Your Right To

LIFE

Every day, 321 people in the US fall victim to gun violence, accidental shootings, and suicide; 111 of them die. 

In June 2022, President Biden signed the first major gun safety legislation in almost thirty years. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act enhances background checks for those under 21. It also supports community mental health services  and violence-prevention programs in schools. Although 97% of Americans support expanded background checks, 35 of the 50 Republican Senators voted against  this bill.

This Act is a good start, but the American people want much, much more. A Democratic-controlled Congress will enact laws to require universal background checks and keep semi-automatic firearms out of the hands of mass shooters. The 1994 ban on military-style weapons expired in 2004. In July 2022, the House passed a bill to revive the ban, with the support of only two Republicans.  The bill has been sent to the Senate, but Republican opposition makes it impossible to pass.

➤ The majority of Americans want  gun safety measures; common sense tells you that you don’t need a military-style weapon for hunting or self-defense.  However, Republicans consistently vote against common-sense gun safety laws. Electing Democratic majorities in both Houses is the only way Americans will get the laws they want.

What Americans want to say to Republicans who continually vote “No” on sensible gun safety laws:

A summer of heat waves, drought, wildfires, and floods has brought climate change up close and personal to practically all Americans. According to a 2020 Pew Research Center study,  even before this summer of heat and floods, two-thirds of Americans wanted their government  to address climate change. That number has only grown. 

Democrats have a proven record of facing this life-threatening challenge. In August 2022, Democrats passed the first major climate legislation in our history. The Inflation Reduction Act invests $300 billion dollars to support clean energy technologies and reduce greenhouse emissions. It also provides tax credits for electric vehicles and solar panels. Not a single Republican in Congress – the Senate or the House of Representatives – voted for this bill.

We already know what’s in store if the Republicans take control of the House this November. In June 2022, Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy released an energy and climate roadmap that actually increases fossil fuel production and offers no target for emissions reduction. This runs counter to climate scientists’ urgent recommendations and to the Biden administration’s commitment to slashing emissions in half by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

➤ Climate legislation can’t wait until the 2024 election cycle. The time to address climate change is NOW. We must maintain Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress to continue this fight. Your home, community, and perhaps your life is at stake.

➤ Climate change is a global crisis, but actions at practically all levels of state and local government can help preserve life as we know it. This fall we need to vote for candidates up and down the ballot who make climate a top priority.

How and why the climate crisis is getting worse and coming on faster:

Why is climate change so threatening to ALL of us? FIND OUT HERE.

Americans should not have to put their lives at risk because they can’t afford a doctor or a prescription drug.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed in 2010 by President Obama and a Democratic Congress, has been so popular the Republicans haven’t been able to take it away from us – though they have tried multiple times. Democrats have fought hard to build on the ACA’s success and make it better. As of 2022, 31 million Americans have healthcare coverage through the ACA, including young adults who have been able to stay on their family health plans until age 26. Thanks to both the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Plan, passed by Democrats in Congress and signed by President Biden, many Americans now have even more access to affordable healthcare:

• Insurance premium subsidies for coverage under the ACA that became available during the pandemic have been extended for three years. 
• Annual prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients have been capped at $2000. 
• Medicare will soon be able to negotiate with drug companies to lower the cost of some prescription drugs, despite ferocious opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and Republicans in Congress. 

Before it was passed by Democrats through the reconciliation process that is allowed just once per year, Republicans voted to remove a proposal that would have capped insulin costs for non-Medicare patients at $35 per month.

Turning the clock back on affordable health care would be a disaster for tens of millions of American, but that is exactly what the Republicans want to do. Under President Trump, Republicans tried and (barely) failed to repeal the ACA, with no plan to take its place. This past spring, Republican Senator Ron Johnson announced that if Republicans retake control of Congress, they will try again.

Democrats protect American lives. Republicans protect the huge profits of American drug companies.

➤ Affordable, quality healthcare is a basic right for all Americans. Help protect the Affordable Care Act by ensuring that Democrats maintain a majority in both Houses of Congress.

• Want to know just how out of touch the Republican Party is on permitting fair negotiations on Medicare prescription pricing? They all voted “No.”