An Unofficial Official Blog for Our Revolution!

Early voting for the special general election begins Wednesday, November 12, and ends Wednesday, November 26.

ELECTION DAY DECEMBER 2nd.

More info from TN Secretary of State: https://sos.tn.gov/elections/services/special-election-information

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Hi everyone! I don't usually use this blog to advocate for candidates, but there's a special election coming up in Tennessee this year and I think it's important to get the word out.

Rep Mark Green voted 'yes' on the OBBB and then promptly announced his retirement, fucking over Tennesseeans one last time. Now there's a seat up for grabs and I believe THIRTEEN candidates are vying for it. Now being Tennessee, there's some real whackadoos running, including an actual J6er. Obviously there are currently a lot more Repubs running for the seat, but we've got a few contenders that don't suck total ass, and I'm here to tell you about one of them.

This is Aftyn Behn, a former social worker, and currently the top polling democratic candidate for the job. She has served in the state legislature for two years and is an alumna for the Run for Something program, which helps regular folks navigate running for office. She has specialized in fighting for rural hospitals (increasingly underfunded after the OBBB passage), leading to eliminate the predatory Tennessee grocery tax, and has been a steadfast ally to those under attack by our state legislature.

On Tuesday, we helped score massive wins for our democracy — but we’re not done yet! There’s still one more election to win this year and it’s in Tennessee.

@aftynbehn.bsky.social, a state representative and former Indivisible group leader, is running in a special election to flip #TN07.

Food Banks: With SNAP disrupted, food pantries are overwhelmed. Please donate money, food, or time to your local pantry if you can. every bit helps families affected by the shutdown.

Meanwhile, the 7 Dems and 1 independent in the Senate who foolishly made a "deal" with Republicans and fucked a bunch of people over for no reason, well, we will get to them. In the meantime, the government probably still isn't going to open for a while (they really did cave for nothing, when Dems were wildly popular for once. Amazing stupidity and cowardice.) so there is a while to call and yell and harangue them and anyone who might listen to them. And we have a big blackout/boycott on the horizon.

Also, the House Dems are *pissed* and we have a chance to add to their number in Dec. December 2, Tennessee District 7 has an election and the margins between the R candidate and the D candidate are narrowing. (Or at least, they were before these Dems fucked it up so who knows.)

The Dem candidate in TN is Aftyn Behn. Check her out, follow on socials or donate or if you live there, canvas for her, etc.

In other news, if you are a freelancer, have you looked into a union? Sometimes, unions offer health coverage plans for the independently employed. It might not be as good as what you have now, but it might be more affordable for a while. And at least it would be something.

I suspect some blue states are going to move to compensate for this, but it will take a while. Oregon already has. Some states/counties have better health care options for residents. (This means more red states are going to lose people but that is also a problem for later.) Several states are looking into taxing the wealthy more to make up the difference. All states should be doing this, honestly.

If you have a Health Savings Account, which many with high deductible health insurance plans have (or maybe should have), remember you can a) pay into this account for a tax break b) pay for many health expenses with it (and get another tax break) including co-pays. Get as much money back as you can. Keep all of your receipts for medical expenses. Look up allowable HSA purchases, which can include co-pays but also sometimes things like vitamins, or glasses, or I think some period products. So you buy the things you have to buy anyway, but you get tax breaks for it!

(Speaking of, if you expect to pay some taxes, as many independent workers and self-employed do, do you have a tax-advantaged IRA account or anything like that? Keep your money for yourself, even if you can't spend it right now. Don't give shit to this government. Talk with an accountant about it or go into your local credit union for more information on that or on HSA's. Your bank might have experts too.)

ESPECIALLY because these Republican assholes also just got rid of free tax filing. Despite the fact that we are required to pay taxes. grrrrrrr. So don't give them anything. Keep your money for you. Talk to financial experts about it because I am not one. I am just a pissed-off cheap bitch.

I saw the writer John Scalzi (I think it was him) on bluesky discussing ways for the self-employed to create businesses and get better tax deals. Talk to a tax expert! Keep your money for you! Give these shitheads nothing!

But also, go into your bank or your credit union and ask about ways to budget, or for accounts with better interest rates, or tax-advantaged accounts. I said that at the start of all this and I still mean it. Get the most out of your money, even--especially--if you only have a little.

Even if you only save a little each month, even if it just means you pay the govt less, go for it. Do it. Protect yourself and your loved ones. Fuck these assholes.

And again, if all of that scares you a little, the bank people's whole job is to talk to customers about their money. And if you need more guidance, once again, The books/audiobooks The Broke Millennial are available from most libraries for free and will at least explain basic terms and concepts for you.

Oh, and if you are in California, your new Covered California increase doesn't happen until the new year. So if you are changing plans to a cheaper one (with a higher copay and deductible) GO TRY TO SCHEDULE EXAMS AND STUFF BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. Like right now. Save what money you can while you can.

I have love for the people I occupy this world with, who believe in community and justice and freedom and compassion, because those are the things that save us. Those are the things that make us United. Not a fucking flimsy Constitution written by men who don't have ears for those who are given less dignity than a goddamn sheet of old paper.

Our country's only saving grace is that we built it in the pursuit of freedom.

In terms of participating in electoralism.

I voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz by absentee ballot. In fact, I voted straight ticket Democrat. I even voted for Tammy Baldwin, who co-sponsored KOSA (along with about 70 other senators).

I can only vote in federal races because I am a permanent overseas resident.

That's not what is suggested by the real median household income (unless you think the median household has three incomes that are each 24)

That's not what's suggested by the median household income.

That's less than the median individual wage in every state (though median wage in Puerto Rico is about $20k annually).

Nationally, the median weekly wage for the lowest-paid demographic of workers measured by the BLS (hispanic women) in the second quarter of 2024 is over $40,000

The lowest median wage on a statewide level was Mississippi at $37,500.

USA Citizens sign here for a call to Congress: Stop the Gaza Genocide

UK Citizens sign this template to email your MP

Good morning! Americans do not celebrate Labor Day on May 1st. It was moved by the government to distance the day from the actual labor movement that birthed it.

After the Haymarket Incident, the bomber(s) were not confirmed, but those in proximity to the labor protest—organizers, outspoken members—were executed for it.

1 cop was killed by the bombing, then the police opened fire into the crowd. As a result of the skirmish, 6 more cops were killed and so were 4 protesters.

The US government was already deeply deeply anti-labor and anti-union, blaming any movement on communist interference, and were looking for an excuse to condemn the movement.

Everything we have with regards to worker protections, not working weekends, the 5 day work week, we owe to the labor movement.

Good morning! Americans do not celebrate Labor Day on May 1st. It was moved by the government to distance the day from the actual labor movement that birthed it.

After the Haymarket Incident, the bomber(s) were not confirmed, but those in proximity to the labor protest—organizers, outspoken members—were executed for it.

1 cop was killed by the bombing, then the police opened fire into the crowd. As a result of the skirmish, 6 more cops were killed and so were 4 protesters.

The US government was already deeply deeply anti-labor and anti-union, blaming any movement on communist interference, and were looking for an excuse to condemn the movement.

Everything we have with regards to worker protections, not working weekends, the 5 day work week, we owe to the labor movement.

Idk its giving" most people who claimed to care about human rights were just doing performative activism to fit in and once they found a new way to fit in they chucked that out the window"

The best support for the strike right now will mainly come from social pressure on the AMPTP, and the official website (wgacontract2023.org) has a social media toolkit that includes info graphics, icons, and other material that can be posted online. There is also potential good to be done with monetary/mutual aid support in cities with a strong entertainment industry. The wga website has links to funds to help with financial aid for union members. Another post mentioned looking out for suggestions or news from local chapters of IATSE and Teamsters, which is a pretty great suggestion.

That said, I also think that as the strike goes on, this is a great time to seek out more indie entertainment. Tubi seems like sort of a haven for indie films right now, and my suggestion is always to look for titles you've never heard of just to give them a go. I promise you'll have fun!

Remember to support the strike, but also that the goal is to not have to strike! This is going to be a hard time for industry workers, but they're doing it for the good of the industry as a whole.

(Dating this on 5/3/2023. Look to the wga website for the most current news on the strike).