Towfik A. Elmi

Interests vary with policy research, health systems, and international relations. Views are my own!

[Peggy Flanagan @peggyflanagan]

Donald Trump's dangerous rhetoric makes all of us less safe. Minnesotans rejected it this winter, and we will do it again.

Somali Minnesotans are our neighbors - and in Minnesota, we look out for each other.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Somali Minnesotans are increasingly facing attacks and bearing the weight of President Trump’s ‘revenge and retribution’ policy toward the state. His incitement and overt racism are unacceptable, reckless, and harmful.
Thank you, Senator Zaynab!

[Zaynab Mohamed @ZaynabMMohamed]

Everyone, including and especially Republicans, should stand up for their neighbors and make it clear Trump’s threats are wrong, dangerous and have no place in our politics.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Thank you, Rep. Ilhan!

[Ilhan Omar @IlhanMN]

Trump’s obsession with demonizing the Somali community is dangerous and reprehensible.

Hate to break it to him: Somali Minnesotans are resilient. We will not let Trump intimidate us. Our neighbors have our back.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has a track record of regrettable decisions, despite Pres. #Trump’s temper tantrums.

The committee previously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the current Ethiopian dictator and refused to rescind or withdraw the award. It released a statement expressing a "deep concern" regarding its decision following a renewed conflict, mass humanitarian crises in the Tigray region, and overall suppression of civic rights.

[The Nobel Prize @NobelPrize]

BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2026 #NobelPeacePrize to Navanethem “Navi” Pillay for her efforts to promote peace and international law.

#NobelPrize

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has a track record of regrettable decisions, despite Pres. Trump’s temper tantrums.

The committee previously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the current Ethiopian dictator and refused to rescind or withdraw the award. It released a statement expressing a "deep concern" regarding its decision following a renewed conflict, mass humanitarian crises in the Tigray region, and overall suppression of civic rights.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Crazy world!

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Mark Zuckerberg tells investors that his AI push is a huge success. But when it files its taxes, Meta tells the IRS its giant data centers are an experiment that might fail.

Why? Because calling them an experiment lets Meta claim a tax credit meant for real research.

According to a new NY Times investigation, that move cut Meta’s tax bill by $2 billion in 2024 and almost $4 billion last year. Meta is now the biggest user of this credit of any public company, and its own filings warn investors the IRS may overturn it.

When Washington Republicans passed their Big Ugly Bill, it handed big tech companies an even faster write-off for research spending while cutting more than $1 trillion from health care and slashing food help for families.

Republicans found plenty of room for tax breaks at the top but none to close this loophole.

Those same data centers are driving up electric bills for families across the country. So you pay more for power, and Meta gets a tax break for building the thing raising your bill.

Everyone else plays by the rules and pays their share.

A company worth nearly $2 trillion should too.

That's why I'm fighting to make data centers pay for their own power, and I'll keep working to end tax games that leave working families holding the bill.
https://t.co/4IkTG5pyRH

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

“Americans are relearning the lesson we learned during the Gilded Age of the late 1890s, when robber barons ran the government and the economy for their own benefit: Oligarchy is incompatible with the common good.” @RBReich

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

“… running against Trump is not enough. The American people are hurting and they want to see a pro-working class agenda that will provide meaningful improvements to their lives. Democrats must have the courage to take on Oligarchy, corporate greed and a corrupt campaign finance system. No more incrementalism, no more same-old, same-old failed establishment policies that simply make the rich even richer.” @SenSanders

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

On the front page today!

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

@BernieSanders @AOC @JeffMerkley Great job, @BernieSanders

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Too close!

[Polymarket @Polymarket]

BREAKING: Georgia governor race moves to a dead heat, with Keisha Lance Bottoms & Rick Jackson at even odds with just over a month until Election Day.

50-50 chance.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

@GovTimWalz Great job. @GovTimWalz

“Minnesota (the birth place of many Fortune 500 companies) has earned the highest possible credit rating for the fifth consecutive year.” Sep 2, 2026

https://t.co/eO7Is417az

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Report: Federal judge says rule of law was threatened during Operation Metro Surge
https://t.co/aVDZS4FSpt

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Very well put, Lina

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

Outsourcing AI regulation to a voluntary "pledge" conceived by Mark Zuckerberg and endorsed by tech CEOs over a private White House lunch is a recipe for disaster.

"Self-regulation" by tech giants is a proven failure. The last time Meta promised to police itself, turned out it was hiding evidence that its platforms actively harm kids. Repeating this mistake with AI leaves the public dangerously exposed.

AI companies are already bound by existing laws, but the White House has generally stopped enforcing laws against the wealthy and powerful. State AGs should step up, halt lawbreaking, and promote real deterrence, including through holding individual executives accountable.

Congress also needs to legislate. We have a long history of regulating risky, transformative industries like banking, pharmaceuticals, and nuclear power. These tools include mandatory testing, truly independent supervision, and break-ups that end conflicts of interest.

Ultimately, reckoning with AI will also require reckoning with our broader crisis of governance. All three branches have become severely deformed. Against this backdrop it might be tempting to outsource regulation to these private actors, but it would be a serious mistake.

Our public institutions must decide the trajectory of these powerful technologies, not the firms whose breakneck pace and financial conflicts brought us here.

My piece in @nytopinion: https://t.co/j0Nrp2JWqi

https://t.co/GpT22K4Qwl

[Ro Khanna @RoKhanna]

Mark Zuckerberg drafted and circulated the AI voluntary pledge touted by Trump.

There are no penalties. No timeline.

We do not let airlines certify their own planes and grade each other.

We do not let nuclear operators or drug manufacturers do that.

Take it from the guy representing Silicon Valley, you cannot trust tech billionaires to self-police and write the rules.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

I no longer listen to hip-hop the way I did when I was coming of age in Nairobi and later in the West. I believe the genre has lost much of its original meaning and purpose as the voice and language of the oppressed.
Artists like Rakim, Public Enemy, and Nas (as Bob Marley was) are viewed as more positive in their lyrics as they quite embody or celebrate the historical achievements of people of African descent and capture the struggles of those living in inner city neighborhoods. Ask the NYC Mayor, Mamdani, himself, a former rapper. You could even argue that some of the lyrics warn against climate change and abuse of power by politicians after they got elected.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

A good political strategy.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday announced a new strategy for combating a rise in antisemitism in New York City, designating $7.4 million toward education campaigns, the advancement of Jewish cultural institutions and security upgrades at synagogues. https://t.co/qzl9MFLlIZ

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

Will they listen to and act on this wise counsel? @SenSanders

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

DEFEATING TRUMPISM IS NOT ENOUGH: DEMOCRATS MUST DELIVER FOR WORKING FAMILIES

Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in American history and Democrats must do everything possible to roll back his disastrous policies.

But running against Trump is not enough. The American people are hurting and they want to see a pro-working class agenda that will provide meaningful improvements to their lives. Democrats must have the courage to take on Oligarchy, corporate greed and a corrupt campaign finance system. No more incrementalism, no more same-old, same-old failed establishment policies that simply make the rich even richer.

Democrats must restore faith in democracy and the belief that government can work for working families and not just the billionaire class. Our job is to expand our progressive grassroots movement so that when Democrats regain power they must:

✅ Pass Medicare for All and guarantee health care to every person in our country as a human right.

✅ Increase the minimum wage to $20 an hour and pass legislation making it easier for workers to join unions.

✅ Raise taxes on the billionaire class and large profitable corporations.

✅ Lower housing costs by building 7 million units of low income and affordable housing.

✅ Provide free tuition at public colleges and universities.

✅ Get billionaire funded super PACs out of elections.

✅ Create millions of jobs by moving our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.

✅ Protect the American people from the existential and economic threats of AI.

✅ Cut military spending, end “endless wars,” and stop all U.S. military aid to Israel.

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

An interesting report.

“Republicans have worried about the conflict for months, as the president’s early promise of a military campaign lasting “four to five weeks” faded to months of on-and-off fighting and deepening public frustration.”

https://t.co/wfjBgLG0tA

[Towfik A. Elmi @ElmiTowfik]

@mehdirhasan They are not actually blue in the symbolic meaning of the word “blue” but they were chocked blue by left leaning, liberal Dems.😆