Congress was supposed to vote last week on the nefarious McCain amendment that would expand FBI spying powers such that they could vacuum up your browser history without a warrant -- but they haven't yet. Could they be, perhaps, afraid of the popular will? People tell me the popular will means nothing in politics, but they're wrong; I've seen the popular will stop Our Glorious Elites' attempts to loosen media consolidation rules and destroy net neutrality protections, and I've also seen the popular will delay the ratification of "free" trade deals for years. I wish we won more victories, but don't let the cynics and the haters fool you into throwing up your hands, because then you'll win no victories. And this push to expand the FBI's power to extract browser histories, email to/from headers, and other types of internet records won't be a victory for anyone but the Executive branch, which, as always, needs to be brought to heel, not given more power it can abuse. Hence the Electronic Freedom Foundation helps you tell your Congressfolk to reject expanded government spying powers.
Meanwhile, with the new school year beginning in a little over a month, Moms Rising helps you tell your Congressfolk to pass paid sick leave legislation so that parents can take a day off when their kids get sick. Some four in 10 workers (and over half of working mothers) can't earn paid sick leave in America, and the lower you get on the economic spectrum, the worse that number gets -- some eight in 10 low-wage workers can't earn paid sick leave in America, and America remains (stop me if you've heard this one before!) one of the very few nations on Earth where you can't earn paid sick leave unless you have a union contract or your boss is generous enough to offer it. I guess the fact that six in 10 American workers can earn paid sick leave is enough for right-wingers to squeal about Big Gummint, but I'm such a sanctimonious purist I won't be happy until 10 in 10 American workers can earn a few paid sick days, so they don't have to lose a day's pay to take their kids to the doctor's, so they don't have to go to work sick themselves and make other people sick. Really, this is not so much to ask of Our Glorious Elites.
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