Update

All Pledge Planks
“Shut Down the Wall, Open the Government” Day of Action
It’s Day 34 of the government shutdown and nearly 1 million federal workers are about to miss their 2nd consecutive paycheck. This coming Tuesday 1/29 – when Trump’s original State of the Union was scheduled – join us and speak out against this massive injustice. Find a MoveOn event near you.

For more on the shutdown, John Nichols argues in The Nation that “the bland language of the “shutdown” coverage fails to capture the crisis into which federal workers and their families have been thrust.” And in the NY Times, Barbara Erinchreich and Gary Stevenson declare that, despite (or because of) how painful the shutdown is, this is a real opportunity for labor to take a stand.

Pledge Planks: 6. High-Quality Public Education—Pre-K – University

“This was about the Survival of Public Education.” LA Teachers Claim Victory After Week-long Strike
Public school teachers in Los Angeles returned to schools yesterday after an historic 6-day strike – one of the largest the country’s seen in decades. The new deal meets organizers’ strongest demands for a better investment in students, more respect for teachers, and a stop to school privatization. Their success has already ignited similar efforts in Denver, where teachers took to the picket lines on Wednesday.Watch the Democracy Now interview with Arlene Inouye and Sarah Jaffe, and read about more onwhat and why the strikes won, and how they’ve shown a generation of kids the power and purpose of organized labor.

Pledge Planks: 8. Make Corporations and Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share

A 70% marginal tax on the super-rich goes mainstream
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ calls for a 70% marginal tax rate on the ultra-wealthy earlier this month made a ripple across the mainstream media. And since, polls have shown that American voters overwhelming support her proposal. Read some analysis below:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is floating a 70 percent top tax rate — here’s the research that backs her up, Matthew Yglesias, Vox
The Economics of Soaking the Rich, Paul Krugman, New York Times
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ Tax Hike Idea is Not About Soaking the Rich, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, New York Times
Ocasio-Cortez wants higher taxes on very rich Americans. Here’s how much money that could raise. Jeff Stein, The Washington Post
With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Americans Finally Have a Politician Who Agrees With Them About Taxes, Jon Schwarz, The Intercept

Also, elsewhere on the tax policy front, Greg Leiserson of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth just published a new explainer on net worth taxes, and presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a proposal that would levy a 2% wealth tax on Americans with assets above $50 million.

All Pledge Planks
The Women’s March 2019 Agenda
Last weekend, the Women’s March led the 2019 demonstrations and released the 2019 Women’s Agenda – an intersectional feminist policy platform which includes “24 essential federal policy priorities…that serve as a work plan to Congress and create a roadmap we will use to mobilize our constituents into 2020 and beyond.” Click here to read the full agenda.

All Pledge Planks
Rev. Barber: “You can’t say you love Dr. King and not support his agenda.”
Finally, enjoy this fiery call to action from Reverend Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign at Nashville’s MLK Day event this past Monday — urging all of us to get behind a big bold agenda for change. This – ladies and gentlemen – is how we honor Dr. King’s legacy. Watch the short clip below, or find the (phenomenal) full speech here.