The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey.
(Congressman Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, delivered the Weekly Democratic Address. In this week’s address, Pallone highlighted the dangers of Republicans’ latest attack on the protections that ensure more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage.)
“Today, too many Americans are concerned about the costs of their families’ health care.
“The anxiety is justified considering the ongoing efforts by Republicans in Washington to undermine and sabotage the health care system.
“And last week, Republicans directly threatened the health care of millions of Americans when the Trump Administration asked a federal court to strike down key patient protections included in the Affordable Care Act.
“If successful, the Trump Administration’s action will eliminate protections that ensure more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied coverage. It could also eliminate protections that prevent insurance companies from charging women or anyone between the age of 50 and 64 outrageously high premiums because of their age or sex.
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia.
(Senator Tim Kaine (VA) delivered the weekly Democratic address and talked about health care.)
You deserve the peace of mind that if you or a loved one gets sick, you can get health care when you needed without facing mountains of debt. Because health care is a right, not something reserved for just those who can afford it. […]
Last year’s elections in Virginia paved to the way for the state legislature and state officials to right this wrong. I am so proud that last week, the Virginia General Assembly cast legislation to expand access to health care for up to 400,000 additional Virginians. […]
My Democratic colleagues in the Senate are working together to do all we can to protect health care. I hope our Republican colleagues will join us in efforts to make health care more affordable and accessible to all. We will keep encouraging the Trump administration to stop playing games to drive up health care costs for American families. The only way to get health care right in this country is to focus on real solutions that work for folks across the country. It is time to strengthen, not weaken our health care system.
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland.
(Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland, Chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force, delivered the Weekly Democratic Address. In this week’s address, Sarbanes discussed Democrats’ A Better Deal for Our Democracy, an agenda focused on taking back the power from special interests and getting rid of the pay-to-play culture of corruption, cronyism and incompetence that has given a raw deal for the American people. )
[The Trump Administration] is the most ethically blind administration we have ever seen. From the President on down, people just don’t respect the ethical lines. We need to change that. We need to strengthen the Office of Government Ethics so it has the enforcement authority to go do its job. We need to make sure that if you go run for President, you have to release your tax returns. That’s a basic indicator of transparency. So, there are things we can do to improve ethics and accountability and clean up the culture of corruption where we see it. […]
We can fix our campaign finance system. There’s too much secret money coming from Super PACs and other big players out there, who pour money into our politics and hope to have influence from it. We’ve got to make sure that we have citizen-owned elections, so that you’re in charge, you’re the ones that power campaigns in America and candidates and Members of Congress and lawmakers turn to you, and are accountable to you for your interests.
On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi met with MomsRising and other groups and called on the Republicans to end their cruel family separation policy related to immigration:
[The Republican plan for dealing with immigrants arriving at our borders] is so anti-family, so out-of-the-question that you have to wonder what’s in their alleged minds and certainly in their hearts. It was a number of months ago that the administration first told me that they did not think that the mothers [act responsibly when they] bring their children across the desert in a dangerous way.
And I said to them, ‘Do you realize these mothers had no choice? That this was what they had to do to protect their children from danger and all kinds of terrible occurrences?’
And they said, ‘No, these mothers did not act responsibly and we know how to take care of children. We are going to take them away from their mothers and do other things including putting them in foster homes.’
Of all of the bad things that they have done, the wrong decisions they have made, nothing is more revealing – I think – more hurtful than what they’re talking about with children.
We have to put a stop to this and there’s no better way than to make sure the American people are aware of it.
Full text at the link.
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The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
(U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, renewed his call for President Donald Trump to address rising gasoline prices Friday, May 25, as he delivered Democrat’s weekly address. ) Via MassLive:
Pointing to recent spikes in oil and gas prices, the Massachusetts Democrat contended that Americans are now paying an estimated $350 more per year to fill up their vehicles than when Trump took office.
Markey attributed that increase, in part, to what he called the president’s “incoherent foreign policy,” arguing policies pursued by his administration have heightened tensions in the Middle East.
He offered Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, as an example of a move that has impacted oil markets, and thus the price of gas.
“Because of these actions, gas prices could keep going further up this summer, and the American family is going to pay the price for this ‘Trump oil risk tax,'” he said in the address.
“How are the oil companies spending this GOP windfall? Well, Big Oil is buying back tens of billions of dollars’ worth of their own stock — pumping up their own profits rather than helping consumers at the pump,” he said, adding that exporting U.S. oil is “only a further giveaway” to these companies.
The Massachusetts Democrat contended that while Trump has claimed to take an “America first” approach to governing, “the policies that he and Republicans are pursuing are putting Big Oil, (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,) Russia, and China first, and the American consumer last.”
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Representative Marcia Fudge of Ohio.
(Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio delivered the Weekly Democratic Address. In this week’s address, Fudge condemns Republicans’ cruel and destructive Farm Bill that leaves America’s rural communities behind and steals food from the hungry by reducing $23 billion in SNAP benefits.)
“We reject this Farm Bill. We demand more for our farmers, for our rural and urban communities and for our nation’s hungry. We can do so much more for them. We will not settle for a bill that underdelivers on all levels. It is a Congressional failure! […]
The bill cuts more than $20 billion from SNAP. It would kick 265,000 children out of the free school breakfast and lunch programs. It would eliminate benefits for 400,000 households – almost a million hungry Americans overall. It would waste billions on redundant and unproven training bureaucracies that our states have told us that they cannot operate effectively. It would create so many barriers that hungry families would be forced to give up seeking the help they need.
The Republicans call this ‘self-selection.’ I call it engineered failure. The GOP hopes that with enough red tape, our hungry neighbors will simply give up and go away. That may leave the Republicans with a clear conscience, but it keeps me up at night. […]
We can turn around and work together to make this bill better. But it all starts with a willingness to put ideology and partisanship aside and sit down together.
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.
(Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
“Democrats believe that health care is a basic human right, and that includes the ability to afford your prescriptions. As we know, for many people, this is a matter of life and death. Unfortunately, the pricing of prescription drugs is the ultimate example of a rigged system in my home State of Michigan as well as all across the country. Democrats promise to keep doing everything we can to bring down the cost of the medications you need. It’s time for our Republican colleagues to join us.”
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Congresswoman Katherine Clark of Massachusetts.
(Rep. Clark highlighted the one year anniversary of the House Republicans casting their votes for the monstrosity of Trumpcare which would have had devastating impacts on the American people.)
“Right after voting to take health care away from millions of Americans, Republicans boarded party buses in front of the Capitol and drove to the White House for a champagne toast.
“While they were celebrating, families across the country began to panic about how they would care for themselves and their loved ones.” […]
“The Trumpcare repeal bill would have caused soaring costs; pushed 23 million Americans off health coverage; shredded protections for those with pre-existing conditions; and imposed a crushing age tax on older Americans. This vote caused anxiety and fear. […]
“We know the security of the American family starts with the ability to access affordable, quality health care. No one should have to choose between the health of their family and their ability to put food on the table or make a mortgage payment.
“Democrats will never stop fighting to ensure health care is a right for all, not a privilege for a few.”
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire.
(“Republicans in Congress have tried repeatedly to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They failed, but they’ve found other ways to weaken – and, frankly, to sabotage – the law.” -Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH))
“The [actions of the administration] have destabilized the market. As a result, health insurers say they have no choice, in the weeks ahead, but to sharply increase premiums. This will have a devastating impact on consumers in the individual marketplace,”
“The sharp rise in health care premiums is a crisis that was manufactured in Washington, and Washington can fix it”
Each Earth Day, people around the world join together to celebrate the beauty of God’s creation, and to reaffirm our responsibility to protect and preserve our environment for generations to come.
Amid rising temperatures, surging seas and record floods, fires and storms, Earth Day reminds us that bold, ambitious global leadership is needed now more than ever to combat the growing climate crisis. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration and Republican Congress have given special interests a free pass to push their dirty energy agenda. The Trump Administration’s culture of corruption, exemplified by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, has weakened critical environmental protections, enabling polluters to poison our communities and threaten the health and well-being of our families.
We will never stop fighting the GOP’s assault on our nation’s vital environmental protections or their disregard for the air our children breathe and the water they drink. Democrats will continue to join cities, states, entrepreneurs and the American people to develop innovative strategies that honor our responsibility to build a healthier, more sustainable world for our children and grandchildren.”
The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
(Sen. Whitehouse talks about the Republican #TaxScam) blurb
“The massive tax giveaway Republicans pushed through Congress and President Trump signed into law late last year turns Tax Day into payday for the most well off, delivering enormous giveaways to the wealthy and well-connected. Since the Republicans passed their tax bill, corporations have spent more than $235 billion buying back stock. That’s a staggering 37 times as much as they have spent on workers’ bonuses or wage increases.”
