John,
Yesterday, after months of negotiation and delay tactics, Senator Joe Manchin went on Fox News to say that he "cannot vote to move forward" on the Build Back Better Act.
Let’s be clear about who would be hurt most by Senator Manchin’s actions if he follows through: his own constituents.
Manchin is signaling opposition to legislation supported by a 43-point margin among his constituents.1 He's saying he wants to take away a child tax credit for 346,000 West Virginia families with kids once it expires in January.2
But the truth is this is about more than just one senator.
Once more, we are seeing how electing a Democratic majority alone is not sufficient to meet the crises we face. We need to elect Working Families majorities if we are going to build a nation that works for all of us. And the only way we can do it is through all of us pitching in.
Contribute $3 or any amount toward our Working Families Majority Fund to elect candidates who will truly represent working people in 2022.
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As 2021 draws to a close, we are facing urgent crises as a nation: a climate crisis that is already here, a crisis of care as a new COVID variant accelerates, and a right-wing authoritarian assault on our democracy that advances by the day in state legislatures as next year's midterms draw closer.
On each front, Democratic leaders are failing to meet the urgency of this moment.
President Biden ran on his ability to negotiate with Republican and Democratic senators and deliver on a Democratic agenda. He has failed to do so.
Senator Schumer personally promised NY WFP members and allies that he wouldn’t pass an infrastructure package without delivering on climate protections, paid family leave, childcare, and tax increases on the wealthy. He has failed to deliver on these assurances.
People don’t want to hear excuses about the sizes of majorities and Senate traditions. They want to see the people they elected fighting for them.
They want to feel the results they were promised by Democrats — affordable prescription drugs, childcare, education, the child tax credit, and lower costs — in their day-to-day lives.
Instead, they are seeing the fruits of a corrupt political system that allows the fossil fuel industry, Wall Street, and other corporate interests to obstruct a broadly popular people’s agenda, even with Democratic majorities in Congress and a Democratic president in the White House.
We know staying motivated can be difficult at times like these. But we don’t have the luxury to give up, and this fight is far from over. So here’s what the Working Families Party and our members are doing as we close out 2021 and head into the new year:
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We are keeping up our organizing to push Congress to pass a people's agenda that meets the urgency of this moment. The Senate may have closed up shop for the year, but they are planning a vote on the Build Back Better Act when they return after the new year. Our push includes a new digital ad campaign in West Virginia launching this week featuring stories from Joe Manchin’s constituents about why they need the Build Back Better Act to pass.
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We are ramping up our electoral organizing in 2022 to elect working-class champions to Congress. That includes defending and expanding the Squad, electing WFP candidates Jessica Cisneros and Greg Casar (TX) in House primaries just a few weeks away, and replacing Senate Republicans with progressive champions like Mandela Barnes (WI), Malcolm Kenyatta (PA), and Charles Booker (KY) so we can make Joe Manchin irrelevant.
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And we are doubling down on our efforts to recruit, train, and elect the next generation of WFP champions to every level of office, building the bench of the future elected leaders who will answer to us, not corporate donors.
Working families have never needed the relief in the Build Back Better Act more, and no individual senator is going to get us to stop fighting for the people.
If you're with us, contribute $5 toward our Working Families Majority Fund to elect more candidates who will truly represent working people in 2022.
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In solidarity,
Team WFP
Sources:
1. Voters in West Virginia Support the Build Back Better Agenda, Data for Progress
2. 346,000 West Virginia Children Eligible to Receive First Monthly Child Tax Credit Payment Next Month, West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy
