#new democrats

[reasonsforhope]

Also, content-lock-free link. [Technically it's not a paywall but it is annoying]

Keep pressuring Western governments. This is proof that it can work.

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"Canada will halt future arms sales to Israel following a non-binding vote in the house of commons. The foreign affairs minister, Mélanie Joly, told the Toronto Star her government would halt future arms shipments. “It is a real thing,” she said on Tuesday [March 19].

The decision follows a parliamentary motion, introduced by the New Democratic party (NDP), that called on the governing Liberals to halt future arms exports to Israel. The New Democrats, who are supporting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government, have expressed frustration with what they see as his failure to do enough to protect civilians in Gaza.

The motion – which passed 204-117 with the support of Liberals, Bloc Québécois and the Green party – also called on Canada to work “towards the establishment of the state of Palestine.""

-via The Guardian, March 19, 2024

[axvoter]

Blatantly Partisan Party Review XII (Victoria 2022): New Democrats

Prior reviews: None, this is a new party.

No, this is not a revived version of the Australian Democrats. Do not be fooled. The remnants of the Australian Democrats tried to register for this election and failed because they could not demonstrate they had enough members. Nor, fortunately, does this party have anything to do with the Liberal Democrats. So, who are they?

The challenge is finding out anything about them, because even at this late stage in the election their homepage does not appear in the top results on Google. If you want to find it, you need to know that independent MLC Kaushaliya Vaghela is in fact the party’s lead candidate, and follow the link from her Facebook profile (or from the bottom of this post, either way).

This, in turn, raises the question: who is Kaushaliya Vaghela? She was elected in 2018 as a Labor member for Western Metropolitan. Labor expelled her after she crossed the floor to support a motion by Adem Somyurek. Now, whatever the merits of the motion might have been, you do not want to appear affiliated with Somyurek, who is this year a candidate for the bilious DLP and around whom corruption allegations swirl. It seems Vaghela was not so close to Somyurek as to follow him into the DLP, and she now leads the New Democrats.

As best as I can tell, Vaghela and her party sit on the centre-right. There’s a general “migrant family values” vibe about it all. Most of the New Democrats’ candidates are of South Asian origin, so it’s pretty clear what base the party has—and Vaghela likes to highlight that she was the first Indian-born Hindu member of an Australian parliament.

In general, the party rhetoric emphasises education, equality of opportunity, and financial independence. That said, some of its language is much more extreme than simply that of a disillusioned centre-right Labor faction. The New Democrats purport to be “anti-dictatorship and will fight to uphold the TRUE Australian democracy”, which is troublingly close to the “Dictator Dan” language of so many cookers. Also, I can’t help but look askance at the party name, which appears to be intentionally misleading. This isn’t the worst party I’ve seen so far but it’s also not ideal.

My recommendation: Give the New Democrats a weak to middling preference. Remember to vote below the line on the large ballot for the Legislative Council so that your preference goes where you want it to go; all ballots with 5 or more preferences marked below the line are valid votes.

Website: https://www.newdemocrats.com.au/

[thenewdemocratus]

The New Republic: Noam Scheiber: 'Raising the Minimum Wage Isn't Just Good Politics: It's Good Economics'

The New Republic: Noam Scheiber: ‘Raising the Minimum Wage Isn’t Just Good Politics: It’s Good Economics’

Source:The New Republic– supporters for raising the minimum wage. Source:The New Democrat Small Ivy: “Erik, this is a fantastic idea – cut the taxes for employers if they pay their employees more. How about this – how about making salaries paid to employees a direct tax credit, such that employers could reduce their taxes to zero if they pay their employees the money that would have been going to…

[mysharona1987]

[politijohn]

Source

Source

The disregard politicians are showing especially to those who they hired to help them succeed and to their constituents…corrupt and rotten.

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau put forward a new regulation to limit bank overdraft fees. The CFPB pointed out that the average overdraft fee is $35 even though majority of overdrafts are under $26 and paid back with-in 3 days. The new regulation will push overdraft fees down to as little as $3 and not more than $14, saving the American public collectively 3.5 billion dollars a year.

The Environmental Protection Agency put forward a regulation to fine oil and gas companies for emitting methane. Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas, after CO2 and is responsible for 30% of the rise of global temperatures. This represents the first time the federal government has taxed a greenhouse gas. The EPA believes this rule will help reduce methane emissions by 80%

The Energy Department has awarded $104 million in grants to support clean energy projects at federal buildings, including solar panels at the Pentagon. The federal government is the biggest consumer of energy in the nation. The project is part Biden's goal of reducing the federal government's greenhouse gas emissions by 65% by 2030. The Energy Department estimates it'll save taxpayers $29 million in the first year alone and will have the same impact on emissions as taking over 23,000 gas powered cars off the road.

The Education Department has cancelled 5 billion more dollars of student loan debt. This will effect 74,000 more borrowers, this brings the total number of people who've had their student loan debt forgiven under Biden through different programs to 3.7 Million

U.S. Agency for International Development has launched a program to combat lead exposure in developing countries like South Africa and India. Lead kills 1.6 million people every year, more than malaria and AIDS put together.

Congressional Democrats have reached a deal with their Republican counter parts to revive the expanded the Child Tax Credit. The bill will benefit 16 million children in its first year and is expected to lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year. The proposed deal also has a housing provision that could see 200,000 new affordable rental units

[intersectionalpraxis]

Free Congo -if you own a cellphone you should be here -Free Congo

[ponfarrtimeatthevulcannightclub]

I'm gonna try to compile a list of resources for the genocides and humanitarian crisis going on so people will at least have a place to start so they can stay informed

Each place will have a link and then just click on the link to go to the resources. If yall have any you wanna recommend say it under the post of that place

Pls reblog the original posts so more people can see what’s been added

Hope this helps someone

Syria

Lebanon

Palestine

Sudan

Congo

Yemen

Iran

Morocco

Western Sahara

Armenia

Afghanistan

West Papua

Haiti

Tigray

Ukraine

Yezidi People

[reasonsforhope]

"This week, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a new rule requiring airlines to make bathrooms more accessible for disabled people. All new single-aisle aircraft will be fitted with fully-accessible lavatories.

Most flights inside the United States are single-aisle and as technology has improved, they are used more frequently for long flights, including coast-to-coast trips that can last as long as six hours. Double-aisle plans are already subject to the regulation but are primarily used for international flights.

Out Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced the new regulations, saying, “Traveling can be stressful enough without worrying about being able to access a restroom; yet today, millions of wheelchair users are forced to choose between dehydrating themselves before boarding a plane or avoiding air travel altogether.” ...

The secretary has made it a priority to improve service on airlines during his tenure. In 2022, six airlines were forced to pay millions of dollars in refunds to hundreds of thousands of customers and were also fined millions for causing the issues. The department’s firm stance on the side of customers has continued through this year after multiple companies have had meltdowns, stranding thousands of travelers.

All planes delivered to airlines starting in 2026 must include several upgrades. Planes already in service will not need to be retrofitted unless the plane is renovated.

“These aircraft must have at least one lavatory of sufficient size to permit a passenger with a disability (with the help of an assistant, if necessary) to approach, enter, and maneuver within the aircraft lavatory, to use all lavatory facilities, and leave by means of the aircraft’s onboard wheelchair if necessary,” the DOT said in a statement.

Accessible faucets and controls, grab bars, accessible call buttons and door locks, minimum obstruction to the passage of an onboard wheelchair, and an available visual barrier for privacy are also required upgrades."

-via LGBTQ Nation, July 28, 2023

Wayyyyyyy fucking overdue but I'll take it!! Also, very nice curb cut effect: We all get to be less miserable on airplanes, and older people don't have to worry as much about airplane bathroom fall risks.

[pilloclock]

FREE CONGO 🇨🇩

We have to talk about Congo as well, they are so in need of our awareness that they’re setting themselves on fire because no one cares enough !

[thenewdemocratus]

The Democratic Strategist: William Galston on Non-Populist Liberalism

Source:The Democratic Strategist Populism tends to get mixed in with either how should I call it, how about the hard Left and hard Right. The most loyal followers of the Left and Right in the Democratic Party and Republican Party. Who tend to see compromise with the other side or less partisan members of their own party as a sin. And retreat and surrender, terms that don’t tend to go well with…

[mysharona1987]

The French really don’t fuck around.

[politijohn]

Source

Tax the rich

[sayruq]

[markfaustus]