In re our President's stated desire to invoke "emergency powers" to build his stupid border wall, more than a few establishment Republicans have worried out loud that a future Democratic President could use these same emergency powers to do something about climate change or guns without consulting Congress, and several members of the far-right Freedom Caucus in the House have expressed similar misgivings. And they're right to do so! Big decisions like these should be made by the people via their elected representatives in Congress. But if our President pulls this stunt, you think any of these Republicans will put their money where their mouth is -- by, say, repealing the law that gives our Presidents powers to declare these "national emergencies"? No, they won't, at least not unless we tell them to, in numbers they can't ignore. So use the tools in the upper right-hand corner of this page (or the bottom of this page, if you're on a cellphone) to call your Congressfolk and demand they repeal the National Emergencies Act.
Meanwhile, CREDO helps you tell your Congressfolk to pass the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act, while Social Security Works helps you tell your Congressfolk to pass the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act. The Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act would allow our government to manufacture generic versions of drugs that big pharma corporations make too expensive for good Americans to afford, while the Prescription Drug Price Relief Act would mandate that these big pharma corporations price their drugs at or below the median price their drugs fetch in Canada, England, France, Germany, and Japan. Three of these nations have Medicare-for-All-style health insurance systems in place, as you know, so they don't spend a lot on their drugs. How would the big corporations make money? They'd make money because we all get sick sooner or later, despite our best efforts; they just wouldn't be able to take us hostage because we're sick anymore. And that's a thing worth fighting for.
Finally, Color of Change helps you tell the Bexar County, Texas District Attorney-elect to end cash bail there. Said Bexar County District Attorney-elect, Joe Gonzales, has been an outspoken opponent of cash bail -- but you know plenty of politicians who've talked a good game (cough Barack Obama cough) only to disappoint you once they get into office, so Mr. Gonzalez may well need a bit more steel in his spine, and we can give that to him. The immediate news hook is the death of Janice Dotson-Stephens, 61, in custody after spending six months in a Bexar County jail because she couldn't pay a $300 bond (recall that nearly half of all Americans couldn't scare up $400 on a moment's notice if they had to!), but fact is you're not supposed to go to jail when you're accused of a crime; you're only supposed to go to jail when you're convicted of a crime. And it costs the taxpayer money to put folks up in jail while they're awaiting trial; don't we aim to use taxpayer money more judiciously than that? So let's end this bad system.
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