Our Revolution is joining with the Declaration for American Democracy to host a Freedom to Vote Town Hall! - a special edition of our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast - featuring US Sen. Jeff Merkley and US Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Join us for our Freedom to Vote Town Hall TONIGHT at 8:30p ET/5:30p PT
We’ll talk about our inside/outside strategy to pass the Freedom to Vote legislation - the successor bill to the For the People Act which died in the Senate last spring - and get ready to defend our democracy and repel the GOP’s War on Voters. This issue is so important that even President Biden has pledged to fight the filibuster to get this bill to his desk.
DON'T MISS TONIGHT! RESERVE YOUR SEAT!
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News from the Frontlines of the Political Revolution!
HEADLINES: The Insider Memo: Force the Vote | Taking on the GOP War on Voters with Sen. Merkley | Reps. Jayapal & Neguse | The Battle Over the Budget: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | NEW VIDEO: Our Revolution Members Crash Gottheimer's Big Money Fundraiser | Top 10 Fake House Democrats | America's Newest Progressive Mayors & School Board Members | & MUCH MORE!
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Our Revolution is on the frontlines fighting for progressive change we need in our country. Help fund our strategic organizing by becoming a recurring donor now. Any amount makes a huge difference.
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INSIDER MEMO: FORCE THE VOTE
The next two weeks in The Battle over the Budget will be critical for advancing our progressive policy priorities - like expanding health care, taking bold action on climate, and taxing the rich - and test whether Democrats will deliver on their bold campaign progressive promises ahead of the 2022 midterms.
Right now, our $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill is under serious attack from Big Oil, Big Pharma, and the corporate titans who dominate our political system.
That's why our movement is squaring off against the corporate Democrats who are intent on watering down - or even tanking - this transformational legislation - at the bidding of their wealthy benefactors.
Through grassroots action, Our Revolution is standing with Bernie Sanders and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) to force the vote on the $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill by withholding support for the corporatists' beloved Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill - which is scheduled for a vote on Sept. 27th.
Either they both pass - or neither does.
This edition of The Revolution Report, US Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Joe Neguse talk about our inside/outside strategy to win the Battle Over the Budget and what’s at stake.
Whether we improve the material conditions of the American people or let the corporatists deflate this once-in-generation legislation will have a huge impact on our ability to continue to attract voters, defeat Trumpism, and build progressive momentum going into the 2022 midterms.
As Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told the Associated Press this week - “It would be incredibly problematic for the President to say, ‘Look, we won both chambers of Congress. We won the White House … but we couldn’t deliver better health care or transformational change on the climate.’”
“That is not going to be explainable to the American people, and there’ll be consequences as a result.”
At this moment of converging crises, it’s up to us to show that our government can be a force for good. Read below to find out how Our Revolution is organizing to make sure Democrats don’t negotiate with themselves, weaken this bill, and sabotage progress for the American people.
And if you like what you read and want to support our mission, please click the button below.
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ALSO ON CAPITOL HILL: Voting Rights - a top progressive priority not in the Budget Bill - is making a comeback in Congress this week on the new "Freedom to Vote" Act.
That's why Our Revolution is joining with the Declaration for American Democracy to host a Freedom to Vote Town Hall! - a special edition of our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast - featuring US Sen. Jeff Merkley and US Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Join us for our Freedom to Vote Town Hall this Monday at 8:30p ET/5:30p PT
We’ll talk about our inside/outside strategy to pass the Freedom to Vote legislation - the successor bill to the For the People Act which died in the Senate last spring - and get ready to defend our democracy and repel the GOP’s War on Voters. This issue is so important that even President Biden has pledged to fight the filibuster to get this bill to his desk.
DON'T MISS MONDAY! RESERVE YOUR SEAT!
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This week, ex-president Donald Trump released a statement expressing sympathy for the people being “persecuted so unfairly relating to the January 6th protest.” Our Revolution is on the frontlines of the inside/outside fight to counter right-wing attacks on American democracy. Help fund our strategic organizing by becoming a recurring donor now. Any amount makes a huge difference.
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THE STAKES COULDN'T BE HIGHER
Top leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus joined our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast to give Our Revolution members an inside view on The Battle Over the Budget and what’s at stake for progressives.
US Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the CPC, started her briefing by underscoring the urgency of the moment: "We have just a couple of weeks and things are moving very quickly.”
She also thanked our members for doing the outside grassroots organizing necessary to win inside the halls of power.
As Our Revolution organizes on the outside, Rep. Jayapal said a bloc of Congressional progressives are organizing on the inside to block the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill unless Democrats coalesce behind the $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill - which is championed by both Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders and President Biden.
“Joe Manchin has power, of course. We need his vote,” she said. But given that Democrats have a margin of three votes in the House, Jayapal was clear that the CPC also wields real power in the fate over these intertwined pieces of legislation: “Everyone’s a Joe Manchin here.”
THE STEADFAST SIXTEEN: With Jayapal at the helm, the CPC restructured to be a more formidable and disciplined voting bloc. So far, sixteen of Our Revolution's Progressive Champions in the House have publicly committed to the progressive strategy of opposing the one without the other.
Progressives will need to outnumber any Republicans who might vote for the Bipartisan Bill and Jayapal said that there are many more CPC members prepared to hold the line, but not everyone is ready to be public yet.
In the 50-50 Senate where every vote can make or break the budget, Bernie isn’t budging either. “If there’s a bill that doesn’t do very much, absolutely I’m prepared to vote no,” Bernie told TIME Magazine this week.
Jayapal credited our unified progressive strategy and the critical organizing work of Our Revolution for putting Congressional progressives in a strong negotiating position, telling our members Monday night: “You’ve been amazing activists and organizers, and I can’t thank you enough for everything you do to press progressive issues forward for us here in Congress. We need your voice just as you need our voice.”
US Rep. Joe Neguse joined our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast to underscore what is at stake: “There are many folks on this call who have been beating the drum for universal healthcare for decades, beating the drum for transformational climate action for decades, taking the steps we need to rectify our social safety net left in tatters by prior administrations - again, for decades - and here we are, poised to make tremendous progress on every one of those priorities in literally the next month.”
Read below to learn about what’s in the Budget Bill. The outcome of this battle depends on what we do in this moment.
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EXCLUSIVE: NEW STICKER PACK!
Our Revolution is actively working to pressure corporate Democrats to move forward on these priorities: taxing the rich, lowering prescription drug prices, protecting voting rights, ending fossil fuel subsidies, expanding Medicare, stopping new oil extraction, increasing a union’s right to organize, and more!
That’s why we put together a series of stickers to promote all the important organizing work that Our Revolution members are doing across the country.
Chip in at least $10 or a recurring donation of any amount to get the sticker pack from Our Revolution!
GET YOUR
STICKERS HERE
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There’s a lot at stake in the Battle Over the Budget, and this section of The Revolution Report provides our members a quick take on The Good, The Bad and the Ugly:
EXPANDING MEDICARE
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: We are in the trenches right now fighting to make sure we win the first big battle in the war for Medicare for All. Expanding Medicare is the quickest, most sure-footed path to a single-payer healthcare system in America, and the healthcare corporations know it. That’s why they’re deploying their paid foot-soldiers in Congress to hold us back from gaining serious ground through expanding public-funded healthcare. They’d rather entrench for-profit private healthcare for years to come and prevent our movement from clawing these initial crucial steps.
The good news this week is the House Ways and Means Committee passed a version that would include dental, hearing and vision. But there’s some not-so-good provisions too - dental benefits would be delayed until 2028 and even then they would remain out of reach for low-income seniors. The current version also fails to include two key priorities: capping out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare beneficiaries and lowering the eligibility age to at least 60 - but the battle is far from over.
As Rep. Pramila Jayapal reported to us on our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast, the Progressive Caucus is "still pushing very hard" to lower Medicare eligibility age, to at least 62, which would bring another 13 million people onto Medicare. “We need to make sure we get that,” she said. “I'm not going to tell you it's going to be easy. That one is really going to require you calling your senators, your representatives.”
A coalition of about a dozen Frontline Democrats (vulnerable incumbents) now actually support lowering the eligibility age, including Jared Golden - one of the nine corporatists who had previously tried to undermine the entire Budget Bill.
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As the fight continues on this front, Our Revolution partnered with CPC Action Fund in a spotlight video featuring Diane Morgan of Our Revolution Ohio speaking from personal experience on the importance of Medicare Expansion.
Her story is powerful, but she says it's not unique. “Far too many people put off needed care until they’re finally eligible for Medicare at 65,” Diane said. “It’s unconscionable. We need to lower the medical eligibility age.”
A Data for Progress poll found that nearly two-thirds of Americans, even a majority of Trump voters, support expanding Medicare. There is no reason Democrats can give, even those in “swing” districts, to excuse their opposition to Medicare Expansion.
Check out this toolkit to take action.
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PHARMA PRICE NEGOTIATIONS
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Let’s start with the Ugly - this week, three corporatist House Dems in the Energy and Commerce committee sided with Big Pharma over their constituents and voted against leadership-backed Medicare drug pricing negotiations in the Energy and Commerce Committee, even though close to 90 percent of voters support giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Reps. Scott Peters (CA), Kathleen Rice (NY) and Kurt Schrader (OR) joined Republicans to create a 29-29 tie, which meant the provision could not advance.
However, the good news is that the provision passed in the Ways and Means Committee the very same day, leaving open the possibility of its inclusion in the final bill. The bottom line is that we can’t lose more than three votes on the final bill though.
We pay 2-4 times more for our prescription drugs than people in other industrialized countries.
Critically, drug price negotiation alone would open up over $500B for the Budget Bill to fund our priorities. For those who think committee assignments don’t matter, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was considered for this seat, but it ended up going to Rice on the Energy and Commerce Committee - underscoring the need to unseat corporate Democrats.
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CLIMATE ACTION
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: This week, Our Revolution and our movement partners scored a huge win - provisions passed this week by the House Ways and Means Committee would eliminate a key loophole that allows companies that drill overseas to escape taxes. It would also force oil and gas companies to pay for the damage they cause and would establish and extend important tax provisions to advance clean energy. Our Revolution’s strategy - which included partnering with leading environmental groups on the outside and working with US Reps. Ro Khanna and Illan Omar on the inside is paying off!
However, House progressives are still fighting to end "billions of dollars in tax breaks, incentives and other subsidies given to the domestic fossil fuel industry," Jayapal said - after it was removed from the bill last weekend. “Obviously, Senator Manchin plays a critical part in this,” she noted.
Our Revolution New Jersey and Our Revolution Massachusetts are keeping the pressure on key Ways and Means Committee members tasked with determining funding for the Budget Bill. If we aren’t able to convince the lawmakers to include it, our government will continue subsidizing oil and gas operations here at home.
Also on Monday, seven Big Oil Texas Dems in the House sent a letter to Pelosi calling for the protection of fossil fuel subsidies and adding further worries about the vote count needed to pass the final Budget Bill if we do manage to end those subsidies in the Senate version.
They had the gall to suggest that not subsidizing obscenely profitable oil and gas corporations with public money constitutes “punitive practices” which would somehow “impede the transition to a low carbon future.” This abused protest by these pro-oil politicians and clearly shows they’re shilling for Big Oil.
The reality is, we must transition away from fossil fuels entirely, not continue to give them financial handouts. That’s why Our Revolution Texas was at the offices of Reps. Henry Cuellar and Filemom Vela this past week to remind them their constituents demand a Budget Bill that delivers big for a clean energy future.
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TAXING THE RICH The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Rep. Pramila Jayapal was happy to report to our members during our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast that following a week of debate, Chairman Richie Neal of the Ways and Means Committee had just announced there would be at least $2.9 Trillion in new taxes on the wealthiest and corporations, which combined with pricing offsets would get to the full $3.5 Trillion price tag for the Budget Bill. This comes after Our Revolution activists held repeated actions at Neal’s office.
House Democrats, meanwhile, have proposed a 26.5% top corporate tax rate to help cover the cost of the budget. That’s less than Biden’s 28% target. But Manchin has pushed for an even lower corporate rate of 25%. The pre-Trump corporate tax rate was 35%.
There are also divides over how to impose levies on top earners. Biden has advocated restoring the top tax rate on capital gains to 39.6%. House Democrats, however, would tax such income, which is often generated by the wealthy, at 25%. They would also impose a 3% surcharge on individual income above $5 million.
While corporate Democrats try to pretend that increased taxes won’t play well in some of their purple districts, Bernie rightfully retorts that tax increases on the rich can resonate with working class voters from both parties.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy of Florida was the only Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee to side with Republicans in voting down the committee’s portion of the Budget Bill. Murphy balked at the tax provisions, which would target the wealthy and corporations, saying they give her “pause.”
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GOING AFTER GOTTHEIMER
Our Revolution New Jersey infiltrated a fundraiser for Rep. Josh Gottheimer hosted at the home of a billionaire donor to ask the Congressman why he’s fighting so hard to sabotage Bernie’s Budget Bill.
Gottheimer was heard telling his ultra-wealthy benefactors at the event that the crowd of protesters gathered outside the gates are “what is wrong with this country” - not knowing two of them were in his midst, taking notes of his contempt for his constituents and democracy.
Once discovered, our undercover activists confronted Gottheimer and began chanting “Tax the Rich” as police escorted them from the premises - our crowd of protesters took up the chant throughout the swanky neighborhood of multi-million-dollar abodes. Little did they know, at about that same time, one of our top allies in the House was driving home the same important message at the MET Gala!
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE!
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Every day - as details of the bill are being negotiated in Congress - Our Revolution members are bringing constant pressure to bear on the corporate Democrats trying to hack away at critical priorities in the bill. But we need all hands on deck these next two weeks - including the President. After all, the well-being of the American people, the economy, the planet, and Biden’s own legacy are at stake.
Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told The Hill Wednesday that Biden needs to take a sales pitch directly to the American people.
“I think there’s definitely space for more backroom negotiation and arm-twisting,” Geevarghese said. “The administration should do that, but it’s even more important for the president to hit the road and say, ‘This is what this bill means for you as a voter and this is how it’s going to improve your standard of living.’”
Bernie has been traveling around the country, rallying the public behind a Budget Bill that would transform their lives - and it’s time for Biden to make a public pitch as well.
“They’ve got to ramp it up,” Geevarghese said.
Biden must be hearing our calls to action because he addressed the nation in a press conference Thursday, and he sounded a lot like Bernie!
He quoted many of our favorite statistics, including the fact that the 55 of the most profitable corporations paid zero in federal income taxes and that fair taxation is imperative when the richest few increased their wealth by $1.8 Trillion over the course of the pandemic.
And, in a message seemingly meant for the three defectors on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Biden emphasized his expectation that drug price negotiation with Big Pharma be included in the budget.
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If you’ve ever considered becoming a member of Our Revolution, we humbly ask you to do so today. We hope you will invest in Our Revolution as we fight to advance Bernie’s transformative Budget Bill.
Every dollar has the potential to tip the scales and deliver a return on your investment in the form of that better world we all know is possible.
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SHUTTING DOWN THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Another fight is brewing in Congress over the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the House plans to consider next week.
On Tuesday, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Mark Pocan filed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (NDAA), H.R. 4350, to block delivery of a $735 million precision-guided weapons sale to Israel that was approved by the Biden administration in May. Our Revolution endorsed that amendment, with Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese saying “We should not be selling weapons to any countries that are violating human rights, regardless of whether they are our so-called allies. It's clear from the events this past May that the government of Israel is not interested in finding solutions to the issues that are affecting Palestinians. We need to center human rights in all aspects of U.S. foreign policy."
Also on Tuesday, we endorsed a letter from Sen. Ed Markey calling on President Biden to redirect unspent Pentagon funds for the now-ended war effort to meet the vast humanitarian and relocation needs of the Afghan people.
And on Friday, OR endorsed Rep. Ayanna Pressley's NDAA amendment on the 1033 Program which places a moratorium on the transfer of all military equipment and weapons to law enforcement agencies.
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Our Revolution has built an unstoppable grassroots political campaign operation, boosting our win rate to over 70% during the 2020 and 2021 election cycles.
We’ve trained hundreds of volunteers to use best-in-class organizing technologies in support of well-vetted candidates who are building real power - not just “speaking truth to power” without a plan to win. We are showing that progressive values and grassroots campaigning make candidates more electable, not less. And we are making endorsements that strengthen our groups so even when we don’t win, we are better positioned for the next round.
THESE NUMBERS ARE GETTING BIGGER!
As these stats show, Our Revolution is on the frontlines electing the next generation of progressive champions - the majority of whom are women and people of color. From school boards to mayors, we’re taking on the Democratic establishment and transforming politics from the bottom up! This week we had primaries in Ohio and Massachusetts, and voters in California defeated the Republican recall effort. Read about our latest victories below!
Ten Our Revolution Ohio-endorsed progressive candidates won a place on the November 2nd general election ballot!
At the top of the ballot in Cleveland, Justin Bibb scored an upset victory, winning by far the most votes in the race for Mayor and easily qualifying for the November general election.
In the race to shape the next City Council in Cleveland, five Our Revolution Ohio endorsed candidates will proceed to the general election, potentially shifting the balance of power in that body.
Our Revolution-member Kahlil Seren qualified for the November ballot in the race to be the first Mayor of Cleveland Heights, as did Shayla Davis in the race for Mayor of Garfield Heights.
Despite opposition from the Democratic Party, incumbent and Our Revolution Ohio founding member Tristan Rader received the most votes of eight candidates for Lakewood City Council At-Large, where he will also be joined by Laura Rodriguez-Carbone in the November general election.
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Our Revolution Massachusetts' candidates also had a great day in Tuesday’s Preliminary Election, with all 7 advancing to the general election!
At the top of the ballot in Somerville, Cameroon-born City Council member Will Mbah came in first place in the race for Mayor. Tessa Bridge came in first place for Ward 5 City Councilor and Becca Miller also qualified for the November ballot for Ward 7 City Councilor.
In Medford, our four candidates for School Committee ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th out of 14 candidates! Mea Mustone, Jenny Graham, Paul Ruseau, and Sharon Hayes will now be on the ballot in November. All are committed to fully funding public schools to ensure equity and inclusion for all those who call Medford home.
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Our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast call also featured India Walton, who won the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, soundly defeating four-term incumbent and Andrew Cuomo ally Byron Brown.
But Brown - like Trump - isn’t accepting the results of a free and fair election. He’s launched an independent bid that’s being bankrolled by right wing donors. And, he got a Trump judge to bend the rules and get his name on the ballot.
“People with power and privilege are used to being able to skirt the rules and this is just a downright nasty situation we're facing here in Buffalo,” she said. “For a long time, Buffalo has been fraught with corruption and the people in power are afraid because my priority is putting the working class and poor people first.”
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If you’ve ever considered becoming a member of Our Revolution, we humbly ask you to do so today. We hope you will invest in Our Revolution as we fight to elect a new generation of progressive elected officials.
Every dollar has the potential to tip the scales and deliver a return on your investment in the form of that better world we all know is possible.
JOIN
US
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GET INVOLVED IN “REVOLUTION RECESS” AND HELP US WIN THE BATTLE OVER THE BUDGET!
Our Revolution New Jersey is not letting up on Rep. Josh Gottheimer, leader of the "Nefarious Nine" - a group of conservative Democrats threatening to tank the $3.5T budget package, and with it, many of our pro-worker priorities, such as paid sick leave, Medicare Expansion, ending fossil fuel subsidies, universal childcare, pathway to citizenship and more.
We’ll be rallying at his office on Monday morning and we need all our New Jersey members on deck!
SIGN UP HERE!
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Our Revolution Oregon will be hosting a call with Sen. Jeff Merkley who will discuss the $3.5 Trillion Budget Bill moving through Congress and the new Freedom to Vote Act.
RSVP HERE
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Our Revolution Texas will be rallying to push Dallas-area Congressional Democrats Eddie Bernice Johnson, Collin Allred and Marc Veasey to take action and expand and improve medicare, end fossil fuel subsidies, and fight for good union jobs.
RSVP HERE
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EXCLUSIVE: NEW STICKER PACK!
Our Revolution is actively working to pressure corporate Democrats to move forward on these priorities: taxing the rich, lowering prescription drug prices, protecting voting rights, ending fossil fuel subsidies, expanding Medicare, stopping new oil extraction, increasing a union’s right to organize, and more!
That’s why we put together a series of stickers to promote all the important organizing work that Our Revolution members are doing across the country.
Chip in at least $10 or a recurring donation of any amount to get the sticker pack from Our Revolution!
GET YOUR
STICKERS HERE
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And don’t forget: Join Our Revolution and Declaration for American Democracy for Freedom to Vote Town Hall! - a special edition of our Monday Night Organize to Win Broadcast - featuring US Sen. Jeff Merkley and US Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Join us for our Freedom to Vote Town Hall this Monday at 8:30p ET/5:30p PT
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