FORCE MULTIPLIER TALKING POINTS

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NOW is the time to spread the word + talk to people about supporting our Democratic candidates + voter empowerment groups. Beyond the din of MAGA rhetoric, criminal proceedings + related theatrics, anti-democracy posturing + the politics of distortion + misinformation, there are FACTS. These facts provide reason for hope + motivation to work for + vote for Democrats up + down the ballot this November. 

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Democrats have made significant progress in areas impacting everyday lives of Americans. 

 

What has the Biden/Harris Administration done? 

• Lowered prices for “kitchen table” goods

• Got more people working than at any point in American history.

• Rescued the economy + changed the course of the pandemic

• Rebuilt major aspects of the infrastructure

• Brought historic expansion of benefits + services for toxin-exposed veterans

• Passed the first meaningful gun violence reduction legislation in 30 years

• Protected legal marriage for LGBTQI+ and interracial couples

• Confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court + other judges with diverse backgrounds to federal benches

• Rallied the world to support Ukraine in response to Putin’s aggression

• Strengthened international alliances + partnerships

• Engineered successful counterterrorism missions against leaders of Al Qaeda + ISIS

• Enacted Executive Orders to protect some reproductive rights

• Revisited federal cannabis restrictions

• Advanced equity + racial justice, including historic criminal justice reform

• Delivered on the most aggressive climate + environmental justice agenda in American history

• Covered more people with health insurance than ever before

-   www.whitehouse.gov

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Let’s talk about the ECONOMY

 

“Democrats are working to grow our economy by raising Americans’ incomes and lowering costs. That means putting working families, small businesses, and labor union workers ahead of big corporations. By making giant corporations pay the taxes they owe, Democrats are bringing down costs for healthcare, medicine, and energy bills—without raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.”  Winning Jobs Narrative Project, 4/24/24, Blue Rose Research

 

“...it is remarkable that America has so far avoided a hard landing. The economy is winding its way down a treacherous road from the highest peak of inflation in 40 years. Defying conventional wisdom, it has managed to add millions of jobs.... a soft landing, once a faint hope, is now among the plausible alternatives.” The Economist, 7/22/23 

 

“ ..President Biden has brought us back from the brink. More than 15 million new jobs have been created and unemployment has been below 4% for more than two full years. - the longest stretch in half a century.  Inflation is down, and wages, wealth, and unemployment are higher now than they were before the pandemic.”  Biden/Haris Campaign Website, May 2024

 

“Biden is the Most Pro-Labor President since FDR...”  The New Yorker. 4/18/24  

 

“..the Biden Administration is using its legislative, regulatory and administrative powers to support unions and working people. This helps working people across the economy, not just union members. When unions are strong, research shows that nonunion companies increase their wages...the gap between the rich and everyone else shrinks; and that children born into poverty have a better shot at climbing the economic ladder as adults.” Center for American Progress, 12/19/23

 

ECONOMY Key Stats

Average real wages for Americans have surpassed inflation for 12 straight months (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2024). This includes steady wage growth among moderate + lower wage workers. 

 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Inflation inched downward in April 2024 with prices rising 3.4% in the last 12 months down from 3.5% in March. The Federal Reserve will likely continue its restrictive interest rate policy in the short-term consistent with achieving the target rate of 2.0%

 

What is causing persistent and stubborn inflation? Recent surges in inflation are driven, at least in part, by supply chain issues, pent-up consumer demand + economic stimulus responding to the pandemic. 

 

What has the Biden-Harris Administration accomplished to tame inflation? The Federal Reserve Board leads the fight against inflation. The “Fed” is independent from the Administration. It was created by + is subject to oversight from Congress relative to the often-competing macroeconomic goals of reducing inflation + addressing unemployment. 

While the Fed has primary responsibility for addressing macroeconomic factors driving inflation, The Biden/Harris Administration has led + is implementing policy initiatives to lower costs for families + +fight inflation. The administration:

•  Lowered the costs of prescription drugs + health coverage.

•  Eliminated hidden junk fees, directly impacting consumers

• Canceled $144 million in student debt for nearly four million borrowers. 

• Made historic investments in infrastructure, alternative energy + computer-chip technology with the Inflation Reduction Act + the Infrastructure Act which provide jobs + spur investments in the short term. They also support productivity + ensure against supply-chain breakdowns in the future, limiting inflationary pressures in the longer term.

 

In other words, Bidenomics is working! 

Working closely with Congressional Democrats, the Biden Administration has succeeded in growing the economy from the middle out + the bottom up.This has been based on three pillars: making smart public investments in America; empowering + educating workers to grow the middle class, + promoting competition to lower costs + help entrepreneurs + small businesses thrive. 

 

Here is specific evidence of how the economy has performed under Biden-Harris leadership (from: Simon Rosenberg Hopium Chronicles, 4/4/24)

• 33.8m jobs = 16 years Clinton, Obama

• 1.9m jobs = 16 years of Bush, Bush, Trump

• 15.2m jobs = 38 months of Biden

 

• Best economic recovery from COVID in the G7, stock market breaking records. 401(k)s are happy

• GDP grew by 4.1% over the past two quarters + has been averaging more than 3% during  Biden’s presidency, three times higher than Trump averaged per year

• The US has the lowest unemployment rate in a peacetime economy since WWII; jobs are more plentiful today than any time since the 1960s. An overwhelming majority of Americans have never experienced a job market this robust + strong

• All measures of consumer sentiment are improving, some sharply.

• Inflation has fallen and prices of many goods, including many food items, continue to fall. Inflation is lower here today than any G7 nation.

• Wage gains + prime-age worker participation rates are elevated. There are 1.3 job openings per unemployed person.

• Fewer Americans are uninsured than at any time  in history. ACA signups this past year are the highest ever.

• The annual deficit is trillions of dollars lower today than it was when Trump was in the White House.

•  Median wealth is up 37% from ‘20-’22; median wealth for 18–34-year-olds in this period more than doubled

• The Biden Administration has erased more than $130b in student debt

•  Home ownership rates for Gen Z are above those of both Millennials + Gen X at this point in their lives.

• Many cities + states have raised the minimum wage in recent years, creating a higher income floor for young + low-wage workers

• Domestic oil production set records in ‘23 + we are setting records with renewable energy production, too. America is more energy-independent than it has been in decades

Biden’s ambitious investment agenda will create growth, innovation + opportunities for American workers for decades to come + is already dramatically accelerating our energy transition from carbon-based fuels.

 

Lots to say about HEALTH CARE

 

• Health Care and Reproductive rights in the post-Dobbs environment:

 “... we are facing a very serious health crisis. ...In states around the country, extremists have proposed + passed laws that have denied women access to reproductive health...In this environment, these attacks against an individual’s right to make decisions about their own body are outrageous + in many instances, just plain old immoral....Here’s what a second Trump term looks like: more bans, more suffering, less freedom.” 

• Vice President Kamela Harris, 3/14/24, Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour, St. Paul, MN.

• The portion of Americans uninsured hit a record low of 7.7% in 2023 thanks to the success of the Affordable Care Act. 

• The Inflation Reduction Act gives Medicare the power to negotiate the price of certain medicines and is “expected to lower seniors’ out-of-pocket costs ...while saving the government nearly $100 billion (about $310 per person in the US) through 2031.” (Bloomberg and The National Health Survey,2023) 

• Democrats are “united behind the principle of universal access to high quality + affordable healthcare for all... Hakeem Jeffries (NY, House Minority Leader) 

 

Here are Biden-Harris health care priorities (from FY 2025 Federal Budget Proposal, 3/21/24)

• Reduce drug + health care costs for all Americans

• Honor commitment to seniors + Americans in need (e.g. Medicare. Medicaid)

• Invest in the health + well-being of families

• Enhance  behavioral health care

• Invest in medical innovation, scientific breakthroughs + the treatments of  tomorrow. 

• Advance health equity

• Protect and strengthen public health + insurance infrastructure

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CLIMATE CHANGE brought into focus

 

“With the planet in the grips of its highest temperatures in more than 100.000 years, scientists with the United Nations weather agency have crunched the numbers and come to a stark conclusion: more record hot years are inevitable. ..” and “The target of limiting long term global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is hanging by a thread.”  

R.Zhong, Hanging by a Thread-U.N. Chief Warns of Missing a Key Climate Target, New York Times, 6/7/24 

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“The past eight years have been the warmest on record globally.” World Meteorological Organization, 1/12/23

 

“...70 percent of Americans, including 51 percent of Republicans, would like the next president (to) be someone who favors government action to address climate change....67 percent of voters believe climate to be a “kitchen table issue.” NPR, 12/17/23

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“The boom in clean energy is astounding. Since the passage of the I.R.A. in 2022, incentives provided by the law helped drive $332 billion in clean energy and transportation technologies. Almost all of that was in private investments in clean energy, as opposed to government spending, spurred by an estimated $48 billion in federal tax credits.”  NYT, The Clean Energy Boom, 5/23/24

 

The Biden Administration has used its regulatory rule-making authority to address critical climate + environmental issues. All of these rules could quickly be rolled back under a Trump Administration. Here are 10 such rules: 

• Spurred electrifying cars by mandating tailpipe emissions for gas-based autos

• Slashed power plant emissions of greenhouse gases

• Plugged methane leaks in oil + gas production

• Banned asbestos imports + fully phased out use of asbestos in manufacturing.

• Ended “forever chemicals” in tap water

• Protected engendered species

• Protected the Alaskan wilderness

• Required safety measures in chemical plants 

• Raised  prices to drill on public lands to historic levels

• Expedited construction permits for clean energy projects

New York Times, 5/9/24, “10 Big Biden Environmental Rules and What They Mean.” 

 

“The President’s success in pushing an aggressive climate agenda has made America a world leader in the existential fight to control the Earth’s warming, and his broader investment agenda is already bringing growth, investment and jobs across the US.” Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, 7/19/23 

 

“We have completely changed direction on energy policy such that we actually have a chance to meet our climate goals, which was certainly not the case just a couple of years ago.” 

Sonia Aggarwal CEO, Energy Innovation, NPR interview, 8/16/23) 

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“ Electric vehicle sales have tripled since President Biden took office.  A $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law provided funds to enhance the power grid, buy electric school buses, and build a national network of electric vehicle chargers.  Electricity from wind is expected to triple and solar generation to increase seven to eight-fold by 2030.” www.whitehous.gov, 8/16/23) 

 

Climate Agenda SOME RECENT CLIMATE IMPACTS BY DEMOCRATS:

• 170,000 clean energy jobs were created; 1.5 million new jobs are projected for the next decade. 

• There has been $110 billion in private sector clean manufacturing investments in the last year including $70 billion in the electric vehicle supply chain + $10 billion for solar energy.

•  Public and private investments stimulated by the Inflation Reduction Act + the bi-partisan Infrastructure Law are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately a billion tons by 2030. 

• President Biden, working with Democrats in Congress, signed a trio of laws during his first two years in office that allocated unprecedented funds for clean energy: The bipartisan CHIPS + Science Act set aside billions of dollars for semiconductors vital to automobile manufacturing. The Inflation Reduction Act, now one-year old, is widely considered the most ambitious attempt to fight climate change in American history. 

 

There is, of course, a lot more to do. Senate Democrats have proposed the “Environmental Justice for All Act of 2023” addressing the disproportionate harmful effects of pollution on Black, Brown + Indigenous communities to ensure that they can fight back against polluters.  

 

Discuss the facts about GUNS

 

“Over 42,00 people died as the result of gun injuries in the U.S. in 2023...The number of people killed by firearm violence, a leading cause of premature death, grew by nearly 43% between 2010 + 2020.” Pew Research Center, What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. 4/26/23

 

 “Guns killed a record number of U.S. children in 2021 –2279 deaths – double the number a decade prior; gun violence has replaced car crashes as the leading cause of death for children.” CNN 10/2/23

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“Democrats believe that we can reduce gun violence while respecting the rights of gun owners.... we believe we should treat gun violence as the deadly public health crisis it is.” Democratic National Committee, Party Platform

 

“For some reason I’ve heard less about the crime news, but it’s also remarkably good. F.B.I. data shows that violent crime has subsided: It’s already back to 2019 levels and appears to be falling further.” Paul Krugman, New York Times, 1/1/24, “Is America on the Mend?”

 

In 2022, the bipartisan “Safer Communities Act "was signed into law by President Biden- one of the most significant steps Congress has taken to reduce gun violence in decades, providing new tools to prosecute gun traffickers. This Democratic-initiated legislation was supported by just five Senate Republicans and 14 House Republicans. 

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“The Biden Administration’s 21 Executive Actions to Reduce Gun Violence” include: keeping dangerous weapons + shooters off the streets, keeping guns out of the wrong hands, making progress to reduce community violence by providing law enforcement with tools needed to reduce gun violence + addressing the root causes of gun violence. The White House, 7/11/22)

 

“President Biden issued an Executive Order that strengthened: the use of ‘red flag”’laws, holds gun industry accountable + enhances law enforcement efforts to identify + apprehend shooters.” The White House, 3/14/23.

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In 2023, House Democrats attempted to force House votes on three Democratic proposals: an assault weapons ban, Bipartisan Background Check Act + Enhanced Background Check Act. Republicans blocked all these initiatives. 

 

 

Pushing hard for CIVIL RIGHTS

 

“There are some areas where we have made great progress ...But, in many other areas, America is in great trouble. Great inequality + discrimination still exist in our school systems, our criminal justice system + other aspects of our lives... “ A. Jenkins, Co-Founder, The American Opportunity Project, PBS, “Civil Rights Today”
 

“This is one of the few first sessions of a Congress[118th, 2023] in recent history in which neither chamber passed meaningful civil rights legislation...due to a deeply divided Congress lacking bipartisan support for civil rights legislation.”  Kansas Reflector, 3/19/24

 

Democrats in the House + Senate have proposed restoration of critical sections of the Voting Rights Act. While unsuccessful, this will continue to be a priority for Democrats:

 

• On his first day in office, President Biden signed Executive Order 13985: Advancing Racial Equity + Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, launching a “whole government approach to equity.” 

• On his first day in office, President Biden rescinded the Muslim Ban established by his predecessor. 

• More than two-thirds of the Biden Administrations picks for federal judges have been women + people of color, according to the Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Federal Judicial Center in November 2023. 

 

• The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Act - two of the landmark pieces of legislation signed into law by President Biden – contain ground-breaking commitments to incorporating environmental justice criteria shaping public investment decisions.  
   

• The Biden/Harris Administration has issued a series of Executive Orders meant to protect reproductive rights + to protect marriage rights for LGBTQI+ and interracial couples. 

 

Good news on POLITICAL TRENDS + CONSEQUENCES

 

“The data show that the more convinced people are of the dangers of the MAGA agenda the more likely they are to vote...in our current political era, knowing + believing what Trump and MAGA plans to do makes people more likely to vote:for better or worse...”- M. Podhorzer, A Cure for Turnout Terror, Substack May 30,2024.

 

‘There is an emerging, broad coalition for winning that goes beyond the work of the Democratic party. This coalition will conduct the largest turnout effort in history. This effort could turn the election favorably.

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“There have been 7 State initiatives protecting abortion rights since the Dobbs Decision. All have passed. 65% of Americans agree lawmakers should not be making medical decisions. Even many people who don’t  believe abortion should be legal in all cases, 58% agree that...at no point in a pregnancy is a politician more qualified to make decisions about your health care than you and your doctor.” Jenny Lawson, V.P. Parenthood Federation of America, Abortion on the ballot- The Road Beyond Row, political briefing 5/22/24

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On the media and polls: “ ...as long as we have more confidence in the media’s ability to see the outcome than in our own ability to affect it, we surrender before the battle for our freedoms begins.”  M. Podhorzer, Mad Poll Disease Redux, Substack, 11/6/23

 

On early polling: As noted by polling expert Tom Bonier, early polls are not to be trusted particularly if they focus on anything other than “likely voters.” Many polls have flawed methodologies and/or are partisan agenda-driven efforts to “flood the zone” to create a public perception of candidate momentum or a prediction of victory. In addition, many in the electorate do not tune into elections until after Labor Day. 

 

What to make of early polling with Tom Bonier, The Ringer Podcast, 6/3/24

 

This election will not be determined by polls, pundits, media or the courts. It will be determined by the voters who are registered + turn out.

 

Democratic successes point to Winning in the 2024 cycle:

• There is a large anti-MAGA coalition that has helped Democrats win 82% of state-wide elections in battleground states since 2016.

• Today’s polls do not predict how people will vote in November or who will vote.

• Democrats have won 82% of state-wide elections in battleground states since 2018.

• Grassroots Democrats are more organized than ever.

• Democrats gained ground in’22 winning a Senate seat, two governorships, four state legislative chambers + keeping the House of Representatives close enough, despite polling predictions of a red wave. A net gain of four  seats will put Democrats back in control.

• In ‘23, Democrats won a critical Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin, defeated an abortion ban in Ohio, won key legislative races in Virginia + held on to the governorship in Kentucky.

• In ‘24, Democratic success in special elections flipped the NY 03 House seat + anti-abortion efforts were thwarted in seven state initiatives. Democrats have outperformed i“...since Dobbs, we keep overperforming, ..when our muscular campaigns put the choice of good, pragmatic Dems vs Extremist, dangerous MAGA in front of voters, we win, they lose.” 

• Simon Rosenberg Hopium Chronicles, 6/4/24

• Won special elections since Dobbs by +8%.

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The Big Political Picture This Election Cycle:

• Joe Biden is an effective president whose actions improve the lives of most Americans.

• The country is better off

• The Democratic Party is strong

• And they have Trump

• Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, 8/23

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