democracynow--2020-02-14--Detroit Overtaxed Residents by $600M, Causing Foreclosure Crisis. Residents Are Now Fighting Back.

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : We begin today ’ s show in Detroit , where a showdown between grassroots activists and the city is shining a spotlight on racist housing policies that robbed African Americans in Detroit of their homes and widened the wealth gap .
On Thursday , with the support of Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan , the Coalition for Property Tax Justice announced a class-action lawsuit against the city of Detroit , Wayne County and the state of Michigan in response to unfair @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detroit properties have been subject to property tax foreclosure , a level comparable only to the foreclosure rates during the Great Depression .
And according to legal experts , many of them were caused by illegally inflated property taxes that violated the state ’ s own Constitution .
Even though Detroit tried to fix the problem in 2017 , it ’ s still overvaluing the lowest-priced homes .
This is lifelong Detroit resident Sonja Bonnett speaking during a press conference on Thursday .
In 2015 , her home was illegally foreclosed by Wayne @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Detroit .
AMY GOODMAN : Detroit is now 80 % African-American , and 40 % of Detroit ’ s residents live below the federal poverty level .
But as downtown Detroit becomes increasingly gentrified , thousands of Detroit ’ s longtime residents , mostly African-American families , have lost their homes to foreclosure for property taxes they should not have been paying in the first place because the poverty tax exemption excuses those in poverty from paying .
Well , for more , we go to Detroit , Michigan , where we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Michigan , who has worked on this lawsuit from before the time she entered Congress .
And we ’ re joined by Bernadette Atuahene , a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and research professor at the American Bar Foundation , member of the Coalition for Property Tax Justice .
Her most recent study is titled “ Predatory Cities , ” forthcoming in the UC Berkeley Law Review later this month .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Congressmember Tlaib , you went back to Detroit for this major news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so critical in your town , in your city of Detroit .
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : You know , I represent the third-poorest congressional district in the country , out of 435 congressional seats in the nation .
And the human impact of what it feels like to not be offered the same equal rights that the majority of other Michiganders were getting — I mean , the due process of being able to get notice , to be able to have the right to appeal , but also the right to your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not only the city charter , but the Michigan state Constitution .
So many of my residents , before I ever got elected , were coming to the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice saying , “ Something ’ s not right here .
I don ’ t know .
Why did I get this after the deadline ?
What is happening here ?
” And when we filed a FOIA , we found out 260,000 Detroiters received the notice either late or even past the deadline .
And it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t even get the right to appeal it .
And what we hear from the city administration and those folks that are in power to make the change is , “ Well , it ’ s their fault .
They didn ’ t do anything about it.
” But you didn ’ t give them the option to do anything about it .
So that ’ s why I ’ m really commending the coalition and what we call the Detroit ’ s professor over here , Bernadette , for pushing forward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s what ’ s been really hard .
You heard from a mother recently of seven children , and she felt like she did something wrong .
And when she finally felt — you know , heard the data , heard that she was actually cheated out of her home , it felt liberating in some sense , that she wasn ’ t the one that was in the wrong .
She shouldn ’ t feel ashamed .
The city of Detroit and those in power should feel ashamed .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d like to ask you , in terms of how this crisis is affecting not just Detroit , but across the nation , in terms of the wealth , especially of African Americans and Latinos , because of the seizures of their homes , and especially resulting from after the 2008 mortgage meltdown , when so many other people went underwater .
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : Yeah , and that ’ s one of the key things , is , you know , homes are economic stability .
But many folks — just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chicago to other really beautifully historic cities , majority-black cities , what you know is these are homes that families have been in there generations .
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : Generations after generations .
You could probably go back and — I remember I was telling Bernadette this .
There was this woman who was born in her home , senior citizen in her seventies , and loses her home for less than $ 1,000 .
I mean , it ’ s devastating to see something so ripped away from you .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to homeownership .
And the fact of the matter is , it ’ s not only what happened here with this tax foreclosure crisis and , you know , I think , illegal taking ; is that we also see that big banks , mortgage industry , others , there are still institutional , systemic racism within their processes .
We see it with settlement cases all across the country over and over again .
I remember specifically in Financial Services Committee hearing about a whistleblower within Wells Fargo that was saying that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ somebody came in with an accent , to give a higher interest rate .
So , our communities of color all across the United States are facing barriers after barriers and these structural kind of racist approaches and processes .
To me , what happened to many of my Detroit neighbors , in not being offered due process and getting their homes taken away from them , was completely wrong .
The devastating part of it , too , was , after I got into the United States Congress , when I found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Detroit to handle the — to address the blight , to address this housing crisis .
When I found out that Detroit was — and I already had known this — Detroit was responsible for much of that .
So , the federal government is trying to fix an issue that was created by the own city administration is wrong .
Look , it ’ s in the charter .
It ’ s the law of the land in the city .
You ’ re supposed to assess people ’ s homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your duty , saying that , “ Oh , everybody got a notice , ” but you gave them notice after the deadline that they could actually appeal , is simply wrong .
And I think if you ask anybody across this country , the access to fairness and due process is so key .
And that ’ s why I think the class-action suit is important .
Not only do we have to fight in the streets to tell the truth and tell our stories , also onto the House floor of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also through the courts , do we have to demand that we ’ re treated with respect and dignity .
To take people ’ s homes away from them , where their children live , their neighborhood , everything is ripped from them , all because somebody decided they didn ’ t deserve it , they didn ’ t deserve the process or equality and due process that everybody else gets around the state .
AMY GOODMAN : Professor Bernadette Atuahene , you teach at Illinois Institute of Technology , at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done deep research into the racial wealth gap .
If you can talk about the facts and figures behind this lawsuit , what it has meant , and how the Detroit mayor is currently responding to the class-action suit and dealing with this illegal seizure of tax money or throwing people out of their homes ?
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE : Yeah .
Thank you , Amy .
So , the first thing I want people to know is , in Detroit , we have one in four homes that have gone through property tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ haven ’ t seen this number of property tax foreclosures in American history since the Great Depression .
So the real question is : What is going on ?
And so , I ’ ve done research that shows that between 2009 and 2015 , anywhere — in each of those seven years , anywhere between 55 and 85 % of properties were being assessed in violation of the Michigan state Constitution , which clearly says no property is to be assessed at more than 50 % of its market value .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ houses were being overassessed , we found that 95 % or more of the lowest-valued homes were being overassessed , while the highest-valued homes were actually being underassessed .
And so , the next study we did is because anytime you do research in Detroit and you don ’ t deal with race directly , you ’ re doing everyone a disservice .
So , the next study we did is we looked at Wayne County .
And we looked at all the municipalities of Wayne County , and there ’ s three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 70 % or more — Detroit , Inkster and Highland Park .
And each of those majority-black cities were being subjected to these unconstitutional tax assessments and foreclosures at a greater rate than the majority-white cities .
The third and final study we did looked at the relationship between these unconstitutional tax assessments and foreclosure rates , because , in fact , there ’ s lots of things that can cause foreclosure , right ?
Poverty , a death in the family , etc .
And so , we needed to hold @ @ @ @ @ @ @ isolate the effect of this one variable of unconstitutional tax assessments on foreclosure rates .
And we ’ re able to say that 10 % of these historic rates of tax foreclosure in Detroit would not have happened but for these unconstitutional property tax assessments .
That ’ s 10 % of all foreclosures .
And when you look at just the kind of lowest-valued homes , we are able to say one in four , or 25 % , of those foreclosures would not have happened but for these unconstitutional property tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in specific , their response to this overwhelming empirical evidence of illegality is to say , “ You know , if you thought you were being overassessed , you should have in fact filed an appeal.
” Right ?
So , moving the blame , the onus , from the city , to do the property tax assessments correctly , to homeowners , to saying they should have appealed .
But what this lawsuit is all about , as Representative Tlaib has so clearly pointed out , is about the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a chance to appeal .
Why ?
Because in 2017 they mailed the property tax assessment notices late .
And so , they mailed them , in fact , late , after the appeal deadline , meaning that Detroiters did not have an opportunity to appeal these illegally inflated property taxes .
And that is the heart of this particular lawsuit .
It is a due process lawsuit , again , just fighting on behalf of Detroiters , who are being overassessed and not given an opportunity to fight back .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to ask you — obviously , the superhigh assessments meant that those homeowners , especially in the poorest communities , were being required to pay more property taxes , right ?
We ’ re in a situation now — obviously Detroit was in financial crisis for many years , and now all of these reports about how Detroit is coming back .
What is the real story now as to how Detroit is coming back ?
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE : That ’ s right .
And let ’ s just put this in context @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rate in the state of Michigan .
It has the second-highest tax rate in the United States .
On top of these already high tax rates , they ’ re being legally assessed — meaning , on top of the highest tax rates in the country , they are now being taxed even more .
Right ?
And so , that ’ s the starting point .
And when you — what was the question again ?
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : Well , they keep saying Detroit ’ s coming back , Bernadette @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the things you should know is , if you go to my neighborhoods , they don ’ t think — they ’ re not coming back from whatever the heck that folks are saying they ’ re coming back from .
Poverty among children has actually increased in the city of Detroit .
You see neighborhood after neighborhood that ’ s been left behind .
When they say “ comeback , ” they ’ re talking about the 7.2 miles .
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : If you look at the census tracts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ within the city of Detroit .
They ’ re talking about billionaires Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch family , who continue to take tax giveaways from our school aid fund , while literally down the street — for their hockey stadium , for their for-profit development — while down the street we have schools that don ’ t have clean drinking water .
We have schools that literally are closing down , these neighborhood schools that have been part of our anchors within our neighborhoods .
So , it is hard , because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizen tell me , “ Detroit ’ s coming back from where ?
” You know , and why are they continually talking about only the downtown area and the surrounding kind of areas there ?
It ’ s like an island , because anything beyond that island is real , true poverty , and people , from those that can ’ t afford their water bills , that literally one day their water gets shut off , the next day their children are being taken away from them , I mean , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oh , they ’ re negligent.
” But this is the same amount of money they ’ re using for the for-profit industry that ’ s even there for foster care .
They won ’ t even use it to help a woman get her water put back on .
I mean , the hardship that we see our families facing , these are working-class families .
And even the young — the mother of seven , Sonja , she was saying that “ We ’ re the ones out there in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up and look at .
We ’ re the ones that are among you and your neighbors , that have been part of the city of Detroit for so many — so long.
” But they feel very truly left behind , not only with what ’ s going on with property taxes , but what ’ s going on , the devastation over water shutoffs , the devastation of what ’ s happened to our education system and so forth .
The disinvestment in our neighborhoods that are surrounding downtown Detroit is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on so many of our families .
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE : And we at the Coalition for Property Tax Justice like to think of the comeback story as a tale of two cities .
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE : Right ?
Because you have downtown Detroit .
In downtown Detroit , the developers there are getting tax subsidies and tax breaks , when , in the neighborhoods , they ’ re being unconstitutionally assessed and foreclosed on at historic rates .
So , when you think about Detroit coming back , again , as Representative Tlaib @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comeback for seven square miles that includes downtown .
When you look at the rest of Detroit , the majority of Detroit — and , let ’ s get real , black Detroit — BERNADETTE ATUAHENE : — there is no comeback .
AMY GOODMAN : So , Congressmember Rashida Tlaib , I wanted to ask you about a related issue , and this is at the presidential campaign level , Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg facing criticism over this recently resurfaced video clip that shows him blaming the 2008 mortgage and financial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ racist lending policy known as redlining .
This is Georgetown University President John DeGioia speaking to Bloomberg in 2008 .
AMY GOODMAN : So , that was Mayor Bloomberg 12 years ago .
Congressmember Tlaib , if you can respond ?
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : Look , you know , I think of my — even many of the folks that I serve with in Congress .
Many of them are millionaires .
They ’ re completely disconnected with the American people .
Even when the federal shutdown happened , you had literally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know , “ I don ’ t get it .
Why are they in the food bank line ?
Why are the federal employees — can ’ t go and apply for a loan ?
” There is just really disconnect to understand the American people live check by check .
But also there ’ s a disconnect that government is supposed to be about people , right ?
Our public tax dollars are supposed to be used to create economic stability , to increase homeownership , to create these programs that I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Instead , you know , you have folks with a different kind of very narrow lens , that see things through a different perspective than those that are on the ground .
The majority of Americans do not live within that little bubble of the 1 % and those that have .
And so , I think people like me are running for office , finally .
And we ’ re winning because we are folks that are dealing — you know , I lived very , very humble backgrounds .
I mean @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 14 , a child of immigrants , both my parents .
My dad only had fourth-grade education ; my mother , eighth grade — and just kind of building it up and working very extremely hard for that .
But it ’ s really — it ’ s sad when people that are in leadership positions don ’ t understand that even if they don ’ t get it , they have to surround themselves with people that understand what it means to live in poverty in America , what it means to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means to live near corporate pollution and what that means to their public health .
I mean , so many things of various broken systems .
And , Amy , you know this .
If I open the curtain and look behind that , of all the broken system , from mass incarceration to what ’ s happening in our immigration system , how dehumanizing it ’ s become and encaging children , to what ’ s happening to our healthcare system , to our education system , it ’ s become all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the pain of our oppression .
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB : And that is something that I continue to speak truth to .
So , no matter who ’ s running for office , I will demand that they talk about the P-word , which is “ poverty.
” I will demand that they talk about the structural problems and issues and challenges , real structural problems , that lead to people ’ s oppression in our country .
And we have to continue to think beyond the same old recycled folks running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They did not change people ’ s lives for the better .
Then we have to move on .
They didn ’ t do the job to fix the structural problems that I feel like in some ways get left behind .
They like Band-Aids .
Band-Aids , the rain falls , it slips off .
It doesn ’ t work .
We need real structural change , so that when somebody walks in the door , they are offered an equal access to opportunities that get easily acceptable to those that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so , I continue , Amy , to push back against these kinds of narratives .
And , you know , I want folks that are listening to know this .
Just because somebody is a billionaire or millionaire does not mean they know what ’ s best interest of the American people .
It ’ s those that actually have suffered along with them that understand that suffering , that understand that oppression themselves .
We need to hear more from them .
We need those individuals to start running for office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ones that people are waiting for .
AMY GOODMAN : Rashida Tlaib , we ’ re going to ask you to stay with us just for another few minutes , because we want to ask you about this major moment this past week when the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came to the U.N. Security Council , responding to President Trump ’ s so-called Middle East peace plan .
You ’ re the first Palestinian-American congresswoman .
But I want to thank you , Bernadette Atuahene , professor of Chicago-Kent College of Law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor at the American Bar Foundation , member of the Coalition for Property Tax Justice .
We ’ ll be back with Congressmember Rashida Tlaib in 30 seconds .
And then we ’ ll talk about this V-Day , this Valentine ’ s Day , this day against violence against women and girls .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We begin today’s show in Detroit, where a showdown between grassroots activists and the city is shining a spotlight on racist housing policies that robbed African Americans in Detroit of their homes and widened the wealth gap. On Thursday, with the support of Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, the Coalition for Property Tax Justice announced a class-action lawsuit against the city of Detroit, Wayne County and the state of Michigan in response to unfair property tax foreclosures. One in four Detroit properties have been subject to property tax foreclosure, a level comparable only to the foreclosure rates during the Great Depression. And according to legal experts, many of them were caused by illegally inflated property taxes that violated the state’s own Constitution. Even though Detroit tried to fix the problem in 2017, it’s still overvaluing the lowest-priced homes.
This is lifelong Detroit resident Sonja Bonnett speaking during a press conference on Thursday. In 2015, her home was illegally foreclosed by Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit.
SONJA BONNETT: [inaudible] you right now what I tell the community every time I go out. It feels very personal to lose your home. You feel like you did something very wrong, like you just couldn’t keep it together. But once I was informed by Professor Atuahene that the city illegally and unconstitutionally took my home, oh, it lit a fire. And we began fighting. And this is where this fight has brought us. So, I want to leave you with a couple of things today. Number one, this is an 85% black city. This would not be happening if this city was 85% white. You better believe that. Two is, land is so very important. And they are stealing your land. We cannot let them get away with this yet again, because Lord knows they’ve stolen enough land.
AMY GOODMAN: Detroit is now 80% African-American, and 40% of Detroit’s residents live below the federal poverty level. But as downtown Detroit becomes increasingly gentrified, thousands of Detroit’s longtime residents, mostly African-American families, have lost their homes to foreclosure for property taxes they should not have been paying in the first place because the poverty tax exemption excuses those in poverty from paying.
Well, for more, we go to Detroit, Michigan, where we’re joined by Democratic Congressmember Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who has worked on this lawsuit from before the time she entered Congress. And we’re joined by Bernadette Atuahene, a professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and research professor at the American Bar Foundation, member of the Coalition for Property Tax Justice. Her most recent study is titled “Predatory Cities,” forthcoming in the UC Berkeley Law Review later this month.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Congressmember Tlaib, you went back to Detroit for this major news conference. Talk about why this is so critical in your town, in your city of Detroit.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: You know, I represent the third-poorest congressional district in the country, out of 435 congressional seats in the nation. And the human impact of what it feels like to not be offered the same equal rights that the majority of other Michiganders were getting — I mean, the due process of being able to get notice, to be able to have the right to appeal, but also the right to your home assessed every year as required by not only the city charter, but the Michigan state Constitution. So many of my residents, before I ever got elected, were coming to the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice saying, “Something’s not right here. I don’t know. Why did I get this after the deadline? What is happening here?” And when we filed a FOIA, we found out 260,000 Detroiters received the notice either late or even past the deadline. And it was devastating, the fact that they didn’t even get the right to appeal it. And what we hear from the city administration and those folks that are in power to make the change is, “Well, it’s their fault. They didn’t do anything about it.” But you didn’t give them the option to do anything about it.
So that’s why I’m really commending the coalition and what we call the Detroit’s professor over here, Bernadette, for pushing forward and speaking truth. I think that’s what’s been really hard. You heard from a mother recently of seven children, and she felt like she did something wrong. And when she finally felt — you know, heard the data, heard that she was actually cheated out of her home, it felt liberating in some sense, that she wasn’t the one that was in the wrong. She shouldn’t feel ashamed. The city of Detroit and those in power should feel ashamed.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Congresswoman, I’d like to ask you, in terms of how this crisis is affecting not just Detroit, but across the nation, in terms of the wealth, especially of African Americans and Latinos, because of the seizures of their homes, and especially resulting from after the 2008 mortgage meltdown, when so many other people went underwater.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Yeah, and that’s one of the key things, is, you know, homes are economic stability. But many folks — just the historic nature, not only from Chicago to other really beautifully historic cities, majority-black cities, what you know is these are homes that families have been in there generations.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Yes.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Generations after generations. You could probably go back and — I remember I was telling Bernadette this. There was this woman who was born in her home, senior citizen in her seventies, and loses her home for less than $1,000. I mean, it’s devastating to see something so ripped away from you. But yes, economic stability is so tied to homeownership. And the fact of the matter is, it’s not only what happened here with this tax foreclosure crisis and, you know, I think, illegal taking; is that we also see that big banks, mortgage industry, others, there are still institutional, systemic racism within their processes. We see it with settlement cases all across the country over and over again. I remember specifically in Financial Services Committee hearing about a whistleblower within Wells Fargo that was saying that he was taught and trained that if somebody came in with an accent, to give a higher interest rate. So, our communities of color all across the United States are facing barriers after barriers and these structural kind of racist approaches and processes.
To me, what happened to many of my Detroit neighbors, in not being offered due process and getting their homes taken away from them, was completely wrong. The devastating part of it, too, was, after I got into the United States Congress, when I found out millions of dollars that was sent to Detroit to handle the — to address the blight, to address this housing crisis. When I found out that Detroit was — and I already had known this — Detroit was responsible for much of that. So, the federal government is trying to fix an issue that was created by the own city administration is wrong. Look, it’s in the charter. It’s the law of the land in the city. You’re supposed to assess people’s homes. Walking away from your responsibility and your duty, saying that, “Oh, everybody got a notice,” but you gave them notice after the deadline that they could actually appeal, is simply wrong. And I think if you ask anybody across this country, the access to fairness and due process is so key.
And that’s why I think the class-action suit is important. Not only do we have to fight in the streets to tell the truth and tell our stories, also onto the House floor of Congress or many other local governments, but also through the courts, do we have to demand that we’re treated with respect and dignity. To take people’s homes away from them, where their children live, their neighborhood, everything is ripped from them, all because somebody decided they didn’t deserve it, they didn’t deserve the process or equality and due process that everybody else gets around the state.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Bernadette Atuahene, you teach at Illinois Institute of Technology, at the law school there. You’ve done deep research into the racial wealth gap. If you can talk about the facts and figures behind this lawsuit, what it has meant, and how the Detroit mayor is currently responding to the class-action suit and dealing with this illegal seizure of tax money or throwing people out of their homes?
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Yeah. Thank you, Amy. So, the first thing I want people to know is, in Detroit, we have one in four homes that have gone through property tax foreclosure. One in four. We haven’t seen this number of property tax foreclosures in American history since the Great Depression. So the real question is: What is going on?
And so, I’ve done research that shows that between 2009 and 2015, anywhere — in each of those seven years, anywhere between 55 and 85% of properties were being assessed in violation of the Michigan state Constitution, which clearly says no property is to be assessed at more than 50% of its market value. And then, when we looked at which houses were being overassessed, we found that 95% or more of the lowest-valued homes were being overassessed, while the highest-valued homes were actually being underassessed.
And so, the next study we did is because anytime you do research in Detroit and you don’t deal with race directly, you’re doing everyone a disservice. So, the next study we did is we looked at Wayne County. And we looked at all the municipalities of Wayne County, and there’s three that have a supermajority of African Americans, 70% or more — Detroit, Inkster and Highland Park. And each of those majority-black cities were being subjected to these unconstitutional tax assessments and foreclosures at a greater rate than the majority-white cities.
The third and final study we did looked at the relationship between these unconstitutional tax assessments and foreclosure rates, because, in fact, there’s lots of things that can cause foreclosure, right? Poverty, a death in the family, etc. And so, we needed to hold all of those variables constant to really isolate the effect of this one variable of unconstitutional tax assessments on foreclosure rates. And we’re able to say that 10% of these historic rates of tax foreclosure in Detroit would not have happened but for these unconstitutional property tax assessments. That’s 10% of all foreclosures. And when you look at just the kind of lowest-valued homes, we are able to say one in four, or 25%, of those foreclosures would not have happened but for these unconstitutional property tax assessments.
The city and the mayor, in specific, their response to this overwhelming empirical evidence of illegality is to say, “You know, if you thought you were being overassessed, you should have in fact filed an appeal.” Right? So, moving the blame, the onus, from the city, to do the property tax assessments correctly, to homeowners, to saying they should have appealed. But what this lawsuit is all about, as Representative Tlaib has so clearly pointed out, is about the fact that the city did not even give people a chance to appeal. Why? Because in 2017 they mailed the property tax assessment notices late. And so, they mailed them, in fact, late, after the appeal deadline, meaning that Detroiters did not have an opportunity to appeal these illegally inflated property taxes. And that is the heart of this particular lawsuit. It is a due process lawsuit, again, just fighting on behalf of Detroiters, who are being overassessed and not given an opportunity to fight back.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Professor, I wanted to ask you — obviously, the superhigh assessments meant that those homeowners, especially in the poorest communities, were being required to pay more property taxes, right? We’re in a situation now — obviously Detroit was in financial crisis for many years, and now all of these reports about how Detroit is coming back. What is the real story now as to how Detroit is coming back?
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: That’s right. And let’s just put this in context. Detroit has the highest property tax rate in the state of Michigan. It has the second-highest tax rate in the United States. On top of these already high tax rates, they’re being legally assessed — meaning, on top of the highest tax rates in the country, they are now being taxed even more. Right? And so, that’s the starting point. And when you — what was the question again?
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: About the —
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Well, they keep saying Detroit’s coming back, Bernadette.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Oh, yes.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: And one of the things you should know is, if you go to my neighborhoods, they don’t think — they’re not coming back from whatever the heck that folks are saying they’re coming back from. Poverty among children has actually increased in the city of Detroit. You see neighborhood after neighborhood that’s been left behind. When they say “comeback,” they’re talking about the 7.2 miles.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Yes.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: If you look at the census tracts, some of the wealthiest census tracts within the city of Detroit. They’re talking about billionaires Dan Gilbert and the Ilitch family, who continue to take tax giveaways from our school aid fund, while literally down the street — for their hockey stadium, for their for-profit development — while down the street we have schools that don’t have clean drinking water. We have schools that literally are closing down, these neighborhood schools that have been part of our anchors within our neighborhoods. So, it is hard, because I’ve actually had a senior citizen tell me, “Detroit’s coming back from where?” You know, and why are they continually talking about only the downtown area and the surrounding kind of areas there? It’s like an island, because anything beyond that island is real, true poverty, and people, from those that can’t afford their water bills, that literally one day their water gets shut off, the next day their children are being taken away from them, I mean, because they’re saying, “Oh, they’re negligent.” But this is the same amount of money they’re using for the for-profit industry that’s even there for foster care. They won’t even use it to help a woman get her water put back on.
I mean, the hardship that we see our families facing, these are working-class families. And even the young — the mother of seven, Sonja, she was saying that “We’re the ones out there in the restaurants that you don’t look up and look at. We’re the ones that are among you and your neighbors, that have been part of the city of Detroit for so many — so long.” But they feel very truly left behind, not only with what’s going on with property taxes, but what’s going on, the devastation over water shutoffs, the devastation of what’s happened to our education system and so forth. The disinvestment in our neighborhoods that are surrounding downtown Detroit is extremely — puts such a tremendous hardship on so many of our families.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: And we at the Coalition for Property Tax Justice like to think of the comeback story as a tale of two cities.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Yes.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Right? Because you have downtown Detroit. In downtown Detroit, the developers there are getting tax subsidies and tax breaks, when, in the neighborhoods, they’re being unconstitutionally assessed and foreclosed on at historic rates. So, when you think about Detroit coming back, again, as Representative Tlaib said, it’s about a comeback for seven square miles that includes downtown. When you look at the rest of Detroit, the majority of Detroit — and, let’s get real, black Detroit —
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Yeah.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: — there is no comeback.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: That’s right.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Congressmember Rashida Tlaib, I wanted to ask you about a related issue, and this is at the presidential campaign level, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg facing criticism over this recently resurfaced video clip that shows him blaming the 2008 mortgage and financial crisis on the elimination of the long-standing racist lending policy known as redlining. This is Georgetown University President John DeGioia speaking to Bloomberg in 2008.
JOHN DEGIOIA: You’ve made some reference to the elements that led to where we are today. Could you go a little bit deeper and tell us, from your perspective, how did we get here? What are the root causes of the crisis that we’re in today?
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG: Well, you can go back. I would say it probably all started back when there was a lot of pressure on banks to make loans to everyone. “Redlining,” if you remember, was the term where banks took whole neighborhoods and said, “People in these neighborhoods are poor. They’re not going to be able to pay off their mortgages. Tell them, your salesmen, don’t go into those areas.” And then Congress got involved, local elected officials, as well, and said, “Oh, that’s not fair. These people should be able to get credit.” And once you started pushing in that direction, banks started making more and more loans where the credit of the person buying the house wasn’t as good as you would like.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Mayor Bloomberg 12 years ago. Congressmember Tlaib, if you can respond?
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: Look, you know, I think of my — even many of the folks that I serve with in Congress. Many of them are millionaires. They’re completely disconnected with the American people. Even when the federal shutdown happened, you had literally colleagues, on both sides, you know, “I don’t get it. Why are they in the food bank line? Why are the federal employees — can’t go and apply for a loan?” There is just really disconnect to understand the American people live check by check. But also there’s a disconnect that government is supposed to be about people, right? Our public tax dollars are supposed to be used to create economic stability, to increase homeownership, to create these programs that I think are a win-win for everyone. Instead, you know, you have folks with a different kind of very narrow lens, that see things through a different perspective than those that are on the ground. The majority of Americans do not live within that little bubble of the 1% and those that have.
And so, I think people like me are running for office, finally. And we’re winning because we are folks that are dealing — you know, I lived very, very humble backgrounds. I mean, I’m the eldest of 14, a child of immigrants, both my parents. My dad only had fourth-grade education; my mother, eighth grade — and just kind of building it up and working very extremely hard for that. But it’s really — it’s sad when people that are in leadership positions don’t understand that even if they don’t get it, they have to surround themselves with people that understand what it means to live in poverty in America, what it means to go to sleep hungry, what it means to live near corporate pollution and what that means to their public health. I mean, so many things of various broken systems.
And, Amy, you know this. If I open the curtain and look behind that, of all the broken system, from mass incarceration to what’s happening in our immigration system, how dehumanizing it’s become and encaging children, to what’s happening to our healthcare system, to our education system, it’s become all for-profit. People are making money off of the pain of our oppression.
BERNADETTE ATUAHENE: Yes.
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: And that is something that I continue to speak truth to. So, no matter who’s running for office, I will demand that they talk about the P-word, which is “poverty.” I will demand that they talk about the structural problems and issues and challenges, real structural problems, that lead to people’s oppression in our country. And we have to continue to think beyond the same old recycled folks running for office. They had their chance. They did not change people’s lives for the better. Then we have to move on. They didn’t do the job to fix the structural problems that I feel like in some ways get left behind. They like Band-Aids. Band-Aids, the rain falls, it slips off. It doesn’t work. We need real structural change, so that when somebody walks in the door, they are offered an equal access to opportunities that get easily acceptable to those that have.
AMY GOODMAN: Rashida Tlaib —
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB: And so, I continue, Amy, to push back against these kinds of narratives. And, you know, I want folks that are listening to know this. Just because somebody is a billionaire or millionaire does not mean they know what’s best interest of the American people. It’s those that actually have suffered along with them that understand that suffering, that understand that oppression themselves. We need to hear more from them. We need those individuals to start running for office, because I truly believe those are the ones that people are waiting for.
AMY GOODMAN: Rashida Tlaib, we’re going to ask you to stay with us just for another few minutes, because we want to ask you about this major moment this past week when the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came to the U.N. Security Council, responding to President Trump’s so-called Middle East peace plan. You’re the first Palestinian-American congresswoman. But I want to thank you, Bernadette Atuahene, professor of Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology and research professor at the American Bar Foundation, member of the Coalition for Property Tax Justice. We’ll be back with Congressmember Rashida Tlaib in 30 seconds. And then we’ll talk about this V-Day, this Valentine’s Day, this day against violence against women and girls. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-02-14--The Corporate Media Is Directly Profiting from Mike Bloomberg's Rise as He Spends Fortune on TV Ads

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : Juan , before we begin our first story , the rise of Bloomberg in the polls to be the next president of the United States .
You have long covered him , through his three terms , from stop-and-frisk to this issue now of redlining .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , it ’ s amazing to me that Michael Bloomberg has been getting as much attention as he has by the media .
But remember this : The media , the commercial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s rise , because they ’ re going to be collecting all of the ad revenues that he is putting out across television nationwide .
So there is an actual economic interest in continuing to see Bloomberg ’ s rise in the poll on the part of many of the commercial media .
But I think one thing that strikes me the most , Amy , is that I don ’ t think any person in American history has ever spent more money cultivating an image in the public of himself as has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for mayor three times in New York City , he spent $ 267 million just running for mayor .
I think his last race he spent $ 108 million , while his opponent , the Democrat Billy Thompson , spent about $ 9 million .
It was 11 times more .
During that race , there were an average of 42 commercials a day on New York television throughout the race , Bloomberg commercials .
But it wasn ’ t just the direct contributions .
He also , through his foundation , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in donations to nonprofits , much of it to New York City nonprofits , that was cultivating this — sort all these civic organizations that all were getting these huge checks named “ anonymous , ” that they knew were from Michael Bloomberg .
So , the amount of money that this man spent just when he was for mayor of New York , now of course at the level of the national level , is unprecedented in terms of buying an image in the public .
What he never talks about , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his stop-and-frisk policies , but if you look deeper into what happened during that period of time , not only did Bloomberg systematically defend stop-and-frisk for all those years , but his people attempted to smear the judge , the federal judge , Scheindlin , who was on the case , and convinced all of the media , behind the scenes , to write articles that she was biased and that she was unhinged .
So , while Trump — AMY GOODMAN : And to be clear , Judge Scheindlin was the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was unconstitutional .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Was unconstitutional .
And as the Bloomberg administration saw that she was about to rule , they started a clear campaign , quietly .
Unlike Trump , who tweets against judges , they tried to convince all the newspapers of the city to write damaging editorials and exposés of the judge as a means to get her removed from the case .
And the other policies of Bloomberg , whether it ’ s the privatization of the public parks in the city , the massive privatization of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , massive subsidies for commercial development in the city while rents skyrocketed , this is classic neoliberalism .
And the idea that Democrats and some progressives might actually rally behind him , I find astonishing .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , remember , of course , he was a Republican mayor before he was an independent and now a Democratic candidate .
And this latest issue of redlining , of saying that that was the cause of the — not redlining , but eliminating redlining , was the cause of the financial crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there ’ s been many historians , urban historians , who have documented that the real wealth gap in America between African Americans , Latinos and the rest of the country is as a result of the systematic discrimination in lending policies for homes , that went on for decades .
For decades .
And the idea that suddenly trying to provide fair underwriting policies for the African-American and Latino community caused the financial meltdown is really only a viewpoint of the extreme right even of the Republican Party .
AMY GOODMAN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Bloomberg and his company around issues of sexual harassment .
It was very interesting , on The View , the ABC TV show , when Bloomberg went on it in — I think , just recently , in January , when he was asked about this , he commented that it was — his company was just guilty of fostering bawdy humor , and said he would not take any steps to release women who signed confidentiality agreements , NDA agreements , with his company to speak publicly .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these days , given the fact of the — in the # MeToo movement — how many of these companies imposed these nondisclosure agreements as a way to keep their actions hidden from the public view .
And I would think that if he ’ s a candidate for president , he should definitely lift those nondisclosure agreements so we can find out exactly what was going on in his company .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , of course , we ’ ll continue to cover not only Mayor Bloomberg , but all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2020 election season heats up .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Juan, before we begin our first story, the rise of Bloomberg in the polls to be the next president of the United States. You have long covered him, through his three terms, from stop-and-frisk to this issue now of redlining.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, it’s amazing to me that Michael Bloomberg has been getting as much attention as he has by the media. But remember this: The media, the commercial media, directly profit from Bloomberg’s rise, because they’re going to be collecting all of the ad revenues that he is putting out across television nationwide. So there is an actual economic interest in continuing to see Bloomberg’s rise in the poll on the part of many of the commercial media.
But I think one thing that strikes me the most, Amy, is that I don’t think any person in American history has ever spent more money cultivating an image in the public of himself as has Michael Bloomberg, because when he ran for mayor three times in New York City, he spent $267 million just running for mayor. I think his last race he spent $108 million, while his opponent, the Democrat Billy Thompson, spent about $9 million. It was 11 times more. During that race, there were an average of 42 commercials a day on New York television throughout the race, Bloomberg commercials. But it wasn’t just the direct contributions. He also, through his foundation, was spending about $100 million a year in donations to nonprofits, much of it to New York City nonprofits, that was cultivating this — sort all these civic organizations that all were getting these huge checks named “anonymous,” that they knew were from Michael Bloomberg. So, the amount of money that this man spent just when he was for mayor of New York, now of course at the level of the national level, is unprecedented in terms of buying an image in the public.
What he never talks about, though, is, he has apologized for his stop-and-frisk policies, but if you look deeper into what happened during that period of time, not only did Bloomberg systematically defend stop-and-frisk for all those years, but his people attempted to smear the judge, the federal judge, Scheindlin, who was on the case, and convinced all of the media, behind the scenes, to write articles that she was biased and that she was unhinged. So, while Trump —
AMY GOODMAN: And to be clear, Judge Scheindlin was the judge who ruled that the stop-and-frisk policy was unconstitutional.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Was unconstitutional. And as the Bloomberg administration saw that she was about to rule, they started a clear campaign, quietly. Unlike Trump, who tweets against judges, they tried to convince all the newspapers of the city to write damaging editorials and exposés of the judge as a means to get her removed from the case.
And the other policies of Bloomberg, whether it’s the privatization of the public parks in the city, the massive privatization of public schools through expansion of charter schools, massive subsidies for commercial development in the city while rents skyrocketed, this is classic neoliberalism. And the idea that Democrats and some progressives might actually rally behind him, I find astonishing.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, remember, of course, he was a Republican mayor before he was an independent and now a Democratic candidate. And this latest issue of redlining, of saying that that was the cause of the — not redlining, but eliminating redlining, was the cause of the financial crisis.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Yeah, well, there’s been many historians, urban historians, who have documented that the real wealth gap in America between African Americans, Latinos and the rest of the country is as a result of the systematic discrimination in lending policies for homes, that went on for decades. For decades. And the idea that suddenly trying to provide fair underwriting policies for the African-American and Latino community caused the financial meltdown is really only a viewpoint of the extreme right even of the Republican Party.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, these scores of lawsuits against Bloomberg and his company around issues of sexual harassment. It was very interesting, on The View, the ABC TV show, when Bloomberg went on it in — I think, just recently, in January, when he was asked about this, he commented that it was — his company was just guilty of fostering bawdy humor, and said he would not take any steps to release women who signed confidentiality agreements, NDA agreements, with his company to speak publicly.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, that’s especially important these days, given the fact of the — in the #MeToo movement — how many of these companies imposed these nondisclosure agreements as a way to keep their actions hidden from the public view. And I would think that if he’s a candidate for president, he should definitely lift those nondisclosure agreements so we can find out exactly what was going on in his company.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, of course, we’ll continue to cover not only Mayor Bloomberg, but all of the presidential candidates, as this 2020 election season heats up.


democracynow--2020-02-14--Headlines for February 14, 2020

Headlines for February 14, 2020

The Trump administration is facing public outcry over a proposal to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act .
The law was enacted in 1970 to address growing concern with runaway pollution and the potential impacts of major projects like highways , dams and mines .
The Trump administration is attempting to fast-track new rules that govern how NEPA is implemented — slashing the environmental review time while eliminating any consideration of climate change as a potential impact of a project .
Supporters of the changes include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brothers-funded American Petroleum Institute .
Earlier @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quality held a public hearing in Denver on the rule change .
An indigenous-led rally opposing the NEPA regulatory rollback was held nearby , criticizing the proposed rules as well as the limited access the public had to the hearing itself .
Advance online registration for the hearing was required and filled up within two minutes .
Among those few who did get access to make a formal statement at the hearing was Alma Sanchez of the group Defenders of Wildlife .
Alma Sanchez : “ I ’ m a 28-year-old Mexicana-Guatemalteca who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , our nation ’ s public lands and the health of all of our communities .
While I am only 28 , I am wise enough to understand and old enough to have witnessed that it is communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities that disproportonately are the victims of environmental contamination and pollution .
Highways , refineries , power plants and toxic waste are more likely to end up in my commnunity .
Our children are more likely to have asthma .
NEPA is fundamental to protecting the health and rights of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the federal government to daylight its actions along with an accounting of the environmental effects .
It gives the public a voice in the decision-making .
That won ’ t be the case under these proposed new rules .
The government will not be obligated to consider and disclose the full array of environmental effects .
Worse still , especially to my generation that has inherited the consequences and burdens of climate change , the government won ’ t have to tell us how its actions , like leasing land for oil and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
This is unacceptable to me .
We all have a right to know what the government is doing and what the environmental fallout will be .
This rule-making is yet another gift to polluters and yet another blow to a clean environment and healthy communities .
The Trump administration must withdraw this harmful proposal and stop harming communities like mine.
” That was Alma Sanchez of Defenders of Wildlife at the NEPA regulatory rollback hearing in Denver on Monday .
The second and final planned public hearing is scheduled for February 25 @ @ @ @ @

The Trump administration is facing public outcry over a proposal to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act. The law was enacted in 1970 to address growing concern with runaway pollution and the potential impacts of major projects like highways, dams and mines. The Trump administration is attempting to fast-track new rules that govern how NEPA is implemented — slashing the environmental review time while eliminating any consideration of climate change as a potential impact of a project. Supporters of the changes include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brothers-funded American Petroleum Institute.
Earlier this week, the Council on Environmental Quality held a public hearing in Denver on the rule change. An indigenous-led rally opposing the NEPA regulatory rollback was held nearby, criticizing the proposed rules as well as the limited access the public had to the hearing itself. Advance online registration for the hearing was required and filled up within two minutes. Among those few who did get access to make a formal statement at the hearing was Alma Sanchez of the group Defenders of Wildlife.
Alma Sanchez: “I’m a 28-year-old Mexicana-Guatemalteca who cares deeply about the environment, wildlife, our nation’s public lands and the health of all of our communities. While I am only 28, I am wise enough to understand and old enough to have witnessed that it is communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities that disproportonately are the victims of environmental contamination and pollution. Highways, refineries, power plants and toxic waste are more likely to end up in my commnunity. Our children are more likely to have asthma. NEPA is fundamental to protecting the health and rights of minorities and marginalized communities. NEPA forces the federal government to daylight its actions along with an accounting of the environmental effects. It gives the public a voice in the decision-making. That won’t be the case under these proposed new rules. The government will not be obligated to consider and disclose the full array of environmental effects. Worse still, especially to my generation that has inherited the consequences and burdens of climate change, the government won’t have to tell us how its actions, like leasing land for oil and gas development, will affect climate change. This is unacceptable to me. We all have a right to know what the government is doing and what the environmental fallout will be. This rule-making is yet another gift to polluters and yet another blow to a clean environment and healthy communities. The Trump administration must withdraw this harmful proposal and stop harming communities like mine.”
That was Alma Sanchez of Defenders of Wildlife at the NEPA regulatory rollback hearing in Denver on Monday. The second and final planned public hearing is scheduled for February 25 in Washington, D.C.


democracynow--2020-02-17--"They Have Not Relented": U.S. Maintains Support for Yemen War as Saudi Airstrike Kills 31 Civilians

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman , as we look now at Yemen , where 31 people were killed in U.S.-backed Saudi-UAE airstrikes over the weekend , including women and children .
The strikes in the northern al-Jawf province came just hours after the Houthis said they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet in the same area .
The United Nations called the drone strike “ shocking.
” This is an unidentified Yemeni man speaking to reporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The deadly strike follows a recent uptick in violence in northern Yemen , comes as the war there hits a five-year mark .
More than 100,000 have died , far more have been displaced , since the conflict began in 2015 .
On Sunday , the United Nations said the Houthis and U.S.-backed Saudi and UAE coalition had agreed to a major prisoner swap , the first of its kind in the long-running war .
For more , we go to Lansing , Michigan , where we ’ re joined by Shireen Al-Adeimi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor at Michigan State University .
Professor Al-Adeimi , welcome back to Democracy Now !
Can you talk about exactly what happened this weekend ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Well , this weekend , Amy , was one of another airstrike , unfortunately , that was targeting civilians in Yemen .
This happened , as you mentioned earlier , right after the Houthis had downed a Saudi jet , which is very uncommon in Yemen , given that they don ’ t have as many capabilities as the Saudi-led coalition does .
But there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some children gathered around that area , you know , around the wreckage , and then there was a strike that targeted those children and some neighboring houses .
And so , it ’ s not unusual for the Saudi-led coalition to strike civilians .
We just haven ’ t heard about , you know , a massacre , really , of 31 individuals in a while , although it ’ s certainly been common over the last five years .
AMY GOODMAN : And can you talk about the U.S. role in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and how dire the situation — I mean , I think the U.N. has called it the most dire situation in the world — the situation is now in Yemen ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : There is no crisis on Earth that ’ s worse than Yemen , according to the U.N. Over 80 % of the population is barely able to survive .
Many people have already been facing famine and have died of starvation , and diseases like cholera and dengue fever are rampant in Yemen , because — not just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that have disabled the Yemeni healthcare system and other systems , but also the blockade that the Saudis and the UAE is enforcing .
The United States has been a partner to the Saudis ever since President Obama ’ s administration .
And they ’ ve not relented .
You know , they ’ ve continued to support them through hundreds of billions of dollars in weapon sales , but also targeting assistance .
And up until November of 2018 , they were providing midair refueling .
They ’ re still providing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ training pilots .
And so , the U.S. is involved every step of the way .
We know that this is unconstitutional .
Congress has passed a resolution saying that this is unconstitutional .
Yet President Trump ’ s administration continues to provide extensive support to the Saudis and Emiratis , without which this war will just not be able to continue to the same scale .
AMY GOODMAN : And can you talk about what ’ s happening in the U.S. Congress , given that the U.S. is supporting , through weapons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration has a very close alliance with , the Saudi regime ?
Can you talk about what ’ s happening in Congress ?
What ’ s passed ?
What hasn ’ t ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Well , it took a number of years to do this .
There was a lot of resistance before .
But under the leadership of Senator Sanders in the Senate and Ro Khanna in the House , they were able to pass the War Powers Resolution , which is — you know , invokes the War Powers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and not the president , to go to war .
And so , they ’ ve declared that this is an unconstitutional war .
It violates our own laws here .
Of course , it causes massive casualties in Yemen , the worst that we ’ ve seen in recent history .
But more importantly , according to Congress , they have been trying to stop this through legislation .
And unfortunately , President Trump has vetoed this bill .
And so , you know , there are constant roadblocks .
Most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to include certain provisions that would prevent the U.S. from providing targeting assistance and any kind of — allocating any kind of budget toward helping the Saudis and Emiratis in their war on Yemen .
And unfortunately , that was dropped at the last minute , as well .
And , you know , there have been efforts , but it ’ s been very difficult to try to get attention , to get to — to try to get sustained effort in this regard .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Yemenis are dying , and they ’ re dying in massive numbers .
The numbers that we know now are horrifying , but they don ’ t even speak to the full extent of the losses that we ’ re seeing in Yemen .
AMY GOODMAN : Late last month , 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders , along with Utah ’ s Republican Senator Mike Lee and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut , reintroduced that resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen .
This is Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOODMAN : So , what has come of this , Shireen Al-Adeimi ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : You know , there ’ s just been so much resistance .
Once Trump vetoed the bill , we needed a two-thirds majority to overturn the veto , which we ’ ve not been able to achieve .
There has been Republican support and almost a full , unanimous Democratic support now , but it ’ s going to take a lot more .
And at this point , you know , supporting candidates like Bernie Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this war , is really important .
Millions and millions and millions of Yemeni lives are at stake here .
And so , it ’ s really important to continue to come at this from various angles , because the work can ’ t stop because of the veto , but it has made things very , very difficult .
But the War Powers Act is one of those acts that can be invoked over and over by any member of Congress .
And so , we have that to continue to pursue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the relationship between the Trump family and Mohammed bin Salman , the leader of Yemen [ sic ] , is — the leader of Saudi Arabia , is very well known , at the heart of the U.S.-Saudi relationship .
Can you talk about how that affects what the U.S. does ?
You know , Jared Kushner , with others , and Wall Street leaders were at the so-called Davos in the Desert in Saudi Arabia meeting with Mohammed bin Salman .
And this is after all the information had come out , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the murder of The Washington Post columnist Khashoggi .
The Guardian wrote a piece saying that House Democrats detailed how top Trump administration officials , including Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner , pushed to provide the Saudi government with technology to build nuclear power plants .
That could put Saudi Arabia on the path to developing nuclear weapons and further destabilize the Middle East .
Is this a concern of yours ?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI : Absolutely , and I think it should be a concern for everyone .
The Saudi regime has shown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bin Salman , in particular , has driven an entire country to the brink of starvation .
He is killing and starving Yemenis in the millions , and we continue to support him .
He prosecutes and persecutes members of his own country who show any kind of dissidence to him , and we continue to support him .
And so , I don ’ t think that this is a man who needs to be having access to more technology that would cause even more death and destruction .
The Trump Administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ support Mohammed bin Salman .
A number of times , Trump has said that the Saudis pay in cash .
And so , we ’ ve elected a businessman to the White House , and he is operating in a very businessman-like strategy , where he is mostly concerned about how much money this is going to make the United States , at the expense of not only , of course , international law and morality and humanitarian considerations , but also our own legal code and our own Constitution .
So , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making money through the Saudis , and Mohammed bin Salman has been a very happy participant , you know , with the Trump administration in power .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , Shireen Al-Adeimi , I want to thank you for being with us , Yemeni scholar , activist , assistant professor at Michigan State University , speaking to us from Lansing .
Democracy Now !
is now currently accepting applications for a development manager position , as well as our news production fellowship , both here in New York City .
To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go to democracynow.org .
Very Happy Birthday to Neil Shibata and to Brendan Allen !
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Thanks so much for joining us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, as we look now at Yemen, where 31 people were killed in U.S.-backed Saudi-UAE airstrikes over the weekend, including women and children. The strikes in the northern al-Jawf province came just hours after the Houthis said they had shot down a Saudi fighter jet in the same area. The United Nations called the drone strike “shocking.” This is an unidentified Yemeni man speaking to reporters after the strike.
YEMENI MAN: [translated] So we are here. This is one of the cars that were targeted by the Saudi-American air force last night. And they also targeted villages in Malaha area and residential areas, causing tens of martyrs and injuries. And this is a civilian’s car.
AMY GOODMAN: The deadly strike follows a recent uptick in violence in northern Yemen, comes as the war there hits a five-year mark. More than 100,000 have died, far more have been displaced, since the conflict began in 2015. On Sunday, the United Nations said the Houthis and U.S.-backed Saudi and UAE coalition had agreed to a major prisoner swap, the first of its kind in the long-running war.
For more, we go to Lansing, Michigan, where we’re joined by Shireen Al-Adeimi, Yemeni scholar, activist, assistant professor at Michigan State University.
Professor Al-Adeimi, welcome back to Democracy Now! Can you talk about exactly what happened this weekend?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Well, this weekend, Amy, was one of another airstrike, unfortunately, that was targeting civilians in Yemen. This happened, as you mentioned earlier, right after the Houthis had downed a Saudi jet, which is very uncommon in Yemen, given that they don’t have as many capabilities as the Saudi-led coalition does. But there were — reports say that there were some children gathered around that area, you know, around the wreckage, and then there was a strike that targeted those children and some neighboring houses. And so, it’s not unusual for the Saudi-led coalition to strike civilians. We just haven’t heard about, you know, a massacre, really, of 31 individuals in a while, although it’s certainly been common over the last five years.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about the U.S. role in what’s going on right now, and how dire the situation — I mean, I think the U.N. has called it the most dire situation in the world — the situation is now in Yemen?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: There is no crisis on Earth that’s worse than Yemen, according to the U.N. Over 80% of the population is barely able to survive. Many people have already been facing famine and have died of starvation, and diseases like cholera and dengue fever are rampant in Yemen, because — not just because of the airstrikes, of course, that have disabled the Yemeni healthcare system and other systems, but also the blockade that the Saudis and the UAE is enforcing.
The United States has been a partner to the Saudis ever since President Obama’s administration. And they’ve not relented. You know, they’ve continued to support them through hundreds of billions of dollars in weapon sales, but also targeting assistance. And up until November of 2018, they were providing midair refueling. They’re still providing intelligence and updating vehicles and aircraft and training pilots. And so, the U.S. is involved every step of the way. We know that this is unconstitutional. Congress has passed a resolution saying that this is unconstitutional. Yet President Trump’s administration continues to provide extensive support to the Saudis and Emiratis, without which this war will just not be able to continue to the same scale.
AMY GOODMAN: And can you talk about what’s happening in the U.S. Congress, given that the U.S. is supporting, through weapons, the Saudi, who the Trump administration has a very close alliance with, the Saudi regime? Can you talk about what’s happening in Congress? What’s passed? What hasn’t?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Well, it took a number of years to do this. There was a lot of resistance before. But under the leadership of Senator Sanders in the Senate and Ro Khanna in the House, they were able to pass the War Powers Resolution, which is — you know, invokes the War Powers Act of 1973, that authorizes Congress, and not the president, to go to war. And so, they’ve declared that this is an unconstitutional war. It violates our own laws here. Of course, it causes massive casualties in Yemen, the worst that we’ve seen in recent history. But more importantly, according to Congress, they have been trying to stop this through legislation.
And unfortunately, President Trump has vetoed this bill. And so, you know, there are constant roadblocks. Most recently, they tried to amend the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 to include certain provisions that would prevent the U.S. from providing targeting assistance and any kind of — allocating any kind of budget toward helping the Saudis and Emiratis in their war on Yemen. And unfortunately, that was dropped at the last minute, as well. And, you know, there have been efforts, but it’s been very difficult to try to get attention, to get to — to try to get sustained effort in this regard. And the reality is that every single day Yemenis are dying, and they’re dying in massive numbers. The numbers that we know now are horrifying, but they don’t even speak to the full extent of the losses that we’re seeing in Yemen.
AMY GOODMAN: Late last month, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, along with Utah’s Republican Senator Mike Lee and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, reintroduced that resolution to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led attacks on Yemen. This is Sanders speaking at a news conference.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: According to the United Nations, the war in Yemen could lead to the most severe famine in more than 100 years, with some 100 million people at risk of starvation in one of the poorest countries on Earth. As a result of this war, according to the aid organization Save the Children, some 85,000 children in Yemen have already died of starvation. And millions more face death, if this horrible war continues.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what has come of this, Shireen Al-Adeimi?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: You know, there’s just been so much resistance. Once Trump vetoed the bill, we needed a two-thirds majority to overturn the veto, which we’ve not been able to achieve. There has been Republican support and almost a full, unanimous Democratic support now, but it’s going to take a lot more. And at this point, you know, supporting candidates like Bernie Sanders, who have been committed to ending this war, is really important. Millions and millions and millions of Yemeni lives are at stake here. And so, it’s really important to continue to come at this from various angles, because the work can’t stop because of the veto, but it has made things very, very difficult. But the War Powers Act is one of those acts that can be invoked over and over by any member of Congress. And so, we have that to continue to pursue this.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, the relationship between the Trump family and Mohammed bin Salman, the leader of Yemen [sic], is — the leader of Saudi Arabia, is very well known, at the heart of the U.S.-Saudi relationship. Can you talk about how that affects what the U.S. does? You know, Jared Kushner, with others, and Wall Street leaders were at the so-called Davos in the Desert in Saudi Arabia meeting with Mohammed bin Salman. And this is after all the information had come out, of course, around the dismemberment, the murder of The Washington Post columnist Khashoggi. The Guardian wrote a piece saying that House Democrats detailed how top Trump administration officials, including Michael Flynn and Jared Kushner, pushed to provide the Saudi government with technology to build nuclear power plants. That could put Saudi Arabia on the path to developing nuclear weapons and further destabilize the Middle East. Is this a concern of yours?
SHIREEN AL-ADEIMI: Absolutely, and I think it should be a concern for everyone. The Saudi regime has shown to be completely impulsive. And Mohammed bin Salman, in particular, has driven an entire country to the brink of starvation. He is killing and starving Yemenis in the millions, and we continue to support him. He prosecutes and persecutes members of his own country who show any kind of dissidence to him, and we continue to support him. And so, I don’t think that this is a man who needs to be having access to more technology that would cause even more death and destruction.
The Trump Administration has been very clear about why they support Mohammed bin Salman. A number of times, Trump has said that the Saudis pay in cash. And so, we’ve elected a businessman to the White House, and he is operating in a very businessman-like strategy, where he is mostly concerned about how much money this is going to make the United States, at the expense of not only, of course, international law and morality and humanitarian considerations, but also our own legal code and our own Constitution. So, nothing will get in the way of making money through the Saudis, and Mohammed bin Salman has been a very happy participant, you know, with the Trump administration in power.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Shireen Al-Adeimi, I want to thank you for being with us, Yemeni scholar, activist, assistant professor at Michigan State University, speaking to us from Lansing.
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