Dear Rob,
Blink. "Did that really just happen?" "Are people now supposed to risk their lives during a pandemic to stand in crowded lines to vote?"
Last week, voters in Wisconsin had to risk their lives to go out and cast a ballot in person, which was not okay! [1] The COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election make it clear that now more than ever we need to be able to mail in our ballots. But rather than help make that possible, horrifyingly, the Trump Administration is refusing to fund the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as it too struggles to weather the impacts of the pandemic -- and the USPS is now in danger of going under right when we need it most. [2] This is a giant blow to our democracy, businesses, economy, and communities.
There's no time to waste! Your voice, power, help, and hope is needed.
We're in this together, and together we will defend our democracy and rebuild our communities to be better.
We know President Trump's failure to protect our postal system and our ability to vote during a pandemic is part of a broader pattern of massive failures to address the threat of the coronavirus. Below are just a few examples from Trump's long list of failures during this pandemic:
- Shut Down White House Pandemics Office: In 2018, President Trump shut down the White House pandemics office even though concern was raised from experts about doing so. [3]
- Failure to Act Quickly = Lives Lost: Despite warnings from public health and policy experts in his own administration, as well as reports from the National Security Council in early January, President Trump took over six weeks after the first COVID-19 death in the U.S. to take major action to stem the tide of the pandemic. [4]
- Failure to Test: The lack of early and current testing has caused, and is causing, lives to be lost and our economy to be hurt because the absence of testing allowed COVID-19 to spread like wildfire. [5] To make matters worse, Trump and Pence repeatedly misinformed the public that testing was widely available when it was not. [6]
- Medical Supplies Crisis: The Trump administration's failure to act quickly to amp up the federal response to get medical supplies like ventilators and protective gear has caused a deadly delay in getting sufficient supplies out to healthcare workers and patients. [7]
- Failure to Delegate to Experts: By first appointing Vice President Mike Pence to run the White House Coronavirus Task Force, a person who doesn't have a history of strong success in public health crises; [8] and later bringing in his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no public health experience, to leadership, [9] President Trump compounded the impact of his initial delays to take action by refusing to listen to scientists and public health experts, misleading the public, and erratically pushing forward policy.
- Weakened Healthcare: Unbelievably, during this crisis the Trump administration continues a lawsuit to roll back the Affordable Care Act and has also declined to open up a special healthcare enrollment period. [10]
- Failure to Support Essential Workers: Healthcare, grocery, childcare, delivery, farm, first responders, domestic, and other essential workers have been putting their lives on the line to save our communities while Trump has been undermining their value. For instance, it's been reported that the Trump administration is working on policies to reduce farm workers' wages during the pandemic [11]; and the Trump administration also just passed a dangerous rule that pushes frontline workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to not quarantine and keep working until they have symptoms. [12]
- Failure to Protect Vulnerable Populations, Including People Who Are Incarcerated: It is impossible to follow CDC COVID-19 guidelines in prisons, jails, and detention centers. Trump has failed to protect the most vulnerable including elderly, pregnant, and health-compromised men, women, and children. [13]
- Misleading the Public: Despite consistent fact checking, President Trump has misled the public and shared harmful misinformation, as well as medical half-truths, in his regular briefings. [14]
- Failure to Support Governors: President Trump not only flat out rejected taking the responsibility that his office holds, saying "I don't take any responsibility at all" in terms of the pandemic, he's also been telling governors to "try getting it for yourselves" in relation to key medical supplies, like ventilators, that the federal government normally coordinates. [15]
Why this list? We need to remember Trump's failures so we know exactly who put our families and economy at risk. The U.S. is currently the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in no small part because of this list of failures. [16] This could have been prevented if we had a leader who put the health and well-being of our families first, instead of petty politics and denial.
We also need to remember these failures so they aren't repeated in the future.
→ Help make sure that a failure to protect our postal service and our ability to vote in November aren't on the next list of President Trump's failures.
The answer to the question of "Did that really just happen?" is too often a sad "Yes" these days, but together we can be present and powerful in this moment as we also work to build a better tomorrow.
→ So please take a moment, after you take action, to share this link on Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, and via email so others can take action too. Here's that action link again so you can share it with others: https://action.momsrising.org/sign/USPS_democracy_COVID/?t=5&akid=13757%2E847037%2Efvx3Xa
Sending virtual hugs to you all, wishes for good health to you and your families -- and enormous gratitude for all you are doing to help protect our communities!
- Kristin, Tina, Monifa, Ruth, Karen, Donna, Elyssa, Gloria, Felicia, and the entire MomsRising/MamásConPoder Team
[1] The New York Times
[2] The Washington Post
[3] The Washington Post
[4] The New York Times
[5] The New York Times
[6] The New York Times
[7] The New York Times
[8] CNN
[9] The Guardian
[10] Forbes
[11] The Hill
[12] Politico
[13] The Washington Post
[14] CNN
[15] Vox and The New York Times
[16] NPR
Paid for by MomsRising Together, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
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