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greg casar
AOC to Join Western Stops of Sanders 'Fighting Oligarchy' Tour
"While Republicans try to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, people across the country are standing up against these attacks on the working class," the congresswoman said.
Mar 16, 2025
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is set to join five stops of Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Fighting Oligarchy" tour this week.
Sanders (I-Vt.), who mobilized working-class voters nationwide during his 2016 and 2020 runs for the Democratic presidential nomination, launched the tour in the Midwest last month. Thousands of people have attended his events in cities across Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
"Today, the oligarchs and the billionaire class are getting richer and richer and have more and more power," Sanders said in a Friday statement. "Meanwhile, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and most of our people are struggling to pay for healthcare, childcare, and housing. This country belongs to all of us, not just the few. We must fight back."
Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) are set to join the senator on Thursday, March 20 at the East Las Vegas Community Center, for an event scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm local time. From there, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders plan to head to Arizona State University in Tempe for a 6:00 pm stop.
The pair has two more events on Friday: A 1:00 stop at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and a 5:00 pm stop at Civic Center Park in Denver. They are slated to wrap up the trip on Saturday with Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) at an 11:30 am event at Catalina High School in Tucson, Arizona.
"While Republicans try to gut Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security to pay for tax cuts for billionaires, people across the country are standing up against these attacks on the working class," said Ocasio-Cortez. "They deserve representation that is willing to stand with them. I look forward to hitting the road with Sen. Sanders."
Since Sanders announced the new tour stops and guests on Friday, Republicans and a handful of Democrats on Capitol Hill have given them some new developments to discuss on the road. Ahead of a potential government shutdown on Friday, 10 members of the Senate Democratic Caucus—including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—helped GOP senators advance a stopgap measure that critics warn will further empower President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's attacks.
Schumer's "gutless" handling of the situation sparked calls for him to step down as Senate minority leader and for Ocasio-Cortez to launch a primary challenge against him in the 2028 cycle—something the congresswoman has not ruled out.
As the Senate was sending the stopgap bill to the president's desk, Trump was at the U.S. Department of Justice, delivering a speech that sparked widespread alarm. As Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program and an adviser at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, summarized, he "sought to undermine faith in our judicial system, attacked lawyers who support due process and the rule of law, and made it clear that he expects the attorney general and other leaders to use the full force and resources of the Justice Department to roll back our civil and human rights, target his enemies, and operationalize a worldview that perpetuates white supremacy."
On Saturday, Trump bombed Yemen and revealed that he was invoking the Alien Enemies Act for deportations. The 1798 law was used during World War II to force thousands of people of mostly German, Italian, and Japanese descent into internment camps.
Meanwhile, Sanders wrote in a Saturday email to supporters that from the tour stops so far, "what I have found is that in these districts, and all across the country, Americans are saying loudly and clearly: NO to oligarchy, NO to authoritarianism, NO to kleptocracy, NO to massive cuts in programs that working people desperately need, NO to huge tax breaks for the richest people in our country."
"There must be meetings and rallies in all 50 states, and they should take place over and over again. And when those rallies are over, we need to organize the people who attend to mobilize in their communities and be in touch with their members of Congress. But that is not all," he wrote. "We need progressives to run for office at all levels. I am talking about school boards, city councils, state legislature, and the races that are not in the news but make a tremendous difference in local communities."
"We need to build community and bring people together even when it isn't about politics first. The Republican Party is always trying to divide us up based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and more... we need to come together as one," he continued. "We need to elect a U.S. House and a U.S. Senate that will prioritize the needs of the working people in this country."
Sanders concluded that "we need to be looking for new and creative ways to educate each other in a world where nearly the entire media and communications infrastructure is owned and controlled by the wealthiest people in this country. If there was ever a time in American history when we need to come together, this is that time."
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Sanders Shows Senate Dems How to Message 'No' Vote on GOP Spending Scam
Republicans' continuing resolution, he warned, "will provide a blank check for the administration and Mr. Musk to continue their savage war against working families, the elderly, children, the sick, and the poor."
Mar 13, 2025
With a shutdown looming, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday offered his Democratic colleagues a blueprint for how to reject Republicans' stopgap measure, which would fund the government through the end of September but, as critics warn, give President Donald Trump—and billionaire Elon Musk—broad discretion over spending priorities.
"Since President Trump has been in office we have seen chaos, shock, and heartbreak," Sanders (I-Vt.)—who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020—said in a statement explaining his plan to vote "no" on the House-approved package.
"We have seen oligarchs take over our government and the wealthiest person in the world decimate programs that provide support for a struggling working class," Sanders said, pointing to Trump and Musk's recent attacks on the Department of Education, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Social Security Administration.
"We have seen a move toward authoritarianism where the president is illegally usurping the powers of Congress, while his administration challenges the role of the federal courts in constraining unconstitutional administrative actions," he continued, echoing his recent Senate floor speeches and national tour.
The continuing resolution (CR) passed Tuesday by 216 House Republicans and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) "will provide a blank check for the administration and Mr. Musk to continue their savage war against working families, the elderly, children, the sick, and the poor in order to lay the groundwork for massive tax breaks for the billionaire class," Sanders warned.
"This legislation will also provide a green light for the administration to continue its illegal and unconstitutional activities," he concluded. "This is a bill I cannot support. Instead, the Senate must pass a 30-day CR so that all members of Congress, not just the House Republican leadership, can come together and produce legislation that works for all Americans, not just the few."
Sanders' statement came amid fears that Senate Democrats may cave to the GOP plan in exchange for a certain-to-fail vote on an alternative bill. Although Republicans control the upper chamber, they lack a filibuster-proof majority—meaning at least 60 senators have to agree to hold a vote on most legislation, including a CR on funding.
Progressives in the House who stood against the Republican package urged Senate Democrats to continue the fight to actually pass an alternative spending bill that doesn't further empower Trump and Musk—such as a "clean" 30-day CR that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other key members of the party have suggested.
"Some Senate Democrats are being tempted to pretend to fight the Trump-Musk funding bill today, then quietly agree to give up on blocking it," Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said on social media Thursday. "That would be a disastrous decision. Voting for cloture on a bill that allows Musk and Trump to steal from taxpayers is the same as voting to allow Musk and Trump to steal from taxpayers. Everything is on the line. Democrats weren't elected to put up a fake fight."
CPC Chair Emeritas Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) similarly declared that "Democrats need to stand up and fight for the American people," and expressed support for the 30-day resolution.
Progressive voices outside of Congress are also calling on Democrats to keep up the fight ahead of the potential shutdown, which would occur if a deal isn't reached before the end of Friday.
"Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats must insist on a clean 30-day funding bill," Public Citizen and Indivisible said in a joint statement. "Helping Republicans pass their harmful, partisan slush-fund for Trump and Musk would correctly and needlessly redirect the public's outrage from Republicans to Democrats. Even those who would be most directly harmed by a government shutdown—federal employees—have said they are willing to risk a Republican-created government shutdown instead of allowing the ongoing lawless dismantling of government, and they're right."
"All Americans should be clear: The Republican long-term CR is not a clean continuation of previous funding commitments. It would enable Trump and Musk to claim much greater authority to violate the separation of powers and refuse to spend appropriated funds," the groups continued. "The Republican long-term CR also would impose draconian spending cuts on Washington, D.C. and impose pointless, devastating harm on children in the nation's capital."
"If Republicans disregard the well-being of the country and choose to shut down the government over their failure to pass their destructive funding bill," they vowed, "we and our partners will mobilize across the country to ensure the anger of voters is directed at the culprits of this manufactured crisis, in defense of the vital programs that Musk's MAGA allies are eager to destroy for the sake of greater corporate profits."
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Progressives Launch 'Tax the Greedy Billionaires' Coalition to Counter Trump-GOP Agenda
"Enough with the attacks on working people in order to fund billionaire tax cuts," said Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas). "Tax the billionaires instead of funding the billionaires."
Feb 25, 2025
As House Republicans prepared to vote Tuesday on a budget blueprint that calls for ravaging Medicaid and other programs to help fund trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy, progressive lawmakers joined community members and organizers outside of the U.S. Capitol to launch a new coalition demanding a radically different approach.
"Enough with the attacks on working people in order to fund billionaire tax cuts," Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said at a press conference. "Just tax the billionaires instead of funding the billionaires."
Speakers at Tuesday's event cast the "Tax the Greedy Billionaires" coalition—which includes People's Action, MoveOn, and other advocacy groups—as a direct challenge to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' legislative agenda, particularly the push for $4.5 trillion tax cuts primarily for the wealthiest Americans, financed by deep cuts to Medicaid, federal nutrition assistance, and other key programs.
"The Republican plan is about making government more efficient for big corporations and billionaires who are screwing us over," said Casar. "We don't need to cut Social Security; we can expand it. We don't need to cut people's healthcare; we can expand it. We can have a country that is better off for small businesses and workers alike."
LIVE: The Congressional Progressive Caucus Holds Tax the Greedy Billionaires Press Conference https://t.co/ZCKGk61r1a
— Congressman Greg Casar (@RepCasar) February 25, 2025
The press conference included remarks from organizers who warned the House GOP's proposed $880 billion Medicaid cuts over the next 10 years would have devastating—and potentially deadly—impacts on their communities.
"Medicaid afforded me the opportunity to get on life-saving medication," said Elissa Tierney, co-founder of an organization that helps people negatively impacted by substance addiction. "I am asking, begging: Please protect these programs."
"If your vote is going to result in someone dying or losing their home," Tierney added, "vote no."
A full House vote on the budget blueprint, which Trump has endorsed, could come as soon as Tuesday evening, though there could be delays caused by divisions in the narrow Republican majority as GOP lawmakers face mounting constituent backlash in their home districts.
Politiconoted Tuesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) "faces some bleak arithmetic: No Democrats are expected to back the budget plan, and if all members are present and voting, he can lose only one Republican and still approve it."
"Do not take your eye off the ball—and the ball is always the money."
In a letter to members of Congress on Tuesday, the new coalition urged lawmakers not to "slash programs that working families depend on."
"Tax the greedy billionaires now," the letter adds. "The American Dream is dying in a system where unlimited wealth for the few destroys opportunity for all."
Last month, according to an analysis unveiled Monday, the world's billionaires saw their collective wealth surge by $314 billion—roughly $10 billion per day.
The GOP's proposed extension of expiring provisions of their 2017 tax law would be a major boon to billionaires in the United States, who saw their wealth skyrocket in the years following the law's enactment.
"Republicans are not thinking about regular people ever," Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) said at Tuesday's press conference. "It's about who's at the top who we can give more money to while the rest of us are scrapping around for every little bit that we can get. It's not right."
"Do not take your eye off the ball—and the ball is always the money," Balint added. "Who has the money, who's getting the money, and how are the rest of us being screwed."
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