Dems Keep Stumbling, Indigenous People's Day & Taking on the Bosses

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It’s been another busy week in the news. It looks as though the Biden agenda is dead on arrival thanks to corporate Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.). The pair have come out against drug pricing controls, climate measures, and a host of other progressive priorities.

On the campaign trail, Joe Biden pitched himself as the candidate who could get things done. His style of moderation and compromise over ideology was a key selling point to older Democrats. Nearly a year into his presidency, however, Biden’s approval ratings are cratering. With no major legislative achievements outside the American Rescue Plan and with job numbers low and COVID numbers high—in part due to federal inaction to stop the spread—his promise of change rings hollow.

Over the summer, the Democrats failed to pass key voting rights legislation ahead of states redistricting, all but guaranteeing a brutal midterm cycle—and likely the start of a GOP-dominated decade. The compromised $3.5 trillion infrastructure plan was supposed to be the shot in the arm the party needed electorally. But every day it seems Dems are getting in their own way.

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Your Corporate Narrative-Free News Roundup

Democrats’ Failures

A new report from The Daily Poster reveals that the pharmaceutical industry identified Kyrsten Sinema months ago as an ally against proposed drug price control measures in the Democrats’ infrastructure package. Sinema has been a thorn in her own party’s side as it desperately tries to pass Biden’s agenda.

“They Pick The One”

How Big Pharma flipped Kyrsten Sinema, who’s now threatening to be their key obstructionist.

The Daily PosterAndrew Perez

Here's The Bitchuation Room on the corporate media's fawning over Sinema.

Sludge reports that Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison, himself a former corporate lobbyist, has nominated several new corporate lobbyists to the DNC.

Harrison’s picks for new at-large DNC members include many corporate lobbyists, consultants, and executives, including partners at firms that represent the fossil fuel industry, pharmaceutical companies, electric utilities, and defense contractors, as well as senior employees with Facebook, Pepsi, and Softbank. The nominees will be voted on as a slate and are almost certain to be approved.

The new picks represent the latest example of the identity crisis faced by a Democratic Party torn between an emergent progressive left and a corporate-controlled center.

Harrison Nominates New Corporate Lobbyists to Join the DNC

DNC members say they were not allowed input on the nominees, who were put forward as a slate by Chair Jaime Harrison and will almost certainly be approved.

SludgeDonald Shaw

New internal analysis by several Democratic consultants reveals Democrats are losing ground in counties with small cities that were once manufacturing hubs. As our friends at In These Times report,

Across 10 states in the Midwest and Northeast that comprise the fading heart of America’s former manufacturing hubs, Democrats lost 2.6 million votes between Obama’s election in 2012 and Biden’s in 2020. That is a million more votes than Democrats gained in those states’ cities and suburbs.

The trend is directly linked to a decline in union membership and could mean long-term destruction of a political party that has sought to frame itself as a champion of the working class.

In Middle America, Unions and Democrats Are Sleepwalking Into the Grave

By not organizing in decimated post-industrial towns, we’re ceding ground to the right wing.

In These Times

A new report from The City reveals that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is refusing to pay back the nearly $320,000 bill his ill-fated presidential campaign accrued on an NYPD security detail. Taxpayers footed the bill, but the Mayor is being told he must reimburse the city. Thus far, despite potential violations of conflict of interest rules, de Blasio is refusing.

De Blasio Refuses to Pay $320K Running Bill for Presidential Campaign NYPD Security

The mayor secretly asked whether taxpayers could pick up the tab for his police detail as he traversed the country — and was told no. He’s refusing to pony up, and has little campaign cash on hand as he flirts with a run for governor.

THE CITYGreg B. Smith

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Indigenous People's Day

OptOut is proud to stand in solidarity with our friends at The Red Nation who are planning a decolonization march in Tiwa terrority in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on October 11 in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

DECOLONIZATION OR EXTINCTION - Indigenous People’s Day 2021 - The Red Nation

It is a disturbing irony that Tim Keller is the keynote speaker for Indigenous People’s Day, yet so fitting for a One Albuquerque event. Let us remember, politicians do not drive our movements, our people and communities do!

The Red NationJustine Teba

The Laura Flanders Show

On Indigenous Peoples Day, Laura reports from "He Sapa," the sacred Black Hills of North Dakota where NDN Collective is reclaiming ancestral lands to address homelessness, addiction and violence against Native Americans.

LANDBACK: A Tipi Town Against Homelessness | The Laura Flanders Show

LANDBACK is grounded in solitary and support: At Camp MniLuzahan, the Indigenous community provide food and shelter for the unhoused.

The Laura Flanders ShowJanet Hernandez

Good news! The Bears Ears National Monument in Utah is being restored and expanded after Trump opened up the sacred lands for mining and other development.

In Other News

Could we be seeing the beginning of the end of forced arbitration clauses? The American Prospect examines how movement around the issue of forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault claims may be a catalyst for ending the practice of corporations mandating arbitration generally.

The End of Forced Arbitration?

Persistent advocates and new strategies have led some companies to relent on blocking access to courts. But there’s a long way to go.

The American ProspectSusan Antilla

Our friends at Jacobin have a new story about housing justice in Berlin. In a model for the rest of the world, a million Berliners voted to nationalize 240,000 apartments held by major corporate landlords. While the victory is historic, there are larger issues still at play that bear examination.

In Berlin, We Won a Vote to Nationalize the Big Landlords

Last Sunday, Berliners voted to nationalize the big landlords and win housing justice. We managed to get over a million people to vote to expropriate 240,000 apartments owned by mega-corporations.

Ines Schwerdtner

In Chompsky, Eliz Mizon explores whether creative workers in the U.K. will follow Hollywood workers' lead and go on strike.

Will the UK’s Creative Workers Strike Too?

Hollywood’s IATSE strike action has shown what’s possible. Are we next?

Chompsky: Power and Pop CultureEliz Mizon

On the latest Making Contact episode:

As fires ravaged California’s world-famous wine country in 2017, a community radio station, emergency dispatcher, and tenant organizers helped the most vulnerable in their community survive and recover. Community organizers and hosts of the podcasts But Next Time Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta bring us the first of four stories of hard-won lessons learned from people on the frontlines of California’s wildfires and Texas’ storms as they work to answer the question, how can next time be different? This is part one of a four part series.

LISTEN HERE.

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