Just because Obama abused executive orders doesn’t mean Trump should.
Just because Trump abuses executive orders doesn’t mean a future president should.
It’s really that simple.
End qualified immunity.
End civil asset forfeiture.
End the drug war.
End overcriminalization.
End no-knock warrants.
End militarization of police.
End mandatory minimums.
Did you know Democrats and Republicans are working to revive the Patriot Act this week? While you’re not looking, they want to bring this thing back from the dead. Tell them hell no!
Next week, the House will vote to reauthorize expired Patriot Act provisions, which violate the 4th Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. This bill already passed the Senate. We must stop it before it gets to Donald Trump’s desk. He’ll sign anything.
The recent coronavirus law may help some Americans find temporary relief, but it is too slow, wholly insufficient, and riddled with bad incentives and unintended consequences. The law will exacerbate and prolong a devastating economic decline that will harm millions of people.
The president doesn’t have constitutional authority to issue a national stay-at-home order, so please stop urging him to do so. He can recommend, but he doesn’t get to do whatever he wants, even in a crisis. That’s the law. That’s our Constitution. It exists to secure our rights.
Congress must loudly reply NO.
“The Justice Department has quietly asked Congress for the ability to ask chief judges to detain people indefinitely without trial during emergencies.” https://t.co/B0TL8y6Sbh
How we defeat COVID-19:
1. Social distancing.
2. Cash relief to Americans.
3. More tests and data.
4. More personal protective equipment.
5. Practical, community-developed standards for businesses to operate.
6. Less red tape so more people can help and innovate.
7. Humility.
Almost every “reform” in the Patriot Act reauthorization is easily circumvented, won’t affect the way the government currently does surveillance, or does basically nothing at all. This is not a reform bill; it’s a bill to continue the status quo of unconstitutional surveillance.
We can and must stop the Patriot Act. The House votes to reauthorize it this afternoon.
If you’re a progressive who opposes unconstitutional surveillance, please recognize that Democratic leaders are pushing this forward with the help of Bill Barr. Tell them no!
If Part One, A, is implemented, there will still be more troops in Afghanistan than under Obama, four years earlier. Part One, B, follows the familiar Bush/Obama pattern of laying out impossible goals: No full withdrawal if even one individual in Afghanistan threatens the U.S.
We should have ended the Afghanistan war years ago. When Obama left office, 8,400 troops were authorized. Trump dramatically escalated the war and added thousands of troops. His new proposal, even if successful, maintains 8,600 troops in Afghanistan—still more than when he began!
To decode for everyone, Democratic leaders want to reauthorize expiring unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act, part of FISA. Republicans will happily join them. I’ll vote no. Trump will sign it into law.
This, despite all the whining about privacy violations and abuses.
Using all caps to announce more corporate welfare doesn’t make it any better. Tariff money doesn’t come from other countries; it comes from other Americans.
It is very important for our country’s security that the president understand he has no authority to wage war without congressional approval. Unilateral engagement is unconstitutional and illegal, and it shows weakness by suggesting Americans are not united in the action.
One year ago today, my friend and colleague Walter Jones passed away on his 76th birthday. I miss him every day. He was deeply principled and fiercely independent. Above all, Walter was humble, gracious, and kind—a man of great faith and character. May his memory be eternal.
Americans want Congress to reclaim authority presidents have usurped to keep us in endless wars and enter new conflicts without approval. Stand with our Constitution.