AFT Washington
@aftwa.bsky.social
We represent education employees in early learning, K-12, and community/technical colleges and universities.
Honestly, this is appalling. The paucity of federal regulations on working conditions is appalling. Jobs don't have to suck. Unions and elections can both help.
John Schmitt@jschmittwdc.bsky.social · 7d agoThe first version of "No-Vacation Nation" came out in 2007. This is the fourth iteration. We're still in last place. cepr.net/publications...
Top CEOs make 285x what working people (who actually create the profits) do. The rich are getting richer while workers struggle to pay their bills. Americans are right: corporate greed is out of control. A union contract is how we start to balance the scales.
Nearly 1 in 4 Americans want CEOs to "stop being greedy," survey finds
New poll explores what people wish corporate leaders understood about economic life in the U.S. today.
cbsnews.com
Millions of Americans with student loan debt will soon pay far more in student debt payments because of Trump’s Big Tax cut last July -about 4k a year for a typical family with student debt. This is a betrayal of young Americans who need loans to pursue college or career www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
Opinion | America’s student loan system is a mess. Along comes Trump to make it worse.
Randi Weingarten and Mike Pierce: Ballooning student loan payments are Trump's latest contribution to the affordability crisis
ms.now
Solving a non-problem by forcing all girls in sports to undergo invasive, cruel testing is ... you know, kind of a classic of the MAGA genre, really. It is deeply weird that they are so fixated on girls' genitals. Deeply, deeply weird.
Gillian Branstetter@gbbranstetter.bsky.social · last wk.An initiative on the ballot in Washington state in November would require all athletes seeking to play girl's sports from kindergarten to high school to undergo "genetic screening, a testosterone-levels test, or an examination of their reproductive anatomy" before they can play
To Trump and his tech and MAGA cronies, "reinventing government" means maximizing profit for themselves and people like them, while making it maximally punitive and exhausting for voters, taxpayers, entrepreneurs, or anyone in need. My latest at @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-is-m...
Trump Is Making Government Worse on Purpose
Instead of seeking to simplify and improve citizens’ lives, this administration keeps creating new obstacles and burdens.
thebulwark.com
This is intriguing, given that so much of the current political moment is about keeping us divided and afraid of each other.
Rachel Maddow@maddow.bsky.social · 2w ago"But something else has shifted in Tremont. After the [successful] fight against the detention center, 'It doesn’t matter if they’re Democrat, Republican, the town has come together'...” www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Honestly, who isn't immediately enchanted by the very name "Balloon A Bigot".
The Washington Bus@washingtonbus.org · 2w agoAre you feeling frustrated with how out of state millionaire's are influencing our local politics? Come stop by at Cal Anderson Park to play games, win prizes and learn more about the initiatives on your upcoming ballot. Date: July 29th When: 4:00pm-5:30pm Where: Cal Anderson Park
This is disgusting, and in case you think it couldn't affect you, attacks on Haitian workers are still attacks on workers. That's not even touching on the issue of how authoritarianism will come for us all.
Heba Gowayed هبة جويد@hebagowayed.bsky.social · 2w agoMy Haitian friend was just fired from his job. "They said I don't have a legal status now." This is likely happening to hundreds of thousands of people across this country today. Sick.
If you are a member of a local affiliated with AFT Washington, you can read about this program in the latest issue of the Union Spotlight. It's a great program, and you're investing in it!
Washington State Budget and Policy Center@budget-policy.bsky.social · last mo.This is a monumental moment for Washingtonians, who this week can start receiving money from WA Cares, our state's public long term care insurance program. This fund will be a breath of relief for working people and their families, and was long fought for. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
Good news. It’s absurd that NAACP and Public Citizen even had to fight for this. The post office must deliver your ballot, regardless of what Trump says. Period. www.reuters.com/world/judge-...
Judge blocks US Postal Service's proposed restrictions on mail-in voting
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Postal Service's proposed restrictions on mail-in voting, finding that they violated a settlement with a leading civil rights group that required expedite...
reuters.com
I wrote about how Trump may have burned his bridges by rounding people up en masse and putting them in camps before the administration had managed to suppress dissent.
Shut them down, round them up
Trump's goons got the oppression flowchart backward. Now they aim to fix it.
degenerateart.beehiiv.com
This is really, really concerning. If this thing passes (currently unpopular; it's a long time to November) look at the other programs people love and use that are on the chopping block.
Fuse Washington@fusewashington.org · last mo.Heywood's initiative to give himself & his wealthy buddies a massive tax break at our expense is so poorly written that legal analysis shows it would also kill: - Unemployment insurance for people who've been laid off - Our Paid Family Medical Leave program - Long-term care program for seniors
Scrapping the cap on Social Security contributions would allow us to expand benefits and continue delivering checks for the rest of the century! @rbreich.bsky.social
Next time you’re tempted to ask AI anything, come to Auntie Intelligence instead. I’ll make shit up while only consuming light beer.
If shutting down the Department of Education requires three other agencies to do its job, it sounds like the Department of Education had a job. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reorganization/2026/06/trump-moves-oversight-of-special-education-and-civil-rights-from-the-education-department/
Trump ramps up Education Department’s dismantling with changes on special education and civil rights | Federal News Network
President Donald Trump’s administration is further dismantling the Department of Education, moving oversight of special education and civil rights to other agencies. The Department of Justice will…
federalnewsnetwork.com
A TRILLIONAIRE pays the same Social Security tax as someone making $184K. Let that marinate. Trump’s party has known this for decades and done exactly nothing because those trillionaires are their donors. Bernie’s bill fixes it. Corrupt Republicans won’t touch it. #HandsOffSocialSecurity
When ICE comes to your community, do you know what to do? This summer, we’re giving you a blueprint. Join our training series to learn how you can build up hyper-local networks and connect to experienced organizations to respond to ICE surges or new concentration camps in your area.
Dismantling Detention | Indivisible
The Trump administration is converting warehouses across the country into mass immigration detention facilities, part of a broader agenda to detain and disappear our neighbors on a massive scale. This...
indivisible.org
Was it only last month that Uber COO Andrew Macdonald said it was becoming harder to justify AI costs because higher token usage didn't translate into a proportional increase in useful consumer features? It's a bubble. But now your retirement is invested in it. There are no meaningful returns.
Center for Economic and Policy Research@ceprdc.bsky.social · 2mo agoNEW #AIBUBBLE Update: SpaceX just pulled off the largest IPO ever at $2.2 trillion. It lost $5 billion last year and projects 90% of its future market is in AI. There are no earnings to point to. This is a pure bet on Elon Musk. @deanbaker13.bsky.social for #EconSky: https://tinyurl.com/2nmywvkk
Ths is flying under the radar, but Russ Vought is advancing a new scheme to give Trump's cronies total control of nearly $179B in federal grant funds. Billions for lifesaving disaster relief and medical research would be subject to Trumpian loyalty oaths. Make no mistake: this is fascism.
Alarm Grows Over Vought Plan to Give Trump Cronies Control of Federal Grant Money | Common Dreams
"The test will be a simple one: Are you sufficiently loyal to the president? If the answer is no, it will result in the
commondreams.org
Give this video a watch! It is sadly true! Credit: Seattle Indivisible
It's crucial to note that the entire point of these repeated experiments with UBI is an effort to get a different result so that we can avoid doing UBI. The problem is, UBI works, and it works particularly well on intangibles. Did you know child abuse drops in households with UBI?
Scott Santens@scottsantens.com · 2mo agoA basic income program in central Iowa gave 110 people $500/mo. It caused improvements in savings, stress, and agency. It also found significant changes in scores relating to hope — the ability to create goals and feel capable of working toward them, and also increases in mattering and self-reliance
"When are you going to tax the super-rich instead?" Teachers shouldn't have to scrape by while our nation's billionaires and mega-millionaires skip out on paying what they owe in taxes.
The 250th is all Spectacle under Trump..
Hoodlum 🇺🇸@nothoodlum.bsky.social · 2mo agoEverything about this is fake. The Pentagon is recruiting hundreds of troops to pretend they’re spectators at Trump’s UFC cage-fighting event. They have to pay their own way and meet height and weight requirements. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
I was not aware that the USPS had the authority, under the Constitution, to run elections. Looking forward to THAT lawsuit!
Marc Elias@marcelias.bsky.social · 2mo ago🚨BREAKING: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
In sincerity, it has been depressing as hell watching so many universities and colleges try to avoid the administration rather than challenge it.
🗽LOLGOP🗽@thefarce.org · 2mo agoI’m just asking some of the biggest law firms and universities in America to show the sense of a Brett Michaels or a Martina McBride.
If data centres are so beneficial, they should only be built in high end neighbourhoods or on 18 hole golf courses.
