Edith Windsor, an LGBTQ rights activist who played a major role in the legal fight over same-sex marriage rights, passed away on Tuesday. Windsor was 88 years old. Windsor lost her wife, Thea Spyer, in 2009, whom she had a relationship with since the 1960s. The couple entered into a domestic partnership in the 1990s […]
New Census Bureau data shows an increasingly optimistic picture for white Americans — but far less so for Americans of color, many of whom still face stark income disparities. Released Tuesday, the numbers appear to show good news across the board in several key areas. Median household income in the United States in 2016 was $59,039 […]
On Wednesday afternoon on the second floor of the Hart Senate Office Building, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) officially unveiled his much-hyped Medicare for All plan. The senator was flanked by his 16 co-sponsors, many of them rising stars in the Democratic party and nearly every one of them talked about as a potential presidential candidate […]
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection filed a motion Wednesday to withdraw its certification of water protection for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 300-mile long natural gas pipeline running from West Virginia to southern Virginia. The move came just a day before the state was due to defend its approval in court against […]
Over the course of the past few days, the United Nations has shifted its tone on the Rohingya crackdown in Myanmar, finally describing it as ethnic cleansing on Wednesday. The Associated Press reports that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that Myanmar must uphold the rights of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority without citizenship rights in […]
Donald Trump became a household name by “firing” people on national television; now, it seems his administration is trying to fire people they don’t even employ. Earlier this week, while ESPN host Jemele Hill was interacting with her followers on Twitter, she called President Trump a “white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself w/ other […]
During a news briefing on Wednesday, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the administration’s case for prosecuting former FBI Director James Comey from the White House podium. In making the comments, Sanders is disregarding what was previously an important ethical standard — that the Justice Department has prosecutorial independence. The idea is that the Justice […]
Colin Kaepernick, WNBA legend Sue Bird, tennis champion Martina Navritalova, NFL safety Eric Reid, Olympian and civil rights icon John Carlos, and U.S. soccer great Megan Rapinoe were among an esteemed group of athletes and activists on Wednesday to publicly offer their support and solidarity to Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, who has faced […]
Two Motel 6 locations in the Phoenix area are reportedly sending guest lists to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on a daily basis. According to a report by the Phoenix New Times, this has resulted in at least 20 arrests at the two locations between February and August of this year. Though neither management […]
Saudi Arabia is pushing back against a U.N. investigation into its part in human rights violations in Yemen’s ongoing war. Abdulaziz Alwasil, the Saudi ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday said that the time is not right for the inquiry, called for by the U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We have no objection […]
In the course of a few weeks, the United States was hit by two “storms of the century.” Images of residents coping with the devastation wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma conjured up memories of Hurricane Katrina’s hellish aftermath 12 years ago — parents wading through floodwaters holding children, families seeking shelter in the main […]
A college senior and DACA recipient in Kentucky says she was made to live in fear after a fellow student posted photos of her Facebook profile on a racial hatred website, urging commentators to “report this illegal.” Paola Garcia, a psychology major at Transylvania University in Lexington, said her life has been a nightmare ever […]
Single-payer health care is having a moment. The unexpected success of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) presidential campaign, Democratic lawmakers searching for a new agenda in the Trump era, and the fact that Obamacare has revealed both the benefits and the limitations of a market-driven plan to expand health access have all combined to make a […]
Almost 16 years to the day it was first passed, the Senate voted to table an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) that would have repealed the 2001 Authorized Use of Military Force (AUMF) 61 to 36. This was the first time in 15 years the full Senate has voted on Congress’ role in initiating […]
When justifying various elements of his new war on crime, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sometimes invokes the notion that Department of Justice (DOJ) employees must use all legal tools Congress has given them — even the ones now on the wrong side of a political consensus that views the justice system as fruitlessly punitive. The […]
As the Trump administration tries to make it more difficult for Americans to vote, at least one city in Maryland is expanding ballot access in a significant way: College Park, MD wants immigrants to help shape local policy by voting. On Tuesday evening, the College Park City Council gave non-citizens the opportunity to vote in municipal […]
At least six residents died at a nursing home in Broward County, Florida, that was reportedly without air conditioning after Hurricane Irma knocked out power to portions of the county and large areas of the state, officials said Wednesday morning. Three people died at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills while three others were pronounced […]
On Wednesday morning, President Trump asserted that in the wake of two hurricanes that killed at least 80 people, caused many billions of dollars of damage, and displaced tens of thousands, tax cuts are “needed more than ever before. Go Congress, go!” With Irma and Harvey devastation, Tax Cuts and Tax Reform is needed more […]
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) Medicare for All bill would eliminate out-of-pocket costs and deductibles for any resident of the United States, as well as build on the health care services covered by the Affordable Care Act, according to an executive summary and outline of the bill provided to ThinkProgress. Sanders, a longtime single-payer advocate, will […]
If you’re a Democratic party star who’s being talked about as a potential 2020 candidate for president, you probably recently announced your support for single-payer legislation. Sen. Bernie Sanders will unveil his Medicare for All bill on Wednesday afternoon, flanked by high-profile co-sponsors including Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jeff […]
This is the third entry in a series on Christian nationalism and the religious groups supporting Donald Trump. You can read the first one here and the second one here. It was 2016, and the era of white Christian American influence was supposed to be over. Political pundits declared that shifting demographics meant Republicans could no longer rely […]
In a victory for Republicans, all the Republican members of the Supreme Court joined a pair of orders handed down Tuesday, staying a lower court decision which struck down two Republican-drawn districts. All four of the Court’s Democrats would have denied the stay. Tuesday evening’s orders are the latest development in a long, winding challenge […]
Just a day after the Senate unanimously passed a joint resolution condemning the acts violence and domestic terrorism by white supremacists and neo-Nazis over the weekend of August 11 in Charlottesville, Virginia, the House of Representatives unanimously passed it by a voice vote Tuesday evening. Tonight the House passed my resolution condemning hate groups & the […]
Residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands have seemingly been left to fend for themselves in the days following Hurricane Irma’s destructive blitz — leaving many feeling uncared for and overlooked. News coverage relating to Irma — which hit several Caribbean islands as a Category 5 hurricane before striking Florida as a slightly less alarming Category […]
