Tag: DACA

An Incredibly Taxing Year

So, Doug Jones prevailed against the odds in Alabama. This is a legitimate reason to feel optimistic, but just for a while. The Democratic win in the Deep South came under unusual circumstances and against a spectacularly flawed Republican candidate—it is no reason for the Democratic Party to feel overly confident about its prospects next year. Besides, there are too many other problems out there that challenge our frayed two-party system to warrant celebrating one unexpected swing of the pendulum.

Trump: "A giant tax cut for Christmas." Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times.
Trump: “A giant tax cut for Christmas.” Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times.

 

 

 

 

 

A few days ago I received an email from MomsRising, a generally progressive pro-family group. It cited five actions its million-plus members should take this week. They were:

  • Tell FCC and Congress: Protect Net Neutrality! (Net neutrality was killed today, by a 3-2 FCC vote along party lines.)
  • Sign Up to Deliver a Tax Letter to Your Local Members of Congress’ office! (Well, I suppose anything can still happen but it’s generally conceded that some sort of favor-the-rich, screw-everyone-else GOP tax bill is going to be signed into law before Christmas.)
  • Urge NO on National Concealed Carry Reciprocity! (There is still some hope we can stop this insane House legislation.)
  • Be an #ACAdefender for Open Enrollment 2017! (This seems to be working; there is strong demand for Affordable Care Act enrollment before the December 15 cutoff.)
  • Protect DREAMers. (There remains a chance the 800,000 young adults in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program may be able to stay past the current March 5, 2018 deadline. Here is an instance where the Doug Jones victory may actually help achieve a concrete result.)

Needless to say, the MomsRising list is by no means complete. The Republicans continue to dismantle almost every government agency they get their hands on, with dreadful consequences for the environment and Americans’ general well-being, and the insufficiently publicized danger of a nuclear exchange continues to grow. (At least the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize this year.)

But, it’s the holidays! Enough doom and gloom, at least for the moment. Let’s try to look on the bright side, enjoy what’s good in our individual lives, and hope that some degree of civic sanity can be restored in the coming year.