Dear MoveOn member,
This election will determine the future of your health care and the health care of every American.
And right now, key races in this election are on a knife's edge.
The Republican plan for what they'll do if they win in November is clear: Mitch McConnell just announced that they will move forward with their plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and gut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. If Republicans win, 99% of Americans lose.
But if we defeat Republicans, we will do more than just protect what we already have. We will take a giant step forward, toward the health care system that we truly need: Medicare for All.
Across the country, Democrats are running for the U.S. House on a Medicare for All platform that is so popular that it has sent the GOP into a frenzy. In a recent poll, 70% of Americans support the idea.1 So, of course, the GOP is pulling out every dirty trick in the book to stop Democrats from winning a mandate for bold, progressive reform.
The Republicans are resorting to fearmongering and even outright lies—and they are spreading those lies thanks to an influx of big money from right-wing corporations and billionaires.
Eddie, it is critical to show our support for the progressive candidates who are running to implement the ideas and policies that we all believe in. And, right now, three outstanding candidates who are fighting for Medicare for All—Randy Bryce, Jess King, and Liz Watson—are under attack and need our help.
Let me tell you a little bit more about these three candidates and why I think it's so important to support them.
- Randy Bryce is an ironworker, union activist, and Army veteran running for Paul Ryan's seat in Wisconsin. In his 20s, Bryce was diagnosed with cancer, and despite having two jobs, he didn't have health insurance, and the health care bills bankrupted him. After his recovery, he found an apprenticeship job with the iron workers union and has been an active labor organizer ever since. Rather than face Randy this fall, Paul Ryan decided to retire—so now Randy's running against Ryan's hand-picked successor, who is just as right-wing and out of touch.2
- Jess King is a working mom, small-business champion, and a leader in local economic development. She never planned on running for office. But after a career fighting for working families in Pennsylvania, she joined the race for Pennsylvania's 11th District because too many of us are working hard for too little while a greedy few rig the game in Washington. Her campaign has built a massive grassroots movement, the likes of which rural Pennsylvania has never seen.3
- Liz Watson has been a legal advocate for working moms, low-wage workers, and victims of domestic violence. As the Labor Policy Director for the Democrats, she led the drafting of the $15-minimum-wage bill in the House and worked with my staff to introduce a companion bill in the Senate. After watching the Republican representative from her district vote against every protection for working families, she decided to step up and run for Congress herself.4
Republicans are targeting these candidates not just to prevent them from winning, but to try to discredit their—our—progressive ideas.
If we want to build an America that works for all of us, we have to band together to stop the billionaire class and the GOP. We have to show them that the combined efforts of regular people can stop even billions of dollars in dark money in its tracks. That's why it's so vital for all of us to get involved.
We have already made extraordinary progress, because thanks to your activism, for the first time in a midterm election in my lifetime, Medicare for All is at the center of the debate. That's the good news.
The bad news is that Republicans are systematically lying in order to tear down an idea that has already been proven to work in country after country.
Donald Trump wrote an op-ed saying our proposals would cut Medicare, when the truth is that it would expand Medicare—that's so obvious, it's right there in the name "Medicare for All." That op-ed was judged by independent fact-checkers to contain a falsehood or misleading claim in nearly every single sentence.5
And in races for the House and Senate, the GOP is trying to stir up fear and confusion about Medicare for All, while lying about their records and plans. We all know that Republicans in Congress have voted again and again to scrap protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Now they want the public to believe that those votes never happened? If they win in November, they'll feel that they can continue to lie about whatever they want.
The difference between the visions for our nation on the ballot this fall is as stark as you can imagine.
The Republicans are quite clear about their plans to attack the earned-benefit programs—Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security—that most American families rely on, all to pay for their tax cuts for those at the very top. If Republicans keep their control of Congress, we know that that's exactly what they'll do.
But if our bold, progressive, visionary candidates win this year, a bright future opens up. On November 6, we have got to show that Medicare for All has the support of the American people—not just in polls, but at the ballot box. We must decisively reject the politics of looting by the billionaire class. And we must pave the way for a future where every American, no matter his or her income or ZIP code, has access to a health care system built around the founding ideals of our nation: that all of us are created equal and instilled with inalienable rights.
Health care is a right, not a privilege. Can you donate $3—or whatever you can afford—now to help make sure that we affirm that right on November 6?
In solidarity,
–Senator Bernie Sanders
Sources:
1. "What Medicare for All's Sky-High Poll Numbers Really Prove," New York, October 24, 2018
http://act.moveon.org/go/54467?t=11&akid=219196%2E10220574%2E01ClOH
2. "Meet Randy Bryce," Randy Bryce for Congress, accessed October 24, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/54468?t=13&akid=219196%2E10220574%2E01ClOH
3. "Meet Jess," Jess King for Congress, accessed October 24, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/54469?t=15&akid=219196%2E10220574%2E01ClOH
4. "Meet Liz," Liz Watson for Indiana, accessed October 24, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/54470?t=17&akid=219196%2E10220574%2E01ClOH
https://act.moveon.org/go/54471?t=19&akid=219196%2E10220574%2E01ClOH
Will you support MoveOn's efforts to win this election? Michael Moore says, "MoveOn is working around the clock to help organize and turn out volunteers to get out the vote in November. I know that MoveOn members like you are moving heaven and earth to win this election. We're the majority. But we need to rise up. That's the only way out of this mess." Will you stand with MoveOn?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on October 24, 2018. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To opt out of MoveOn emails from Bernie Sanders, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment