Demand Progress

Demand Progress is creating people-powered change, and they need your help. Please read below to learn more about the issues they're working on and how you can get involved. Thank you!

Campaigns

  • Stop DeSantis!
    DeSantis and Abbott both framed their actions as protests of President Biden’s immigration policy. The best way for Biden to respond to these fearmongering ‘own-the-libs’ tactics is to actually enact ethical immigration policies. President Biden promised to end Trump’s Title 42 immigration policy, which claimed that the government could block asylum seekers from coming into the country because of the pandemic. But this draconian measure still stands because of a Trump-appointed federal judge. Congress needs to throw all their weight behind actually ending this cruel policy. In the face of Republicans’ remarkably cruel treatment of immigrants, it’s time for Democrats in Congress to stand together, protect immigrant rights, and pass a law to end Title 42. Tell President Biden and Congress to denounce DeSantis’s and Abbott’s actions, and end Trump's border policies for good!
    45 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Stop McCarthy's Attempt to Defund the I.R.S.
    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.
    33,435 of 35,000 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Save the internet: Overturn the FCC's repeal of Net Neutrality!
    July 2018 update: The FCC's repeal of net neutrality went into effect on June 11th. Now it's even more important to get lawmakers to act. Senators passed a resolution to save net neutrality via the Congressional Review Act. It's up to our congressional representatives to do the same. ------- On December 14, the Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, handing control of the internet to Big Telecom. The repeal of net neutrality gives monopolistic internet providers like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T the power to block, censor, and slow down your favorite sites on the web. 83% of Americans support net neutrality protections. Congress, as the oversight body for the FCC, can overturn this massive giveaway to the telecom industry. Since the FCC voted to end net neutrality, 20 senators have already pledged to reverse the FCC's vote, and we can convince others to join us. We need to build on this momentum -- tell your member of Congress to support the resolution to restore net neutrality now!
    108,742 of 200,000 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Save USPS: Stop Louis DeJoy from shuttering post offices!
    USPS funding is a major equity concern. The postal service is the lifeblood of much of rural America, where people rely on the USPS to deliver goods and transmit information. In areas without internet access, US mail is absolutely essential. And there’s another problem with DeJoy’s plan: it reinforces the idea that USPS should be managed like a business. That’s absurd. USPS is a public good. As the legislative and political director for the New York Metro Area Postal Union said of DeJoy’s latest plan, “DeJoy's Great Consolidation is a true danger to the public post office." Instead of slashing postal workers, we should be taking advantage of the huge opportunity USPS offers for our country. USPS should expand its services for rural and low-income communities even further by looking into offering banking services, internet access, and more.
    33 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Tax the rich!
    Jeff Bezos’s new yacht is so large that the Dutch city of Rotterdam was considering partially dismantling an historic bridge and national monument to accommodate it. Meanwhile, the United States still lacks adequate funding for education, healthcare, childcare, climate resiliency, and more. The surplus wealth that allows Bezos to think he can trample over entire municipalities abroad must be placed in service of the public good instead. Congress needs to pass a wealth tax on the ultra-wealthy!
    47 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Stop ICE agents from posing as police!
    When ICE or CBP agents show up at someone’s door, they can, and often do, lie and themselves as police. That’s a major problem in many immigrant communities. Immigration agents misidentifying themselves as regular police seriously erodes trust in local law enforcement. It also can lead to violations of immigrants’ rights — for example, when people think they’re required to comply with a search when they’re not. Senator Cory Booker recently introduced the Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act, legislation that would stop ICE and CBP from wearing clothing displaying the word “police.” Congress must pass this legislation to protect immigrant communities! Tell Congress to stand against ICE and CBP’s violations of immigrant rights by passing the Combating Deceptive Immigration Enforcement Practices Act! This deception is a threat to public safety and an abuse of immigrant rights — but it’s technically not illegal under current law. According to an attorney for the ACLU, “We have repeatedly seen ICE go to people’s homes and coerce people to authorize entry under the mistaken belief that [the agents] are police. It undermines public safety in these communities.” This is unacceptable. It’s Congress’s responsibility to pass a law protecting immigrants from over-policing and police brutality! Stop immigration agents from falsely identifying as police.
    31 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Stop Louis DeJoy from slashing the USPS workforce!
    Trump’s Postmaster General Louis DeJoy wants to cut 50,000 Postal Service positions. Congress must stop DeJoy. Not only will DeJoy’s plan eliminate 50,000 good union jobs, it’ll also compromise the ability of the Postal Service to carry out its essential functions — like delivering ballots safely and bringing life-saving prescriptions to seniors and rural communities. DeJoy’s plan to decimate the USPS workforce is just one piece of his broader vision for USPS austerity. The Postal Service is an essential public service, yet DeJoy cares more about cutting costs than making sure USPS performs its key functions. Congress must stop DeJoy from slashing 50,000 USPS jobs! USPS funding is a major equity concern. The postal service is the lifeblood of much of rural America, where people rely on the USPS to deliver goods and transmit information. In areas without internet access, US mail is absolutely essential. And there’s another problem with DeJoy’s plan: it reinforces the idea that USPS should be managed like a business. That’s absurd. USPS is a public good. Instead of slashing postal workers, we should be taking advantage of the huge opportunity USPS offers for our country. USPS should expand its services for rural and low-income communities even further by looking into offering banking services, internet access, and more. Sign the petition: Congress must stop DeJoy from undermining the postal service and slashing 50,000 USPS jobs!
    29 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Tell the FTC: Ban noncompete clauses!
    The FTC just voted to move forward a rulemaking to ban noncompetes. Noncompete agreements are a cynical, unfair practice utilized by massive corporations to suppress workers’ wages and make it harder for small businesses to succeed.1 Corporations will fight a noncompete ban tooth and nail because it threatens their ability to exploit workers and pad their own profits—but we're fighting back. In a time when millions of Americans are struggling to afford their basic needs, we should be providing more opportunity, not less. Sign the petition: Put an end to noncompetes! Massive corporations should not be able to use this tactic to harm American workers and small businesses. President Biden has already voiced his support for ending noncompetes. Noncompetes “are designed simply to lower people’s wages,” the president said. “These agreements block millions of retail workers, construction workers and other working folks from taking a better job, getting better pay and benefits, in the same field.2 Tell the FTC we’re counting on them to increase American workers’ options and prospects by banning noncompetes! Sign the petition: Ban noncompetes! Sources: New York Times, “U.S. Moves to Bar Noncompete Agreements in Labor Contracts,” January 5, 2023. New York Times, “Middle-Class Pay Lost Pace. Is Washington to Blame?” May 13, 2021.
    1,387 of 2,000 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Ban Members of Congress from trading stocks!
    Members of Congress may have profited off the pandemic using insider information. Since March 2020, momentum has been building to finally ban Members from trading individual stocks while in office — but time is running out. House Democrats have been promising a final proposal to ban Congressional stock trading all summer. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring a strong proposal to the floor now, before the end of the Congressional session! Corruption in Congress has been an issue since long before the pandemic. But in March 2020, Members’ apparent profiteering got more brazen than ever. Senator Richard Burr sold hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stocks after receiving a briefing on the severity of COVID-19. He warned rich donors at a private luncheon of the oncoming COVID crisis — but failed to warn his constituents, or support legislative action that would remediate the crisis. We called for Burr to be investigated by the SEC and the Senate Ethics committee. To date, he has faced no consequences for his actions. Neither have three other senators who may have profited from insider information as the pandemic was unfolding. The current laws governing Congressional stock trading are too weak – and are rarely enforced. That’s why we need a ban on Members of Congress owning and trading all individual stocks while in office. Members have an incentive to make the policy as weak as possible — but they’re vulnerable to grassroots pressure. We must be clear: the Congressional stock trading ban must require Members, their spouses, and their top aides to divest ALL ownership of individual stocks while in office! Sign the petition: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi must bring legislation to ban Congressional stock trading and ownership to the floor immediately!
    32 of 100 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
  • Remove press restrictions for President Trump’s impeachment trial
    Mitch McConnell and Senate Rules Committee Chair Roy Blunt have instituted unprecedented press restrictions in order to prevent the public from having full access to Trump's Senate impeachment trial -- including limits on what the public can see and on reporters' ability to talk to Senators. Without the free press, we can’t fight against abusive governmental policies or defend our basic freedoms. The Trump administration has been attacking the free press for years. Now that Trump has a chance of getting held accountable for his abuses of power, the Senate is allowing him to hide details from the public.
    79,625 of 100,000 Signatures
    Created by Demand Progress
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