Public Arts Commission

SUBJECT: the way forward after this abysmal presidential election

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/f3db5adbf4a2/the_way_forward_after_this_abysmal_presidential_election?e=[UNIQID]

we're happy to endorse "yes" on Arizona Proposition 140, Single Primary for All Candidates and Possible RCV General Election Initiative.

FULL ENDORSEMENT: https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?amendment_ID=6&amendment_name="yes"_on_Arizona_Proposition_140,_Single_Primary_for_All_Candidates_and_Possible_RCV_General_Election_Initiative

We're happy to endorse "no" on Arizona Proposition138, which would allow employers to pay tipped workers 25% less per hour than the minimum wage if any tips received by the employee were not less than the minimum wage plus $2 for all hours worked.

We support full minimum wage for tipped employees.

FULL ENDORSEMENT: https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?amendment_ID=5&amendment_name="no"_on_Arizona_Proposition_138

We're happy to endorse H.R. 6970 and S.680 - DASH (Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for all) Act. The bill would provide grants, loans, tax credits, and other assistance to promote the building, maintenance, and affordability of housing.

FULL ENDORSEMENT at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?legislation_ID=21&legislation_name=H.R._6970_and_S.680_-_DASH_(Decent,_Affordable,_Safe_Housing_for_all)_Act

We're happy to endorse H.R.7707 and S.3940 - First-Time Homebuyer Act of 2024. The bill would allow a first-time homebuyer of a principal residence a tax credit for 10% of the purchase price of the residence, not to exceed $15,000.

FULL ENDORSEMENT at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?legislation_ID=20&legislation_name=H.R.7707_and_S.3940_-_First-Time_Homebuyer_Act_of_2024

We're happy to endorse H.R.8988 and S.4666 - Get Foreign Money Out of Politics Act, which would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to apply the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under such Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic business entities, and for other purposes.

See our endorsement at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?legislation_ID=19&legislation_name=H.R.8988_and_S.4666_-_Get_Foreign_Money_Out_of_Politics_Act .

subject: we support Bernie Sanders’s call on the Democratic Party to ban super PACs from Democratic primary and general elections

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/70ee0cbd6410/we_support_bernie_sanderss_call_on_the_democratic_party_to_ban_super_pacs

subject: Kamala Harris's "opportunity economy" is a repeat of Hillary Clinton's 2016 economic plan

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/fc024c1a5bfd/kamala_harriss_opportunity_economy_is_a_repeat_of_hillary_clintons_2016_economic_plan

subject: towards a democratic immigration system

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/c74dd66fbef9/pro-towards_a_democratic_immigration_system-20319788

subject: pro-family should be a progressive agenda item

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/fd563c90e613/pro-family_should_be_a_progressive_agenda_item?e=[UNIQID]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/aug/05/bernie-sanders-election-democrats

Democrats should run on a progressive economic agenda. Americans are ready | Bernie Sanders Campaigning on an economic agenda that speaks to the needs of working families is a winning formula for Kamala Harris

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/07/29/america-is-not-ready-for-a-major-war-says-a-bipartisan-commission

America is not ready for a major war, says a bipartisan commission The country is unaware of the dangers ahead and of the costs to prepare for them

subject: we're not endorsing the Harris 2024 campaign

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/2f7cdf6f6fad/were_not_endorsing_the_harris_2024_campaign-20319124?

subject: some clarity in the midst of the great gaslighting

FULL TEXT:

some clarity in the midst of the great gaslighting

We're happy to endorse the U.S. constitutional amendment to eliminate immunity from criminal prosecution for an act on the grounds that such act was within the constitutional authority or official duties of an individual, and providing that the President may not grant a pardon to himself or herself.

Our endorsement is at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?amendment_ID=4&amendment_name=Constitutional_Amendment_to_Prevent_U.S._Presidents%27_Complete_Immunity

subject: the Democratic Party should listen to the people and have an open convention

FULL TEXT: https://mailchi.mp/f896237d5e93/the_democratic_party_should_listen_to_the_people_and_have_an_open_convention-20318252

subject: why we are not endorsing the Biden 2024 presidential campaign

We make an effort only to endorse viable campaigns. We cannot afford to waste our time and energy on campaigns that are not viable. The Biden 2024 presidential campaign is not a viable campaign due to the candidate’s mental decline, which is one of the main reasons we cannot endorse the Biden 2024 presidential campaign. Instead, we will focus our time and energy on down-ballot campaigns as long as Biden is running for President.

Another reason we cannot endorse the Biden campaign is that the campaign has lost credibility. The Biden campaign has made efforts to hide Biden’s mental decline from the public for years. The White House has lied about the President’s condition and treatment. The deception about Biden’s mental state has meant Biden and the White House have lost trust. Furthermore, Biden and many Democrats have made a habit of saying they support causes that align very much with our agenda and yet have no real intent nor a viable plan to achieve the goals they say they support. Unfortunately, some progressive legislators have gotten duped and have thrown their support behind Biden despite Biden not having real plans to achieve the things he says he will support.

Another reason we cannot endorse the Biden campaign is the way in which Biden and some of his supporters have attempted to silence his critics who raise concerns over Biden’s mental decline. The campaign has become quite Trumpian in attempting to suppress dissent. A cult-like formation has formed around Biden that has further disconnected Biden from voters.

For many, the 2024 presidential election is reminiscent of past elections but weirder because of the Democratic candidate’s more obvious flaws. The vast majority of Democrats (65%) want Joe Biden to withdraw his campaign. A larger majority of registered voters want Joe Biden to withdraw his campaign. This bizarre situation has prompted us to consider how we got here.

After the 2016 election in which Trump defeated Clinton, reforms were made to the DNC, which had thoroughly messed up by rigging the Democratic primary in favor of Clinton over Sanders. In 2018, the DNC reduced the influence of superdelegates, but did not get rid of superdelegates, altogether. Clearly, the reforms were not enough.

The reality is Joe Biden would not have won the nomination to represent the Democratic Party in 2020 if not for the oligarchs backing his campaign. Joe Biden promised Wall Street nothing would fundamentally change during his 2020 campaign. The undue influence of big money in our elections is the reason we have a senile octogenarian running the country. Big money is the reason we are told we can’t have a candidate other than Joe Biden.

Citizens United, which has allowed unlimited money to flow into our elections, has had disastrous effects on our democracy. Oligarchy is stronger than ever.

The Biden 2024 campaign says nothing about removing the undue influence of big money in our elections. Biden has always been a President for the status quo. Voters want something different.

Joe Biden still has time to withdraw his campaign. We hope he does and that the Democratic Party has an open convention. Voters want someone not from the Biden administration. There are plenty of governors who do well running against Trump.

Yours in solidarity!

stephen garrett dewyer
public arts commission Founder

why we are not endorsing the Biden 2024 presidential campaign

subject: the lies and gaslighting from the Biden administration and campaign are reckless and dangerous

For anyone with a modicum of intelligence, the lies and gaslighting from the Biden administration and campaign are insulting. More concerning is the disconnect between Biden and reality that has and will get people killed.

Life, death and the fate of the country are decided when heads of state negotiate. Biden is ultimately the one making the decisions in these discussions. No advisor can make the decisions for him. Biden has shown he is not capable of keeping his train of thought for more than a few sentences. He can’t keep the names of allies and enemies straight. Adversaries can and most definitely will exploit Biden’s lack of mental acuity. Negotiations play a key part of steering the country. The inability of Biden to effectively negotiate is a disaster that our enemies are already exploiting.

China just sent a flotilla to Alaska. What China and Russia are doing of late is showing they are growing their ability to corner the United States.

The lies and gaslighting from the White House are most concerning because they are meant to hide the disconnect between Biden and reality. Just this week, the White House Press Secretary lied about Biden’s doctor visiting with a Parkinson’s specialist regarding Biden’s mental state. Repeatedly, the White House Press Secretary claimed the visits had nothing to do with Biden when, in fact, they did. The Parkinson’s specialist visited around 8 times.

If you listen to communications from Biden’s supporters, you would think he was the most progressive President in U.S. history. They claim the economy is great, wages have increased and renewed investment in infrastructure. The fact is that the billionaires are the ones who have gotten richer and deaths of despair have grown. The birth rate is disastrously low and life expectancies particularly among men have declined. The vast majority of young people are missing key life events. Men are going to college at lower rates. Fewer people can afford homes.

The Biden Presidency was only supposed to be a transition from the authoritarianism of Trumpism to a democratic future. Somehow, Biden has convinced himself he has to stay in the race because the stakes are higher. The stakes are high, which is why we need Biden to withdraw from running in the 2024 presidential election.

Yours in solidarity!

stephen garrett dewyer
public arts commission Founder

https://mailchi.mp/c17ff010496d/the_lies_and_gaslighting_from_the_biden_administration_and_campaign_are_reckless_and_dangerous-20317752

We're happy to endorse the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, which recently received bipartisan support in the Senate and heads to the The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for mark up.

Full endorsement: https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?legislation_ID=18&legislation_name=H.R.2678_and_S.1171_-_Ending_Trading_and_Holdings_in_Congressional_Stocks_(ETHICS)_Act

subject: Joe Biden And His Campaign Are Attempting To Defraud Their Way To Achieve 2024 Democratic Nomination

Joe Biden and his campaign are attempting to defraud their way to achieve the 2024 Democratic nomination. The blatant lies are compounding a crisis that largely stemmed from the last presidential debate. On top of the President’s crisis of confidence with the vast majority of people in the United States, we now have a major credibility crisis.

One argument we’ve heard as to why Biden should stay in the race is that millions of people spoke in the Democratic primary and voted for Joe Biden. The argument supposes that selecting a new nominee undermines the will of the voters. The argument misses the fact that for years the Biden administration and campaign have been covering up the extent of the President’s decline. Voters were not given an honest and good faith choice.

For people who do not belong to the top echelons of power, a lie on a resume can and often will terminate their employment. The reason is trust. Employers want to be able to trust their employees.

The cover up about Joe Biden’s decline is a lot more serious than Bill Clinton’s lie about a very innocuous affair with Monica Lewinski. Presidents make life and death decisions every single day. How many more people are we going to let get killed because of the feebleness of Joe Biden?

Sure, there are some major accomplishments by the Biden administration. There are also some major blunders that have cost lives and jeopardized the futures of millions of people. We’ve all witnessed some of the gross incompetencies including the slow and inadequate support for Ukraine, the inability to use our leverage with Israel to avert major humanitarian disaster in Gaza, the Department of Education’s FAFSA debacle, the hundreds of thousands of deaths from Fentanyl in the United States since Biden took office, the hasty and unorganized withdrawal from Afghanistan, the inability to handle the housing crisis that has left hundreds of thousands unhoused.

The crisis of confidence in the Biden administration has been building for a long time. Now, we have a crisis of credibility. Neither of the two can the Biden administration undo in time to win the 2024 election.

Each new lie coming from the Biden campaign and White House further erodes the claim of Biden bringing decency to the White House, which is increasingly becoming eerily similar to Trump’s White House in its disdain for the truth. The time is long past due Biden resign and withdraw from the 2024 presidential election.


Yours in solidarity!

stephen garrett dewyer
public arts commission Founder

https://mailchi.mp/b4b4eacfbf56/joe_biden_and_his_campaign_are_attempting_to_defraud_their_way_to_achieve_2024_democratic_nomination_for_president-20317616

how to defeat Donald Trump in 2024 and save democracy

The path to defeat Donald Trump and save democracy is clear. Here is what should happen:

1. Biden withdraws his campaign from the 2024 presidential race
2. Biden releases his delegates
3. Democrats hold a mini primary whereby a new candidate is selected to represent the Democratic Party in the 2024 presidential race. The primary is open to candidates who achieve a certain democratic threshold and the delegates select a candidate who meets a certain democratic threshold to represent the party in the 2024 presidential election.
4. The Biden-Harris campaign transfers its funds to the 2024 Democratic Party nominee to run un the 2024 presidential election.
There is time to hold a mini primary in the next few months leading to the Democratic Convention. The primary should get national media attention and help get a clearer picture of who should run in the 2024 presidential election.

The path to defeat Donald Trump and save democracy is clear. The first step is for Biden to withdraw his campaign from the 2024 presidential race. We need to make that happen.

Yours in solidarity!

stephen garrett dewyer
public arts commission Founder

https://mailchi.mp/e4ce5e6e2fee/how_to_defeat_donald_trump_in_2024_and_save_democracy-20317464

we are calling for Biden to immediately resign and withdraw from the 2024 presidential race

We endorsed the Biden 2020 campaign after Bernie Sanders withdrew from the race for the Democratic nomination. The Biden 2020 campaign was an historically progressive campaign that ran on strengthening democracy in the United States and included fighting economic inequality and fighting climate change. The defeat of Donald Trump protected democracy in the United States at a pivotal time.

With every passing day, the legacy of the Biden presidency is put further into doubt as to whether Biden has delivered on his promise to defend democracy. There is not only the threat of a Trump reelection in 2024, which is assured to happen if Biden stays in the race. While the expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden as well as the support for Ukraine against Russian imperialism are major victories against authoritarianism, recent developments are showing signs of an expansion of authoritarianism.

Recent satellite imagery shows four Chinese spy bases in Cuba that can intercept important communications in Florida that will give them information they can use against democracies. China is expanding their capacities in Cuba.

Russia has been increasing the number of nuclear submarines (11 that we know) in the Atlantic to a number that is similar to that during the Cold War. Russia recently sent an advanced frigate along with an advanced nuclear submarine and tanker to Venezuela ahead of the elections in Venezuela.

We need to be honest about our mistakes if we are going to learn from them. The Biden at the presidential debate last week was the same Biden we’ve been seeing for years. It was not just a bad night as Biden and the White House are saying. Biden has consistently shown he has difficulty making coherent arguments and consistently does not show an awareness of his surroundings.

We need to be honest about the state of Biden’s decline and what that means not only as we go into the 2024 elections but also what that means in the time leading to the elections.

Presidents make life and death decisions every day. They have to negotiate life and death matters every single day. Leading a country takes not only mental acuity, but the ability to inspire and lead people. Biden has neither mental acuity or the ability to inspire and lead people.

We are calling for Biden to immediately resign and withdraw from the race for President. Every single day Biden stays in office and in the race for President undermines the reason he was elected in the first place. The honorable thing would be for Biden to immediately resign and withdraw from the race for President.

Yours in solidarity!

stephen dewyer
public arts commission Founder
https://mailchi.mp/9f85f19fd5c8/we_are_calling_for_biden_to_immediately_resign_and_withdraw_from_the_2024_presidential_race

We're happy to endorse the Raise the Wage Ohio 2025 amendment initiative. The initiative would raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, and end subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth. The initiative is being driven by a large coalition of organizations, led by One Fair Wage, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Red Wine and Blue, and many more groups at the intersection of community, labor and faith.

See our endorsement of Raise the Wage Ohio 2025 at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?amendment_ID=3&amendment_name=Raise_the_Wage_Ohio_2025

why we need to help convince Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential election

Joe Biden shouldn’t run for President. The Joe Biden at the Presidential debate last week was the same Joe Biden we’ve been seeing for several years: a man who cannot formulate sensible arguments and who at times does not appear aware of his surroundings.

While the decision on whether Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race is ultimately decided by Joe Biden, it is abundantly clear that we have a short window until the Democratic Convention (19-22 August 2024) to help convince Biden to dropout for the sake of our democracy. There are plenty of great options should Biden dropout, especially from some current and former governors.

Voters do not like the current candidates for President and would much prefer to have better options. Let’s give us voters better options. We need to convince Joe Biden to withdraw from the race for President in favor of an open convention. Joe Biden should release his delegates. What's better to strengthen our democracy than giving voters a better option to defeat Trump?

Yours in solidarity!

stephen garrett dewyer
public arts commission Founder

https://mailchi.mp/837acca39fdf/we_need_to_help_convince_joe_biden_to_withdraw_from_the_2024_presidential_election

We are happy to endorse yes on California $18 Minimum Wage Initiative. See our endorsement at https://public-arts-commission.vercel.app/endorsements?referendum_ID=3&referendum_name=California_$18_Minimum_Wage_Initiative