News from the Frontlines of the Political Revolution!
DON’T MISS MONDAY!
Our National Organize to Win Call on Monday, July 19th features Our Revolution Board Chair Larry Cohen; Congressional candidate and former Our Revolution leader Nina Turner; Minneapolis City Councilor Jeremiah Ellison, and NY City Council primary winner Felicia Singh!
OUR THEORY OF CHANGE
IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE: Read about how Our Revolution is
(1) Organizing our grassroots membership to fight inside the halls of power and outside on the streets to win real change;
(2) Holding our elected officials accountable to fight corporate greed and break up out-of-control monopolies;
(3) Electing progressive champions from school boards to city councils from coast to coast;
(4) Fighting for progressive policies that would end fossil fuel subsidies, expand Medicare coverage, and create union jobs;
(5) Transforming the Democratic Party in NY, NJ, MD, FL …
and MUCH MORE in this edition of The Revolution Report!
THE BATTLE LINES ARE DRAWN
Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders is calling it “a pivotal moment in American history” and “the most significant piece of legislation… since the Great Depression.” Joe Manchin on the other hand, well…he’s got some reservations.
Really, what more do you need to know about the Senate Democrats’ new $3.5 trillion budget proposal?
Well, a few things, but it is a tangible step towards real, concrete progress aimed at addressing Our Revolution’s top priorities – especially on climate change, health care, taxing the rich, and good union jobs. The heavyweight piece of legislation, its framework agreed to by Senate Dem leadership this week, includes Medicare expansions covering dental, vision and hearing; negotiated drug pricing; and key components of the PRO Act – like fines for companies that violate workers’ right to join a union. The proposal also includes significant investments in green energy to help finally kick the country’s nasty fossil fuel habit. Democrats have already outlined multiple possible funding sources for the package, including tax hikes on the rich and corporations. More details can be expected as the legislation is written in the coming days.
Senate Democrats can pass this transformative legislation using the reconciliation process, allowing the package to bypass the filibuster threat on a simple majority vote.
Yes, it’s a good start and real progress is possible.
But this proposal must be the floor, not the ceiling.
We still have our work cut out for us. We have to make sure Senate Democrats hold the line on our priorities. We still must lower the Medicare eligibility age. We still must end fossil fuel subsidies. And, most importantly, we must fight to make sure that corporate lobbyists and conservatives Dems like Joe Manchin don’t water down the legislation or stand in the way of making this package as bold as Bernie’s vision.
Our Revolution and the Fix the Senate Coalition are teaming up to pressure congressional Democrats to change the filibuster and protect voting rights to counter new voting restrictions in Republican-controlled states. This week, we called on Senate Majority Chuck Schumer to bring the For the People Act to the Senate floor again and reform the filibuster rules so that 50 Democrats plus Vice-President Kamala Harris’ vote can advance debate on the legislation.
Our letter was delivered as President Biden delivered a dire warning about our democracy during a speech in Philadelphia’s Constitution Hall this week: “We’re going to face another test in 2022: a new wave of unprecedented voter suppression, and raw and sustained election subversion. We have to prepare now.” He declared that defending the right to vote must be a “national imperative.” But despite the powerful rhetoric, the President was silent about the necessity of fixing the filibuster first in order to pass meaningful voter protection legislation.
THE TEXAS REVOLUTION
In historic defiance of a Governor and political party gone mad for power at any price, Our Revolution-endorsed Texas state representatives joined their colleagues in bringing the GOP-led assault on voting rights to a screeching halt this week. Texas Republicans are once again trying to pass new restrictive voting measures, bad bail reform, and more. Instead of trying to win with their ideas, the far right radicals in control of the GOP are trying to win by cheating.
Texas progressives literally led the charge to DC, with OR-backed Rep. Jasmine Crockett arriving in DC first ahead of all her colleagues, followed closely behind by Reps. Vikki Goodwin, James Talarico, and others. After these Texas Democrats left the state, the legislative body failed to reach quorum and effectively blocked the GOP’s undemocratic legislation – at least for now.
“Democracy is too important to sit back and watch the Republicans cram down a bad election bill. We’re heading to DC to ask our Congress to act on the For the People Act,” said OR-endorsed Goodwin.
If passed, the For The People Act will render virtually every state-level voter suppression bill in the works inert, including the Texas legislation. Since landing in Washington, the delegation of Texas Democrats have already met with Congressional leaders as well as West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has maintained his support for the filibuster.
MARCHIN’ ON MANCHIN!
Our Revolution West Virginia [ORWV] rallied outside the Fairmont office of Sen. Joe Manchin last week to show local grassroots support for the For the People Act and to demand he stand-up to the GOP attack on voter rights just like Texas Democratic state legislators are doing right now.
“For far too long states have passed legislation that limits voters’ rights. That’s why we need to make sure Sen. Manchin supports federal legislation to make it easier to vote, not harder,” said Jenny Craig, an organizer with ORWV.
Following our pressure campaign, Manchin met Thursday with the delegation of Our-Revolution-backed Democratic state representatives from Texas gumming up the works to prevent a GOP rollback of voting rights in the state.
On Sunday, Our Revolution Colorado [ORCO] members rallied for voting rights outside the MLB All Star Game in Denver, which was relocated from Atlanta to protest the passage of the recent Georgia voter suppression law. Leaders from Our Revolution groups in Colorado Springs and Metro Denver spoke about the urgency of passing the For the People Act and ending the filibuster. “We can’t let Mitch McConnell’s filibuster stop us from protecting every American’s right to vote – and with a wave of voter suppression laws targeting Black and Brown voters in states across the country, failure is simply not an option,” said Anthony Maro, an ORCO leader who helped organize the event.
Our Revolution New Jersey members held a pop-up protest outside an event being held by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and US Rep. Frank Pallone – the Chair of the powerful House Energy & Commerce Committee – in Edison NJ. The officials were there to tout their climate plans – and we the people were there to tell them it’s not big or bold enough.
EXPAND MEDICARE NOW!
During Wednesday’s Medicare Expansion Town Hall, US Rep. Pramila Jayapal – the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus – dropped this week’s big news: that because of the relentless work of fighters inside and outside of Congress, Our Revolution’s most critical Medicare priorities are on the table to be included in the Senate Democrats $3.5 million budget proposal. That means we have a real shot this summer to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing; lower the Medicare eligibility age; and empower Medicare to negotiate down drug prices.
During the town hall, Our Revolution Ohio organizer Diane Morgan shared her powerful personal story about the unique challenges older Americans like her face due to our inadequate health care system. “Unable to afford health insurance as a small business owner and not yet eligible for Medicare, I’ve had to go years without regular health screenings,” Diane said. “In fact, I didn’t realize that I had developed a chronic condition until I injured myself this spring and landed in the emergency room.”
Let’s put into perspective just how big of a deal the proposed legislation will be for folks like Diane. Too many seniors today who don’t receive essential dental, hearing, and vision health care are staring down the barrel of some serious health complications as a result, including diabetes, risk of falls, depression, and dementia. And for so long, Medicare has chugged along without the teeth needed to negotiate and secure affordable, life-changing medication prices for those who need them most.
We now have a historic opportunity to change that.
But we still have to organize to get our priorities over the finish line by holding Senate Democrats accountable to their promises to make big, bold change.
Call your Senator right now and urge them to support Medicare expansion! Our dialer system will automatically connect you. We can’t let Congress pass up this chance to transform our health care system by strengthening the Medicare program in the final reconciliation package.
TAKE ACTION NOW – CALL YOUR SENATOR
M4A MOMENTUM!
Our fight to expand and strengthen Medicare right now doesn’t mean we’re stopping our fight for single-payer health care at every level of government. Our Revolution has been a leader in the campaign to pass Medicare for All resolutions from coast to coast and we’re on the frontlines of the fight to get state and federal Medicare for All legislation passed.
This week, Our Revolution Maryland [ORMD] continued to agitate and organize in House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer’s backyard. We successfully got the Annapolis City Council to pass an MFA resolution and join the Prince George’s County Council as the second major jurisdiction in the state calling for Congress to pass universal coverage.
ORMD Organizer Hal Ginsberg noted the significance of passing the measure in the state’s capital: “All Maryland lawmakers – whether at the federal or state levels – will take notice of what policies are popular in Annapolis. It’s a bellwether.”
Our Revolution Anne Arundel County members, including ORMD Chair Chrissy Holt and Phil Ateto, joined with the Maryland Progressive Health Care Coalition to lead the effort to pass the Annapolis measure. In Prince George’s County, Our Revolution Prince George’s members – including Suchitra Balachandran, Sydney Jacobs and John Spillane – were instrumental in moving local lawmakers.
STOP THE MODERN-DAY ROBBER BARONS!
Even if you weren’t on our Monday Night National Organizing Call, you probably already knew what US Rep. David Cicilline said to be true: this country is in an “extraordinary monopoly moment.” And it trickles all the way down.
The continued consolidation of corporate goliaths yields increased leverage to stamp out union efforts, keep workers exploited in bad jobs without health insurance, crush small business, and rob consumers blind with sky high prices – even for lifesaving prescription medications.
Fortunately, we’re doing something about it. Rep. Cicilline confirmed in Our Revolution’s meeting this week that the pressure campaign is working, that his package of monopoly-busting bills passed out of the Judiciary Committee with bi-partisan support. The prognosis is optimistic, but as the Congressman cautioned, the influence of these goliaths cannot be underestimated.
Like an object in motion, monopolies only want to keep moving in one direction. They abuse their size to reap more, influencing lawmakers to maintain the status quo that’s enabled their cancerous growth. We can’t let that happen.
If you haven’t signed Our Revolution’s petition to take the fight to the robber barons like Amazon, do it now. Your advocacy is paying off in big ways. As we saw last week, President Joe Biden is getting with the program and moving forward with executive actions to give competition a fighting chance by scrutinizing mergers, restoring net neutrality, and more.
On Wednesday, Our Revolution Virginia [ORVA] delivered a petition – signed by over 45 progressive organizations – to the district offices of seven Congressional Democrats to demand that our government recognize Palestinian rights and stop supporting Israeli’s illegal occupation. “Virginians care deeply about freedom and human rights. Our advocacy for these principles locally is inextricably tied to the movement for Palestinian rights globally. That’s why we’re here,” Kristin Hoffman, an organizer with ORVA, told Congressional staffers.
The group visited the offices of Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner in Roanoke; Representatives Don McEachin and Abigail Spanberger in Richmond; and Representatives Don Beyer, Jennifer Wexton, and Gerry Connolly in Northern Virginia.
BECOME A MEMBER AND HELP US BUILD AN UNSTOPPABLE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT!
WHEN WE ENDORSE, WE WIN!
We’re halfway through the 2021 election cycle and we’re proud to report that 73% of Our Revolution endorsed candidates won their races!
That makes both 2020 and 2021 the best years for progressive electoral wins since Bernie started Our Revolution 5 years ago.
This year, we’re continuing to build the progressive bench by electing 118 progressive champions to serve as mayors, district attorneys, city councilors, and school board members.
Highlights include powering the primary victory of Philly DA Larry Krasner against a candidate with heavy backing from the Fraternal Order of Police; Winning a progressive majority on the St Louis City Council; Showing our political muscle in the Big Apple by winning city-wide races for Public Advocate and Comptroller – as well as electing the most progressive New York City Council ever; Turning the Fort Worth City Council blue, and putting four progressives in power on San Antonio City Council – including the first openly gay black man elected in Texas.
Even though we’ve won – our work is not done.
Our Revolution is gearing up for the second half of 2021, starting with Nina Turner’s race for Congress in Ohio’s 11th District on August 3rd!
SLEAZY SUPER PAC ATTACKS!
With Nina Turner leading in the polls, the establishment is desperate to defeat her – spending hundreds of thousands in dark money to misrepresent her track record. In fact, Pollster Mark Mellman recently sent out a dishonest mailer claiming that Nina doesn’t support Medicare for All or the Fight for $15. WTF?
That’s why Our Revolution Ohio’s [OROH] is mobilizing a massive ground-game to counter the establishment’s propaganda. As Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told the Columbus Dispatch, this election will “test whether grassroots progressive energy can still deliver victories” against the forces of big money in politics.
With early voting underway, our members have made over 191,000 voter contacts – including face-to-face voter engagement, texts, phone calls, and emails to counter the establishment’s untruthful ads and mailers.
OROH is also reaching out to voters the old-fashioned way – with hand-written postcards! We’ve sent over 5,000 personal notes to seniors and residents of high rises to get out the vote for Nina.
And finally, Our Revolution is countering establishment misinformation by holding public events with progressive organizations to highlight Nina’s progressive platform. Last week, OROH joined with the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition and Akron City Councilwoman Tara Mosley Samples to make the case for Medicare for All and that Nina is the only candidate who will fight to make it a reality. OROH organizer Diane Morgan said the event “reached a whole new set of voters and convinced many of them that Nina is the right choice because of her position on Medicare for All.”
Election Day is Tuesday, August 3rd, but we are encouraging everyone to vote early. If you live in CD-11, click HERE for early vote hours and locations. If you don’t, scroll down to the ACTION CENTER to find out how you can help Nina get over the finish line!
Our Revolution joined with the Working Families Party to call on Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown – who lost the Democratic primary to India Walton – to abandon his write-in bid and concede the race. Walton – a first time candidate endorsed by Our Revolution – won the primary with over 1000 votes.
“It’s fundamentally important that the Democratic Party respect the progressive wing of the party, and when we win, they shouldn’t try to kneecap us,” Our Revolution executive director Joseph Geevarghese told The Buffalo News.
Joseph also noted that billionaire Mike Bloomberg, developer Carl Paladino and other non-Democrats are lining up behind Brown’s write-in effort. “The fact that you’ve got this coalition of unsavory bedfellows who are uniting behind Byron Brown is incredibly problematic,” he said. “That signals to me that Brown is not a real Democrat.”
Our Revolution leaders and members are building a more progressive Democratic Party at the grassroots level from coast to coast! Here’s the latest …
Eighteen Our Revolution New Jersey [ORNJ] activists took seats on Democratic County Committees in June.
Both Morris and Essex Counties have seven new ORNJ progressives on their committees. Four more joined the Atlantic County Committee. The importance of winning these party elections cannot be overstated. In New Jersey, party leaders often determine election results because they decide where candidates’ names appear on “the Line” on ballots. Newly elected ORNJ county committee members are committed to advocate for ending this undemocratic ballot practice from within.
Our Revolution Florida members also are running to lead the Florida Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus.
We’re rooting for Carolina Ampudia (President); Corrine Daly (Treasurer); and Nina Tatlock, Jim Langford & Russell Giambrone (Board).
Our Revolution: The New York Progressive Action Network is celebrating member Luis Ordonez’s victory in the race to become a Manhattan Democratic District Leader.
Luis defeated an establishment candidate in a landslide and pledged to fight for working class New Yorkers in his new role.
Andrew will serve as an at-large representative.
ARE YOU DEM PARTY OFFICIAL?
Our Revolution, the Progressive Democrats of America, and the Bernie Delegates Network are identifying progressive party leaders at every level who want to network
and coordinate our collective work to empower the Bernie wing of the Democratic Party.
ARE YOU INVOLVED IN THE PARTY?
FILL OUT OUR SURVEY SO WE CAN CONTINUE WORKING TO MAKE OUR PARTY PROGRESSIVE
Efforts by corporadems to undermine Nina’s campaign have galvanized Our Revolution members around the country to step and volunteer. We’ve just doubled the number of phonebanks between now and Election Day – and we need YOU!
We’re calling registered Democrats nearly every day between now and Election Day to get out the vote for Nina!
And if you live in Ohio, you can join us on the doors and canvass with Nina and AOC on Saturday, July 24th!
Funding matters. To begin to undo the damage that 250 years of ever-increasing fossil fuel extraction and consumption have done to our planet, we must cut off the funding provided by the financial services industry and end federal subsidies paid by taxpayers.
Join the conversation with Our Revolution Massachusetts on Sunday the 25th! RSVP HERE
STAND UP! FIGHT BACK!
Anti-voter laws have been passed in states all over the country and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent rulings have made clear that it will not act to protect the fundamental right to vote.
We must pass the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and D.C. Statehood – and we can’t let anything, including the Jim Crow filibuster, stand in our way!
Join us for The Good Trouble Vigils for Democracy on Saturday, July 17th – the one year mark of the passing of Rep.John Lewis – as we host candlelight vigils nationwide to demand that Congress act to protect our freedom to vote and rebuild our democracy.
TAX THE RICH!
Congress is crafting their budget reconciliation proposal which gives us the opportunity to make big, bold investments in healthcare, education, clean energy, and more. The Americans for Tax Fairness coalition is demanding that Congress approve $4 trillion in spending at a minimum, paid for by making the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. Now is our chance to go big, but it’s also our chance to undo the Trump tax scam and unrig our tax code for working families.
Call your Senators Now: 1-888-894-6720
