MAKE THE MESSAGE SIMPLE FOR DAMN SAKE!

I am a lifelong Democrat (verging on being a Socialist) and I have grown increasingly sick and tired of the inability of my party to lay out in simple terms, terms that even an idiot like me can understand, as to what the hell is actually going on here.

Today, President Joe Biden, a good man, a man who is trying desperately to put this nation right after the debacle that was the previous administration, stood in front of reporters, and the nation, and could not put what is happening in Congress in the plainest terms possible. You and I may know that under Donald Trump the Republicans gave a huge tax break to the wealthy and raised the debt limit not once, not twice, but three times. But some people don’t, and most others have very short memories.

Is there no one in the Democratic orbit that can craft a clear concise message that any voter can understand? Here is what President Biden could have said while he had the eyes and ears of the entire country.

“My fellow Americans, I am going to speak plainly now to all the working people of this country: we are trying to pass a bill that will give all working people a federal government investment of $200 billion in universal preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, and enhanced child care for all working families in this country and it will expand of the child tax credit. It will also raise the minimum wage. You’ll be able to go to a Community college tuition-free for two years. This bill will also provide the the first federal paid and medical leave benefit. It will add dental, vision, and hearing benefits to your Medicare. It will expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act in the dozen states that have yet to do so, and it will lower the price of prescription drugs. It will create millions of good paying jobs in rebuilding our infrastructure and fight climate change. It will invest in affordable housing. Now, and this fact is important; the 3.5 trillion dollar cost for all this will be fully offset, paid for, by a combination of new tax revenues, health care savings and long-term economic growth. We will fund this spending with tax hikes on the wealthy, tougher tax enforcement and other revenue raisers. So, while the gross cost might be $3.5 trillion, the net cost to the Treasury would be zero. Please, i ask you, just google “what’s in Biden’s 3.5 trillion bill?”

My friends, understand this; the Trump administration, and the Republican party, who are fighting you on this — in 2017 and 2018 they gave the wealthiest Americans in this country a tax break amounting to 1.9 trillion dollars. That’s a large part of the total monies I am now asking to be spent on you, the working people of this country. Think of it; the Republicans gave the wealthiest among us 1.9 trillion dollars! And, they raised the debt ceiling three times! And now they are refusing to give you the same break. Do you see the pattern here? When the money is for them, and their wealthy constituents and donors, they say yes. When the money is for you, the working people of this country, they say no.

Right this very moment as I am speaking with you, there are 4,000 lobbyists in D.C. fighting against you. They represent big pharma which does not want to lower your drug prices, big corporations who do not want to pay a penny of taxes like you do, who are against you getting any expansion of your Medicare like dental, hearing and vision coverage, and against any taxes on polluters. If you’re interested in freedom, as many of you say you are, isn’t this a war on your freedom to live a decent life? To have clean water to drink, and clean air to breathe? To have these things, and all the other things in this bill, for your children? Don’t fall for the lie that there isn’t enough money. There was enough money when they wanted it for the wealthy, wasn’t there? And there’s enough money for all of you also.

I ask you; is destroying this bill the way you want it, or do you want all of us together to transform this country? Do you want you and yours to get the benefits of your own money — the taxes you pay every year? Because this money that the Republicans don’t want you to have, is your money. So, I’m asking you to please call or write your representatives now, and let them know where you stand on how you want your money to be spent. Let them know now. This is your country, your work makes it great. I need…I am asking, for your help on this. Tell your representatives how you want your country to be. Thank you, and stay well all.”

© tony powers and Barking in the Dark, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to tony powers and Barking in the Dark with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.