Dear Friend,
I never in a zillion years thought I’d run for office, let alone for president. But my life has had a lot of twists and turns, just like a lot of people’s.
I grew up in Oklahoma. When I was in middle school, my daddy had a heart attack. We thought we were going to lose him. He made it, but he couldn’t work for a longtime.
We lost our family station wagon. We almost lost the house, too, but my mother got a minimum wage job answering phones -- and it saved our family.
But that’s not just a story about my family -- it’s also a story about government. When I was a little girl, a full-time minimum wage job could support a family of three. But today, it would not keep a mother and a baby out of poverty.
Why? Because leaders in Washington set the minimum wage to boost the profits of giant multinational corporations -- not to help families get a toehold in the middle class.
Friend, when we have a government that only works for the rich and powerful, that’s corruption, plain and simple, and we need to call it out and fight back. That’s why I’ve got the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate, and why all of my plans are really one plan: to put power in the hands of the people, not just the wealthy and well-connected.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has been with me in the fight against corruption since the beginning, when co-founders Stephanie Taylor and Adam Green sat on my front porch talking with me about the power of $3 donations and encouraging me to run for the Senate.
I’ve known what I wanted to do since second grade: become a public-school teacher. But, by the time I graduated from high school, we didn’t have the money for a college application — let alone four years at a university.
My path was bumpy, but I found my big chance: a commuter college that only cost $50 a semester — which I could cover on a part-time waitressing job. I hung onto that chance for dear life, graduated and got to live my dream as a special education teacher in a public school.
But right now, an entire generation of people — just trying to live their dreams by going to school — is getting crushed by student loan debt. So I’ve got a plan to guarantee universal free technical school, community college, and four-year public college for everyone who wants to go, plus at least $50 billion more in funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And we will cancel student loan debt for 95 percent of the people who’ve got it.
You know how we’ll pay for it? A small wealth tax on the richest 0.1% of Americans — just two cents on every dollar of net worth above $50 million — will cover all of that and then some.
The rich and powerful have systematically invested in politicians, bought-and-paid-for experts, and armies of lobbyists and lawyers. It’s time we fight back for big, structural change and return the government to the people.
My daddy ended up as a janitor, but his daughter got the opportunity to become a public-school teacher, a college professor, a United States senator, and now a candidate for president of the United States.
I’m in this fight to create opportunities for all of our kids, but it’s going to take a grassroots movement. That’s why I need you in this fight with me, Friend.
Right now, our grassroots campaign is up against a powerfully important test. After the end of this month, we'll release a public report on how much we've raised in the past three months and how many people have chipped in to own a piece of our campaign. But Friend, we're behind where we need to be to finish the quarter in the strongest position possible. So I'm counting on help from supporters like you to help us close the gap.
Let’s dream big, fight hard, and win.
Thanks for being a part of this,
Elizabeth
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told PCCC members, "The majority of Americans are with us on the policies. Americans support Medicare for All, expanding Social Security benefits, gun reform, debt-free college, and a $15 minimum wage. Bold progressive values are popular EVERYWHERE. Together, we have the people. Together, with your help, we’ll have the votes." Chip in $3 here.
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