News from the Frontlines of the Political Revolution!
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Be sure to join our National Organize to Win Call on Monday, April 19th, featuring Nina Turner with the latest on her Congressional campaign; MD State Sen. Jill Carter on winning a massive criminal justice overall in Maryland; NY State Sen. Gustavo Rivera on New York’s single-payer bill; and Deborah Peoples on her run for Mayor of Fort Worth TX!
RSVP NOW
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IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: Bernie takes on corporate polluters, Sen. Jeff Merkley lays out how we defeat the filibuster, California leads on statewide single payer, Maryland passes historic police reform, and MORE!
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Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, lead sponsor of the For the People Act (S1), was our featured guest on Monday’s National Call. He called the voter suppression bills being passed by GOP state legislatures a “rip off” of our voting rights, and said the importance of passing S1 can’t be overstated. “This bill is about saving the republic. Will it be government by and for the people, or the powerful?”
Sen. Merkely laid out three possibilities for overcoming a filibuster to move S1 forward: 1) Eliminating it entirely; 2) Disqualifying it for constitutional issues like the right to vote; or 3) Returning to a talking filibuster. But no matter what, he said it’s going to require an inside-outside strategy to win. “Everything we want to accomplish requires folks who are in office, working inside, and a huge coalition outside, applying pressure. You need to tell us: Knock down that obstacle, no excuses, do your job, get it done, and be at least as gutsy as the Republicans were when they were fighting for the powerful.”
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Our Revolution joined with the Fix the Senate Coalition to send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calling on him to lead the effort to end the filibuster and pass the For the People Act:
“The filibuster has a long history of being used to block voting rights, civil rights, and democracy-protecting bills like the For the People Act … Senate Democrats will soon face a choice: Protect our democracy and pass the For the People Act, or protect the filibuster — an outdated and abused ‘Jim Crow relic’ that deserves to be tossed into the dustbin of history.”
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Each year, the fossil fuel industry gets $15 billion of our tax dollars in direct subsidies, and tens of billions more in indirect subsidies, while raking in massive profits and polluting the planet. Ending these absurd corporate handouts is a critical step in addressing our climate crisis. On Thursday, Bernie and Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced the End Polluter Welfare Act of 2021 — a comprehensive bill that would abolish dozens of tax loopholes, subsidies, and other special interest giveaways; bar extraction on federal lands, and more. Our Revolution joined other groups in sending a letter to Congress in support of the legislation.
After introducing the bill, Chairman Sanders held a Senate Budget Committee hearing on the costs of climate change - Experts testified that inaction could cost the U.S. over $34 trillion by the end of the century and cause up to one million avoidable deaths by 2050.
TELL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TO SUPPORT THE END POLLUTER WELFARE ACT!
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FIGHT THE POWER (COMPANY)! This week, Our Revolution Montana members protested in Bozeman, Missoula and Great Falls to oppose state legislation that could force Montana’s energy customers to assume costs and risks associated with utility investments in coal-fired power. Our Revolution local organizer Andy Boyd told the local paper that the GOP bill will “turn ratepayers into private ATM machines” for utility companies by hiking energy bills by $50 to $100 a month.
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Momentum for single payer is growing! With the support of Our Revolution members, cities and towns are passing Medicare for All resolutions, states are introducing single-payer bills, and over half of the House Democratic caucus has signed onto the Medicare for All Act.
In California, Our Revolution members are working to pass AB1400, a statewide single-payer bill known as CalCare. On our Monday Organize to Win Call, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a principal coauthor of the bill, called CalCare “one of the strongest single-payer healthcare bills in the country.” He said Xavier Becerra’s appointment as HHS Secretary was “a huge step in the right direction,” as Becerra will oversee the waivers states need to enact single-payer plans. “The insurance industry will fight this tooth and nail. But when we organize and mobilize, progressive issues win. The data is on our side, the voters are on our side, and now it’s time to hold our officials accountable.”
Californians: Tell your Assembly Member to pass CalCare AB 1400!
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VICTORY! Our Revolution Maryland is celebrating the passage of sweeping criminal justice reform bills that promise to make policing fairer and more accountable. The measures include repealing the police officers’ bill of rights (the first state to do so), establishing new guidelines on use of force, restricting no-knock warrants, mandating body cameras, and more. The lawmakers also overturned the governor’s veto on a bill that abolishes life sentences without parole for juveniles, and passed a bill without his signature banning police departments from acquiring surplus military equipment.
“We are on the right side of history,” said State Sen. Jill Carter, who was endorsed by Our Revolution and spent a decade pushing for police accountability and transparency laws.
Sen. Carter will discuss this landmark legislative package on our Monday Organize to Win Call - RSVP NOW!
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Our Revolution Hillsborough, NJ held a Rally Against Racism to bring awareness to the injustices committed against Asian Americans and other minority groups. Our Revolution’s Didier Jimenez said the group has done several events focused on criminal justice reform and social justice, drawing out members of the community in support. “Folks are coming out and want to work with us to fight against racism and hate crimes. The fight for justice does not end.”
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HAPPY 4.20 NEXT WEEK! Our Revolution Texas member LaTonya Whittington testified in front of the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence about the importance of decriminalizing majrijuana. “I’m a patient who needs cannabis for quality of life.” She continued that the doctors want her to take 21 different medications, many of which cause significant damage to her liver, but with cannabis she can cut down those medications dramatically. “We need our medicine. Big Pharma needs to get out of this.”
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Will YOU join Our Revolution and help us FIGHT FOR PROGRESSIVE POLICIES at the local, state, and national levels?
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Our Revolution endorsed Deborah Peoples - who Bernie called a “true progressive” - to be the next Mayor of Fort Worth. Peoples will be running a hard race against the Republican machine in the 13th largest city in the US, which is a crucial site in the battle to turn Texas blue. Our Revolution Texas members are hitting the doors for Peoples, as well as for Diana Saleh for Arlington City Council, Mina Davis for the Hutto Independent School Board, and for dozens of other progressives running in Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso ahead of the May 1st election.
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Our Revolution members are ramping-up our phone banking to elect Karen Carter Peterson to Congress from Louisiana. We’re in the home stretch - her special election is next Saturday - and we have a real shot to send another vote for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal to Capitol Hill!
There's just one week until Election Day. Sign up to phonebank with our community Wednesday night!
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Nina Turner’s primary election to represent Ohio in Congress will be on August 3rd, and Our Revolution Ohio is pulling out all the stops to make sure she wins by contacting tens of thousands of local voters through phone banking and door-knocking.
Become a MOVEMENT BUILDER and help us ELECT PROGRESSIVE CHAMPIONS like Nina, Karen Carter Peterson and others in 2021!
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Congresswoman Robin Kelly, the newly elected chair of the Democratic Party of Illinois, joined our Illinois Organize to Win Call this week to discuss her vision for the state party. “Expect to see more activity, more transparency, and more diversity. We need to do a better job getting people registered, engaged, and excited about voting. We’ll be recruiting and building the bench — we want to work from a grassroots level and support not just state reps but candidates all the way down the ballot. And we want to hold up all groups and be inclusive.”
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Our Revolution Middlesex County, NJ chair John Hsu published an op-ed this week highlighting the urgent need to eliminate the “county line” - the state’s anti-democratic primary ballot structure. This practice, which exists only in New Jersey, heavily favors establishment candidates and undermines fair elections and the will of the voters. John writes, “It is time for New Jersey to reform our primary ballots to look like those in every other state so that the voters, not county party chairs, can decide who should be elected. Isn’t that what democracy is all about?”
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Become a Movement Builder and power Our Revolution's work to TRANSFORM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY!
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Join our National Organize to Win Call on Monday, April 19th, featuring Nina Turner with the latest on her Congressional campaign; MD State Sen. Jill Carter on winning a massive criminal justice overall in Maryland; NY State Sen. Gustavo Rivera on New York’s single-payer bill; and Deborah Peoples on her run for Mayor of Fort Worth TX!
RSVP NOW
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Our Revolution Texas’ Earth Day Call will feature State Rep. Erin Zwiener, chair of the Texas House Environmental Caucus as well as Fort Worth Mayoral candidate Deborah Peoples, and Hutto school board candidate Mina Davis!
RSVP HERE
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Our Revolution Virginia’s State Organizing Call next Saturday will feature three progressives running in the June 8th Democratic primary. We’ll also hear from Michelle Woolley from the Coalition to Repeal Right to Work about why we need Congress to pass the PRO Act and our upcoming May Day Action in Alexandria, VA.
RSVP HERE
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Join Our Revolution California for a special call on Saturday, April 24th! We will be hearing from members of the Troublemaker’s Slate who are running to lead the California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus!
SIGN-UP HERE
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