Some weeks in Washington, you just feel like you can’t get anything done. It’s frustrating enough to make you want to bang your head against the wall.

This was not one of those weeks.

After passing the Senate and the House last week, President Biden has just signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law.

I want to talk about three big pieces we just accomplished — and what we’re still fighting for.

Number one: We're going to reduce fossil fuel emissions in this country by 40% over the next eight years. This is the biggest step our federal government has ever taken to fight climate change. This will lower energy bills for families. And this couldn’t be more important for the future of our planet as the climate crisis bears down on us.

Number two: Medicare is going to be empowered to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. Big Pharma was against this all the way — but we beat them back. In addition, we're going to have a $2,000 cap on how much people who have Medicare actually have to spend on medications. And we’ll limit the cost of insulin to $35 a month for people on Medicare.

Number three: We’re going to force giant corporations with more than $1 billion in profits to actually have to pony up and pay some taxes. In 2018, Amazon paid $0 in federal income taxes on more than $10 billion in profits. I’ve been calling them out and proposing this reform for a long time now, and we’re fighting back with a minimum tax on corporate profits above $1 billion.

So let’s sum it up: We’re finally pushing back against the climate crisis, we’re lowering health care and energy costs for families, we’re fighting inflation, and we’re getting giant corporations to stop freeloading and start pitching in. Woo-hoo!

Now, let’s remember: Every Republican voted against this. Every Republican decided it was more important to coddle the rich and powerful than do something for working families. In fact, because of Republican obstruction, we weren’t able to cap insulin costs for people outside of Medicare.

Democrats had to get this done all by ourselves. And with a 50-50 Senate, we had to thread 50 needles before Vice President Kamala Harris could cast the tiebreaker vote. 

So it was a long road to get here, and there’s a lot still on the cutting room floor. I won’t stop fighting for universal child care, or paid family leave, or affordable housing, or home- and community-based care, or any of the investments families need to thrive. With a bigger Senate majority, a lot more would be on the table — so there’s a lot on the line this November.

We can celebrate what we accomplished while still getting ready for the fights ahead.

Democrats are in the business of putting Washington on the side of working people. And it’s only possible because across the country, people like you got in this fight to elect a Democratic House and a Democratic Senate and put Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House.

This victory belongs to you. And by continuing to fight side by side — by growing our grassroots movement, and by electing more champions for working people up and down the ballot — we can make this country work for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected. That’s worth fighting for. If you’re able to pitch in $3 or anything you can today to help make this work possible, I would be deeply grateful.

Thanks for being a part of this,

Elizabeth