Most of Washington — including a number of Democrats — can’t be bothered to lift a finger for the 99 Percent. In fact, they demand ever-greater sacrifices from the 99 Percent to fund larger tax cuts for the super-rich. Fortunately, Keith Ellison and the Progressive Caucus are different. Ellison is a chief sponsor of a bill that would create over 5 million jobs.

The plan proposed by Ellison and the Progressive Caucus rejects the foolish Washington consensus that austerity will somehow restore the economy. That’s pure nonsense — in fact, it will be an enormous drag on our economy. Instead, we need to invest heavily in stimulating the economy. Here are a few of the bill’s proposals and their estimated impacts on the economy:

• Enacting the Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act sponsored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) would boost employment by approximately 1.1 million jobs in each of fiscal years 2012 and 2013.
• Reinstating the Making Work Pay tax credit for 2012 and 2013 would boost employment by 409,000 in fiscal 2012 and 532,000 jobs in fiscal 2013.
• Defusing the automatic spending cuts currently scheduled under the Budget Control Act would boost employment by more than 1.1 million jobs in fiscal 2013. [Economic Policy Institute]

That last point is the most important. Researchers at Goldman Sachs have estimated that short-sighted austerity measures will cost us a full percentage point in terms of GDP growth next year. It is pure insanity that we’re planning policies that would cost us over a million jobs in the middle of a recession. Ellison’s bill fixes that.

As I’ve been writing about frequently, the GOP is having a lot of success with their war against voting. Voter ID bills are designed to stop eligible citizens from exercising their right to vote, and they’re being passed all around the country.

That’s why I’m so proud that my Congressman, Keith Ellison, is trying to do something about it. Ellison has introduced two bills in Congress to put an end to anti-voting laws in the states:

I am introducing two bills today to curb voter suppression. The Same Day Registration Act would require states to provide for same day voter registration for a federal election. The Voter Access Protection Act would make sure election officials cannot require photo identification in order to cast a vote or register to vote.

Eligible voters deserve access to the polls. By passing these bills, we can ensure our nation lives up to its ideals and protect the most fundamental right in our democracy.

Bravo, Keith. Thank you for your work to safeguard Americans’ right to vote. The right to vote is one of our most fundamental rights as Americans. It should never, ever be taken away from us.

As Speaker Boehner scrambles convince his caucus that his ruinous debt ceiling proposal is sufficiently destructive to merit Tea Party endorsement and President Obama signs onto pretty much anything that seems like a New England Republican would endorse, it’s important to take a moment to remember that there are other ways to put our fiscal house in order.  Ways that don’t damage entitlement programs or ravage discretionary spending.  

Today, Congressman Ellison re-introduced us to the People’s Budget, a deficit reduction plan championed by the Progressive Caucus but - unsurprisingly - ignored by most of Congress and almost all of the media.  It’s not the kind of budget that Washington’s Very Smart People get behind.  And that’s why you should read it.  And tell your friends about it.  Not because it is without its problems - it’s not flawless - but because it shows that fiscal discipline is a progressive value and that it does not preclude us from living in the kind of society we want for ourselves and our children.  

Representative Ellison’s piece is produced in its entirety below.  Read the People’s Budget, the commentary, and talk with your friends.  Call your Representative and Senators.

Read More

Last evening, Congressman Keith Ellison held a panel discussion and town hall-style meeting in a near-capacity Sabathani Center auditorium.  On the docket: the Affordable Care Act, one year later.  

The Congressman was joined by State Senator John Marty, HCMC Family Care physician Dr. Elizabeth Frost, and SEIU Organizing Director Phillip Cryan.

Early on, Ellison restated the movement’s goal: a family doctor for every family in America.  His constituents’ experiences this past year, and concerns about where we’re headed, suggest we’re not there yet.

Byzantine and impractical coverage rules splitting apart families, illegally dropped coverage for adult children and those with pre-existing conditions.  Fees charged to remedy the company’s “mistake”.  In one case, expulsion from the rolls was beaten back only because of knowledge of the Affordable Care Act’s provisions and a decidedly, wonderfully, un-Minnesotan willingness to push back and cause a stir. 

Constituents voiced concerns about state exchanges, which need to be established by 2014.  Will states be able to push beyond federal minimum requirements?  Will there be funding for them,  given the current Congress?  How, exactly, will all of this work?  

The upshot: break’s over.  

Last night, residents of the 5th CD put a local face on the Affordable Care Act’s impact and made plain that the fight for affordable healthcare did not end last March.  If we’re going to ensure that every American gets health care, not just health coverage (thank you, Dr. Frost), we’re going to need to work for it.  This time, the fight is in Washington AND Saint Paul.  

At Rep. Peter King’s (R-NY) race-baiting Muslim vilification hearings, Keith Ellison confronted his fellow Representatives’ efforts to make the entire Muslim faith answer for the misdeeds of a handful of dangerous, violent radicals:

Throughout human history, individuals from all communities and faiths have used religion and political ideology to justify violence.   Let’s think about the KKK, America’s oldest terrorist organization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the shooting at the Holocaust Museum by James von Brunn; and bombings at Planned Parenthood clinics.  Did Congress focus on the ethnic group and religion of these agents of violence as a matter of public policy?  The answer is no.

Toward the end of his testimony, Ellison recounted the story of Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a Muslim first responder who died on 9/11. He teared up as he recalled how Hamdani was initially treated with suspicion because of his ethnicity, when he was in fact a hero. His powerful testimony is well worth a watch.