Just as a reminder for those who have not read my previous posts about Allen, here are a few stances on issues
*A single-payer system is now a part of the national conversation and one many Americans are interested in exploring. As your representative, I will advocate for this approach and work to improve healthcare accessibility and cost for all Americans.
*The American middle class deserves a tax break. Let’s put money back in working American’s pockets. When working Americans have more money, they spend it in their communities, creating jobs. A prosperous and robust middle class means a healthy American economy.
*To ensure Social Security is around for the next generation, we must address funding now. One simple fix would be raising the salary cap on contributions. That way, we correct the problem on the front end by bringing in more revenue and avoid reliance on complicated formulas to determine how benefits are paid out.
John Fetterman, the charismatic and tattooed mayor of this Pittsburgh suburb who ran a fiery but unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate last year, announced his campaign for lieutenant governor Tuesday morning.
“I’m going to be going out all across Pennsylvania, campaigning town to town [in] many of these forgotten places — second-chance cities, whatever you want to call them — that have become my professional passion,” he told about 100 supporters in a Braddock theater space.
He pledged to fight for progressive issues including a higher minimum wage, better police-community relations, and marijuana legalization.
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His campaign was endorsed by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. Peduto said that although much of contemporary politics foments division between communities, “There’s no one talking about the similarities” between the challenges faced by inner-city communities and more rural areas. “What is needed … is somebody who can not only speak for all, but who has proven through their leadership in a community that has been knocked down to its knees,” he said.
Fetterman grew up in York, and earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. He moved to Braddock after participating in an Americorps program that helped people earn high-school equivalency degrees, and ran for mayor in 2005, winning by a single vote.
More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:
*GOP Tax Bill Would Trigger $25 Billion in Cuts to Medicare, Warns CBO *62 Natural Wonders of the World at Risk From Climate Change *Study: Black People Are 75 Percent More Likely to Live Near Toxic Oil and Gas Facilities *Congress, Trump Exploit Fire Tragedy to Promote Logging Agenda *Dem wins Albuquerque mayoral race after eight years of GOP control *Water Protector news, Pipeline updates & more
In Southwest Virginia, we know all too well what happens when economic decisions are made by and for Wall Street; when farmers, small business owners and working folks are neglected by both political parties; when great teachers and smart students have to hold fundraisers just to get the basics; when coal mining communities are left for dead; when the playing field for ordinary people is steeper than a Wise County hillside.
I wrote a book about building healthy economies from the bottom up, because I know that good work almost always starts with local communities. That’s true whether we’re revitalizing downtown Galax, manufacturing energy efficient building products in Radford, tackling drug addiction in St Charles or building infrastructure to help farmers in Duffield. We’re “bootstrap” people, with a strong commitment to taking care of ourselves and our neighbors. The problem is that too often, the rules that come out of Richmond and Washington undermine rather than support effective local initiatives. That’s ridiculous. Public policy should help us help ourselves, as individuals and communities.
I’m running to help level the playing field for the 9th District of Virginia; to put people and communities first. To restore our land and rebuild our livelihoods. To build a strong, diverse and resilient economy from the bottom up. That’s the work I’ve been doing for more than 30 years, as a farmer and an entrepreneur, here in Southwest Virginia and many other parts of our region. I want to take that experience to Washington DC as your representative.
Trickle-down economics just doesn’t work. Forty years of cutting tax rates for the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations has not led to widespread prosperity. On the contrary, it has made a few people unimaginably rich, while diverting resources away from fixing serious problems and building real wealth. Nowhere could this be more true than in Southwest Virginia.
I’ll continue to work with leaders around the region to:
*Level the playing field for workers, local businesses and the community banks that lend to them *Expand broad band access, including support of public providers where appropriate *Bring both public and private investment to innovative manufacturers creating products that make us more resilient and productive *Focus investment and support on retaining and expanding existing businesses rather than subsidizing transient corporations *Expand workforce and technical training, closely connected to area businesses and employers *Foster and support entrepreneurship, especially among younger people *Reinvigorate anti-trust laws to reverse the extraordinary concentration of power held by a handful of giant corporations
Dramatically Improving our Health Care System – Obamacare didn’t create this mess; it’s been going on for a long time. It’s time for us to move away from incremental steps that do nothing to improve health or challenge the power and profits of the insurance industry and Big Pharma. It’s time to begin the transition to a system of universal health care, or “Medicare for all”. I will support this shift over the next several years, and in the interim fight for:
*Medicaid expansion so that the working poor, young people and elderly people in nursing homes receive quality care. *Expanded support for community clinics and rural hospitals, tied both to Medicaid expansion and debt relief opportunities for young doctors and health care professionals *Innovative educational and action programs in schools to improve eating, health and wellness among young people *Expanded, community-based treatment for mental health and addiction
I Learned from my parents to revere nature. Their way of teaching my siblings and I to respect the environment was to be in it, and so we spent a great deal of time outdoors. I fondly remember a family vacation at Dismal Swamp – rowing a boat up and down the swamp fishing for several days; once while at the beach in Virginia, my sister and I floated at least a mile out on the Chesapeake Bay on dime store blow up rafts. The Marine lifeguards who swam out to rescue us were surprised that my sister and I were not scared. We calmly sat atop our rafts because the ocean was a familiar place.
Running for Congress isn’t something I ever thought I would do. I got my start working to get out the Native vote, because I felt more of us needed to be active participants in electing people who would represent us. I persevered election after election, and eventually decided to run myself and won my seat as New Mexico Democratic Party Chairwoman. I was the first Native American woman to chair a state party. After years of grassroots organizing and advocacy, I decided to continue my mission to elevate our Native voice — in Congress.
If I win, I will be the first Native American woman elected to Congress. Over 10,200 people have been elected to Congress, and not one has been a Native woman.
But, that’s not the reason I’m running. Diversity is important, but I have a larger agenda, and it starts with saving our planet. Everything depends on our ability to sustainably inhabit this earth, and true sustainability will require us all to change our way of thinking on how we take from the earth and how we give back.
ECONOMY – We will double down on clean energy to create more good paying jobs; we’ll make it easier for those who want to start or expand their small business, and we must increase the minimum wage locally and federally. I believe in a fair society, where hardworking New Mexicans all have a shot at opportunities for success, and where corporations and the wealthiest all pay their fair share in taxes. Read my full education platform
HEALTHCARE – I support a woman’s right to choose when and how to have a child, full access to contraception, and believe that everyone should have access to affordable healthcare. Let’s fix Obamacare to protect healthcare for 250,000 New Mexicans, and move to a universal health care program. No American should face bankruptcy or death because of a lack of healthcare. Read my full healthcare platform
ENVIRONMENT – Climate change is real, and poses a real threat to our economy and our way of life; we must work for real solutions to stop it. We must fight for clean air and clean water, and drastically reduce our carbon emissions. We must make real change now so that we protect a future for our children. Public lands are there for all of us, and not for a few at the top to make a profit. Read my full environment platform
This movement is about a politics of purpose. I am driven by a core belief in Michigan’s people – our potential and the promise of our future. I was born and raised in Michigan. I wore the winged helmet as a lacrosse player at the University of Michigan. There I met the love of my life, Sarah. At 30, I was appointed to rebuild the Detroit Health Department after it was shuttered when Detroit faced bankruptcy. As a doctor, an educator, and a public servant, my work and my life has always been about creating opportunities for real people.
I am running for Governor because I believe we will come together right now because of our shared future.
We joined workers in Hyde Park yesterday to speak out against another act of corporate greed – the Cuilinary Institute of America is firing 17 committed union workers and replacing them with low-wage, no-future contract labor. Why? It’s a renown school that enjoys not-for-profit status and dispenses millions in executive compensation. This is about greed and shattered lived. We must confront corporate greed with people power
Just in case you have forgotten, here are some of Jeff’s priorities:
We must #UniteNY19 behind a platform that benefits the vast majority of our citizens. I’ve brought people together before as a U.S. diplomat. Now I want to unite us here at home for these causes:
>*Unite to provide Medicare for all. *Unite to lower prescription drug prices. *Unite to increase Social Security benefits. *Unite to rebuild our infrastructure. *Unite to develop rural jobs, small businesses and local farms. *Unite to fight income inequality and a rigged economy. *Unite to make public education tuition free. *Unite to end racial injustice, bigotry and violence. *Unite to protect women’s reproductive health. *Unite for a foreign policy that puts diplomacy over endless war.
