Op-eds
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
April 08, 2020
The New York Times: Congress Needs a Plan to Confront the Coronavirus. I Have One.
Congress has passed three coronavirus packages aimed at providing immediate relief to families, workers, hospitals and small businesses, but with more than 12,000 dead and 10 million out of work, the scale of this tragedy demands we do much more - much faster. Communities across the country are entering a critical stage. Illnesses are mounting and our health system is stretched to the brink. Early data shows people of color are infected and dying at disproportionately high rates. Unemployment … Continue Reading
April 07, 2020
Medium Post: Protecting Our Elections During the Coronavirus Pandemic
The coronavirus outbreak is not only a public health emergency and an economic crisis - it also threatens our elections. Elections are foundational to our democracy. But as federal, state, tribal, and local governments issue stay-at-home orders and encourage residents to practice social distancing to combat the virus, large-scale, in-person voting on Election Day could present serious risks to public health. While many states have taken steps to postpone primary elections or adopted … Continue Reading
March 26, 2020
Medium Post: Congress Must Move to Rapidly Increase Our Coronavirus Testing Capacity
Congress is close to finishing its third legislative package to assist in the coronavirus response. It's imperative that as soon as this package is complete, we immediately turn to dramatically increasing our coronavirus testing capacity, which will help us address both the health and economic impacts of this crisis.I've outlined some ideas to consider as we move toward this long overdue goal.Widespread diagnostic testing is necessary to control coronavirus - as we've seen, countries … Continue Reading
March 24, 2020
Boston Globe: The coronavirus puts child care sector in need of a bailout
Parents across the Commonwealth face a painful economic bind: their children are at home, but the child care check is still due. COVID-19 has (rightfully) forced the closure of child care centers across Massachusetts. In doing so, it has forced a profound reckoning about the state of the American child care system.The child care sector — long overlooked and long deprived of adequate public investment — is foundational to today’s economy. Nearly 80 percent of parents with young children are in … Continue Reading
March 21, 2020
CNBC: Coronavirus stimulus bill must include expanded Social Security payments
Congress is allocating billions of dollars to respond to coronavirus and a growing economic crisis - and those dollars need to be directed right into Americans' pockets.Right now, Americans are facing a public health crisis and an economic crisis. Coronavirus carries special risks for older Americans and people with underlying health conditions, who are following the advice of public health experts by staying home and staying away from other people in order to reduce their exposure to … Continue Reading
