It’s past time to end the U.S. complicity in the barbaric war in Yemen. Congress must stop abdicating our responsibilities and send a powerful message to the world. https://t.co/pQWwcgiR8A
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 29, 2018
Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All
Friday, November 30, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
A Green New Deal
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily (A Day And A Vote Short Edition)
Thank you, Harvey. You showed the world that hope will never be silent.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 27, 2018
Today, your legacy lives on in an unstoppable movement. #RememberHarveyhttps://t.co/cPHVt8QgnV
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The tear-gassing of women and children at the border is an atrocity. It’s a violation of human rights. And it is a grotesque betrayal of our founding promise, as a nation built by immigrants.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 26, 2018
I’ve called for @UN inspectors on the border, and I reiterate that call today. https://t.co/k5mXSs0oFU
Monday, November 26, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The Trump Admin doesn’t want you to read this. At every turn, they have prioritized polluters over people.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 23, 2018
But here’s the truth: Climate change is real. It’s impacting the US. And we are running out of time to stop it. Congress must put #PeopleOverPolluters before it’s too late. https://t.co/Q4lYJYwgSB
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Where We Are
We're tear gassing toddlers now, so a criminal conspiracy masquerading as a political party can keep old white people in a constant state of panic. https://t.co/wVBBOJ6u6n
— David Roberts (@drvox) November 25, 2018
Sunday Walk And What Comes After...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily... Let's Speak Up For Her For Caucus Chair
Thank you @IndivisibleTeam for your kind words supporting my bid for House Democratic Caucus Chair: “This is a huge moment for our country, and her fearlessness and vision could make it the moment when we turn toward a better world.”
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 25, 2018
Saturday, November 24, 2018
Holding Out Hope But Not Holding My Breath...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
There’s a lot on our to-do list in Congress. Whether it’s restoring voting rights, making health care more affordable, raising the minimum wage, or passing immigration reform — we won’t stop fighting for a better future for all.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 24, 2018
Friday, November 23, 2018
So, A Day Off
Thursday, November 22, 2018
"A Thanksgiving Prayer"
Every Year I Do These Things...
Beyond the thanks, think:
— Dale Carrico (@dalecarrico) November 22, 2018
Beyond the feast, famine.
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Thanksgiving Day
This Thanksgiving, I’m reflecting on this past year. From all of your support — to the people across the country who helped make history on Election Day — there is so much to be thankful for.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 22, 2018
Wishing you and your family have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Relief is on its way. Until then, please be sure to wear a N95 mask when going outdoors. https://t.co/HPqywEoODh
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 20, 2018
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Teaching Day
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Let’s be clear: voter suppression and disenfranchisement is an attack on our democratic principles that cannot go unanswered. I am proud that the first thing on @HouseDemocrats agenda will be protecting and strengthening voting rights. #ForThePeoplehttps://t.co/eXwu2bHPaQ
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 20, 2018
Monday, November 19, 2018
Cancelled
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We have a lot on our plate when the new Congress convenes. I can’t wait. pic.twitter.com/1iGtPZ1F4S
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 19, 2018
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Sunday
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Instead of standing up for sexual assault survivors, Secretary DeVos wants to put traumatized students on trial. Students deserve so much better than Betsy DeVos. #HandsOffIXhttps://t.co/uNNLhV2Rv8
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 16, 2018
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Want to hear what Republicans’ first big legislative move was since the midterm elections? They blocked the War Powers Resolution in order to keep the United States involved in the Yemen civil war. It’s appalling.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 17, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
.@UNICEF is right: the war in Yemen has become a war on children. #YemenCantWait, and neither can these kids. Congress MUST put an end to US complicity in this horrific war. https://t.co/YKNrYxe9M0
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 15, 2018
Mundi Muster! Extinguish the Slavery of Incarcerated Firefighters in California
Wildfires are raging across northern and southern California, and have killed at least 44 people since the most recent wildfires started. Over the past year, the fires have caused over $1 billion in damage to property and nearly 7,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed. These wildfires have also had a big impact on California's incarcerated population who have risked their lives fighting wildfires-- two inmates have already been killed this year in the line of duty.And the incarcerated workers fighting these fires are making as little as $1/hour.
Incarcerated firefighters, not protected under any work safety regulations, often return from fighting fires with broken ankles, arms, burns, and suffering from extreme exhaustion. Fighting fires is backbreaking labor and in the state of California, many people who are doing this work have been forced. The common refrain from proponents of the program is that it is completely voluntary--but inmates often face disciplinary action if they refuse to participate. To make matters worse, many of the prisoners doing this work are women, most of whom are mothers, and children. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) boasted in July that over 2,000 incarcerated adults and 58 incarcerated youth were fighting fires. Mothers and children often choose to take on this dangerous work because they are told that it could accelerate their release date and get them back with their families by earning “good behavior, ” but it usually results in just a mere two days off a sentence. On top of all of this, incarcerated firefighters can't even get jobs as firefighters once they are released from prison--because they have felony records.
The CalFire program is not a mutually beneficial exchange, it's a ruthless exploitation of forced, deadly, and essentially unpaid labor. That's why we're calling on the CDCR to end the practice of employing children to fight fires, ensure that incarcerated firefighters receive the same wage as firefighters who aren't incarcerated and that a pathway is created for them to have a real job on the outside.
This is the message we'll send to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Governor Jerry Brown: Here is the Petition:We're calling on you to end the practice of employing children to fight fires, ensure that incarcerated workers in the CalFire firefighter program receive the same wage as firefighters who aren't incarcerated, and that a pathway is created for prisoners working as firefighters while in prison to be able to to do the same job once they are free.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Please take precautions when heading outside. #CaliforniaWildfireshttps://t.co/NSbP9UYE1E
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 15, 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Today's Random Wilde
Barbara Lee Speaks for Me Daily
While Republicans have prioritized tax cuts for the rich and trying to repeal health care for hardworking American families, we’re going to work to reinvigorate the Voting Rights Act and end Congressional gerrymandering.https://t.co/g6byUYdbLG
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 14, 2018
And while we're on the subject of Barbara Lee, I ferociously endorse this sentiment as well:
Frankly unless the people suggesting Pelosi step down are advocating someone like Barbara Lee to take her place, I'm uninterested. I'm not going to be giving rhetorical cover to DLC type white men who want to oust her & replace her with a Blue Dog. No thanks.
— #Prisonculture (@prisonculture) November 14, 2018
Mundi Muster! Demand House Democrats Investigate Voter Suppression
I'm telling House Democrats to investigate voter suppression and save Black political power! I'm joining Color Of Change to demand Democrats use their new majority in the House of Representatives to open investigations into voter suppression. This year we saw widespread suppression of voters in Black communities and other communities of color, and it's time we fight back! Color of Change Petition
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Mundi Muster! Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
While it’s great news that courts have once again ruled Trump’s DACA termination was unlawful, it’s past time for Congress to pass permanent protections for Dreamers. Add your name if you agree:https://t.co/xNwIc4wEZh
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 12, 2018
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Imagine what our country would look like if gerrymandering and voter suppression weren’t so rampant in communities of color. We must restore the Voting Rights Act.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 11, 2018
https://t.co/NEeIZTJ7mY
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Good Question for Governor-Elect Newsom:
Has the newly elected California Governor @GavinNewsom said whether he’ll act to make sure incarcerated firefighters are paid a fair wage and able to be firefighters post-release for risking their lives to save Californians from this fire?
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) November 10, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
"My son was in Las Vegas with one of his friends and he came home. He didn't come home last night. And I don't want prayers, I don't want thoughts, I want gun control.”
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 10, 2018
Thoughts and prayers don’t save lives — action does. pic.twitter.com/cFITLrWnrN
Friday, November 09, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Birth control is health care. Period. We cannot and will not let the extremists in the Trump administration roll back the clock on our reproductive health care. Congress must #Fight4BirthControl.https://t.co/rCxamBfgo7
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 8, 2018
Yes We Cannabis
The movement to legalize marijuana had a lot riding on Tueday, & it scored a number of important victories. Voters legalized marijuana while electing DAs who favor curbing prosecutions & governors who favor legal pot. New on @TheAppeal Political Report:https://t.co/7U4i8GmyAn
— Taniel (@Taniel) November 9, 2018
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Ned to Beto...
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Let’s be clear: this is a blatant attempt to undermine the Mueller investigation. In January, we will have a new Democratic majority in the House that can be trusted to put our country & our democracy first. Pres Trump is going to learn that NO ONE is above the law, not even him. https://t.co/F2w376akyw
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) November 7, 2018
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
MundiMuster! Sign SPLC's Petition
Last night, Americans shifted the balance of power in the House of Representatives, creating a Democratic majority. The new Congress now holds the responsibility to take a stand for civil and human rights. Here are four immediate steps Congress must take to put America back on the right track. Add your name in support.
1. Reauthorize and Strengthen the Voting Rights Act. Congress must enact a new Voting Rights Act to ensure fair elections and unfettered access to the ballot for everyone.
2. Investigate America’s resurgent white supremacist movement. President Trump’s role in electrifying the white supremacist movement cannot be ignored. Congress must hold hearings to investigate the rise in hate and extremism in this country and on possible solutions.
3. Stop the Trump deportation machine. The Trump administration is operating an inhumane deportation machine that rips families apart, terrorizes communities, and flouts due process and American values. Congress must hold the administration accountable for its abuses and enact sensible reforms to our broken immigration system.
4. Stop the Census from being rigged. By including a question about citizenship, the Trump administration wants to use the decennial Census as a weapon of intimidation against immigrants, one that would distort the results. Congress must take steps to stop this scheme.
Hot Take-O-Matic Redux
This yields the impression -- and I think this squares with the feelings many are experiencing this morning -- of a divided result, almost a wash, and hence a disappointment. That the highest-profile contests, Abrams, Gillum, and O'Rourke seem to have gone the Republicans' way may buttress that sense of disappointment especially here and now, as the results remain raw, and the criminality in Georgia (and elsewhere) and the megaphoned racism in Florida and Georgia (and elsewhere) are especially demoralizing and enraging. The brutal Senate result this cycle (which I have been worrying about since well before 2016) is enormously consequential since Trump will use it to continue his ongoing reactionary dismantlement of the courts on which we will depend so much in the next years to implement voting reforms and maintain tattered but vital environmental and healthcare regulations and supports. But Democrats won the House, the repudiation was geographically widespread in ways that suggest the 2016 Presidential result did not portend the loss of a nationally viable electoral coalition even as it also confirmed (to those who needed such confirmation) that the white supremacy that has shaped the entire history of this nation continues to do so in ways that always undermine and now imperil our notionally and yet aspirationally democratic tendency. Democrats now can put a check on the worst impulses of Trump-era Republicans, and will also provide a foil for Trump to demagogue in his run for re-election -- which he would have done anyway, but don't doubt for a second he can win re-election in this racist country with such methods. Like W, Trump's election was something of a fluke, but his re-election would not be. Notice that even in the terms of the hot take-o-matic, Democratic House gains are actually on the cusp between a good result and a wave, suggesting the better night for Democrats than Republicans this mid-term actually represented. A lot of truly vile figures went down and others felt vulnerable as they have not before. Medicaid expansion, felon re-enfranchisement, medical and recreational cannabis legalization, protections for queers, minimum wage increases, progressive voter reforms won across many states, making life a bit better for many here and now and setting virtuous forces loose to redress anti-democratic gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement schemes. Because Democrats won, government is coming to better reflect the diverse reality of our lived nation, with historic victories for women, black folks, queers, native Americans, young people and others. This night was not a mixed result, but an overall victory amidst real defeats. We can fight on from here, when with a worse result we might not have done. Too many of those who seem utterly demoralized must have formed unrealistic expectations about the structural disadvantages the Resistance overcame to win last night, and too many seem to me to underestimate just how entrenched white supremacy is -- perhaps it is a good thing that the result was mixed enough and ugly enough that privileged straight white "progressives" couldn't just retreat back into their comfortable shells and idiotic "post-racial" America and "lean in" white feminist stasis narratives. Here's hoping the stealth-reactionary tech-fetishization that has so long undermined left discourse is truly on the wane in the aftermath of facebook and google and amazon shenanigans. Here's hoping fewer people will fall for berniebrocialist purity-cabaret next time around (and that people of genuine socialist conviction will organize with environmentalist BDS work and prison abolition work and gun regulation work and union organizing work and on-the-ground disability activism and real support for undocumented folks and asylum seekers rather than pretend sniping at voting on social media is some kind of revolutionary activity), and people of and adjacent to the Resistance will vote and do more than vote through the next couple of years and the next few hundred crises soon to come. Trump is already behaving like he is fully aware that he is in a fight for his life... and the democratizing, diversifying, secularizing, planetizing majority must understand that we are in a fight for our lives too. We are all we have. I, for one, am much more encouraged than not and feel ready to rumble.OK, here was my pre-election "Narrative Calculator," and where things look like they're heading:https://t.co/ecGqhPjeg1 pic.twitter.com/AGIbCxnBzt— Micah Cohen (@micahcohen) November 7, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
A big THANK YOU to CA-13 for re-electing me to another term! I look forward to serving you and fighting back against Trump’s fear-mongering agenda. pic.twitter.com/3RA9rwTYo4
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Tonight we accomplished a remarkable feat — we took back the House from Republican control. This is your victory. pic.twitter.com/Q2kACvakYW
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Across the country, we elected fearless women who aren’t afraid to speak up and speak out in pursuit of equality. I look forward to having so many new, diverse, and inspiring colleagues working by my side. https://t.co/O0GcyjCpAf
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 7, 2018
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
Take Octavia Butler into the Voting Booth
“Choose your leaders with wisdom and forethought.
To be led by a coward is to be controlled by all that the coward fears.
To be led by a fool is to be led by the opportunists who control the fool.
To be led by a thief is to offer up your most precious treasures to be stolen.
To be led by a liar is to ask to be told lies.
To be led by a tyrant is to sell yourself and those you love into slavery.”
― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Did my part to help make our future a little brighter for the next generation. Have you voted yet? Get to the polls by 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/hv5ZJ9zH2o
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 6, 2018
Monday, November 05, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
With enough people power, I know that Democrats across the country can bring the blue wave and take back the House this Tuesday. But we need every single one of you to vote.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 5, 2018
Long Teaching Day
Sunday, November 04, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
The blue wave is coming 🌊https://t.co/ztLDnl0jT6
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 4, 2018
Saturday, November 03, 2018
Captain, My Captain!
She gave me my very own communicator 😭🖖🏽✨ https://t.co/IdSXZhohcR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 3, 2018
Still Grading
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
We’re just three days away from the most important midterm elections in our lifetime, but there’s still time for you to make a difference before voters head to the polls. Go knock on doors this weekend. Join a phone bank. Talk to friends and family about what’s at stake.
— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) November 3, 2018
Friday, November 02, 2018
Grading
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
Another day, another lie. But here’s the truth:
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 31, 2018
Democrats are fighting #ForThePeople – for affordable health care, protections for pre-existing conditions, Medicare, and Medicaid. Republicans are trying to steal from these programs to pay for their #TaxScam. That’s it. https://t.co/yfda3D8XVN
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Barbara Lee Speaks For Me Daily
White supremacy and hate have no place in our country, and especially not in our government.
— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) October 31, 2018
Make your voice heard next week -- #vote. The future of our democracy depends on it.https://t.co/ldocK9JYyG
Democrats As The Party of Freedom
With the current political system in turmoil, we face a generational opportunity to redefine liberalism and the Democratic Party. Over the last decade, once-fringe arguments about how we organize our economy and society, and on whose behalf, have moved into the mainstream. Today, vocal and powerful progressive constituencies are pushing the spectrum of these debates well beyond the status quo...
With Trump’s ascendance to the head of their party, Republicans moved towards the past, the jingoistic, and the nativist. But liberals need to move left not only to match the Right. They need to move because the ideological assumptions controlling liberalism over the past decade have collapsed, as we’ll outline in this essay, leaving people searching for new alternatives, which we’ll also describe. Progressives now have an opportunity to propose not just a new set of policies, but a new set of values... [W]e believe there is a clear organizing principle that provides a path forward: freedom. And history provides a guide.
From abolition to the fight against segregation and Jim Crow, from women’s suffrage to the fight for women’s liberation, from the establishment of the minimum wage to the push for democracy in the workplace and greater protection from economic insecurity, a vibrant and critical element of progressive movements has always been freedom. Throughout our nation’s history, we have fought both ideological and actual battles over the definition of freedom, how it is achieved, and for whom it is offered. These have gone hand-in-hand with fights over how we structure our economy and who it serves.
We can take this moment to expand the idea of what what it means to be truly free. Progressives can reclaim a long history of American political thought that ties economic power to political and personal freedom. We can demonstrate that progressive economic policy is essential to creating the conditions in which individuals can have agency and power over their lives.
To accomplish this, liberals need to embrace three key ideas and goals:
Guarantee the public provisioning of truly universal goods.
Ensure a level and quality of jobs that provide autonomy and dignity.
Curb corporate power.
These three commitments, we believe, are essential to structuring an economy in which Americans across gender, geography, race and class can thrive. Our vision is rooted in the idea that our economy should indeed entitle individuals to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It harkens back to an older version of the Democratic Party, lead by such presidents as Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson, that recognized that the government can be used as a tool that secures this freedom.
This essay is not meant to give the specific agenda, full of bullet points and specific budgetary projections. It instead sets boundaries and provides a compass.