Tell Your Members of Congress: Go Big With Biden! Bigger and Bolder!
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
Hate the phone? Resistbot is your friend. If you use Resistbot or write an email to your elected officials, make sure to use your own words. Copy-pasted emails are discounted by Congressional staff. In-depth, personal stories are most effective.
Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I was delighted to hear President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress. I fully support his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. Its provisions will improve the lives of millions of Americans in every state in the union. Since McConnell has already declared that no Republican senator will vote for Biden's bill, there is no point in watering it down in the futile hope of attracting GOP support. So go big, go bold!
Email/Resistbot Version
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I was delighted to hear President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress. I fully support his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. Its provisions will improve the lives of millions of Americans in every state in the union. Since McConnell has already declared that no Republican senator will vote for Biden's bill, there is no point in watering it down in the futile hope of attracting GOP support. So go big, go bold!
Personally, I really appreciate that the American Jobs Plan will [pick one]:
Fix highways; rebuild bridges; and upgrade ports, airports, and transit centers.
Rebuild clean drinking water infrastructure, a renewed electric grid, and high-speed broadband to all Americans.
Modernize homes, commercial buildings, schools, and federal buildings.
Create caregiving jobs and raise wages and benefits for essential home care workers.
Revitalize manufacturing, ensure products are made in America, and invest in innovation.
Create good-paying union jobs and train Americans for jobs of the future.
I was gratified to hear our president forthrightly acknowledge the failure of Trickle-Down Economics. We appreciate the proposal to help fund the American Jobs Plan through a Made in America Tax Plan that makes sure corporations pay a fairer share, and encourages job creation at home by removing tax incentives for offshoring. That is popular with a large majority of Americans.
When Republicans urge you to water down President Biden’s American Jobs Plan (like not proceeding with elimination of tax preferences for fossil fuels) you can tell them that I, and millions of Americans concerned about our climate emergency, think he should go even farther, as outlined in the THRIVE Agenda. Please co-sponsor/endorse the THRIVE Act of 2021 (H.R. 2523) and use it to strengthen the great American Jobs Plan. (Fact sheet available here: www.thriveagenda.com/act)
Background
President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress on April 28, 2021 included details about his American Jobs Plan (to be funded by a Made In America Tax Plan) and his American Families Plan. His address was very popular with a majority of Americans because it describes ways to address long-neglected improvements to U.S. infrastructure and the quality of life of middle class and poor Americans.
Republicans admitted, in a recording of Senator McConnell talking to conservative groups, obtained by The New Yorker, that the lesser-known provisions in H.R. 1 that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections. (See References below.)
Republicans will therefore surely object to The Made in America Tax Plan, which proposes to “fix the corporate tax code so that it incentivizes job creation and investment here in the United States, stops unfair and wasteful profit shifting to tax havens, and ensures that large corporations are paying their fair share.” Here are some of its provisions:
Set the Corporate Tax Rate at 28 percent
Discourage Offshoring by Strengthening the Global Minimum Tax for U.S. Multinational Corporations
Prevent U.S. Corporations from inverting or claiming tax havens as their residence
Deny Companies Expense Deductions for Offshoring Jobs and Credit Expenses for Onshoring
Eliminate a Loophole for Intellectual Property that Encourages Offshoring Jobs and Invest in Effective R&D Incentives
Enact A Minimum Tax on Large Corporations’ Book Income
Eliminate Tax Preferences for Fossil Fuels and Make Sure Polluting Industries Pay for Environmental Clean Up
The Made In America Tax Plan shared with Americans in the popular Joint Address on April 28, 2021 may be what motivated Minority Leader McConnell to call a press conference on May 2, 2021 and declare that “I don’t think there will be any Republican support — none, zero — for the $4.1 trillion grab bag which has infrastructure in it but a whole lot of other stuff.”
Whatever the reason, Senator McConnell has pledged zero Republican support for the American Jobs Plan. Therefore, given the urgency of the climate emergency, Democrats could go even bigger to create even more effective improvements to our infrastructure and economic justice, incorporating even more ideas from the THRIVE Agenda.
The THRIVE Agenda was first proposed in 2020 as a House Resolution. It has been reintroduced in the 117th Congress as The THRIVE Act, H.R. 2523. It was created by The Green New Deal Network, a 50-state campaign with a national table of 15 organizations: Center for Popular Democracy, Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Greenpeace, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indivisible, Movement for Black Lives, MoveOn, People’s Action, Right To The City Alliance, Service Employees International Union, Sierra Club, Sunrise Movement, US Climate Action Network, and the Working Families Party.
The THRIVE Agenda calls for even bolder action to revive our economy while addressing the interlocking crises of climate change, racial injustice, public health, and economic inequity with a plan to create dignified jobs for millions of unemployed workers and support a better life for the millions more who remain vulnerable in this pivotal moment. (See References below.)
References
White House Highlights on American Jobs Plan, which concludes with the Made In America Tax Plan to help fund it: https://www.whitehouse.gov/american-jobs-plan/
Minority Leader McConnell Says Zero Republicans will Back Biden on $4T, May 2, 2021: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/551465-mcconnell-no-senate-republicans-will-back-biden-on-4t
Popularity of President Biden’s First Joint Address to Congress: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/04/29/bidens-first-speech-to-congress-draws-high-approval-ratings-in-cnn-cbs-polls
Republicans fear the popularity of Democratic plans to get billionaires and corporations to pay their fair share: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century
Indivisible National’s summary of the background and benefits of the THRIVE Act https://indivisible.org/resource/thrive-act
The THRIVE coalition page with fact sheets and other resources: https://www.thriveagenda.com/act