The balance of power is shifting in other parts of our economy, too. In industry after industry – airlines, banking, health care, agriculture, tech – a handful of corporate giants control more and more and more. The big guys are locking out smaller, newer competitors. They are crushing innovation. Even if you don’t see the gears turning, this massive consolidation means prices go up and quality goes down for everything from air travel to broadband service. Rural America is left behind, dismissed by corporate giants as fly-over country.
This concentration of power strikes at the heart of our democracy. Our government is supposed to be the one place where everybody gets the same fair shot, no matter how powerful or powerless they might be. But thanks to the revolving door between Capitol Hill, K Street and Wall Street, powerful people have more and more influence in Congress. Thanks to
Citizens United, corporate money slithers through Washington like a snake. Washington works great for the rich and powerful, but for everyone else, not so much.
Yes, the system is rigged – and if you don’t feel like anyone in politics is doing anything to
un-rig it, well, that’s how a lot of folks who should have been with us last November wound up voting for Donald Trump.
For many Americans, it isn’t news that the balance of power in our country has seriously tilted away from them. African Americans. LGBTQ Americans. Immigrants. Muslims. Women. Poor people.
No, I have not personally experienced the fear, the oppression, and the pain that many of my fellow Americans endure every day. But I do know this: For a lot of our fellow citizens, the system is rigged now and it has been rigged for a long, long time.
Don’t take my word for it. Just look around.
- When women aren’t invited to the debate over our own health care and health insurance must cover Viagra but not birth control.
- When we’re almost two decades into the 21st century and we still don’t have equal pay for equal work.
- When a man running for President of the United States can get caught on tape bragging about sexual assault and Republican party leaders turn a blind eye.
Yeah, the system is rigged.
Keep going.
- When the black-white wealth gap triples over the past three decades.
- When racist voter ID laws and voter suppression tactics sprout like weeds all across the country.
- When a man too racist to become a judge in the 1980s now runs the Department of Justice
- When communities like Flint are living with poisoned water and polluted air.
- When there’s still no justice for, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile and so many more.
Yeah, the system is rigged.
Keep going.
- When you can still be fired from your job because of who you love.
- When you can’t use a public restroom or serve in the military because of your gender identity.
- When you’re afraid to report a rape because ICE could split up your family.
- When you’re treated like a suspect every minute of your life.
Yeah, the system is rigged.
And if you don’t feel like anyone in politics is doing anything to
un-rig it, or it’s too broken to un-rig at all -- well, that’s what a lot of folks felt last November, a lot of folks who should have been with us on election day but who stayed home.
So spare me the argument about whether we ought to be trying to bring back folks who voted for Donald Trump or trying to turn out folks who just didn’t vote.
Because we can’t do
either of those things until we can show that things CAN change – and that WE will fight to change them.
It’s easy to make the case that Donald Trump and the Republicans aren’t the answer to any of these problems. Heck, they aren’t even trying. Look at the Republican priorities:
- Cut health care coverage for 25 million Americans and drive up insurance costs for millions more.
- Cut taxes for billionaires and giant corporations.
- Roll back Wall Street regulations, gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and let the big banks wreck our economy again.
- Turn polluters loose and let them spew, dump and destroy whenever and wherever they want.
- Zero out the programs that help people keep a roof over their heads.
- Double down against Planned Parenthood, against an undocumented immigrant’s right to due process, against a black American’s right to vote in an election.
- And this week, play a stupid, reckless game of chicken with a dangerous foreign power and threaten nuclear war.
The Republican agenda will make the powerful more powerful – and leave everyone else further behind. The Republican leadership is willing to threaten our health, our economy, and our basic safety.
All true, and we should say so clearly. But that’s not the end of our job. We have to show people that, when we get a chance to lead, things WILL start getting better.
And that starts with showing some backbone. Not just backbone when we stand up to Donald Trump, but backbone when
we put forward an agenda.
For so many Americans, every day is a battle against powerful interests. It’s time for us to pick sides and get in the fight.
So let’s talk about picking sides:
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of working people, on the side of Moms and Dads who dream of a better life for their kids, on the side of people in every part of this country and people of every race, gender, and religion who just want a level playing field and a chance to build a future.
And we know how to show them that their fight is our fight.
- It’s time to re-think the basic social contract on labor. We’re going to fight for fully portable benefits for everyone. And we’re going to fight to make sure that all work—full-time, part-time, gig—carries basic, pro-rata benefits.
- We’re going to fight to make it easier for workers to come together to form a union so they can take power into their own hands.
- And we’re going to turn the minimum wage into a living wage. Fight for $15!
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of hard working families who are getting pounded every day.
- We’re going to fight for universal pre-K, and to make it easier for every family to get child care.
- We’re going to fight like hell to stop Republicans from jacking up the cost of health insurance and taking coverage away from millions. Trumpcare will not get one Democratic vote – not now, not ever. But it’s not enough just to defend the Affordable Care Act, we’re going to improve it, starting with bringing down the costs of prescription drugs – and leading the fight for Medicare for all.
- We’re going to make it possible for young people to go to college or get a technical degree debt-free.
- We’re going to fight for affordable housing and good schools across our country, from the biggest cities to the smallest towns and most remote rural homesteads.
- And we will fight our hearts out to defend—and expand—Social Security and Medicare.
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of consumers.
- So we’re going to fight to break up the monopolies that are killing competition.
- We’re going to put a cop on the beat so that no one can steal your purse on Main Street or your pension on Wall Street.
- And whether you’re shopping for broadband or a student loan, an airline ticket or health insurance, we’re going to go to bat for you to help make damn sure you don’t get cheated.
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of
science.
- We’re done arguing about whether climate change is real – and we’re going to fight it with everything we have.
- We’re done arguing about whether trickle-down economics works – and we’re going to fight to build this economy so it works for working families.
- We’re done arguing about gun safety – and we’re going to fight for the common-sense reforms the overwhelming majority of Americans want.
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of fairness and equality.
- So we’re going to fight for equal pay for equal work.
- We’re going to keep Planned Parenthood open, and we’re going to make sure women have access to safe, legal abortions.
- And we’re going to fight to put more women in positions of power, from committee rooms to boardrooms to that really nice Oval-shaped room at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
- And we’re going to reform our criminal justice system so that getting caught with a baggie of pot doesn’t mean your life is ruined, and getting pulled over by the cops doesn’t mean your life is at risk.
It’s time for us to say: Democrats are on the side of American values.
- So we’re going to fight for comprehensive immigration reform. And we’re going to say to every DREAMer in this country: You are an American. This country is your home. And we have your back.
- We’re going to fight to wipe the stain of Donald Trump’s Muslim ban off the books once and for all. And, by the way, Mr. President: We’re never, ever going to build your stupid wall.
- We’re also going to fight for our democracy. That means we’ll fight to reverse Citizens United so big corporations can’t BUY our elections, and we’ll fight to stop voter ID laws so Republicans can’t STEAL our elections either.
And, by the way: it’s time for us to up front about whose side we’re
not on.
We’re
not on the side of big Wall Street banks that break the law—we think everyone needs to be accountable. When bank CEOs break the law, they ought to go to jail just like everyone else.
We’re
not on the side of the giant companies that want to twist government rules for themselves. We’re going to slam shut that revolving door, and we say enough is enough with corporate money that is drowning our democracy.
We’re
not on the side of the bigots and the misogynists – and unlike the so-called Republican “leadership” in Washington, we’re not afraid to say it to their faces.
And we’re
not on the side of foreign governments that hack our elections or politicians whose fragile egos put our national security at risk.
Folks, we don’t have to tip-toe. We don’t have to hedge our bets. We don’t have to ask permission from the pundits or the corporate CEOs – and we sure don’t have to ask permission from Mitch McConnell. [pause] Actually, that’s a good thing because I think he would probably tell me to sit down and shut up. Nevertheless, I would persist.
We don’t have to fear the wrath of the powerful, because when we’re bold enough to stand up for our values, when we’re bold enough to stand up for our fellow Americans, that’s when we ARE powerful.
Isn’t that the spirit that brought us all to this movement?
Isn’t that the reason we’re proud to call ourselves progressives?
Isn’t that the Democratic Party we want to call our own?
This fight is our fight.
This fight is the fight Americans have been waiting for someone to take on.
This fight is the fight Americans are ready to rally behind.
This fight is the fight Americans are counting on us to win.
This fight is my fight. This fight is your fight.
So let’s go win it!
Thank you!
