The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 8, 2025

Americans unhappy with the draconian policies of President Donald Trump and his unelected advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, rallied in all 50 states April 5th. Over 600,000 had registered to attend, but organizers now estimate attendance for the over 1,400 rallies around the U.S. may have reached into the millions.

Events were held in big cities, state capitals and city plazas such as Albany, NY and Boston, MA, but also in rural towns such as Rib Mountain, WI, where over 600 people gathered, and an estimated 400 in Homer, AK.  

While there’s no solid figure, there’s no doubt it was the largest anti-Trump rally since his new term began.  Observers estimate Chicago’s rally at over 30,000, 100,000 in New York, 50,000 in Washington, DC, and 10,000 in Tucson, AZ. 

Signs condemned a range of Trump policies, including the slashing of civil service jobs, mishandling of immigrant deportations, Gaza and Israel, anticipated attacks on Social Security, and Trump’s often unconstitutional executive orders. 

One Phoenix, AZ protester quoted by the Arizona Mirror said, “I’m upset at our government, specifically our president, and all these executive orders he’s taken to destroy what I believe are core values of what America should be.”

Event organizer 50501 has announced another mass protest for April 19th, this time specifically directed at President Donald Trump.  

We’ve linked to local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

The Guardian – More than 1,000 ‘Hands Off’ anti-Trump protests hit cities across the US
CNN – ‘Hands Off!’ protesters across US rally against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk
AM New York – ‘Hands Off’ march in Manhattan sees tens of thousands protest Trump/Musk agenda and demand end to turmoil
Block Club Chicago – Massive Crowds March Downtown Against Trump, Musk At ‘Hands Off’ Protest
WSAW-TV – Hundreds rally in Rib Mountain to protest against Trump 
Homer News – Hundreds turn out in Homer, Soldotna to protest actions of Trump administration

Groups Taking Action:

50501, Indivisible, Declaration for American Democracy Coalition

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

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#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #HandsOff #April5th, #ProVoter

The post ‘Millions’ of April 5th ‘Hands Off’ Protesters in 1,300 Locations and All 50 States Oppose Trump Policies & Cuts  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 1, 2025

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

January 3rd, 83-year-old Vermonter Rick Hubbard and his Walking to Fix Our Democracy supporters walk the remaining 12 miles into Washington, DC, completing a more than 3,100 mile walk across the U.S.  He wants to deliver this simple message to the new Congress:  “Do Your Job.” 

Hubbard started walking in Pasadena, CA in October 2022, suspending it when his life partner’s cancer returned. Resuming in late 2023, he walked an average of 10 miles a day during 300 days of walking.  

Hubbard says that Americans of all political leanings know that our system is broken.  He said they recognize that most elected representatives are more interested in satisfying their campaign donors and following party agendas than their oath to “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States.”

“We CAN have an economy based on capitalism, that spreads its benefits broadly among us all,” Hubbard said. “Our elected representatives CAN, if they do their job, structure a healthcare system that provides high-quality healthcare to every one of us, at the lowest system-wide total cost, for the common good. But they don’t.”   

Among the reforms Hubbard supports to make the political system fairer, more inclusive, more competitive and more representative, include open primaries, ranked choice voting and small donor funded-elections.   

Details on joining the January 3rd walk can be found at FixOurDemocracy.Us, or linked at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl. 

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Walking to Fix Our Democracy – Join Final Day’s Walk to U.S. Capitol
WCAX – Vermont man on journey ‘Walking to Fix our Democracy’

Walking to Fix Our Democracy – Podcast #4 – To enact a healthcare system where all 330+ million Americans can receive high quality health care at the lowest system-wide cost
Brennan Center for Justice – Small Donor Public Financing Explained
PBS NewsHour – How open primaries and ranked-choice voting can help break partisan gridlock

Groups Taking Action:
Walking to Fix Our Democracy, Common Cause, Represent.Us, Public Citizen, Declaration for American Democracy

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #FixDemocracy #RickHubbard #DemocracyReform

The post 83-Year-Old Rick Hubbard Finishes a 3,100-Mile Walk to Washington, DC on January 3rd to Deliver This Message to the New Congress:  “Do Your Job” appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 31, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

Facing an energy crisis, high inflation, and rising unemployment, President Jimmy Carter addressed the nation in his “Crisis of Confidence” speech on July 15th, 1979.

“The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July. It is the idea which founded our nation and has guided our development as a people.” 

“Confidence in the future has supported everything else—public institutions and private enterprise, our own families, and the very Constitution of the United States. Confidence has defined our course and has served as a link between generations. We’ve always believed in something called progress. We’ve always had a faith that the days of our children would be better than our own.”

“Our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy.”

“Looking for a way out of this crisis, our people have turned to the Federal government and found it isolated from the mainstream of our nation’s life. Washington, D.C., has become an island. The gap between our citizens and our government has never been so wide. The people are looking for honest answers, not easy answers; clear leadership, not false claims and evasiveness and politics as usual.”

We’ve linked the full speech at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.

Full 32-minute “A Crisis of Confidence” speech in MP3 Audio:

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Voices of Democracy – The U.S. Oratory Project – JIMMY CARTER, “CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE” (15 JULY 1979)
CBS News – Video –  President Jimmy Carter’s “malaise” speech – “A Crisis of Confidence”
Bill of Rights Institute – Jimmy Carter and the “Malaise” Speech
The Fulcrum – Jimmy Carter: Defender of Democracy

The Carter Center – Democracy Programs

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and Bluesky Social, and SHARE! 

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #JimmyCarter #MalaiseSpeech #RIPJimmyCarter 

The post The ‘A Crisis of Confidence’ Speech by President Jimmy Carter, July 15, 1979 appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 9, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

The nonpartisan Fair Elections Center released a report to state and local election officials in February suggesting ways voter participation can be expanded.  Recommendations include expanding voter registration options, making use of public/private partnerships to distribute voting information, developing communication plans, and expanding poll worker training.

Fair Elections Center urges local governments to expand access points for online voter registration in the 42 states which offer it.  Instead of just the election department website, it suggests linking voter registration at DMV, employment security and other government sites.  It also suggests libraries and other public places make computers and voter registration forms available for those without broadband or computer access.  

Highly mobile populations often don’t re-register to vote.   Fair Elections Center recommends banks and other lenders, and landlords and other housing providers offer voter registration information.  It also recommends election officials work with schools to conduct voter registration events, and with local organizations in underrepresented communities.   

Voter information outreach continues to be a struggle for smaller election offices. The report recommends a communications plan which includes all modes of social media, voting information in additional languages, and in media for all disabilities.

We’ve linked the report at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl. Find us on Bluesky Social @DemocracyMinute.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Fair Elections Center – LOCAL INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE THE VOTING EXPERIENCE:
Recommendations for Local Elected Officials and Election Officials
U.S. Election Assistance Commission –  Election 2024 Toolkits

Groups Taking Action:
Fair Elections Center, Campaign Legal Center, Brennan Center for Justice

Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

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Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #RegistertoVote #BeAPollWorker #ProtectElections

The post Ways Local Officials Can Expand Voter Participation and Recruit Election Workers Using Public/Private Partnerships appeared first on American Democracy Minute.

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Dec. 5, 2024

Today’s Script

(Variations occur with audio due to editing for time. Today’s Links below the script)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

If you ever need proof that your vote matters, consider a Minnesota House race decided by only 15 votes. Or was it?  Twenty-one absentee ballots are missing, and hanging in the balance are not only who wins the district, but who wins control of the Minnesota State House.

House District 54a serves greater Shakopee, a Minneapolis suburb in Scott County.   Minnesota Public Radio reports that after a recount November 21st, the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party’s Brad Tabke gained one vote and led by 15 votes over Republican challenger Aaron Paul.  Tabke was declared the winner. 

During the recount, however, secrecy envelopes for 21 absentee ballots which had been logged as received by election workers in October were unaccounted for.  County officials are still investigating, but don’t think the ballots from those envelopes were counted, and suspect they were accidentally bailed and later shredded sometime before election day.  

Partisan control of the Minnesota House is tied 67 to 67, and the outcome of the Tabke-Paul race has huge consequences for both sides.  November 29th, Paul contested the race in Scott County District Court, claiming county election officials violated Minnesota’s election law, and because of the irregularities, a new election should be conducted.

We have the court challenge and links to detailed local reporting at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.  I’m Brian Beihl.  We’re now posting on Bluesky Social @DemocracyMinute.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Minnesota Public Radio – Tabke wins Shakopee-area legislative race after recount, House control still unknown

CBS News Minnesota – Republicans file court challenge in close state House race after officials say 21 ballots likely thrown away
Minnesota Reformer – Commentary – The missing Shakopee ballots: What happened, what should have happened and what should happen now?
Minnesota Reformer – Republican Aaron Paul contests Shakopee House election result, requests special election
Scott County District Court via Election Law Blog – NOTICE OF ELECTION CONTEST UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTE§ 209.021 

Register or Check Your Voter Registration:

U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State

Please follow us on Facebook and SHARE!  

Find all of our reports at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org

Want ADM sent to your email?  Sign up here!

Are you a radio station?  Find our broadcast files at Pacifica Radio Network’s Audioport and PRX

#Democracy  #DemocracyNews #MyVoteCounts #Minnesota #YourVoteCounts

The post Control of the Minnesota House May Come Down to a Race Decided by 15 votes – and 21 Missing Absentee Ballots  appeared first on American Democracy Minute.