The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has openly vowed to pour $100 million into campaigns to defeat progressive representatives like Cori Bush who have spoken out against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. As Chris McGreal writes in The Guardian, “after it played a leading role in unseating New York congressman Jamaal Bowman, another progressive Democrat who criticised the scale of Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza… AIPAC pumped $8.5m into the race in Missouri’s first congressional district to support [Wesley] Bell through its campaign funding arm, the United Democracy Project (UDP), after Bush angered some pro-Israel groups as one of the first members of Congress to call for a ceasefire after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.” After Bush was unseated in August, she vowed to keep fighting for justice, and she put AIPAC on notice: “AIPAC,” she told supporters, “I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.”

At the 2025 National Membership Meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace in Baltimore, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sits down with the former Congresswoman and key member of “The Squad” to discuss her re-election loss, the undue influence of organizations like AIPAC on our democracy, and Bush’s plan for fighting back.

Studio Production: Kayla Rivara, Rosette Sewali
Post-Production: Cameron Granadino

Transcript

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Maximillian Alvarez:

We’re here at the Jewish Voice for Peace National Membership Meeting held in downtown Baltimore, and I am honored to be sitting here with Congresswoman Cori Bush, who just gave an incredible speech at the closing plenary.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me. I know we only have a limited time here, and I wanted to just sort of ask, first and foremost, for our viewers out there who saw your re-election campaign be awarded by $8.5 million from AIPAC, amidst other things, what would you say to folks out there who just see the results of that election and think, oh, well, she lost fair in square. What’s really going on underneath that?

Cori Bush:

Well, thank you for the question. First of all, there was no fair. There was no square. There was deceit, manipulation, lies, misinformation, racism, bigotry, hatred, vitriol, and it was all okay. There was nothing that was off limits as long as AIPAC got the result that they wanted. They didn’t care about how it ripped apart our community, how all of the years of organizing, so much of it was just disrupted and some of those bonds that people created, it just completely shattered. They didn’t care about that. They don’t care about that. They don’t care that I’m the same person that some of those folks marched with out on the streets of Ferguson during the uprising in 2014 and 2015.

They don’t care that I am the one who protested the ending of the eviction moratorium in 2021 as a freshman out on the steps of the US Capitol to make sure that 11 million people weren’t about to be evicted from their homes when the government could have done something about it. They didn’t care about that. They wanted to discredit me because in discrediting someone that the people trust, then it pulls power not only from that person that they trust, but it pulls power from the people. So there over $8 million that they put in, plus those that they were working with, it roughly ended up being around $15 million, between 15 to $20 million, which is the numbers that we’ve seen. And I just want to make this point. To use racism against me, to distort my face on mailers to make me look like an animal, to use lies about my family or me. The thing is this, if you’re doing the right thing and you’re doing it for the right reason, why can’t you just use truth?

I have no problem with people running against each other. We’re able to do that. That’s how I won my race. I ran against someone I thought was ineffective. I felt like I could do more. I spoke about what I would do and how I felt I could do it. I spoke about my past and who I wanted to be as a member of Congress. The people believed it because the people saw me as that person, and I won around $1.4 million. It took me that much money to unseat a 20-year incumbent whose parent, whose father was in the seat for 32 years. So 52 years worth of a machine. I spent around $1.4 million to unseat. I won that race with over 4,700 votes. AIPAC and the groups that they were working with, they spent around 15 million. The person only won by less than 7,000 votes.

So it took basically 15 million … I mean, 15 times the amount of money to unseat me that it took me to unseat someone who had a 52-year family legacy. So that was the depth of the deceit that they had to use. And I’ll say this, never once did they say anything about Israel or Palestine. Never once did they use that in ads. Now in front of people, they would call me anti-Semitic. People would say, well, what did she do? Oh, well, [inaudible 00:04:41]. I have anything to show you. But what they would use in the ads was, oh, she’s mean to Joe Biden. She wants kids to drink contaminated water from lead pipes. Those were the things that they used against me. And because it flooded the media, our local media so heavily because of the amount of money, because you will see four or five ads from my opponent and then only one ad from me, the people started to believe and they were wondering, well, why does he have so much money? Well, why does it?

So that’s what it looked like, and that’s how they were able to deceive the community to make them think, oh, well, then maybe something is going on that we don’t understand. And then they also made people feel like, well, I’m confused, so maybe I’ll just stay home.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And I want to ask another follow-up question on that because of course, you and other members of the squad are representative of a grassroots hope coming from a lot of the folks that we talk to and interview on a weekly basis. This is a hope over the past 10 years that there was still a possibility of making progressive change through electoral politics.

What would you say to folks right now who are feeling despondent and after seeing AIPAC still amidst all of that unseat, you unseat Jamal Bowman, the richest man in the world buying his way into our government right now? what would you say to folks who feel like we don’t have enough to take on their money?

Cori Bush:

Well, that’s what they want us to believe. They want us to fall into this place of just feeling overwhelmed, just believing the chaos. They want us to stop fighting. They want us to think that … Well, they want us to just live in this place of fatigue. That’s why they keep ramming this train our way. But we can’t allow that to happen because what they understand is it’s actually the people who have the power. That’s why they have to do so much and push so hard and spend so much money because they understand is that it’s really us who has the power. We just have to acknowledge it and understand it and figure out how to properly use our power to fight against this. And so yes, I was unseated Jamal Bowman was unseated, and I know that we know that they’re coming from more in 2026 and beyond.

But the thing is, the movement is never one person or never a few people. Yes, we were working for more progressive change, and that’s an issue right now. But the other part of that is we need our actual elected officials who claim to be progressive, to actually be that. We need them or stop saying that you are, because then you’re making people feel this way because they’re looking like, oh, these are our people, but what’s going on? Why aren’t they pushing? Why aren’t they fighting for this change? So we need people to be your authentic self in this moment because the people are falling away from the Democratic Party because they feel the hypocrisy. People are saying, I don’t understand why you’re not fighting hard enough. You said this man is a fascist. He’s a racist, he’s a white supremacist. He’s authoritarian, he’s a dictator. He’s all of these things. But you’re not meeting the moment. You’re not meeting the threat with the proper opposition to it.

But when they also see that some of these same folks who are supposed to be our “leaders” take money from groups like AIPAC who are primarily funded by Republicans who also endorse insurrectionist members of Congress or people who supported insurrectionists, at least we feel, then the people are like, well, why should I believe and trust in you? Also, if you are cool with allowing a genocide to happen on our watch in our lifetime with our tax dollars, if you are okay with that, then what is your red line? Because apparently, death and destruction of thousands of people, it’s not. So who are you? Is this the party of human rights and civil rights? Is this the party of equality and equity and peace? Is this that party? It is absolutely not if there is no no real opposition to what we’re seeing right now.

Maximillian Alvarez:

And just a final question. When you lost your reelection and you gave this rousing kind of speech that you sort of brought back into your speech today, you told AIPAC, “I’m coming to tear down your kingdom.” I wanted to ask, just in closing here with the last minute, I’ve got you. What does that mean? What does that look like? And for folks out there watching who want to see that, who want this undue money and influence out of our politics, what is it going to take to tear down that kingdom?

Cori Bush:

So one thing I won’t do is give all the secrets away. So I can’t give all of the … but what I will say is part of it is this, part of it is being here with the people. So Jewish Voice for Peace has 100% been a supporter of mine. And this didn’t just start after October 7th. We’ve been working with folks with JVP for years. This is not anything new, and we’ll continue to do that work. But the fact that they continue to organize … other groups are organizing and calling out the name “AIPAC.” There are experts working on why there is this loophole that allows for AIPAC to do some of the lobbying they do. There is a lot happening behind the scenes, and I’m going to continue to do that work. But the stuff that is more forward-facing, I’m going to continue to organize.

I’m going to continue to make sure that people know. The PAC United Democracy Project is … We need people to understand the connection between them and AIPAC. So that’s where the money is going to flow from. It’s going to flow from UDP. We need people to know DMFI and know some of these other names, but we also need people to know that in your local community, there are PACs being formed that are basically a smaller AIPAC. And their whole purpose is to try to make people to be kind of ambiguous. And so you won’t know that this is who they are. It is just like, oh, it’s this group that has all of this money that’s coming against this elected official that’s speaking out against the genocide. But they have all of this money, and so it’s like maybe they’re good. We want people to know. So educating people around the country as well.

I’m not going to stop fighting because AIPAC came for me. The thing is this: AIPAC didn’t make me, so AIPAC can’t break me. AIPAC didn’t position me so they can deposition me. The thing is, I got there because the people put me there, but I was there for a purpose and a mission. So that’s the other part. So I knew while I was there in Congress that I was on a timer. I knew that I was only there for a purpose, for a mission. I knew that there was this urgency on the inside of me. One thing that I would say to people all the time is I felt this weeping. I just only inside of me, I just always felt like crying. It never stopped 24 hours a day. And it’s the thing that kept me moving fast. Like, okay, I got to do this. I got to do that.

People in Congress will say, “She’s championed all of these different areas. Why is she doing so much?” That was why I didn’t know that I would only be there four years, but I needed to get the work done, and I needed to be true to what I said, who I said I would be. But also, I needed to be what I needed. That’s what I had to be what I needed when I was unhoused, when I was hungry, when I was abused, and all of the things. I needed that. I needed what my grandmother needed when she taught me that you never look a white woman in her face because of what she went through the experience in Mississippi growing up and my ancestors before her through chattel slavery. I needed to be what they needed. And I’ll never stop doing that because the thing is, it’s not about me, it’s what is who God created me to be. And that’s just everything for me. And so I’m not afraid.

This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by Maximillian Alvarez.

A quote, wrongly attributed to Abraham Lincoln, reads:

You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

Well, that may be true but what is also true is that you can fool most of the people (followers of politicians, political parties, religions, celebrities, stars, social media influencers, businesspersons, and so on) most of the time because followers place blind trust in their heroes, heroines, religious leaders, influencers, etc.

This was visible during the quadrennial spectacles called Republican National Convention (July 15 to July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and Democratic National Convention (August 19 to August 22, 2024, in Chicago, Illinois).

Of course, there is a difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party: the Republicans are overtly hostile and will screw you unashamedly in broad day light without any kind of lubrication or apology.

The Democrats are, in that respect, a bit less rough. They’ll beg your pardon; would plead with you to understand the criticality of the situation; but will screw you, nonetheless — of course, in a dim light with a bit of lubricant.

Both the conventions took place during the ongoing Israeli slaughter, displacements, starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza since October 12, 2023. Both parties have supported the Israeli carnage. There is a division in the Democratic Party about supporting Israel, but the strong voices are few and many a times become victims of the Israel Lobby. One of the powerful group AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) has spent more than $100 million in the 2024 election campaign: $15 million was spent to defeat US House Representatives Jamal Bowman who was critical of Israeli genocide of Gazans and $9 million to oust Cori Bush, another critic of Israeli war.

Danaka Katovich, National Co-Director CodePink, describes how a woman outside the convention center calling out the names of the children killed in Gaza was ignored and laughed at.

“There was a young woman that sat outside the exit of the Democratic National Convention on its third night reading the names of the children Israel has killed in the last ten months. She did it for hours, until her speaker battery died. She did it alone, taking care to pronounce every child’s name correctly and to say their age at the time of their murder. Without her, many of the DNC guests wouldn’t necessarily be confronted with the carnage members of their party is carrying out.

“Outside the gates of the DNC I saw a young woman making sure the children of Palestine weren’t just numbers, and I saw people laughing at her for doing so. They laughed loudly and mocked her voice. They mocked the names of the dead babies. They yelled at her to leave them alone. They left the coronation ceremony livid that they had to even hear about Gaza.”

Things were not too different inside the convention center, either.

The DNC allowed the parents of one of the hostages held by Hamas to speak and highlight their plight but no Palestinian was permitted to talk about the killing of over 41,000 [1] Palestinians (33% of them children and 18.4% women) and about ceasefire. Even a speech which included support for Kamala Harris was disallowed.

The speakers who did talk about Gaza and Palestine knew very well that their speeches were not going to make any difference.

AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez):

“She [Vice President Kamala Harris] is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing hostages home.”

After five and a half years in the US Congress and as an active member of the Democratic Party, progressive AOC [2] knows damn well that no efforts on part of Kamala or Biden administration is needed to secure a ceasefire — the US just has to stop money and arms flow to Israel and that’s it.

On August 21, AOC posted on X:

“Just as we must honor the humanity of hostages, so too must we center the humanity of the 40,000 Palestinians killed under Israeli bombardment. To deny that story is to participate in the dehumanization of Palestinians. The @DNC must change course and affirm our shared humanity.

Bernie Sanders:

“We must end this horrific war in Gaza. Bring home the hostages and demand an immediate ceasefire.”

Two progressive members devoted a total of 31 words to the more than 10 month old continuing tragedy without mentioning the over 41,000 Palestinians killed!

Senator Raphael Warnock (Georgia) talked about children’s (including Gaza’s) safety.

“I need all of my neighbors’ children to be okay — poor inner-city children in Atlanta and poor children in Appalachia.” “I need the poor children of Israel and the poor children of Gaza, I need Israelis and Palestinians, I need those in the Congo, those in Haiti, those in Ukraine. I need American children on both sides of the tracks to be OK. Because we are all God’s children.”

The speakers, including (Barack Obama), touched on various topics, but as Lorraine Ali in Los Angeles Times observed,

“But little was said about Gaza or Israel, and the silence spoke volumes. Let’s talk about everything but that war.”

When hawkish Harris opened her mouth she roared about defending the security of the most powerful and technologically advanced country, Israel, against the broken Palestinians.

“With respect to the war in Gaza, President Biden and I are working around the clock because now is the time to get a hostage deal and cease-fire done.

“Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on Oct. 7.

“Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival. At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, over and over again.

“The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war such that – Israel is secure – the hostages are released – the suffering in Gaza ends – and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity.”

Hamas of the Israeli occupied Gaza is a “terrorist organization” but there is no mention of who caused the loss of “so many innocent lives” or who is making “desperate, hungry people” flee for “safety, over and over again.”
No mention of Israel. This, from one who is the would-be next President of the US.

She said she and Biden are “working around the clock.” The clock must be out of order. The war will only stop when the US decides to halt its support.

Back in July, Netanyahu addressed the US Congress. Many Democrats abstained, Harris included. But then the very next day, she met Netanyahu in private. Her facial expressions didn’t show she was angry in any manner. Now look at Obama’s picture with Netanyahu where Obama’s displeasure is visible. Netanyahu was trying to undermine Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

The statement by Harris after her meeting with Netanyahu was the same diplomatic bullshit. [3]

The conventions are basically a feel good exercise to create excitement and hope among supporters and to denigrate and make fun of the opposition. The Democrats did exactly that; made fun of former president and the current Republican Party presidential candidate, Donald Trump and frightened, rightly so, their followers/die hard supporters with fascism replacing “democracy” if Trump gets reelected.

The Democrats, however, didn’t remind their supporters that they (the Democrats), when in power, do act in a fascist manner overseas with their wars, sanctions, embargoes, blockades, seizing money and gold belonging to countries they don’t like.

On domestic issues the Democrats and Republicans differ on certain issues but both support capitalism and get plenty of money from the corporations. The hands of both parties are drenched with blood of foreigners, including children and women. Even within the US, the Democrats are cruel with many segments of the society. Republicans are openly cruel.

Notes

[1] After every Israeli deadly crime, the usual statement, actually a warning, from its major supporter, the United States, is,

“We are engaged in intense diplomacy pretty much around the clock, with a very simple message: All parties must refrain from escalation.”

That is, Israel’s murderous act should remain unpunished or else we’ll jump in to defend Israel. The above warning was for Iran to refrain from any retaliation against Israel which had assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian soil. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also ordered killing of Lebanese militia group Hezbollah’s commander Fuad Shukr.

[2] The Democratic leadership was using one of their presidents’ tactic by inviting AOC to speak and thus mainstreaming her but also blunting her voice. President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 – 1973) said the following about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

“It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

[3] A couple of paragraphs from Harris’ statement;

“I also expressed with the prime minister my serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.  And I made clear my serious concern about the dire humanitarian situation there, with over 2 million people facing high levels of food insecurity and half a million people facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.

“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating — the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time.  We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies.  We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering.  And I will not be silent.”

Lip service completed, let the one-sided hostilities continue …

This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by B.R. Gowani.

As voters in several states cast their ballots in primary elections Tuesday, we look at one of the most high-profile races between Missouri Congressmember Cori Bush and St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, who is challenging her for the Democratic nomination. Bush, a member of the progressive “Squad,” is one of the most outspoken advocates for Palestine in Congress, and the powerful pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC has poured over $8 million into the race in an effort to defeat her. “It’s all meant to push out someone who stands up for Palestinian rights,” says Michael Berg, a Bush supporter, whose recent essay in The Nation is titled “I’m a St. Louis Jew. Here’s Why I’m Backing Cori Bush.”

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

A coalition of Democratic U.S. lawmakers led by Reps. Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday announced the launch of a new caucus aimed at realizing the centurylong goal of adding an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

"It has been 100 years since the Equal Rights Amendment was first drafted and introduced in Congress, and more than a half century since both chambers passed it," Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement announcing the founding of the Congressional Equal Rights Amendment Caucus. "That is far too long for women, Black and Brown folks, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups to wait for constitutional gender equality—and we refuse to wait any longer."

Pressley (D-Mass.) said: "I am proud to launch the ERA Caucus with my sister-in-service Congresswoman Bush to affirm the Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, establish gender equality as a national priority, and center our most vulnerable and marginalized communities, who stand to benefit the most."

Caucus member Rep. Summer Lee (D-Penn.) said that "it's not shocking that when the Constitution was first drafted, women, Black, Brown, queer, and marginalized folks were intentionally written out. What is shocking is that in 2023, our Constitution still does not include equal rights regardless of sex—meaning our Constitution still does not reflect or protect all people."

"To the right-wing politicians and judges waging a full-on assault on the rights of women and queer youth, we're not afraid and we won't be silenced," Lee added. "We're organized and mobilized to make equal rights the law of the land."

After passing the House in 1971 and the Senate the following year, the ERA was submitted to the states for ratification. Congress set a March 1979 deadline for ratification; only 35 of the requisite 38 states approved the proposal by that time. Although the deadline was extended until 1982, no more states ratified the amendment and several state legislatures voted to rescind their ratifications.

A 21st-century effort to revive the ERA saw Nevada, Illinois, and Virginia approve the measure in recent years. Supporters say 38 states have now backed the ERA, although there is uncertainty over the expired deadlines and rescinded ratifications.

Pressley's office said that in addition to affirming the ERA, the new congressional caucus will "raise awareness in Congress to establish constitutional gender equality as a national priority; partner with an inclusive intergenerational, multiracial coalition of advocates, activists, scholars, organizers, and public figures; and center the people who stand to benefit the most from gender equality, including Black and Brown women, LGBTQ+ people, people seeking abortion care, and other marginalized groups."

In a Tuesday interview with The Hill, Pressley said she was "thinking a lot about my 14-year-old daughter, Cora, and how I do not want her to continue to live in a country in a world where we have so conflated and normalized the disparate treatment and outcomes and disparate access and the second-class status it is to be a woman in this society."

"I look forward to the day when calendars will say and on this day in history, the ERA caucus was established," she added, "but I really look forward to the day when our calendars will say on this day in history, the ERA was passed."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Cori Bush on Thursday introduced legislation that would prohibit pharmaceutical companies from charging more than $20 for a vial of insulin, a move that comes a week after Eli Lilly pledged to cap out-of-pocket payments for its insulin products at $35 per month.

"As a nurse, I've seen too many people in our communities struggle to afford their lifesaving insulin medication," Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement. "People are left choosing between insulin or groceries; insulin or rent; insulin or child care. This is unacceptable."

More than 7 million people across the U.S. use insulin to manage their diabetes, and some have been forced to pay upwards of $1,000 per month for the medicine as pharmaceutical giants have jacked up prices with abandon in recent decades.

According to one study published in October, more than a million people in the U.S. have had to ration insulin due to the high cost.

Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee and a longtime advocate of insulin price reform, said Thursday that "there is no reason why Americans should pay the highest prices in the world for insulin—in some cases, ten times as much as people in other countries."

"In 1923, the inventors of insulin sold their patents for $1 to save lives, not to turn pharmaceutical executives into billionaires," said Sanders. "Now, 100 years later, unacceptable corporate greed has caused the price of this lifesaving medication to skyrocket by over 1,000% since 1996. We can no longer tolerate a rigged healthcare system that forced 1.3 million people with diabetes to ration insulin while the three major insulin manufacturers made $21 billion dollars in profits."

"Now is the time for Congress to take on the greed and power of the pharmaceutical industry and substantially lower the price of insulin," the senator added. "In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should die because they cannot afford the medication they need."

If passed, the Insulin for All Act of 2023 would cap the list price of insulin nationwide at "$20 per 1000 units... which may be contained in one or more vials, pens, cartridges, or other forms of delivery."

Original co-sponsors of the legislation include Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon.

"Big Pharma continues to rake in record profits by gouging patients on insulin prices," Merkley said in a statement. "Unaffordable high prices are forcing patients to ration their insulin, leading to dire health consequences—heart attacks, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, foot disease and amputations, even death. It's tragic, it's unacceptable, and it's time to end this rip-off."

The new bill is also backed by more than 70 advocacy organizations, including T1International, Public Citizen, and Social Security Works.

"This bill being called the Insulin for All Act of 2023 shows the power of grassroots activism," said Elizabeth Pfiester, a patient with Type 1 diabetes and the founder and executive director of T1International, the group behind the #insulin4all campaign.

"We know that Eli Lilly isn't lowering the list price of one of their insulins out of the goodness of their hearts," Pfiester added. "That's why policy change to ensure patients with diabetes can't be exploited anymore is essential."

Eli Lilly's decision earlier this month to slash the prices of its most-prescribed insulin products by 70% was cautiously welcomed by advocates who have been organizing against insulin price gouging for years.

But campaigners stressed that given the serious limitations of Eli Lilly's pledge—and the company's ability to raise prices again whenever it chooses—federal action is still necessary to ensure lower costs for everyone, including those who use products made by the other two giant insulin manufacturers, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk.

The three companies produce more than 90% of the global insulin supply, market dominance that has allowed them to drive up costs massively—drawing legal action from several U.S. states, including California.

Last April, Human Rights Watch released a report showing that Eli Lilly has raised the list price of Humalog by an inflation-adjusted 680% since it first began selling the product in the late 1990s. The company vowed earlier this month to slash the list price of Humalog by 70% starting in the fourth quarter of this year.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Borrowers, advocates, and lawmakers converged on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday night and Tuesday morning to defend President Joe Biden's stalled student debt relief plan as justices prepared to consider a pair of right-wing challenges to the popular proposal.

Attendees argued that Biden's move to erase up to $20,000 in student debt for federal borrowers with individual incomes under $125,000 and modify the income-driven repayment program is just, legal, and necessary. Although it falls short of progressives' demands for universal cancellation, speakers made clear that the White House's plan is key to improving economic security.

"You should not have to face financial ruin because you want a damn education!" Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said during Tuesday morning's rally. "Education, from child care to graduate school, is a human right. It should be free to all."

"Today we say to the Supreme Court, listen to the needs of millions of struggling people," Sanders added. "Do the right thing. Support Biden's proposal to cancel student debt."

"President Biden's executive authority to provide student debt relief to borrowers is abundantly clear."

After Monday night's rally, some campaigners planned to camp out overnight in a bid to secure seats in the courtroom for Tuesday's oral arguments, which began at 10:00 am ET.

In both Biden v. Nebraska—brought by the Republican-led states of Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina—and Department of Education v. Brown—filed with the support of billionaires by a pair of plaintiffs who claim they were unfairly excluded from relief—the right-wing-controlled Supreme Court will decide whether Biden's plan exceeds the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) authority and whether the lawsuits have legal standing.

In a Tuesday statement released ahead of the hearing, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri said, "Today, far-right Republican attorneys general will bring baseless and politically motivated arguments to the Supreme Court in opposition to providing student debt relief promised to 40 million borrowers across our country."

"Regardless," said Bush, "President Biden's executive authority to provide student debt relief to borrowers is abundantly clear—just look at the facts."

Bush continued:

Fact: The basis of the Republican AG's case relies on the claim that this relief plan threatens the profits of loan servicers such as MOHELA and states will be financially injured. Yet, in response to an October letter I sent to MOHELA, they denied involvement in the case and discredited Republicans by stating that they don’t operate to make profits and remain committed to complying with contractual obligations set forth by the U.S. Department of Education.

Fact: Republicans claim that states, like Missouri, also rely on revenue from loan servicers like MOHELA. Yet, MOHELA hasn’t paid their bills to the state in over a decade and owes over $100 million to the state of Missouri.

Fact: President Biden's student debt relief plan would provide 40 million borrowers across our country—including 144,000 of my constituents—with life-changing financial relief. Following the economic devastation of the pandemic, we need transformative policy solutions to foster an equitable economic recovery.

"I know what it's like to carry crushing student debt and to have to make impossible choices between paying rent or paying an exorbitant student loan bill," said Bush. "And I've heard from people across the country who have shared how this relief would change their lives—from being able to afford child care, to paying their medical bills, to being able to put food on the table."

"The facts are clear, and I implore the Supreme Court to affirm the president's executive authority to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt," she added. "I'm confident the Biden-Harris administration's plan will withstand these hurdles and provide the much-needed relief to borrowers."

Right-wing lawmakers and activists filed numerous lawsuits after the White House announced its student debt cancellation bid in August. Applications for relief closed in November after a federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump blocked Biden's plan. At the time, 26 million borrowers had already applied for or were automatically eligible for relief, and 16 million applications were given the green light and sent to loan servicers.

While GOP members of Congress argue that student debt relief is a regressive policy whose benefits would flow disproportionately to wealthy households, DOE data released earlier this month dispels that myth. According to a Politicoanalysis of the data, over 98% of people who applied before the portal was frozen reside in ZIP codes where the average per-capita income is under $75,000. Nearly two-thirds of applicants live in neighborhoods where the average person makes less than $40,000 per year.

With his relief initiative on hold, Biden extended the pause on federal student loan repayments—a measure that was introduced at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 and had been set to expire on December 31, 2022—through June 30, 2023. Payments are set to restart 60 days after that date, or 60 days after the high court hands down its decision, whichever comes first.

The Debt Collective, however, tweeted Monday night: "We're not paying that damn student debt no matter what the Supreme Court and its corrupted judges say."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Kenny Stancil.

As thousands of people gathered at pro-choice rallies across the United States, multiple congresswomen marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday by sharing their own experiences with abortion care and renewing calls to protect reproductive rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its landmark ruling.

"I'm one of the 1 in 4 women in America who has had an abortion. Terminating my pregnancy was not an easy choice, but more importantly, it was MY choice," tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who has previously shared her story in a New York Timesopinion piece and during a House hearing.

"Everyone's story is different, but I know this for certain: The choice to have an abortion belongs to pregnant people, not the government. We are not free if we cannot make these fundamental choices about our bodies," she continued. "MAGA Republicans' extreme abortion bans aren't about saving lives, they're about control. We must stand up and fight these bans. Together."

Fellow Washington state Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, who was sworn in for her first term earlier this month, wrote on Twitter: "Three years ago I miscarried in the second trimester of a pregnancy. It's a painful memory but something many women have experienced. I traveled hours to the nearest clinic, and I encountered anti-choice protesters. Thankfully I got the care I needed that day."

"I had been told without an immediate abortion, or dilation and evacuation, that my life was at risk. That I could die, or not be able to have children in the future. I got the care I needed, and now I'm the mother of my 17-month-old son," she said. "On what would've been Roe v. Wade's 50th anniversary, I'm thinking of the millions of Americans with stories like mine who are forced to go without access to safe reproductive care. I won't stop fighting to restore this fundamental right and defend reproductive freedom for all."

Nearly seven months since the high court's right-wing majority overturned Roe with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, "abortion is currently unavailable in 14 states, and courts have temporarily blocked enforcement of bans in eight others," according to a December review by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state laws.

Just after the Dobbs decision leaked last May, Ellepublished a roundtable discussion with the only five then-members of Congress who had publicly shared abortion stories: Jayapal; Sen. Gary Peters, whose ex-wife got a potentially lifesaving emergency abortion in the 1980s; and Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who did not seek reelection last year.

In the weeks that followed, Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Marie Newman (D-Ill.)—who lost her June primary after redistricting—also detailed their abortions when they were each 19 years old. During a House hearing, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) shared that "when my doctor finally induced me, I faced the pain of labor without hope for a living child."

"Would it have been after the first miscarriage, after doctors used what would be an illegal drug to abort the lost fetus?" McBath asked. "Would you have put me in jail after the second miscarriage?"

McBath took to Twitter Sunday to highlight that testimony and warn that "without Roe, all reproductive care is on the line."

Bush—who has spoken about seeking an abortion after becoming pregnant as a result of rape at 17—said in a statement Sunday that "the Roe v. Wade decision was not only historic in that it protected people accessing abortions; it also served as precedent for several more court cases and laws to follow that would further advance gender equality, reproductive rights, and our collective freedoms."

"Unfortunately, we all know what happened last June. Republicans spent decades stacking the federal judiciary with far-right anti-abortion judges and successfully stripped millions of people of their right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion care, particularly Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities," she said. "And, let's be clear, Republicans aren't stopping with Roe."

"In just their first couple of days in power, House Republicans passed two anti-abortion bills in a blatant attempt to lay the groundwork for a national abortion ban," added Bush, who was among the 17 federal lawmakers arrested in July while protesting Dobbs at the Supreme Court. "As a congresswoman, a mother, a pastor, and as a person who has had abortions, I will never stop fighting for a person's bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and for a country that lives up to its proclamation of freedom."

Moore—who represents a state where abortion is now unavailable due to a contested 1849 ban—issued a similar warning in a series of tweets, declaring that "this Roe anniversary is a reminder of what we've lost, and we must fight for a future that creates more equitable healthcare access for all."

"The chaos we've seen over the past six months is the environment anti-abortion politicians have worked for decades to create, and they won't stop with Roe. While we work to protect and restore access to abortion, more attacks on sexual and reproductive health are happening now," she said. "The path ahead will be challenging. It will require us to think bolder than ever before to ensure our very basic rights and freedoms are permanently protected—not subject to whoever happens to be in power."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

As thousands of people gathered at pro-choice rallies across the United States, multiple congresswomen marked the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday by sharing their own experiences with abortion care and renewing calls to protect reproductive rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court reversing its landmark ruling.

"I'm one of the 1 in 4 women in America who has had an abortion. Terminating my pregnancy was not an easy choice, but more importantly, it was MY choice," tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who has previously shared her story in a New York Timesopinion piece and during a House hearing.

"Everyone's story is different, but I know this for certain: The choice to have an abortion belongs to pregnant people, not the government. We are not free if we cannot make these fundamental choices about our bodies," she continued. "MAGA Republicans' extreme abortion bans aren't about saving lives, they're about control. We must stand up and fight these bans. Together."

Fellow Washington state Democrat Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, who was sworn in for her first term earlier this month, wrote on Twitter: "Three years ago I miscarried in the second trimester of a pregnancy. It's a painful memory but something many women have experienced. I traveled hours to the nearest clinic, and I encountered anti-choice protesters. Thankfully I got the care I needed that day."

"I had been told without an immediate abortion, or dilation and evacuation, that my life was at risk. That I could die, or not be able to have children in the future. I got the care I needed, and now I'm the mother of my 17-month-old son," she said. "On what would've been Roe v. Wade's 50th anniversary, I'm thinking of the millions of Americans with stories like mine who are forced to go without access to safe reproductive care. I won't stop fighting to restore this fundamental right and defend reproductive freedom for all."

Nearly seven months since the high court's right-wing majority overturned Roe with Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, "abortion is currently unavailable in 14 states, and courts have temporarily blocked enforcement of bans in eight others," according to a December review by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute, which tracks state laws.

Just after the Dobbs decision leaked last May, Ellepublished a roundtable discussion with the only five then-members of Congress who had publicly shared abortion stories: Jayapal; Sen. Gary Peters, whose ex-wife got a potentially lifesaving emergency abortion in the 1980s; and Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who did not seek reelection last year.

In the weeks that followed, Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Marie Newman (D-Ill.)—who lost her June primary after redistricting—also detailed their abortions when they were each 19 years old. During a House hearing, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) shared that "when my doctor finally induced me, I faced the pain of labor without hope for a living child."

"Would it have been after the first miscarriage, after doctors used what would be an illegal drug to abort the lost fetus?" McBath asked. "Would you have put me in jail after the second miscarriage?"

McBath took to Twitter Sunday to highlight that testimony and warn that "without Roe, all reproductive care is on the line."

Bush—who has spoken about seeking an abortion after becoming pregnant as a result of rape at 17—said in a statement Sunday that "the Roe v. Wade decision was not only historic in that it protected people accessing abortions; it also served as precedent for several more court cases and laws to follow that would further advance gender equality, reproductive rights, and our collective freedoms."

"Unfortunately, we all know what happened last June. Republicans spent decades stacking the federal judiciary with far-right anti-abortion judges and successfully stripped millions of people of their right to safe, legal, and accessible abortion care, particularly Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized communities," she said. "And, let's be clear, Republicans aren't stopping with Roe."

"In just their first couple of days in power, House Republicans passed two anti-abortion bills in a blatant attempt to lay the groundwork for a national abortion ban," added Bush, who was among the 17 federal lawmakers arrested in July while protesting Dobbs at the Supreme Court. "As a congresswoman, a mother, a pastor, and as a person who has had abortions, I will never stop fighting for a person's bodily autonomy, reproductive rights, and for a country that lives up to its proclamation of freedom."

Moore—who represents a state where abortion is now unavailable due to a contested 1849 ban—issued a similar warning in a series of tweets, declaring that "this Roe anniversary is a reminder of what we've lost, and we must fight for a future that creates more equitable healthcare access for all."

"The chaos we've seen over the past six months is the environment anti-abortion politicians have worked for decades to create, and they won't stop with Roe. While we work to protect and restore access to abortion, more attacks on sexual and reproductive health are happening now," she said. "The path ahead will be challenging. It will require us to think bolder than ever before to ensure our very basic rights and freedoms are permanently protected—not subject to whoever happens to be in power."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

Progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday blasted Republicans for using their narrow majority to establish a panel headed by a far-right congressman to "expose the abuses committed by the unelected, unaccountable federal bureaucracy."

In a 221-211 vote along party lines, the GOP approved a resolution creating a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, under the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

"The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government."

Jordan—who infamously defied a congressional subpoena to testify about the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump—took aim at the U.S. Homeland Security and Justice departments as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and key House Democrats in a Tuesday floor speech advocating for the subcommittee.

"Mr. Jordan, who was deeply involved in Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has for months been investigating what he says is a bias in federal law enforcement against conservatives," The New York Timesreported. "Now that Republicans have the majority, he plans to use his gavel and his subpoena power to escalate and expand that inquiry, including searching for evidence that federal workers have become politicized and demanding documents about ongoing criminal investigations."

While Republicans in Congress have compared their now-official panel to the historic Church Committee—which, in the 1970s, "labored for 16 months to produce a 5,000-page report that is a canonical history of the secret government," as journalist Chris Hayes wrote for The Nation in 2009—progressives, including Hayes last week, have challenged that comparison.

"In 1975, the Senate created a bipartisan Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities," Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said after the vote. "Dubbed the Church Committee, the panel uncovered the surveillance and abuses against civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as illegal programs to assassinate foreign leaders. Minnesota legend Walter Mondale served on the committee and his questions helped uncover abuses of power."

Explaining her "no" vote, Omar continued:

I had high hopes that this would be a Church-style committee, where we could investigate surveillance of American citizens, violations of civil liberties, and the intelligence community's overseas abuses of power.

It is clear that this committee is going to be one of personal grievances and defending insurrectionists, led by members who are themselves being investigated for their role in the January 6th insurrection and who have openly defied accountability by not complying with congressional subpoenas. The goal is not justice, but to delegitimize credible investigations into people who attempted to overthrow our government.

Additionally, agency oversight belongs in the House Committee on Oversight and Reform or on an independent committee. The fact that this is being formed under the Judiciary Committee suggests that the goal isn't accountability but rather to obstruct justice and undercut legal investigations they don't agree with.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), a fellow "Squad" member, was similarly critical on Tuesday.

"The federal government has already been weaponized by Republicans against Black, brown, and other marginalized groups," she said. "So unless they're investigating themselves, this Insurrection Protection Committee is a sham."

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) called the committee "a fascist power grab to evade accountability" for the January 6 attack.

Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) tied the creation of the new panel to the 15 votes and backroom deals it took last week for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to get far-right members of his party to stop blocking his path to the leadership position.

"House Republicans just created a committee with unprecedented power to review criminal investigations and access high-level intelligence for political purposes," Pocan said. "This is what Speaker McCarthy was willing to compromise to be speaker. It's wild."

There were also critics beyond Congress—including Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

"This new House subcommittee, specifically set up to investigate ongoing investigations by the Justice Department and FBI into Donald Trump and others, is dangerous and threatens accountability and the rule of law," he said. "We can't accept this as normal."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jessica Corbett.

Arguing that "the death penalty is cruel, racist, and fundamentally unjust," U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday led over two dozen congressional Democrats in calling on the Biden administration to continue its 18-month pause on federal executions.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland spearheaded by Pressley (D-Mass.) and Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbn (D-Ill.), 26 Democratic members of Congress urged the Biden administration to rescind a series of Trump-era amendments that expanded execution methods, allowed the Justice Department to skip important regulatory steps while pursuing federal executions, and made state prisons and personnel available for federal executions, among other changes.

"The death penalty is archaic, barbaric, and cold-hearted; it destroys families and communities, and its abolition is long overdue."

The 2020 amendments "were adopted in the middle of an alarming rush of executions by the previous administration," the letter states. "Ending a 17-year moratorium on the federal death penalty, the prior administration executed 12 men and one woman in the space of six months—exceeding the number of individuals who had been executed under the federal death penalty over the prior seven decades."

The lawmakers contended that the amendments were "promulgated by an outgoing administration in the middle of a surge of executions" and "were clearly part of an effort to facilitate that surge, and as such the amendments as a whole are so irreparably tainted that they should not remain in place."

"Last year, we commended you for your decision to impose a moratorium on federal executions while the current review of death penalty policies and procedures is pending," the lawmakers wrote. "As your memorandum announcing the moratorium recognized, there are serious concerns about arbitrariness in the application of the death penalty, the disparate impact of the death penalty on people of color, and the alarming number of exonerations of individuals previously sentenced to death."

"These concerns justified halting the use of the death penalty during the review process. They equally support halting its use permanently," the Democrats added. "In addition to rescinding the November 27, 2020 amendments, we urge you to keep in place the current moratorium on federal executions, including withdrawing all pending death notices and authorizing no new death notices. The time for this action has come."

While President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level," his administration's Justice Department disappointed progressives by seeking to kill convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Tuesday's letter came on the same day that the state of Missouri killed Amber McLaughlin by lethal injection after Republican Gov. Mike Parson showed no mercy despite McLaughlin's lifelong history of trauma and mental health issues and the fact that the jury that convicted her of murdering and raping her ex-girlfriend Beverly Guenther in 2003 did not unanimously agree that she should be executed.

Reacting to the execution of the first openly transgender person in U.S. history, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement that "Amber McLaughlin was killed by state-sanctioned, inhumane capital punishment."

"My heart is with her family and loved ones," Bush continued. "I yearn for the day when our society acknowledges that state-sanctioned murder will never achieve justice. Gov. Parson has once again failed his mandate as governor to save lives. He has actively chosen violence over mercy and as a result, only three days into the new year, our state has killed yet another person."

"The death penalty is archaic, barbaric, and cold-hearted; it destroys families and communities, and its abolition is long overdue," she added. "There are more individuals who are set to be scheduled by the state of Missouri. We must not allow another life to be taken."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Brett Wilkins.

Democratic Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri sent a letter Tuesday urging their home state's Republican governor to prevent the execution of 49-year-old Amber McLaughlin and commute her sentence, pointing to the "horrific abuse and neglect" she has experienced over the course of her life.

McLaughlin was convicted in 2006 of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend, Beverly Guenther. After the jury failed to reach a decision on whether McLaughlin should face death or life in prison without parole, the trial judge exploited a legal loophole and unilaterally imposed a death sentence—a move that has drawn criticism from former Missouri judges.

If the January 3, 2023 execution goes ahead as planned, McLaughlin would be the first openly trans woman to be executed in the United States.

In their letter, Bush and Cleaver noted that McLaughlin "faced a traumatic childhood and mental health issues throughout her life."

"Court records indicate her adoptive father would frequently strike her with paddles and a nightstick, and even tase her. Alongside this horrendous abuse, she was also silently struggling with her identity, grappling with what we now understand is gender dysphoria," the lawmakers wrote. "The abuse, coupled with the persistent mental turmoil surrounding her identity, led to mild neurological brain damage and multiple suicide attempts both as a child and as an adult."

"Yet at the sentencing phase of Ms. McLaughlin's trial, the jury never heard crucial mental health evidence because her lawyers failed to present it. A psychiatrist was set to testify and provide expert insight into Ms. McLaughlin’s mental health at the time of the offense before her lawyers decided not to call him as a witness," Bush and Cleaver continued. "The lawyers had previously told the jury that this expert testimony would be a critical component in their decision, but the testimony was withheld and the jury deliberated without highly relevant information."

Bush made clear on social media that her effort to prevent McLaughlin's execution stems from her principled opposition to the death penalty, which she described as "cruel, barbaric, and inhumane."

Earlier this month, McLaughlin's lawyers filed a clemency petition urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to intervene and stop the planned execution, laying out in detail the abuse she faced as a child.

"McLaughlin developed in a womb poisoned by alcohol and she has borne the lifetime effects of fetal alcohol exposure," the petition reads. "This prenatal assault signaled the start of a path of trauma and neglect that would become the rule for McLaughlin’s life. McLaughlin faced an environment with parents ill-equipped to act as caregivers. Trauma, neglect, and abuse at the hands of her parents occurred from birth—until she was abandoned by her mother and placed into the foster care system. At one placement, McLaughlin had feces thrust into her face. The foster care placement was so bad, McLaughlin wanted to return to an abusive mother who neglected her."

The petition argues McLaughlin's execution should be called off for a number of "compelling reasons," including the fact that "executive clemency will not disturb a jury verdict imposing the death penalty because the jury did not vote to impose the death penalty."

"Second, McLaughlin consistently and genuinely expressed remorse for the death of Ms. Beverly Guenther. She remains tormented by memories of her death," the petition states. "Third, McLaughlin endured extensive childhood trauma at the hands of her biological, foster, and adoptive parents, abuse resulting in brain damage even before McLaughlin was born. Those with a moral duty to protect her wantonly inflicted this childhood abuse."

A spokesperson for Parson toldNBC News earlier this month that the governor is reviewing the clemency request.

The United States, which recently voted against a United Nations resolution condemning the death penalty, had the most botched executions in its history in 2022, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

"Seven of the 20 execution attempts were visibly problematic—an astonishing 35%—as a result of executioner incompetence, failures to follow protocols, or defects in the protocols themselves," the organization noted in its year-end report. "On July 28, 2022, executioners in Alabama took three hours to set an IV line before putting Joe James Jr. to death, the longest botched lethal injection execution in U.S. history."

Bush has urged President Joe Biden to grant clemency to all federal death row inmates as a step toward ending capital punishment nationwide. Biden, who says he is personally opposed to the death penalty, has yet to heed Bush's call.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Progressive Rep. Cori Bush on Wednesday led the introduction of a pair of bills aimed at revamping the United States' chronically underfunded transportation infrastructure and ensuring the nation's public transit systems are efficient, accessible, and climate-friendly.

"For too long, we have let rail and bus services, which are fundamental infrastructure for essential workers and our public transit-reliant residents, go dramatically underfunded," said Bush (D-Mo.), who introduced the legislation alongside nearly dozens of fellow House Democrats.

"I am proud to introduce both the Bus Rapid Transit Act and the Light Rail Transit Act, legislation that would grant funds to transform public transit service in St. Louis and across our country," Bush continued. "Funding new and existing programs and resources needed for safer and more efficient services will upgrade infrastructure, create jobs, reduce emissions, improve connectivity, and make getting around our communities more equitable. I cannot wait to see more buses and rail cars out in our streets."

According to a summary released by Bush's office, the Bus Rapid Transit Act--backed by nearly 60 House Democrats--would "create a grant program to fund efficient publicly-owned Bus Rapid Transit systems across the country to improve on and expand high-quality bus service."

Basav Sen, director of the Climate Policy Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, called the bill "visionary" and said it is what the United States needs to "advance a just transition in our transportation system, from fossil fueled automobile dependence to reliable, accessible public transit, powered by renewable energy, and providing good union jobs."

The accompanying Light Rail Transit Act would similarly bolster light rail transportation by establishing a grant program to provide public entities with funding to implement light rail projects as an alternative to automobile transportation, a major source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

"The grant program created by the bill would provide flexibility for agencies and communities applying for funds, while also maintaining strong design standards to ensure passengers have the resources and tools they need for seamless travel," Bush's office said. "The excellent labor and climate standards in the bill would ensure thousands of union jobs would be created while cars are taken off the road and new rail lines rely on renewable energy."

The light rail measure is backed by a number of climate and clean transit advocacy organizations, including Bus Riders United STL, the National Association of City Transportation Officials, the Center for Biological Diversity, Trailnet, Rise to Thrive, and Food & Water Watch.

"We applaud Representative Bush's leadership to bring equity and justice to our transportation system," said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch. "High-quality public transportation powered by clean renewable energy is a critical component to ensuring a just transition away from fossil fuels. This proposal would help eliminate air and climate pollution while creating affordable, convenient transportation options for all."

Citing research from TransitCenter, Alissa Walker of Curbed noted Wednesday that just "10% of Americans currently live within walking distance of transit that comes every 15 minutes or less."

"Building high-capacity trains with short headways would fix that, but not all U.S. cities have rail systems," Walker wrote. "U.S. cities of all sizes have bus systems, and transit access could increase immediately for millions of people by simply increasing how often those buses run, expanding their routes, and updating fleets."

In an interview with Curbed, Bush stressed that "people depend on the bus in order to operate in their everyday lives."

"They deserve excellent service," said the Missouri Democrat.

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia asserted over the weekend that former President Donald Trump's right-wing mob would have pulled off a successful coup had she and erstwhile Trump adviser Steve Bannon organized the January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol.

"I want to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, we would've been armed," Greene said Saturday night at the annual New York Young Republican Club dinner, during which the club's president instructed a throng of white nationalists and other far-right figures, including Donald Trump Jr., to prepare for "total war."

U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), who has called for the expulsion of Greene and other congressional Republicans accused of helping to plot the deadly insurrection, responded on social media by asking, "And then what?"

As Rolling Stone reported Sunday:

Greene's comments about that day seem to imply that she was not involved with the planning of Jan. 6. Two anonymous sources who organized the pro-Trump rally that preceded the Capitol attack have told Rolling Stone they recalled working with Greene on the rally. "I remember Marjorie Taylor Greene specifically," one organizer said. "I remember talking to probably close to a dozen other members at one point or another or their staffs." Greene's communications director told Rolling Stone in October of last year that the congresswoman was involved only in planning to object to the electoral certification on the House floor, not the rally.

But in testimony she gave under oath this year, when Greene was asked if she recalled hearing anyone mention there would be potential violence on Jan. 6 or if she talked to fellow House Republicans or the White House about Jan. 6 protests, she answered repeatedly, "I don't remember."

Greene is among the GOP lawmakers accused of giving reconnaissance tours of the Capitol to insurrectionists before the deadly attack. She has also been a staunch defender of the rioters jailed for violently attempting to prevent Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory, referring to them as "political prisoners."

More than 950 people have been arrested so far. That includes nearly 300 individuals who have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement as well as two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who were recently convicted of seditious conspiracy. In the immediate aftermath of Trump's failed coup, Greene and 146 other congressional Republicans voted to reverse Biden's decisive win.

"Very soon," historian Harvey Kaye warned Monday morning, House Democrats "hand over power to the likes of her."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Kenny Stancil.

As President Biden vows to codify abortion rights if Democrats can control Congress after the midterms, we speak with Democratic Congressmember Cori Bush, who faces reelection this November as a first-term Democrat in Missouri, where abortion was banned after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. She just wrapped up a “Roe the Vote: Reproductive Freedom Tour.” She discusses her experiences with abortion and much more in her new memoir, “The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America,” which traces her journey as a registered nurse who took part in Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson to running for the House of Representatives. “It was not easy” becoming a Black woman politician in a state and country where “true equity or equality” has not yet been achieved, says Bush.

This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.

As a federal court in her home state of Missouri heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine the fate of federal student debt cancellation, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush condemned GOP attorneys general for attempting to tank much-needed economic relief for tens of millions of borrowers.

"Efforts to undermine the Biden administration's student loan cancellation program are the latest example of Republicans and student loan servicers prioritizing profits over people and corporations over constituencies," Bush said in a statement as a group of GOP attorneys general—including Missouri AG Eric Schmitt—made their case for an injunction against student debt forgiveness.

"I urge MOHELA and these six Republican attorneys general to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers."

The Republican plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that the Biden administration's student debt cancellation plan would harm the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) by depriving it of "the ongoing revenue it earns from servicing" privately held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans.

In an effort to undercut such legal claims of harm, the Biden administration decided last month to scale back its debt forgiveness program to exclude many student borrowers with FFELP loans, denying relief to hundreds of thousands of people.

In her statement Wednesday, Bush noted that MOHELA "has remained silent" about the GOP lawsuit, "seemingly complicit in Republican efforts to prevent over 40 million borrowers from receiving the debt relief they have been promised."

"Actions to delay or prevent this economic program from moving forward will disproportionately harm Black and brown borrowers," Bush continued. "I urge MOHELA and these six Republican attorneys general to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers and halt all activities that interfere with the president's student loan debt cancellation plan."

"The American people overwhelmingly support student debt cancellation," the Missouri Democrat added, "and neither partisan nor corporate interests should prevent borrowers from receiving the life-changing relief they need and deserve."

In recent weeks, Republican officials and right-wing advocacy organizations have filed a number of lawsuits against the Biden administration's limited student debt cancellation program, which has yet to fully launch as the Department of Education builds out the application website—a costly undertaking that could also create additional barriers to relief for the most vulnerable borrowers.

At least one of the lawsuits against the debt relief program has already been struck down.

During Wednesday's hearing on the GOP attorneys general lawsuit, the George W. Bush-appointed federal judge appeared to voice skepticism that the Republican officials have standing to sue over the debt forgiveness program.

As Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project noted last week, "Finding a person, business, or government that will suffer a concrete and particularized injury as a result of the student debt forgiveness and that is willing to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit over it is not easy to do."

"The core legal argument against the student debt forgiveness is that the HEROES Act that the Biden administration relies upon does not actually give them the authority to do it," Bruenig explained. "But the procedural challenge is how exactly to get that legal argument in front of a judge without having your lawsuit dismissed for lack of standing.

"The fact that the Biden administration made two swift changes to the program in response to these lawsuits—including a very substantial change in cutting FFELP debtors out of relief—suggests that they are not very confident that the courts would side with them on the question of whether the HEROES Act actually allows the executive to do a student debt forgiveness of this sort," he added. "So they are trying to avoid litigating that question by changing the program to undercut theories of standing that get presented in the courts."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

As a federal court in her home state of Missouri heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine the fate of federal student debt cancellation, Democratic Rep. Cori Bush condemned GOP attorneys general for attempting to tank much-needed economic relief for tens of millions of borrowers.

"Efforts to undermine the Biden administration's student loan cancellation program are the latest example of Republicans and student loan servicers prioritizing profits over people and corporations over constituencies," Bush said in a statement as a group of GOP attorneys general—including Missouri AG Eric Schmitt—made their case for an injunction against student debt forgiveness.

"I urge MOHELA and these six Republican attorneys general to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers."

The Republican plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that the Biden administration's student debt cancellation plan would harm the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) by depriving it of "the ongoing revenue it earns from servicing" privately held Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans.

In an effort to undercut such legal claims of harm, the Biden administration decided last month to scale back its debt forgiveness program to exclude many student borrowers with FFELP loans, denying relief to hundreds of thousands of people.

In her statement Wednesday, Bush noted that MOHELA "has remained silent" about the GOP lawsuit, "seemingly complicit in Republican efforts to prevent over 40 million borrowers from receiving the debt relief they have been promised."

"Actions to delay or prevent this economic program from moving forward will disproportionately harm Black and brown borrowers," Bush continued. "I urge MOHELA and these six Republican attorneys general to stop putting profits over the interests of student loan borrowers and halt all activities that interfere with the president's student loan debt cancellation plan."

"The American people overwhelmingly support student debt cancellation," the Missouri Democrat added, "and neither partisan nor corporate interests should prevent borrowers from receiving the life-changing relief they need and deserve."

In recent weeks, Republican officials and right-wing advocacy organizations have filed a number of lawsuits against the Biden administration's limited student debt cancellation program, which has yet to fully launch as the Department of Education builds out the application website—a costly undertaking that could also create additional barriers to relief for the most vulnerable borrowers.

At least one of the lawsuits against the debt relief program has already been struck down.

During Wednesday's hearing on the GOP attorneys general lawsuit, the George W. Bush-appointed federal judge appeared to voice skepticism that the Republican officials have standing to sue over the debt forgiveness program.

As Matt Bruenig of the People's Policy Project noted last week, "Finding a person, business, or government that will suffer a concrete and particularized injury as a result of the student debt forgiveness and that is willing to be a plaintiff in a lawsuit over it is not easy to do."

"The core legal argument against the student debt forgiveness is that the HEROES Act that the Biden administration relies upon does not actually give them the authority to do it," Bruenig explained. "But the procedural challenge is how exactly to get that legal argument in front of a judge without having your lawsuit dismissed for lack of standing.

"The fact that the Biden administration made two swift changes to the program in response to these lawsuits—including a very substantial change in cutting FFELP debtors out of relief—suggests that they are not very confident that the courts would side with them on the question of whether the HEROES Act actually allows the executive to do a student debt forgiveness of this sort," he added. "So they are trying to avoid litigating that question by changing the program to undercut theories of standing that get presented in the courts."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

Rep. Cori Bush sailed to a comfortable reelection Tuesday night, sending a message that St. Louis Democrats are happy with their nonconformist representative. Her victory marks a win for progressive incumbents in an election year that has seen them embattled by outside spending and little supported — if not outright opposed — by the party establishment. But progressives faltered statewide: In the open race for retiring Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt’s seat, populist-styled Lucas Kunce lost the primary to Trudy Busch Valentine, an heir to the Anheuser-Busch fortune.

“They don’t like the fact that we don’t accept any corporate money. They don’t like that I speak the way that I speak because I came from this community and I sound like my community. They don’t love the fact that, instead of being what they call dignified, I show up as a protestor, that I’ve been on the frontlines forever,” Bush told the crowd at her election-night speech. “But our work isn’t based on what they like. Our work is based on what folks need.”

A former nurse and activist, Bush gained prominence locally as the Black Lives Matter movement took to the streets in 2014, after Ferguson police shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Since her election to Congress in 2020, Bush has pursued a confrontational style of politics that has rallied activists but has often put her at odds with party leadership, becoming one of the only congressional Democrats willing to say “defund the police,” and bucking party leadership in a row over decoupling an infrastructure bill from a wider progressive agenda.

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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Austin Ahlman.

A company linked to the father of a Missouri Democratic congressional contender is funding a political action committee attacking his opponent, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

YACHAD PAC, a new committee spending against Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., in her upcoming primary challenge, is run by Republican operative Paul Zemitzsch, local news outlet KSDK reported Wednesday. The group has received contributions from former Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay, whom Bush ousted in 2020; Clay’s sister; and his former director of communications. But the PAC’s recent FEC filings reveal that its primary funder is a company linked to the father of Bush’s opponent, state Sen. Steven Roberts Jr.

SCD Investments LLC, an investment group where Roberts’s father, Steven C. Roberts Sr., has held multiple titles, gave the PAC $16,000 in May. Roberts Sr. was previously listed in 2013 as the company’s member in Missouri public records and as its manager in a State of Florida filing. He was also the company’s registered agent until 2013. In the record of its donation to YACHAD PAC, the company lists an address shared by several Roberts family companies. Roberts Sr. did not respond to The Intercept’s request for comment.

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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Akela Lacy.

Rep. Cori Bush and Sen. Tina Smith introduced bicameral legislation Monday aimed at bolstering access to medication abortion as Republican-led states across the U.S. attempt to restrict distribution of the pills in their drive to ban abortion entirely.

If passed, the Protecting Access to Medication Abortion Act would codify into federal law the Food and Drug Administration's Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone, one of two medications commonly used in tandem to end a pregnancy. In December, the FDA permanently lifted its requirement that mifepristone be administered in person, allowing patients to receive the medication through the mail.

"Extremist Republicans are attacking and undermining access to a safe and effective medication."

The new bill would also "ensure those seeking abortion care can always access medication abortion through telehealth and certified pharmacies, including mail-order pharmacies," according to a summary released by Bush's office.

While the U.S. Postal Service has said it won't actively help GOP-led states block access to medication abortion and the Biden administration has warned pharmacists against denying people access to the pills, news reports indicate that some patients have been turned away when seeking mifepristone and misoprostol in states that have banned abortion following the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

"Abortion care is healthcare and, therefore, a human right—period," Bush (D-Mo.) said in a statement. "While extremist anti-abortion lawmakers in states like Missouri use the recent decision made by the stolen Supreme Court to attack a person's right to bodily autonomy, I remain committed to ensuring everyone in this country can have access to an abortion—no matter where they live."

The high court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization prompted a surge of interest in abortion care via telemedicine, but sweeping state-level abortion bans enacted in recent weeks have raised questions about the legality of medication abortion and whether pregnant people will still be able to access the pills.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 19 U.S. states "require the clinician providing a medication abortion to be physically present when the medication is administered, thereby prohibiting the use of telemedicine to prescribe medication for abortion."

As ABC News reported earlier this month, "Some legal scholars believe that state restrictions on medication abortion are subject to preemption challenges—meaning that federal oversight of the drug trumps state laws."

"Because the FDA has approved and regulates mifepristone," the outlet explained, "it may not be lawful for states to ban it."

Some of the laws currently in place in Republican-led states are highly draconian. The Tampa Bay Times notes that "a physician who mails the medication to a Louisiana resident could face up to 10 years in prison and a $75,000 fine."

"A new law in Tennessee makes distributing abortion pills through the mail a felony punishable by up to $50,000 in fines," the Florida paper observes. "And South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem recently called for a special legislative session to craft new laws barring the practice. A 2015 law prohibits Florida physicians from prescribing the medications without an in-person visit at least 24 hours in advance—effectively outlawing telehealth abortions."

Smith (D-Minn.), the only U.S. senator to have worked at Planned Parenthood, said Monday that "right now, extremist Republicans are attacking and undermining access to a safe and effective medication because they believe that the government—not women, not their healthcare providers—should control the healthcare that doctors provide women."

"We need to fight back against Republicans' ongoing efforts to chip away at women's reproductive freedoms," said Smith. "Our bill, which would safeguard access to medication abortion, is a critical step that would help protect what remaining access exists to reproductive healthcare."

In a one-pager outlining the new legislation—which faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Senate due to likely opposition from the GOP and at least one right-wing Democrat—Bush's office states that "extremist anti-abortion lawmakers are attacking access to medication abortion, and even going so far as to criminalize it."

"States have imposed restrictions that contradict scientific evidence," the document continues, "by requiring healthcare providers to be physically present when administering the drug to a patient, prohibiting medication abortion before 10 weeks gestation, or only allowing physicians—and not other healthcare professionals—to administer medication abortion."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Jake Johnson.

President Joe Biden's attempt to address the climate emergency through executive action received a potential boost this week from Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri and other Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Thanks to what The Intercept described as a "last-minute, behind-the-scenes effort by Bush," the fiscal year 2023 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies spending bill includes $100 million for the domestic manufacturing of clean energy. If approved, the new funding would give the president resources to accelerate the production of solar panels, heat pumps, and other green technologies.

As Republicans and corporate Democrats such as Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) continue to obstruct Biden's legislative agenda, progressive lawmakers have urged the White House to use its executive authority to the fullest possible extent to slash greenhouse gas pollution and deliver for working people. Earlier this month, Biden invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA), which enables the president to reorient U.S. manufacturing policy, to strengthen the domestic production of clean energy.

Senators from both major parties, including Manchin and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), "have also called on Biden to use the DPA to support green technology manufacturing," The Intercept reported Wednesday, "making passage into law, once the appropriations bill passes the House and is amended in the Senate, more likely."

"The new funding would strengthen the effectiveness of Biden's action and bolster precedent for using executive authority to fight the climate crisis," the news outlet noted. "The text of the provision gives Biden wide latitude in deciding how exactly to use the funds in support of those technologies, as is standard for policy created through the DPA."

"I am thrilled at the inclusion of $100 million in funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy through the Defense Production Act," Bush said Wednesday in a statement. "The DPA is one of the most important tools we have to take on high gas prices and the climate crisis at the same time."

"While fossil fuel CEOs continue to rake in outrageous profits and Russia's violent war on Ukraine continues, predominantly Black and brown communities like mine in St. Louis have been forced to the brink financially," the Missouri Democrat continued. "To protect all of our communities, particularly those with the greatest need, we must take robust measures to transition to renewable energy and lower prices as quickly as possible. This funding helps us achieve that."

The Sunrise Movement, meanwhile, tweeted: "This is a major win for communities demanding an end to fossil fuels. But we need to do more. We can fight back against the climate crisis only if President Biden takes even more executive action to protect our communities and the planet."

In a statement, the group's executive director Varshini Prakash said that "this moment calls for nothing less than a WWII-scale mobilization to justly transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030."

Funding for Biden's clean energy DPA order may not have materialized without Bush's leadership, as The Intercept reported:

While House leadership and the White House have been broadly supportive of the provision, Biden's latest invocation of the DPA left members of the House Appropriations Committee with little time to account for the new policy in ongoing negotiations. After individual Appropriations subcommittees receive their top-line figures, which in this case roughly coincided with Biden's announcement at the beginning of June, it is difficult to secure funding for new priorities. By coordinating discussions among the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's [D-Calif.] office, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Bush—a first-term representative—exerted a rare amount of influence over a process that is usually guided by senior members of the caucus.

In a press release marking the subcommittee's release of the draft bill, Kaptur touted the inclusion of the DPA funding, indicating that Bush's efforts have significant buy-in from key players in the appropriations process. "From unleashing energy innovation and utilizing the Defense Production Act to boost domestic manufacturing, to responsibly managing water resources and tackling the crisis of climate change—this Energy and Water bill delivers for America's needs in the 21st century," Kaptur said.

"This is awesome," Jamie Henn, co-founder of 350.org and director of Fossil Free Media, said of Bush securing $100 million for green energy. "Let's get more!"

Bush, for her part, said that this "vital funding is in line with" the Energy Security and Independence Act that she introduced in April alongside Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

"Advancing it through a committee markup," the progressive lawmaker pointed out, "is a necessary step in our efforts to foster communities that are truly energy secure."

This content originally appeared on Common Dreams - Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community and was authored by Kenny Stancil.

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Austin Ahlman.

This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by Akela Lacy.