Dan Desai Martin

Trump’s luxury vacation costs spiral out of control, strain taxpayers and national security

Capping off a week of humiliating defeats and stinging rebukes, Donald Trump is preparing for a month-long vacation after tiring himself out with six months of no accomplishments, a lot of golfing, and regular Twitter rants. Despite Trump’s repeated attacks on former President Barack Obama’s far less frequent golf outings, Trump was already on track to “outpace […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 29, 2017

Defeated GOP flooded at home with 150 protests to make sure they get it on health care

As the Republican-controlled Congress prepares to take their annual month-long summer break, they will leave Washington, D.C., having failed to do the one thing they have been promising to do for seven years: repeal Obamacare. With a humiliating defeat on the Senate floor, Republicans will return home with literally no legislative accomplishments in six months. […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 29, 2017

Democratic challengers outnumber Republicans 10-1 in fight to take back the House

Tired of lapdog congressional Republicans who refuse to refuse to hold the serially lying, intelligence-leaking, race-baiting, golf-loving, nepotism-flouting Donald Trump accountable for any of his unethical, illegal, and possibly unconstitutional behavior, Democrats are taking matters into their own hands. And they are doing so in record numbers. At this point in 2009, Republicans had recruited a […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 25, 2017

Single mom takes on anti-choice extremist for seat in male-dominated Virginia legislature

While most of the country has to wait until 2018 to elect new leaders, folks in Virginia head to the polls in just a few months. And Democrats are putting together a roster of strong, progressive candidates, led by women. In Prince William County, Hala Ayala is hoping to bring her values of empowerment for […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 22, 2017

GOP plan to destroy health care collapses in disarray, humiliating Trump

As opposition from the public against the callous health care repeal plan grows louder, the Republican Party is fraying at the seams. And the tension is increasingly on embarrassing display. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was already in a precarious situation. Since he is jamming the bill through, with no hearings and no input from a single Democratic […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 18, 2017

Coast Guard wants to kick wounded vets off the Potomac so Trump can golf

Never one to put others before himself, Donald Trump is once again prioritizing his own golf obsession above everything else. In a move that will surprise precisely no one, Trump is even putting his own golf game above the recovery of wounded veterans. Whenever Trump visits his golf course in Sterling, Virginia, the Coast Guard […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 17, 2017

Former refugee elected to state legislature defies Trump in her first term

“I am America’s hope, and the president’s nightmare.” That’s how Ilhan Omar described herself during a recent appearance on The Daily Show. The Muslim Somali-American female state legislator from Minnesota was elected the same night as Donald Trump — but the two could not be more different. Speaking to host Trevor Noah, Omar said, “This […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 15, 2017

Red state mayors defy Trump’s silence during Pride month

Donald Trump spent June like he spent every other month in the White House: alienating a segment of the American population. Throughout June, the White House was deafeningly silent and Reagan-esque in ignoring the LGBTQ community and Pride Month, despite marches and parades across the country. The silence is not that surprising, given Trump’s embrace of the […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 09, 2017

“Arrogant, intolerant, even dangerous.” The world describes Trump in new poll

Not even six months into his presidency, Donald Trump seems more intent on creating tired, poor, huddled masses than welcoming and helping them. And his war on the poor and the vulnerable is an all-encompassing, global venture that is already tarnishing the reputation of America in the eyes of the world. While Trump’s approval ratings […]

By Dan Desai Martin - July 03, 2017

Thousands of protesters surround the Capitol to stop the GOP and save health care

Carrying signs and encircling the heart of our democracy, activists on Wednesday night presented a unified front against the Republican effort to rip health care away from 22 million people. The mood at the U.S. Capitol was a mix of cautious optimism and steely determination. The rally started with a march around the Capitol, full […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 29, 2017

Assemblyman Mike Sprinkle shows why Nevada is leading the health care battle

Local elections matter, and no one can attest to that more than Nevada’s Mike Sprinkle. In 2016, the Reno firefighter and paramedic ran for his third term in the Nevada Assembly. Hopes were high, but Sprinkle and his fellow Democrats faced an uphill road, given that Republicans controlled Nevada’s Assembly, Senate, and the governor’s mansion. […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 25, 2017

Georgia boy: Ossoff’s loss is the most energizing political event in my lifetime

I grew up in a small Georgia town between Macon and Savannah. Growing up, I heard that my county had the most dirt roads in Georgia. I don’t know if that’s true, but I wouldn’t doubt it. I went to college just outside of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, where Jon Ossoff lost a nail-biter against Donald […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 21, 2017

Dear Congress: Don’t cancel town halls

On a Saturday morning in early January 2011, Rep. Gabby Giffords was meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona. The event was brutally interrupted as gunshots rang out, killing six people and sending Giffords to the hospital with a bullet wound to the head. Six and a half years later, a group […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 18, 2017

Stand up, fight back: Trans woman Danica Roem takes on Virginia’s most anti-LGBT Republican

Democrat Danica Roem won the Virginia primary for the 13th State House District this week, giving her an opportunity to fight back against Republican Bob Marshall, whom Daily Kos describes as the “most virulently anti-LGBT and right-wing lawmaker in the House of Delegates.” Roem, a transgender woman, has some choice words for Marshall: People are tired of […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 17, 2017

Leaked RNC talking points expose GOP smear campaign against Mueller investigation

After the Washington Post broke the story that Donald Trump is under investigation for obstruction of justice, RNC cronies went to work on crafting talking points in an attempt to rally Trump allies to discredit special prosecutor Robert Mueller. Despite containing multiple references condemning leaks, the talking points themselves were immediately leaked to the Washington Post’s […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 15, 2017

Al Franken grills Trump judicial nominee for spreading fake news: “That’s disturbing”

Kentucky lawyer John Bush, nominated by Donald Trump for a federal appeals court, once wrote, “The Democrats are trying to win with the same game plan as in 2008, only substitute woman for Black.” And that may be the least controversial thing he said. When nominated, Bush was forced to come clean about his blogging alias, “G. […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 15, 2017

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson undermines bipartisan Russia sanctions

In his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson showed why he earned the Order of Friendship from Russian President Vladimir Putin. When asked to support a recent bipartisan sanctions proposal aimed at Russia, the former Exxon CEO demurred, preferring “flexibility” in dealing with the country that recently attacked the […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 14, 2017

Trump and the GOP putting over 70,000 Iowans at risk in order to sabotage Obamacare

With their health insurance market on fire, Iowa is forced to turn to the man holding an empty gas can and a smoldering match: Donald Trump. Insurers are pulling out of huge sections of the state, which would leave more than 70,000 Iowans uninsured. This instability is not an accident — it is a direct, […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 13, 2017

Stand up, fight back: Democrats refuse to give Trump last word on Paris climate accord

It is no surprise that Donald Trump’s war on women extends to Mother Earth. Despite efforts by everyone from Europe to Exxon, Trump turned his back on the world as the United States pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords. But as we have learned, Democrats steadfastly refuse to give Trump the last word. While other […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 10, 2017

Stand up, fight back: Denver mayor makes his city safe in Trump’s America

Since kicking off his campaign by calling Mexicans “rapists,” Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked and insulted immigrants. Once in office, his racial animosity turned ICE into a deportation force with an unsettling zeal. Trump’s ramped-up efforts are spreading fear, targeting hard-working residents who are pillars of their community, and actively making communities less safe. Denver’s Democratic […]

By Dan Desai Martin - June 03, 2017

Stand up, fight back: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen defends women and girls from Trump’s attacks

In mid-May, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen made a splash in the Senate by introducing the Keeping Girls in School Act. Inspired by former first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative, the bill seeks to find innovative ways to help girls in developing countries access quality, equitable education. The bill has three prongs: direct […]

By Dan Desai Martin - May 27, 2017