There isn't a bigger anti-establishment, fuck-the-man pursuit than skateboarding. Yet even that industry has succumbed to private equity, destroying leading brands and the relationships that kept the scene thriving, cool, and local. I look at a new report on this cursed financialization:
NYS Tenant Bloc out with a statement:
“Tenants are the majority in New York. Zohran Mamdani understands that and he gave us something to vote for... Tonight’s results send a clear message to landlord-backed politicians like Andrew Cuomo: your time is over."
Zohran’s victory is an earthquake. The left everywhere must dedicate itself to an insurgency against Dem incumbents. The Dem establishment has lost credibility w/ its base in the face of fascist threat. The base is looking leftward for new leadership. We are the opposition party.
"GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE"
The Trump Democrats bsky.app/profile/pale...
Chris Bergquist worked in HUD’s Fair Housing office.
One of his first cases: a disabled woman who couldn’t shower because her landlord refused to make her unit wheelchair accessible. His team forced compliance.
Now he’s been fired in Trump’s purge—as Fair Housing staff face 76.5% cuts nationwide.
Wars, be they military or trade, benefit a tiny handful of elites and cost everyone else (on all sides alike) terribly.
We need spotlights on those elite benefits and those collective costs, put constantly side by side. The divides are not nation-state based but class based.
No tax on tips as he is devised it a huge new tax break for rich people who will convert income to tips. No tax on Social Security? Drains the Social Security trust fund.
interested to see what happens when the social security checks stop flowing
Remember: The fundamental issue isn’t the size of the government or how to make government more “efficient.”
It’s who our government is for.
Should it work mainly for big corporations and billionaires, including the richest person in the world — or for the rest of us?
sounds like DC has no option but to cut safety net programs and build a football stadium for billionaires
The richest man in the world calls people who get help from government programs the “parasite class.”
But Medicaid’s beneficiaries aren’t parasites. Half of them are children.
If we’re talking about people who depend on government, Elon Musk is the biggest “parasite” of all.
worth saying again that this was a bait and switch. if trump had openly announced he was running on allowing companies to discriminate against women and minorities he would not have won wapo.st/43aVQg1
Many Medicaid recipients do not know they receive it because Medicaid is called different things in different states. The public narrative of Medicaid focuses on a distant other, but 40% of US children and 60% of nursing home residents receive Medicaid. Just SOME of the names by state are below:
Tina's in senior YOLO mode and I hope she keeps this energy up in the remainder of her term
And -- THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH.
Public agencies keep our roads & bridges secure, air clean, & food safe. They're a tool we created to protect us & our families. When corporations replace public servants w/henchmen, block our oversight, & seize control of our govt systems, they’re demanding we surrender our freedom for their greed.
Remember when you first heard the stupid phrase that the only things certain in life were death and taxes? Well maybe the billionaires and mega millionaires are gonna start avoiding death now too.
You cannot defeat fascism with centrism.
And don't get it twisted. This is a multi-generation plan. Decades of strategic racism has stigmatized HUD, the programs it runs, and the ppl it serves so that it’s always chronically underfunded and deemed as ineffective.
The housing crisis is F*** & this will make it worse -- all under the guise of the bootstraps individualism, a story white, rich ppl made up to make other ppl believe their problems were their fault, & not the fault of corporations & private equity buy up whole neighborhoods & evict ppl to make $.
From fires in LA to the water crisis in RVA, amidst everything ***ELSE***, its hard to not begin this year already feeling defeated. I'm doing the best I can: making a lot of soup, helping my neighbors get what they need, and playing with friends in the snow.
We believe housing policies propel democracy forward when they serve all of us, not predatory lenders & corporate landlords. Everyone should be free to make a good living, care for their families, & have a safe, stable home. Our vision is a just & equitable housing system that puts ppl over profit.
the reason there is too much giving tuesday email is that we have stripped away federal support for public goods for 40 years
She leads the citywide TU in Kansas City and also the Tenant Union Federation, a national federation of citywide/statewide TU!
thank you andy!! appreciate it.
