Good news for people who want to do good: Day 312

Economists resoundingly reject the GOP tax scam

The tax scam being pushed relentlessly by Trump and the Republicans is rightly seen as a nightmare by Democratic lawmakers and voters. And it is also widely panned by prominent economists, who see right through the GOP’s spin.

As The New York Times’ editorial board notes, “Of all the lies Republican lawmakers and President Trump tell about their tax bills, the biggest whopper is that these windfall tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy would generate so much growth that they would pay for themselves.”

The Times notes two recent studies, one by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and another by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model, which conclude that the bill would a far weaker impact on the nation’s gross domestic product than Trump has promised.

Furthermore, a University of Chicago survey showed that only one out of 38 prominent economists believed that the tax scam would actually notably lift the economy.

“And all but one economist said that the bills would substantially increase the federal debt as a percentage of G.D.P.,” the Times notes.

This tax scheme is full of terrible outcomes for average Americans, all in service of giving rich people even more money. And the vast majority of economists know that it would do nothing whatsoever to provide the help about which Republicans mendaciously claim to care.

ACTION ALERT: Resist the tax scam!

So, yes — the #TrumpTaxScam is a dumpster fire and a total nightmare. Which means we all need to keep up the vocal and forceful resistance to it.

You can join with Indivisible groups across the nation today in a Day of Action, and later this week, MoveOn members and allies will be heading out for some #GOPtaxscam caroling events around the country. Don’t see one in your area? Go here to organize one!

MoveOn also wants to hear from you about the harm the tax scam would cause you and your loved ones. Make your voice heard, and remind Congress that they work for the people — and that means all the people, not just those with the deepest pockets.

Public policy expert nails solution to sexual harassment: “It’s about women in leadership.”

As we have seen to a distressingly high degree, sexual harassment and abuse is rampant in nearly every corner and sector of the world, from Hollywood to the halls of government.

Not every perpetrator is male, and not every victim is a woman. But it remains true that having such a stark gender imbalance in leadership in so many fields contributes massively to the problem.

Heather McGhee, the president of progressive policy advocacy organization DEMOS, made this crucial point on Meet the Press Sunday morning.

“Fundamentally, these issues are a question of power,” she noted. “And when you think about what we actually need to get at this, to really protect women and people in the workplace, to really change this dynamic, it’s the fact that men are still the majority of people who own the wealth, the economic power, the political power. They’re the gatekeepers for careers and whole industries.”

And thus the conversation about how to work toward a world that is safer and more equitable for everyone cannot focus solely on “sexual harassment training” and the like.

“It’s about more women in leadership, it’s about pay equity, it’s about more diversity at all levels of government and power,” she declared.

Big win for abortion rights in Texas

Just before the holiday weekend, a federal judge gave abortion rights advocates something to be thankful for by striking down a restrictive and unnecessary anti-abortion law in Texas.

Judge Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas followed up his previous injunction against the law by permanently barring Texas from enforcing it.

The law, Senate Bill 8, attempted to implement extreme restrictions against the most common type of second trimester abortions. It would have required doctors to stop a fetus’ heart before performing a dilation-and-evacuation abortion, which Yeakel noted added an “undue burden” to what is the safest method of abortion at that stage of pregnancy.

Precedent from Supreme Court cases leads “inescapably to the conclusion that the state’s legitimate interest in fetal life does not allow the imposition of an additional medical procedure on the standard D&E abortion — a procedure not driven by medical necessity,” Yeakel wrote.

“Here the state’s interest must give way to the woman’s right,” he added, declaring the law to be “facially unconstitutional.”

As NARAL Pro-Choice America noted, the law “would’ve turned back the clock on advances in medical care.” Instead, Yeakel forced anti-choice Republicans in Texas to accept that they live in 2017 — 44 years after Roe vs. Wade.

ACTION ALERT: Open enrollment is still on — get signed up before the window closes!

The Obamacare open enrollment period lasts through December 15, so you still have time to join millions of your fellow Americans and get signed up for health care if you’ve been putting it off.

Find out what plans and pricing are available to you, and get all the information you need to help make your choice.

After all …

Dinosaurs didn't have health insurance either and look how that turned out. #GetCovered – most states only have until Dec. 15th to enroll! https://t.co/VuxkZZOJmH pic.twitter.com/AK6uYj7gQK

— Indivisible Guide (@IndivisibleTeam) November 26, 2017