Dear friends,
We have achieved Friday. It wasn’t as arduous as the weeks before the inauguration, but we are still in a fast-changing environment and it still feels like an achievement.
There was big financial news this week. What interested me about the Robinhood investors, who drove up the price of Game Stop stock, is that they seem to be small fry investors. And they had to be stopped from participating in the profitable gambling frenzy. Robinhood has restored trading now that they have secured another billion dollars to weather “the market frenzy.” My name is Yellen (no relation), but I am not going to be your source for cogent analysis of the Game Stop situation. Still, I am interested in the class dynamics of the spree:
"The reason the market is doing what it's doing is people are sitting at home getting their checks from the government," [Leon] Cooperman (net worth: $3.2 billion) explained. [The CEO of the Omega Advisors hedge fund] continued:
“This fair share is a bullshit concept! It’s a way of attacking wealthy people! I think it’s inappropriate!"
I forgot. It’s class warfare when hedge funds lose money, but when working people lack jobs, adequate food, housing, and health care, that’s just capitalism.
AOC was not too tired from rallying support for a hearing to examine market manipulation to call out Ted Cruz for his lame gesture of support:
“I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign.”
This is a good reminder that accountability for the January 6 insurrection must include the members of Congress, like Cruz, who fomented the rebellion with lies about the election and came back after the siege to vote to invalidate the legitimate votes of millions of their fellow Americans. The climate in Congress is not good. There is palpable fear on the Democratic side, because AOC is not the only member who was in grave physical danger on the 6th. There is no sign from the Republicans that they understand the need for accountability or apologies. Nope, they continue to snuggle up to the most extreme elements.
There is a resolution in the House to expel Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose social media history includes photos of her threatening David Hogg, an anti-gun activist and survivor of the shooting in Parkland, FL. Among other things, Speaker Pelosi had this to say about the Republicans’ tolerance for Greene’s outrageous behavior:
"Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school -- what could they be thinking?" Pelosi asked Thursday. "Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing? It's absolutely appalling, and I think the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children."
Contact your Representative (especially if you’re in Malliotakis’s district!) to let them know that Greene must be expelled.
The Brennan Center for Justice is tracking 106 Republican-sponsored pieces of legislation from 28 states that are designed to restrict access to voting. A significant chunk of those bills are about limiting mail-in voting. At the same time there are 35 states, including NY, with pending legislation to expand voting rights and access. This is a good reminder to us to support the folks on the ground who are working for free and fair elections.
Support Fair Fight. Consider a monthly donation.
There are special elections to fill City Council seats for Queens and the Bronx in February and March. These will be the first opportunities for ranked-choice voting, which is lucky, because only one of the four races has fewer than 8 contenders. If you live in one of these districts — Districts 24 and 31 in Queens, and 11 and 15 in the Bronx — and need help with your homework, get in touch.
Email me if you need help researching and ranking candidates in your district.
Next week, we’ll look at some of the big promises in De Blasio’s speech. He’s a man of words, not deeds, so we’re going to have to make things happen. Some good local news to end our week: the City Council passed Intro 1116 to increase the number of permits to street vendors. This is an economic justice issue we worked on in the summer and it’s satisfying to see it come to fruition!
Have a good weekend!
with love,
L