Wait! The fight isn’t over!

Tuesday night was HUGE. Everyday people triumphed over big money. Years of hard work paid off. And best of all, progressives won a contest of ideas: “Together we are stronger” beat “you’re on your own” at the polls.

Let’s take a moment to give ourselves a pat on the back… and then get. right. back. to. work!

And let’s dream big. If we put this same energy into the next four years, we can create jobs for young people, rebuild roads and bridges, spark the clean-energy economy of the future, get our tax code making sense again, and grow communities from the bottom up.

We can do this. We don’t have to trim our vision. But we do have to fight. We can’t repeat the mistakes of 2008 and 2009. Now that we’ve gotten folks elected, we need to make sure they do the job.

The first test starts now. Romney and Ryan ran on cutting Medicare, Social Security, and homefront investments to pay for massive tax cuts for the rich. Their ideas were rejected. But in Washington, bad ideas never die. They come back in the name of “compromise,” and it’s about to happen:

• At the end of the December, the Bush tax cuts expire. New budget goals that call for much lower spending also go into effect. There will be a big fight over this. That fight starts now.
• Washington calls this the “fiscal cliff.” Don’t buy it! They’re trying to scare us into a “grand bargain” that cuts the pillars of the middle class but helps big banks. This isn’t a cliff, it’s a showdown between two ideas for America’s future.
• If we don’t keep fighting, any “grand bargain” will look more like a “grand swindle” that cuts Medicare, Social Security, education, and pretty much everything that helps guarantee the American Dream!

Let’s not fall for what I call “ham and egg” justice. When it’s time for breakfast, the farmer calls for “shared sacrifice.” But if the hen gives up an egg, and the pig gives up a leg, that’s not balanced. Instead of cutting help for sick kids, why don’t we tax Wall Street speculation? Why not institute a carbon tax that would also save our planet, or end subsidies for big oil and handouts to Halliburton, or close loopholes for tax-dodging corporations… and then put that money to work rebuilding America?

The President won a hard-fought victory promising to make the wealthiest pay their fair share. Vice President Biden said he could “guarantee” no changes in Social Security. But we’ve learned they can’t create change on their own.

The most important thing is that we don’t rest now. So today, I’m asking you to click here to commit to keep fighting.

America is not broke. America is being robbed. Winning an election is just the first step to stopping it.

Now it’s up to us,
Van

P.S. — Our movement can’t win unless we speak to hearts as well as minds. So we also need your voice: your songs, your poetry, your design, your creative ways to explain where the money really goes, why a strong safety net matters, how investing in education opens doors, who it will be who pays the price for unfair cuts. If you have a creative idea, hit “reply” right now and let us know.