If we are serious about dealing with the deficit and creating jobs in
Yes, we should deal with the deficit. But not on the backs of the
elderly, the children, the sick and the poor!
Most importantly, when we talk about what's
happening in
We know that the fastest way to create decent-paying jobs is rebuilding our
crumbling infrastructure (roads, bridges, rail, airports, water systems,
wastewater plants, deteriorating schools, etc.) We also know that we can
create a great deal of employment by transforming our energy system away from
foreign oil and coal and into energy efficiency and such sustainable energies
as wind, solar, geo-thermal, bio-mass and other clean technologies. We
also know that, as our country fights fierce global competition, it is absurd
to be laying-off educators and making college unaffordable.
While we continue to do everything we can during the next six
months to defeat Republican right-wing extremism, it is also important that we
never lose sight of the progressive vision that we are fighting for. If we
don't know where we want to go, it will be impossible to get there. Some of
the issues that I intend to raise are the following:
Not only must we resist cuts in
Social Security, we must lift the cap on taxing higher incomes so that Social
Security will be strong for the next 75 years.
Not only must we oppose cuts in
Medicare and Medicaid, we must see health care as a right of all and continue
the fight for a Medicare for All Single Payer health care system.
Not only must we oppose placing
the burden of deficit reduction on the backs of working families, we must
demand a progressive tax system in which the wealthy and large corporations
start paying their fair share of taxes.
Not only must we oppose cuts in
unemployment compensation, we must fight for a jobs program that creates the
many millions of jobs our country desperately needs.
Not only must we fight to end
disastrous unfettered free trade agreements with
And, not only must we vigorously
oppose the war against women, we must fight to end all forms of discrimination
and prejudice in this country.
The struggle we are engaged in right
now is of pivotal importance for this country. Whether we win or lose will
determine the future of
Despair is not an option. I know
people get angry, I know they get frustrated, I know they get disgusted. But we
don't have the right to give up and turn our backs on our children and
grandchildren.
Our job is to simply bring to
fruition what the overwhelming majority of the American people want. They want
an economy that works for the middle class and working families and not just
for the rich. They want everybody in this country to have health care as a
right. They want to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They want
to move away from these gross inequalities in income and wealth.
We have the people behind us. They
have the money. And at the end of the day, the people will be stronger than the
money.
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