I and others have said that it’s not enough to oppose Putin’s Puppet and his Republican Reich. We must also present a solid program of ideas to meet the needs of the American people. A group of progressive Democrats has done exactly that. In fact, I think Freya was involved in this, and I’m sure she’ll let us know. Summer for Progress has collected The People’s Platform.
Applauding Democratic members of the U.S. House for their support of a slate of bold and progressive bills, a coalition that mobilized a grassroots campaign is calling their "Summer for Progress" a success in terms of pushing an agenda that goes beyond simply saying "no" to the agenda of President Donald Trump and the Republicans who control Congress.
"Our leaders need to stand up for everyday Americans by addressing a platform that speaks to their immediate needs. We know that there are more Members in the House who support raising the minimum wage, combatting climate change, and taxing Wall Street. While the summer is over, our work to get all Democratic Members to sign onto these bills will continue."
—Shannon Jackson, Our Revolution
Releasing a scorecard of congressional "champions" on Friday, the groups behind the "People’s Platform" summer lobbying effort—including Our Revolution, Food & Water Watch, and Progressive Democrats for America—said the 25 lawmakers highlighted, all Democrats, should be commended for co-signing legislation designed to "directly address the needs of working and middle class families." See if your congressperson made the cut here.
Members of Congress, said Mark Schlosberg, organizing co-director for Food & Water Watch/ Food & Water Action Fund, "must do more than just resist Trump’s reactionary agenda."
As part of their months-long organizing drive, backers of the People’s Platform declared their support for transformative policies contained in specific pieces of legislation that already exist. Local groups met with nearly two dozen lawmakers and held more than 100 petition delivery events in district offices…
Inserted from <Common Dreams>
Here are the issues and corresponding Bills in the People’s Platform
Health Care for All: H.R. 676 Medicare For All Act, introduced by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich).
College for All: H.R. 1880 College for All Act of 2017, introduced by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07)
Workers’ Rights: H.R.15 – Raise the Wage Act, introduced by Representatives Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Keith Ellison (D-MN).
Women’s Reproductive Rights: H.R.771 – Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Lee, Barbara (D-CA).
Voting Rights: H.R.2840 – Automatic Voter Registration Act, introduced by Rep. Cicilline, David N. (D-RI).
Criminal Justice and Immigrant Rights: Justice is Not For Sale Act of 2017, introduced by Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.)
Tax on Wall Street: H.R. 1144 – Inclusive Prosperity Act, introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN).
Protecting the Environment: H.R. 2242 – Keep It in the Ground Act, introduced by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA)
Unfortunately, only four US Representatives have signed onto all eight. My Representative, Earl Blumenauer is one of them. Oregon also leads the way, in that Senator Jeff Merkley is deeply involved in the Keep It in the Ground Act.
I fully support The People’s Platform and urge you to contact your Rep and Senators to encourage them to support it.
RESIST THE REPUBLICAN REICH!!
9 Responses to “The People’s Platform”
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Well, you know my Rep opposes all of it. Three reps from Colorado are not too bad, but one of them is running for Governor, so we really don’t know who we will get there. It is a very blue district, so there’s that. Of course I signed the petition.
Both of mine have signed 3 out of the 8.Signed petition.Kudos to OR for ‘Keep it in the Ground’ Act !!
Thank you for this excellent article, TomCat.
So good to see that there is some grassroots movement in the Democratic party that pushes for progressive bills. Sadly, only 4 senators have signed up for all eight progressive bills, which gives them about zero chance to ever make it through a Republican dominated Congress. So it’s up to the American people now: they’ll have to vote for progressives every chance they get and push for all senators to support these 8 bills.
A bunch more support 6 or 7 of them.
Of course nobody expects passage at this time. However, it is a great way to get voters thinking about what Democrats can do for them.
Democracy is not an armchair event to view from the sidelines like an NFL game.
Democracy is a participatory series of events where all people must be engaged and involved!
When democracy is treated like an armchair event, the result is chaos, like the chaos being witnessed in the Drumpf administration. “We the People” must be actively involved in mind, body and spirit . . . that is what happened in 1773 when the colonies rose up against the British, and then finally declared their independence from Britain in 1776.
The Republican are like the Loyalists siding with Britain, obedient to the Drumpf ‘crown’. They are the traitors to “We the People”, trying to hold on to their status, power and privilege. Any Democrat that does not align with “We the People” . . . well there is a name for them . . . Benedict Arnold.
AMEN!
DEMOCRACY (from Online)
Origin
Greek
DEMOS ——>
the people Greek ———-> Late Latin ———-> French
KRATIA ——> DEMOKRATIA DEMOCRATIE —–> DEMOCRACY
power, rule
late 16th century: from French démocratie, via late Latin from Greek dēmokratia, from dēmos ‘the people’ + -kratia ‘power, rule.’
I voted for Jared Huffman a few years ago prior to the drawing of the district map in which Sonoma is split. Huffman introduced “Protecting the Environment: H.R. 2242 – Keep It in the Ground Act”. Huffman also has introduced a bill that calls for increased funding for the Peace Corps as well as many other bills. Per scorecard, Huffman rates as 75% while my Congresscritter, Mike Thompson, rates as 63%.
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Thanks all. Hugs!