Reminder to vote in your local elections! (USA)
March is primary and local election season. Make a difference in your area by voting.
I recommend looking at a few voters guides because the provided material can be overwhelming.
If you do get overwhelmed, complete what you can. Anything worth doing is worth doing half-assed because perfect is the enemy of done. If you vote on literally one issue that is better than none. You got this.
As someone who is some kind of progressive socialist, here's some ways I get started:
Ballotpedia.org and Vote411.org for basic information and often a sample of each candidates' stances. A neutral information source. There are other sources that tend to be state-specific
Search for "progressive voters guide primaries 2024"
Search for "DSA voters guide" [etc. same as above]. I don't always agree with their recommendations, but I find it a helpful source anyway
Local papers that you find trustworthy, such as Knock-LA for southern California. Some will be informational only which can be good.
And finally something I started doing more recently:
Search for right wing/Republican/conservative voters guides to figure out what to vote against. One year I found a local landlords association recommendation in a conservative area and wow it was a gold mine of things not to support.
It's not always true that you should vote against it of course, but if you can find one with reasons stated, they'll show which will, for example, support a "tough on crime" approach to issues.
They will say things like "candidates who will defend freedom, stand for free enterprise, or have a conservative worldview, based on their ability to stand firm against efforts to increase taxes, size of government, weaken law and order, and crush individual freedom."
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Phenomenal choice
As a former teacher, MN Governor Walz has:
Signed legislation protecting abortion rights
Signed an executive order protecting gender-affirming care
Banned conversion therapy
Restored voting rights to Minnesotans who are on parole, probation or community release due to a felony
Signed voting rights legislation
Signed legislation legalizing recreational cannabis
Signed legislation guaranteeing free school lunches to students
Expanded workers rights and is supported by unions
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It was a really, really good political news day today in the US (4/4/23)
For anyone who hasn't heard, not only did Trump get arrested, but also:
-We found out that the legal case against him in this prosecution (stormy daniels hush money case) is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than people had speculated. Like, wow do they have receipts.
-In fact, the evidence was so entirely there that the new question on prime time news (well, at least on msnbc lol) is "Hey, why didn't the federal courts prosecute him for this already???)
-Trump FAILED UTTERLY in his attempts to rally mass protests and demands for "death and destruction" if he was arrested. There was no violence at the arrest at all, and as for Trump supporters? They failed to show up in any kind of numbers--reportedly only about a hundred people were protesting the arrest
-We (aka Judge Janet Protasiewicz) WON what is widely considered to be the most consequential election of 2023, a Wisconsin state supreme court election that handed control of the state supreme court to the left
-Because of that election win, it is now extremely likely that abortion will be legal in Wisconsin, and that Wisconsin won't be able to throw out electors in the 2024 presidential election
-ALSO bc of this, Wisconsin, the most gerrymandered state in the country, will probably get nonpartisan, accurate maps, which COULD FLIP THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES in 2024
-In Chicago, Brandon Johnson, union organizer and former teacher, won the election for mayor, in a decisive win progressives, esp for meaningful criminal justice reform and investment in mental health (whereas the other guy was campaigning on hiring hundreds of new cops and being super tough on crime)
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Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans.
Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana.
“Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.”
That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.
This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.
What has he done, specifically?
Abortion rights
In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.
The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.
Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation
In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.
"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."
Paid family, medical and sick leave
In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.
Legalization of recreational marijuana
In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.
Restoration of voting rights for former felons
In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.
Universal school meals
Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.
Do you know what makes this even better?
Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.
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This is far from surprising, Republicans love to talk a lot about how they care about life but they really don't. True care would be establishing a national childcare system, true care would be preventing school shootings, true care would be eradicating student lunch debt! But it was never about care but rather control, they seek to control women's bodies and use children as a cudgel like they do with other groups. Do not be deluded, Republicans will gladly strip women of their rights if we do not put up a united fight, they will strip us of all our rights if we do not vote them out of office. Vote blue and vote Democrat, it's the only feasible way short of violent tactics to prevent the loss of the rights we hold dear.
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