John,

Americans have always done "Big Things." We went to the moon, built the transcontinental railway and interstate highway system, created soaring skyscrapers, invented the best personal computers, and led the way on countless other achievements that were thought to be impossible. In our history, we have done big things, and I believe we can do even more.

Some people and politicians think that we are stuck in the mud — that the government can't lead or spur change on the most important issues of our day; they look around and don't see leaders with shovels in their hands. And I understand. At times, it seems that many members of Congress see themselves as the star of a reality TV show instead of as leaders. But let me tell you the story about one of our nation's greatest achievements: Social Security.

During the height of the Great Depression, Americans were living in poverty, standing in food lines, and enduring the Dust Bowl. By our best estimates, more than half of elderly Americans were living in squalor. So, on this day in 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt did a Big Thing: he signed the Social Security Act. At this point, most storytellers skip right to the end and say in an old-timey radio voice:

"And by signing the Social Security Act, President Roosevelt lifted millions of people out of poverty."

But that skips a lot of the story. Signing the bill was, in many ways, only the beginning.

For years, the Social Security Act was locked up in the courts as politically motivated litigants sought to smother the nascent law before it could be fully enacted. After two years of litigation, it was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.

But enacting the legislation still took a long time, because millions of elderly adults were born in the United States but not given a Social Security number (because the Social Security Administration didn't exist when they were born). That meant millions of people had to queue at their local post office and fill out the bureaucratic forms in order to receive the Social Security number.

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(Fun Fact: my grandfather was a mail carrier for the United States Post Office, and I am sure the lines at the post office for a Social Security number were longer than anything he'd ever seen before!)

Even then, it wasn't until 1940 — nearly five years after President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act — that the first monthly payments were made.

And that's not even the end of the story. We've seen numerous amendments to this legislation and we will continue to see more in the future.

It takes courage to lead big change like this. I learned that when I started TVW. People said we could never get a C-SPAN-style broadcaster for Washington state with gavel-to-gavel coverage of the legislative session, and at times I almost believed them . But together, my partner, Stan Marshburn, and I founded TVW in 1993 and went on air in 1995. It took years of development after that, but today, TVW is considered the model for state-level equivalents to C-SPAN.

If we have the courage to lead, we can make big changes. It's neither easy, nor quick, but it will build a better future for all of us. Projects like the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub — which will redefine our transportation industry — and the Climate Commitment Act — which will protect our environment for future generations — have taken years to get off the ground and will take years to fully implement. But they are crucial to our future.

I am running for reelection because we have bigger changes to make and Washington needs a Lieutenant Governor who can work across the aisle, build consensus, and make change happen. We need to combat climate change, solve our housing crisis, ensure that Washingtonians have good-paying jobs, and much much more.

Thank you for supporting my campaign and helping me work towards the changes that our state needs. If you are able, please donate $3 today and continue to support our reelection. [[link removed]]

Denny

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