INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
HEADLINES: Bernie vs Blank Check for Israel | Economic Justice Town Hall w/ Barbara Lee, Ro Khanna | Prof. Richard Wolff on Wealth Gap & Democracy | Preparing for 2024 | & MORE!
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Our movement is crucial in the call for peace abroad and the fight for justice here at home. If you’re not already a grassroots supporter, please consider a monthly donation to power the work of Our Revolution organizers as we head into 2024.
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THE PUSH FOR PEACE
Thanks to your surge of support, Bernie Sanders was successful at blocking $10 billion of unconditional aid to Israel’s extreme right-wing government!
The aid vote failed 49-51 on Thursday, and there is no doubt that your thousands of signatures and donations made a big difference.
However, allies of Netanyahu’s regime, like AIPAC, are going to use their near-unlimited resources to punish progressives for daring to call for an end to the civilian bombing in Gaza.
Bernie was the only non-Republican Senator to vote against unconditional aid and will now be the target of enormous pressure to reverse course.
As Bernie said, we cannot be complicit. Hamas is a terrorist group, but bombing innocent people only causes more death and danger.
Sign now to stand with Bernie and call on Israel to stop violating international law by bombing civilians.
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Tens of thousands tuned in this week to Our Revolution’s Economic Justice Town Hall with Reps. Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, Professor Richard Wolff, and worker activists like Sergio Valderrama from around the country.
We dug into the issues that cut to the core of our shared economic struggle, including jobs, wages, housing, labor power, healthcare costs, student debt, greed-flation, and more.
A rigged economic system is crushing people and creating a wealth gap that has enabled the ultra-wealthy to hijack democracy in America.
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Rep. Barbara Lee lived the struggle as a single mother and knows the tough decisions families face when wages are too low, and the rent is too damn high.
She has spent her life and career waging the fight for economic justice, and now we have a chance to send her to partner with Bernie Sanders and speak for our movement in the Senate.
“I know what economic injustice is. I know how people are struggling,” Barbara said on the Town Hall. “We can’t have people just hanging on the edge in the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world.”
Barbara and Bernie recently teamed up together on the new OLIGARCH Act to tax the ultra-wealthy. They’re also pushing for a Wall Street speculation tax, a bill to close the CEO-worker pay gap, an audit of the Pentagon, and more.
CALL YOUR REPS
“Senator Sanders and I have worked on this daily,” Barbara said. “People cannot wait. Billionaires are scamming the system, and regular folks are paying excessive taxes to fuel the Pentagon budget. This is money that should be invested in healthcare, housing, and lifting people out of poverty.”
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Rep. Ro Khanna is chairing Barbara Lee’s campaign for the U.S. Senate because he knows her passion and record and these crucial issues.
“I’ve often said Barbara Lee is the antiwar voice we need, but I could never have predicted we’d need that voice so urgently in the moment we’re in,” Ro said on our Town Hall. “If you care about peace, if you care about a ceasefire in the Middle East, Barbara Lee is the only candidate in this race to come out for a permanent ceasefire.”
“As is often the case, she is a bit ahead of all of us. She showed the way, and we’ve got to rally around her. She’s going to win because people are going to find out California is a progressive, pro-peace state.”
HELP US ELECT BARBARA LEE TO THE SENATE
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When 1% of America controls nearly a third of the wealth and the bottom half can claim less than 3%, we’re in trouble, and so is our democracy, Ro told us.
“For 50 years, there’s been a war on the working and middle class in this country, and people feel that,” Ro said. “Wages aren’t keeping up, and folks can’t afford medical debt, student debt, credit card debt. They say, ‘I can’t afford to live in America.’”
“That is the central challenge that the Democratic Party has to tackle,” he explained, “to create economic opportunity and wealth generation in every district in America. There are many parts of this country where there’s no economic opportunities, no job creation, no sense of the American Dream. This country cannot stand that divided. “
“It’s why I co-chaired Bernie’s campaign and why I’m chairing Barbara Lee’s campaign. We need to prioritize the working class. That means Medicare for All, universal childcare, forgiving student loans, free public college, a living wage, paid family leave, power for labor unions, and more. We know what needs to be done in this country, and it also means taxing the ultra-rich.”
ADD YOUR NAME — TAX THE RICH
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We were excited to have Economist Professor Richard Wolff also join the Town Hall on Monday!
“The problem for people is an unequal distribution of wealth, which is used to corrupt our politics,” Professor Wolff told us. “The rich understand you can’t have democracy because the mass of people might use it to change the distribution of wealth, and for that reason, they aim to stop that process.
“If you want a political democracy, you have no choice but to advocate for an economic democracy because, without that, you’ll never get the political democracy either,” he explained.
Wolff said he takes great encouragement from seeing the surge of unionization and labor strikes — from Starbucks to UAW to graduate students organizing on campus.
“There is a movement already underway of people saying they don’t need to live in a world as unequal as this one,” Professor Wolff said. “We can do better than this, and it’s our job just as the working people who struggled before us — to stop slavery, to stop feudalism. Now, it’s our turn to make a better world.”
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Sergio Valderrama is doing just that and making a difference as a worker activist with Fight for $15 and a Union.
He joined our Town Hall Monday night from his car between DoorDash deliveries. A McDonald’s worker for 10 years, Sergio has always had to work two or three jobs to support his wife and children.
Last year, Our Revolution joined Sergio in the fight to win AB257, which set a $20 minimum wage for fast food workers and gave them a seat at the negotiating table in California — a form of sectoral bargaining we want to export around the country.
“Winning this bill was important. It helped a lot with expenses and rent, but the cost of living keeps going up, and we must keep fighting,” he said. “And I don’t have insurance, so I can’t actually afford to go see the doctor.”
Sergio speaks for so many of us, and we’re proud to be with him in this working-class movement to demand real change and elect progressive leaders who fight alongside us.
CHIP IN TO POWER THIS MOVEMENT
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On Tuesday, federal call center workers are traveling to DC to demand action from the Biden administration to turn their “low-wage, dead-end jobs” into good jobs that support their families and communities — just like the president promised.
Our Revolution proudly stands with call center workers like Tonya Jackson, who told us on our live show that she and her coworkers help folks navigate healthcare but can’t afford to use their own plans. She works a second job as a home health aide.
RSVP TO JOIN WORKERS IN DC!
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This year, Our Revolution elected 77 new progressive allies to offices up and down the ballot, thanks to our grassroots supporters and activists!
Our Revolution Board Member Megan Green now leads a progressive majority in St. Louis, where they passed a universal income program, raised wages, and took on corporate developers. They’re now working on tenants’ rights and giving city residents a direct say over spending decisions. Read more here about Megan Green and the power of progressives in St. Louis.
Together, we also helped elect Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and labor organizer, who has already delivered on his promise to raise the wage — and not leave tipped workers behind.
And Our Revolution ally Sara Innamorato now joins a progressive trifecta in Pittsburgh, winning the powerful Allegheny County Executive seat with the power to help protect abortion care, push for county-wide housing, and address human rights violations in the county jail.
That’s not all — all of our candidates swept the NYC Council, and we now have a progressive majority in Minneapolis. We even had a progressive takeover of the city council in Hilliard, Ohio, and we’re one seat away from getting control of the council in Duluth, Minnesota!
Every seat matters. That’s why Our Revolution is gearing up NOW for 2024 to expand our organizational capacity and our voter turnout operation for the crucial battles to come.
Not only must we defeat Donald Trump and the far right, but we have got to take back the House, defeat enemies of progress like Kyrsten Sinema in the Senate, and elect amazing progressives like Barbara Lee to turn this ship around.
If you can, please kick in a few bucks to help us staff up for the big elections ahead in 2024 — there’s no time to waste!
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AIPAC lobbyists are getting ready to spend over $100 MILLION to try to replace pro-peace members of Congress like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, Jamaal Bowman, and Ayanna Pressley — at a time when 66% of Americans want our government to work toward a ceasefire.
SIGN NOW to protect our progressive caucus from cynical dark money and rightwing attacks. The working class can't afford to lose the power of these seats.
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In September of 2001, Barbara Lee cast the lone “No” vote in Congress against a blank check for war in Afghanistan. She endured death threats, hate mail, and media slander for years. But history vindicated her.
Today, Barbara Lee is the only candidate for U.S. Senate in California calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Check out this LA Times article on why Barbara is the Peace Candidate in this race compared to her opponents, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.
Last week, Our Revolution leaders joined Barbara Lee at the CA Democratic Convention, where we helped organize delegates to endorse her for Senate! She got the most votes at 42% — beating out opponents Adam Schiff and Katie Porter!
This is HUGE. And, with the powerful endorsements of national progressive leaders like Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley, and many others, Barbara is the clear progressive choice for the U.S. Senate seat in California.
“Our momentum is picking up speed. The people want a tried and tested progressive with the record to prove it. I’m ready to deliver,” Barbara said.
JOIN PROGRESSIVES FOR BARBARA LEE
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FRESH NEW MERCH!
We know what we’re fighting for, but we need to share the message far and wide. Get your new Our Revolution T-shirt and advocate for our progressive values everywhere you go!
We are proud to stand up for Education for All, Racial Justice, Reproductive Rights, Medicare for All, Economic Justice, Labor Rights, Housing for All, Environmental Justice, LGBT+ Rights, and so much more. In short: JUSTICE FOR ALL.
GET YOUR NEW SHIRTS TODAY!
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You can help elect Barbara Lee from anywhere in the country by making calls as part of Our Revolution’s Phone Bank Team. It’s a lot of fun, but this is serious business because we know what it would mean to get a powerhouse like Barbara in the U.S. Senate!
PHONE BANK FOR BARBARA
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From boots on the ground to the halls of Congress — we are building an organized progressive movement at every level of government. If you’re already a member of Our Revolution, THANK YOU! If you’re not yet an official member, please consider signing up for a recurring monthly donation today!
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR REVOLUTION
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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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