The Revolution Report: 7-15-23

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INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION

HEADLINES: Our Mission | Student Debt Town Hall | Ro Khanna Joins Our Activists | Wages, Climate, Healthcare | 1000 Progressives & Counting | Seattle Endorsements | & MORE!

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As we approach Our Revolution’s 8th Birthday, let’s revisit the mission given to us by our founder Bernie Sanders: Organize and mobilize the grassroots behind policies and candidates that put people over corporate power.

Since 2016, we’ve elected over 1000 progressives at every level of government, and our popular policies have majority, mainstream support.

And, heading into 2024, we have a concrete plan of action to leverage this power for real wins – because progressives are now a key voting bloc that can’t be ignored.

As Our Revolution Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese told NPR’s Morning Edition this week: “Biden has got to fight like hell in the remaining period of time to show voters that he’s doing everything in his power to deliver on the pocketbook issues that matter to them.”

That’s why Our Revolution is organizing our grassroots base to push NOW for actions that President Biden can deliver on like student debt, climate, healthcare, wages, and more — Democrats cannot fail to deliver at this moment.

Despite our corrupt political system, there is a path to victory on these critical issues, but it will take collective action and resources. Please pitch in a donation to support vital organizing work.

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News broke on Friday that President Biden canceled $39 Billion in student debt for 800,000 borrowers through administrative fixes.

This BIG WIN comes after Our Revolution hosted a LIVE Student Debt Town Hall with Rep. Ro Khanna where our members shared powerful stories and discussed our inside-outside push.

The President can still use his executive authority to cancel debt, pause payments, and crack down on predatory lending practices.

“The President should cancel student debt in the Higher Education Act. He should zero out the accounts,” Ro told us on Monday. “If the Supreme Court rules against us then let’s see if they’ll actually enforce the collection of debt that has already been canceled.”

“Congress has given the Executive the power to do this. The President needs to push and invoke these authorities and cancel it,” Ro said on the call. “We’ve got to be assertive at a time that the other side is taking action that is unconstitutional.”

While Rep. Khanna teams up with progressive lawmakers to work the levers of power from the inside, on a parallel outside track, we’re organizing our grassroots members to flood comments into the Secretary of Education to show the strength of our demand.

You can help! Submit your story online, explaining how restarting student debt will affect you and your family. Some of our members will even be featured at the live virtual hearing by the Department of Education on Tuesday!

Make sure to mention your activism with Our Revolution, and we will make sure your story is heard during this important rule-making process!

SUBMIT YOUR STUDENT DEBT STORY

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Barbara Koehrer – an Our Revolution member since 2016 – spoke out at our Student Debt Town Hall on Monday. Barbara told us she owes $176,000 and financially struggles to care for her aging parents. “The first time I felt financially free was due to the pandemic and the pausing of loan payments,” she said.

Virginia Spindler, 63, told us her family has $237,000 in student debt. “We wanted our daughters to go to college and sold our house to help. If payments resume, we’ll struggle with housing and food,” Virginia said. “It hurts to look at old family photos because it reminds me of what we’ve lost.”

Vanessa Torres, 36, told us she has $186,000 in student debt, mostly from law school. “I grew up very poor, often homeless, raised by a single mom dealing with addiction. I knew an education was the only way out of poverty for me,” she said.

“I got accepted to my dream school – Harvard – but now I can’t afford the payments because rent has sky-rocketed. I worry about my siblings, and wish I could buy us a home so we’d always have a place to live,” Vanessa said.

These stories are painful — but more than getting angry, we need to get active. Restarting student debt – with interest – in the middle of an affordability crisis will be an economic disaster. Let’s make sure the President delivers on his promise to 45 million Americans.

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Our Revolution is waging major campaigns on the issues that matter most to our members in this moment of progressive leverage ahead of 2024:

Raise the Wage – Our Revolution is partnering with One Fair Wage to put a $20+ MINIMUM WAGE on the ballot in critical swing states like OH and AZ in 2024. Not only will this motivate our voters to the polls, but it will mean millions of people getting a long overdue pay raise so they no longer have to choose between rent and groceries.

End Fossil Fuels – The climate fight is heating up right now as Manchin, Sinema, and the GOP prepare to double down on fossil fuel drilling in must-pass bills this fall. Right now, we’re teaming up with our allies at Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth to make sure progressives in Congress have enough votes to block Big Oil.

End Medical Debt & Big Pharma Price Gouging – Bernie is leveraging his power as HELP Chair in the Senate to block nominees in exchange for lower drug prices, and our members are organizing on the outside to stop medical debt by taking on price-gouging hospitals and predatory debt collectors.

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ONE FAIR WAGE CHICAGO


Our Revolution joined One Fair Wage and new Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson – who we helped elect! – for a Server for a Day event at Netroots on Thursday.

The event is part of our campaign to get the Chicago City Council to pass an $18 an hour minimum wage and give Chicago workers a well-deserved pay raise — and not leave tipped workers behind!

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We mentioned at the top that 1000 Our Revolution-backed candidates have been elected to public office – and we’re still just getting started!

While the 2024 presidential race is taking center stage in the media, we’re getting a jump start on making sure progressives pick up more House and Senate seats — including replacing corporatists like Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona.

Our voter mobilization strategy has been battle-tested against billionaire SuperPACs, and we have a proven record of winning 2 out of 3 races we’ve endorsed in.

We truly appreciate everyone who has invested in the success of Our Revolution, and hope you’ll pitch in now to give us a head start on the important races we must win in 2024.

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New endorsements rolling out in Washington State!

Our Revolution and Pramila Jayapal are backing Jorge Baron and Teresa Mosqueda for King County Council and Tammy Morales for Seattle City Council!

These endorsements were made with democratic input from Our Revolution members in Washington. Ballots dropped on Friday and election day is August 1st!

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Bernie never gives up the fight, and neither do we!
When you pitch in a donation of $10 ($5 if you’re already a monthly member), we’ll send you this iconic new Bernie sticker as our thanks.

HELP EXPAND OUR WORK!

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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!

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