Fighting Back

Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: To DREAMers: “You are not alone. We won’t stop fighting for you.”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread.

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

We are calling on the Republican leaders of the Senate and the House — Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan — to bring the bipartisan DREAM Act to the floor. If they do, I’m confident that the DREAM Act will pass both chambers of Congress on a strong bipartisan vote and then it will be up to President Trump to sign the Dream Act and make it the law of the land. […]

The American people are calling out for this. Seventy-five percent of Americans—including 70 percent of Republicans—want the DREAMers to stay in this country they call home. […] [To the DREAMERers]: You are not alone. I won’t stop fighting for you, and together, with my colleagues in Congress and our fellow Americans, we will ensure that you are here to stay.

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: To DREAMers, ‘We see you. We know you. We believe in you. Democrats are right there with you.’

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

(In this week’s address, Rep. Lujan Grisham denounced the Trump Administration’s cruel decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, leaving the lives and futures of 800,000 DREAMers uncertain.)

Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham

I want to talk with you about 800,000 aspiring Americans who, after coming to this country at a young age, have done everything right. They stayed out of trouble, gone to school, paid their taxes, joined the military, started businesses and continued to patriotically love the United States – often the only country they have ever known.

These Americans are DREAMers. They are our neighbors, coworkers, classmates and our friends. […]

For five years, DACA has unlocked the great potential of 800,000 DREAMers. These young patriots made the most of their opportunity to pursue the American Dream, and in turn, they have provided tremendous social and economic gains for communities across this nation. […]

Can you imagine the fear, uncertainty and anxiety this is causing nearly a million young Americans as they wait for the end of a six-month deadline – at the end of which they face the very real threat of deportation?

This is the civil rights test of our time. Are we going to turn our backs on DREAMers? Are we going to allow President Trump to use them as pawns in his cruel efforts to divide America?

To DREAMers, I have this to say to you: ‘We see you. We know you. We believe in you. You represent the best of this country. Keep fighting. Democrats are right there with you, side by side, supporting each other the entire way.’

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Fighting Back, It Takes a Village

It Takes A Village – VNV Tuesday: Back to Work 9/5/17

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February 1943: A real life Rosie the Riveter.  Women were called on to do the work; the call is alive again.

Even though the calendar tells us that summer doesn’t end for another 17 days, for most of us, Labor Day is a key line of demarcation. It’s getting dark earlier; the evenings (in most places) are cooler; and here in Michigan, the kids are headed back to school. For me, August was a month of scaled-back Resistance. My calls were less frequent, and since my freshman rep refuses to hold town halls, there were a few days of picketing his office…but very few sightings of him were reported. (After Charlottesville, and after intense, vocal outrage expressed on his Facebook page, he did give a clear, unequivocal denunciation of white supremacists, but then disappeared again.)

Now recess is ending, and there’s a full plate for Congress coming up. Our Resistance is more important than ever: between funding for Harvey-hit regions; raising the debt limit; funding the government for the upcoming fiscal year; ensuring the ACA is strengthened, not gutted; and defending DACA through legislation, our legislators have a full plate…and lots of opportunity for making mischief. We’re not going to get quiet now. With so much at stake, we can’t get quiet now.

Across the country

For informed advocacy

Expect a lot of this, and hold ’em to their support of legislative action

Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr Thunderclap

Insist on ACA fixes

Expect the debt limit to become a bargaining chip

And as if Harvey wasn’t enough…

Keep strong, keep fighting, and give yourself permission to laugh. Palate cleansers to help…

Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: “Democrats are fighting to make your hard work pay off once again”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

“Hard work isn’t paying off the way it used to. . . . People earn less, people can’t save for retirement, and people feel less stable – all while working harder and producing more than ever before. . . . Democrats are fighting to make your hard work pay off once again. We have proposals to raise wages and benefits, to make it easier for workers to save for retirement, to give workers more power in the workplace, and to encourage companies to invest in their greatest asset – you, the American worker.” -Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: “Democrats are all about opportunity, growth, innovation and the good jobs that follow.”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut.

Rep. Himes: “It’s time to give America the tools to unlock a new wave of innovation, opportunity & good-paying jobs.”

Change happens today faster than ever before. New technology and global competition open new markets and offer life-changing advances.

But without planning and support, too many people get left behind.

When factories close, good people lose more than their paychecks. Dignity, worth and a sense of belonging also seep away. Pride and community turn to fear and division.

President Trump trades in that decline: He nurtures fear, paints a dark picture of the future, blames immigrants, Muslims, Democrats and the media. He promises walls and he promotes division.

And he delivers nothing. Not jobs. Not opportunity. Not unity.[…]

We must invest in lifelong learning, training and education, so that every worker, young or old, can be vital and relevant to the industries of tomorrow.

That’s why Democrats are offering the American people A Better Deal: better jobs, better wages and a better future. A Better Deal recognizes that the core of our economic success has always been hard-working Americans, growing businesses, and the sturdy playing field on which they compete: the highways, airports and railways that undergird American prosperity. […]

Our country needs and deserves leaders who will encourage us to be our better selves and who will champion the ideas that we know are good for our nation. These are the ideas that animate A Better Deal for families across America.

Democrats are all about opportunity, growth, innovation and the good jobs that follow. We will not be distracted. We will not be deterred.

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back, History, It Takes a Village

It Takes A Village – VNV Tuesday: In Their Own Words 8/22/17

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Made possible by Europe’s advantages in military and social technology, the slavery started by Europeans in the fifteenth century was different, because it became the enslavement of one race by another.

(Excerpt from Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen)

White supremacy and racism were the causes, rather than the symptoms, of slavery in our country. The enslavement of Africans was justified, in part, because of the presumed superiority of whiteness. In short, without racism, we have no slavery or defense of its existence. In the past ten days, we’ve had memes and discussions of our racist history popping up everywhere, and all too often, they’re either incomplete, distorted by bias, or inaccurate. Today I’m going to let some of these historical figures speak for themselves. This post is subject to my own bias by virtue of which figures and quotes I choose to highlight, but I will try to include a representative sampling.

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: “We will not let anyone take us back to the days of hatred and bigotry”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia.

(Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner gave the weekly Democratic address. They talked about the recent violence in their state, in the city of Charlottesville.)

“We will not let anyone take us back to the days of hatred and bigotry – we will not go back.”

“The violence that occurred in Charlottesville has no place in our country. […] In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.”

“So we continue to step up and stand up for the things that matter, for human and civil rights, justice and equal opportunity for all.”

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Democratic Party Values, Fighting Back, Found on the Internets, It Takes a Village

It Takes A Village – VNV Tuesday: The ReSisterhood (Happy Birthday, Auntie Maxine!) 8/15/17

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By slowking4 (Own work) [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Inspired by a comment made by bfitzinAR and the encouragement of WYGalinCA, today’s post is all about Maxine Waters (CA-43), one of the leaders of the ReSisterhood. She’s 79 today, and as a self-described “strong black woman,” she’s been controversial, contentious, courageous, and a clarion of truth.

This article, How Maxine Waters became ‘Auntie Maxine’ in the age of Trump gives a nice overview of her background without shying away from her more controversial moments.

For a less biographical, but hilariously righteous take, I suggest reading this: Maxine Waters Is Back and She’s Not Here to Play

But really, I can’t say anything that Rep. Waters couldn’t say better, so today let’s just listen and learn.

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: Rep. Cedric Richmond “You deserve a Better Deal”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congressman Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Congressman Richmond:

“My fellow Democrats and I are painfully aware that America – the land of opportunity – has morphed into a country that has turned its back on too many of our families: our rural families, our blue collar families, our minority families, and especially those families working hard to escape poverty. […]

“My fellow Democrats and I are fighting non-stop to change the deal that America has with her citizens. Instead of the current raw deal, we want to deliver A Better Deal. A deal that means if you work hard and play by the rules, you and your family will have endless opportunities.

“This time of year, I know that too many families are sitting around the table experiencing great anxiety. Parents are wondering how to pay for school clothes, school supplies or tuition. How to pay for your child to go to that college that they busted their tail to get into, because you don’t want to let them down. Not to mention how to pay for childcare or care for an elderly parent. These are the real life issues facing us.

“Now, I’ll be as plain, straightforward and honest as possible. You deserve better.

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: Senator Tammy Baldwin “We should build a Made In America economy”

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The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin:

Senator Baldwin’s address focused on manufacturing jobs, a Made In America economy and Buy America legislation.

Her plan: Workers need Buy America commitment

I have fought hard for Wisconsin workers by advancing Buy America legislation because I strongly believe American workers should build our infrastructure with American products, and taxpayers’ money should not be spent on Chinese iron and steel. Last year, I succeeded in including a provision requiring water infrastructure to be American-made in legislation that passed the Senate 95–3. However, Speaker Ryan and House Republicans removed this Buy America reform from the Water Infrastructure Improvements Act at the 11th hour, and there has not been a peep, or tweet, from President Trump.

In February, she re-introduced her plan:

“Wisconsin manufacturers and workers, like the men and women who work at Neenah Foundry, help build our nation’s water infrastructure and they deserve a solid commitment from Washington on a strong Buy America standard that rewards their hard work. This legislation provides that standard and its past time to get the job done because workers cannot afford to have government spending taxpayer dollars on foreign products. We must rebuild our country’s infrastructure with American labor and American products,” said Senator Baldwin. “The choice for the Republican establishment in Washington is clear: Do you stand with American manufacturers and workers or do you support spending taxpayer dollars on Chinese and Russian steel for American water infrastructure projects?”

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

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