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The threat to voting rights
A letter about the child tax credit
A letter from the Democratic Party of Oregon's Stonewall Caucus
About Voting Rights
On July 13 President Biden delivered a speech about voting rights, linked here.
Remarks by President Biden on Protecting the Sacred, Constitutional Right to Vote
We hope you read it from start to finish, but here is a quote (emphasis added): "
"So hear me clearly: There is an unfolding assault taking place in America today — an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections, an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are — who we are as Americans.
For, make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear and peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country.
It gives me no pleasure to say this. I never thought in my entire career I’d ever have to say it. But I swore an oath to you, to God — to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. And that’s an oath that forms a sacred trust to defend America against all threats both foreign and domestic. (Applause.)
The assault on free and fair elections is just such a threat, literally. I’ve said it before: We’re are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That’s not hyperbole. Since the Civil War. The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January the 6th.
I’m not saying this to alarm you; I’m saying this because you should be alarmed. "
Also of interest is an article by Stephen Rosenfeld, published on dailykos, titled Alito’s Voting Rights Assault Drags the Supreme Court Back to Segregation Era.
Quoting from the article: "In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the court eviscerated the strongest remaining section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), Section 2, which held that election laws and voting rules that had a racially discriminatory impact could be blocked."
About the Child Tax Credit
Hello Democrats and Friends,
Do you know families with kids, who could use more money for taking care of those kids? Maybe money for school supplies? Back-to-school clothes? Maybe diapers, nutritious food, and dues for scouts or 4-H? New shoes? (Ye gads, kids' feet grow fast!)
Maybe you are part of such a family? I know I was. And we could have used help. Boy, could we have.
Here is what you need to know, to let your friends know, so that they can benefit. Help a neighbor.
Tomorrow, July 15th, American working families get a huge tax cut. On that day, initial payments go out to 92% of American families with children: $250-$300 per month, per child, so that a family with three kids, aged two, four, and ten, will get $10,200 per year. (For that family it's $850/month, on the 15th of every month, until the family files its 2021 tax-year taxes, at which time the family will receive the rest of the $10,200 in one lump sum.
Keep in mind that this is actual money paid to families, not some mere tax deduction. It is real money. For real people. More than $10,000 per year for that family of five.
This is a huge tax cut for families who have not benefited from tax cuts that previously went mostly to millionaires, billionaires and big corporations. The expanded child tax credit benefits even people who have not had to file taxes in the past, or have little or no income. (Links below).
This tax cut encourages a generational transformation, lifting almost half of poor American children out of poverty--childhood poverty that breeds adult poverty, educational failure, decreased productivity, disease, crime, incarceration, and premature death.
Until this week, America has had a dismal, shameful record of childhood poverty--far worse than other wealthy nations. No more; this tax cut will change American lives for the better, for generations. What it is, is a legitimate shot at the American dream, for families that never really had hope of achieving it.
This tax cut/tax credit is part of the American Rescue Plan. Representative Peter DeFazio voted for it; Senators Merkley and Wyden voted for it. President Biden signed it. And not a single Republican voted for it.
Details in links below.
Please let your friends and neighbors know. The payments are automatic, unless they have not recently filed federal income taxes, in which case they need to file; information is in the links.
And, if you want, go ahead and let those friends and neighbors know that Democrats Deliver!
Joe Yetter
https://www.whitehouse.gov/child-tax-credit/
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/advance-child-tax-credit-payments-in-2021
https://www.benefits.gov/benefit/938
From the Stonewall Caucus
A year ago, our nation faced a crisis unlike any in recent memory – one that we are only now beginning to emerge and heal from.
June 2020 was supposed to be a month of celebration and Pride, but Oregonians were asked to make sacrifices for the health and safety of all. Instead of big colorful parades, we had big colorful virtual celebrations.
But something else was happening in the streets, despite the global pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to protest the state-sanctioned violence against Black and Brown bodies.
Just weeks after the public murder of George Floyd, Americans of nearly every walk of life were marching for the lives of Black Americans.
Not unlike the protests of the '60s for the lives of LGBTQ+ folks and the dignity to be able to simply enjoy a night at a bar living your authentic self, these marches were a clarion call to recognize each other's basic humanity.
Pride did not begin as a celebration of a widespread, shared vision of equality. Pride was born out of protest – specifically against raids by New York City police against the LGBTQ+ community. Still today it lives on in protest, both as a celebration of the progress made and to reaffirm our commitment to continue the fight for full equality.
The struggle for Black lives has deep roots within Pride and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. After all, many of the leaders of the Stonewall uprising were trans women of color. So as we emerge from the darkest days of the pandemic and look toward Pride celebrations this year and in the years to come perhaps with a renewed sense of hope and optimism, let us also resolve to keep fighting for all the Black, Brown, and LGBTQ+ folks who are simply trying to live their lives free from hate, discrimination, and oppression.
Thank you,
Lupe Preciado-McAlister
Chair
DPO Stonewall Caucus