USA before the NRA

“90 percent of Democrats in the Senate just voted for that idea.  But it’s not going to happen because 90 percent of Republicans in the Senate just voted against that idea.”

Yesterday, we saw the true power of special interests in our political system. It was not only disgraceful but, to a greater degree, very discouraging.

Although 90% of Americans support expanded background checks for all gun purchases, the bipartisan measure failed at reaching the 60 votes needed to pass in the United States Senate.

With 50 Democrats and only FOUR Republicans voting in favor of this bipartisan, common sense proposal – drafted by two Senators who both have “A” ratings from the NRA –the bill failed to pass because the power of special interests outweighed the power of millions of American voices.  

As the President mentioned in his statement yesterday, “no single piece of legislation can stop every act of violence and evil...but if action by Congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand -- if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future while preserving our Second Amendment rights, we had an obligation to try.”

For that reason, despite how discouraging the process may seem, I’m not giving up. In fact, I’m even more inspired and motivated to stay active.

Stay active for all the innocent victims of gun violence. 

Stay active for the victims of Tucson, and Aurora, and Sandy Hook.

Stay active for my parents. 

Because the alternative of doing nothing –of sitting on the sidelines and remaining silent—is far, far worse.

“We will not be defeated.  We are not defeated, and we will not be defeated.  We are here now; we will always be here because we have no other choice.  We are not going away.  And every day, as more people are killed in this country because of gun violence, our determination grows stronger."

Right now, volunteers across the country are joining Organizing for Action (OFA) to contact their members of Congress and make their voices heard. We're going to show the special interests that we will not be silenced, and that the victims of these heinous crimes will be honored. Will you help? 

It Makes No Sense

Maybe it’s because I’m a “crazy liberal”, but I’m having a very difficult time understanding why Republican leaders act the way they do. I’d love to learn why.  

It makes no sense why Republican leaders would support a massive government intrusion on a couple’s decision to get married, even though they are “very strong on liberty and small government.”

It makes no sense why they would favor keeping certain tax cuts and loopholes for the rich if they knew that, in order to expense these benefits, they would either need to A) cut programs – like student loans and unemployment benefits and/or B) raise taxes. It’s simple economics.

It makes no sense why Republican leaders claim that balancing the budget is the key to creating jobs, when the reverse is actually true (take the years during the Clinton Administration, where investments in job creation led to a balanced budget and reduced debt). Why would they argue against government borrowing money to spend on improving the quality of life for its citizens when an average American borrows money all the time to buy a house or a car?

It makes no sense why they would say they’re the biggest proponents of the free market, when they have voted almost 40 times to repeal a set of reforms to our healthcare system (Obamacare) that serves to protect consumers, reduce costs, improve the quality of care, and prevent monopolies in the health insurance industry.

It makes no sense to me why Republican leaders would heavily criticize Obama and the Democrats for “reckless government spending” when most of them argued against ending the Iraq War (which cost taxpayers $3 trillion and 4,500 American lives).

It makes no sense to me why Republicans don’t complain about the rich “mooching” from the government via tax loopholes, but cry foul when a student needs help paying for college, or a cancer patient needs access to affordable healthcare.

We’ve seen the progress that can occur as soon as Republican leaders start listening to their constituents – leaders like Congressman Paul Ryan (who accepted federal stimulus dollars in his district), or Florida Governor Rick Scott (who has stopped withholding Medicare savings from his state via Obamacare).

We can only hope more do the same. But as President Obama recently said during his trip to Israel:

"Speaking as a politician, I can promise you this: political leaders will not take risks if the people do not demand that they do. You must create the change that you want to see." 

The Liberal Test

Are you one of those pesky liberals? Answer these 4 easy questions to find out:

1. Do you believe in the free market?

If you answered yes, you might be a liberal! Prior to Obamacare, health insurance companies locked in consumers while concurrently raising their premiums. Insurance companies did not have to compete for consumer business and, therefore, provided mediocre care. If a consumer wanted to search for a different insurer, they were denied coverage. Furthermore, when the consumer fell ill, they were often denied coverage and dropped from their insurance plans despite having paid for service. 

2. Do you think interracial couples should be allowed to get married?

If you answered yes, you might be a liberal! Until recently, interracial marriage was just as illegal as gay marriage is today in most states. Banning one type of marriage over another is not only hypocritical, but denies individuals of civil rights and Constitutional rights as Americans. This is not about gay rights, but about human rights. Furthermore, government should not “infringe upon our liberties” by dictating who we should and should not love in the privacy of our lives.

3.  Do you think all employees should be free from all forms of discrimination by employers?

If you answered yes, you might be a liberal! Prior to President Obama’s repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, members of the military were discriminated against and discharged from duty if they admitted to being gay. Just as we did not accept the notion of “separate but equal” with our African American brothers and sisters, we should not accept it with our LGBT brothers and sisters.

4. If a large corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy, do you agree that it would take some time and targeted investments to recover? 

If you answered yes, you might be a liberal!  When President Bush left office, our economy went from a $230 billion surplus to a $1.4 trillion deficit. We lost over 750,000 jobs per month. The housing market busted. Financial institutions were out of cash. The U.S. auto-industry was going bankrupt. The nation was in a panic.

Four years later, because of reforms and stimulus passed by President Obama, we have created more net new jobs than President Bush had in the seven years before the crisis. We have almost 3 years of consecutive job growth, added 6 million jobs, reduced unemployment from its peak at 10.2% to 7.7%, strengthened our financial system, stabilized the housing market, and lowered the cost of living – while improving the quality of life – for all Americans.

And for all those Republicans who falsely accuse the President of reckless and excessive government spending, they somehow are ignorant of their very own silence that prevailed when President Bush passed expensive tax cuts for the wealthiest few and engaged in two costly wars.

The problem with the Republican mantra of “smaller government is always better government” is that it disregards the idea that government can actually be seen as a partner and promoter of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.

Government can strengthen the fundamentals of capitalism by increasing consumer demand, preventing fraud, encouraging fair competition, and freeing up capital to stimulate a weakened market.

Government can be a lender of last resort when no private entities are able or willing to do so. 

Government can promote the safety and well-being of our citizens by outlawing discrimination, enacting regulations that prevent smoking on a plane, inspecting the food we eat and cleaning the air we breathe.

Government can provide education and resources to those in need, while providing incentives and benefits to those more fortunate. 

Government can make necessary investments in the future of our nation, just as a business would to increase its long-term success (even if its investments mean lower short-term profits).

All in all, government’s role is not to punish those who are successful but, rather, to ensure that everyone is given a fair shot and that everyone plays by the same rules.

THAT is the true essence of our democracy.

The Party of Lincoln

In Governor Romney’s interview yesterday, he once again highlighted the major flaw with the Republican Party – the mentality that American society consists of two groups of citizens: the givers and the takers.

We often hear Republican leaders make the claim that there are a group of people who are completely dependent on big government and, consequently, fail to take responsibility for their lives. They take advantage of government services like welfare and healthcare, and continue taking from society without giving back.

But this only proves that the Republican Party is simply blind to the struggles of most Americans. And that’s why they lost this past election in such a huge and devastating way.

They need to understand that, in addition to having the best organized grassroots campaign in history, the primary reason President Obama won by a landslide is because of his persistence to helping the driving force of this economy: the middle and working class.

The middle and working class of this country are the true engine of economic growth. They are the true job creators because they are the ones that end up spending money. They are the ones that create demand for a business’s products. They are the ones that use the services a company provides. When they prosper, as evidenced in the '90s, we all prosper.

The basic, underlining point – one that today’s Republican Party fails to understand – is this: No one in this country is completely self-reliant. Therefore, we need to government to ensure equality of opportunity (not outcome). 

And that’s exactly what President Obama proposed in his deficit-reduction plan.

In 2011, the President went farther than the political middle  by compromising into law targeted spending cuts that amounted to $2 trillion  (via entitlement savings in Healthcare, Medicare, and Student Loans) without including any revenue increases in order to win Republican support.

But as every economist understands, you need a balanced approach of both spending cuts AND revenue increases to spur economic growth.

Last week, however, when it came time for Republicans to hold up on their end of the deal, they refused to increase revenues from the wealthiest few.

These individuals (the “givers”), Republicans claim, should not be forced to pay their fair share, even if that comes at the expense of programs that serve to benefit the middle and working class (the “takers”).

This is unacceptable.

When a business chooses to invest in a new machine, pay its employees higher wages, or purchase more merchandise, everyone understands that – even if these choices result in lower short-term profits – the long-term success of the company is dependent on such decisions.

In the same way, our government cannot cut our way to prosperity.  

My mother came to America when she was 18. She worked a full-time job at a nursing home for minimum wage ($3.25 an hour) while enrolled full-time at a community college. To help pay for her education, she also took student loans. After graduating, she got married to my dad and found work for a meager salary of $20,000 a year. While I was born and my father continued struggling to find work, my mother became the head breadwinner of our family. She also needed to take advantage of certain tax breaks aimed at working families, such as the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. After seven years of working hard, however, her company laid her off because of downsizing. She then had to survive off unemployment benefits for 6 months as she had her second child, my younger sister. 

Today my parents are both successful small business owners. They are the “job creators” who “built that”. But they understand that they needed “big government” every step of the way.

The sooner Republican leaders understand this, the sooner they will return to “The Party of Lincoln.”

Fighting the Same Fights

This Friday, a series of harmful, across-the-board cuts (known as the sequester) are scheduled to take place unless Congress takes action.  

Although the President has offered a balanced approach to solving our nation’s economic problems –one that includes a combination of spending cuts AND revenue increases – Republican leaders are continuing their refusal to compromise, even if it sends our nation into default.

But if history tells us anything, it’s that we cannot cut our way to prosperity. After all, as we learned in the 1990s, nothing grows the economy faster than a strong middle-class.

When the middle-class goes, so goes the nation.   

We need to stop fighting the same battles and ask Republican leaders to start putting the nation ahead of politics.  How? By quickly accepting programs that work, regardless of which party proposed it.

EX #1) Stimulus: Although Republicans are vehemently opposed to any increase in government spending, almost all House members (including “budget-aficionado” Congressman Paul Ryan) begged for federal stimulus dollars in their states after learning how important they were to stimulate weak economies.  

EX #2) Obamacare: Although Republicans voted over 30 times to repeal the law and campaigned vigorously against it, many (including Florida Governor Rick Scott and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie) are reversing their oppositions after realizing how important the law is to curb healthcare costs.

EX #3) Reducing our Deficit: Time and time again, the President has proven his ability to compromise, sometimes even angering some in his own base. When he argued for a Stimulus –which Republicans have traditionally agreed to – they all voted against it. When he argued for the Individual Mandate in Healthcare –which was a Republican idea in the first place – they all voted against it. And when he tries to reduce our deficit in a responsible manner, Republicans signed a tax pledge that benefited only the wealthiest few.

The President has already made important and targeted spending cuts via entitlement savings in Healthcare, Medicare, and Student Loans (which the CBO estimates will reduce spending over $2 trillion over 10 years).

The President has already passed the largest tax cuts in history with the American Recovery and Investment Act (ie. the first stimulus). And unlike the Bush-era tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest few, the Obama tax cuts were successfully targeted at working and middle-class families. Furthermore, he passed the payroll tax cuts that put an additional $1000 in the pockets of middle-class families, extended unemployment benefits to those who need assistance, and lowered the costs of living for all Americans by saving the U.S. Auto-Industry and passing Wall Street reform, Student Loan reform, and Healthcare reform.

All he is asking for, in return, is to close tax loopholes that grant breaks to the wealthiest individuals, especially when these breaks come at the expense of the middle-class.

"If Congress allows this meat cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness, it will eviscerate job-creating investments in education and energy and medical research. It won't consider whether we're cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day,” (President Obama).

Call your representatives TODAY and tell House Republicans to take action.

A Win for the Middle Class

President Obama ran his last campaign on the central premise that, in order to truly achieve economic stability and fully recover from the Great Recession he inherited, we must ensure that everyone plays by the same rules and everyone pays their fair share.

As we start off the New Year, thanks to the steadfast leadership of President Obama, this campaign promise has become reality.

Although Congressional Republicans tried to delay a vote (which would have led to deep cuts in programs that benefit the middle-class, raised taxes significantly for 98% of families and 97% of small businesses, and provided a serious blow to our growing economy) around 11pm on New Year’s, the House finally voted to pass the “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012”.

In sum, the bill provides much needed stability and fairness to our tax code, keeps in place important investments in education, infrastructure, and healthcare, strengthens the middle-class, and helps to reduce our deficit.

Here are some specifics (additional information can be found here ) :

= The bill permanently extends all of the Bush tax cuts for incomes below $450,000, while reinstating the Clinton-era 39.6 percent tax rate for income above this

= The bill permanently sets taxes on investment income (capital gains and dividends) at 20 percent for income above $450,000, while keeping the rate at 15 percent for everyone else. This is especially important since, as discussed previously in the Buffet Rule, the wealthiest have enjoyed significantly lower tax rates since most of their incomes come from these investments.  

= The bill extends certain middle-class tax credits that came as part of the President’s 2009 Stimulus Package. These include the America’s Opportunity Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit

= The bill extends long-term unemployment benefits (for those 2 million + unemployed for longer than 26 weeks).

= The bill averted a scheduled, steep drop in Medicare payments to physicians

Although Congressional Republicans tried to continue putting millionaires ahead of the middle-class by holding our economy hostage until the very last minute, we must ensure that this new Congress puts the American people above politics and partisanship.

This was a long and hard-fought battle and, luckily, the American people won. Happy New Year!

Thank You

Over the last 5 and a half years, the pure passion and dedication I have seen from the people who have worked alongside me on this campaign has been unparalleled. But what united us was not just our love for President Obama but, more importantly, the idea that we all had a small role to play in how our nation moves forward.

For me, it all started when Jason Waskey asked me to volunteer for the then-Senator Obama’s campaign for Presidency. I was almost done with my senior year in high school and needed to find something to spend my time with. And although I was immediately attracted to the Obama campaign and what it stood for, what kept me engaged and motivated to give-up my life for this cause was Jason. For me, seeing someone sacrifice his life in support of a distant and, what appeared to be, an unreachable goal, was inspiring. And despite being told by almost everyone around us that we were fighting for a lost cause; that what we were doing is a waste of time, Jason's humbleness, focus, and steadfast direction gave me motivation to keep pushing on. I cannot thank him enough for the courage and inspiration he has given me throughout all these years. Although I have looked to him for these last few years as my boss (whether officially or unofficially), he is much more of a role model and a friend. I am truly honored to have met him in my life.

Throughout the first campaign in 2007-2008, I was fortunate enough to have met many more amazing individuals. I canvassed and phonebanked in the cold of Iowa and New Hampshire with Matt Verghese, Chris Wilhelm, Rob Yochem, Bill Romani, and Hans Riemer. I worked to organize students on college campuses with Alex Rischard, Sterling Grimes, Nina Anziska, Irina Zamyatin, Brittany McGrath, and Alexis Aduba.

Then we won the White House. From that moment on, I had the privilege to meet and work with more amazing people like Laila El Gohary (whose obsession with cats is borderline crazy, but always entertaining), Zeppa Kreager (who is one the best student organizers I have ever worked with and whose love for my lame jokes keeps me going), Scott Travers (who helped me organize college campuses across the state), Simone Lavine (who has been a great friend and has promised to give me one of her pet dogs), Victoria Zhao (who has a very bright future ahead of her), Jerusalem Demsas (who literally helped run my life these last few weeks), Jon Heintz (one of the hardest working people I have ever seen), Lilla Weinberger (who is one of the sweetest, most organized, and most loving people I have met on this campaign), and Becca Newman (whose support these last few weeks have been more meaningful to me than I can even put into words…and who I know is crying right at this moment).

To all my summer fellows; all my fellow staffers; anyone who’s ever “liked” my million annoying Facebook statuses; anyone whose read my blog posts; and anyone whose had to put up with my emotionally charged rants about how much I love President Obama…all that there is left to say is THANK YOU.

I want to thank all my brothers in the Crew for providing me with the support I needed to help get me through all these years.

I want to thank the awesome members of the A-Team (Chuck, Alli, Amanda, and Andrew), who had to put up with my loud-mouth for 15+ hours a day.

I want to thank my sister (Anu Jain), who has made me one of the proudest and happiest elder brothers anyone could ever wish to be. Her resilience, humor, smarts, and creativity has been inspiring.

But most importantly, I want to thank my wonderful parents (Indu and Palav Jain) for allowing me to pursue my passion and dream. Without their full support for the work I have been doing on this campaign, I would not be where I am today. Period.   

My experience on this campaign has been one of the most humbling, most inspiring, most gratifying and most rewarding feelings of my life. And I thank every single person who’s helped along this fantastic journey.

Now, all we can do is move FORWARD!