Network For #StrongerTogether: September 2017

Focused Read in 2-3 minutes

"Trump Tax 'Hoax' Would Blow $5 Trillion Hole In Budget Over Next Decade: Analysis

… "The idea that this plan would help average Americans instead of the wealthy and big corporations has been a hoax all along," said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF), which on Tuesday released an analysis showing that Trump's plan would likely leave a $5 trillion hole in the federal budget over the next ten years.

"This isn't 'tax reform,’ it’s just a big giveaway to millionaires and corporations, and it won’t ‘trickle down’ to the rest of us," Clemente said. "It won’t help small businesses, but it will help Wall Street hedge fund managers and real estate moguls like Donald Trump. This plan will not lead to robust job creation or economic growth, but its eye-popping cost will lead to deep cuts in Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, and public education that will leave working families in the cold."

... According to the ATF's analysis—based on recent media reports, earlier Trump statements, and other GOP tax plans—the White House's new tax cuts could total $6.7 to $8.3 trillion the next decade, leaving $3 to $5 trillion of which may not be paid for by closing other tax loopholes and/or by limiting tax deductions." Such a plan, the group said, is likely to:

~ Provide massive tax cuts that largely benefit the richest Americans and biggest corporations—through direct tax cuts and indirectly through big cuts in corporate taxes, 80% of which benefit wealthier Americans, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center.

~ Provide a modest middle-class tax cut, largely by doubling the standard deduction, although much of that could be taken away if the tax plan repeals the personal exemption and the head of household filing status.

~ Not come close to being paid for by closing tax loopholes, which will likely result in deep cuts now or next year to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, public education and many other priorities working families depend on. *** These cuts were outlined in President Trump’s FY2018 budget, which proposed $4.3 trillion in cuts to Social Security, Medicaid, public education and other non-defense programs; and in the House budget, which proposed $5.8 trillion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid public education and other non-defense programs and that is awaiting floor action. … “

* (All emphasis, including re blue highlighting, red asterisks and red lettering is mine!)

You can read more here

( Courtesy of Common Dreams )

( Both memes above are courtesy of Americans for Tax Fairness )

Focused Thought in 30 seconds

Focused Action in 30 seconds

You can share Ali Velshi's Tweet here

AND, keep calling your Representatives in D.C. to tell them to stop Trump GOP from acting on anything that will do harm to American citizens -- like the current proposed blueprint for tax cuts for the wealthy that are going to be paid for by The People in one way or another per Trump/GOP budget proposals (as suggested in Bullet 3 in the Focused Read piece). TY!

Focused Point of Interest in 2 minutes

"Don't be fooled by the Clinton-Sanders feud, Dems are united

Opinion by Margie Omero -- 9/21/17

Maybe, like me, your personal feed is still filled with Hillary Clinton versus Bernie Sanders squabbles, with hardly any break since spring 2016. Seemingly every story has the potential to cause a flare-up, like the greasy meal before the pimple: news of a Russian company’s Facebook buy, Clinton’s new book, Sanders’s “Medicare for all” plan, and a constant stream of 2020 stories. Even news of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez teaching a course at Brown University caused a Clinton-Sanders fight between my Facebook friends and their friends of friends.

It’s exhausting. But is it real? That is, are Democratic voters overall, not just paid operatives and the most active of activist, still divided? The polling suggests not.

... (third) far from a toxic family feud, Democrats are actually quite united on both Sanders and Clinton. Just last month, the WSJ/NBC poll found Clinton to be less popular than Trump, causing a massive wave of negative headlines. But thanks to my friends at Public Opinion Strategies for running the numbers just among Democrats, we learned she is just about as popular with the base, at 62 percent positive and 17 percent negative, as Sanders, at 70 percent positive and 7 percent negative. Other recent polling from HuffPost/YouGov shows a majority of Democrats are favorable toward both Clinton and Sanders, with the “Clinton wings” and “Sanders wings” each numbering in the teens.

And while Clinton’s new book, “What Happened,” has prompted many to write stories suggesting Democrats are angry at Clinton for her visibility, the polling doesn’t bear that out. Clear majorities of Democrats think every tested potential role for Clinton is appropriate, from book-writing and charitable fundraising to “continuing to influence the Democratic Party.” (Thanks to my friends at Morning Consult for running crosstabs from their recent collaboration with the New York Times.)

Trump is so destructive, so disappointing, and so erratic that it’s natural to want to find something, anything, to blame. And 2016 was obviously intense, making it understandable that operatives are still reeling. In my own house, we still haven’t completely recovered. My husband,Julian Mulvey, was the creative director of Sanders’s television ads, including one Clinton herself called “poetry” in a debate.

I was neutral in the primary, spending months trying to balance my job calling polling balls and strikes, my personal excitement about a first woman president, and my pride in the beautiful moving ads my husband created. Even now, campaign talks come right after our conversations about whose turn it is to give the kids a bath. But watching your fights about Clinton and Sanders is like hanging out with the always-bickering couple or the siblings who relitigate their rivalry year in and year out

The good news is most Democratic voters don’t feel like you. They’re united and ready to take on the real threat: President Trump, his congressional enablers, and the dysfunction and cruelty they promote. As someone once said in another context, there are some very fine people on both sides of this Democratic debate. Let’s follow their lead."

Omero is a Democratic pollster and co-host of The Pollsters weekly podcast.

You can read more here

→ Direct sources for Democrats:

* ( Personal favored and most informative follows are shared here with the understanding that readers will always apply their own critical thinking to any information provided anywhere by anyone. #StrongerTogether does not share sources of information lightly but -- no one is perfect! -- so always #DistrustAndVerify I am using a star rating that is strictly based on my situational experience with the work of the media personality specifically in relation to issues of interest to me. )

The Democratic Party Website

The Democratic Party on Facebook

The Democratic Party on Twitter

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Website

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Website

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Website

Also

C-SPAN (a good place for speeches & hearings direct source (s))

→ Some of my favorite, most informative

follows on Twitter include:

Malcolm Nance

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ US Intelligence | Author | Navy Senior Chief | NBC/MSNBC

Kurt Eichenwald

⭐⭐⭐ Federal Government Operations | Vanity Fair | Newsweek | MSNBC Contributor | Author

Ari Berman

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Voting Rights/Voter Suppression | Author | Mother Jones

⭐⭐⭐⭐ You can find Verrit:"Media for the 65.8M" here

→ Some of the most credible media -- at the moment:

📰📰📰 Mother Jones

📰📰📰 The Washington Post

📰📰📰 The New York Times

💻💻💻 News And Guts on Facebook

→ Some of the most credible Talking Heads -- at the moment -- and their Twitter handles:

📺📺📺 Rachel Maddow on MSNBC

📺📺📺📺📺 AM w/Joy Reid on MSNBC

📺📺 Chris Cuomo on CNN

📺📺📺 The Beat With Ari on MSNBC

📺📺📺 Velshi & Ruhle on MSNBC

Thank you for Networking for Democrats today!

(Linked) "...is our 2016 platform...a declaration of how we plan to move America forward. Democrats believe that cooperation is better than conflict, unity is better than division, empowerment is better than resentment, and bridges are better than walls.

It’s a simple but powerful idea: We are stronger together."

You can read the Platform here

(Remember 2018...)

Curated by Gail Mountain, with occasional personal commentary, Network For #StrongerTogether ! is not affiliated with The Democratic Party in any capacity. This is an independent blog and the hope is you will, at a glance, learn more about the Party and you will, with a click or two, also take action on its behalf as it is provided!

( You can also find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GKMTNtwits )

You can find Vote411 here

Thank you for focusing!

g., aka Focused Democrat

...Committed to Staying Focused

✊ Resisting "Fake News"

Focused Read in 2 minutes

"More than 3,000 Faith Leaders Call on Senators to Oppose Graham-Cassidy

'We, the more than 3,000 undersigned faith leaders representing Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, and Buddhist traditions, believe that healthcare is an essential human right.'

Today more than 3,000 faith leaders from all 50 states, Guam, and Washington, D.C. sent a letter to the U.S. Senate today asking them to reject the Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill, potentially being brought to a vote before budget reconciliation rules expire. Their message:

“It was a tremendous relief that Congress was working in an open, bipartisan way to improve our healthcare system. But now, we are outraged that Congress would abandon these efforts for another partisan attempt that would take healthcare away from millions of our people. For the sake of our people, please oppose the Graham-Cassidy proposal and support the reauthorization of the vital Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH) program.”

The letter continues:

“To allow Graham-Cassidy to pass the Senate – and to allow the CHIP and DSH programs to lapse – is to allow the health of America’s most vulnerable people to face unnecessary and immoral obstacles… As faith leaders, it is our duty to care for and minister to people in our communities. As Senators, you have a similar duty to care for your constituents. Please focus on bipartisanship rather than political posturing, oppose Graham-Cassidy, and extend CHIP and DSH funding.”

The effort was organized by the Interfaith Healthcare Coalition, a coalition of organizations working together on healthcare, on Wednesday September 20. In addition to defending and improving the ACA, the coalition is also committed to advocating for other crucial health programs, like the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Disproportionate Share Hospitals, which expire at the end of the month.

The letter is organized by denomination (featuring some national leaders at the beginning) and then by state. It includes signatures from the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), Baha’i, Baptist, Catholic, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Muslim, Jewish, Presbyterian Church (USA), Sikh, Episcopal Church, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, and additional faith traditions. ... "

You can read quotes from signers of the letter, the full text of the letter, and see all 60 pages of signatures from faith leaders from all 50 states ... " here

( Courtesy of NETWORK,ADVOCATES FOR JUSTICE, INSPIRED BY CATHOLIC SISTERS )

You may be more familiar with Network organization via “Nuns on the Bus.”

If you are not familiar with the Nuns on the Bus, primarily led by Sister Simone Campbell, check out this 1:41-minute video and it will give you a glimpse of who they are. If you are familiar with them, check it out anyway just for fun...

🠛

#NunTrouble (It's All About That Bus)

( Here's a direct video link if it's needed )

P.S.

Whatever the status is is Graham-Cassidy when you read this -- just know, they will be back. They always are.