Standing up for the 99%

Americans are fed up with Washington. Instead of ending tax breaks for billionaires and oil companies, Republicans time and time again have favored tax giveaways for the wealthiest in our country. Republicans refuse to put one additional dollar in the pockets of everyday working Americans, instead protecting tax breaks for their wealthy friends.

Working Americans are struggling and our middle class is getting crushed – enough is enough. Congress needs to stand up for the 99 percent – not the wealthiest 1 percent.

Jobs

Congress’ first priority should be job creation and strengthening our economy. Americans are in desperate need of good jobs and are ready to get back to work. But after the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are still out of work, underemployed or simply have given up looking. More must be done to protect middle class and working families, including additional job-creation efforts that will help spur America’s economic recovery.

Congress should immediately pass the American Jobs Act, which was proposed by President Barack Obama and presents a clear plan to create jobs and grow our economy. The American Jobs Act offers a series of initiatives to help small businesses hire, cut taxes for workers, and put police officers, firefighters, teachers and veterans back to work. President Obama’s legislation would also invest in America’s infrastructure, putting Americans back to work by fixing our crumbling roads, bridges and schools.

The Environment

We must protect our environment – doing so is vital to protect the health of all Americans. In Michigan, we are blessed with some of the most beautiful natural resources in America, including the Great Lakes. We need stronger – not weaker – regulations to ensure cleaner air and water so that future generations can enjoy the same world we live in today.

The clean energy sector can also create good-paying jobs for the 21^st century economy. We need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and lessen our carbon footprint, which causes climate change. Renewable energy, including wind, solar, and geothermal will help to diversify America’s energy independence. Congress needs to pass comprehensive renewable energy legislation that incentivizes new clean energy sectors.

Education

Every child deserves a quality, public education. We must reaffirm our commitment to education by working to fully fund education and strengthen our public education system. We must also invest in higher education and ensure that everyone has the possibility to attain a higher education degree. This will ensure that we continue to have the most well-trained and diverse workers in the world. Education – including both K-12 and higher education – are the foundation of our society and will ensure America is competitive in the future.

Corporate Money Out of Politics

Corporations are not people. The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has opened the floodgates to corporate influence our democracy, allowing corporations to spend unlimited sums of money to influence the outcome of elections. This ruling has the potential to undermine the very foundation of our democracy – we must do better. America should have a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people – not corporations.

Washington is broken – we have to get money out of politics. Campaign contributions shouldn’t buy access or influence on to our lawmakers. Capitol Hill also shouldn’t be a revolving door to become a lucrative lobbyist on K Street. We all deserve to live in a country where our elected officials are not bought and paid for by Wall Street and corporations.