Welcome once again to a $27-group / The Political Revolution open thread — a weekly place where you can sit back, relax, enjoy some inspiring quotes and good music, and (most importantly) spend time gazing at a picture or two of foresterbob’s cat Noble Fur.
Tonight’s title quote comes from Pramila Jayapal, in an article she wrote which is posted on the New York Review of Books website. You’ll find a couple of short excerpts from the article further down the page, and you can read the entire article on the NYR website.
But let’s start tonight with this 38-second video. (For those who prefer written word to video, a transcript follows. But I hope you can enjoy the video; it’s a really good one.)
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Some people want us to believe we're divided.
But this season,
Let's remember, we are all Americans united.
United in the principle that we all belong equally in this country.
United in respecting and celebrating all beliefs and traditions.
United in ensuring no one is excluded or feels left out.
United in looking forward to some time with loved ones.
We hope the season fills you with joy and appreciation,
No matter who you are or what you believe.
~ a video from Americans United for Separation of Church and State
There is an effort underway to get progressives such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into key congressional committee slots. From The Intercept, here’s an excerpt from a recent news story about this (which contains a lot of interesting information I haven’t even begun to touch on here, so go read the whole thing after you finish reading tonight’s quotes.)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making a push for a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, according to people familiar with her decision. It’s a panel whose jurisdiction over taxes and revenue puts most of the economy within its mandate.
For that reason, freshmen are almost never given spots on the panel, but the midterm elections upset the balance of power in the House. Sixty-three new representatives have joined the Democratic caucus, and some 43 Republicans either lost their seats or retired — so there is an unusually large number of vacancies to fill.
By custom, New York City effectively has at least one reserved seat on Ways and Means, and Ocasio-Cortez is looking to claim it...
Here are some of the voices in support of this:
Democrats in Washington need to learn the lessons from this election and fast. Voters voted for change. Voters voted for bold and progressive leadership, not politicians beholden to the big banks and Wall Street. And they voted to put women of color in positions of power and leadership. Of course Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be on Ways and Means and not another Wall Street politician using large corporate donations to masquerade as a so-called ‘problem solver.’
~ Shaunna Thomas, executive director, UltraViolet
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a powerful voice for the millions of Americans who want to see solutions from our leaders like the Green New Deal — ones that meet the scale of the crises we’re facing. That voice deserves a seat at the table on Ways and Means...
~ Joe Dinkin, campaigns director, Working Families Party
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Democrats won the House by running on lowering drug prices and expanding Medicare. Now, the party’s leaders must match their campaign rhetoric with action by putting progressive champions on Ways and Means. Corporate Democrats must not be allowed to give Wall Street and Pharma veto power over what comes out of these critical committees.
~ Alex Lawson, executive director, Social Security Works
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Waiting 30 years to get seniority on a committee is not my idea of how Congress should work!
~ Pramila Jayapal
In our country’s history, immigration has never been just about policy. It has always been about who we are and what we are willing to stand up for.
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How do we win? We have to push back on the notion that this election was won because of moderate ideas, instead of bold ones. Let go of the myth of the likely voter - let's take on the truth of speaking to and reaching every voter.
~ Pramila Jayapal
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3,000 additional people across the country will die because of rising temperatures by 2050. My Environmental Justice Bill Package with Nanette Barragan and Donald McEachin addresses health disparities in front-line communities by ensuring everyone has access to clean air and water.
~ Pramila Jayapal
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This week Pramila Jayapal has a featured article on the New York Review of Books website: “A New Moral Imagination on Immigration”. Here’s an excerpt to get you started...
When my parents used all their savings to send me across the oceans from India at the age of sixteen, they made the ultimate sacrifice of separating from their child without knowing if we would ever live on the same continent again. They did so because they believed America was where I would get the best education and have the most opportunity. It took me seventeen years—involving an alphabet soup of visas and the abiding fear that I might not be able to stay in my new home—to get my US citizenship, in 2000. That was a teary and complex moment. Surrounded by people from all over the world, with hands over our hearts, we pledged allegiance to our new country. We knew we were the lucky ones and we were grateful, even as we felt our loss in saying good-bye to the families and countries we had left behind…
Today, more than three decades since I arrived in America, I have the privilege of serving as the first South Asian-American woman in the House of Representatives, and I am one of only twelve members of the 115th Congress who are proud naturalized citizens.
I have become intimately familiar with the policy and the politics of immigration, and I am deeply troubled by the widening divide between the inherent complexity of immigration laws and the simplistic, generally punitive rhetoric that aims to criminalize migration...
~ Pramila Jayapal
and here’s another:
Now it’s more important than ever that Democrats—and any remaining willing Republicans—recapture America’s moral imagination on immigration. Our job is to tell the truth about immigration instead of cowering before falsehoods. Anti-immigrant forces would have us believe that our laws work and that undocumented immigrants prefer to live in the shadows, where they can “game the system” and benefit unfairly from the generosity of taxpayers. The worst thing about this narrative is not that it’s absolutely false, but that it obscures the deep, common desire that all of us—aspiring Americans and those already here—have for one simple thing: an updated, orderly, and effective process for people to come to America, stay, and work here…
~ Pramila Jayapal
Please click the link provided above and go to the NYR site to read the entire article. (Or you can click this link here, to save heading back up the page.)
A lot is happening in the news, but we can’t forget that nearly 200 children are STILL separated from their families due to Trump’s Family Separation policy.
House Democrats will use our new majority to hold this administration accountable for their cruelty toward immigrants.
~ Jimmy Gomez
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Only three members of Congress currently pay their interns a $15 wage: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones and Democratic Rep. Adam Smith.
Newly-elected Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to join them.
~ NPR Politics tweet (based on this NPR news story)
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We cannot move forward into our future until every single American is part of that future.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
I spent a lot of time this week listening to Corporate CEOs tell us what’s not possible.
So this morning I went to speak with thousands of New York nurses about what is.
Thank you, New York Nurses, for giving me the honor of speaking with you this morning! Your fight gives me fight!
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
In 2019, a record 35 diverse, talented & brilliant women will come to Congress, bringing us one step closer to a government that looks like the people it represents.
I am excited & honored to serve with them all — it’s time to get to work For The People.
~ Barbara Lee
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Segregation in our cities did not happen by accident. If we want to undo the harmful legacy of racist policies, we have to be bold with our solutions.
~ Ilhan Omar
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We must accept that if we don’t take major action on climate, the world that our grandchildren grow up in will be wildly different.
To make that level of change happen, we need vision. Middling proposals will fail us.
We need a Green New Deal.
~ Ilhan Omar
I saw firsthand how DHS separated mothers from their babies in detention. The world watched as they tear gassed migrant children seeking asylum. None of it has made our country any safer – and neither will spending billions of taxypayer dollars on a border wall.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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The VA is supposed to serve the healthcare needs of America's veterans – not the business interests of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago cronies. I've already gotten an independent government watchdog to investigate, and I’ll keep pushing the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General to fully address this scandal.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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FEMA should be using taxpayer dollars to repair homes in Puerto Rico that were destroyed after Hurricane Maria – not helping companies with ties to Donald Trump line their own pockets. I’m calling on the DHS Office of Inspector General to investigate.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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US firms shouldn’t do the dirty work of repressive regimes and ruthless dictators. My plan to End Corruption Now would ban Americans from lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. If other countries want to make their case, they can use their diplomats.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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American workers have helped create record corporate profits – but their wages have stayed flat for decades as companies reward CEOs and wealthy shareholders instead. My Accountable Capitalism Act would empower workers and help them get what they deserve.
~ Elizabeth Warren
Our movement is a global movement. It must be.
~ Niki Ashton
Niki Ashton is a member of the Canadian parliament. She’s also a co-founder of a new group, Progressive International. (There’s almost nothing at that link now, but check it in future weeks...) Here’s a little of what she wrote recently about the new group:
When GM is threatening to shut down plants in Oshawa and Detroit, when hate and fascism is on the rise in the United States, Hungary, Brazil, and here in Canada, when climate change is wreaking havoc on our coasts and our forests—it is clear that our challenges do not stop at borders.
Those that consolidate wealth and power, those that exploit fear and desperation to justify fascism, those that ignore climate change, are already working together. We must as well.
We must be unafraid of big, bold ideas for change. To work with, and learn from, communities already on the front lines organizing against neoliberal austerity measures. And to act now in the face of catastrophic climate change, and hold corporate greed to account for the damage it continues to cause…
My generation and those coming up have little choice but to act now. We need to join together to build a movement for global justice.
~ Niki Ashton
Our job is to be bold. Our job is to think very big and to go forward in a moral struggle that says: we will protect our planet, not just for our own children but for all the children of the world.
~ Bernie Sanders
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12 million people in Yemen are suffering from severe hunger and 85,000 kids have already died from starvation as a result of the Saudi-led war.
The United States should not be supporting Saudi Arabia in this disastrous war. The U.S. Senate must vote to end our involvement...
I look forward to an up-or-down vote next week to end U.S involvement in the disastrous Saudi-led war in Yemen. I am confident that we have the bipartisan votes to pass the War Powers resolution in the Senate, which would be an historic step forward.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Some argue that the US is not really engaged in hostilities in Yemen. But as these Yemeni human rights activists told me recently, when Yemenis see "Made in USA" on the bombs killing their children, it’s very clear that the US is part of this war. This must end.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Think for a moment—that instead of spending well over a trillion dollars on weapons of destruction, we could be spending that money on transforming our energy system and protecting the planet.
~ Bernie Sanders
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We must continue the fight to ensure that every man, woman, and child in America has access to the health care they need. We can accomplish this and so much more if we stand boldly against corporate interests for the future we believe in…
For every man, woman, and child in this country -- regardless of income, race, gender, or zip code -- health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege.
~ Bernie Sanders
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The Trump administration’s policy to separate families is a moral stain on our democracy and Trump must be stopped from making the situation even worse. These families must be reunited immediately, and separations at the border permanently stopped.
~ Bernie Sanders
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It was not an immigrant picking strawberries at $8 an hour who destroyed the economy in 2008. It was the greed and illegal behavior of Wall Street.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Equal pay is not just a women’s issue; it’s a family issue. When women don’t receive equal pay for equal work, families across America have less money to spend on child care, groceries, and housing.
~ Bernie Sanders
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Steps to creating a vibrant democracy:
- expand voter registration
- expand voter turnout
- overturn Citizens United
- restore the Voting Rights Act
- fight gerrymandering
~ Bernie Sanders
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Climate change is real, it is caused by human activity, and it is already causing devastating harm here in the United States and across the globe. The fight for the future of the planet is the fight of our lifetime.
~ Bernie Sanders
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And:
It is really a disgrace that the major TV networks constantly ignore climate change or give climate deniers a platform. That is exactly why I brought together some of the greatest climate experts in the world to do what the mainstream media won't do.