Clarifying the Intricacies of Policy and Politics

[kdevasier]

Tell Congress to support the UNFPA Funding Act. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) works diligently to bring reproductive health services to people who are most in need, such as those in crisis and disaster settings like Ukraine and Myanmar. The Trump administration has cruelly ended all US support to UNFPA, withdrawing $377 million in grants for specific projects, many of them life-saving.

[whosurisold]

Timing is everything

Americans get shitz on again by maggaSS gop rapelicans trumporrhea

AGAIN!

[kdevasier]

Democrats are Trying to Protect the Right to Contraception

Due to America’s patriarchal history, women have not always had easy access to birth control. In fact, due to the Comstock Act of 1873, it was actually illegal to mail contraceptives in the United States for much of the 20th century. Through medical advocacy and a series of legal battles, however, Americans were eventually allowed to get access to contraception, with the FDA finally approving the first contraceptive pill in 1960. But with Republicans holding every lever of power on the federal level, people’s access to birth control is once again under threat.

It’s no secret that Republicans are against contraception. The GOP is filled with social conservatives who do not like the idea of women having autonomy over their own bodies. Since Trump and his subservient Republican cohorts came to power after the 2024 election, here’s what they done to limit access to birth control:

Trump signed an executive order that dismantled the Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, which had been established to ensure a whole-of-government response to the crisis of Roe v. Wade being overturned.    

The Trump administration is redirecting Title X away from expanding access to contraception and reproductive health care in favor of promoting childbearing.

Trump’s State Department has confirmed plans to destroy $9.7 million worth of taxpayer-funded contraceptives meant for women in low-income countries. 

The Trump administration scrubbed CDC guidance on birth control from government websites and froze $65 million in funding to family planning clinics that provide free or low-cost contraception.

Anyone who has paid attention in the past few decades knew these attacks against reproductive health care were coming once Republicans took power. Democrats are trying to fight back, however, with the Right to Contraception Act, which if passed, would:

Create a federal right for people to obtain contraceptives 

Establish a right for health care providers to provide contraceptives and information related to contraception 

Allow the Department of Justice, as well as providers and individuals harmed by restrictions on contraception access made unlawful under the legislation, to go to court to enforce these rights

Protect access to a range of contraceptive methods, devices, and medications used to prevent pregnancy, including but not limited to oral contraceptives, emergency contraceptives, and intrauterine devices (IUDs)

While Republicans have power, the likelihood of the Right for Contraception Act being implemented into law is nil. But we can still urge congressional Democrats to make the right to birth control a priority if they take back the House and/or Senate after the 2026 elections. 

Click this link to tell your member of Congress to co-sponsor the Right to Contraception Act: https://act.populationconnectionaction.org/a/right-to-contraception-act-c4-2025?_ga=2.125381770.1469497552.1784399779-1645829630.1784399779

[johnnysilverhandssuitcasenuke]

[liberalsarecool]

Attn Democrats: more of this energy.

[weetweetie]

Without Supreme Court reform, this is dead on arrival.

[kdevasier]

Trump’s Labor Secretary Resigned in Disgrace

Even Trump’s fans can admit he’s egotistical and likes his ass kissed. Just look at one of his cabinet meetings: 

When you have a leader who hires based on sycophancy rather than qualification, you get mediocre. That’s why it’s no surprise that the Secretary of the Labor Department, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has resigned in disgrace due to allegations of having an affair with a subordinate, drinking alcohol on the job, and using taxpayer-funded travel to visit with friends and family members. 

Chavez-DeRemer was endorsed by the Teamsters, one of North America’s largest unions. But that should shock nobody considering the Teamsters’ historical Republican leanings. In fact, the Teamsters had backed Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984, as well George H.W. Bush in 1988. And their current president–Sean O’Brian–SPOKE at the Republican National Convention in 2024, saying Trump had “proven to be one tough SOB.” So it’s no surprise that the Teamsters would shoot themselves in the foot and support a MAGA lackey like Chavez-ReRemer. 

Before she left, here are just a few of the bad things Chavez-DeRemer did as Labor Secretary:

Under her leadership (and also because of DOGE cuts), the agency has lost over 3,200 employees, roughly 22% of its total workforce.

Cancelled nearly $240 million in grants from the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), which works to raise the labor standards in foreign countries to prevent poverty wages or slave labor from undercutting American workers. 

Paused enforcement of a Biden rule that lowered the legal amount of exposure to respirable silica dust that was allowed in coal mines and metal/nonmetal plants. 

Reduced the number of concluded compliance actions against wage and hour violations from an average of 21,000 under Biden to 17,000, as well as reduced the number of compliance actions against the worst performers (“low wage, high violation industries”) from an average of 842 under Biden to 649. 

[kdevasier]

Trump’s Cuts to U.S. Foreign Aid Has Led to the Deaths of Hundreds of Thousands of People  

America spends about 1% of its annual budget on foreign aid, but for Trump, that is unacceptable. He would rather do what every Republican has done in recent memory: 1.) Increase spending for America’s already bloated military, and 2.) Give billionaires like Jeff Bezos another tax cut. But Trump’s decision doesn’t just hurt Americans–it has also caused the misery and death of thousands of people worldwide through cuts to U.S. foreign aid. 

Trump has long demonstrated his lack of empathy, so him not wanting to help other people is not surprising. Since returning to power, his administration has cut funding in:

President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which is an HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention program launched by George W. Bush in 2003.   

Malaria medicine and insecticide-treated bed nets for African countries.

Medical treatment for tuberculosis.   

Providing school lunches to children in Haiti. 

Food program in Haiti, the most impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere. 

Distributing HIV medication across sub-Saharan Africa.

Providing foreign aid to developing countries is not only the right thing to do, but it also serves America’s interest. Foreign aid helps alleviate poverty in other countries, thus stabilizing local economies and making governing easier. When regions are impoverished, they can become hotbeds for crime and terrorism, which can impact other parts of the globe through increased globalization. Not to mention that foreign aid can stop the spread of diseases, since viruses know no borders. 

Donald Trump and his Republican co-cospirators are working to enrich themselves and screw over anyone else. Not only are their policies cruel, they’re also just harmful to America’s national interest.   

[kdevasier]

Meet Markwayne Mullin: Trump’s New Pick to Lead the Dept. of Homeland Security

After a two-day grilling in a congressional hearing, Donald Trump has finally decided to fire Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem is notorious for her defense of the ICE killings in Minneapolis, her downgrading of FEMA and their capacity to handle natural disasters, and an over $200 million ad campaign (paid for by tax-payers) that featured herself riding a horse at Mount Rushmore. While much of America is breathing a sigh of relief, Trump quickly announced her replacement: the right-wing Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma.   

Here are just a few crazy things about Mullin:

He is a science-denier who has repeatedly denied the science around climate change. 

He is a xenophobe who has defended ICE’s brutal actions against immigrants.   

He is an election-denier who has peddled Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was fraudulent. 

He has defended Trump’s blanket pardon of the insurrectionists of the violent January 6th attack. 

Mullin has no background in law enforcement or crisis management, and his only real experience outside of Congress is inheriting his daddy’s plumbing business. The ONLY reason Trump is nominating him is because he is loyal to Trump, which is the exact reason he nominated everyone else in his administration. 

Sign the petition to tell Congress to vote “No” on Markewayne Mullin’s confirmation for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security:

https://civicshout.com/p/block-trump-s-election-denier-pick-to-lead-dhs?ref=m0BaVDc 

[aci25]

We are told that Iran is run by religious fanatic lunatics…. Let’s see where the USA is at 👇🏽

[whosurisold]

hypocrisy of republicans is never ending

[robertreich]

Why?

[kdevasier]

Tell Congress: No Unconstitutional War with Iran

The president’s reckless decision to bomb Iran without bothering to ask for congressional approval is a clear constitutional violation that

[robertreich]

Cartoon by Mike Luckovich.

[progressivepower]

PS MAGA, Marx & Engels were political philosophers, learn how to read beyond 4th grade literature. http://news.usaunify.org/TQyB2v

[billydean63]

To warrant this level of distraction PEDOFUHRER MUST BE ON EVERY PAGE OF THE EPSTEIN FILES.

[hetrosjistin]

I've heard people say "oh you only care now that they killed a white man!" and while I hear you, I need you to understand.

A lot of the people posting this shit ALREADY CARED.

The point is trying to get the ASSHOLES who didn't care to know about it so they'll realize they're not safe! That their privilege will not protect them from the fascists.

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

[kdevasier]

Trump Just Withdrew the U.S. from 31 United Nations Entities

Trump decided to start 2026 by determining that issues like a greener environment, democracy preservation, and women’s rights were too “woke” and that America should have no part in them. So he decided to take the U.S. out of 31 UN entities that focus on those and a slew of other issues. 

Here is the list of the agencies America is leaving:

Department of Economic and Social Affairs 

UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – Economic Commission for Africa 

ECOSOC – Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean 

ECOSOC – Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 

ECOSOC – Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia 

International Law Commission 

International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

International Trade Centre

Office of the Special Adviser on Africa

Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict

Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict

Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children

Peacebuilding Commission

Peacebuilding Fund

Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

UN Alliance of Civilizations

UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries

UN Conference on Trade and Development

UN Democracy Fund

UN Energy

UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

UN Human Settlements Programme

UN Institute for Training and Research

UN Oceans

UN Population Fund

UN Register of Conventional Arms

UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination

UN System Staff College

UN Water

UN University.

America is becoming more and more isolated in the world, thanks to the guy who use to host a reality TV show and who thinks windmills cause cancer.

[robertreich]

We will build an America whose strength comes not from its bombs and bullets but from its moral authority. An America whose greatness comes not from the value of its stock market or the wealth of its billionaires but from laws and values (and an economy) that serve us all. My friends, we will win and we will rebuild. We have no choice.