The politicians, plutocrats and pundits of the Democratic Party establishment have no answer to Bernie Sanders' blistering critique of their failure to defend the interests of the voters who have kept them in power. Neither have they a substantive case against his policy agenda, which would shift government from working for the rich to working for the rest of us. Nor has it been easy for them to mount a personal attack on someone who says what he believes and acts on what he says. Click here to read the rest of this great article written by our friend Jeff Faux   

Congratulations to Jeremy Corbyn! Solidarity to British socialists! "Jeremy Corbyn has been elected leader of the British Labour party, in a stunning first-round victory that dwarfed even the mandate for Tony Blair in 1994. He won with nearly 59.5% of first-preference votes, beating rivals Andy Burnham, who trailed on 19%, and Yvette Cooper who received 17%. The “Blairite” candidate Liz Kendall came last on 4.5%." Click here to read the rest of the article, courtesy of The Guardian. 

Alert from Peace Action: Contact Senator Debbie Stabenow NOW and urge her to support the Iran Nuclear Deal. Suggested script: "I am _______________and live in _____________ ____Michigan. I urge Senator Stabenow to support the Iran nuclear deal in order to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon." "Both Senator Carl Levin (retired) and Representative Sander Levin have endorsed the Iran deal. I want my Senators to follow suit and support the deal." 313-961-4330 (Detroit) or 202-224-4822 (Washington, D.C [email protected] stabenow.senate.govThe Honorable Debbie Stabenow 719 Griswold St., Ste. 700Detroit, MI 48226 Learn more: peace-action.org; livableworld.org; fcnl.org/iranContact Peace Action to get updates - [email protected] or 248-548-3920 We understand that Senator Stabenow is close to making her decision. SHE NEEDS TO HEAR FROM FOLKS WHO SUPPORT THE DEAL.

Unauthorized immigrants prolong the life of Medicare Trust Fund: JGIM study Harvard and CUNY researchers find unauthorized immigrants generated surplus contributions of $35.1 billion from 2000-2011, prolonging the Trust Fund’s solvence Unauthorized immigrants pay billions more into Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund each year than they withdraw in health benefits, according to research from Harvard Medical School, the Institute for Community Health and the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College. The study appeared last Thursday as an “online first” article in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Click Here To Read The Rest of The Article

To Properly Mourn the Murder Victims at the Emanuel AME Church We Must Rededicate Ourselves to the Fight Against Racism Statement of the National Political Committee of Democratic Socialists of America Democratic Socialists of America grieves the loss of the lives of nine innocent human beings who were all leading activists and mentors within the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and the larger Charleston community. We express our solidarity with the members of the Charleston AME church and the larger black community of Charleston. The lives and names of the victims must not be forgotten:  Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Reverend and State Senator Clementa Pickney, Tywanza Sanders, Reverend Daniel Simmons, Sr., Reverend Sharonda Singleton and Myran Thompson. Continue reading

Populist author and commentator, Jim Hightower, spoke at the 2015 Douglass-Debs Dinner. Jim's speech touched on the economic and political issues of the day and the need for the Democratic party to push a progressive agenda. In his humorous way, Hightower ended by saying that, "the hogs are muddying up the creek" and it was up to progressives to put their shoulders into it, "to push the hogs out of the creek." Also honored at the dinner were, Cindy Estrada, United Auto Workers (UAW) Vice-President, Pat Devlin, President of the Michigan Building Trades, and Planned Parenthood. The dinner is an annual event, sponsored by the Detroit DSA and was held at the historic UAW Local 600 hall, in Dearborn, MI. Click here to watch his entire speech  

Since 2011, Libya has rapidly unraveled in much the way Iraq did following that invasion: swamped by militia rule, factional warfare, economic devastation, and complete lawlessness. And to their eternal shame, most self-proclaimed “humanitarians” who advocated the Libya intervention completely ignored the country once the fun parts – the war victory dances and mocking of war opponents – were over. The feel-good “humanitarianism” of war advocates, as usual, extended only to the cheering from a safe distance as bombs dropped. Click here to read the rest of this excellent article by Glenn Greenwald 

DSA runs a wonderful labor blog called Talking Union !  Talking Union seeks to be a place for a broad range of labor activists to discuss ideas for the renewal and strengthening of the labor movement. Check it out!

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) celebrates SYRIZA's victory in the Greek parliamentary elections of January 25, 2015. SYRIZA’s coming to power represents not just a rejection of the socially destructive austerity measures European elites imposed on the Greek people against their will.  It also represents a new hope for democratic and socialist electoral alternatives across Europe and the rest of the world. Continue reading

As many of you are likely already aware, under the direction of Emergency Manager Kevin Orr, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department has been shutting off the water of households which are behind in their water bills by $150 or more. This is likely an attempt to shed debt in order to prepare for the eventual privatization of Detroit’s water system. Thousands of households have been impacted by the shutoffs. Meanwhile corporate customers who are also delinquent in their bills, often owning thousands of dollars, are not facing the same threat of shutoffs. It should also be noted that despite the fact that Detroit is a city with a very high poverty rate and a high rate of unemployment, Detroiters’ water bills are higher than the national average, and water rates were recently increased by the city. Continue reading