Last week’s circus on the House floor was an absurd means to an inevitable end: Kevin McCarthy is the new Speaker of the House. This week, the McCarthy era began with a grossly predictable assault on federal spending. The first vote of the Republican controlled chamber is to defund the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which successfully passed in the House.1 They specifically want to undo recent investments made to the IRS designed to strengthen the agency’s ability to crack down on millionaire, billionaire, and corporate tax cheats. In other words: they want to issue handouts to their wealthy donors. Sign the petition: the US Senate must reject House Republicans' attempt to undermine the IRS for the benefit of the rich and powerful. Who will benefit from a weakened IRS? Notably Donald Trump. His recently released tax returns expose a strategy of overseas bank accounts and manipulative real estate evaluations that effectively allowed him to dodge taxes.2,3 This is exactly why Democrats included an extra $80 billion in funding for the IRS in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.1 To go after ultra-wealthy tax cheats like Trump. Republican’s response has been to paint the I.R.S. investments as “militarizing the IRS” and creating “hordes of armed IRS agents” that would target small businesses and working Americans.4 They pretend to be serving the interests of working Americans when really, they’re just following the classic GOP playbook of catering to the ultra-wealthy. This hypocritical fear mongering is also on display in the name of their bill, “The Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act.” A more appropriate name might be something like “The Millionaire, Billionaire, and Corporate Taxpayer Protection Act.” Claiming their legislation will help working Americans when in reality it will only benefit the top one percent is about to be the status quo for the McCarthy run House. We need to rely on the Democrat-run Senate to hold the line and prevent this harmful legislation from becoming law. Sign the petition: Tell the US Senate to reject House Republicans attempts to defund the IRS! Sources: 1. NY Times, “House Republicans Vote to Rescind I.R.S. Funding,” January 9, 2023. 2. The Independent, “Trump had foreign bank accounts in China, UK and Ireland as president and one year paid more foreign tax than US,” December 30, 2022. 3. CNN, “Key takeaways from six years of Donald Trump’s federal tax returns,” December 30, 2022. 4. Reuters, “Fact Check-The IRS is not hiring thousands of armed agents, job ads show opening for specialized unit,” August 17, 2022.

In 2020 the homeless population in America was almost 581,000 people. It is estimated to be much worse in 2023. These people are ALL US citizens which means this is really a bad problem. Some areas are worse than others and the quantity of people who are able bodied and willing to work is diminishing because of systemic issues like malnutrition and psychological damage equivalent to PTSD. These concentrations actually work out well for creating programs that are focused in the areas that need it the most. We have the technology and resources today to build self-sufficient systems that operate just like other small businesses and quite literally solve the homelessness problem for our country. What seems like an impossible problem is within our grasp if we just choose to address it and have an intention to make our world better with this action.

Integrity and honesty of candidates for office and holders of office are of vital importance for a democracy. Mr. Santos' case for office was based almost entirely on fabrication. That cannot be acceptable for continuing in any elected office.

George Santos built his campaign on a series of outrageous and offensive lies, deceiving the voters of New York's 3rd District about his qualifications, work background, and lived experience. His continued presence in the House is a disservice to and disrespect of the people of Long Island. He must resign and give voters a chance to choose a representative who is honest about who they are. Santos's litany of lies is too long to recount: false claims that he is the descendant of Holocaust survivors, fabrications about his education and past employment, glaring gaps about his finances, and more. His excessive campaign spending and the unknown sources of his wealth have also raised flags. Yet Santos continues to dig himself deeper into a hole, while lashing out and avoiding accountability. And instead of coming clean or focusing on his constituents, he'll now be tied up in investigations by local, state, federal, and international authorities because of the long trail of deception and fraud that's just beginning to be uncovered. Santos must resign—and if he doesn't, Congress should expel him from office under their constitutionally granted powers.

If we now know the truth about George Santos, let's acknowledge the fact and correct this betrayal before there are consequences that jeopardize our democracy by allowing another individual who's allergic to reality, be a leader within our country

George Santos lied about his mother’s family fleeing from Nazi oppression in the Ukraine and then Belgium, fleeing from the Holocaust to Brazil, where he then immigrated to the United States. His mother’s family already was living in Brazil during the period when he said they were fleeing from the Holocaust, so this is an outright lie. The Holocaust is one of the greatest crimes against humanity to ever occur, and to the Jewish people, the Holocaust is a personal and collective tragedy. We hold the truth of the Holocaust sacred and do not accept when it is used in a lie for political gain to help to obtain political office. It has been proven that Representative Elect George Santos has completely lied about his family background, and he is neither Jewish, nor did his family flee from the Nazis in Europe. This is an unacceptable lie and we demand that he step down and not take his seat in Congress. We demand that the GOP recognize his slap in the face of the memory of the Jews who suffered and died in the Holocaust and call for him to not take his seat in the House of Representitives.

Because my daughter and so many others who defended themselves are behind bars.

Republican attempts to silence our voices haven't gone unnoticed. But to stop them, we need to step up now. Elected officials should never amplify language or take actions that put the lives of their constituents, their peers, or public servants at risk.

The coordinated and violent attack on the United States Capitol in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the presidential vote on January 6, 2021 was an insurrection against the United States. Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment makes clear that anyone who has previously sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, and then engages in “insurrection or rebellion” against the United States (or provides “aid or comfort” to its enemies) is permanently disqualified from holding future public office. Publicly available evidence establishes that Rep. Paul Gosar helped facilitate the insurrection, before, during, and after January 6, 2021. Not only was he among a handful of Congress members who expressed vocal support for the insurrection as it was happening , but, according to news reports, Gosar went so far as to offer organizers of the pre-attack demonstration a “blanket pardon” in connection with unrelated criminal investigations, encouraging what would no doubt be an illegal act of violence. In the weeks leading up to January 6, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly stated that violence might be necessary to keep Trump in power, exhorted her followers not to allow Congress to transfer power peacefully, and, the night before the attack, called the date “our 1776 moment” (a codeword used by violent extremists to refer to an attack on government buildings). Greene has since attempted to defend the violence on January 6 as justified by the Declaration of Independence, calling convicted participants in the insurrections “political prisoners of war”. In December 2022, she bragged that “if” she had organized the attack, “we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.” Rep. Lauren Boebert echoed Greene’s coded sentiments during the insurrection, tweeting “Today is 1776.” She was billed as a speaker for the pre-attack Capitol protest, though she did not speak. Three days prior to the insurrection, Boebert released an ad featuring herself walking through federal buildings while brandishing a firearm, pledging to carry a handgun in the Capitol despite DC laws banning open carry. In addition, two Jan. 6th organizers told Rolling Stone of “dozens” of planning meetings with Boebert and several other Congress members in the days leading up to the insurrection. Free Speech For People has spearheaded the nationwide legal effort to hold insurrectionists accountable for their role in the violent assault on American democracy that took place on January 6th, 2021. Yet, despite a wealth of evidence indicting Gosar, Boebert and Greene for insurrectionist activity, Secretaries of State and chief election officials have thus far failed to follow the mandate of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The task has now fallen to American voters to urge our Representatives to do their duty and challenge the qualifications of Gosar, Greene, and Boebert under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Photo: Brett Davis, CC2.0 license

we demand that the practice of forced labor with no compensation be abolished immediately, that inmates be compensated financially for labor like the rest of the United States. This may prevent inmates from becoming a burden on their families or communities upon release, and may prevent releasesees from reverting back to crime out of desperation from lack of financial means, reducing recidivision. .We are asking that incarcerated individuals be paid for their labor or, In the alternative, we asked, demand, that inmates be given one day off their sentences for each day of work. This would be an incentive for inmates to want to work and stay out of trouble, so they can work, decreasing prison violence. It would be a win win situation for all And the right thing to do!

Detroit Residents, Please participate in public comment during Detroit City Council Formal Session, on Tuesday, November 1 at 10:00 A.M. to voice your support for the Restaurant Grading Ordinance. We believe that Detroit Deserves Safe Food and want to protect our community and businesses. 1. In Person a. You can attend in person at the Committee of the Whole Room (13th floor) in the Coleman Young Municipal Center. 2. Call In/ Virtual Attendance To attend by phone only, call this number: i. +1-346-248-7799 and Enter Meeting ID: 858 4690 3626 ii. Raise your hand by pressing *9 b. To attend online, please use the following link: i. https://Detroitmi.gov/Online-CC-Meeting ii. Raise your hand by clicking raise hand in the application or pressing 1. Windows computer = [ALT] + [Y] 2. Apple computers = [OPTION] + [Y] 3. Email a. Send your public comment to the City Clerk’s email: [email protected] 1. Myth: Extra and Unnecessary Costs. 1. Fact: This ordinance imposes no new costs for operators There are penalty fees currently in our enforcement process. 2. Myth: Signs are misleading and confusing 2. Fact: Signs have colors and QR codes that take the reader to a page that explains inspections. 3. Myth: Health Department doesn't have capacity to provide timely inspection turnarounds. 3. Fact: The changes will not affect inspection times Health Department conducts follow-up inspections no later than 2-4 weeks after the routine inspection. 4. Myth: Unfair Disadvantage with Mobile Food Vendors 4. Fact: Restaurants do have a competitive advantage by receiving a green sign. The sign helps strengthen public confidence in the sanitary conditions of the food establishments and helps attract more customers.

Donald Trump and his associates planned, promoted, and paid for a criminal conspiracy that became the January 6 insurrection. According to the U.S. Constitution, that disqualifies him from ever holding office again. Section three of the Fourteenth Amendment, the “insurrection clause,” makes clear that anyone who engaged in attempting to violently overthrow the US government after swearing an oath to protect it is barred from being given that responsibility again. In 2022, a New Mexico county commissioner who was at the January 6 insurrection was kicked out of office when a state court ruled that the insurrection clause barred him from office. And other courts upheld that the insurrection clause was relevant to members of congress, including MAGA Republican Madison Cawthorn, who spoke at Trump's rally on January 6. It applies just as well to people seeking the Oval Office. We need to fight back even harder to hold Trump accountable for his actions to damage our democracy—actions that continue today and are focused on laying the groundwork for his next coup to place him in the White House in 2024 no matter the will of the voters. State elections officials already have the authority and responsibility to bar him from the ballot. And Congress can back them up by passing legislation barring Trump from office under the Fourteenth amendment. Will you sign the petition today to join the fight to disqualify Trump from holding public office and help disrupt plans by Trump and his allies for his next coup in 2024? Sources: 1. “The Jan. 6 Hearings Are Over. These 3 Things Must Happen Now.”, The New York Times, October 14, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/opinion/january-6-committee-trump.html 2. “How the 14th Amendment Could Disqualify Trump and His Allies,“ Democracy Docket, June 6, 2022 https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how-the-14th-amendment-could-disqualify-trump-and-his-allies/ 3. "New Mexico removes, bars Couy Griffin from public office," KRQE News, September 6, 2022 https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/new-mexico-judge-removes-bars-couy-griffin-from-elected-office/