Battle Over the Budget

Key Points

• Strengthen & Expand Medicare:
  • Include hearing, dental, and vision benefits.
  • Lower the eligibility age from 65 to as low as possible, Institute an out-of-pocket cap.
  • Enable Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for everyone.
• End Fossil Fuel Subsidies:
  •  Fossil fuels are responsible for the climate crisis, yet big fossil fuel companies receive $15 billion every year in direct government subsidies.
  • Continuing to explore for and develop new reserves of coal, oil, and gas would spell climate catastrophe.
  • Between 2000 and 2016, fossil fuel interests spent nearly $2 billion to derail climate legislation.
  • Fossil fuels killed 8.7 million people globally in 2018 alone. In the United States, air pollution from burning fossil fuels is linked to an estimated 350,000 deaths every year, disproportionately in communities of color.
• Pass the PRO Act:
  • America must build back better with unions by ensuring passage of the PRO Act.
  • Passing it in both chambers of Congress, and getting President Biden's signature will increase worker power, rebuild our economy fairly and grow America’s labor movement.
• Tax the Rich:
  • Corporations will start paying their fair share of taxes.
  • Corporations that outsource jobs and shift profits to offshore tax havens will no longer be rewarded with big tax cuts.
  • The wealthy will start paying their fair share of taxes.
  • The economy will reward work, not just wealth.
  • We will have new revenue to support long-overdue investments to create millions of jobs and build an economy that works for all of us.
  • The richest 1% will no longer be able to cheat on their taxes with impunity.