-------------------------
Register To Vote!
-------------------------
POVERTY IS NOT A NECESSARY EVIL
Today the United States has the worst inequality since data has been
collected on the subject in 1928, an AP Report based on
[[link removed]]Census Bureau
Data. But, apparently, we’ve been in an economic growth period for
the last decade. Many hardworking Americans have not had felt the
return. Almost all of the new income, the product of all of our hard
labor, goes to the top 1%. Many people feel like we’re in a
recession, because we’re squeezed out of every dollar we earn, at
every turn.
Inequality results from our government’s policy failures. And
income inequality is a threat to our democracy, because it translates
to power inequality. Billionaires can purchase power by funding
political campaigns, and those campaigns return the favor by either
“doing nothing” or, even worse, awarding pork contracts to their
donors. That’s why it’s important to get big money out of
politics.
Republicans have demonized poor people for decades since Reagan,
arguing it’s a problem of character: laziness, “inner city
culture
[[link removed]]”,
etc. trump has targeted social services that seek to provide a
dignified life for the working Poor. The trump admin has come up
with a cruel way to persecute the homeless. They have repeatedly cut
food stamps, cut aid to school lunches that nourish learning children,
with blatant disregard for the quality of life of those affected.
[[link removed]]
The idea that poor people are “immoral” has also been repeated
by the media and government. Cities criminalize poverty and dehumanize
the poor. The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty found
that most cities do not provide shelter for the homeless, that 53%
criminalize lying down in public places with “homeless spikes,”
43% ban sleeping in a vehicle, and 9% even make it a crime to provide
food for homeless people
These laws are cruel and senseless. Criminalizing poverty actually
costs the government more than it would cost to house the homeless.
Yet, many cities, red and blue alike, seek to criminalize poverty
instead of fixing the root causes. That’s why we have a plan to
build affordable housing, through the Green New Deal, which will build
community owned public housing available to those who need it.
The question we should ask ourselves ultimately is, why does
society allow millions of its members live in poverty? 42.5 Million
people live in poverty today. If there’s so much wealth and
resources in this country, if we have more homes than there are
homeless, why would anyone allow homelessness to be a real thing? One
reason - the poor exists as a threat to those of us with good jobs, a
constant reminder that if we lose our jobs, we could be homeless in a
matter of months.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. As a nation, we can be
stronger, safer, and reduce crime, by making poverty a thing of the
past. No one should live in needless suffering.
This EXCELLENT TED TALK
[[link removed]]explains
that poor people are poor because they lack cash. A survey of farmers,
who make their money in harvest season and are flush with cash, but
relatively poor for the rest of the year, found that poverty affects
IQ levels. Believe it or not, the same farmers scored higher on IQ
tests during harvest season, and lower during the rest of the year
when they were living in poverty! It’s because a lack of cash
eliminates our capacity for critical thinking. If we don’t know
where our next meal will come from, there’s no way we could think
about where we will be in the next month.
One thing I’ve learned over the course of this campaign is that
it’s absolutely LIBERATING and JOYFUL to serve others who need it
most. If you want to experience true, unfiltered, JOY, it comes when
you stand up for others who aren’t as well off as we are. It is our
duty, as citizens, to defend each other and speak out against class
warfare. We must fight for those less privileged than us, no matter
the personal risk. That is how we build community strength. We are all
in this together.
90,000 people, more than 10%, make minimum wage in the district I
seek to represent. That’s why I’ve committed to fighting for a
living wage of $20 an hour indexed to inflation. One job should be
enough to support a family. Here’s a great calculator from MIT
[[link removed]] if you’re interested in what the
living wage should be in your area.
Switching to Medicare for All will actually reduce poverty in this
nation
[[link removed]] by
nearly 20%. Not only will 95% of Americans save money on health
insurance, but eliminating “out of pocket” health insurance
expenses, like co-pays, deductibles, would give families a chance at a
dignified life. 45,000 people in my district cannot afford health
insurance. I’m fighting for them, too.
I’ve pledged to support a federal jobs guarantee, which will put
millions of people to work, in good paying jobs, rebuilding our
communities nationwide. These jobs will be federally funded but
locally implemented, creating jobs in our communities. Importantly, it
will provide on the job learning of real world skills, so anyone,
including homeless people, will learn real skills that prepare them
for entering the job market. It is a great equalizer and a guarantee
of a basic standard of living. It will also be permanent, so that we
are constantly training people for the work that has to be done in
this country, and we will be upgrading our skill sets for the work we
need. It will end unemployment and on our way towards ending poverty.
This is what Democracy was supposed to be about - our communities
coming together and deciding on what we need
It will take guts, leadership, and an army of representatives that
truly care about the People who are struggling in this country. It
will take You, and me, all of us together, to fight for the least well
off in our communities. They need us, they have been discarded by
society, and it is our role to recognize their humanity and fight, for
them.
The only explanation for income inequality and poverty, is that it
has been planned to be this way. After years of pro-private politics,
tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations, we now know
full well that tax cuts for billionaires never magically trickle down
to the rest of us, by some sort of invisible hand. We must bend the
arc of justice and equality ourselves.
Sincerenly,
P.S: Did you visit our new website [[link removed]] yet?
_ _
We're 100% people-funded,
would you chip in $19 or more today?
_ _
$19
[[link removed]]
$29
[[link removed]]
$49
[[link removed]]
$99
[[link removed]]
$127
[[link removed]]
$245
[[link removed]]
Other
[[link removed]]
_* If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express,
your donation will go through immediately
__ _
Unsubscribe from this list
[[link removed]]
RUSS CIRCINCIONE
Candidate for Congress
6th District
NEW JERSEY
w: cirincione2020.com
e:
[email protected]
Paid for by Friends of Russel Cirincione
