C2C’s NEWSLETTER:
on THE ISSUES
Democrats stand for freedom and fairness
With the election just around the corner, we Democrats have a lot of work to do. Especially when it comes to explaining what the heck we stand for. We’ve forgotten one of the basic tenets of messaging. Keep it simple. Democrats stand for freedom and fairness.
How NC Republicans wage war on the working class: An interview with Gene Nichol
Gene Nichol, the Boyd Tinsley Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina, has written extensively about the war Republicans have waged on ordinary people.
Could immigrants save Social Security?
Social Security needs Congressional attention if it is to retain its fiscal health. By 2035, the youngest of the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) will reach their 70’s, and if nothing is done, the government will only be able to pay out 83% of promised benefits.
Air and water pollution? Republicans just don’t care
Human activities modify our environment in many ways, sometimes suddenly and catastrophically, like the Dan River coal ash spill in 2014, other times slowly and gradually, like the increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels. Almost always, the general population endure the dire consequences of such human-made disasters, while the economic beneficiaries shield themselves with their money and privilege.
Reject high conflict to win swing voters
“I love Trump!”
I felt my heart quicken when I heard the taxi driver say these three words. It was Summer 2022, and my family was en route from Heathrow Airport to the center of London. I immediately started preparing a speech in my head to deliver to this ignorant man about the wrong-doings, moral failures, and dangers posed by the former President.
Poverty is a policy choice
In 2013, NC Republicans won a supermajority in the General Assembly for the first time in 100 years. In response, Reverend William J. Barber II launched Moral Monday. Every week, thousands of us participated in rallies at Halifax Mall, putting ourselves on the line to stand up for public education, Medicaid Expansion, and eliminating barriers to voting.
Yes, people still talk on the phone
In these days of endless news cycles and more media outlets than we can count, it is easy to feel angry and overwhelmed by NC politics. The headlines can make us feel hopeless.
But here’s the good news. YOU have the power to change things. YOU have an incredible opportunity to move the needle in favor of Democratic candidates in 2024.
How? Turn off the TV and pick up the phone.
Climate Change and the Clocks of Reality and Denialism
On April 8, millions of people looked to the skies to view a rare celestial event — a total solar eclipse. They knew exactly when it would begin and end. Air B&Bs were completely booked all along the path of totality months ahead of time. Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all watched it, some traveling many miles and taking off work for the event.
Coping with climate change and earth’s sixth mass extinction
Extreme changes in Earth’s climate have played a major role in each of our planet’s five previous mass extinctions. Most recently when a fiery asteroid ended the reign of the dinosaurs, it was not the impact itself that caused the most devastation. In the minutes after the asteroid hit, the atmosphere was superheated by raining rock and lava. As ash blanketed the planet, every ecosystem on Earth lost the sun’s vital light and warmth.
Faceless bureaucrats? Think Again.
Republicans on the campaign trail are quick to decry “job-killing regulations” imposed by a bunch of “unelected bureaucrats.” When talking about the down-side of regulation, they speak in terms of “costs to the economy,” but really all they ever talk about is the cost to the businesses that have to meet those regulations. Republicans’ anti-regulatory framing seriously distorts the truth, both about the origins of regulation and their costs! There is a much bigger picture here.