AFTERMATH: The future of Elizabeth Warren's bill
Jim Dean - Democracy for America
Once again, Senate Republicans chose billionaires over a fair deal for middle class Americans.
On Wednesday, Republicans blocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s bill to provide much-needed relief to anyone with a student loan. If the Bank on Students Act had passed, borrowers could have refinanced their loans just like homeowners, paid for by a tax on millionaires.
It's downright disgusting that Senate Republicans have yet again blocked America from even discussing legislation that would help millions of young people, seniors and families struggling to pay down student debt.
The solution is clear: We need more Elizabeth Warren Democrats in the Senate. That's why DFA is supporting Shenna Bellows, Brian Schatz, and Rick Weiland. America deserves Senators who will stand up for the middle class against the billionaires -- like the Koch brothers -- who are wrecking our country.
Shenna Bellows, running for U.S. Senate in Maine, would have been a strong proponent of Sen. Warren's bill. Bellows has pledged to expand Social Security and Medicare and raise the minimum wage -- things we can expect incumbent Republican Susan Collins to oppose.
Brian Schatz has jumped out to a lead in the polls to keep his U.S. Senate seat in Hawaii by strongly supporting a higher minimum wage and expanding Social Security, two things his corporate Democratic opponent can't be relied on to deliver.
Rick Weiland is running a populist, grassroots campaign for an open U.S. Senate seat in South Dakota. He is committed to taking our democracy back from the billionaires, supporting a constitutional amendment to reverse the Citizens United and McCutcheon decisions.
If we flip more Senate seats from red to blue -- and keep progressive Democrats in office -- we have a much better chance of passing laws to help the middle class, like Sen. Warren's Bank on Students Act, next year.
Thank you for supporting populist Democrats,
- Jim
Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America