This week, members of Congress heard from more than 120,000 Americans who favor an alternative to the slash-cut-and-burn budget proposal put forth by President Trump and favored by some in Congress.
That’s the number of people who signed a petition backing The People’s Budget: A Roadmap for the Resistance. The petitions were presented Wednesday at an event sponsored by the Progressive Congress Action Fund. The signatures were gathered by more than a dozen organizations, including the Coalition on Human Needs.

Among the speakers at a Capitol Hill petition delivery event Wednesday was CHN Executive Director Deborah Weinstein. “America needs the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ People’s Budget,” she said. “We need it because it is a roadmap showing the way to a nation that fulfills its promise of opportunity for all and investment in our future. It shows that real progress is possible. We can rebuild our roads, bridges and communities. We can help our young people to succeed in school and go to college without having to start their adult lives under a mountain of debt. We can create jobs and provide the training so that low-income people can move up, and that middle-income workers can be more secure. We can protect people when a bad economy or health problems make work unsteady or impossible. We can support families by investing in child care and affordable housing. We can dramatically reduce poverty and hunger. We can improve our health care system, not gut it.”

And Weinstein compared and contrasted The People’s Budget to the Trump proposal.

“What a contrast this is to the Trump agenda!  For Trump and all the little Trump-ettes in Congress, the driving impetus appears to be tax cuts for the rich and for corporations, with a side order of Pentagon increases. The health care repeal bill is really just an excuse for hundreds of billions of tax cuts for high-income people. The President’s infrastructure plan is really a vehicle for large tax breaks to subsidize private sector building of toll roads. The Trump budget slashes trillions of dollars from Medicaid, SNAP/food stamps, and assistance for people with disabilities – and virtually every other domestic need – in order to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts, yet again for the rich and profitable corporations, as well as for the increased Pentagon spending and the border wall.”

You can see the complete text of Weinstein’s remarks here.

Other speakers at this week’s event included Dr. Gabriela Lemus, President of the Progressive Congress Action Fund; Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) and Mark Pocan (D-WI), all representing the Congressional Progressive Caucus; Andrea Miller, People Demanding Action; Sam Sanders, Economic Policy Institute; and Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action.

The People’s Budget tackles systemic issues with comprehensive solutions, from the impact of climate change on rural communities and communities of color, to implementing critical criminal justice reforms, to repairing and replacing outdated infrastructure, to creating millions of sustainable, good paying jobs all over the country.

Specifically, it:

Invests $2 trillion in America’s infrastructure.

Expands our country’s commitment to efficient renewable energy and green jobs.

Invests $100 billion to increase affordable access to reliable, high-speed internet.

Protects and expands affordable health care for millions of Americans.

Creates and promotes a fair tax system that benefits working families.

Ends corporate tax breaks for offshoring American jobs and profits.

Expands the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Care credit.

Ensures fair elections.

Advances criminal justice reform and promotes the safety of American communities through a combination of police reforms, gun safety and more funds to counter hate crimes.

Curbs special interest and dark money influence in politics.

Expands affordable housing for low-income Americans.

Reduces military spending.

You can read more about The People’s Budget here.