Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) spoke on Monday at a virtual press conference on Facebook with other left-wing members of the House of Representatives and organizations to announce what they want included in future coronavirus relief legislation, including ending what she called “corporate greed.”
“And so we really need to show how the corporate greed is the disease in our country alongside what is happening with coronavirus,” Tlaib said.
Tlaib referred to poet and Planned Parenthood activist Sonya Renee Taylor, who like others on the left see the collapse of the U.S. economy as an opportunity to put the socialist policies they support in place, including universal health care, a guaranteed income, forgiveness of debt, and housing guarantees.
“This is our moment to create this new garment for humanity, and I hope you all will join us in doing that,” Tlaib said.
The event was billed as launching the “#PutPeopleFirst campaign” to demand “progressive” priorities in future legislation.
Past relief bills, and the present negotiations over additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), have focused on the American economy, which has been largely shut down for fear of the coronavirus spreading.
Those on the call included Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MI), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Activists included Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the Indivisible Project; Lorella Praeli, president of Community Change Action; Greisa Martinez Rosas, DACA recipient and deputy executive of United We Dream; and Reggie Hubbard, a Washington, DC-based strategist with MoveOn.org.
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