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.
Once again I’m short on time and running late. (Not as short on time and running late as I’ll probably be next week, but plenty short/late nonetheless.) So without further delay, let’s get on to this week’s quotes...
Tonight’s title quote is from the very quotable Ilhan Omar:
We collectively must make sure that we are dismantling all systems of oppression. As we fight Islamophobia, we must also fight anti-Semitism, racism, sexism and all forms of hate.
What we are fighting for is not for the few, but for the many.
More quotes from Omar (and others) coming up, but first I need to direct you to this week’s best quote. It’s from an extremely good diary Rob in Vermont posted earlier today. If you haven’t already read the diary you should read the whole thing, but first please read the quote Rob posted in this comment.
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All right, time for more Ilhan Omar!
Just as in interventions past, those who oppose war are labeled supporters of dictators and haters of “freedom.”
We saw this playbook in Iraq.
The situation in Venezuela is dire and the Trump Admin is making it worse. We must support diplomacy, not war.
~ Ilhan Omar
Immigrants are America.
Immigrants' children are America.
The fate of America's immigrants is the fate of our country.
~ Ilhan Omar
1/3 of the top 12 selling drugs had price spikes of over 100% since 2012:
- up 163% Lyrica
- up 155% Enbrel
- up 114% Humira
- up 144% Lantus
Big Pharma shouldn't be able to gouge Americans w/ outrageous prices for Rx drugs. It's time to act to end prescription monopoly prices.
~ Ilhan Omar
At a time when climate change is making famines and conflicts worse, our country is resettling a historically low numbers of refugees.
We cannot be so willing to turn our back on those suffering the effects of this global catastrophe.
~ Ilhan Omar
As we speak, we face the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.
We face a terrifying rise in white supremacist violence and xenophobia in the U.S. and across the globe.
We cannot turn a blind eye to bigotry and hatred today. We must fight it in all its forms.
~ Ilhan Omar
There is a direct correlation between the mass migration we are seeing now from countries in Latin America and our own policies toward the region.
We must always ask how our actions abroad fit with our values of respect for human rights and international law.
~ Ilhan Omar
Every worker in the United States of America deserves a living wage and benefits for a hard day's work.
It's why I support every worker's right to collectively bargain and a federal jobs guarantee to provide meaningful work to anybody who wants it.
~ Ilhan Omar
Many of the people who are targeting the Jewish community with anti-Semitism are also targeting the Muslim community with Islamophobia. We have to collectively work together to uplift our voices and say no to hate.
~ Ilhan Omar
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On April 27th there was a shooting at the Poway synagogue, about 20 miles north of San Diego. Ilhan Omar is one of many good people who have spoken out about the shooting:
In the months leading up to Poway:
- 3 Black churches in Louisiana were set on fire
- A civil rights center in TN was burned down
- A Hindu temple in KY was vandalized
- The Poway shooter allegedly burned a CA mosque
Attacks on our faiths are linked. We must confront them together.
~ Ilhan Omar
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It is unacceptable for any corporation to make money on incarcerating human beings. We must ban private, for-profit prisons.
~ Ilhan Omar
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Kevin McCarthy [Republican representing CA-23} wrote in a tweet:
✅ Unemployment is at a generational low.
✅ Wages are going up.
✅ Americans are keeping more of what they earn.
~ Kevin McCarthy
Katie Porter [Democrat representing CA-45] quoted McCarthy’s tweet and replied:
Yeah, everything’s fine unless you:
✅ Have a preexisting condition
✅ Are trans, a person of color, or a woman
✅ Are a refugee child (still ripped from their mothers’ arms at the border)
✅ Believe in the rule of law
But other than that…
~ Katie Porter
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My wish this Ramadan is that my presence in Congress uplifts the incredibly strong people who share my faith and show them that we indeed do belong. I hope you all feel a little more protected with me (and others!) in Congress fighting against hate inside and outside our government.
~ Rashida Tlaib
Marking Holocaust Remembrance days after a synagogue shooting makes it painfully clear that violent anti-Semitism didn't end with the defeat of Nazi Germany. We must honor the 6 million lost by doing all we can to combat the hatred and bigotry of today.
~ Rashida Tlaib
Big Pharma makes billions while working Americans are forced to use kickstarters to pay for healthcare. It’s time we put people over profit. That’s why I’m proud to join Pramila Jayapal, Debbie Dingell and over 100 of our colleagues as a co-sponsor of the Medicare for All Act.
~ Rashida Tlaib
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The work of democracy is about trying to do together what we cannot do individually. And so for me the best way to escape my disintegrating body is to engage in this collective struggle.
~ Ady Barkan (as quoted by Rashida Tlaib)
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One of the things that genuinely surprised me in Congress is the sheer mediocrity of witnesses called forth by the GOP in hearings.
Yesterday they brought in a guy with a polka dot bowtie backed by oil lobbyists arguing that fossil fuels are “healthy.” Healthy! It’s embarrassing.
I honestly thought GOP witnesses would be well-prepared, with sophisticated arguments for the opposing view -- evil-genius lobbyist types. But they’re often sloppy and reaching.... I think if everyday GOP voters saw the witnesses called on their behalf, they’d be upset.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
We continue to provide tax cuts to corporations and the exceedingly wealthy… Yet, at the same time, folks have the audacity to say that there's no money for public housing and that we can't afford for children to have clean blood and clean water.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
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100% Clean Energy for America
We cannot tackle the existential threat of climate change by merely addressing climate pollution from one sector of our economy. We must reduce it everywhere.
Collectively, the transportation, electricity and buildings sectors contribute nearly 70% of America's climate pollution. It's time to build our grid, modernize our auto industry, and invest in clean buildings to rise to the climate challenge and succeed in the coming global clean energy economy.
We know we can achieve this plan because it's already happening in states, and in cities, tribal nations, and local communities. States have set aggressive renewable portfolio standards and passed 100% clean energy plans, all while Donald Trump has tried to undermine America's climate progress. Governor Inslee led Washington state to pass the strongest policy for 100% clean electricity in the country, with the largest labor and environmental groups united in support. Now he will take that model national with the creation of his 100% Clean Energy for America Plan.
Mimicking actions taken in Washington state, this plan includes closing America's coal-fired power plants and making major investments to ensure a just transition, including good-paying jobs for workers and support for vulnerable communities. Every region will begin its path to 100% clean energy from a different starting point, and this plan will meet each of them where they are -- ensuring opportunity and participation for all in the clean energy economy.
The 100% Clean Energy for America Plan will require a massive, full-scale mobilization of our federal government that will spur major innovation and deployment of clean energy. Just as President Kennedy's clarion call for a "moonshot" spurred major technological breakthroughs, these aggressive clean energy targets will provoke a clean energy revolution.
Instead of investing our tax dollars in fossil fuel companies, we will invest in deploying renewable energy, advancing battery technology, manufacturing the next generation of electric cars, and creating more energy-efficient buildings. In doing so, we will create demand for new manufactured products and skilled construction jobs, and spur major innovation in everything from building materials to advanced energy technologies. We can put millions of Americans to work building new energy solutions, sustainable infrastructure, and pollution-free communities. Furthermore, this plan will lead to massive savings over the long-term, as Americans pay less to heat their homes, fuel their cars and rebuild their communities hit by climate change...
That’s part of Jay Inslee’s 100% Clean Energy for America plan. If you haven’t already read it, the complete plan is available here.
Feeling the Bern
An issue I care about deeply is the importance of family farms and local agriculture. There is a very large difference, in flavor and quality, between fruits and vegetables grown locally and harvested at the right time (which is what family farms do) and fruits and vegetables grown by agri-business which are developed to look ripe long before they’re ready so they can be harvested way early while they’re rock hard in order to store them for long periods of time and ship them long distances across the country. Unfortunately a large number of small farms and orchards have gone out of business in the past few decades, squeezed out by monopolistic (and government subsidized) corporate farms and orchards.
I was very pleased, then, to see Bernie Sanders speaking out strongly and clearly on this subject this week:
We must end a system where the top 10 percent of farmers get 77 percent of subsidies from the USDA. Our job is to help family farmers who are struggling. Not to make billion-dollar corporations even richer.
~ Bernie Sanders
If you paid 1 cent in federal income taxes last year, you paid more than John Deere — a company that made a $2.2 billion in profit last year.
~ Bernie Sanders
We can no longer tolerate farm bankruptcies in the Midwest being at their highest level in a decade, while the CEO who controls Smithfield Foods got a $291 million compensation package in 2017.
~ Bernie Sanders
Let me be clear: We need more family farms in America, not more factory farms.
~ Bernie Sanders
If Teddy Roosevelt were alive today, you know what he would say to behemoth agribusiness companies? He would say break them up. And that is exactly what we are going to do.
~ Bernie Sanders
Factory farms are responsible for 1.4 trillion pounds of animal waste in America. They are a threat to the water we drink and the air we breathe, and it is unbelievable to me that Republicans in Congress have been working overtime to exempt factory farms from environmental laws.
~ Bernie Sanders
And Bernie Sanders has a plan for addressing the problem:
Agriculture today is not working for the majority of Americans. It is not working economically for farmers, it is not working for rural communities, and it is not working for the environment. But it is working for big agribusiness corporations that are extracting our rural resources for profit.
For far too long, government farm policies have incentivized a “get big or get out” approach to agriculture. This approach has consolidated the entire food system, reducing farm net income, and driving farmers off the land in droves. As farms disappear, so do the businesses, jobs, and communities they support.
Moreover, one in six American children still live in food-insecure homes, industrial agriculture has taken a toll on the environment, and our rural communities have been left in a chronic state of economic decline and decay.
Our mid-size and small towns have been decimated. Local businesses were replaced with national chains, many schools and hospitals shut down and good jobs left at an alarming rate. The next generation of rural Americans is finding better opportunities outside of the small towns where they grew up in.
Fundamental change in America’s agricultural and rural policies is no longer just an option; it’s an absolute necessity. Farmers, foresters, and ranchers steward rural landscapes, which benefit all Americans. They provide us with essential resources such as food, fiber, building materials, renewable energy, clean water and habitat for biodiversity. They also have an enormous potential to address climate change. With the right support and policies, we can have rural communities that are thriving economically and ecologically...
~ Bernie Sander
That’s from his plan, Revitalizing Rural America, which you can read in its entirety here.
Of course, family farming isn’t all Sanders talked about this past week...
Today, 39 percent of Americans living in rural areas lack Internet access. This is the year 2019. We need to expand high-speed Internet access and broadband services to every American.
~ Bernie Sanders
Uber says it can't pay its drivers more money, but rewarded its CEO with nearly $50 million last year. People who work for multibillion-dollar companies should not have to work 70 or 80 hours a week to get by. I stand with the Uber and Lyft drivers going on strike on May 8.
~ Bernie Sanders
When Harry Truman first proposed guaranteeing health care to seniors the idea was billed as radical, “un-American” and an attack on basic freedom.
Medicare is now one of the most popular government programs.
We can make health care a right to ALL if we have the political will.
~ Bernie Sanders
We have a racist criminal justice system that costs us billions of dollars, ruins lives and allows private prisons to profit off of human misery. The private prison racket has got to end.
~ Bernie Sanders
In the richest country in the history of the world, 13 million children live in poverty and two-thirds of them are children of color. This is a moral outrage. If we raise the minimum wage and invest in education and housing, we can end child poverty.
~ Bernie Sanders
When Congress asks the Attorney General to testify or provide information, he's got to do it. I support those who are prepared to hold him in contempt for stonewalling. The American people are entitled to this information and the House should be as tough as they can be.
~ Bernie Sanders
The Trump administration is threatening a disastrous military intervention in Venezuela. Under our Constitution, only Congress can authorize the use of force. We must make sure the United States does not get involved in yet another war and destabilize another region.
~ Bernie Sanders
Regarding a recent movie based on Marvel comic book characters:
What would be truly heroic is if Disney used its profits from Avengers to pay all of its workers a middle class wage, instead of paying its CEO Bob Iger $65.6 million – over 1,400 times as much as the average worker at Disney makes.
~ Bernie Sanders
And regarding the right to vote:
The truth is that our country has had a long and shameful history of voter suppression. This should not devolve into a debate about whether certain people are “good enough” to have the right to vote. Voting is not a privilege. It is a right.
~ Bernie Sanders
If we are serious about calling ourselves a democracy, we must firmly establish that the right to vote is an inalienable and universal principle that applies to all American citizens 18 years and older. Period.
When we look at the history of why our country has banned incarcerated people from voting, we must understand that the efforts to rob citizens of their voting rights was a legacy of slavery and continuing racist attitudes post-Jim Crow.
After the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which extended civil and legal protections to formerly enslaved people, many state governments rushed to create new felonies to put black people in jail and then institute lifetime disenfranchisement.
Our present-day crisis of mass incarceration has become a tool of voter suppression. Today, over 4.5 million Americans — disproportionately people of color — have lost their right to vote because they have served time in jail or prison for a felony conviction.
It goes without saying that someone who commits a serious crime must pay their debt to society. But punishment for a crime, or keeping dangerous people behind bars, does not cause people to lose their rights to citizenship. It should not cause them to lose their right to vote.
~ Bernie Sanders
Warren Pieces
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The IRS’s Free File program claims to provide free tax prep services to 70% of taxpayers. But only 3% of eligible taxpayers use it because the companies trick people into purchasing unnecessary products. (That’s why I’ve got a plan to overhaul it.)
It gets worse: A ProPublica report and an investigation by my office found that nearly half of the IRS’s Free File companies hide the free option in online search results and direct people to paid products instead. It’s unfair and deceptive.
The FTC should investigate if hiding Free File is unfair and deceptive, and if the companies colluded to rip off taxpayers. And IRS should end its agreements with them and get refunds for taxpayers who paid for services because of these abuses.
~ Elizabeth Warren
Puerto Rico shows us a clear example of how well the federal government works for Wall Street and how poorly it works for everyone else. I believe we should fight back—and treat Puerto Rico with respect.
~ Elizabeth Warren
Puerto Rico was in crisis long before Hurricanes Maria and Irma tore through the island. For years, Puerto Rico has been at the mercy of Wall Street vulture funds that snapped up the island’s crushing debt to squeeze the Puerto Rican people for every penny they can get.
Now, post-Maria, Puerto Rico faces a much bigger crisis. Rebuilding efforts in Puerto Rico are still slow, and the debt is a big reason why. Few investors want to put money into reconstruction if the debt means the island doesn’t have a realistic chance of recovering.
Today I’m reintroducing the US Territorial Relief Act to give US territories like Puerto Rico a route to comprehensive debt relief and a chance to get back on their feet. Our fellow US citizens are counting on us, and we cannot forget them.
~ Elizabeth Warren
Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the millions of U.S. citizens who live there. The Trump Administration's response was slow and ineffective—but one of the biggest constraints holding back the recovery has been Puerto Rico's debt.
If Puerto Rico were a big company or an American city in this kind of financial trouble, it could file for bankruptcy, pay some of its debts, discharge the rest, then start rebuilding. But because of its unique status, those legal options aren’t available.
Much of Puerto Rico’s debt is held by Wall Street, which is trying to squeeze out every last penny of profit. Congress had a chance to break Wall Street's grip. Instead, they passed PROMESA, imposing an oversight board which has slashed services, hindering the recovery.
Wall Street executives see the island’s desperation as just another opportunity to make a profit—and it makes me sick. That’s why I’m re-introducing the U.S. Territorial Relief Act to provide Puerto Rico with a path to comprehensive debt relief.
~ Elizabeth Warren
The Attorney General does not swear an oath of loyalty to any one individual. The Attorney General swears an oath of loyalty to the Constitution of the United States. Barr has made clear that he doesn't swear his loyalty that way and that disqualifies him from being Attorney General. He should resign.
~ Elizabeth Warren
A hostile foreign power attacked our democracy. The president welcomed that attack, obstructed the investigation into it, and is now cozying up with the leader who orchestrated it. Congress needs to do its job, stand up for our national security, and begin impeachment proceedings.
~ Elizabeth Warren
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Yow! Two hours later than the intended posting time. Apologies for all the good people and good quotes I had to leave out. Here’s a little music to close with: