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Dave Johnson Profile picture
Dave Johnson
@dcjohnson
Expat in the UK. Former Sr Fellow, Campaign for America's Future, others. Previous, Silicon Valley Tech & Exec. Was AFSCME Chief Steward. https://t.co/fmeg7LCUMA
Jun 8, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Our government - We the People - COULD decide to do everything society accomplishes ourselves, through our government.

We COULD set up government factories to build cars and TVs etc.

But we don't Instead, we ... /1

democracyandcommunity.org/2023/03/14/the… ... set up a system where wealthy people pool their funds and do those things FOR US.

In exchange for setting up and managing those factories etc FOR US we allow them to take a cut of the returns (profits).

This is done through corporations. /2

democracyandcommunity.org/2023/03/14/the…
Apr 19, 2022 • 21 tweets • 3 min read
A little more on this. We are currently "governed" by a minority. The wants and needs of the public are no longer a consideration in what comes out of the Congress. It's about to get much, much worse.

Thread. 2. Currently we have a gerrymandered House, Dems need big majorities to break even in representation.

The Senate is rigged to represent vacant land. By 2040 30% of the population will elect 70 Senators, and 70% will elect 30%. (And you know which 30% will get those 70.)
Dec 5, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The problem is we're living with the consequences of past decisions.

Dems didn't kill the filibuster when Obama was president, allowing GOP to block almost everything.

Dems disbanded 50-state strategy.

Dems didn't build an infrastructure of orgs to reach the public like the /1 right did, starting decades ago.

Dems didn't outlaw corporate donations, dark money, etc. when they could.

Dems didn't hold top GOP accountable for crimes.

Etc etc short-term thinking, no strategy, so many past decisions adding up to present terrible situation. /2
Dec 2, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Jan 2011

"We all want to see the Senate start working again, and be more democratic."

ourfuture.org/20110124/Filib… Jan 2013
"There have been more than 380 filibusters in the last few years, yet the public knows little about this obstruction. So let's "make them talk" when they want to filibuster a bill. This is the form of the filibuster that people understand."

ourfuture.org/20130110/83892
Jan 18, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
1) Start with your objective. What is it you want to happen?

2) Invent a story that justifies the objective.

3) Pound that story out 24/7, endless repetition.

4) Push through your objective.

Examples:

/1 You want tax cuts for the rich. Invent "tax cuts pay for themselves" story.

You want no taxes for corporations. Invent "that's taking the same income twice" or "taxes make American corporations less competitive."

/2
Jan 11, 2021 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
Remember when Democrats tried to appease fascists by defunding ACORN - an organization that registered people to vote (usually for Democrats)? Remember when Democrats tried to appease fascists by censuring MoveOn - an organization that rallied people to support Democrats?
Nov 26, 2019 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
In my life I've seen the GOP go from bad to worse. They are on a path to dictatorship and genocide. We can all see that now. Dems must use what power they have left to stop them.

Nixon was bad, Reagan was much worse, /1 Bush was criminal and corrupt and killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq. And then Trump...

Our elections are corrupted. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, etc. Are voting machines rigged? We don't know and can't find out. /2
May 12, 2019 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
That is ONE of the reasons Trump is president. Voter suppression is a big one. 40 years of propaganda.lies from a corrupt, corporate&billionaire-funded right-wing apparatus is another (and contributes to picking bad candidates). /1 Then there is corporate infiltration of the Dems using their wealth and power, and the resulting bad candidates. Also the resulting failure to use the power of government to protect We the People and make our lives better. /2
Feb 22, 2018 • 8 tweets • 1 min read
People are fucking fed up with guns. And they're fed up with a lot of other things, too. Things where money has bought ways to keep us from solving problems when the problems are about profits. /1 Climate, of course, is the big one. Oil & coal companies buying politicians while sea levels rise, freak storms of great intensity - worse every year...

But so many other problems where the solutions are blocked by big money... /2