Our members just finished gathering in Washington, DC this week to reflect on the past year, the outcome of last week’s election, and where we go from here. After a number of productive and engaging events, we feel ready to tackle the challenges that lie ahead in the new year. For this week’s Closer Look, we’d like to give you a behind-the-scenes peek at some of the conversations we had with our members and allies.
Our formal program began on Tuesday morning with discussions led by policy experts from a number of allied organizations. We heard from and strategized with leaders of think tanks and advocacy groups – including the Progressive Caucus Center, the Center for American Progress, the Roosevelt Institute, Oxfam America, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and Groundwork Collaborative – about the internal politics of the next Congress, the expiring provisions of the 2017 GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and broader lessons learned from the election. We are grateful to all of our invited speakers for taking time out of their busy post-election schedules to ground and guide our discussions with their valuable insights.
After some internal strategy sessions in the afternoon, our members spent the evening celebrating the publication of Pay the People! Why Fair Pay is Good for Business and Great for America along with members of the Senate and House, senior Congressional staffers, prominent media figures, and fellow activists. The book is co-authored by two of our members: John Driscoll, former President, US Healthcare, of Walgreens Boots Alliance, and Morris Pearl, our Chair and a former Managing Director at BlackRock.
Pay the People! makes the case for raising wages to meet the cost of living to benefit workers, businesses, and the economy as a whole. It will be officially released on December 3 – and we’ll certainly have more to say about it then! – but you are welcome to preorder it now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or by visiting paythepeople.com.
Here is a picture of John and Morris at the party smiling with copies of their book:
On Wednesday, we made our way down to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers directly on our issues. We specifically pushed Democrats not to give the GOP a single vote in extending tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, even if they’re bribed with small progressive tax policies in exchange, and also encouraged them to adopt a new, bold, and proactive agenda that prioritizes the interests of working people to sell to the nation ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections.
A few of our members and staff posed for a picture with Senator Jon Ossoff after their meeting with him:
Some of our members also filmed a video on the Hill with a message to Congress to tax the rich, which you can watch below:
