Op-eds
CNN: Supreme Court power grab threatens Native health care during the pandemic
(CNN) As millions of Americans cast their ballots in the most important presidential election in recent history, and as Native communities grapple with the disproportionate toll of a once-in-a-century pandemic, Senate Republicans are focused on one thing: installing a right-wing judge on our nation's highest court.Make no mistake: The Trump administration and Senate Republicans are trying to force a justice onto the court to finish the job they could not finish in Congress. They want to … Continue Reading
October 23, 2020
WBUR: Overturning The Affordable Care Act Would Be Catastrophic — Especially For People With Disabilities
For the 61 million Americans who live with a disability, there’s an important date on the calendar this fall: November 10, the day the Supreme Court will hear a case about whether to overturn the Affordable Care Act. President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have picked a Supreme Court nominee whose position is clear: she doesn’t like the ACA, or the previous court rulings that upheld it. There is so much at stake.Before the ACA, the disability community faced critical barriers to … Continue Reading
October 19, 2020
Shondaland: How Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee Could Threaten Your Healthcare
Over ten years ago, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. Since then, we’ve made progress. Millions of Americans now have high-quality, affordable health insurance. We no longer have to worry about being denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Millions of young adults can stay on their parents’ plans until 26. States were given the option to expand Medicaid eligibility — providing coverage to more than 12 million low-income … Continue Reading
October 14, 2020
Boston Globe: The Affordable Care Act and coverage for Massachusetts residents is at risk
Dave was laid off from his hotel job in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, and he lost his health insurance too. A week later, he was rushed to the emergency room with a lung problem. With support from an enrollment assister, he was able to enroll in MassHealth coverage that was made possible because of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. He is just one of the hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents given a lifeline by the ACA.Yet, the multi-year effort to repeal … Continue Reading
October 12, 2020
Rolling Stone: Elizabeth Warren on How to Honor RBG’s Legacy — and the Dangers of Confirming Amy Coney Barrett
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a trailblazer. She was an icon. The legend known as the “Notorious RBG.” And to me, she was a role model and a friend. Her sharp legal mind, her compassion, and her fighting spirit pried open doors for millions of women, including myself. I remember when I was a young mother and I was at Rutgers, trying something as seemingly outlandish as going to law school. It was a really lonely undertaking. But Ruth was an example of a woman who made it, and even better, a … Continue Reading
October 08, 2020
The Cut: We Know Exactly How Amy Coney Barrett Feels About Abortion
"The decision whether or not to bear a child is “central to a woman’s life, to her dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When Government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a fully adult human responsible for her own choices.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that 30 years ago, at her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. She understood that reproductive freedom is foundational to equality, and critical to women’s health and economic security. Without … Continue Reading
October 06, 2020
Dorchester Reporter: Opioid epidemic did not pause for Covid; we must act to save lives
Long before the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the United States, the country was already battling another large-scale public health crisis: the opioid epidemic. Like the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic has disproportionately hit Black, Brown, American Indian, and Alaska Native communities.The coronavirus pandemic has actually made the opioid crisis worse and accelerated its devastation. Congress has a responsibility to take immediate action to tackle these twin crises. It can … Continue Reading
September 29, 2020
Fast Company: Elizabeth Warren: Business Roundtable declaration ‘was just an empty publicity stunt’
Last August, the Business Roundtable made a big, splashy announcement: Nearly 200 of its member CEOs, led by JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, would reverse their harmful, decades-long position that “corporations exist principally to serve shareholders.” The new “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” said they would now serve all stakeholders, including workers, consumers, and the communities in which they operate. But one year later, their actions show this was just an empty publicity … Continue Reading
September 18, 2020
Boston Globe: Ranked-choice voting is a better way to vote
Across the country, nearly 1,000 people are dying each day from COVID-19, an infectious disease that should have been under control by now. The economy is being squeezed to its breaking point. The fight for racial justice has reached an inflection point and demands bold action. And from postal sabotage to old-fashioned voter purges, voting — the very foundation of our democracy and an essential instrument for change — is under siege.To defend our democracy, we need to fortify it. One way is by … Continue Reading
August 17, 2020
CNBC: Elizabeth Warren and lawyer who sued Uber say gig economy companies deny workers their rights
The coronavirus pandemic has delivered a one-two punch to American workers - a public health emergency paired with a brutal economic crisis. Our country has lost millions of jobs and has already experienced some of the highest unemployment numbers since the Great Depression. Essential workers are risking their safety on the job, often without adequate protections. Senate Republicans have made shielding employers from liability, while dismantling federal labor protections, their top priority … Continue Reading
August 06, 2020
The Washington Post: Families see a looming catastrophe. Private equity firms see dollar signs.
The nation is facing an accelerating housing crisis. Too many people had no stable housing before the pandemic hit, and covid-19 has made the problem even worse. Renters who were already facing an affordable housing shortage (with many spending more than half of their income on rent) now have no federal rental assistance or federal protection from eviction. Homeowners have less than a month left of foreclosure protection. And more than 30 million people receiving unemployment insurance just … Continue Reading
July 21, 2020
The New York Times: To Fight the Pandemic, Here’s My Must-Do List
Americans stayed at home and sacrificed for months to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. That gave us time to take the steps needed to address the pandemic — but President Trump squandered it, refusing to issue national stay-at-home guidelines, failing to set up a national testing operation and fumbling production of personal protective equipment. Now, Congress must again act as this continues to spiral out of control.Those who frame the debate as one of health … Continue Reading
July 07, 2020
The Wall Street Journal: Eugene Scalia Off the Mark on ESG Investing
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia proclaims his department is doing right by retirees by making it harder to invest with environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations in mind (“Retirees’ Security Trumps Other Social Goals,” op-ed, June 24). Mr. Scalia claims retirement advisers shouldn’t consider these factors because “retirees’ security trumps other social goals.” Mr. Scalia overlooks that ESG funds routinely outperform other offerings and ignores well-documented economic risks … Continue Reading
July 06, 2020
Univision: Debemos actuar ahora para poner fin a los devastadores impactos de covid-19
Cuando los grandes bancos y las compañías hipotecarias colapsaron nuestra economía en 2008, los grandes ejecutivos de Wall Street obtuvieron los rescates de los contribuyentes del gobierno federal, mientras que los trabajadores se quedaron estancados con la factura. Y para las comunidades de color ya vulnerables, la recesión fue aún peor.Las comunidades latinas fueron algunas de las más afectadas, según un estudio del Pew Research Center que encontró que la economía de estos hogares cayó … Continue Reading
July 06, 2020
Univision: We Must Act Now to End the Devastating Impacts of Covid-19
When the big banks and mortgage companies crashed our economy in 2008, Wall Street CEOs got taxpayer bail-outs from the federal government, while working people got stuck with the bill.And for already vulnerable communities of color, the recession hit even worse. Latino communities were some of the hardest hit, with a Pew Research Center study finding that the median wealth of these households fell by 66% from 2005-2009. If the federal government doesn’t act, the COVID-19 pandemic will have a … Continue Reading
May 26, 2020
The Washington Post: The federal government fiddles as covid-19 ravages Native Americans
For generations, the federal government has failed to honor its promises to Native American people. Now, covid-19 is ravaging Native communities, killing young people and elders alike, and devastating tribal economies. We are fighting in Congress to ensure that sovereign Native nations have the resources needed to protect the health and well-being of their citizens during this pandemic. The novel coronavirus's terrible impact in Indian Country underscores that the federal government must live … Continue Reading
May 14, 2020
NBC News: Coronavirus contact tracing could stop COVID-19 and reopen America. We have a plan for that.
As states across America try to reopen cities and towns, some people are acting like we have two mutually exclusive options: protect our public health or get our economy up and running. They could not be more wrong. Workers, consumers and businesses need to feel safe in their communities before we can get back to normal. In other words, we can't rebuild our economy without stopping the spread of COVID-19. Even as we rush to develop a vaccine - which could take months, if not years - contact … Continue Reading
April 21, 2020
Medium Post: Congress must provide immediate relief for consumers. Here’s how.
The coronavirus outbreak poses a major challenge to public health and to the economy. An unprecedented 22 million Americans filed for unemployment in the last four weeks, yet bills keep coming and debts keep piling up. A part of our policy response to the crisis must include solutions that help those teetering on the edge of financial ruin. For millions of Americans, a $1,200 stimulus check will not even cover one month of basic expenses, including rent and mortgage payments, food and … Continue Reading
April 15, 2020
Medium Post: Our Plan for a $50 Billion Child Care Bailout
The coronavirus pandemic is causing a crisis for the nation's child care providers and working families. Following the advice of public health experts and government officials, businesses have shuttered and families across the country are staying home to stay safe and to mitigate the spread of the virus. But this has pushed child care providers to the absolute brink: forced to either close their doors to stop the spread of the virus, or stay open around the clock to provide emergency … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
The Root: Congress Must Mandate Release of Coronavirus Demographic Data—Including Race and Ethnicity
The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis unlike any we’ve seen in our lifetime. In the United States alone, hundreds of thousands of people are confirmed sick, more than 20,000 people have died, and more than 16 million have filed for unemployment. Already, we are seeing the ways in which the pandemic is impacting communities unequally. The early data is alarming: The virus appears to be infecting and killing people of color at higher rates. This reflects the structural racism and systemic … Continue Reading