December, 19 2017, 01:30pm EDT
![Americans for Tax Fairness](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012609/origin.jpg)
While Republicans Try to Ram Their Unpopular Tax Plan Through Congress, Americans Continue to Voice Their Objection...
Over 930,000 calls have been made to house and senate members in opposition to the #goptaxscam.
WASHINGTON
Concerned constituents opposed to the Republican tax plan have now placed more than 930,000 phone calls to Congress using tools and 1-800 numbers set up by a wide coalition of groups opposed to the plan. Of course, many more voters have called their members of Congress directly, and the 930,000 calls represent only those that we can track. Activists and media outlets from across the country continue to report full voicemail boxes and busy signals at Congressional offices.
Poll after poll shows how unpopular this GOP tax scam is, and it's no wonder that so many voters are urging them to reject giant tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations at the expense of middle-class taxpayers and cuts to Medicare.
The groups whose tools generated the above combined count include:
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Federation of Teachers
Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
Citizens for Tax Justice
Communication Workers of America
CREDO Action
Climate Hawks Vote
Daily Kos
Economic Policy Institute Policy Center
Healthcare for America Now
Healthcare for American Now Education Fund
Indivisible
League of Conservation Voters
Main Street Alliance
MomsRising
MoveOn.org
National Education Association
New Jersey Citizen Action
Not One Penny
Organizing for Action
Our Revolution
Oxfam America
Patriotic Millionaires
People's Action
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Save My Care
Stand Up America
Service Employees International Union
Tax Action Center
Tax March
32BJ SEIU
5 Calls Civic Action
Below are statements from some of the groups involved in this grassroots effort:
"The wealthiest 1% and big corporations spent millions lobbying for this bill so that they can get billions of dollars in tax cuts. But millions of everyday Americans know what's at stake for them and their family, and they are speaking loudly and purposefully." --Frank Clemente, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
"Thousands of Americans have screamed at the top of their lungs that they don't want a tax bill that raises their taxes to pay for tax cuts for millionaires, billionaires, and wealthy corporations. This bill is an affront to our working families--and we will not stop until every single member hears our voices." --Nicole Gill, Executive Director, Tax March
"This bill rewards the Exxon and Koch brothers with trillions of our dollars for destroying our climate. We'll hold accountable Republicans, especially those in the Climate Solutions Caucus who voted for the bill." --RL Miller, President, Climate Hawks Vote
"This bill is so much more than just tax cuts. It's a radically dangerous exercise in social engineering. It's widely recognized by everyone but congressional Republicans and President Trump as a deeply irresponsible plan that will do everything from preventing states and local government from levying taxes to try to make up for what they're losing from the federal government, to cutting health care and education and public transportation and the safety net. Every Republican who votes for this is hitching their wagon to Trump." --Joan McCarter, Senior Political Writer, Daily Kos
"Senate Republicans just voted to hand tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires and corporations on the backs of working families. They claim that their tax plan will boost wages for American workers. But real-world evidence suggests otherwise. Cutting corporations' taxes is not a recipe for increasing workers' wages. It's a recipe for exacerbating income and wealth inequality." --Josh Bivens, Director of Policy, Economic Policy Institute Policy Center
"People all across this country are outraged by this Tax Scam that delivers huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations and would turn the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge into an industrial oil field. Congress should reject this awful legislation." --Alex Taurel, Deputy Legislative Director, League of Conservation Voters
"The claim that this tax bill helps small business is an act in the GOP's smoke and mirror show to pass an extremely bad bill. Phones on Capitol Hill have been ringing off the hook with thousands of small business owners calling to say they are seriously concerned about this tax bill. " --Amanda Ballantyne, National Director, Main Street Alliance
"The GOP tax plan would punish the middle class, devastate essential programs that boost our health care, nutrition and education, and undermine our economy. The moms of America see right through this trickery and are calling in by the thousands to tell their members of Congress to vote no!" --Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising
"Republicans in Congress are railroading a tax bill that would raise taxes on half of all taxpayers, just to give huge tax breaks to giant corporations and the wealthiest Americans. The public is strongly opposed to this outrageous attempt to rob poor and middle-class families to line the pockets of big corporations and billionaires. MoveOn members have been on fire organizing against this bill--and our members are absolutely clear that we will hold Republicans in Congress accountable if they jam this disaster through." --Anna Galland, Executive Director, MoveOn.org Civic Action
"We saw the power of flooding lawmakers' phone lines during the health care fight - when thousands upon thousands of your constituents are pleading with you not to pass legislation that will harm their families, it makes a difference. Let's hope Congress listens once again." --Jesse Lehrich, Communications Director, Organizing for Action
"Tens of thousands of Oxfam supporters have sent letters and made calls to Congress demanding that they reject this terrible tax bill. This vote is a real test of who our elected officials side with." --Ben Grossman-Cohen, Global Campaign Manager, Oxfam America
"The GOP tax bill is morally bankrupt, intellectually corrupt, and morally indefensible. It will be a disaster for millions of hardworking American families, devastating both their bank accounts and their health, all in the name of tax cuts for the wealthy. The American people have seen this bill for the catastrophe that it is, and are letting their elected officials know that it is unacceptable." --Morris Pearl, Chair of the Board, Patriotic Millionaires
"The public justifications for this horrible bill are transparently false. It will not improve the economy, it will not create jobs, it will not help the middle class. What the bill will do is benefit the donor class, which is the one and only reason Republicans are trying to ram it through. But, the power of We the People can still keep this unconscionable bill from being passed." --Susan Harley, DeputyDirector, Public Citizen's Congress Watch division
"The President of the United States is under federal investigation for conspiring with the Russian government. This is not a moment to let him rewrite our tax code. Congress should be laser-focused on protecting our democracy and our national security." --Sean Eldridge, Founder and President, Stand Up America
"This tax plan is a robbery of America's working families in broad daylight. Far from creating jobs, the bill threatens to destabilize the economy, hurt small businesses and reward corporations for outsourcing and automating American jobs. Our members are mobilizing against this disaster of a tax scam and will continue to hold Congress accountable for this assault on working families everywhere." --Hector Figueroa, President, 32BJ SEIU
"It's clear to Americans that this tax plan is a hand out to the donor class and doesn't serve the interest of most of its citizens in the long term. Regardless of the outcome, lawmakers should know that we're watching how they vote and we have one message: See you in 2018." --Nick O'Neill, Co-Founder, 5 Calls Civic Action
Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) is a diverse campaign of more than 420 national, state and local endorsing organizations united in support of a fair tax system that works for all Americans. It has come together based on the belief that the country needs comprehensive, progressive tax reform that results in greater revenue to meet our growing needs. This requires big corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, not to live by their own set of rules.
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Israeli Officials Hiding Data About Forced Starvation of Gaza Prisoners: Report
Former detainees say the Israel Prison Service "has significantly reduced their food rations, to the point of starvation, causing them to shed dozens of kilograms."
Jun 27, 2024
Israeli prison officials are concealing information about reductions in food rations for Palestinians held in the Gaza Strip, where detainees—who have also reported horrific abuse including alleged rape and deadly torture—have been deliberately driven "to the point of starvation," according to a report published Thursday.
Security sources
told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) is intentionally cutting Palestinian prisoners' caloric intake, a move confirmed by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called the policy a "deterrent."
"The Palestinian detainees will receive the minimum rights and the minimum food, and I will ensure that this policy is implemented," Ben-Gvir, who leads the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party,
said Thursday in response to a query from Israel's Supreme Court.
"There is no starvation, but my policy does call for reducing conditions, including food and calories," Ben-Gvir added.
"The IPS has been deploying a policy of starvation towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees."
However, dozens of Palestinians held by Israel, including so-called security prisoners and detainees unaffiliated with Hamas, have testified that the IPS "has significantly reduced their food rations, to the point of starvation, causing them to shed dozens of kilograms."
One unidentified security source told Haaretz: "Since the start of the war, there's been a deliberate policy of indiscriminate reduction of food. To put it mildly, this policy has raised factual questions about the figures provided by the prison service, to such an extent that it is impossible to get the full picture and to determine whether what is going on is legal at all."
"This is not just a legal question, it can cause security issues with serious implications," the source added.
According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which, along with the Israeli human rights group Gisha, filed a petition in the High Court of Justice earlier this year:
Since October 7, 2023, the IPS has been deploying a policy of starvation towards Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Recently released prisoners testified that they suffered from constant and extreme hunger and very poor quality of food. Among the testimonies presented in the petition were those of a diabetic prisoner who ate toothpaste to raise blood sugar, and of prisoners who lost tens of kilograms in weight in recent months.
The petition argued that the food reduction policy amounts to starvation and torture, and contravenes Israeli and international law. It violates the constitutional right of security prisoners to dignity and health, constitutes a policy of collective punishment, and violates the IPS' obligation to provide detainees in its custody with appropriate prison conditions.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the High Court of Justice slammed the reduction of Palestinian prisoners' food rations as "unacceptable."
Appalling conditions have been widely reported in Israeli military lockups since the start of Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attacks that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead—at least some of whom were killed by so-called "friendly fire"—and over 240 others kidnapped on October 7.
According to Israeli whistleblowers who worked at the notorious Sde Teiman prison camp in the Negev Desert, Palestinian detainees there are tortured not to "gather intelligence," but "out of revenge" for October 7.
Often referred to as "Israel's Abu Ghraib"—the infamous U.S. military prison in Iraq where dozens of detainees died, some of them tortured to death—Sde Teiman has been described by former detainees as hell on Earth. Palestinians held there and at other detention sites described being electrocuted, mauled and even raped by dogs, and starved, among other abuses.
One Sde Teiman physician said that all patients at the camp's field hospital are handcuffed by all four limbs, 24 hours a day, regardless of how dangerous they are deemed. The doctor said that more than half of his patients at the camp have suffered cuffing injuries, including some that have required "repeated surgical interventions."
"Two prisoners had their legs amputated due to handcuff injuries, which unfortunately is a routine event," he toldHaaretz.
Last month, Haaretzrevealed that 27 detainees have died in custody at the Sde Teiman and Anatot camps or during interrogation by Israeli forces since October 7. While some were Hamas or other militants captured or wounded while fighting IDF troops, others were civilians, including some with preexisting health conditions like the diabetic laborer who was not suspected of any offense when he was arrested and sent to his death at Anatot.
One former Sde Teiman detainee also claimed that he personally witnessed Israeli troops execute five prisoners in separate incidents.
Photos and videos of Israeli troops abusing Palestinians—both alive and dead—have been published by perpetrators on social media. According to testimonies collected by the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, Israeli officers brought Israeli civilians into detention centers and allowed them to witness Palestinian prisoners being tortured.
Former detainees said groups of 10-20 Israeli civilians were allowed to record torture sessions in which the men, stripped nearly naked, were beaten with metal batons, electrocuted, and had hot water poured over their heads. The ex-prisoners said some of the Israelis laughed while filming their torture.
The new Haaretz report comes as the International Court of Justice is weighing whether Israel is committing genocide, in part by blocking food aid from reaching starving Gazans, dozens of whom have died of malnutrition.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is also seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity including forced starvation of Gazans and extermination. Khan is also pursuing warrants to arrest three Hamas leaders.
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Environmental, climate, and public health advocates on Thursday cheered what one green group called a "historic win" as a Big Oil industry group dropped a California ballot measure challenging a law banning oil drilling near homes, schools, and businesses.
The Sacramento Beereported that the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA) will withdraw its ballot measure seeking to overturn the state's ban on drilling for oil within 3,200 feet of residential, educational, and commercial buildings.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill—introduced by then-state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-80)—in September 2022.
"We just won our David vs. Goliath battle," the Protect California Communities campaign said on social media. "Big Oil officially withdrew their deceitful initiative!"
"Our law is safe and will finally take effect," the group added. "We just protected California neighborhoods from toxic oil drilling!"
CIPA chairman Jonathan Gregory issued a salty statement following the ballot measure's withdrawal.
"Supporters of the energy shutdown can make unfounded claims in the press and in paid advertisements, but they can't make those claims in court without evidence," he said, according to the Bee. "That's why we are pivoting from the referendum to a legal strategy."
However, Newsom said CIPA's move "ends harmful drilling in our communities and enforces common-sense pollution controls."
"Big Oil saw what they were up against—and they folded, again," the governor said on Thursday. "No parent in their right mind would vote to allow drilling next to daycares and playgrounds. This is a huge win for all Californians, especially the two million living within a half-mile of these operations."
Food & Water Watch California director Chirag Bhakta said in a statement that "while this is a moment to celebrate the power of people coming together to take on Big Oil, we must continue to get toxic oil drilling out of neighborhoods, as well as all fossil fuel infrastructure, which also poses a huge risk to public health and causes pollution to our water and air."
Bhakta added that Newsom must now "immediately shut down the dangerous Aliso Canyon gas storage facility which was the site of the biggest methane blowout in U.S. history almost a decade ago and is an ongoing threat to nearby residents."
Communities for a Better Environment Darryl Molina Sarmiento said that "Big Oil spent tens of millions of dollars trying to fool voters, using the profits made at the expense of community health, but it was no match for the groundswell of people power and community support we were able to unite all across California."
Food & Water Watch's Bhakta said that public opposition to repealing the law "proves once again that Californians do not want dangerous and polluting oil rigs in their backyards, near where their children go to school and play or near hospitals."
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Nalleli Cobo is one of those people. The 22-year-old activist—who helped found the grassroots group People Not Pozos (Spanish for wells)—is recovering from illness related to growing up alonside an oil well and has been tirelessly fighting against Big Oil's plans to drill near residential communities.
"When I was about 11, I was diagnosed with asthma. By the time I turned 19, we had shut down the drilling in our South L.A. neighborhood, but not before I was diagnosed with stage 2 reproductive cancer," Cobo explained. "I lost my ability to bear children as a result. After three surgeries, eight minor procedures, three rounds of chemotherapy, and six weeks of radiation, I was cancer-free as of two years ago, at 20."
"My experience, like that of others who live in neighborhoods polluted by oil drilling, is a constant reminder that those in power do not value our health and wellbeing," she added. "It's a signal that some communities are expendable, that our lives don't matter as much as the fossil fuel industry's profits."
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Illegal coordination between oil companies and OPEC may have cost U.S. families thousands of dollars in higher costs for gas and other necessities.
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Announcing a probe into potential efforts by fossil fuel companies to illegally coordinate with international oil producers in order to fix prices, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on Wednesday wrote to 18 oil giants demanding that they turn over communications with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, commonly known as OPEC.
Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote to companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, weeks after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused the former CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources Company of attempting to collude with OPEC.
Text messages, WhatsApp communications, and records from in-person meetings showed that Scott Sheffield tried to collude with representatives of OPEC countries to manipulate oil and gas production worldwide and raise oil and gas prices.
The commission made its discovery while reviewing a plan by ExxonMobil to acquire Pioneer in a $64.5 billion deal.
"The FTC's findings indicate that Sheffield and Pioneer may not have been the only individual or entity engaging in such collusive activities," wrote Whitehouse to the 18 oil giants, citing numerous examples.
"We're talking $500-1000 dollars of extra cost per year to Americans through direct and indirect effects of this conspiracy."
"In view of the findings against Sheffield, I seek to understand whether other oil producers operating in the United States may also have been coordinating with OPEC and OPEC+ representatives concerning oil production output, crude oil prices, and the relationship between the production and pricing of oil products," said Whitehouse.
Whitehouse called on the companies to provide communications between and among companies' corporate and affiliate officers and members of the OPEC Secretariat and OPEC+ concerning oil production output, crude oil prices, and the relationship between the production and pricing of oil products, dating from January 1, 2020 through the present.
The companies have until July 12 to provide the materials, the senator said.
Whitehouse noted that efforts by Sheffield and, potentially, other oil executives, to illegally coordinate oil production and prices with OPEC, may have had major, tangible effects on American families. He cited an analysis by the American Economic Liberties Project which found that "crude oil price-fixing schemes may have caused over 25% of the increase in inflation that hurt so many American families throughout 2021 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic."
"Since the U.S. consumes 7 billion barrels of oil annually, the amount saved by shale oil drillers during their price war with OPEC was $140 billion to $210 billion a year," wrote Matt Stoller, the group's research director.
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Whitehouse wrote in his letter to the oil company that he was "concerned about the possibility that oil and gas companies could be engaging in collusive, anti-competitive activities with OPEC+ that would raise crude oil prices, resulting in higher costs not only for American families, but also for the U.S. government when it acquires crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."
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