Fighting Back: “This march cannot be a moment. It must be a movement.”

 
 

The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey.

(Senator Cory Booker (NJ) delivered the Democratic weekly address, talking about gun violence.)
TRIGGER WARNING: CSPAN included the end of the “president’s” weekly address with this clip.

Senator Booker

Gun owners and non-gunowners, Republican and Democrat, old and young, agree that there are common sense things that we can do to drive down gun violence in our country, including loopholes that allow people of ill will or criminals to obtain guns, whether it is domestic violence loopholes or background check loopholes that allow people who may even be suspected of being terrorists, to load up trucks full of weapons in our country. […]

We have work to do. This march cannot be a moment. It must be a movement. […]

This is a movement that should unite all Americans. It should not divide us. This is a movement that reflects our hallowed traditions, and it is a movement that I know is on the right side of history. Let us continue in our fight. Let us not be moved as we march in the right direction. Let us bring safety and security to our communities. Let us hail the truth of our nation. That we are a place that treasures life, that will preserve liberty, and that will find for every community, from Newark to Newtown, from Camden to Columbine, from Patterson to Parkland, that we are a nation in which every one of our communities is safe, strong, and resonates with the hope and promise of America.

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

Transcript only lightly edited from CSPAN text transcript: Cory Booker on Gun Violence

Hello, I am Senator Cory Booker from the state of New Jersey. About a week ago, hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans went out and marched to demand action on gun violence in America. This was not a right or left, Republican or Democrat march, this was a movement about right and wrong. Americans joining their voices together in a hallowed tradition demanding freedom from mass slaughter, freedom from fear, freedom from preventable violence. People stood together, marched together, lifted their voice in this American tradition. Change doesn’t always come from Washington. It must come to Washington from citizens standing up and demanding change. What they are yearning for is not out of the margins of what we all believe most Americans. Gun owners and non-gunowners, Republican and Democrat, old and young, agree that there are common sense things that we can do to drive down gun violence in our country, including loopholes that allow people of ill will or criminals to obtain guns, whether it is domestic violence loopholes or background check loopholes that allow people who may even be suspected of being terrorists, to load up trucks full of weapons in our country. People understand that we need to focus on these problems and do what we know will make a difference. That’s why people marched. They know the resistance to change — the small minority stopping us from marching toward safety, they are on the wrong side of history. They don’t understand that they are blocking what we have been fighting for in this country from the beginning. We formed this government with the ideals of liberty and justice for all, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We have work to do. This march cannot be a moment. It must be a movement. All movements for change, from civil rights to suffragettes marching for equal citizenship rights, all of these marches for change, movements that sustain the action of everyday citizen who demand that this country live up to its ideals. That is what we must do now. Every day that goes by, every day that we failed to act, more Americans are killed, more families are broken, more communities are shattered. Every day that passes that we failed to act, 96 Americans in this country are killed by a gun, including children, teenagers, people like we saw in Parkland. Every day that passes that we failed to act, the United States distinguishes itself at being the country with the most gun violence in the developed world against women. Every day we failed to act, African Americans living in a city or urban area find themselves 500 times more likely to be killed by gun violence and by terrorism. This is a problem that the American people can’t ignore. The state problem that the American people must demand that we confront. This is a problem. — this is a problem that I believe, that I know we can change. This is a cultural challenge for so many Americans. When I go home to my community — just two weeks ago when I was there, a young man that I knew, John Smith, was killed by an assault weapon just at the top of the block I live in. He was murdered by an assault weapon that I don’t believe should be in communities like the one I live in. We lived together in the same building for 10 years. I have seen ham and other of his friends killed by gun violence. This is something that is continuing to cut and scar the moral core of our country. Trigger headlines has become so normalized. We have to stop this madness. So, let me be clear, let us not stop. Let us continue this movement until change comes. Let us honor our ancestors who fought for our civil rights, our voting rights, our working rights, by continuing the advancement towards freedom. Let us protect the homeland, protect our communities, families, schools, movie theaters. Let us be soldiers in this peaceful army. This is a movement that should unite all Americans. It should not divide us. This is a movement that reflects our hallowed traditions, and it is a movement that I know is on the right side of history. Let us continue in our fight. Let us not be moved as we march in the right direction. Let us bring safety and security to our communities. Let us hail the truth of our nation. That we are a place that treasures life, that will preserve liberty, and that will find for every community, from Newark to Newtown, from Camden to Columbine, from Patterson to Parkland, that we are a nation in which every one of our communities is safe, strong, and resonates with the hope and promise of America. Thank you very much.

Any bolding has been added.

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Congress is in recess and Nancy Pelosi did not hold a weekly news conference but she did issue a few news releases regarding the events of the week.

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Pelosi Statement on the 8th Anniversary of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in commemoration of the eighth anniversary of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act:

“Eight years ago, our nation took a momentous step toward fulfilling the promise of an affordable, quality education for every student when Democrats passed the single largest investment in student aid in American history. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act has been transformative, lowering the cost of student loans, strengthening community colleges, increasing the purchasing power of Pell Grants, investing in Minority Serving Institutions and knocking down barriers for students looking to pursue a higher education.

“Sadly, the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans continue to undermine the right of hard-working Americans to pursue affordable higher education for themselves and their children. Republicans have worked to destroy Pell Grants, decimate loan repayment flexibility, open the floodgates of federal dollars to fraudulent institutions and rip away critical civil rights protections from students on college campuses. In committee and in their billionaires-first budget proposal, Republicans are working to deepen the divide between the opportunities available for the richest and for everyone else.

“Nothing returns more to the Treasury than investments in education. Democrats will continue to fight back against Republican efforts to undermine the financial security and civil liberties of American students and borrowers. We will continue to press for progress to ensure an affordable, quality and meaningful college education is within reach for every American.”

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The Results Are In: Majority of Workers Not Benefiting from #GOPTaxScam

Speaker Ryan was right when he said, ‘the results are going to speak for themselves.’ Three months into Republicans’ smoke and mirrors campaign to sell the GOP tax scam, a majority of working Americans are still not seeing an increase in their paychecks.

Wall Street, pharmaceutical companies and big corporations are reaping massive windfalls from the giveaways in the GOP tax scam. But, a new CNBC Poll found that:

– More than half of working Americans – 52 percent – say they’ve seen no change in their withholding taxes;
– Only 35 percent of the middle class report more take home pay;
– Of the only 32 percent of working adults who noticed something, 40 percent say it helps some or just a little, and 22 percent say ‘it does not help much at all.’

Despite the false promises and hype, the proof is in workers’ paychecks, and a majority have not benefitted from the GOP tax scam. As the Washington Post said:

When Republicans were promoting this monster of a tax cut last year, they repeatedly claimed it would help middle-class Americans. Mnuchin argued the middle class would benefit, while the rich would receive “very little cuts or, in certain cases, increases.” This was laughably untrue. Some of the arguments verged into parody: Ivanka Trump claimed the plan would “create simplification” for Americans, a remarkable statement considering it was passed with so little deliberation that it’s now becoming clear a huge number of “errors and ambiguities” are causing problems for large and small businesses alike.

Republicans also argued voters would reward them come this November for the extra money in their paychecks. This data shows that’s an increasingly unlikely possibility.

Instead of tax cuts for the wealthiest few on the backs of working families, Democrats demand real, bipartisan tax reform that puts the middle class first.

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