A week to put some fight in you, and it happened to a lot of us. Here are a few local outrages to match, plus a full calendar of progressive activism and last week's blog posts with links.

 WELCOME TO THE PROGRESSIVE MARYLAND WEEKLY MEMO

The first week of Trump has been a disaster for ordinary people while the self-identified big shots who think they are running things find out how little they know or understand. Are we used to that in Maryland? Frequently we get a reminder. Not a word from Gov. Larry Hogan about the clear evidence that his carefully contrived and deceptive no-tax budget will blow up like a cherry bomb if the Affordable Care Act is abolished, as threatened. Not a peep out of Prince George’s County Council members about the highhanded bill pre-empting their right to raise their minimum wage in the county (gosh, maybe they’re just as happy about that) – a bill filed by a Prince George’s legislator, Dereck Davis. And in Montgomery, Ike Leggett’s veto of their Fight for $15 minimum wage increase – in one of the nation’s most expensive counties – is cementing his reputation as one who cares about his business cronies and contributors but not about the people who voted him in. Cluelessness abounds at the elite governing level and needs to be taken down a peg or six by working people working together.

 ON THE PROGRESSIVE CALENDAR:

 Wed, Feb 1, 7 p.m. Greenbelt Climate Action Network Meeting "How Do We Know if We are Doing 'Enough'?" Greenbelt Community Center, Room 114, 15 Crescent Rd, Greenbelt, MD.  https://www.facebook.com/events/603911166466402/ 

Thursday, Feb 2, 7 p.m. Progressive Cheverly forum:  The Future of Metro and Mass Transit in Cheverly and the County Hoyer Education Center 2300 Belleview Ave, Cheverly Community and labor leaders will discuss Metro’s proposed major service cuts at the Cheverly station and throughout Prince George’s County.  Speakers include WMATA board member Malcolm Augustine and ATU president Jackie Jeter.

SAT, Feb. 4, 10:30 a.m. From Suchitra Balachandran: The Maryland Chapter of Our Revolution, the group that was formed  after Bernie Sanders' effective and principled primary campaign, will be holding its inaugural Prince George's regional meeting this Saturday 10:30am - 12:30pm at The Atrium, Stamp Student Union, University of Maryland, College Park. Stamp Union is at the center of campus.  Free parking is available in Lots 1 and Z. RSVP to [email protected], via Facebook or map.revolution.com . The meeting will both provide information on the National and State level campaigns and provide a forum for us to organize at the local level.   A full list of issue priorities for Our Revolution can be found at Our Revolution.com. 

Tues. Feb. 7, 1 p.m.  Committee Hearing on HB 317, a bill to pre-empt county actions on minimum wage and potentially other working conditions such as earned paid sick leave. Authored by the powerful chairman of the House Economic Matters Committee, Dereck Davis, who is a Prince George’s delegate (Dist. 25).

 Thurs, Feb. 9 and Fri., Feb. 10: Bill hearings on  the 2017 Healthy Working Families Act (Earned paid sick leave) have been scheduled for February 9 at 1:00 pm in the Senate Finance Committee, and February 10 at 12:30 pm in the House Economic Matters Committee. The Job Opportunities Task Force hopes supporters of earned sick leave will come to Annapolis both days, “as it's critical that we fill the hearing room with supporters!” Click here for more information.

 Progressive voices on the air: Progressive Maryland member Bob Bartlett talked about the Fight for $15 on the Kojo Nnamdi Show’s Politics Hour last Friday, Jan. 25. Check it out here:  http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2017-01-25/is-there-a-way-for-a-15-minimum-wage-in-montgomery-county

Want to get the latest on national progressive concerns? Check out Progressive Breakfast from our national affiliate, People’s Action/Center for American Progress.

 Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected].

January 27, 2017  Healthcare for All – Where does Maryland stand in the Movement?
The Affordable Care Act was a huge step forward, but finally compromised by its entanglement with for-profit medical care systems. What should be next? Beth Landry describes the growing surge for a single-payer, "Medicare for all" successor system.

January 26, 2017  Fusing Group Identity and Class-Based Politics

Hal Ginsberg brings history to bear to show that economic class and its widespread improvement is an important underpinning for the identity issues that are -- justifiably -- at the top of our priorities list. "...Democrats can return to power only if they run squeaky clean candidates with a documented commitment to economic and social justice.  It’s going to be a long road."

January 25, 2017  Why Black Lives Matter: Blacks have always put their lives on the line for society's sake

As Trump-fueled agitators argue that activists for police reform are anti-police, PM member and blogger Marsha DaBolt reminds us how much blood has been shed across the lines of our society, just and unjust, and what that should teach us.

January 24, 2017  Progressive MD slams Leggett's veto of MoCo's $15 minimum wage bill

Progressive Maryland, a lead organization advocating for the $15 minimum wage bill passed by the Montgomery County Council, deplores the veto by County Executive Ike Leggett and promises to hold him and the Council members opposed to the bill accountable for their disregard for working families.

January 23, 2017  Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for Jan. 23-28

Week 1 of Resist Trump, and our work begins. Events calendar and links to our blog posts.

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace since June 2015 are all available with descriptions and links here.