Five years ago, on Mother’s Day, we at the Rift Repairers and Kairos Center launched the Campaign for the Poor: a national call for moral revival with a 40-day direct action moral fusion. Some historians have called the six weeks of protests in dozens of state capitals across the country both the largest and largest wave of non-violent civil disobedience in history. On Mother’s Day 2018, we gathered for a massive rally at the National City Church in Washington, D.C. and called attention to the horrifying reality that 140 million poor and low-income people live in the richest country in the history of the world. We lamented the fact that 700 people die every day from poverty and inequality, that more than half of all children live in families without food, and that too many mothers have to bury their children due to lack of medical care or because of violence. with the use of firearms. and other forms of policy failure, while others struggled to maintain a roof over their heads and the necessities of life. None of this is natural or inevitable – it is the result of bad policy.

The Campaign for the Poor began on Mother’s Day and ended with a season of non-violent direct action on the summer solstice to turn on the lights, draw attention to poverty and low living standards in the country. And five years later, that light still burns and should burn even brighter. Over the years, the Campaign for the Poor has created coordinating committees of poor and affected people, clergy and moral leaders, advocates and activists in states across the country.

In 2019, at the first ever Congress for the Moral Action of the Poor, we hosted the largest forum of the 2020 election season, inviting nine candidates to raise issues of poverty, racism, climate change, and militarism in public policy. In 2020, we sponsored the largest gathering of the poor and underprivileged on social media, during which millions of people joined the online mass assembly of the poor. In 2021, despite a protracted public health crisis, we continued to change the narrative and build influence among the 140 million poor and low-income people through demonstrations, online meetings, and a season of non-violent moral action direct action.

Last year, on June 18, 2022, we hosted the Mass Assembly of Poor and Underpaid Workers and the Morality March in Washington DC, where thousands of people gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue to hear the stories and solutions of the poor and low-income people, lawyers, clergy and their supporters. Allies We then continued our march to the polls, reaching over 7 million poor and low-income people in key states with low propensity to vote, who have the power to shift political calculations towards the moral agenda.

Over the years, we have published reports documenting the breadth and depth of interlocking injustices, including the Poor Man’s Soul Audit, the Poor’s Moral Budget, the Poor Man’s Pandemic Report, the Third Reconstruction Program, and more. We have inspired Congressional leaders to introduce the Third Reconstruction Resolution, calling on elected officials to strengthen their resolve to fully address poverty and low wages from the bottom up as we continue to pressure the streets, houses and legislatures.

While we have begun to change the narrative, influence public policy, and build influence among the poor and underprivileged, we still have a long way to go. Even at the height of the pandemic, when one party controlled both houses of Congress and the presidency, there was a refusal to make the child tax credit and other programs permanent. There was a refusal to introduce a living wage and universal health care.

Seven-time WNBA All-Star Britney Griner returned to playing Friday for the first time since her February 2022 arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after authorities found cannabis oil e-cigarette canisters in her luggage.

Griner spent almost 10 months in a Russian prison after pleaded guilty to drug chargesand she returned to the United States in December following a prisoner exchange.

On Friday night, Griner played her first competitive match since WNBA Finals 2021scoring 10 points for the Phoenix Mercury in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks.

BRITNEY GREENER TO RELEASE MEMOIR DESCRIBING “HARD EXPERIENCE” IN RUSSIAN DESERVATION

It was the Mercury’s last preseason game before the regular season opened on Friday.

Until prompted, Griner and her teammates stood for the national anthem, but not. The first pick in the 2013 WNBA Draft received a standing ovation from the home crowd when she was introduced.

“Hearing National anthemit definitely struck another,” Griner said. another.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS ADS ON FOXNEWS.COM

“To be here today… it means a lot.”

The Phoenix Mercury played the national anthem prior to a game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 12, 2023 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)

In July 2020, with social justice protests taking place across the country, Griner said she did not believe the anthem should be played during the season, adding that she did not mean any “disrespect for our country”.

Griner re-signs with Phoenix in February, returning for his 10th WNBA season, all with the Mercury.

“We looked at each other and we just got cold,” said Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard. “We were here last year for all of this. Now I’m starting to worry about it. Just to see her there again is an absolute miracle. It was amazing. I’m getting goosebumps again.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Griner added three rebounds in 17 minutes but was critical of her game, saying it was rustier than she expected.

Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is unveiled prior to the WNBA preseason basketball game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday, May 12, 2023 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

“Not where I want to be, but on the right track,” Griner said. “We are making the right moves.”

Griner’s detention in Russia ended in December after months of tense negotiations, when the Biden administration agreed to trade Griner for the convict. Russian arms dealer Victor Boot.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly survey roundup.

At 11:59 pm Thursday night, Section 42 is a policy dating back to the Donald Trump administration that it became easier to send migrants from the United States, citing the public health risk of COVID-19, has officially ended. Experts expect this to lead to a surge in immigration across the US-Mexico border, and there are signs that this is already underway: the number of migrants crossing the border has already increased from a norm of around 6,000-7,000 a day at the end of last year. To 10000 per day on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and the streets of many border towns filling with migrants seeking entry to the US

The Biden administration is preparing for the expiration of Section 42 by building more facilities for migrants, making it easier for people to apply for legal entry into the US rather than the risk of illegal border crossing, and even sending 1500 soldiers to the border. And politically, such aggressive action is probably smart: Polls show that not only do Americans want to keep Section 42 in place, but that another border crisis could be a political disaster for Biden.

According to May 6-7 voting from Morning Consult, 51 percent of registered voters opposed the repeal of Section 42, and only 37 percent supported its repeal. Although this is the only recent survey we have on this topic, its results were similar to those of survey May 2022 from Politico/Harvard, in which American adults opposed the termination of the program from 55 percent to 45 percent.

These numbers are not too surprising, given that many Americans believed that too many immigrants were coming to the US. before Title 42 has expired. According to February 2023 Survey According to the Associated Press/NORC Public Affairs Research Center, 44% of American adults believe the number of immigrants to the US should be reduced. Another 34% wanted the number of immigrants to remain the same, and only 20% thought it should be increased.

Of course, with everything else going on in the country, one unpopular decision may not change many people’s opinion of Biden. But the real danger for him is that he could lead to another border crisis that could refocus the national conversation on immigration — one of Biden’s weakest issues.

On average, in six polls since April 18, only 35 percent of Americans said they approved of Biden’s approach to tackling immigration, while 57 percent disapproved. That issue-specific net approval rating of -22 percentage points was 13 points worse than Biden’s average overall approval rating in the same polls.

According to morning poll since March, 47 percent of registered voters also believe that the US immigration system has worsened under the Biden presidency, and only 20 percent believe it has gotten better (24 percent said it has remained the same).

In other words, if immigration becomes a major issue during the 2024 presidential campaign, that’s bad news for Biden. Immigration is an issue that concerns Republicans much more than Democrats. poll november 2022 by FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos using Ipsos Knowledge Panel34 percent of Republicans cited immigration as one of the top issues facing the country (making it second only to inflation), but only 7 percent of Democrats. Additionally, in the aforementioned Morning Consult poll, registered voters said they trust Trump more than Biden on immigration issues by 9 points—Trump’s biggest advantage over the 17 questions asked by the pollster.

True, the 2024 election is still 18 months away, so other news has plenty of time to get ahead of this one. But the longer immigration is discussed in the country this summer, the more political damage Biden is likely to suffer. So it’s not surprising that his administration is paying close attention to all the steps it’s taking to mitigate the effects of the crisis, but only time will tell if they work.

Other Polling Bits

• IN ABC News/Washington Post Poll from April 28 to May 3, everyone started talking after they showed Trump and the governor of Florida. Ron DeSantis leads Biden by 6 points among registered voters. However, Democrats should not go crazy. It’s entirely possible that the poll simply selected a particularly Republican-leaning sample: Biden’s approval rating in the poll was an unusually low 36%, and several other polls showed Biden so far behind the Republicans. While ABC News/Washington Post is one of the best opinion polls, even the best pollsters publish outliers from time to time (in fact, we expect them to). In addition, it is still too early on the election calendar for the general election to be of much significance. As a rule, one should wait until after the presidential primaries a decision is made to pay attention to this.
• Americans may finally be beginning to understand what a debt ceiling means, after more than a decade of high-profile debate about it. A new YouGov poll explained the debt ceiling to half of his sample and then asked their opinion on raising it, while he simply asked the other half about raising it without any context. In both cases, about 40% said the debt ceiling should be raised, and about 40% said it should not. In addition, 52 percent correctly identified the debt ceiling as the limit on government borrowing to finance spending that had already been approved, and only 25 percent incorrectly indicated that it was the limit on government spending. Compare this to similar YouGov poll since 2013, when 42 percent said raising the debt ceiling would allow the US to pay interest on its debt and spending it has already authorized, and 39 percent said it would directly increase government spending and debt.
• According to April 3-9 voting from YouGov, Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to view the media as trustworthy. YouGov specifically asked how much Americans trust 56 different media outlets, and Democrats trust 50 of them more than Republicans. The only exceptions were conservative publications: Newsmax, One America News, Fox News, The Federalist, Breitbart News and Infowars. The only non-conservative outlet to have a net Republican confidence score of over 20 was The Weather Channel. The broadcaster with the largest trust gap between the two parties was CNN, with Democrats 55 points trusting it and Republicans 37 points distrusting it.

Biden endorsement

According to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential approval tracker, 42.4% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance as president, while 52.5% disapprove (-10.1 net approval rating). At the same time last week, 42.7% approved and 52.6% disapproved (net approval rating -9.9 points). A month ago, Biden had a 42.8% approval rating and a 52.5% disapproval rating, for a net approval rating of -9.7.