Democrats Counter Trump on Health Care and Condemn His Conduct – The New York Times

[applause] Good evening. Im honored to be here and grateful that youre tuning in. Im Gretchen Whitmer, the 49th governor of the great state of Michigan. Tonight, I am at my daughter Sherry and Sydneys public school, East Lansing High School. Were here today with families and parents, teachers, and, most importantly, students. I want to thank you all for coming. But tonight, Im going to talk to those of you who are watching at home. Id need a lot more than 10 minutes to respond to what the president just said. So instead of talking about what he is saying, Im going to highlight what Democrats are doing. After all, you can listen to what someone says, but to know the truth, watch what they do. Michiganders are no different from Americans everywhere. We love our families and want a good life today and a better life tomorrow for our kids. We work hard, and we expect our government to work hard for us as well. We have grit and value loyalty, and we still root for the Detroit Lions. We and all Americans might be weary of todays politics, but we must stay engaged. Our country, our democracy, our future demand it. Were capable of great things when we work together. We cannot forget that despite the dishonesty and division of the last few years and that we heard tonight from the president of the United States, together, we have boundless potential. And young Americans are proving that every day by taking action. Thats what I want to focus on tonight. Monty Scott is 13 years old and lives in Muskegon Heights, Mich. Montys street was covered in potholes. They were ankle-deep, and he got tired of waiting for them to get fixed. So he grabbed a shovel and a bucket of dirt and filled them in himself. During my campaign, people told me to fix the damn roads because blown tires and broken windshields are downright dangerous, and car repairs take money from rent, child care, or groceries. And we, the Democrats, are doing something about it. In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker passed a multibillion-dollar plan to rebuild their roads and bridges. Gov. Phil Murphy is replacing lead pipes in New Jersey. All across the country, Democratic leaders are rebuilding bridges, fixing roads, expanding broadband, and cleaning up drinking water. Everyone in this country benefits when we invest in infrastructure. Congressional Democrats have presented proposals to keep us moving forward, but President Trump and the Republicans in the Senate are blocking the path. When it comes to infrastructure, Monty has tried to do more with a shovel and a pile of dirt than the Republicans in D.C. have with the Oval Office and the U.S. Senate. Bullying people on Twitter doesnt fix bridges. It burns them. Our energy should be used to solve problems. And its true for health care, too. For me, for so many Americans, health care is personal, not political. When I was 30, I became a member of the sandwich generation. That means I was sandwiched between two generations of my own family for whom I was the primary caregiver. I was holding down a new job, caring for my newborn daughter, as well as my mom at the end of her brain cancer battle. I was up all night with a baby, and during the day, I had to fight my moms insurance company when they wrongly denied her coverage for chemotherapy. It was hard. It exposed the harsh realities of our workplaces, our health care system, and our child care system. And it changed me. I lost patience for people who are just talk and no action. So as a state senator, I worked with a Republican governor and legislature to expand health care coverage to more than 680,000 Michiganders under the Affordable Care Act. Today, Democrats from Maine to Montana are expanding coverage and lowering costs. In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly is working across the aisle to bring Medicaid coverage to tens of thousands. In New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enshrined A.C.A. protections into law. Every Democrat running for president has a plan to expand health care for all Americans. Every one of them has supported the Affordable Care Act with coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. They may have different plans, but the goal is the same. President Trump, sadly, has a different plan. Hes asking the courts to rip those lifesaving protections away. Its pretty simple. Democrats are trying to make your health care better. Republicans in Washington are trying to take it away. Think about kids like 17-year-old Blake Carroll from Idaho, who organized a fund-raiser to pay for his moms colon cancer treatment, or 19-year-old Ebony Meyers from Utah, who sells art to help pay for her own rare genetic disorder treatment. No one should have to crowdsource their health care, not in America. But the reality is, not everyone in America has a job with health care and benefits. In fact, many have jobs that dont even pay enough to cover their monthly expenses. It doesnt matter what the president says about the stock market. What matters is that millions of people struggle to get by or dont have enough money at the end of the month after paying for transportation, student loans, or prescription drugs. American workers are hurting in my own state, our neighbors in Wisconsin, and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and all over the country. Wages have stagnated, while C.E.O. pay has skyrocketed. So when the president says the economy is strong, my question is, strong for whom? Strong for the wealthy, who are reaping rewards from tax cuts they dont need? The American economy needs to be a different kind of strong strong for the science teacher spending her own money to buy supplies for her classroom. Strong for the single mom picking up extra hours so she can afford her daughters soccer cleats. Strong for the small business owner who has to make payroll at the end of the month. Michigan invented the middle class, so we know if the economy doesnt work for working people, it just doesnt work. Who fights for working, hard-working Americans? Democrats do. In the U.S. House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats passed a landmark bill on equal pay, another bill to give 30 million Americans a raise by increasing the minimum wage, and groundbreaking legislation to finally give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices for Americas seniors and families. Those three bills, and more than 275 other bipartisan bills, are just gathering dust on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells desk. Senator McConnell, America needs you to move those bills. Meanwhile, Democrats across the country are getting things done. Pennsylvanias Gov. Tom Wolf is expanding the right to overtime pay. Michigan is, too. Because if youre on the clock, you deserve to get paid. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper are working to give hard-working teachers a raise. And speaking of the classroom, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers unilaterally increased school funding by $65 million last year, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has enacted free, all-day kindergarten. In 29 states, weve helped pass minimum wage hikes into law which will lift people out of poverty and improve lives for families. Thats strength. Thats action. Democracy takes action, and thats why Im so inspired by young people. They respond to mass shootings, demanding policies that make schools safer. They react to a world thats literally on fire with fire in their bellies to push leaders to finally take action on climate change. They take on a road filled with potholes with a shovel and some dirt. Its what gives me great confidence in our future, and its why sometimes it feels like theyre the adults in the room. But it shouldnt have to be that way. Its not their mess to clean up. Its ours. The choices we make today create their reality tomorrow. Young people, Im talking to you, and your parents and grandparents. Democrats want safe schools. We want everyone to have a path to a good life, whether its through a union apprenticeship, a community college a four-year university, without drowning in debt. We want your water to be clean. We want you to love who you love and to live authentically as your true selves. And we want women to have autonomy over our bodies. We want our country welcoming and everyones vote counted. 2020 is a big year. Its the year my daughter Sherry will graduate from high school. Its also the year shell cast her first ballot, along with millions of young Americans. The two things are connected, because walking across a graduation stage is as important as walking into the voting booth for the first time. Her future, all our kids futures, will be determined not just by their dreams, but by our actions. As we witness the impeachment process in Washington, there are some things each of us, no matter our party, should demand. The truth matters, facts matter, and no one should be above the law. Its not what those senators say. Tomorrow, its about what they do that matters. Remember, listen to what people say, but watch what they do. Its time for action. Generations of Americans are counting on us. Lets not let them down. Thank you for listening. God bless America. Good night. [applause] [cheers]

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Democrats Counter Trump on Health Care and Condemn His Conduct - The New York Times