July, 15 2011, 09:41am EDT
SEIU: Prioritize the Middle Class in Debt Ceiling Negotiations
Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement on the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations between Congress and the White House:
"Another week has passed and America is no closer to avoiding economic catastrophe. Every day there are more stories about how disastrous a default would be on small business owners, middle class families and the millions of Americans looking for work.
WASHINGTON
Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), issued the following statement on the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations between Congress and the White House:
"Another week has passed and America is no closer to avoiding economic catastrophe. Every day there are more stories about how disastrous a default would be on small business owners, middle class families and the millions of Americans looking for work.
"But we are no closer this week then last week because too many right-wing politicians are putting their own short term political agenda before the best interests of America and refusing to budge from their cut and gut economic policies.
"The surest way to kill jobs is to make the deep cuts to Medicare and Medicaid they want. The easiest way to hurt our small business job creators is to turn seniors out of nursing homes and put more families into poverty. The surest way to raise unemployment and prolong our economic pain is to default on the full faith and credit of our nation over financial commitments already made.
"By refusing to consider a balanced approach that includes ending spending on tax giveaways, right-wing politicians are asking working people and the middle class to shoulder the entire burden of an economic recovery from a recession they did not create. Instead, it's inconsistent with American values of acting for the common good and lifting people up to step closer to middle class.
"Americans don't care about posturing for the cameras. They care about creating good middle class jobs. Congress should do what every Congress under President Bush did, raise the debt limit and then get to work on addressing the real economic catastrophe unfolding before our eyes - our unemployment rate and the shrinking middle class."
With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.
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"State-sanctioned murder is not justice, and President Biden has an opportunity and an obligation to save lives," Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley said earlier this week.
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U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 Americans and pardoning 39 people convicted of nonviolent crimes, a move the White House described as "the largest single-day grant of clemency in modern history."
But the president's sweeping use of his clemency power as his term nears its conclusion did not appear to extend to any of the 40 men currently on death row—some of whom have been there for decades.
According to a White House fact sheet, those who received commutations "have been serving their sentences at home for at least one year under the Covid-era CARES Act," a law that extended the amount of time in which people could be placed in home confinement to reduce the spread of the virus in prisons.
The White House did not name those who received pardons or commutations but said the list includes a "decorated military veteran," a "nurse who has led emergency response for several natural disasters," and "an addiction counselor who volunteers his time to help young people find their purpose."
The Biden Justice Department paused federal executions in 2021, but President-elect Donald Trump pledged on the campaign trail to expand the use of the death penalty and is expected to allow the executions of the 40 men on death row to take place if they're still there when he takes office next month.
In a statement on Thursday, Biden said that he has "the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses."
"That is why, today, I am pardoning 39 people who have shown successful rehabilitation and have shown commitment to making their communities stronger and safer," the president said. "I am also commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who are serving long prison sentences—many of whom would receive lower sentences if charged under today’s laws, policies, and practices. These commutation recipients, who were placed on home confinement during the Covid pandemic, have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
Biden, who campaigned on ending the death penalty at the federal level, vowed to "take more steps in the weeks ahead" as his administration reviews clemency petitions, leaving open the possibility of commutations for death row prisoners.
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Taking aim at the GOP's push to deny gender-affirming care through TRICARE, the congresswoman said that "I cannot support a bill that continues unnecessary military spending while also attacking the rights and healthcare of transgender youth, and for that reason, I voted NO."
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