunger, expand international trade and advance American soft power. As Kansas' Republican U.S. Senator Jerry Moran has said, "Food stability is essential to political stability."

It became part of USAID when the agency was created by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.  In 2022, the program fed 53 million people in 21 different countries. In 2023 USAID purchases of U.S. farm goods added up to $2 billion. Midwestern and high plains states are most affected by these arbitrary and illegal cuts and include MN, IL, TX, KS, IA and WI. Right now over $500 million in farm produce is sitting on docks and in ships and warehouses, at risk of spoilage, waiting to be released to starving families around the world. The United States has been the world's #1 exporter of agricultural products.

Sources:

• Topeka Capital-Journal: Are Trump and Musk Ending a Kansas Legacy...

• CBS Money Watch: Almost $500 million in food at risk of spoilage...

• Minnesota Star Tribune: Shuttering of USAID could mean the end of millions in income for Midwest farm operations

Elon Musk is a fraud. Here's the real waste -- letting rot $500 million of food already purchased from U.S. farmers with taxpayer dollars. The world's richest man is now taking promised food out of the mouths of starving families, simultaneously hurting our farmers. We didn't elect Elon Musk. GET ELON OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT!