Check our weekly newsletter for dates and times for Rubio and Rutherford office visits. Anyone is welcome to join them. Here's what was discussed with Rubio's office Tuesday, with a written request for response. You can bring your own concerns. Email indivisible.st.johns@gmail.com if you're interested in going or contact David below.
Sen.
Rubio July 17, 2018
Supreme Court Nomination
The
president promised in 2015 to appoint justices who would overturn the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) and end a women’s right to exercise free choice and access
to legal abortions. Trump’s nominee,
Brett Kavanaugh has no reservations against overturning these well established
Supreme Court precedents.
A
case regarding key protections for patients with pre-existing conditions could
be making its way to the Court soon. If confirmed, Kavanaugh may be the
deciding vote in repealing the health care law and stripping affordable health
insurance away from millions. According to a report by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, more than half of all Americans have at least one pre-existing
condition, including 75 percent of people ages 45 to 54 and 84 percent of
people between the ages of 55 to 64.
The above are only two of many reasons why we urge you to reject
the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.
Universal, affordable health care is a human right. Reproductive
choice is a woman’s responsibility in consultation with her family and
physician. We urge you to support these principles.
Social Security/Family Leave
Your
proposed legislation to create national paid parental leave will result in cuts
to future earned Social Security benefits. While the United States is the only
developed nation that does not offer paid leave, your plan forces families to
choose between caring for a new child and risking their financial security in
retirement.
Your
proposal would allow parents of newborns or newly adopted children to take
twelve weeks from their Social Security benefits early, later reducing or
delaying that person’s benefits at retirement age to make up the difference.
Retirees would have to delay their Social Security benefits by approximately
twenty five weeks per each paid leave, more than twice as long as the initial
time off.
The
progressive FAMILY Act would give people up to 12 weeks of paid time off,
earning up to two-thirds of their regular wages, to care for new children or
deal with serious family or health issues. In contrast to the Rubio-Trump bill,
it is funded by a small increase in payroll taxes – less than $2 per person –
instead of pitting family leave and earned Social Security benefits against
each other.
We urge you to support S.337 - FAMILY Act, not the Rubio-Trump plan
to cut Social Security.
Economy
Businesses
have been more successful at regaining losses from the downturn. Since the
recession ended in 2009, corporate profits have grown at an annualized rate of
6.5 percent. Yearly wage growth has yet
to hit 3 percent. And when it does, the Federal Reserve — which has a mandate
to keep inflation under control even as it is supposed to maximize employment —
can be expected to tap the brakes.
With
tariffs piling up and potentially pushing prices higher, odds are that the Fed
will push through two more increases before 2018 ends. The Labor Department
reported this week that one inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index, had
increased 2.9 percent in 12 months — the highest level in six years.
As
Fed policymakers have explained, allowing the economy to run too hot “could
lead eventually to a significant economic downturn.” And persistent wage
increases, unlike growing profit margins, are considered a signal that the heat
is on.
In
2000, when the jobless rate last fell below 4 percent, corporations pulled in
8.3 percent of the nation’s total income in the form of profits; wages and
salaries across the entire work force accounted for roughly 66 percent. Now,
the jobless rate is again fluttering below 4 percent. But corporate profits
account for 13.2 percent of the nation’s income. Workers’ compensation has
fallen to 62 percent.
Tariffs, Foreign Relations, Sanctions and Abandonment of US Allies
Whether
it is Russia’s interference in the election, its annexation of Crimea, or its
intervention in Syria, Mr. Trump’s statements either undercut, or flatly
contradict, those of his lieutenants. We urge you and the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee insist that our government officials speak with one voice
in negotiations with all foreign powers threatening the US including Russia,
China, North Korea and Iran.
Last
Tuesday the Senate passed a non-binding measure calling for Congress to have a
role in tariffs imposed on the basis of national security, an implicit rebuke
of President Trump's move to tax imported steel and aluminum from Canada,
Mexico, the European Union and other trading partners.
Republican
Senators Corker and Toomey had previously sought a vote on a more forceful push
for congressional oversight of Trump's tariffs, but their efforts were not
backed by GOP leadership and did not get a vote. We urge you to rebuke Senate Leadership in
this regard.
Immigration Reform
ICE
and HHS are failing to meet court imposed deadlines to reunite children and
families. As parents and grandparents, it
is heart wrenching to see images of children being torn away from moms and dads
who have crossed the border in search of asylum.
It
is disturbing to learn about immigrant families being held indefinitely in
detention camps (including many located on military bases laden with toxics) and
the construction of Trump's wall that threatens to cut through border
communities. As people who value the well-being of all children, it's
important to take a stand for vulnerable immigrant families and our border
communities.
Environment
In last
week’s newsletter you said “On Wednesday, I spoke on the Senate floor about the
harmful algae blooms related to discharges from Lake Okeechobee. Following my
request on Sunday to President Trump, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers delayed
Monday’s scheduled discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie River.”
Again,
you readily support mitigation of environmental damage while doing nothing to
address the sources of Okeechobee pollution from ‘Big Sugar’ and cattle
ranchers. You have consistently voted to
weaken the EPA, overturn environmental regulations that address waterway
pollution, climate change and sea level rise in order to promote job
growth. In the long run, job creation
will suffer as tourism declines, drinking water supplies are threatened and
coastal areas become uninhabitable due to flooding and storm damage. We
strongly urge you to address the root causes and threats to Florida’s fragile
and vulnerable environment.
Will you include reengineering of the Florida canal system in any
proposed infrastructure bill, and assure that the entities responsible are
identified?
Background:
The Florida canal system is out dated. It was designed to function by gravity
fed drainage which is failing as sea level rises. The engineers who designed
the canal system expected it to be improved 10 years ago, which was not done.
The system is therefore obsolete, causing flooding both inland and in the
coasts as sea levels rise. The Army Corps of Engineers designed the canal
system and the Water Management Systems maintain them. Neither has budgeted massive
reengineering projects. Funding the canal overhaul requires a federal
infrastructure investment creating employment opportunities for Floridians.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
The
ACLU Congressional Scorecard evaluates votes by members of Congress on key
legislation affecting civil liberties and civil rights since January 2017. Regrettably,
you voted 95% of the time with party ideologues in opposition to positions
recommended by the ACLU. See the complete report here.
Respectfully,
on behalf of Northeast Florida Indivisible
