Author Archives: William Garcia

JOE BIDEN’S AMERICAN RENEWAL, OVERCOMING GOP OBSTRUCTION

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JOE BIDEN’S AMERICAN RENEWAL, OVERCOMING GOP OBSTRUCTION

“Tonight, I come to talk about crisis and opportunity. About rebuilding the nation, revitalizing our democracy, and winning the future for America. Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation, America is on the move again.” Pres. Joe Biden, speaking to America and the world, on April 28.

Democratic President Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress are driving a robust recovery in America. The recovery already demonstrates many areas of healing and transformation: overcoming the once-in-a-century pandemic; getting Americans back to work and back to school; addressing the climate crisis; and fighting for justice to replace brutality.

What has been accomplished in 100 days over the fierce opposition of Republicans is remarkable.

American Rescue Plan. Signed into law by President Biden, and pushed through Congress despite tooth-and-nail opposition from the Republican Party, this transformational measure is already producing results. During Biden’s first one hundred days, Americans were given over 220 million Covid shots. When Biden took office on January 20, fewer than 1% of seniors were fully vaccinated. One hundred days later, 70% of seniors are fully immunized, and the death rate from Covid- 19 is down 80% since January.

American Families Plan. Pres. Biden and the Democrats in Congress are working to overcome GOP roadblocks and hurdles to this vitally needed measure. Democrats are working feverishly to push through the roadblocks, so that working parents will have increased access to quality affordable childcare; mothers and fathers will have up to 12 weeks of paid medical leave; and families with 65 million children will get what they need in order to help cut childhood poverty in half.

American Jobs Plan. President Biden labels this “a once in a generation investment in America itself.” Independent experts estimate the American jobs plan will add millions of jobs and trillions of dollars economic growth in the years to come. Pres. Biden is pushing us toward that goal by advocating for raising the minimum wage for full-time workers to $15 per hour.

The members of the Republican-gerrymandered-and-controlled legislature have worked feverishly to stop the work of America’s renewal and recovery. They have voted to turn away $1.6 billion in funding from the federal government that is needed by challenged families to get economic access to healthcare. They also voted to reduce K-12 funding. And, the GOP legislators are working hard to keep open the loophole enabling those with violent histories to get around our country’s system of firearm access protections. This from a party that claims to be focused on “law and order”.

The whole world has been watching America, in dismay, as the previous president worked hard to allow ever-increasing damage to the environment. Joe Biden is changing all that. He has ordered that America rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, reengaging America with the worldwide effort to create a safe and sustainable environment.

Finally, Joe Biden has called out evil, succinctly, and powerfully. “White supremacy is terrorism”, he reminded us. Proposing concrete action, he declared “We have all seen the knee of injustice on the neck of Black Americans.”

It’s time to stop the politics of resentment, and unite behind goals that we all share: health, equity, education, and justice.

LCDP Proposed Constitution and By-Laws update

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The Executive Board of the La Crosse County Democratic Party (LCDP) has completed a review of the LCDP Constitution and By-Laws. A bi-annual ratification is required by our Constitution. Both revised documents passed the Executive Board with no dissenting votes. More information can be found in the documents linked below:

Informational letter with proposed changes.
Full Constitution Proposal with changes in red.
Full By-Laws Proposal with changes in red.

Why an Exploration of Racism Discussion Group at LCDP?

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By Ralph Knudson, co-leader of the Discussion group and LCDP Executive Board member

“Not everything that we face can be changed, but nothing can be changed until we face it”

(James Baldwin)

What voters just made the essential difference to put the national Democratic party barely in charge of the House, Senate and Presidency as of this last election? Why is the GOP now so focused on vote suppression of racially marginalized people as a primary strategy to regain power? Why has the GOP gained dominant influence with lower class and less educated whites? Why does that same group of whites consistently vote “against their own interests”, especially about economic support initiatives? What is the risk for the nation and the Democratic Party, of taking votes from racially marginalized people for granted? What is the benefit of actively joining with racially marginalized people: to learn and understand their untold history, perceptions and experiences; and then to address national and regional needs from that perspective? What is the risk?

Why does our La Crosse Democratic party have only a handful of racially marginalized people as active, participating members? Do we want to change that? What do we need to do for that to happen? How do we start?

A group of LCDP members believes that we need to learn about and face the structural racism that is lurking within these questions. We want to open discussions with our local Democratic party board and members about this basic and crucially current issue. That’s why we have started an ongoing book discussion group about racism/anti-racism as a start towards becoming effective, supportive allies for racially marginalized people in our community.

Structural racism surrounds all of us on a daily basis. If we hope to deconstruct it, we need to be allies with marginalized people to understand and face it realistically. We truly need each other, to save all of us from the worsening corrosion of racism undoing justice and our democracy. We also need each other to rise above the crisis and create a vision that everyone (including disenfranchised whites) can get behind and support. Like fish in water, we’ve been raised within a system of racial assumptions we don’t easily see…unless we’ve lived with being racially marginalized. We in the dominant (white) group are not personally responsible for creating racial injustice, but we now have a great responsibility to see it and work to undo it. Only after we see and understand it better, can we then effectively work together to challenge and dismantle it. We believe that antiracist work begins right here, and right now.

We are reading and discussing books by both white and racially marginalized authors about large issues of racism history and structure in the USA; and also about personal learning, change and growth about internalized racist assumptions and social reinforcers of racial injustice. So far, we have read and discussed “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo, and are reading “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson. Next, we will read “But I’m not a Racist” by Kathy OBear and will then read “The Sum of Us” by Heather McGhee. Subsequent books (or podcasts, videos or presentations) to be discussed will be determined as we go…especially shaped by participant interest and suggestions. Discussions are online via Zoom. We strive to create an open, safe and nonjudgmental space where everyone can speak, listen and be heard. We strive to ask far more questions than to presume answers…believing that doing so will help each of us develop our own new insights, questions and desire to finally change the system. That’s what politics does at its best. That’s what political parties are for. By reading and learning together, we hope to face racism anew; as a party of justice and change.