In what civil libertarians and progressive advocacy groups are denouncing as a “cowardly” sneak-attack on free expression, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) is reportedly leading a behind-the-scenes bipartisan effort to cram legislation that would criminalize boycotts of Israel into a must-pass omnibus spending package now moving through Congress. “Hiding anti-BDS legislation in end-of-the-year packages is a cowardly act and one that is being considered only because members of Congress know that this legislation would not pass muster if debated publicly and openly.” —Iram Ali, MoveOn.org “This is a full-scale attack on Americans’ First Amendment freedoms,” argued Kate Ruane, senior legislative counsel at the ACLU, which has circulated a petition urging Congress…

With the stated mission of “revitalizing our democracy,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jane O’Meara Sanders are hosting a gathering of 250 progressive thinkers, politicians, and activists this weekend in Burlington, Vermont, where they’ll discuss bold solutions to persistent inequality, the climate crisis, human rights violations, and other issues in the U.S. and around the world. The inaugural Sanders Institute Gathering—which Common Dreams plans to cover over the three days—will include panel discussions and speeches including an opening keynote speech given by the senator on Thursday evening, as well as appearances by author Naomi Klein and Cornel West; politicians such as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and San Juan mayor Carmen Yulin…

While President Donald Trump is by no means an anti-war president, new polling shows that the American people are ready to see significant numbers of U.S. troops come home from foreign war zones that have existed for years, if not decades. Peace advocates celebrated reporting last month that Trump wanted to imminently withdraw troops from Syria and cut those deployed to Afghanistan by half, and a Politico/Morning Consult poll (pdf) demonstrates a large portion of Americans agree, even as military leaders and warhawks in both major political parties continue to raise alarm about scaling back U.S. military occupation or operations in those nations. Click Here: gold coast suns 2019 guernsey…

With Monday marking the ninth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, campaign finance watchdogs say it’s more urgent than ever to address “the degradation of our democracy” and overturn the 2010 decision which opened the floodgates to unlimited spending by corporate interests and the super wealthy. That decision by the high court further corrupted the democratic process by opening the floodgates to unlimited corporate political spending. Among its critics is the advocacy group Public Citizen, which argued in a Twitter thread that “Until #CitizensUnited is overturned, the corporate oligarchy will maintain the power to block the policies favored by the majority of Americans—from raising the minimum wage…

With the partial government shutdown expected to extend into January with no funding agreement in sight, the Trump administration suggested on Thursday that the hundreds of thousands of unpaid federal workers who have been furloughed could do odd jobs and chores for their landlords to help cover rent. In a tweet on Thursday, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)—led by Margaret Weichert, whom President Donald Trump picked to head the agency in October—offered a Word document featuring sample letters purportedly aimed at helping unpaid federal workers negotiate with landlords, mortgage companies, and creditors amid the government shutdown, which was caused by Trump’s demand for $5 billion in border wall…

President Donald Trump called for the end of the U.S. system that processes those seeking political asylum and refugee status on Friday and then added that it would also be good to “get rid of judges.” “Congress has to act,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, referring to the asylum claim process and the broader immigration system. “They have to get rid of catch-and-release, chain migration, visa lottery, they have to get rid of the whole asylum system because it doesn’t work.” “And frankly,” the president then added, “we should get rid of judges. You can’t have a court case every time sets their foot on our ground.” Trump…

New York Fashion Week ends today with the previously postponed CFDA Awards to have been a highlight of the five-day event. CNN heralds the annual American fashion ceremony as the “Oscars of the fashion world,” but the reality was anything but. Click Here: NRL Telstra Premiership Livestreamed via CFDA’s Runway360 platform, the CFDA was heavily criticized last month when the New York Times called out the lack of novelty among the creatives vying for the awards. CFDA Chairman Tom Ford, a nominee, was previously honoured with the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, not counting the other 6 CFDA Awards collected over the years. Marc Jacobs, who was among the…

Sen. Joe DonnellyJoseph (Joe) Simon DonnellyEx-Sen. Joe Donnelly endorses Biden Lobbying world 70 former senators propose bipartisan caucus for incumbents MORE (D-Ind.) has a four-point edge over businessman Mike Braun in Indiana’s closely watched Senate race, according to a new Gravis Marketing poll released Wednesday. About 44 percent of likely voters support Donnelly, while 40 percent support Braun. About seven percent say they would vote for Libertarian candidate Lucy Brenton and ten percent say they are undecided. The four-point margin falls within the poll’s margin of error.  ADVERTISEMENT Donnelly, one of ten Democratic senators defending seats in states President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren,…

Sen. Jon TesterJonathan (Jon) TesterSenate confirms Trump’s watchdog for coronavirus funds Montana barrels toward blockbuster Senate fight The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip MORE (D) holds a narrow 3-point lead over his Republican challenger Matt Rosendale in a new poll of the Montana Senate race released two weeks from the election. Tester leads Rosendale 46 percent to 43 percent in the Montana State University/Montana Television Network poll of registered voters, with 6.5 percent of respondents undecided. Tester holds a double-digit lead over Rosendale among women in the poll, 52 percent to 39 percent, while Rosendale holds a 6-point lead over Tester among male voters. David Parker, an associate professor…

Forty percent of young Americans said they will “definitely vote” in this year’s midterm elections, which if true would be more than the number who voted in the last two midterms, according to a poll released Monday. It would also be good news for Democrats, since voters aged 18-29 years old tend to skew Democrat. A Harvard Institute of Politics survey found that 40 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds indicated they will vote in the midterms, a 3 percent bump since the institute asked the same question in the spring. Voter interest has crept up in the months since among both parties. Among Democrats, 54 percent said they are highly likely to vote, up 3 percentage points…