American Dream Movement Demands ‘Jobs Not Cuts’ on Capitol Hill

American Dream Movement Demands ‘Jobs Not Cuts’ on Capitol Hill

American Dream Movement Demands ‘Jobs Not Cuts’ on Capitol Hill

The Congressional Progressive Caucus and the American Dream movement demanded more help for the unemployed at a raucous Washington rally. 

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The “Take Back the American Dream” conference concluded in Washington today with a rally on Capitol Hill calling for an end to austerity measures and dramatically increased efforts at job creation. Representatives Keith Ellison and Raul Grijalva, co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive caucus, joined Van Jones, union leaders and unemployed Americans at the rally, which attracted about 350 people.

The Nation was there and shot this video:

The conference’s final day began with a speech from Elizabeth Warren, delivered by phone from Massachusetts on the heels of her first Democratic primary debate last night. She told the crowd that “Washington is wired for those who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers,” and said, “This is a fight we must fight, and this is a fight we must win.” 

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Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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