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John,
Have you seen the latest news from Congress?
Last month, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Trump and the Republicans in bailing out Wall Street and corporate America to the tune of $4 trillion, making the old 2008 record of $700 billion look like a drop in the bucket. Now, she's found a way to top even that—by perversely proposing a public bailout of corporate lobbyists.
Exaggeration? Hyperbole?
I wish.
Would you rather see San Francisco's voice in Congress oppose corporate bailouts and focus instead on passing measures like the Mortgage and Rent Cancellation Act proposed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)? We're eager to unwind Pelosi's corporate legacy after reaching Congress.
Journalists, including Lee Fang from the Intercept, have reported that lobbyists mounting a campaign for a bailout have sought a $25 billion public subsidy. Yesterday, Pelosi introduced legislation to change the eligibility standard so that money intended for small businesses can instead flow to "business advocacy groups."
Most stores and restaurants still aren’t seeing a nickel of the money earmarked for small businesses—but if Pelosi succeeds, her friends on K Street will.
Pelosi says she’ll back the Paycheck Security Act to ensure small businesses can meet payroll. That's great. But that money shouldn't instead go to the very same lobbyists for big business whose "work" entails undermining the public interest.
Do you want public tax dollars to support Americans struggling with the public health and economic crisis, instead of the corporate lawyers who promote predatory for-profit "healthcare," corrupt weapons manufacturing, and climate-killing resource extraction?
These are YOUR tax dollars. During a pandemic, they should be used to support working people like you, and essential workers like nurses, food sector workers, and delivery drivers.
But lobbyists work only to steer politicians towards policies that benefit their corporate clients. They're not (at all, in any way) essential. They don't even promote the public interest.
In fact, their work actively undermines the public interest. It's also spectacularly lucrative: these firms enjoy continual windfalls from industries that invest in them millions of dollars every year to buy influence in Congress.
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Why is San Francisco's congressional voice more conservative than those cities' representatives?
We all know Trump lied when he said he would “drain the swamp.” Instead, he gave lobbyists more power than ever.
It might disappoint you—though it doesn't surprise me—that Nancy Pelosi is right there by his side. Pelosi claims to put families first, but behind the scenes, she has long worked for Wall Street. It's beyond the pale, though, to give your tax dollars to the very same corporate lobbyists who are rigging the system against you & your family.
Thank you for standing with me!
Your voice in Washington,
Shahid
PS — Unable to contribute financially? You can still make a big difference in our campaign by signing up to volunteer. Our team hosts training sessions via videoconference every other day, and has trained hundreds of volunteers in the past few weeks on our new phone banking tools. We're eager to include you & your friends!
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