January, 05 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Patriotic Millionaires On Georgia Senate Results: Congress Must Prioritize Relief, Reform, and Revival
"If we are to have any chance to begin healing our nation, our government must do everything possible to meet the urgent needs of our people."
WASHINGTON
With the victories of Reverend Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff in yesterday's Georgia Senate runoff elections, the Democratic party has now secured control of the United States Senate. In response to the election results in Georgia and the new political landscape in Washington, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director of BlackRock, Inc., issued the following statement:
"Congratulations to Senators-Elect Reverend Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff. Let's begin the work of repairing this great nation. With the defeat of Donald Trump and the victory in Georgia, the road to a stable future is possible, but it will require a passionate commitment and a laser focus to become reality. Strategy is knowing what door to open first.
The violence at the Capitol today is a direct result of the Trump presidency. The Trump presidency is, in turn, the direct result of a decades-long effort by amoral fascist plutocrats and cynical politicians to rig the economy in favor of the rich, destroy the middle class, and exploit human vulnerabilities for political gain.
The areas of the country with the highest levels of despair - suicide, opioid addiction, and death - are the areas of the country that demonstrate the most ardent support for Trump. If we are to have any chance to begin healing our nation, our government must do everything possible to meet the urgent needs of our people.
As our lawmakers turn toward the existential work ahead, we urge them to focus on three things, in this order.
RELIEF: First, Congress must pass expansive Coronavirus relief that includes, among many other things, $2,000 survival checks and funding for local and state governments so they provide essential services to their residents including education and public safety;
REFORM: Second, Congress must enact top-to-bottom reform of our democratic system to eliminate government capture by amoral financial interests;
REVIVAL: Third, Congress must revive our demand-driven economy - and stabilize the economic lives of ordinary Americans - by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.
With these pieces in place, our country will become stable enough that we just might be able to muster the political will to tackle our biggest problems."
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system."
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