Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
Well, the Build Back Better framework is out. It’s a mixed bag, but let’s not pretend that what’s in there now wouldn’t—all by itself—be incredible progress. It would.
The framework includes:
Two years of free preschool for more than six million children.
Affordable child care.
Affordable, high-quality care for older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes.
The largest effort to combat climate change in history ($555 billion total expenditure.)
A historic tax cut for tens of millions of middle-class families, including giving 39 million families a major tax cut by extending the expanded Child Tax Credit and cutting taxes for 17 million low-wage workers by extending the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit.
The biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade, reducing premiums for more than 9 million Americans by extending the expanded Premium Tax Credit, delivering health care coverage to up to 4 million uninsured people in states that have locked them out of Medicaid, and helping older Americans access affordable hearing care by expanding Medicare.
Yet there is so much NOT in it, too. The Clean Energy Payment Program, for starters. Paid Family Leave. Free Community College. Lower drug prices. Medicaid expansion. A pathway to citizenship. And more.
I’m not a pundit, and I’m not going to try to pin something down that’s changing every second. I can just report what I know right now: that some (especially progressives) are unhappy, and some (many moderates) are jubilant. I also know for a fact that NOTHING is done yet. Some of the measures above may still make it in—especially if we stay loud.
Everyone, of course, is angry at Sinema and Manchin, and justifiably so. Each of their single votes have blocked fantastic, necessary, life-saving provisions. (We must, must, must expand our majorities in 2022.)
But it’s critical for us to save our strongest anger for ALL of the Republicans who are uninterested in ANY of these changes, or any policy to help Americans. Every MOC supporting these policies is a Democrat. Remember that, and make sure everyone you know does as well.
No matter what is passed, we will keep fighting. Remember, this is a beginning, not an end. And also remember—a year ago TRUMP WAS STILL PRESIDENT.
We’ve come a long way. YOU’VE done this.
And you’ll do so much more.
Time. Patience. Persistence.
Action.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I’m extremely frustrated by the delays in the Postal Service. Loius Dejoy’s ten-year plan is a disaster. He needs to be fired, and I know that can only happen if President Biden replaces board member Ron Bloom. Has the Senator called for this? Because I want them to.
Second, I support S. 2342, the End Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, and want the Senator to as well.
Finally, VOTING RIGHTS! We must have legislation to ensure every vote is counted, end partisan gerrymandering, and get dark money out of our politics. That’s the Freedom to Vote Act, and I want the Senator to make passing it their top priority. [If Democrat add:] And end the Jim Crow filibuster! We’re tired of watching Republicans use it to stop this and all other good legislation.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I’m extremely frustrated by the delays in the Postal Service. Loius Dejoy’s ten-year plan is a disaster. He needs to be fired, and I know that can only happen if President Biden replaces board member Ron Bloom. Has the Congressmember called for this? Because I want them to.
Second, I support HR 4445, the End Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, and want the Senator to as well.
[If your rep is a Dem:] I want the Representative to vote no on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Package until Congress passes the reconciliation bill.
We urgently need to lower prescription drug prices, expand Medicare, provide a path to citizenship, and include generational investments in climate, housing, and the care economy - all while making the ultra rich and big corporations pay their fair share. This cannot take a back seat to an inadequate bipartisan bill.
We need the full recovery agenda, and I’ll be watching to ensure they are fighting for it. Thanks.
Extra Credit
Please post this on social media:
Worried about how close the VA races are? 😬Channel that fear into action! This doc has tons of remote volunteer opportunities. Please, even if it makes you anxious, consider signing up for ONE SHIFT.
All of us can give 2 hours to help fend off fascism.
tinyurl.com/winvirginia
Gretchen Carlson Needs Your Help!
So somehow I got put in touch with Gretchen Carlson. She is working very hard to pass the forced arbitration bill we called about today (see above). It’s coming before the Senate Judiciary Comittee for a hearing next week. She is organizing a support letter to be delivered to the committee in a few days. Carlson is hoping for signatures from women survivors and their supporters. So pretty much anyone.
Please consider signing the letter and sending it around to your community. Deadline is tomorrow at 5PM. She’s trying to get as many people as possible to show that different regions of the country care about this. If passed, this will arguably be the biggest labor law change in 100 years.
Get on the Phones! ☎️
I’ve updated the Virginia volunteer document with new opportunities for election protection, vote curing, and phone banking. I truly hope that every single person reading this signs up for at least one shift. Also, please try to recruit someone. This is a pitched battle, and we need to win.
P.S. Did you hear Glenn Youngkin supports banning Toni Morrison books?
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to all 3 reps] [Quick send by texting SIGN PRAGQX to 50409 or clicking here] [H/T this excellent piece]
I am deeply concerned about the recent Facebook revelations; the company is a well-documented threat not just to our democracy, but to democracies around the world. It is also a threat to public health and to American unity, which is already almost nonexistent.
We need to break up Facebook, and we need to do it immediately. I know the Federal Trade Commission has already sued Facebook for violating anti-trust laws. Their hand can be strengthened by Congressional action. I’m glad that Senator Amy Klobuchar is looking at tough anti-trust legislation in the Senate, and I want you to support it.
Also, I know there is a package of bills in the House that would ban companies from self-dealing and rigging the marketplaces they operate, prevent companies from buying up potential competitors, force companies to sell off lines of business that create conflicts of interest, empower users to take their data, leave dominant platforms, and interact through competing platforms, and fortify the underfunded agencies that defend consumers from Big Tech’s abuse. I support all of this and want you to as well.
Finally, the SEC should undertake an investigation to see whether Facebook misled investors. If found guilty, the agency should impose fines, restrictions on how the company operates, and seek Zuckerberg’s removal.
Inaction isn’t an option. The dangers Facebook poses are too great. Do something, now. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
I think you should start a petition to boycott Home Depot they have given over $50 million to Devin Nunez and other Trump supporters -