Updated March 2020

A CLOSER LOOK (stealing shamelessly!)

The overarching goal of Rooster Today is to take a “closer look” to borrow from Seth Meyers hysterical segments of his late night show. The closer look here is at what is beneath the headlines. To answer questions such as

  • How do tax credits actually work? Why are they offered as solutions? How do block grants work?
  • How do school vouchers work? Why do we hear so much about them? Are they better for kids?
  • Why does healthcare in America cost so much?
  • Why does one camp say there will be middle class tax cuts and another says there will be only benefits to the rich?

And most importantly

  • What can I do?

WHERE TO FIND COMMON GROUND IN ISSUES AND IDEAS

The site is organized around the 12 talking points topics of the day with huge emphasis on the economy, healthcare and voting. These three topics are the best places for us to start to find common ground because all have an impact on our daily lives. We can talk about these issues in concrete terms.

Each topic has a brief explanatory page with links to articles, papers, more in-depth information. The goal is to understand the motivations that are afoot, to see how to connect the dots, to see the patterns of coordinated effort, to penetrate the fog of distraction. The goal is to bring facts to the forefront to overcome political rhetoric.

They say that if you tell a lie over and over, it will be believed. We are living in an era where the same lies are repeated multiple times per day by the President, on Twitter constantly and in the right wing media. Misleading information, propaganda and lies have overtaken public discourse. We can only combat this onslaught of manipulation with knowing the facts.

What we can do is “do one thing”. If you like women’s issues, then do “one thing” to support those efforts. If you are committed to the environment and climate changes, do your “one thing” in that arena. If you are frightened about losing our democracy and freedom, focus on watchdog organizations designed to keep us free. If you are concerned that this new administration is going to separate families through immigration, leave people without healthcare, suppress information, there are tons of organizations that are dedicated to making sure these things don’t happen.

DONATE!

And you can always donate and now, you should donate, donate, donate.

What To Do

“Just do one thing, that one thing you care about and can do today”

Sign up for newsletters with organizations that give useful “to do” info. For example . . .

Common Cause

Center for American Progress Daily Report

Daily KOS,

Daily KOS Morning Digest

Move On

Action Groups

Organizing for Action

Daily Action Text

Senator and Representative Contact Info has information for each senator and representative from each state. Great for contacting politicians as part of the grassroots organizing effort!

MOVIES TO SEE

There are hundreds of great movies to see. Start with a couple of good ones about Wall Street and the Great Recession of 2008 from Rooster Today list under Media.

PODCASTS TO LISTEN TO

Podcasts are coming on strong as a way to keep updated. See recent TechCrunch article on the growing popularity of podcasts.

Listen in to Mozilla podcast series on the internet. Essential listening as we confront the radical rollback of net neutrality that the Trump administration is trying to impose on the country.

COMEDIANS TO LAUGH WITH

BOOKS TO READ

There are great books to read on all these topics, both fiction and non-fiction. Novels and biographies are a particularly easy way to get facts.

WHERE TO DONATE

There are many ways to support and donate to specific causes, watchdogs, factcheckers, political parties and candidates and the media. There are thousands of good organization under every topic. The ones you find on this site have been reviewed and are reputable. See Donating and Supporting.

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