Increase in productivity since 1979: 87% Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 32% Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%. As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.

I got kicked out of the fight against the bullshit Medicaid paperwork reporting requirements but I can’t stop pointing out how ALMOST EVERYONE enrolled in Medicaid is already working or disabled or CHILDREN or in nursing homes

Friends, I’m running for Oklahoma AFL-CIO President. Now more than ever, Oklahomans need the kinds of policies that unions fight for. I’ve worked alongside Oklahoma’s unions during my time as a state representative, and I hope to work for them soon. Let’s get to work!

This is terrifying in America. ICE agents are showing up masked—these abductions must stop. If you’re going to detain someone, show your face, present a warrant, and proper ID. Disappearing people from their families without evidence or accountability isn’t law enforcement—it’s state-sponsored fear.

Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.

They are just disappearing people off the street. Having a hard time thinking about literally anything else.

I unironically use my local library a lot. Ebooks, audio books, physical books, the seed exchange, the meeting spaces?? Passport services?? Citizenship and English classes? I grew up in the teen hangout area as a housing insecure youth with a bad parent. Libraries are important, I'm pissed

The institutional Democratic Party is guided by an almost pathological level of conflict avoidance in almost every direction. “What can we do to make the least number of people mad?” is just a bankrupt way to operate.

Please read this to understand how the most vulnerable Americans are taking it on the chin so that the wealthiest can get wealthier under the Musk/Trump regime: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Common-sense, compassionate and progressive: sounds like Oklahoma House Democrats and @forrest-bennett.bsky.social:

TGIFMF (thank god it’s five minute Friday) At 8:30am over on instant graham, I’ll be live to discuss what happened this week at the state house. Join if you want! Don’t if you don’t! It’s your Friday; do what you want with it.

Hemingway, evergreen

Medicaid is not for sale. NASA is not for sale. The Post Office is not for sale. America is not for sale. We have an obligation to resist kings. We outnumber them. And they can be overwhelmed.

I know things are bleak and scary right now. But I promise you that you - yes YOU - can get through this. You don't have to fight all of this on your own. Find one person you can help, and help them. Make the life of one person better every day. Hold onto your joy. That's how we win.

Friday mornings during the legislative session, I go live on Instagram and talk about what I observed from that week at the statehouse. That’s happening this morning at 8:30 on Instagram where my handle is @ForrestBennett. Join if you want!

The battle of our day is no longer about Democrats versus Republicans or left versus right. The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship. And we're sliding faster than I ever thought possible into the latter. Everyone must choose which side they’re on. Now.

And as a Department of Education employee told me this week, "people have no idea how much that the federal government does actually touches their lives every day, but they'll notice it when it's gone"

UPDATE: The strike is over, with King Soopers agreeing to return to the bargaining table and make a better offer, no lockouts and no worker losing health care for April over the ULP strike.

I think a cool thing national media could do in this day and age, to cultivate meaningful and productive discussions around our collective situation, is to simply not have this absolute chaos vampire on as a guest of any program ever again, ever.

Every union should be echoing this statement.

"I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me." is metal as hell.

Would JD Vance come after these two in the succession plan? Or would it go Putin first, and then Vance? (my high school civics class covered traditional government processes, not oligarchical ones, so wasn’t sure how different it is)

That’s…not at all accurate. The supreme law of the land is the Constitution. There are three *CO-EQUAL* branches of government. The Courts (judicial branch) determine constitutionality, though a middle schooler could tell you that most of what the Musk/Trump admin are doing isn’t constitutional.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they have none. -Alice Walker

“Oh, did a sportsball happen?” I whisper smugly from my vantage point on a distant cliff, the sounds of celebration in the village far below just barely audible over the lonely wind whipping my tattered cloak

Not understanding why a government program or funding mechanism works, why it’s necessary or helpful, and/or the accountable steps that were taken to get it in place — is not the same as corruption. Everything seems suspicious if you don’t know how things work. Educate yourself.

Literal centuries of work by organized labor stands to be severely set back by the guy who was never on the side of the working class in the first place. Now’s the time to join a union if you’re able.

The United States Military Academy has just eliminated all Cadet clubs and activities for POC. Most of these have existed for decades like the Society of Black Engineers. They were there when I was a Cadet in 1987. All of the religious ones remain. This isn’t DEI. It’s white Christian Nationalism.

Republicans have introduced a bill to abolish OSHA. As a former labor secretary, I know firsthand how crucial this agency is to protecting workers from bosses who cut corners on safety to pad their own pockets. This is the party of corporate greed, not the party of workers.

What I’m reading on the plane. We all need to do what we can, when we can. If all you can do today to contribute is learn something about authoritarianism that you didn’t know before, that’s good enough. A little is better than none. Keep going.

Oklahoma weather Trump Tariffs 🤝 If you don’t like it, wait five minutes and it might change

Empowering quote, brilliant woman. May we never forget the power we each possess.

I've been seeing a lot of posts about readers trying to curb their own book buying. Let me remind you of the library. Libraries can use your support now more than ever. When you checkout library books this lets funding authorities know the library is worthy of taxpayer money. 1/3 #booksky 💙 📚

PROP - PR Over Policy. Don't confuse them. He is flooding the zone. He knows that media will cover everything he does. Getting people upset. Which helps give him more coverage of the upset people. All just talking about him. Dems need to be strategic.

It will be incredibly ironic if the state of Oklahoma is forced to spend down the Rainy Day fund that my GOP colleagues are so damn proud of, in order to cover for all of the federal program money we rely on that’s been halted by the Trump administration, which they’re all so damn gleeful about.

The City of OKC's new Housing Affordability Implementation Plan (HAIP) will promote in increase in housing stock. But, will it reduce rents? | Brett Fieldcamp has the details.

Poetry Foundation not fucking around with today's poem of the day www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/89897/...

note to the press: this is why Biden issued preemptive pardons 👇

I deleted a post because I was wrong. First I just admitted I was wrong because simply deleting felt worse. But it was pointed out that leaving up “fake news” is bad, and that’s true too. So here’s the screenshot; I’m not hiding that I was wrong but trying to take accountability.

Oh wow the other version was real and I was wrong — something I’m able to admit. How wild. Point about GOP hypocrisy still stands though.

And, a review for what? To merge and get even bigger. And because their leadership is so convince they HAVE to have this, they are willing to submit to the White House's demands. This is anything but independent news production.

Reminder that your power & gas can’t be cut off when the temps are below 32 degrees. Glad that we have this humane law put in place to protect us & our neighbors. #oklahoma www.southwestledger.news/news/utility...

Donald Trump won the election largely on the promise of cracking down on border crossings. When he takes office next week, he will be inheriting a quiet border, with crossings plummeting for the past few months.

Hey the Texans and Chiefs are playing a football game outdoors in temperatures just as cold as DC’s on Monday. Thousands of fans are in the stadium. OUTDOORS. IN THAT WEATHER. haha alright talk later

Can any political historians remind me what it’s called when a shareholder-controlled company that owns what is supposed to be a free press outlet bows down to an incoming president who is known to be vengeful and to use the tools of government to carry out his revenge, because they want more money?

Oooh, what a good thought! I would very much like to keep this one so I’ll just write it down and then it’ll be mine forever, so while I look for a pen I’ll just repeat it in my head over and over and over and that’ll make sure I don’t aaaaand it’s gone

The best way to carry a really heavy thing from where it is to where it needs to be is to take as many breaks as you need. We should all care, and frankly should be concerned about what we’re all about to endure — but get a hobby. Pour yourself into something that’ll give something back to you.

There’s a proverb about how, when a person points a finger at someone else, they’ve got three fingers pointing back at themselves. For all the Oklahoma Republicans claiming (falsely) that California’s disaster mitigation plans failed — take a look at what we (don’t) have. 🫵