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.
~~~
Here is tonight’s title quote:
Real American power does not come from our ability to blow things up, but from our ability to bring people together.
Runner-up for tonight’s title quote was: “I urge all of you to stand up, fight back, and get active in the political process.” That comes from a new book which was published last month. Here’s the passage it comes from:
Trump’s refusal to acknowledge the reality of climate change and to help us move away from fossil fuels will not only adversely affect our generation, but it will make this planet far less healthy and habitable for our kids, grandchildren, and future generations. To sacrifice the future of the planet for the short-term profits of the fossil fuel industry is unspeakably selfish, outrageous, and unforgivable.
We cannot allow this to continue. I urge all of you to stand up, fight back, and get active in the political process.
If we are bold, if we have the courage to take on the fossil fuel industry, if we are prepared to invest in sustainable energy, we can make the necessary changes to save the planet. And that’s exactly what we have to do.
If you like those, you’ll probably enjoy some of tonight’s other quotes as well...
Here are some more quotes from the same person the two previous quotes are from:
If every major country on earth can guarantee health care to all and achieve better health outcomes, while spending substantially less per capita than we do, it is absurd for anyone to suggest that the United States of America cannot do the same.
~ Bernie Sanders
.
No one can deny that today’s minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is nothing more than a starvation wage. After 10 years of inaction, it’s time to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Doing so would directly benefit over 41 million workers across the nation.
~ Bernie Sanders
.
A secure retirement is a central pillar of economic security for our working class. We must expand Social Security so that every American can retire with the dignity and respect they deserve.
~ Bernie Sanders
.
This is what we mean when we talk about a rigged economy. If Sears has $25 million to give bonuses to executives after closing over 100 stores, why is the company telling thousands of laid off employees they don't have the money to pay their severance?
~ Bernie Sanders
.
We must extend the concept of public education beyond the 12th grade and make public colleges and universities tuition-free. Every young person, regardless of the income of his or her family, should have the opportunity to attend college.
~ Bernie Sanders
Hmm — 7 quotes from Bernie Sanders. All right, here’s something important which someone who’s not Bernie Sanders said:
This week, House Democratic leadership is considering whether to put progressives or corporate Democrats on key committees that control the fate of priorities like Medicare For All, challenging Big Pharma, and a Green New Deal.
Vice News reports, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking on a conservative Democrat for a huge committee seat.” That committee, Ways & Means, is one of the four "money committees" that legislate on economic issues -- and that progressives often get passed over for...
Imagine what the world would look like if Alexandria were in the middle of the discussion about repealing the Trump tax cuts for corporations on Ways & Means.
And if Elizabeth Warren's protégé, Katie Porter (CA-45), were on the Financial Services Committee holding Wall Street accountable.
And if Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), were on Appropriations getting money to places like Flint, Michigan that have been left behind.
All of this is possible...
Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Mark Pocan (WI-2) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) secured a tentative commitment from Pelosi that progressives would get proportional representation on key committees. That could be a game changer.
But corporate Democrats are fighting back hard for the status quo. Congressman Tom Suozzi, a former Wall Street banker, is trying to take the Ways & Means seat that Ocasio-Cortez is pushing to get.
Vice News reports that he is "heavily funded by real estate, Wall Street, and defense industries." And Suozzi just ganged up with other corporate Democrats to try to pressure Pelosi to give more control of the congressional agenda to Republicans! ...
We need a progressive champion on Ways & Means, not a corporate Democrat who will give Wall Street and Big Pharma veto power over the Democratic agenda.
Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee said that. If you agree with him, here’s the text of a petition addressed to Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democratic leaders that you might like to sign:
It’s time for party leaders’ actions to match campaign rhetoric. This means a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, expanding Social Security, lowering prescription drug prices, and the rest of the progressive agenda. But we can’t enact our agenda without seats at the table. For too long, the Ways and Means Committee has been where progressive legislation goes to die. In order to meet this progressive moment, we demand the appointment of Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to the Ways and Means Committee.
Lots of other good things got said this week by people who aren’t Vermont senators. For instance, here are some things a Massachusetts senator said recently:
Last year, Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan told me he really values his employees. Since then, he’s announced plans to fire more than twenty thousand of them while dedicating sixty billion dollars to stock buybacks for shareholders (like himself). I’d say it’s pretty clear what he values.
~ Elizabeth Warren
.
Just like the hateful terrorism of Al Qaeda and ISIS, domestic right-wing terrorism is completely incompatible with our American values. It is a threat to American safety and security, and we must not tolerate it in the United States.
~ Elizabeth Warren
.
The generic drug market is broken. Companies are allegedly colluding behind the scenes to keep prices high, while American families pay the price.
Later this month, I'll introduce new legislation to help put a stop to this…
~ Elizabeth Warren
.
As head of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler is supposed to regulate the coal industry. Instead, the former coal lobbyist is making it easier for his buddies to pollute our air. My plan to End Corruption Now would slam the revolving door shut on ex-lobbyists like Wheeler.
~ Elizabeth Warren
.
The housing crisis is especially hard on communities of color that have faced decades of discrimination. My bill, introduced in the House by Cedric Richmond, Gwen Moore, Barbara Lee, and Elijah Cummings, would help families buy homes and close the racial wealth gap.
~ Elizabeth Warren
For more information about the bill Warren talks about in that quote, here’s an excerpt from a recent article posted at curbed.com:
Today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) doubled down on her strategy to fix America’s housing crisis. Along with Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), she introduced the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act to the House, a companion to a Senate bill Warren introduced in September.
The bill would create three million new housing units, improve access to affordable housing through anti-discrimination laws, and invest in families living in historically redlined communities. Independent analysis of the bill predicts that it will create 1.5 million jobs and bring rents down, on average, by 10 percent.
“America is facing a housing crisis—a crisis that has been decades in the making,” Sen. Warren said at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center. “This is a crisis that hits middle-class families, working families, the working poor, the poor poor. Costs are up and over time housing stock is deteriorating. The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act confronts the shameful history of government-backed housing discrimination and is designed to benefit those families that have been denied opportunities to build wealth because of the color of their skin.”
The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act takes a comprehensive approach to the housing crisis, tackling affordable housing supply through a $450 billion investment over a decade into the Housing Trust Fund to build or preserve rental units; strengthens the Fair Housing Act to ban discrimination on sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity, and income source; incentivizes rezoning; funds housing construction on rural and tribal land; and closes the racial wealth gap by providing down payments to first-time homebuyers in formerly redlined neighborhoods or segregated areas. A tax increase on the wealthiest Americans will pay for the bill...
If you’d like to read a detailed summary of this bill, click the link in the quote or in this sentence.
.
.
More quotes:
I am incredibly proud to support senator Warren's and representative Richmond’s American Housing & Economic Mobility Act. This bill is a roadmap to affordable, accessible housing for all. It’s time for bold action on the housing crisis and this bill is an important step forward.
~ Barbara Lee
.
Climate action can’t wait. It’s clear that the Trump Administration will do anything to sabotage global cooperation in the fight against climate change – but Congress, states and individuals can still act. Science must prevail.
~ Barbara Lee
.
We need leaders across the political spectrum to condemn white nationalists and the bigoted beliefs they espouse. Racism, in all its forms, is a threat to our communities and our democracy. Reject White Nationalism!
~ Barbara Lee
.
Let’s be clear about what’s happening: President Trump is holding our government hostage, and demanding a wasteful, xenophobic wall as his ransom.
It’s not going to happen.
~ Barbara Lee
.
Clean water shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Everyone, regardless of party, should oppose the Trump Admin’s Dirty Water Rule, which would put the drinking water for tens of millions of Americans at risk of pollution.
~ Barbara Lee
.
It’s important to be honest about the fact that US healthcare is terrible and lags far behind the modern world.
The good news: Medicare For All can save the US $5.1 trillion over a decade while drastically cutting working-class Americans’ health spending.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
.
When we talk about a Green New Deal, it’s incredibly important that we don’t simply allow Oil Barons to become Energy Barons.
A Just Transition to renewable energy must be paired with economic justice.
~ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
.
.
Over 60 million people have been forced by violence and conflict to flee their homes— more than half are under the age of 18. This. Is. Just. Wrong.
I will not stop fighting to protect refugees and our most vulnerable communities.
~ Pramila Jayapal
.
Forgive easily, love deeply & share generously.
~ Ilhan Omar
.
Once again I’m running late, so need to stop adding quotes and publish now. But before I add the tags and click publish, perhaps one more picture of Noble Fur (and maybe a song or two...)?
.