The United States is one of only six remaining countries in the world with no guaranteed form of paid leave. Just 25 percent of workers in the entire country have access to paid family leave through their jobs. And here in America, one in four people who have given birth returned to work within two weeks—bleeding, sleep-deprived, and often still injured. There is a human cost to the lack of paid leave, and families are paying for it. Women and caregivers lift up our economy, which also disproportionately relies on the undervalued labor of women of color. Passing paid leave and care policies would yield millions of jobs, billions in wages, and trillions in GDP. It would reduce turnover costs, retain talented workers, and allow employers and small businesses to be more competitive. It would keep working people in their jobs and families afloat.

Investing in education and mentorship is a proven strategy to address the root causes of juvenile delinquency, fostering a positive environment that can break the cycle of incarceration.

No one is above the law. The recent ruling by a Colorado judge that found that former President Donald Trump incited insurrection, but can remain on the ballot, must be challenged by everyone who calls America home. It might seem like commonsense that when a person commits an insurrection or treasonous acts on our community, state, or nation, that said person should be disqualified from running for any local, state, or federal public office. However we are a nation ruled by laws- not commonsense, and we must advocate for appealing the recent ruling in higher courts and champion laws that protect our communities. Judge Sarah B. Wallace, 2nd Judicial District Court judge, found that Trump incited an insurrection and could not use the “freedom of speech” argument to justify his actions, and that Secretaries of State could in fact could remove him from the ballot. However the judge used a legal technicality to allow Trump to remain on the ballot. The judge ruled “that the drafters of the Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment did not intend to include the President as “an officer of the United States.” The question if the judge was correct in using this technicality has two parts: 1. Is the president an officer? This question is a legal issue, and it will be argued on appeals, potentially up to the Supreme Court. I would submit that as commander in chief, the leader of our armed forces, the president is the highest officer in our nation. 2. Should a president be disqualified from running for any and all public office if they incited an insurrection? Absolutely! No person is above the law. Any person (especially a President) that commits an insurrection or treasonous acts on our community, state, or nation, should be disqualified from running for any local, state, or federal public office. This question is an advocacy issue and therefore we must champion laws that protect our communities. Can you sign on to this petition to the Senate and House leadership to champion laws that protect our community from any person (and that includes Presidents) that commits an insurrection or treasonous acts on our community, state, or nation?

The Supreme Court has finally adopted a code of conduct – after more than 100,000 Common Cause members demanded one following countless ethical violations from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The bad news: the code the Court proposed isn’t binding or enforceable in any way – meaning it likely wouldn’t have prevented these major scandals, and the Supreme Court would still get to be both judge and jury when scandals among justices arise. But here’s the good news: this is the clearest sign yet that our action is working. We’ve been watchdogging the Supreme Court ever since we first broke news of Justice Thomas covering up his personal finances – and today’s announcement is a clear sign the Court is on notice. [1] Let’s face it, trusting the Supreme Court to operate under the 'honor system' is what got us into this mess. The half-measure the Court is proposing is no substitute for binding, enforceable congressional action. If you agree the highest court in the land should be held to the highest ethical standards, sign our petition urging Congress to pass a stronger, binding code of conduct. [1] https://www.commoncause.org/resource/supreme-conflict/

Small chocolate companies are not able to compete against the prices of big chocolate corporations that use child slavery. Since the farm labor is unpaid, and all the wages, just go to the CEOs, it’s no wonder why it’s important to compete against companies like them. However, they have normalized child-slavery in cocoa in West Africa for over 120 years or eight generations. So it’s time for the normality of child slavery in cocoa to become a shocking occurrence, or not happen at all, instead. No competition can happen that’s fair while some employees are (forced into) working for free. Chocolate is an unfair market and there’s no way to compete and no way to enter. New companies would almost have to use cocoa produced by child slavery to have prices near the same as big chocolate corporations. Chocolate companies deserve to be able to compete with Big Chocolate corporations. It’s not fair that they’ve destroyed competition, through the deliberate use of child slavery. And, of course, keeping it all hidden.

Our institutions, and quite frankly, just general normalcy are at stake. Chaos will ensue if MAGA leaders like Jordan or Scalise get picked as Speaker of the House and extremists likeMatt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene will only be emboldened. As the GOP circus continues, the American people are the ones who will continue paying the price for their chaos, as House Republicans continue to avoid governing and advancing progress. Sources: 1. "Freedom Caucus likely to play a bigger role in new GOP-led House. So who are they?" Pew Research Center, January 23, 2023 https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/23/freedom-caucus-likely-to-play-a-bigger-role-in-new-gop-led-house-so-who-are-they/ 2. "Jim Jordan's rapid rise has been cheered by Trump and the far right. Could it soon make him speaker?" ABC News, October 16, 2023 https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jim-jordans-rapid-rise-cheered-trump-make-speaker-104002789 3. "Jim Jordan U.S. Representative from Ohio," GLAAD, October 6, 2023 https://glaad.org/gap/jim-jordan/

President Biden has the power to fire Trump-appointed head of the U.S. Postal Service Louis DeJoy, but he still hasn’t done it. Since being put in his role by Trump, DeJoy has been on a crusade to privatize the USPS, slash worker hours and pay, slow down mail delivery, and raise the costs for consumers. So why hasn’t he been fired yet? Sign the petition: President Biden must act and fire Trump crony Louis DeJoy from the USPS. President Biden can fire DeJoy by appointing two new people to the Postal Board of Governors who are committed to a strong USPS, worker safety, effective mail delivery, and firing Trump’s Postmaster General. 1. DeJoy’s tenure has been a disaster for USPS workers. Trump appointed DeJoy in 2018 to oversee privatization of the postal service. Since then, DeJoy has cut postal worker staffing by over 30 million hours just this year, and dramatically reduced wages for two thirds of rural mail carriers. 2. Overworked, underpaid carriers are currently working through record-breaking heat waves, often in trucks that lack air conditioning. Multiple USPS workers have died in the past two years from heat related illness, including one in Texas this summer. 3. Mail prices have gone up, and delivery has slowed down. Service cuts have been felt especially hard in rural and Indigenous communities, where broadband is scarce and for-profit delivery companies often don't provide service. 4. DeJoy has plans to keep cutting the USPS, and to make life more miserable for workers. President Biden must nominate Postal Board of Governors candidates who will fire DeJoy for his failed leadership, and advocate strongly for the expansion of USPS services already authorized by Congress. Add your name: Urge President Biden to fire Trump-appointee Louis DeJoy and save the USPS! Sources: Government Executive, “USPS continues to lose more money than expected,” August 9, 2023. ABC, “Family, friends mourn loss of Dallas USPS mail carrier who died on this route,” July 1, 2023. Vox, “If the US Postal Service fails, rural America will suffer the most,” April 16, 2020. Truthout, “DeJoy’s 10-Year Plan Could Gut USPS. He Doesn’t Want You to Know the Details,” August 7, 2023.

When families expecting a child post to pregnancy websites like BabyCenter, they might not know that ICE is watching them. That’s because ICE contracts a data broker to scrape thousands of social media sites, gaming platforms, and even financial apps like CashApp. Why does ICE need to know when your baby is due, what video games you like to play, or where are you planning your next vacation? ICE doesn’t need this personal information about us, but because there’s a legal loophole, they can and do get access to a lot of our online activity. Congress must act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! ICE can reach into our personal online activity because they don’t do the spying themselves. Instead they contract out shady third party data brokers who do their spying for them and then give them wide access to everything they find. You’ve likely never heard of these companies, but they’ve probably already know a lot about you. For instance, ShadowDragon, the data broker ICE uses that scrapes data from BabyCenter. ShadowDragon doesn’t stop at pregnancy websites. According to their own internal videos and events, they scrape data from all the major social media platforms; gaming platforms like Fortnite, XBOX, and Playstation; review sites like Yelp and Tripadvisor; messaging apps like WhatsApp; even financial transaction apps like CashApp. The Fourth Amendment right against illegal government search and seizure needs to apply to the internet. That’s why Congress needs to act now to close the Data Broker Loophole. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to close the Data Broker Loophole! Sources: 1. 404 Media, “Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players,” September 18, 2023.

YOU COULD BE THE NEXT HOMEOWNER TARGETED! The Board of Supervisors are targeting Twin Lakes homeowners to seize our shorefront for more public access even though there six public areas on North Twin . NOTE: In this instance, homeowners have made tens of thousands of dollars of improvements to the shoreline, their property and have contracts with the DNR to have private access to the shoreline. This could cause a devaluation of their property, increased traffic and noise as well as all liability defaulting to the landowner.

In order to distract from twice-impeached, four-times-indicted former President Trump’s criminal charges and their own failing party, Republicans are pushing for impeachment—despite zero evidence or proof of wrongdoing. Impeaching President Biden is part of the GOP’s insidious strategy to distract voters, vilify Biden, and pave the way for Trump to take back the White House in 2024. Trump has even been pushing his close allies to impeach Biden, directing the entire charade from the sidelines. House Republicans have wasted taxpayer dollars combing over 12,000 pages of subpoenaed bank records, reviewing thousands of reports, and conducting witness interviews—without a shred of evidence to back up their false claims. Yet they have continued to mislead, lie, and push for impeachment for their own political gain. MAGA Republicans, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, are threatening to hold our government hostage, refusing to vote for funding to keep our government running unless the House moves forward with bogus impeachment efforts, among other outrageous demands. And their corrupt and misguided efforts are being endorsed by the Republican party, which continues to cower and cave to its most extreme, right-wing members at the expense of countless Americans. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has even gone so far as to open an impeachment inquiry—without a House vote.

The right-wing Republicans driving the agenda of the House of Representatives are threatening to shut down the government. This means that essential services—from making sure our drinking water is clean to keeping our national parks open to ensuring Social Security checks go out on time—could be in jeopardy. There have been federal shutdowns in the past. They hurt the economy, they punish federal workers, and they take a toll on Americans across the country. Why would the so-called Freedom Caucus and the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene want this? To push their radical-right agenda with a wish list of demands they know there's no legislative mandate or popular support for. Their demands range from making our immigration system more abusive to stopping the government from holding Trump accountable for his attacks on our democracy to voting on an absurd impeachment of President Biden. Their goal is to prevent President Biden from being able to govern—and to demonstrate that they don't think the federal government should function. We know better. And we know how many services and programs we rely on. That's why we're asking all members of Congress to say no to a politicized, partisan, reckless agenda to shut down the government. Credit: CNS/Reuters

This is important to the longevity of our community and to ensure a balanced and fair approach to the handling of city business, contracts, services, and resources that interface with the people in the city of Cordele. This move will allow us to bring needed oversight to the operation of our local government.