“Unacceptable”: Rep. Jamaal Bowman Slams Manchin After Senator Says No t...

Build Back Better at Stake.

Republicans, and two Democrats put our economy at risk.

The President of the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives and 49 members of the U.S. Senate are prepared to pass enormously consequential legislation which stands up to powerful special interests and finally deliver for the working families of our country. With almost every Democrat in the House and Senate on board, there is one member of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate who stands in the way. 

Senator Joe Manchin.

In America today the very rich are becoming richer while millions of working families are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92% and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.

The Build Back Better bill, supported by President Biden, the vast majority of Americans and almost every Democrat in Congress is an unprecedented effort to finally address the long-neglected crises facing working families and demand that the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the country start paying their fair share of taxes.

Here are just a few of the things we are trying to do:

We are going to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower the cost of prescription drugs in America. Last year, while nearly one out of four Americans could not afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors wrote, six of the largest drug companies made tens of billions in profits.

We are going to expand Medicare to cover hearing aids, dental care and eyeglasses. Today, in the wealthiest nation on earth, millions of seniors cannot chew their food or see and hear their loved ones.

We are going to help seniors and people with disabilities get the home health care they need. Across the United States, and in places like West Virginia and Vermont in particular, seniors should be able to be around their loved ones as they age as opposed to being forced into expensive nursing homes.

We are going to expand the Child Tax Credit that has reduced childhood poverty by 50 percent in the United States.

We are going to end the dysfunction of a childcare system that forces working families to spend up to 1/3 of their limited income on childcare and keeps millions of women out of the workforce.

We are going to make sure pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds is universal and free, giving our young children the best chance at success regardless of where they are from or how much money their parents make.

And oh yes, there is the not-so-small matter of the existential threat of climate change. With the planet getting warmer and warmer, unprecedented drought, fires, flood, and extreme weather, we are going to finally begin the process of cutting carbon emissions and transforming our energy systems to save this planet for future generations.

This morning, Senator Manchin announced he would not support the Build Back Better Act.

And if that is the case, he should be prepared to vote NO before the working families of West Virginia and America and explain why.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia and American people why he opposes taking on the greed of the drug companies and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia seniors why he opposes helping them secure hearing aids, dental care and the eyeglasses they need.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to families why their loved ones should age in expensive nursing homes instead of around those who care about them most.

We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why only the children of the wealthy from certain zip codes should have the opportunity to attend pre-K.

And we should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why he sides with those who profit from climate change and the destruction of the planet for future generations.

Now I know Joe Manchin continues to talk about his concerns over the national debt, but I find it amusing I didn’t hear his concerns after voting, just this week, for a military budget of $778 billion, four times greater than the Build Back Better Act over ten years and $25 billion more than the president suggested.

Forgive me thinking that maybe, just maybe, something else is at play here.

Joe Manchin should have the chance to explain what it is.

Let’s vote:

Please sign my petition calling on the Senate to vote on the Build Back Better Act as soon as we return from recess. If Joe Manchin wants to vote NO, then let him explain to the working families of West Virginia and America why.

ADD YOUR NAME

Thank you for making your voice heard.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

 

Improve the Schools- Build Back Better

We’re on the precipice of charting a bold new course for our country with the Build Back Better Act. With historic investments in school infrastructure, expanding access to high-quality healthcare, boosting our economy, expanding and making permanent the child tax credit, establishing universal pre-K, making college more affordable and accessible, supporting hospital and health center infrastructure, and more, we have an opportunity to set future generations up for success.

Now we all must do what it takes to help this important bill get passed. Click here to send a letter to your lawmakers and tell them to pass the Build Back Better Act.

The Build Back Better Act uses what we know, to fund what we need. We know that “building back better” is not only essential—it’s possible. We know that by asking everyone to pay their fair share, including the wealthiest earners and big corporations, we’ll have the resources we need to improve life for all working families. We know that scrapping the state and local tax deduction cap will help middle-class families and fund the local services we all depend on. And we know that investing in school infrastructure will create safe, welcoming environments for students to learn and thrive—not to mention creating more than a million well-paying jobs to make those upgrades.

The Build Back Better plan will help families, children, students, working Americans and communities by:

• Investing $82 billion in rebuilding and modernizing schools and $4 billion to support internet access and distance learning.
• Providing up to 12 weeks of universal paid family and medical leave for all U.S. workers.
• Lowering the cost of child care for all families, regardless of income, and making it easier for families to find available child care slots.
• Expanding access to healthcare for 4 million more Americans, reducing Affordable Care Act premiums by 7 percent, providing vision, hearing and dental benefits to seniors on Medicare, and improving elder and community-based care.
• Providing all 3- and 4-year-olds with access to high-quality, free universal pre-K classes, which will be inclusive for children with disabilities.
• Prioritizing paying child care workers and pre-K teachers a worthy, livable wage.
• Addressing the teacher shortage by funding “grow your own” programs, teacher residencies and teacher preparation grants.
• Securing better-paying jobs for workers with additional access to job-training programs.
• Giving 9 million more children access to free school meals, and expanding effective child nutrition programs.
• Making college more affordable for all students by reversing disinvestment in public higher education, increasing investments in historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions, and making two years of community college free.
• Replacing lead pipes to provide safer drinking water for communities.
• Reducing gun violence.
• Providing loan forgiveness for nurses working in communities with staffing shortages.
• Raising the corporate tax rate, and closing Trump-era loopholes to ensure the IRS has the resources it needs to make the ultra-wealthy and tax-dodging corporations pay their fair share.
• Addressing the climate crisis through developing an electric vehicle infrastructure, reducing pollution and toxins around schools, funding environmental justice initiatives and investing billions of dollars in incentives for clean energy.

We know what we need. We need to pass the Build Back Better Act. Write to your lawmakers here and tell them to pass it.

We have a plan. We know what works. And with everyone paying their fair share, we know how to pay for it. Contact your lawmakers today.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten

AFT President