Dear Friends,
As the Chinese saying goes: "may you live in interesting times." Well, these are interesting times — and complicated times.
Stay with me for a minute.
First, it goes without saying that we must defeat Donald Trump in November. Our deeply-troubled country will not recover if the American people elect as president a pathological liar, a felon, a convicted sexual abuser, and someone who, as a businessman, was involved in 4,000 different lawsuits.
We will not recover if women are driven back into second-class citizenship and lose the ability to control their own bodies.
We will not recover if there is a president who believes, at a time when we have just experienced the hottest day ever, that climate change is a hoax created in China.
We will not recover if we have a president who has spent years undermining American democracy and who will accept the election results only if he thinks the election was fair.
Donald Trump must be defeated and we in the progressive movement must do all that we can to make that happen.
Kamala Harris will be the Democratic nominee for president. Can she defeat Donald Trump? Absolutely. But, in my view, she will only win if she campaigns on an agenda that takes on the greed and power of the Oligarchs and addresses the needs of the long-ignored working class of our country — the vast majority of voters.
Despite what the corporate media thinks real politics is not a personality contest, a sporting event, or an entertainment show. It’s about acknowledging the crises that tens of millions of Americans experience every day, and proposing real solutions for them. Our fragile democracy will not survive if we do not respond to the pain felt by so many people in our country.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that the billionaire class is getting much richer and more powerful, while real, inflation accounted for wages for working people, have actually declined over the last 50 years. We need an economy that works for all, not just the 1%.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that, as a result of the horrific Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the richest people in America and their super PACs have enormous influence over our corrupt political process. We need real campaign finance reform.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that our healthcare system is broken, dysfunctional, and wildly expensive, and that we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We must join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee healthcare to all as a human right.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that, at a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, some of the wealthiest people in our country pay an effective tax rate lower than truck drivers and nurses. We need a progressive tax system that demands that the rich and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that some 600,000 Americans are homeless and affordable housing is increasingly scarce. We need to put a cap on rent increases and build millions of units of low-income and affordable housing.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that 25% of the senior citizens in this country are trying to survive on $15,000 or less. We need to expand Social Security benefits by lifting the cap on taxable income and require Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision.
No. We cannot ignore the reality that we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country, that teachers are under-paid, and that college is unaffordable. We need to invest in kids and families and significantly reduce the cost of child care.
And on and on it goes.
Brothers and sisters. Our job is not just to defeat Trump, but to transform our country. That is what I will be working on over the next several months, and I could use your help to get it done:
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