Indivisibles --

The party that controls the presidency and the Senate has shown no compassion for human suffering and no basic competence in the face of a pandemic. 

It’s not "polite" to say it, but it’s true: with Mitch McConnell musing aloud that it’d be fine for states to go bankrupt, and Trump suggesting that people inject bleach into their bodies (DON’T!), there’s no other way to say it. The GOP is willing to let people die in order to protect their corporate backers’ financial interests. 

Here’s what a moral and ethical government would do right now: 

• Keep people on payrolls: Stop mass layoffs, and preserve employment relationships for all businesses, including small businesses. Ensure federal dollars go to workers and small businesses, not enriching CEOs and Wall Street.
• Provide financial relief: Expand aid for the most vulnerable in the COVID-19 epidemic, including direct cash assistance, increased food aid, debt relief, and eviction protections.
• Protect public health: Guarantee full health coverage for all COVID-19 care and protections for all frontline workers.
• Defend elections: Enact a vote-by-mail requirement for 2020 federal elections while maintaining access to in-person voting for those who do not have access to mail voting.

Those aren’t complicated asks. It boils down to protect people and protect democracy before enriching corporations. So we’re making what we think is a pretty simple ask: Every Member of Congress should pledge not to vote for a COVID relief bill that doesn’t cover those four principals. 

Onboard? Below is what we need you to do. Otherwise, read on… 

✅ Take the pledge yourself — tell us you’re going to fight with us for real relief.
✅ Make a call to your member of Congress T-O-D-A-Y and ask them to take the pledge to vote no on the next package unless it does these four things we mentioned above.
✅ When you’ve hung up the phone, follow up with an email to your representative demanding that they take the pledge and tell them you’re paying attention.
✅ Email sent? Use this tool to tweet at them for good measure (we’re hearing right now that social media is a more effective tool to engage with your members of Congress than usual because of remote working and social distancing).
✅ Finally, make your voice heard by recording a video. Say your name, where you’re from, and that you demand your representative take the People’s Agenda Pledge to vote no on the next coronavirus package unless it means real relief for all people. Upload it to social and tag them!

So far, Democrats in the House have been too quick to go along with McConnell’s Senate. And every time they fold and give McConnell what he wants, we have less leverage for the next bill.

The COVID 3 package that passed out of McConnell’s Senate was $2 trillion, disproportionately for rich people and big business. Normal people are getting a pathetic one-time check -- a bandaid on a gaping hole blown in the economy by Trump’s incompetent response to the crisis. We expected that from the GOP-lead Senate. But we’re appalled that the House passed that bill without fixing it. 

The COVID 3.5 package from McConnell’s Senate was no better. A half-trillion dollar package mostly for a small business loan program that gave money to Ruth’s Chris Steak House while shutting out mom and pop stores. Applebees doesn’t need a bailout right now -- Americans do. And again, House Democrats just passed the Republican bill. 

It’s not that we lack ideas in the House:

• Rep. Jayapal has the Paycheck Guarantee bill, which offers a universal response to a universal crisis rather than pitting employers against one another. 
• Rep. Khanna has the Essential Worker Bill of Rights bill, which would provide basic health and safety standards, ensure compensation better matches risk, and hold corporations accountable for meeting their obligations to essential workers. 
• Others are proposing reforms to protect our elections and fund nationwide vote by mail, to avoid replaying on a nationwide scale in November the human and democratic catastrophe that played out in Wisconsin earlier this month.

These ideas are the right ideas. These ideas have popular support. And House Democrats, particularly leadership, need to show some spine and ensure that they’re included in a House-passed COVID 4 package. 

Here’s what we need:

✅ Take the pledge yourself — tell us you’re going to fight with us for real relief.
✅ Make a call to your member of Congress T-O-D-A-Y and ask them to take the pledge to vote no on the next package unless it does these four things we mentioned above.
✅ When you’ve hung up the phone, follow up with an email to your representative demanding that they take the pledge and tell them you’re paying attention.
✅ Email sent? Use this tool to tweet at them for good measure (we’re hearing right now that social media is a more effective tool to engage with your members of Congress than usual because of remote working and social distancing).
✅ Finally, make your voice heard by recording a video. Say your name, where you’re from, and that you demand your representative take the People’s Agenda Pledge to vote no on the next coronavirus package unless it means real relief for all people. Upload it to social and tag them!

We’ll be in touch more over the next few weeks as we learn more about potential future bills. Thanks for being with us. 

In solidarity,

Indivisible Team