Out to Pasture (2020 Election Game) Gameplay Thread

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS DEBATE ANSWERS

Image from Flickr

Opening Statement:
Good evening Detroit! Thank you to CNN, thank you Anderson, and I want to thank our venue for hosting us tonight. I’m not only to represent our party in the next election, but I’m also running to make Mike Pence one of the shortest-serving Presidents in American history! We need a nominee that can unite the party and unite the country and I believe that I am the best candidate for that. We need a nominee that will be President of the United States, not President of the Blue States.

I’m not the loudest person on stage, but we’ve already got that fire and fury in the White House. We are tired of the divisive rhetoric and the division in this country, we already had enough of that with President Trump, we don’t need 4 more years of President Pence and his pals that would rather tear this country apart than to bring us together.

There’s an old song that my Dad used to listen to back in the day that said: “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you.” You’ve got some clowns and jokers on both extremes, and here you are stuck in the middle. But I’ve got news for you, I’m in the middle as well. We need a nominee that appeals to everyone, not just the extremes of both parties. We need someone that can keep the states we won in 2016, but expand our coalition and win back North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and also flip Georgia and Texas. We need someone who is assured victory over President Pence, I am that candidate.

You've been a proud antagonist of voter suppression since your narrow defeat in the Georgia gubernatorial race last year. As President, how would you take on voter disenfranchisement on a national scale?
Well, the first thing we must do is mandate paper ballots in all 50 states in all elections. It’s unfortunate that we currently have a Senate Majority Leader, Moscow Mitch, that refuses to put the House bill mandating paper ballots on the Senate floor. I want to applaud my good friend, Zoe Lofgren and other House Democrats for passing the bill requiring paper ballots in all elections, the SAFE Act. It’s been sitting at Moscow Mitch’s doorstep for the last few months, so what does he have to hide?

So, within my first 100 days in office, I will hopefully sign that bill into law. However, if it still hasn’t passed, then I’ll sign an executive order requiring paper ballots. A quick way to assure that it passes is by giving Senate control back to the Democrats. If you want to do that, please donate to Jaime Harrison, Sara Gideon, Cal Cunningham, Theresa Greenfield, Mark Kelly, and all of our friends running to take the Senate back.

Once I’m in office, we will make election day a national holiday! We’re going to have same-day voter registration. What is the purpose of closing registration dates weeks before voting begins? We should encourage people to vote, not discourage them with useless deadlines!

Right after I lose the Georgia governor’s election last year, I founded Fair Fight, a group dedicated to fighting voter suppression. Just a few weeks ago, Governor Brian Kemp purged the voter rolls of thousands of African American voters across the state of Georgia. Shame. On. You, Governor Kemp. When I am president, this will end, period.

Closing Statement:

I had a closing statement planned, but I just saw a hero and a legend in my book, Congressman John Lewis. I am grateful to him. He marched for us. If it were not for him, Senators Booker and Harris wouldn’t be up here on stage with me. So thank you, Congressman Lewis.

There is a man in the White House who is wanting to take health care away from millions of Americans, he wants to deport Dreamers who just want a shot at the American dream, he wants to keep unregistered guns on the streets, he wants to lower the quality of public education, he wants to cut government programs that keep people off the streets, he is doing everything in his power to bring down this great nation.

I am a product of good public education, a product of welfare programs that kept my family off the streets when we were kicked out of an apartment building simply because we were black. If I can paint a picture for you, things are better than they were 50 years ago, but we must do more.

This Sunday, I will be joined by a group that is near and dear to my heart, who has been at the forefront of the movement to stop gun violence for once and for all. Join me in Parkland, Florida this Sunday for a special rally to stop gun violence.

Once again I want to thank Detroit, thank CNN and our moderator, Anderson for hosting the debate tonight. I want to speak directly to Republicans, Democrats, and Independents across the nation. If you are tired of the divisiveness. If you are tired of turning on the TV and groaning, thinking “What have they done now?” If you are tired of the rhetoric. If you’re tired of the lying, tired of the pain, then you’ve got a home with me. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, and I hope I earn your vote.

[VirginiaAaron]

Stacey's Plan to Break Up Big Tech

Introduction

25 years ago, Facebook, Google, and Amazon didn’t exist. Now they are the most valuable and well-known companies in the world. The federal government sued Microsoft for violating anti-monopoly laws and eventually reached a settlement. The government’s antitrust case against Microsoft helped clear a path for Internet companies like Google and Facebook to emerge.

They’ve bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. Essentially, building a monopoly in the tech world. In the process, they have hurt small businesses and stifled innovation. To undo that, we need to stop this generation of big tech companies from throwing around their political power to shape the rules in their favor and throwing around their economic power to snuff out or buy out every potential competitor.

America’s big tech companies have achieved their level of dominance in part based on two strategies

Venture capitalists are now hesitant to fund new startups to compete with these big tech companies because it’s so easy for the big companies to either snap up growing competitors or drive them out of business. The number of tech startups has slumped, there are fewer high-growth young firms typical of the tech industry, and first financing rounds for tech startups have declined 22% since 2012. With fewer competitors entering the market, the big tech companies do not have to compete as aggressively in key areas like protecting our privacy. We must ensure that today’s tech giants do not crowd out potential competitors, smother the next generation of great tech companies, and wield so much power that they can undermine our democracy.

Restoring competition in the tech sector

In response to the rise of these “trusts,” Republican and Democratic reformers pushed for antitrust laws to break up these conglomerations of power to ensure competition. We required a structural separation between the network and other businesses, and also demanded that the network offer fair and non-discriminatory service. First, by passing legislation that requires large tech platforms to be designated as “Platform Utilities” and broken apart from any participant on that platform. Companies with annual global revenue of $25 billion or more and that offer to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties would be designated as “platform utilities.

These companies would be prohibited from owning both the platform utility and any participants on that platform. Platform utilities would be required to meet a standard of fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory dealing with users. Platform utilities would not be allowed to transfer or share data with third parties. For smaller companies, their platform utilities would be required to meet the same standard of fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory dealing with users, but would not be required to structurally separate from any participant on the platform.

To enforce these new requirements, federal regulators, State Attorneys General, or injured private parties would have the right to sue a platform utility to enjoin any conduct that violates these requirements, to disgorge any ill-gotten gains, and to be paid for losses and damages. Amazon Marketplace, Google’s ad exchange, and Google Search would be platform utilities under this law. Therefore, Amazon Marketplace and Basics, and Google’s ad exchange and businesses on the exchange would be split apart. Google Search would have to be spun off as well.

Second, my administration would appoint regulators committed to reversing illegal and anti-competitive tech mergers. Current antitrust laws empower federal regulators to break up mergers that reduce competition.

So what will the Internet look like after all these reforms?

You’ll still be able to go on Amazon and find 30 different coffee machines that you can get delivered to your house in two days. You’ll still be able to go on Facebook and see how your old friend from school is doing. Facebook would face real pressure from Instagram and WhatsApp to improve the user experience and protect our privacy. Tech entrepreneurs would have a fighting chance to compete against the tech giants.

Of course, my proposals today won’t solve every problem we have with our big tech companies. There are countless problems regarding the power of big tech, but the benefit of taking these steps to promote competition is that it allows us to make some progress on each of these important issues too. More competition means more options for consumers and content creators, and more pressure on companies like Facebook to address the glaring problems with their businesses. Healthy competition can solve a lot of problems.

The steps I’m proposing today will allow existing big tech companies to keep offering customer-friendly services while promoting competition, stimulating innovation in the tech sector, and ensuring that America continues to lead the world in producing cutting-edge tech companies. It’s how we protect the future of the Internet.

[VirginiaAaron]

Today presidential candidate Stacey Abrams unveiled new branding and a new logo on her website, an attempt to distance herself from her failed gubernatorial bid last year.

Here's the new logo below:

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR A LIVING WAGE

Today presidential candidate Stacey Abrams joined Senator Cory Booker and others in supporting a living wage of $15/hour. Ms. Abrams issued the following statement of support:

I know firsthand what it's like working on the minimum wage, and it's no easy task. Just over $7/hour is pitiful. If we want to reduce poverty levels, reduce income inequality, increase worker productivity, decrease employee turnover, boost the economy, and decrease gender and race inequality we must raise the minimum wage to $15/hour. I hope to see all of my fellow candidates running for President to show their support for a living wage!

[VirginiaAaron]

Abrams tweet after national poll shows her leading narrowly

[VirginiaAaron]

MOMS DEMAND ACTION ENDORSE ABRAMS

Today 2020 presidential hopeful Stacey Abrams held a rally in Parkland, Florida. Her rally centered around gun violence and her plan to combat that. She also got the endorsement of Moms Demand Action, a sub-division of Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Image from Flickr

A sample from Ms. Abrams's remarks are below:

I remember the shock and horror I felt when I heard about the shootings in El Paso, Virginia Beach, Parkland, Las Vegas, Orlando, Sandy Hook, San Bernadino, and Charleston. It's a feeling that I don't normally get. It's the feeling of losing all hope of the people in charge. It makes you want to scream "WHY!" Why would anyone want to slaughter the lives of innocent children, students, adults. I'm honored to have the support of a great group that is destined to end this endless tragedy. Since the Columbine shooting, there have been over 2,300 mass shootings in the United States. Over 8,000 have died since Columbine. This has to stop. I'm honored to stand hand and hand with Moms Demand Action in this fight to end gun violence once and for all.

A sample from the founder of Moms Demand Action, Shannon Watts also said a few words at the rally:

There's a crowded field running for President. It can be overwhelming watching this election unfold. But there's one person in this race that isn't overwhelming. Someone who is a breath of fresh air. Someone that has government experience that isn't from Washington. Stacey knows how to get things done, she is one of the few people running that I know will stop gun violence. Moms Demand Action isn't asking for much. We are asking for universal background checks, close the loopholes, pass a Red Flag Law, and reduce the stranglehold that the gun lobby has on Washington. I started Moms Demand Action in 2012 after the Sandy Hook shooting. I went on Facebook and started a group conversation with some Moms I knew. We had to stop this. So we did. If that isn't grassroots, I don't know what is! Stacey is grassroots, effective, pragmatic, and electable. Everything we need in the next President of the United States of America. Join Stacey and I and we will stop gun violence once and for all!

Image from Wikimedia Commons

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS ANNOUNCEMENT

2020 presidential candidate and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams made an announcement in South Carolina today:

We've been spending quite a bit of time in the early states, and we're really appreciative of the support we've gotten in Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada, and New Hampshire. I'm going to be also helping out with our Democratic governor candidates so we can win a majority of State Houses this November. Tomorrow evening, I'll host a rally with Attorney General Andy Beshear in Kentucky. The week after that I'll be with my good friend, Governor John Bel Edwards. The following week, I'll be in my birth state of Mississippi rallying support for Attorney General Jim Hood. I hope my colleagues that are also running will join me in helping our friends running for Governor so we can take back the State House. The real change we can make isn't just through the federal government. It's through the state and local governments as well. I can't wait to help and I wish Mr. Beshear, Mr. Hood and Mr. Bel Edwards.

Images from Wikimedia Commons

[VirginiaAaron]

"TRUSTED"
Stacey Abrams Ad, aired in Iowa, South Carolina, California, and Texas

Narrator: Stacey Abrams, a proven leader that delivers for America:

Stacey: I have a boundless belief in America’s future. The future where more have the opportunity to thrive.

Narrator: A fighter for Medicaid…

A newspaper headline that says “Abrams expands Medicaid,” dating from April of 2018



Narrator: She put a stop to unfair tax hikes on working families.

A headline from the Associated Press that says “Abrams stops tax increases on Working Families” dated from April of 2011

Narrator: She put her home state of Georgia on mass transit…

A headline from The Emery Wheel flashes on the screen that says “Ms. Abrams increased funding for transportation” dated from April 2018

Narrator: As President, Stacey Abrams will promote opportunities for working families to not just survive, but thrive. She will put working families first by funding programs that promote raising bold and ambitious children. Stacey Abrams: A President Who Puts Working Families FIRST.

Stacey Abrams: I’m Stacey Abrams and I approve this message.

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS MEETS WITH BEL EDWARDS AND BESHEAR

Today, 2020 presidential candidate Stacey Abrams (D-GA) met with the Governor-elect of Kentucky Andy Beshear and Governor of Louisiana John Bel Edwards:

I was happy to meet with Governor Bel Edwards and Governor-elect Beshear today. I campaigned for these two men and I'm really happy to see our party make gains in red states. We need a nominee who knows red states and can flip red states. Whoever is the nominee needs to take a page from Andy and John's playbook on how to win red states. The key to winning here is local issues. We need to focus on issues that affect voters at home.

Governor Bel Edwards spoke shortly after Ms. Abrams (OOC: This is NOT an endorsement from JBE):

I've known Stacey for a long time, we're both Democrats from red states. I helped her campaign in 2018 for Governor, so I really appreciate her help in our close race. Stacey's right, we talked about local issues and we won. Granted, it wasn't easy, but we won. My opponent tried to make this race about President Pence, the Supreme Court, 2020, and socialism. We didn't stoop to lows like he did. We focused on making Louisianans lives better, and we won.

Governor-elect Beshear spoke after Governor Bel Edwards (OOC: Also not an endorsement):

Stacey's help really made the difference. We got an immediate fundraising boost when Stacey announced she'd be campaigning for us, so I really appreciate her help. I appreciate all of the presidential candidates and party leaders that did everything they could to help us win. We ran on local issues, we won. Governor Bevin cut teacher pay and cut the education budget. That's local. That affected real people at home. By cutting the education budget, he essentially spat at those teachers working hard for their students. If we're gonna win in 2020, we've gotta focus on healthcare, education, foreign policy, and respect for the presidency.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

[VirginiaAaron]

Image from Tweetgen

Transcript just in case this gets removed:

I'm at a loss for words. When the president has nothing to say substantially, which happens a lot, he just calls all of his opponents "socialists". I am advocating for bringing America to a modern era, not bringing us to a Venezuela-esque government. @MikePence, grow up.

[VirginiaAaron]

Abrams Statement on Pence's Tweet

The President once again brought up me skipping the opioid meeting at the White House. I would've showed up if he clarified his position on gay marriage. A simple question about equal rights in our nation.

He also said that I've gotten nothing done. That's simply not true. Shortly after I became Georgia House Minority Leader, I worked directly with Governor Nathan Deal to reform the HOPE Scholarship award, which was created by Governor Zell Miller. The only way we could keep the HOPE Scholarship around was by slightly decreasing the amount of money awarded and lower taxes. We compromised to keep the scholarship for Georgia students.

Time Magazine, I "single-handedly stopped the largest tax increase in Georgia history."

I worked with Governor Deal to reduce prison costs and crime overall.

I also authored the largest transportation packet in Georgia history, which got signed into law by Governor Deal.

I worked with whoever the Governor was no matter what party they were.

We got a lot done. I'm proud to be one of the most effective minority leaders of a lower state legislative chamber in the United States.

It's true: my record isn't the same as President Pence's. As Governor, he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which on paper sounds great. But in reality, all this does is treat LGBTQ+ individuals like they're a different species. The RFRA basically allows individuals to ignore any law that defies their religion. People are already using this to demonize and target LGBTQ+ Americans and others. According to the Freedom for All Americans group, a New Mexican local religious leader cited the state RFRA when he appealed a conviction for sexually abusing two teenagers. Domestic violence and women’s rights organizations across the country have opposed such measures, because, as one advocate wrote, “Too often in our history, religion has been used as a justification for the abuse of women and children, often by family members.” In addition to issues relating to child welfare and domestic violence, a RFRA law could allow a police officer to refuse to even interact with certain members of the community, even while on duty. There has already been an example of this in Oklahoma, where an officer cited a RFRA law in defense of his refusal to even attend a community event hosted by a local Islamic Society.

Gay and transgender Americans work hard to earn a decent living and provide for their families—just like everyone else. When a gay or transgender person walks into a business or government office, they shouldn’t have to worry if they will be turned away simply because of who they are. No matter how you feel about marriage for gay and lesbian couples, treating all people with respect is something we can all agree on.

So, Mike Pence has a record of partisanship and division. I have a record of bipartisanship and unity.

Image from Flickr

[VirginiaAaron]

Final Abrams Schedule: November 2019

November 1-16 | Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana

November 1-3: Campaign for Andy Beshear in Kentucky

November 4-5: Campaign for Jim Hood in Mississippi

November 6-10: Campaign for John Bel Edwards in Louisiana
November 11-13: Barnstorm for JBE in swing areas
November 14-16: Bus tour for JBE before election night

November 17-26 | South Carolina
November 17-18: Rest in Charleston
November 19-20: Barnstorm in Charleston
November 21: Town Hall in Mount Pleasant
November 22-23: Barnstorm Columbia
November 24: Visit various Columbia churches
November 25: Roundtable with African American women to discuss income inequality, women’s issues, and healthcare
November 26: Town Hall in Rock Hill, board flight to Des Moines, Iowa later that night

November 27-30 | Iowa
November 27: Arrive in Des Moines, host town hall, and rally voters
November 28: Town hall in Dubuque
November 29: Host Healthcare roundtable with local leaders to discuss how to fix the broken system
November 30: Rest in Council Bluffs

[VirginiaAaron]

Images from TweetGen

Transcript: As I've said countless times over the last few years, the reason I didn't vote on the child trafficking legislation because it limits the discretion of judges. I have a plan to reduce opioid addictions, @MikePence, maybe you should read it. (1/2)



Transcript: The RFRA, which you signed as Governor, has nothing to do with marriage equality. It has to do with equal rights. By signing that, you are directly sponsoring LGBTQ+ discrimination. #LoveIsLove #DefeatPence

[VirginiaAaron]

Image from TweetGen

Transcript: I'm calling on all of my fellow candidates for President to join me and call for @Mike Pence to denounce his signing of the RFRA. We can not stand by and let innocent LGBTQ+ Americans be harassed and treated like second class citizens.

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS GETS NEW ENDORSEMENT

Image from Flickr

Local South Carolina newspaper, the Post and Courier endorsed former Georgia House Minority leader Stacey Abrams for President.

We're happy to announce that the Post and Courier is endorsing Stacey Abrams for President of the United States. Her focus on election security, income inequality, infrastructure, race relations, and electability shows that she has views that all Americans can get behind. Her record of bipartisanship and unity will give America the re-do we all desperately need. The rancor of the Pence administration feels like an endless nightmare we all want to wake up from. Her wide range of supporters from former President Jimmy Carter, to Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass, to Congressman and Civil Rights icon John Lewis, Ms. Abrams has a unifying message that can win in November. With her at the top of the ticket, the Democrats have a great shot of taking the White House, winning the Senate, and holding the House. Stacey Abrams is a winning candidate.

Image from Flickr

[VirginiaAaron]

OPRAH ENDORSES ABRAMS

Television personality and former talk-show host Oprah Winfrey endorsed Stacey Abrams for President in Columbia, South Carolina today. Ms. Abrams began the rally with some remarks about Ms. Winfrey

I remember, as a young girl, first seeing Oprah's talk show. I had never seen such a strong, intelligent, independent African American woman on television. Most people remember Oprah's show as a show just about giving away free cars and presents, but it was more than that. She opened people's eyes to what others think about different issues. Her show brought people together. That's what this campaign is about: bringing people together. Please help me welcome Ms. Oprah Winfrey to the stage!

Ms. Winfrey then gave her remarks about Ms. Abrams

It was not that long ago when I endorsed a young African American guy with a funny name from Chicago. I said in my speech endorsing him, right here in Columbia, that he would deliver the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamt of. That was just the hill, we must go to the mountaintop! There's a quote from Dr. King that keeps coming back to me seeing what we've got in the White House right now, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." We need to draw out the darkness, the hatred, the division of the politics of the President right now. Right before I went out here, I talked with Gayle and she told me that I'm gonna get a hate tweet from the man in the White House. I'm ready, because as Dr. King said, we're gonna draw hate out with love.

Stacey is the perfect candidate for this day and age of our country. She has the experience, but without the stench of Washington. She has the heart and soul of a caretaker. She gets work done. She's an optimist. That's what we need right now, a caretaker, a workhorse, and an optimist. Stacey will win. We want a new era, Stacey will bring that. As President Obama once said, "Don't boo, vote!" Now, is our test. We've gotta vote. That's the only way to bring a new era to our country.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

[VirginiaAaron]

Little Girl
Stacey Abrams ad aired in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, California, Texas, and Virginia

Oprah Winfrey:

I was born in 1962 in rural Kosciusko, Mississippi. My biological father, Vernon Winfrey ran out on my mother, Vernita Lee, who was a maid. My mother eventually married Noah Robinson, who was a farmer and a World War II veteran. Right after I was born, Mom moved us up north to Wisconsin where she dropped me off at my grandmother's house and ran. My grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee, raised me for the first 6 years of my life. We were dirt poor. We often had to wear potato sacks as dresses when we went to church. I got made fun of for that, but I tried to not let it get under my skin.

When I was 3, my grandma taught me to read. At church, they called me the Preacher because I could memorize and recite Bible verses very well. When I turned 6, Vernita returned and took us to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee. Vernita wasn't as supportive or encouraging as my grandmother was. She worked hard to provide for us. After we moved, Vernita had a second daughter, my half-sister, Patricia. She died when she was 43 after an addiction to cocaine. Vernita had a tough time raising 2 kids, so she took Patricia and I to Nashville to live with Vernon, my biological father.

Not long after Vernita took us to Nashville and went back to Milwaukee, she gave birth to a 3rd daughter, who she put up for adoption. I didn't know about the 3rd daughter till 2010. After that, she had a son, Jeffrey, my half-brother. Jeffrey and I were close. He died in 1989, when he contracted AIDS.

When I was 9 years old, my cousin, uncle, and a family friend molested me. When I was 24, I told my family. They didn't believe me.

I'll never forget the date April 4, 1968. It was a normal day for me and my family. But at around dinner time, we found out, along with the rest of the world, that Dr. King had been shot and killed. I've never felt so enraged at my country for the culture of that time. I wanted to go outside and just scream the anger out. But I was raised to respond with respect, kindness, and forgiveness.

In Junior High and High School, I got bullied because my family and I were poor and we lived in the projects. All I wanted was to be happy, so I thought the way to do that was to do things for others. A group of black kids and I that all had that same goal, got together and started being the rich white kids in-school slaves. That's where I met my good friend Gayle King. The in-school slavery lasted until we graduated.

I started taking money from my mother when I was 15 so I could seem cool. If I could show my peers that we had money, maybe I wouldn't get bullied. I lived with Vernita for a few months in Milwaukee, but she gave up on me again. This time, for good. I haven't seen my mother since then.

Vernon had a lot of flaws. But he was what I needed in a parent. He was strict, but he encouraged me to be successful in school. I won a full scholarship to Tennessee State University when I was 17. That same year I won the Miss Black Tennessee pageant.

When I was 18, I started college and got a part-time job at the local radio station, doing the news part-time.

Even though it took a while, things worked out for me. It doesn't always work out for the kids of today. Some of my friends in Nashville growing up didn't get on the right track. Turning to drugs, or other methods of coping.

I endorsed Stacey Abrams for President because she knows that struggle. She knows what it takes to protect the today's kids from this.

Stacey grew up in the projects, she knows what it's like to be dirt-poor. But know she's fighting for us.

Join me and vote for Stacey Abrams.

Stacey:

I'm Stacey Abrams and I approve this message.

Image from Wikimedia Commons

[VirginiaAaron]

DECEMBER SCHEDULE

December 1-10 | South Carolina

December 1: Barnstorm Columbia with Oprah, host roundtable with her discussing women’s issues, hold town hall that’s hosted by Oprah.
December 2: Join the Post and Courier in Charleston for another round of “Pints and Politics”
December 3: Major rally in Columbia with President Carter and Congressman Lewis, appear on local news channel to host a televised town hall with voters in Columbia
December 4: Meet with a local teacher union to discuss education issues, along with Rep. Karen Bass
December 5: Rest in Charleston for the day
December 6: Major rally in Charleston with Congressman Lewis and Al Sharpton, followed by a roundtable to discuss the climate crisis
December 7: Visit the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church (the site of the 2015 Charleston church shooting), shake hands with members and the pastor, followed by a large luncheon with the members of the church and local leaders
December 8: Drive to Rock Hill, host a town hall at Clinton College (HCBU) to discuss race relations
December 9: Hold town hall with Al Sharpton, hold major rally in Rock Hill
December 10: Major rally in Greenville, board plane to Los Angeles with Karen Bass and John Lewis, record live address about the importance of Hanukkah and wishing our Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah

December 11-20 | California

December 11: Hold major rally in Los Angeles, appear on Conan O’Brien’s talk show
December 12: Record a podcast with Conan, later holding a town hall in Los Angeles with Representatives Bass and Lewis
December 13: Appear on Real Time with Bill Maher to discuss voter suppression, emphasizing the impact and differences between getting people out to vote and flipping Trump voters
December 14: Hold major rally in San Diego, appear on a special with Oprah on the O Network, “Oprah and Stacey”
December 15: Rest in San Diego, drive to San Jose
December 16: Hold major rally, host town hall/roundtable with Stanford University students and faculty to discuss the importance of education
December 17: Drive back to Los Angeles to appear on the Joe Rogan Experience, hold town hall with Oprah at the University of Southern California
December 18: Meet with Governor Gavin Newsom (not an endorsement) to discuss how to stop the wildfires and voter suppression
December 19: Appear on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show, followed by a major rally in Los Angeles talking about civil rights, race relations, and the environment

December 20-26 | Georgia

December 20: Host a Reddit AMA from Georgia, begin writing my Christmas Eve and Christmas day online addresses
December 21: Spend the day with family, catching up, and assessing where to go next with the campaign
December 22: Go to Jimmy Carter’s church in Plains (Maranatha Baptist Church), have lunch with President Carter and his family
December 23: Barnstorm Atlanta, go Christmas shopping
December 24: Give Christmas Eve address in Atlanta, live right outside of the Atlanta capitol building
December 25: Spend the day with family, post Christmas day address on YouTube
December 26: Board plane to Des Moines, Iowa

December 27-31 | Iowa

(I don't have an image for Iowa. Well, I do, but for some reason it messed the whole page up, so for now there's now Iowa for Stacey logo)
December 27: Hold town hall at Iowa State University, hold a major rally with Al Sharpton in Ames
December 28: Barnstorm rural Iowa with John Lewis, appear on a few local news shows
December 29: Rest in Cedar Rapids
December 30: Roundtable with Oprah discussing voter suppression in Cedar Rapids, do an interview with local newspaper
December 31: Hold major rally in Council Bluffs, later posting a video address about New Years Eve on YouTube

[VirginiaAaron]

Transcript: @MikePence says that @TomSteyer is fighting against Americans' right to a "decent life." Mr. Steyer is advocating for equality in our tax system. He's not throwing children in cages or separating families at the border like you. Tom is my opponent, but we won't be smeared by you.

[VirginiaAaron]

Transcript: @MikePence, if you were arguing that under the Obama administration, children were being forced into cages, you'd be correct. According to PolitiFact, (a non-partisan group dedicated to fact checking) there were much more family separations under the Trump administration than the last 5 administrations combined. Yes, that policy stopped under Trump, but he was the one that started increasing the family separations in the first place! Get your facts straight.



Transcript: Also, I'm not beholden to @TomSteyer, Mr. President. I just don't ignore people lying through their teeth like you do constantly. The people of this nation are tired of the lying, the divisiveness, the incompetence, the arrogance, and the egotistical nature of this White House. We must elect a new president in November.

[VirginiaAaron]

Tweet from Simitator

Transcript: I'm sad to see my good friend @CoryBooker leave the presidential race. He ran a good campaign and his voice will be sorely missed in this campaign.

[VirginiaAaron]

Stacey’s Plan to Protect Equal Rights and Give Opportunity to Disabled Americans

Logo made by me

The test of a good government is how it treats its most needed citizens. Right now, our government fails that test. Too many Americans aren’t able to get health care because they have pre-existing conditions. The Americans that are able to get healthcare aren’t able to get it affordably. As the Minority Leader in the Georgia House of Representatives, Stacey advocated for equal rights. As President, she’ll consult with the disability community on the best step forward to equality.

Healthcare and Long-Term Care

When Stacey is President, she’ll push Congress to pass the Disability Integration Act of 2019. It’s been ready to be considered by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee since January 2019, but the Republican majority refuses to allow a vote on the bill.

As President, Stacey will address institutional bias in Medicaid to expand access to home care and community-based services for Americans with disabilities. She’ll institute a tax credit of up to $6,000 a year to give financial relief to those caring for an aging relative or a relative with a disability to help offset expenses, including the cost of medical care, counseling and training, lodging away from home, adult daycare, assistive technologies, and necessary home modifications. Unfortunately, many caregivers have disabilities themselves and aren’t able to take care of themselves because they’re busy with the people they’re caring for. As President, Stacey will push for legislation providing paid family leave to all Americans. If Congress doesn’t pass that within one year of Stacey’s presidency, she’ll sign an executive order passing paid family leave.

Stacey believes we’ve got to do more to help people with disabilities afford daily living expenses so they can live independently. As President, Stacey will establish a new refundable tax credit to help offset the costs of long-term care and expand access to home and community services. This tax credit will be available for qualifying long-term care costs including home-based as well as community-based services, and additional expenses like assistive technology, respite care, and necessary home modifications. Stacey will invest in a world-class long-term care workforce by increasing wages, improving job conditions, and promoting other recruitment and retention policies, especially in rural communities facing workforce challenges. There are significant racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of long-term care as well as disparities in coverage for long-term care. Stacey is committed to tackling disparities in care through expanding access to long-term care with a focus on reducing inequities as well as addressing the costs of long-term care services for people in the greatest need of assistance.

Stacey believes that the Affordable Care Act is the hill, but we must go to the mountaintop. She’s fought against the Trump and Pence administration’s efforts to dismantle the ACA and opposed Trump’s efforts to kick people with pre-existing conditions off of their health insurance. This issue matters because it’s affecting people not just in a few swing states, it’s affecting Americans all over this country. When Stacey is President, she’ll bring down health care costs by putting a non-profit public option in place that allows people to buy into affordable health insurance coverage through Medicaid or Medicare. She’ll also improve the ACA by helping bring down costs for consumers by expanding premium subsidies and providing cost-sharing reductions to lower out-of-pocket health care costs like copays and deductibles.

Stacey will stand up to efforts to privatize Medicaid spending, which puts services like transportation costs and long-term care at risk for Americans with disabilities. She’ll conduct a reassessment of the guidelines the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services use in granting of Medicaid waivers for states that have or wish to privatize the program, cap the program, or convert it into a block grant to stop waivers that harm Medicaid beneficiaries, including people with disabilities who are eligible for Medicaid. Right before President Trump left office, the White House drafted an Executive Order called the “Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation’s Seniors” which sounds like a great idea, but really it’s moving us closer to a privatized Medicare. Overall the Executive Order shifts Medicare towards private plans, expands private contracting between beneficiaries and providers, putting seniors at risk for higher costs and surprise medical bills, further restricts seniors’ choice of providers in Medicare Advantage, expands Medicare Medical Savings Accounts as a tax shelter for the wealthy. This will not stand in Stacey’s administration.

Civil Rights and Political Participation

Stacey believes we must do more to protect disabled Americans and advance their rights to guarantee full participation in society. As President, Stacey will prioritize strong enforcement of civil rights legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Olmstead decision, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd. Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and other laws that protect the rights of people with disabilities. She’ll support the full funding and staffing for the various Offices of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Section offices to ensure disability cases are fully investigated.

Stacey believes we need to make it easier for the voices of people with disabilities to be heard on Election Day. As President, she will champion a voting rights and democracy reform package that includes strengthening requirements for increased accessibility at polling places and expanding resources by providing grants for states to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote. Her democracy plan also includes automatically registering every 18-year-old in the country to vote, banning states from purging voters from rolls for not voting in recent elections — which disproportionately affected people with disabilities — putting same-day registration policies in place, promoting early voting and restoring citizens’ right to vote after being released from incarceration.

People with disabilities are significantly more likely to be critically or fatally injured in a disaster. As President, Stacey will take action to ensure people with disabilities are included in all aspects of disaster preparedness on the federal and state level, including by establishing a National Commission on Disability Rights and Disasters focused on the needs of the disability community. This proposal is based on Senator Bob Casey’s Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters Act.

As President, Stacey will work with local and state authorities to ensure that responding to people with disabilities is a core part of law enforcement officer training and expand training to public health departments, first responders and school personnel. To pay for these policies, Stacey will close the trust fund loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid paying taxes on inherited wealth.

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS DEBATE RESPONSES

OPENING STATEMENT:

Hello Houston! Thank you to CNN for hosting us tonight, thank you to Anderson for moderating tonight. I hope we have a very lively debate tonight, with each of us laying out why we’re the best candidate for this time and why each of us is the best to defeat Mike Pence. I’m the best candidate to defeat President Pence because he’s obsessed with me. Look at his Twitter, and you’ll see he won’t stop tweeting about two people: Mr. Steyer and I. The President likes to say that he’s “draining the swamp” and has called most of us, if not all of us, socialists and swamp creatures. Guess how many years of Washington experience I have: 0. We need someone that’s an outsider, who still has government experience, that can defeat Mike Pence.

We also need a different perspective. The last 2 times a Democratic president was elected, it was by laying out a vision of the future. One of hope and change. We need a different perspective, one that most people can identify with. As the lone person of color on the stage, I know this perspective better than anyone. If you want someone who knows how to win, has the perspective no one else on stage has, and knows how to get things done: you’ve got a home with me.

PERSONALIZED QUESTION:

I’m honored and disappointed to be the only person of color on the stage tonight. But it’s also important to point out that half of the candidates on stage tonight are women. It wasn’t that long ago, that a woman of color wouldn’t be a leading candidate for President of the United States. It wasn’t that long ago that a woman of color would be allowed to run for the highest office in the land. I think being the sole person of color on stage brings a different perspective than anybody else on stage tonight. I’ve seen the institutional racism firsthand. I guarantee you that I’m the only person to be pulled over by a police officer just because of the color of my skin. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person on stage tonight who’s ever had the n-word shouted at them on the way to school as a 6-year-old little girl in Atlanta, Georgia. I am the candidate to end this institutional racism, I’m the victim of it. The average net worth of a black household is only 10% of a white household, it’s 12% of Latino households. Statistically, as a black woman, I’m 320% more likely to die from complications of childbirth. This is what defines race in our country.

Why am I the lone person of color on this stage? Less than 5% of Americans donate to political campaigns. You need disposable income to donate to campaigns. According to a study done by The Atlantic, black people bring in, on average, around $35,000 a year. White people bring in an average of $67,000. We need equal pay for equal work not just for men and women but for people of color. If there was equal pay for equal work, I guarantee you I wouldn’t be the only candidate of color on the stage tonight.

CLOSING STATEMENT:

We’ve had a great debate tonight. But it’s time we debate on who can beat Mike Pence. There’s some simple questions each of us has to answer when we decide who our nominee will be. Who has the best ideas? Who has the best experience? And last but definitely not least, who can beat Mike Pence and how will they do it? Mike Pence got to his position of power by dividing people. It’s what he did as a radio host, spreading his ideas on separating LGBTQ people, people of color, people that weren’t white and straight. When I was 17 I was hired as a typist for a congressional campaign. After the President graduated high school, he went to college, practiced law for a few years. He ran for Congress unsuccessfully in 1988 and 1990. When I was a freshman in High School, I protested on the steps of the Georgia Capitol building, protesting against the confederate flag that was enshrined in our state flag. After Mike lost his congressional race, he joined a conservative think-tank discussing ways to let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. After that, he started his radio show where he described himself as “Rush Limbaugh on decaf.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a Rush Limbaugh-esque President. But look, the way we defeat him is by comparing and contrasting and talking about our different visions for our country. I’m the one to do that.


Image from Flickr

[VirginiaAaron]

OOC:

Lately, I've noticed that several of my tweets and logos are being taken down. I understand the tweets being taken down because the profile picture may not be under the regular policy. But the logo that I made for Stacey is being taken down. There's no photo on it. It's not taken from anyone else. I made the logo with my own computer and software. If anybody could explain why this could be, I'd really appreciate it.

[VirginiaAaron]

ABRAMS RESPONDS TO POLL NUMBERS

Tweet from Simitator, profile picture from Wikimedia Commons