While Matt selectively quotes Rev. Jackson taking a position that I strongly suspect is not one he’d take today, Rev. Jackson has been calling, from his hospital bed, for churches and pastors to help feed the hungry this holiday season. Focus there instead.

“[The poor] work in hospitals. . . . They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. . . . No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right. We are a better Nation than that.”

“Reagan gave the rich and the powerful a multibillion-dollar party. Now the party's over, he expects the people to pay for the damage. . . . [L]et us not raise taxes on the poor and the middle-class, but those who had the party, the rich and the powerful, must pay for the party.”

“They [the Reagan administration] believe that the poor had too much money and the rich had too little money so they engaged in reverse Robin Hood - took from the poor and gave to the rich, paid for by the middle class.“

“We believe in a government that's a tool of our democracy in service to the public, not an instrument of the aristocracy in search of private wealth.”

Realizing you can’t watch the video on BlueSky. Below are a few quotes from that same section. Despite being older than I am, most of the speech is as relevant today as ever (just not the part Matt selectively quoted). 🧵

This legislation has moved forward, however, and we must also. I am relieved that the government will hopefully reopen soon. When it does, we must keep fighting for healthcare and fighting for a world with better choices.

That last part about immunity is unlike in almost every other case you hear about where someone sues the government. But of course this doesn’t apply to anyone else. You don’t get to sue for $500K under this provision if the government subpoenas your call records without telling you.

Americans don’t get affordable healthcare, but some GOP senators get to sue for $500K each because Jack Smith subpoenaed their call records. And the bill prevents the government from claiming qualified or sovereign immunity in response.

While it is minor in comparison to the healthcare crisis, I also want to note that this bill highlights the corruption and self-dealing we see too much of in Washington right now. The bill creates a private right of action (a way for people to sue) only for U.S. senators.

Because this legislation fails to help the millions of Americans who will soon struggle to afford health insurance; that is, it fails to achieve even part of what I understood we were fighting for, I would have voted no.

This is not an ordinary moment. It is a crisis. It is essential that we fight in whatever ways we can. Our elected officials owe this work to every one of us, but especially to those who have suffered most during this shutdown. Otherwise, what was the point?

Let’s be clear about who is responsible: we are here because of President Trump and those who do his bidding without question, a group that includes Rep. John McGuire.

This was a choice between, on the one hand, paying federal workers, feeding the hungry, and reducing the president’s immediate capacity for chaos and destruction; and, on the other, protecting healthcare. It was a choice we should not have had to make.

Fwiw, Seth and I donated online in addition to the food we dropped off, and I would encourage others to do the same if you can. Cash donations allow food banks to purchase in bulk and are the most effective way to help.

Nope! It’s very difficult for most of us in this district to see Rep. McGuire IRL.