…the #judiciary is an equal branch of #government & congressional #Democrats have limited opportunities to enact concrete changes.…
#Republicans, who control the #House, oppose legislation to tighten ethical guidelines for the justices & have portrayed overhaul as a political effort to damage the legitimacy of a #conservative#SCOTUS that has delivered them major victories on #abortion & other issues [+ they worked decades to install this court].
Reps #JamieRaskin & Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez #AOC took turns blistering #conservatives on the court Wed, citing their acceptance of unreported travel, tuition for relatives & other perks.
Raskin & Ocasio-Cortez announced they would introduce #legislation limiting gifts to justices to $50, the same cap that applies to #Congress.
Reps #JamieRaskin, ranking member of the US #House Cmte on Oversight & Accountability, & vice ranking member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez #AOC brought together fellow progressive Sen #SheldonWhitehouse w/experts & advocates for a roundtable discussion on the “#ethics crisis” facing the nation’s highest court.
Reps. Jamie #Raskin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are hosting a roundtable next week on the ethics crisis at the #SCOTUS.
The roundtable will feature panelists — including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse — to examine how "Justices beholden to right-wing dark money networks and unencumbered by any binding code of ethics are imposing an extremist agenda that undermines American democracy, deprives Americans of basic civil rights, and guts environmental protections."
#JamieRaskin gets my vote for honorary member of #TheSquad
Whatever the upshot of this #SCOTUS roundtable, it's great to see #AOC & Raskin getting this 💩 on the record for posterity
Fuck #Durbin - at least some #Democrats are leveraging positions of power & representing the 99%
Someone said it's important say this publicly in the US: so I will. (And I think each of us should, online and to friends)
This November I will vote for Biden.
I would regard not voting for Biden, particularly in: PA, OH, MI, WI, IN, IL,VA, GA, FL, AZ, ME, NC, NH, etc. as a huge error. I'd be disappointed to find out anyone I knew didn't vote. It's one of a long list of things we need to do. We can't skip it.
And still? We deserve better choices, and in the future we shall have them.
#AOC put it well: Your vote gives you an opportunity to pick which enemy you fight against for the next four years. And she said she'd much rather be fighting against Biden.
So tell me, Shadow - what have you been doing to develop candidates in your community? How have you engaged in the primary season? What's your long term strategy to get candidates you would support with the combination of experience, name recognition and community respect?
That is what's needed to ensure a politician understands the community needs, and the community values and respects the person they have supported throughout the long campaign process.
That's one of the reasons I respect #AOC - she went out and earned the communities support in the primary season.
Withholding support in a situation where the absolutely worst option might win - well, have you heard "cutting of your nose to spite your face"? Only it's worse, because you are consciously making a choice that will make things worse for so many vulnerable people.
« … the time is now to force compliance with US law and the standards of humanity, and fulfill our obligations to the American people to suspend the transfer of US weapons to the Israeli government in order to stop and prevent further atrocity… »
“If you want to know what an unfolding genocide looks like, open your eyes. It looks like the forced famine of 1.1 million innocents. It looks like thousands of children eating grass as their bodies consume themselves, while trucks of food are slowed and halted just miles away.” -Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
@ifnotnowboston Every word that #aoc said should be shouted from the rooftops and our representatives must immediately act on the illegal actions by the Israeli leadership that is causing mass starvation in #gaza.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez calls out Republicans for their corruption and hypocrisy, and I'm here for it. I can see this woman one day making an excellent President.
She turns thirty-five this year. Are we ready for a thirty-nine year old President? It might be worth exploring.