News & Views | With Help of These 9 Nine Democrats, GOP Pushing to Deliver 'Insane' Gifts to Wall Street

A daily roundup of progressive headlines, opinion, and analysis [Click here](1f9d0/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) to view this message in a browser window.  [Common Dreams](1f9d0/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) [] [] News & Views | 12/5/17 [] Feature... [] [With Help of These 9 Democrats, GOP Pushing to Deliver 'Insane' Gifts to Wall Street](1f9d0/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct2_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Jake Johnson, staff writer Wall Street banks are raking in record profits, but that's not stopping Senate Republicans—with the help of nine of their Democratic colleagues—from moving to ram through an "insane" piece of legislation that would scrap a number of key post-financial crisis regulations and leave consumers more... [] [] News... [] ['Tax the Rich, Not the Sick!': Hundreds Storm Capitol Hill Offices to Denounce GOP Tax Bill](1f9d0/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Julia Conley, staff writer Opponents of the Republican tax plan that passed in the Senate over the weekend were not backing down on Tuesday, staging protests on Capitol Hill like the ones that took place leading up to the 51-49 vote. Resistance groups say that with continued pressure in the coming weeks, there is still a chance of keeping the bill from becoming law. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump Denounced for 'Reckless, Irresponsible' Decision to Move US Embassy](1f9d0/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) [bibi and david](1f9d0/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Jessica Corbett, staff writer Critics warned of violent consequences and immediately condemned President Donald Trump on Tuesday after it was reported he told regional leaders the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel and relocate the U.S. Embassy in the coming months. --------------------------------------------------------------- [With Oceans Threatened as 'Never Before in Human History,' World Leaders Fail to Show Urgency](1f9d0/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Julia Conley, staff writer Green groups applauded a United Nations resolution to end plastic pollution in the world's oceans, reached at an environmental summit in Kenya on Tuesday—but stressed that more urgent action is needed to eradicate the problem before it's too late. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump White House Weighing Plans for Private Spies to Counter "Deep State" Enemies](1f9d0/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Matthew Cole & Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept The Trump administration is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. --------------------------------------------------------------- ["We Don't Want to Repress": Police in Honduras Refuse Orders to Stamp Out Pro-Democracy Protests](1f9d0/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Jon Queally, staff writer Amid ongoing protests, members of the Honduras national police force—including those within the U.S.-trained units known as the Cobras—say they are refusing to obey orders from the right-wing government of the incumbent president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who has used the security forces to crackdown on demonstrators and imposed a curfew amid allegations of voter fraud in recent elections. "We are tired. And our job is to give peace and security to the Honduran people, not repress them." --------------------------------------------------------------- ['Cowardly' and 'Shameful': Bowing to Right-Wing Smear Campaign, MSNBC Fires Sam Seder](1f9d0/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) 1f9d0/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj by Jake Johnson, staff writer Caving to what has been denounced as a weeks-long smear campaign led by pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and boosted by Nazi-linked former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka, MSNBC has reportedly moved to cut ties with Sam Seder for a satirical tweet from 2009 involving the convicted child rapist Roman Polanski. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More News](1f9d0/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) [] [] Views... [] [The GOP Tax Bill Assaults the Planet as Well as the Poor](1f9d0/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) ["Not content with changing the tax code to benefit oligarchs, Senate leadership sneaked in a provision to open up the pristine, ecologically sensitive Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, purportedly to get some revenue (about $1 billion over 10 years) to offset a wee bit of the $1.5 trillion shortfall created by the massive tax giveaways to the fabulously rich."](1f9d0/ct16_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Basav Sen It kills the modest credits for wind, solar, and electric cars, while preserving much larger ones for fossil fuels. --------------------------------------------------------------- [GOP Budgets, Statements Make Plans Clear: Costly Tax Cuts for Wealthy Now, Program Cuts Later](1f9d0/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) ["Republican leaders have repeatedly said in recent weeks that after enacting a tax bill, they will turn to budget cuts — particularly “welfare reform,” long a code for cuts to programs that help families of limited means afford food, housing, health care, and other basic needs."](1f9d0/ct17_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Chye-Ching Huang The Senate bill raises taxes on millions of low- and middle-income households and raises the number of Americans without health insurance by an estimated 13 million. --------------------------------------------------------------- [A Newly Elected Democratic Socialist On How to Win in Trump Country](1f9d0/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) ["I would say don’t be afraid to run as what you are and what you believe in. Find a way to connect those issues to what everybody in the community is feeling, and I think you will do just fine.”(Photo: Iowa CCI Action Fund/Twitter) ](1f9d0/ct18_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Isaiah Poole “If we talk to people on issues in a universal way, we are going to get their vote.” --------------------------------------------------------------- [Let Them Eat Wedding Cake](1f9d0/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) [Free window decals by the American Independent Business Alliance (Photo: amiba.net/bab) ](1f9d0/ct19_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Jeff Milchen A Colorado baker's bid to discriminate against gay couples sets a precedent that would harm both small businesses and civil rights. Independent business advocates arguing for enforcement of public accommodation laws make their case in a dispute that will be argued before the Supreme Court today. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Why Democrats Don’t Want to Talk about Flynn’s First Meeting with the Russians](1f9d0/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) ["In short, Congressional Democrats agreed with Trump that letting Israel’s right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu illegally establish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory doesn’t violate the Oslo Accords, but President Obama’s decision to abstain on a U.N. resolution opposing these illegal settlements does." (Photo: AVI OHAYON - GPO)](1f9d0/ct20_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Stephen Zunes How the Democrats aided Michael Flynn's involvement in Israeli's illegal settlements. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Is Big Food's Lobbying Arm on the Brink of Extinction?](1f9d0/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) ["Only 12 percent of consumers trust brands to tell them what’s in their food. Most consumers do their own independent research, via phones and personal computers." ](1f9d0/ct21_1/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) by Katherine Paul Consumers can take satisfaction in the fact that they’ve played a role in what some say is the diminishing power of the GMA over Washington policy. --------------------------------------------------------------- [] [More Views](1f9d0/ct22_0/1?sid=TV2%3ApYLHaIhPj) [] [] Newswire... 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