Wednesday, March 27, 2019

DeVos Provides Evidence of Devolution

The brittle crone billionairess, Betsy Devos, went before a House committee this week to answer questions regarding her bullish support for a 12 percent cut to the federal education budget that has been proposed by the sado-conservatives now in charge at the White House.

Included in the cuts are after-school programs and mental health services for America's poorest communities.  Because the program previously have had so little money spread so thin, DeVos said, we may as well just kill the whole thing.  After all, as Trumpian reason goes, if a most people are starving, we should go ahead and eliminate food for the ones that we're feeding. 

If you're still uncertain about where the Trump/Devos ed budget registers on the inhumanity meter, it also zeroes out federal funding for Special Olympics.  All of it.  By the way, the entire $17.5 million federal commitment to Special Olympics would pay for 5 Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago.

We should prepare for more of this kind of brazen cruelty masked as fiscal responsibility.  After all, this week, we saw, too, the opening salvos in a new war to be waged in the courts, this time, to take away health care away for millions of Americans and to allow insurance companies, once again, to make insurance unaffordable for those with pre-existing conditions.  Does the Trump Party really believe that an effort to kill Obamacare will make its likely preservation the default choice among the populace, rather than the hugely popular option of Medicare-for-All? Probably.

Meanwhile, the spiriting away of the Mueller Report by Trump's AG has left much of the Resistance in a stunned whimper.  I am wondering when Barr's well-choreographed castration attempt will register among the vast majority of citizens who we might have been expected to be marching on the White House for a lesser crime against justice just a week ago.

If you want a larger future that is not ruled by a smaller past, it's time to force all of that generalized disappointment and sadness into a righteous anger that the moral universe demands.  The voting that culminates next year has to begin today.  See below.

Indivisibles,
Last night, in a stunning, reckless, and baseless two-sentence letter, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice announced it won’t defend any part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This is the Trump administration’s clearest attempt yet, not just to sabotage, but to completely annihilate the ACA -- and in doing so, unleash chaos on our health care system and on millions of Americans lives.
We’re pissed. And we know you are too.
→ It would jeopardize Medicaid expansion in 37 states.
→ It would end protections for preexisting conditions.
→ It would end coverage for young people who’d otherwise be able to stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26.
→ It would end required coverage of preventive care -- like cancer screenings, vaccines, birth control, blood pressure tests and more.
And so, so much more.
Look, we know we don’t need to tell you what’s at stake -- you’ve been fighting this fight with us for the last two years. But, we’ve got three things we can do right now to beat back these latest Republican attempts to take away our healthcare, and we need your help. We’re making an urgent appeal to ensure our movement has everything it needs to respond in full force. So, if you’re ready to pitch in $5, $10, $25, or more to help fund this work, click here. Otherwise, read more about our plan below.
Contribute >>
So, what happens now? To be clear, the Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land. Republicans have tried repeatedly for 9 years to repeal, undermine, and sabotage the ACA, and this is just one more attempt at that. It was because of grassroots pressure that it exists today. What’s important to remember is that this fight is now in the courts -- and there are plenty of stakeholders ready to do the job that Trump’s DOJ won’t (check out our resource with more on the upcoming legal battle here). 
Right now, there are three meaningful things that you can do to protect health care for millions while this makes its way through the courts:
  1. Pressure House Democrats to use their oversight and investigatory power to hold the Trump administration accountable for their sabotage. Call them and demand that they ask the tough questions -- ask them what they’re doing about Trump’s attack on our health care right now.
  2. Keep calling to get your members of Congress to commit to building on the success of the ACA and lay the groundwork for a single-payer system. Yes, ask your representatives to cosponsor Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s Medicare For All Act (we’ve got a call script!), but go a step further. Demand your members of Congress lay the groundwork now for what comes next: that means holding hearings, hearing from experts, working through the policy debates, building consensus, and drafting legislation so that it’s ready when we take power. Your continued pressure can ensure that they do this.
  3. Organize, organize, organize to reverse the radical, conservative transformation of our judicial system (read: win in 2020). Right now, that means asking your senators to fight like hell to block additional Trump appointees to district and circuit courts. It also means knocking doors to take back power in the Senate and the White House to ensure that our district and federal courts are occupied by qualified judges dedicated to safeguarding our rights and promoting justice -- not advancing partisan political goals.
The good news is that our team is working day in and day out to put resources and tools in the hands of Indivisibles across the country to build local power and do just that: hold members of Congress accountable for oversight, demand bold policy alternatives to Trump’s hateful agenda, and win in 2020. 
The not-so-good news is that we’re working against the clock, and the administration isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Your contribution can help us fight back. If you can pitch in $5, $10, $25, or more right now your dollars will go directly toward our efforts to ramp up this work. 
Right now, we’re:
→ Launching a $25,000 rapid response digital ads campaign to make more people aware of Trump’s latest attempts to destroy the ACA and mobilize more folks to take action and get involved on their home turf.
→ Rolling out a state-of-the-art membership management platform for Indivisible groups, allowing them to better engage with their members, organize their events, and build long-term power.
→ Putting the final touches on our new click to call tool to make it easier for people to get connected to their members of Congress and get the right information to make the most strategic ask with a single click of a button.
→ AND we’re planning major campaigns to double down on oversight efforts, protect communities under attack by the administration, and strengthen our democracy.
Two years to the week after their unsuccessful first attempt at repealing the Affordable Care Act in the House, Trump and Republicans are still in relentless pursuit of your care. And they’ll do whatever it takes, no matter how lawless -- and no matter how many people it hurts.
We. Will. Fight. Back. And we will win.
In solidarity,Indivisible Team

1 comment:

  1. Cruelty and evil at its finest on all fronts. When will the American people wake TF up!!!

    ReplyDelete