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Cake day: March 5th, 2024

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  • Relevant sections from the article:

    … 1,158 likely U.S. voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

    Conducted by Data for Progress, the poll shows that Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump are locked in a dead heat in the six battleground states with three months to go before the November 5 election. A slim majority of voters across the states examined feel that neither Democrats nor Republicans “have clear solutions for the biggest issues facing the country,” suggesting there’s a significant opportunity for either candidate to win over voters with a concrete policy agenda that centers the material needs of the working class.

    The survey makes clear that progressive policy objectives have widespread appeal across the political spectrum. For example, the poll shows that 71% of voters in the battleground states—including 89% of Democrats, 67% of Independents and third-party voters, and 55% of Republicans—want the wealthy to pay more in taxes, a sentiment that aligns with progressive goals and contrasts with those of Trump and the GOP.

    The poll also indicates broad support for raising taxes on big, profitable corporations; expanding Social Security by “making the wealthy pay the same rate as the working class”; hiking the long-stagnant federal minimum wage; and expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing benefits.

    Support for more ambitious progressive agenda items, such as Medicare for All, is less solid among Republicans and Independents, according to the new survey, but still has strong backing among the Democratic base—68% of which supports transitioning to a single-payer healthcare system.

    From a tweet captured in the article:

    84% want Medicare to cover dental, vision & hearing

    77% want to expand Social Security

    75% want a cap on rent increases

    71% want to restore $300/month Child Tax Credit

    70% want a $17/hour Minimum Wage

    64% want to cancel Medical Debt





  • Relevant text below:

    District 19 represents 8,000 machinists who repair locomotives and heavy equipment for freight rail carriers including CSX, BNSF, and Union Pacific.

    The Department of Labor and the Machinists entered into an agreement to rerun last year’s election—which Murtaugh lost by just six votes—after the challengers filed charges over irregularities with member addresses. It is extremely rare to have an election redone in this way. Fewer than 0.3 percent of union elections lead to a rerun supervised or ordered by the DOL.

    Ballots were cast—or due in the mail—on May 3, but then had to be sealed and shipped to a central location to be counted under DOL direction.

    Murtaugh and Rosato campaigned on a platform of increased transparency and a more militant posture toward the employers.

    “The members have voted in a working member, because they’re tired of the ways things have been run,” says Murtagh. “I campaigned on having members engaged in the contract negotiations—no more closed doors.”

    Negotiations for the next national rail contracts are expected to begin later this year. Contract negotiations under the Railway Labor Act, which covers railroad and airline workers, often take years.




  • Relevant section of the article where it lays out what has been changing and what still needs to change:

    … graft has been all but exterminated in some of the worst affected areas - for instance, government services such as issuing passports, permits and licences.

    He also tells the BBC that significant progress had been made in reforming education and police.

    Problem areas

    Mr Kalmykov admits, however, that the government has been less successful in eradicating corruption in using natural resources (e.g. in mining and forestry), regulating monopolies and in large infrastructure projects.

    “Progress has been slowest where big interests and big players meet,” he says.

    According to him, “in the next five-ten years the government should focus on cleansing the judiciary, which will make the general system of public administration healthier”.