Extra! Extra! 9/29
Hi, all, and happy Sunday!
I’ve got a packed schedule today—including a fundraiser here in L.A. with the VP herself!—so I have to be quick.
Here’s your list of stuff that went right this week. It’s long, because people like you work hard and the results of that work are exploding everywhere! So yes, the world is a mess, and MAGA is terrifying, and hate is seemingly omnipresent, and Helene has wreaked havoc. But YES also, repairs are happening. The left is organized, teeming with volunteers, determined, and insistent on a better future. LOVE is also everywhere. And help for those in need is being readily offered.
So take some time to enjoy this list of the ways the world—and our country in particular—is getting better. It matters! Remember, what we focus on grows. So take some time to focus on the wins today.
And please, share them with a friend!
I’ve popped an 🪓 next to every item that everyday activists like you helped make happen, and a 🪣 next to every one that got done by lawmakers or administrations that we helped elect.
P.S. Sending so much love to those of you affected by Helene. Let us know how we can help!
Read This 📖
I’ve got something for folks worrying about Georgia’s Trumpy Election Board shenanigans. It’s by Anna Bower in
. Short version here, long version here. It’ll make you feel better, I promise.Celebrate This! 🎉
The Department of the Treasury announced a $9.1 million grant to launch the Michigan Auto Supplier Transition Program to help small and underserved automotive manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers secure financing to scale and shift to supplying the electric vehicle supply chain. 🪣
Teamsters Joint Council 75 representing Georgia, Florida, and Alabama endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President.
A top Muslim-voter organization endorsed VP Harris.
Donald Trump hasn’t given a dime to the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee, which is responsible for holding the GOP’s House majority.
The DOD announced it will spend $500 million each year on vital women’s health research that will focus on conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently—such as ovarian cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and musculoskeletal injuries. 🪣
Las Vegas’ unofficial urban river that replenishes upward of 200 million gallons of water in Lake Mead every day has received $20 million for erosion control. 🪣
The DNC and private donors are putting more than $450,000 into a get-out-the-vote campaign aimed at reaching Americans from swing states living abroad. This the first time ever the DNC has allocated resources into turning out these voters. 🪓
General Stanley McChrystal, a retired four-star Army general and the former commander of US and allied forces in Afghanistan, endorsed Vice President Harris in an opinion piece in the New York Times.
Federal authorities formally imposed a $6 million fine on the political operative who admitted to NBC News that he orchestrated a deepfake robocall impersonating Biden.
Evangelicals for Harris launched a seven-figure ad campaign aimed at Christian voters in the key battleground states. The series of ads draws on biblical themes and contrasts them with Trump’s words. 🪓
The NFL is working with FEMA to officially certify stadiums as emergency shelters.
In 100 days, Minnesota will be free of “forever chemicals” — banning the sale of products that contain PFAS statewide. It’s the most restrictive ban on these harmful chemicals in the nation. 🪓 🪣
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a Republican lawsuit that sought to upend state election law and restrict where voters can return their completed absentee ballots.
A judge ruled that the assets belonging to Alex Jones of InfoWars will be sold off piece by piece to pay $1 billion he owes to the relatives of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims. 🪓
Rudy Giuliani has been disbarred from practicing law in Washington, D.C.
President Biden signed an executive order aimed at restricting new firearm technology that makes existing weapons more dangerous and helping students address the trauma caused by active shooter drills at schools. 🪣
More than 400 independent economists and economic policy experts endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President, praising her vision for an Opportunity Economy that supports middle-class families and small businesses.
The government didn’t shut down and the SAVE Act is dead—for now, at least. 🪓
Arizona and Oklahoma just approved the use of campaign funds for child care. 🪓
California is banning all plastic shopping bags in supermarkets starting in 2026, closing a loophole that allowed thicker ones. (Whoo we helped make this happen!) 🪓 🪣
Crime, including serious violent incidents like murder and rape, dropped nationally from 2022 to 2023, according to new data released by the FBI. 🪣
The state of California sued ExxonMobil, accusing the oil giant of misleading the public about the effectiveness of plastics recycling and contributing to the flood of bottles, bags and wrappers polluting waterways in the state and worldwide. 🪣
US solar manufacturing capacity has quadrupled thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. 🪓 🪣
A polluting, coal-fired power plant in Minnesota, scheduled for retirement, is going to connect the largest solar project in the Upper Midwest to the grid when it closes.
The world could start seeing a decline in carbon emissions starting this year, according to new research from two major research firms. 🪓
The Nebraska state senator who Republicans hoped would help ease Trump’s path to the White House by agreeing to change how the state allocates its Electoral College votes said that he would not do so.
In Arizona, the new New York Times/Sienna College poll shows that 58% of voters support the abortion rights amendment that will be on the ballot in November. 🪓
A federal judge temporarily blocked Tennessee from enforcing a law banning adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission.
Members of Pennsylvania’s Polish community penned a letter endorsing Kamala Harris after Harris, at the debate earlier this month, warned that Donald Trump would allow Russia to invade Poland. 🪓
Residents in six swing states have a shot at winning free concert tickets just by checking their voter registration status.
Three former chairs of the Maine Republican Party “enthusiastically” endorsed Kamala Harris for president in the Bangor Daily News.
A nonpartisan police leadership organization that notes that it is the only national law enforcement advocacy group to endorse political candidates endorsed VP Harris.
Gavin Newsom signed some important climate bills related to oil and gas drilling that we in CA worked VERY hard to pass! It’s a BIG victory! Read more about it here. 🪓 🪣
Consumer sentiment rose to a 5-month high. 🪣
A new poll finds that in Battleground states, Black swing voters move +9 points to Kamala Harris when they hear about her climate plans.
Trump's Project 2025 has "become one of the most unpopular political programs or ideas in recent history." A new NBC News poll shows that just 4 percent of American voters viewed it favorably, while 57 percent had a negative view. GOOD! 🪓
A sodium battery plant in North Carolina, a solar panel manufacturing facility in New Mexico, and a factory building electric sports cars in Virginia are among the $2.4 billion worth of new U.S. clean energy manufacturing projects announced in August. 🪣
A new Harvard Institute of Politics poll of 18-to-29-year-olds nationwide finds Kamala Harris with a commanding lead over Donald Trump, 64% to 32%.
With the 213th federal judge of the Biden era confirmed by the Senate this week, Democrats are now hoping to match the number of judges appointed during the Trump administration. 🪓 🪣
Kamala Harris told Wisconsin Public Radio that she supports ending the filibuster to restore Roe v. Wade to protect abortion rights nationally. 🪓 🪣
An Ohio sheriff has been stripped of his role providing security at his county’s early voting location after he compared immigrants to insects and urged residents to record the addresses of people who have yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.
The leader of a nonprofit representing the Haitian community of Springfield, Ohio, filed criminal charges against Trump and Vance for their heinous spreading of racist lies about the Haitian community.
Kamala Harris maintains a significant advertising advantage over Donald Trump on television and digital.
CA Gov. Newsom signed a formal apology for California’s role in slavery. 🪓 🪣
The turnout on day one of Virginia’s early voting was way, way higher even than 2020’s historic turnout. Words like “record-breaking” abounded. 🪓
Three more notable Republicans, including a former Republican US senator, crossed the aisle to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House.
The U.S. solar industry accounted for 279,447 jobs as of December 2023, marking a 5.9% increase from 2022. Solar jobs also increased in 47 states, with some of the largest gains in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and Nevada.
Using EPA funds, Colorado will deploy cutting edge technology for detecting methane emissions from its 80 landfills, making it a leader among states. 🪣
The Ocean Cleanup announced they could clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years with their plastic extraction system, if they can raise $7.5 billion.
The EPA announced $117 million for three separate funding opportunities to advance recycling infrastructure and boost food waste prevention education across the country. 🪣
The EPA and AmeriCorps announced the Environmental Justice Climate Corps, a new partnership launched as part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps to open doors for people to serve in careers that benefit disadvantaged and other low-income communities. 🪣
The Interior Department granted $254 million to local parks, the largest investment in the 10-year history of the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program. 🪣
Athletes for Harris launched with new endorsements from 15 NFL Hall of Famers and a fall paid media blitz focused on reaching voters during the biggest games before Election Day. 🪓
The Democratic National Committee is sending money to every state Democratic party in the country for the first time in its history to bolster down-ballot races in the final sprint toward November. 🪓
In a win for voters, the Utah Supreme Court voided an anti-democratic amendment hastily proposed by the GOP-controlled Legislature last month. The measure would have allowed lawmakers to repeal or alter voter-approved ballot measures.
In Los Angeles County, Sheriff Robert Luna announced a new policy banning Sheriff gangs (which are just horrific) within the LASD. 🪓 🪣
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Marco Robinson (R) has just three people still working on his gubernatorial campaign — two campaign spokesmen and a bodyguard, WUNC reports.
Watch This! 👀
I hope you can open it. It’s AWESOME.
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Thank you for lifting us up. Some days are hard. ❤️
I’m glad to see so many more voters have actually heard about Project 2025 that polls are showing their distaste of it!!!