Today, members of Congress decided to starve our country. The House of Representatives voted to cut $4.5 trillion worth of funding for critical life-saving programs to health care, food assistance, education, childcare, veteran benefits and more to pay for tax breaks for wealthy billionaires who are deeply invested in the failure of our country.
Real people – children who go to school hungry, veterans who have dedicated their lives to this country, immigrants who enrich our communities culturally and economically – will suffer because of these cuts. We are on the precipice of massive suffering and loss because of the actions of a few cowards in Congress who do not care that millions of people, including children, will go to bed hungry, or will have to choose between eating and seeing a doctor.
But remember this: power doesn’t panic.
If the bigots, bullies and billionaires were morally right, they wouldn’t have passed these cuts through hushed, middle of the night sessions, while hiding from town halls and ignoring community members’ phone calls, because they know who holds the real power.
In California, we marched, fasted, called, protested, and sounded the alarm to activate thousands of people, like you, who were outraged by this robbery.
Despite our efforts, these cuts are now a reality. Our neighbors, friends, and families will suffer. Vital lifelines that people depend on have been severed. Our fight against the bigots, bullies, and billionaires will only get harder as we contend with the fallout of these cuts on our communities.
But we must continue fighting, on multiple fronts, to break the unnatural hold that these bigots have on our country.
Oppression is the mask of fear.
It is going to take all of us – teachers, farmworkers, students, park rangers, musicians, food vendors, entrepreneurs, organizers, skaters, snowboarders, artists, and more – to rip that mask off.
Because We Are California – when you come for one of us, you come for all us. And we will keep fighting for a California where no child goes hungry, every person can get the healthcare they need and our democracy works for working people who fuel our communities and economy.
We’ll see you in the streets until we win.
Signed,
