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Mr. President,
As many Americans know, the current budget is going to expire at the end of September, and if an agreement is not reached, the government will shut down, which is frankly not anything that anyone wants. The question that we now have to address is how we keep the government open and serve the needs of the American people.
As Americans know, Republicans have a majority in the House and in the Senate and they also control the White House. They run the government. They have the responsibility, therefore, to keep it open.
My understanding is that there will be a vote tomorrow on a continuing resolution to fund the government until November 20. In the House, a simple majority wins, and I would imagine that, by a very slim vote, Republicans will have the votes to pass their resolution.
In the Senate, however, the rules are different. In order to pass a continuing resolution, it will take a 60-vote majority to pass. That means, at a time when there are 53 members of the Republican caucus and 47 members of the Democratic caucus, it will require bipartisan support.
In other words, they will need Democratic and/or independent votes — I am an independent — to keep the government open.
Bottom line: They will need to negotiate. That’s how democracy works.
Speaking for myself, and I believe for many millions of Americans, here’s some of what it will take to win my vote:
Number one. Republican leadership: Don't take away health care from 15 million people by making the largest cut to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act in history.
Number two. Republican leadership: Don't increase health insurance premiums by 75%, on average, for over 20 million Americans who get their health care through the Affordable Care Act.
Number three. Republican leadership: Don't undermine modern medicine and the health and well-being of our children by rejecting the scientific evidence regarding vaccines.
Number four. Republican leadership: Do not allow this country to be moved toward authoritarianism by putting federal troops on city streets without a request from a governor or mayor. Do not have ICE agents snatch people off our streets without due process. Don't undermine the Constitution and the rule of law by allowing an administration to refuse to spend money appropriated by Congress.
Let me be more specific.
Health Care
As most Americans know, our current health care system is dysfunctional, broken and cruel. At a time when we spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as any major country earth, 85 million Americans are already uninsured or underinsured. The Republican continuing resolution in the House does nothing to prevent 15 million Americans from being thrown off the health care they currently have as a result of Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill.” That cannot be allowed to happen. Studies have shown that up to 50,000 Americans will die unnecessarily every year if we do not reverse these cuts. Those cuts must be rescinded.
But Mr. President, it’s not just preventing 15 million from losing their health insurance. Every American, every businessperson, every union worker, knows that the cost of health care in this country is astronomically high and unaffordable. People cannot afford health care today. And yet, if we do not act right now in this continuing resolution, the Affordable Care Act tax credits will expire and premiums will skyrocket by 75%, on average, for more than 20 million Americans.
Let me repeat: Health care premiums for 20 million working class and middle class Americans will go up by 75% if we do not extend those tax credits in this legislation. And good luck to my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, who want to go home to their constituents and explain why health care premiums are going up by 75% for working families in order to give over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the richest 1%. I wish them the best of luck. That’s not something I intend to do.
Vaccines
Further, Mr. President, let me be clear: Vaccines work. They are safe and effective and they have saved millions of lives in America and throughout the world. In fact, vaccines are one of the greatest public health achievements in modern history.
At a time when the secretary of Health Human Services has dismantled the vaccine review process, narrowed access to lifesaving COVID vaccines, fired leading public health experts and filled scientific advisory boards with conspiracy theorists and ideologues, we must stand with the scientific and medical communities and rescind Secretary Kennedy’s dangerous policies.
This isn't about politics. We're talking about protecting our children from polio, measles, whooping cough and other preventable diseases.
Inequality
Mr. President, the American people are catching on. Whether Democrat, Republican or independent, they understand that the current economic system is rigged. They know that the very richest people in this country are becoming much richer, while 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. They know that while billionaires get huge tax breaks, they’re finding it harder and harder to afford health care, housing, child care, education, prescription drugs or decent quality food. They know that, unless we change it, their kids may have an even lower standard of living than we do.
Mr. President, today we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had in the history of our country. Today, we have one man, Mr. Musk, who owns more wealth than the bottom 52% of households, and by the way, may be on his way to becoming a trillionaire.
Today, the top 1% own more wealth than the bottom 93% and CEOs now earn over 350 times what their average workers make. While the billionaires become richer, real inflation-accounted-for weekly wages are lower today than they were 52 years ago.
Mr. President, enough is enough. At a time of such massive and growing inequality, it is insane to be giving a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the top 1%. If President Trump wants my vote, he will have to rescind that tax break for his oligarchic friends.
Authoritarianism
Mr. President, our country today faces not only major economic crises. We are looking at unprecedented threats to our democratic form of government. We now have a president who frankly does not believe in our Constitution and the separation of powers, who does not believe in freedom of speech and the right to dissent, who is moving us every day toward an authoritarian form of government, with more and more power in his own hands.
Mr. President, too many Americans from Vermont and every other state in this country have put their lives on the line and sometimes died in order to defend democracy: the right of people to live without fear, the right of people to express their point of view no matter what it may be, the right of people to vote without intimidation.
Today, in an unprecedented way, we have federal troops in cities of America who have not been requested by a governor or a mayor. Today in America, we have people who are being snatched off the streets or out of their workplaces by masked federal agents, thrown into vans and dispatched to detention centers without due process.
Today, we have a president sending some of these people to South Sudan, Uganda, El Salvador or God knows where. This is not acceptable. This is not what America is supposed to be about. These policies must be rescinded. The movement toward authoritarianism must be ended.
Conclusion
Mr. President, in this difficult moment in American history, let us stand with the American people and listen to their needs. Let us not throw 15 million working class people off the health care they have. Let us not raise health care premiums by 75% for 20 million Americans. Let us not undermine modern medicine and make it more difficult for people to get vaccines. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, let us not give a trillion dollars in tax breaks to the 1%. At a time of growing authoritarianism and disrespect for our Constitution, let us stand together and save American democracy.
Mr. President, if Republican leadership does those things, you’ve got my vote.
Thank you. |