Our Great American Moment

Nov 17, 2025

Children & Families

Democracy

Education

Social Security & Medicare

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Our Great American Moment

Returning wealth and power to the American people

This is a moment of reckoning. Our country is facing an economy that is broken for most, healthcare and housing crises, unprecedented corruption, and ongoing attacks on our democracy and the rule of law.

We have two choices in this moment: We can accept this dangerous backsliding – or we can fight back and work together to build something infinitely better.

Our Great American Moment is the fundamental change that a growing number of Americans are demanding.

It’s a unifying vision and plan, and a shared path forward.

This is how we fix our economy, democracy, and politics – and return wealth and power to the American people.

Chapter 1: A Moment of Reckoning

The biggest issue we face in this country is that power and wealth are concentrated at the top in an unprecedented and dangerous way.

For example, at the end of 2024, 66 million Americans in the lowest-income households had about $4 trillion trillion combined. The 905 billionaires in the U.S. had almost $8 trillion.

To put that another way: 900 people have nearly twice as much wealth as 66 million Americans. 900 is the size of a small high school; 66 million is almost the population of the entire midwest.

$1 trillion – let alone $8 trillion – is hard to visualize. Here are a few examples to help:

If you spent $1 million every single day, it would take you over 21,000 years to spend $8 trillion.
$8 trillion is more than the U.S. government’s total annual spending (it was about $7 trillion in 2025).
It’s about as much as the U.S. debt increased during Trump’s first term – most of which went to pay tax cuts for the super wealthy.
$8 trillion is double what Americans owe on student loans, car loans, credit cards, and nearly every other type of debt (excluding mortgages) combined.

This problem of extreme wealth and power concentration may have gotten worse in 2025, but it has been building for decades. For example, in 1963, the wealthiest people had 36 times as much wealth as middle-class people. Over the last 60 years, that number has nearly doubled to 71.

Between 1978 and 2024, CEO pay increased by over 1,000% while worker pay increased by only 26%. On average, a CEO makes more in a single day than what a worker makes in an entire year.

This concentration of wealth and power has given a small group of elites that now make the big decisions in this country. They have used their power and influence to further rig our economy and politics to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else.

They simply don’t understand or don’t care about the rest of us, and their decisions have made people’s lives way worse.

This is a crisis and a moment of reckoning. We have two choices in this moment: we can let it further divide and weaken us, or we can come together and build something new and better. I believe that we can, and must, choose this second option.

And the truth is this: wealth and power come from us, not them.

This is our moment. Our moment to find our shared purpose and do big things for the country. Our moment to reclaim wealth and power for all Americans, especially those who have been left out or left behind.

Chapter 2: The Unattainable American Dream

The very premise of the American Dream – that everyone has an equal opportunity to work hard and build a good life for themselves and their family – is being threatened by affordability, healthcare and housing crises, unprecedented corruption, and ongoing attacks on our democracy and the rule of law.

The reality is that the American Dream is out of reach for the vast majority of Americans. It has become unattainable because America has become unaffordable. Our economy, while strong for some, simply doesn’t work for most Americans. They’re working harder than ever, but it isn’t paying off. In fact, 70 percent of Americans don’t believe their hard work will pay off, and 75 percent don’t believe they have a good chance of improving their standard of living. This is a sharp – and very telling – break from previous generations.

More than one in four Americans have $0 saved for retirement. The cost of college has nearly tripled since the 1990s; student debt has more than doubled since 2008.

The cost of childcare – and the cost of having children overall – has reached a record high, while the number of people starting families has almost reached a record low.

Tariffs, inflation, tax breaks for the super wealthy and big corporations, and cuts to critical programs and services are only making things worse for working people and the middle class.

We also face a healthcare crisis. About 1 in 3 households in the U.S. have medical debt, with Americans owing a combined $220 billion in medical debt.

Sweeping cuts to healthcare over the last year have made the crisis even worse. Millions of Americans – children, families, young adults, veterans, seniors, people with disabilities – are experiencing higher healthcare costs or losing coverage entirely. Critical research is being abruptly terminated, and hospitals, especially in rural areas, are being forced to make difficult cuts or close completely.

We face a housing crisis. Home ownership – a pillar of the American Dream – has become nearly impossible for an entire generation of Americans.

The number of first-time homebuyers is at a record low, while the cost of housing and the average age of first-time homebuyers are at record highs. Half of renters spend over 30 percent of their income on rent and eviction rates in many communities are at historic highs.

The affordability, healthcare, and housing crises are not the only threats to the American Dream.

Unprecedented corruption, along with ongoing attacks on our democracy and rule of law, are taking even more wealth and power from the American people.

The current administration is consolidating power and preparing to rig elections in the most un-American way possible. Mid-decade gerrymandering, voter suppression, and ignoring separation of powers are weakening the democracy that generations of Americans have fought and died for. At the same time, basic freedoms are being stripped away from millions of Americans.

We also face crime and threats to public safety.

Our sense of safety is undermined by gun violence and crime. Mass shootings have become routine, gun deaths remain devastatingly high. Our need for border security and comprehensive immigration reform has not been met with smart, feasible solutions but more chaos, cruelty, and corruption. Folks don’t feel safe in their communities anymore.

We face a loneliness epidemic.

People today – especially young people – are more isolated and lonely than ever, turning to their phones instead of one another to find connection, meaning, and purpose. Social media and artificial intelligence are making things worse by spreading fear, hatred, division, and misinformation. Young people today give us so many reasons to be hopeful about the future of our country – but they’re facing challenges from technology that other generations never had to worry about.

We face an international and national security emergency.

America’s role in the world is collapsing. Since our country’s founding, we have stood with our allies around the world in fighting for freedom and democracy. Today, we are antagonizing our allies and empowering our adversaries. The administration’s behavior has signaled to our allies that we are erratic and unreliable, while signaling to our adversaries that they can do whatever they want without facing any consequences.

Chapter 3: Reclaiming Wealth and Power

When I came of age, the American Dream was very much real, and our politics, while not perfect, was still productive. I grew up in what was the American middle class – my parents were teachers, they worked hard, they didn’t have a ton of money, but they also didn’t want much. They could buy a house, pay for their children’s education, and retire with dignity.

When I started paying attention to politics in the 90s, most Americans – and most of the folks at the top – seemed to believe in our shared values: liberty and opportunity, equality and fairness, truth and democracy, justice and the rule of law, and that hard work would pay off. We also had leaders who were respected, worked together, and sometimes did really big things for the country, rather than just for themselves.

But we’ve lost so much of this, and I’m determined to be part of a generation of leaders that helps the country find our way back to this, and to something infinitely better.

To be clear, we shouldn’t go back to some romanticized period in American history.

Rather, we should return to common sense over chaos, good government over corruption, and kindness over cruelty. We need a return to a normal where people work together to do big things for the country.

Our big thing: reclaim wealth and power for the American people.

Chapter 4: New Leadership

Our Great American Moment must start with strong leadership. We need leaders who will lift us up, bring us together, and reject partisanship and political extremism.

Leaders who are willing to upend the status quo and take on the elites who have rigged our economy and politics to benefit themselves. Leaders who have the strength, energy, and courage to get us organized and lay out the path forward for our Great American Moment.

We should look to the Civil Rights Movement – and the multi-generational, multi-racial coalition they built to achieve monumental change. They showed us what’s possible when faith, business, and elected leaders work together with a common purpose – something our country has been missing for too long.

It’s essential that we have a team of leaders focused entirely on this work. We need to get organized, with a good message and plan.

Look at the Apollo Space Program for example. This program was a focused, national, “all-hands-on-deck” effort with a clear goal: land Americans on the moon and get them home safely. Everyone involved in this mission – from the engineers, scientists, astronauts, and contractors to the broader American public – was on board and entirely focused on achieving the set goal. We need the same thing, and we need it quickly.

Chapter 5: Recentering the American People

Over the last several decades, our economy, politics, and government have become increasingly centered around the interests of a few elites. We’ve lost sight of who should be at the center: the American people.

To refocus our politics on the American people, leaders need to start listening and being open to learning and changing their minds. We need to speak about the issues and our answers to them in a clear, direct, and transparent way that Americans can understand and relate to. It’s the only way we can begin to engage with and persuade people in a meaningful way.

A growing number of Americans are demanding change, and they want leaders who will reject the status quo and fight back against our rigged systems.

And yet, politicians – on both sides – have often remained the defenders of those broken systems, becoming symbolic of the establishment and its unwillingness to change. As a result, support for the two parties has declined dramatically.

Take the top issues, and where the parties have landed:

The Economy. Many politicians have told folks the economy is great when – for most Americans – it isn’t. Growth, employment, and household incomes haven’t kept up with rising prices, leaving the vast majority of Americans struggling to provide for themselves and their families. The truth is that the economy has been broken for decades – mostly because our tax system is set up to reward wealth over hard work. The result is that the super wealthy and big corporations continue to amass wealth and power, while a record number of people in the middle class don’t see a future where they can afford to buy a home, start a business, or have children. We must be the ones that fix this economy, and unrig it for working folks and middle class families.

Crime and the Border. Whether it’s because of a broken border policy, underinvestments in police, or a failing strategy to pass substantive gun safety reforms – too many Americans have been left feeling unsafe. The fact that gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children is arguably the most disturbing reality of life in America today. We must be the most reliable leaders when it comes to keeping folks safe. One side has been too weak on these issues, and the other has been too extreme and reckless.

Education. We spend very little on early childhood education and we underinvest in our schools, students, and teachers. Neither party has had a major national education improvement plan in 25 years. Our kids are falling behind – average test scores are reaching record lows and students are graduating with underdeveloped skills. We need to be the leaders that re-focus the nation on what must be one of our top priorities: building the greatest system of education in the world to ensure that every child – especially those left out and left behind – has the chance to succeed in life.

The Deficit. Both parties have ignored the deficit. President Clinton was the last president to balance a federal budget. In fact, his administration had budget surpluses from fiscal years 1998 to 2001. He did it by making the wealthy pay all of their taxes and keeping federal spending down. Since then, however, both parties have ballooned the debt by creating big deficits every year. Our national debt – now approaching $40 trillion – has become a huge problem. We’re spending $1 trillion on interest payments every year and our borrowing drives up interest rates for Americans and American businesses. In addition, foreign adversaries holding our debt makes us vulnerable to a number of geopolitical issues. We need to fix the tax code and tackle waste, fraud and abuse in a serious way – and begin to pass budgets that significantly reduce deficit spending.

Protecting Voters. Since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013, red states have found new ways to make it harder for people to vote. Tens of millions of Americans face significant barriers to voting, and millions of folks don’t vote altogether. Voter suppression, coupled with partisan gerrymandering, have taken power away from most Americans and allowed politicians to pick their voters – when it should be the other way around. Dark money and corporate spending on elections have further diluted the power of voters. We need immediate reforms to return power back to the American people. One party has been intent on undermining voter rights, while the other has failed to protect voters.

Women and Men. Reproductive freedom has been stripped away from women and girls, and research into women’s health is still neglected. The pay gap between women and men remains a major issue. Finding affordable childcare, while a challenge for all working parents, especially impacts working moms. Boys and men are struggling too, but in different ways. Boys are falling further behind academically, and young men report the highest feelings of isolation and have the highest rates of suicide. One party has been on the wrong side of issues of freedom and equality for women and girls, while the other has struggled to find ways to communicate and connect with boys and men.

My wife and I have a son and daughter. We want them both to do well – and the same for all children. This means working on issues that our women and girls face, and the issues that our boys and men face. We can do both.

Hyperpartisan Politics. Most Americans are somewhere in the middle politically. Yet, too many politicians have tried to appease those on the extremes, and social media and cable news have worsened the problem. People are tired of fighting with their family and friends over politics. We can’t maintain the status quo. Instead, we need to find our way back to politics where people work together. It’s the only way to solve big problems in a real and durable way.

Trust is key to getting things done. By listening to folks – and acting on what we hear – we will gain trust back.

This will help us build the broad coalition of Americans that this moment requires.

Chapter 6: The Reforms

To fix the many problems threatening the country we love, we need a governing plan, a shared vision for the country. It should be built on 10 concrete and unifying reforms – each one focused on fixing what’s broken and delivering real results for all Americans, especially those left out or left behind.

1. The Working Families Economy Act would fix our broken economy and ensure it works for hardworking people. It would be the most significant overhaul to our tax code yet – requiring the super wealthy to pay all their taxes like everyone else, and ensuring hard work is finally rewarded for all Americans.

This bill would provide fully-paid for, refundable tax relief to folks who need it, and lower the cost of private-sector borrowing by reducing the amount that the federal government borrows every year. It would also empower workers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs, end the costly trade wars, and take on corporate consolidation and price gouging.

Fix the Tax Code – Minimum Billionaire Tax

This bill will overhaul the tax code and require super wealthy and big corporations to pay all of their taxes by closing loopholes, establishing a minimum tax rate for the super wealthy, and resetting corporate tax rates to pre-2017 levels.
When we stop spending trillions on the super wealthy, we can do two big things: invest in hard work and reduce deficit spending. This is how we help Americans pay their bills, get back to real fiscal responsibility, and fix our broken economy.

U.S. Affordability Tax Cuts and the Child Tax Credit

Perhaps the most important aspect of this bill would be a refundable tax break for working families – fully paid for by making the billionaires and big corporations pay all their taxes like the rest of us, which will generate trillions of dollars.
These tax cuts would be paid out monthly, helping hardworking Americans deal with the high cost of living and pay all of their bills on time. Americans desperately need help in the midst of this affordability crisis. They’re working harder than ever, and they’ve earned it.

End Costly Trade Wars

Congress must take back its tariff authority and end the costly trade wars that are hurting American consumers, businesses, and manufacturers. From here, Congress and the administration can work together on targeted tariffs that help, not hurt, American companies and consumers.

American Workers First

This bill would establish national protections for workers that they can count on, no matter where they live – including a $30/hour minimum wage, workplace safety, healthcare, paid time off, and guaranteed pension.

Bringing Back Competition

Finally, this bill would end price gouging and tackle corporate consolidation to return power back to consumers. The market, led by consumers, should set prices – not a few companies that have all but eliminated competition, one of the pillars of a strong American economy.
The bill would also expand tax incentives, benefits, and resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs, which will increase competition, create more choices for consumers, and give more people the opportunity to start and grow their own businesses. Small businesses drive economic growth and help Americans make ends meet.

2. The Drain the Swamp Act would get rid of waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption – of any kind. It would ban stock trading in Congress, establish term limits and ethics requirements, improve government services, and make Congress more efficient.

Mandatory Votes on Waste, Fraud and Abuse

This bill would require an annual, independent assessment of all federal spending with mandatory votes in Congress on waste fraud, and abuse.
This would address the nation’s debt crisis and the issues with ongoing deficit spending, and help restore trust in our government by demonstrating to taxpayers that their taxes are being used carefully, responsibly, and efficiently.

Ban Congressional Stock Trading

Fixing the government means getting rid of corruption – which is why this bill would include a full ban on members of Congress trading individual stocks.

Term Limits and Ethics Rules

This bill would also establish term limits for Congress and the Supreme Court and enforceable ethics rules for the Supreme Court.
It would also reform the presidential pardon power to prevent abuse.

Get Congress Working Again

This bill would require that any bill that passes out of committee with a supermajority (⅔ majority) is automatically brought to the full House for a vote.

Fast and Reliable Government Services

We have to make our government work better for everyone. This bill would set up a bipartisan working group – with a mandatory vote in Congress on their recommendations – to cut red tape and improve customer service, ensuring that government services work every time for every person.

3. The John R. Lewis Democracy for the People Act would return power to the American people and restore our democracy by banning dark money, ending voter suppression, and eliminating partisan gerrymandering once and for all.

Ban Dark Money

This bill would end Citizens United and ban dark money and corporate PACs in American politics.
Every dollar donated to a federal political campaign or PAC must be disclosed and made public.

End Partisan Gerrymandering

American voters should pick their politicians; politicians should not be picking their voters. That’s why this bill would end partisan gerrymandering in America and establish independent redistricting commissions with equal representation from Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in every state.

Stop Voter Suppression

In 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This bill would reverse that disastrous decision. Voting should be easy to do – for everyone.
This bill would automatically enroll every U.S. citizen to vote when they turn 18, protect early voting and vote-by-mail, establish protections against voter roll purges, and make Election Day a federal holiday.

4. The Build Baby Build Bill would get America building again – from housing, roads, and bridges to broadband and clean energy infrastructure – and pursue the largest federal investment in housing and infrastructure in U.S. history. It would also create a national housing fund, expand rent relief and eviction prevention programs, reform local zoning and permitting laws, and lower energy costs while addressing the climate crisis.

In addition, this bill would pursue similar reforms and investments in America’s critical infrastructure, broadband, and clean energy work to lower energy prices and address the climate crisis.

10 Million New American Homes

America needs the most ambitious housing plan ever, which involves building or renovating 10 million new homes, especially in areas where housing has become increasingly unaffordable – more housing, lower rents.
The bill would also incentivize local permitting, land use, and zoning reforms, allowing communities to build more infrastructure and housing faster.

Housing Fund

Key to building 10 million new homes would be a new national housing fund to provide loans and grants to local communities, helping them pay for major housing infrastructure projects.
The Housing Fund would also allow for three percent mortgages for many new home-buyers.
It would also fund rent relief and eviction prevention programs to keep families in their homes and ensure their homes market-ready and well-maintained.
The fund would also support the construction and renovation of housing for people with disabilities.

Broadband Everywhere

Similar to the housing approach, this bill would set an ambitious plan to expand high-speed, future-oriented broadband to every American – with a focus on rural and low-income communities that lack the broadband they need to succeed.
Right now, there are several disjointed programs – Lifeline, E-Rate, and others in the Universal Service Fund – that have helped bridge the digital divide, with varying success. However, tens of millions of Americans still can’t afford broadband and more than 23 million Americans lost their broadband subsidy when the Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) was not renewed. We need to consolidate existing programs – such as combining ACP into USF, which would not require an appropriation from Congress – so that our significant investments now ensure that every American is connected today and in the future.

Infrastructure, Transportation, and Clean Energy

For years, leaders have called for both a national infrastructure bank to fund ongoing work to rebuild America, while establishing essential, clean infrastructure to lower costs and create good paying jobs.
We need to build more, while limiting and addressing the threats to our environment. This bill will do both.

Permitting Reform

While funding is important, we also need permitting reform. This includes cutting red tape, setting up “shot clocks” for permitting processes, and making sure state and local permitting offices have the staff and resources they need to streamline review processes, ensuring that money gets out the door quickly.
Permitting reform will speed up construction and connect new energy projects around the country, making our electricity grid more reliable, cleaner, and less expensive for households.

3. The Healthcare for All Act would provide much needed reforms to health insurance in America, the pharmaceutical industry, and Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and reverse cuts made in the Mega Spending and Healthcare Cuts Bill of 2025 (or the “One Big Beautiful Bill”). It would also strengthen and expand Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Affordable Care Act – broadening coverage and lowering out-of-pocket costs.

Taking Back My Healthcare (Restore)

First, this bill will reverse the cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act in the Mega Spending and HealthCare Cuts Bill of 2025.
It would also reverse the current administration’s cuts and changes to the National Institutes for Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health – including critical funding for medical research and public health.

Public Option Plus (Expand)

America needs a public option – Medicare for all who want it. We should build the most efficient healthcare system in the country to ensure that every American gets the quality healthcare they need, without going into debt just to pay for it.
While a public option will be a game changer for Americans, Congress must also strengthen access and reimbursement rates for Medicaid, CHIP, and the Affordable Care Act.
Expansion efforts must include dental and vision coverage.

Cutting Costs and Medical Debt (Save)

This bill would authorize Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices without annual limits, cap the cost of prescription drugs – such as those for diabetes, asthma, chemo, heart disease, HIV, and autoimmune diseases – for all Americans, reverse price gouging by Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Big Pharma, and require full transparency for healthcare providers to reduce costs further.
It would also significantly ease the burden of any American with medical debt – including by capping interest charged on medical debt to no more than three percent, reigning in debt collectors’ abusive practices of going after patients for old bills, prohibiting garnishing wages, and limiting what can be reported to credit agencies.

4. The 21st Century Anti-Crime Act would help communities hire and retain law enforcement officers and implement common-sense gun reform that will end our gun violence nightmare. This would be in conjunction with bills to address other safety issues, including the border and national security.

100,000 New Police Officers

This bill would help local communities hire the police officers they need, and provide them with the support and training that will lead to successful 21st century policing that keeps everyone safe.

No Guns for Dangerous People

This bill would pair hiring officers with the commonsense reforms that will keep weapons out of the hands of dangerous people: closing loopholes that allow dangerous people to buy guns online or at gun shows, allowing law enforcement everywhere to ask a judge to remove weapons from dangerous people, requiring a violent history background check for all gun purchases, and putting restrictions on assault weapons – which would only be allowed to be used in designated places such as gun ranges.
This bill would also fully fund anti-gun violence task forces, which have been very successful.

Crime and Addiction Prevention

Finally, this bill would fund projects and policies that have been proven to work in communities across the country: local anti-drug taskforces, neighborhood and school intervention efforts, victim support, interventions at hospitals, and rehabilitation programs.

5. The Every Child Education Act would pursue a new approach to education reform by helping new moms and dads set their kids up for long-term success. It would expand prenatal care, paid family and medical leave, childcare, preschool, extended learning opportunities, support for students with disabilities, and include efforts to make college and the trade schools affordable.

Invest Early

Decades of research and experience show that we can drastically improve American education by investing early. This bill would be a transformative investment in early learning because it would match education with brain development, most of which happens prenatally and in the first several years of a child’s life. By pairing education with brain development, we will substantially improve lifetime outcomes.
This bill would ensure that every child shows up to kindergarten fully prepared – which will improve both individual and school outcomes – in two main ways. One, it will provide paid family leave and expand affordable, quality childcare and preschool. Two, it will pay for an extra year of preschool if a child is not prepared for kindergarten.
This bill would also expand access to prenatal care for expecting mothers, which will improve birth outcomes.

Invest in Classrooms

This bill would increase teacher pay, as well as the time that teachers spend with students needing extra help – both after school and during the summer.
Part of this new investment would support more project-based and hands-on learning in classrooms. Most students do better when they can move around, and move at their own pace. Project-based, experiential learning allows for both.
This bill would also fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities and Education Act (IDEA) to ensure that children with disabilities have the support they need, at no extra cost.

Invest in Careers

Finally, this bill would make two-to-four year community college and trade schools free, while increasing access to financial aid and loan repayment and forgiveness programs for colleges and universities.
It would also establish and strengthen programs for national and community service, like AmeriCorps.
Lastly, it would focus on recruiting and retention efforts for key fields facing worker shortages, including healthcare, STEM, public service, and education.

8. The Real Border Security and Immigration Reform Act would finally secure our border and fix our broken and out-dated immigration system. Both parties have failed to address our border and immigration issues in a real way, with one side being too weak and the other side being too extreme.

This bill would hire new border patrol officers, streamline the asylum process, add new judges, and include real immigration reform that protects Dreamers and establishes more legal pathways through expanded work permits. It will also include comprehensive reforms to reign in ICE and DHS and keep Americans safe.

Border Security

This bill would hire more border patrol officers, invest in border security technology, and combat the flow of fentanyl and illegal weapons into our country through expanded inspections.

Streamline Asylum Process

This bill would also hire much-needed immigration judges, and set up regional satellite offices in Latin America to allow people to apply for asylum without having to travel to our southern border.
Family separation would be prohibited in this bill.

Pathways to Documentation or Citizenship

After decades of broken promises from politicians on both sides of the aisle about immigration reform, this bill would expand workers permits based on merit and need (adjusting quarterly with jobs reports), and finally protect DACA recipients and Dreamers.

Reign in DHS and ICE

This bill will include comprehensive reforms to reign in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and keep Americans safe.
One key reform is to work with local law enforcement and follow their lead. They should be in charge of their towns. The bill would require ICE and DHS to notify and work with local law enforcement.
The bill would also implement serious recruitment practices, substantive training, a clear chain of command, enforceable conduct standards, body cameras, and clearly displayed identification for all federal law enforcement.

9. The Restore Personal Liberties Act would fully codify reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ rights. It would ensure that everyone has the right to make decisions about their own bodies – medical decisions should be made by individuals, doctors, and parents, not politicians. The bill would also provide additional protections for the press, ensuring that no one is targeted by the government for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Politicians should not be allowed to use the government to punish people they don’t like or understand. We should give people their freedoms back, and then leave everyone alone.

Codify Reproductive Rights

This bill would codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to birth control, Plan B, and mifepristone nationally.

Codify LGBTQ+ Rights

This bill would fully codify LGBTQ+ rights to protect members of the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination in key areas like healthcare, employment, housing, education, federal programs, and public service.

Protections for the Press and Speech

This bill would enhance existing protections for the press and media to ensure that they are not punished or targeted by the government for their reporting.
It would also restore the cuts to public broadcasting and media, ensuring that everyone has equal access to nonpartisan news and information.

10. The National Security and Global Leadership Act would include binding resolutions to reaffirm the United States’ leadership role in Europe, the Middle East, and Taiwan to strengthen national security and global stability. This means rejecting authoritarianism, fighting terrorism, selling more American-made products abroad, restoring foreign aid, and rejoining our allies in support of democracy.

These reforms provide us with the foundation to build a coordinated, national campaign to shift the narrative and meet the moment. It allows us to get organized – and lay out a legislative agenda to fix the economy, lower costs, and keep people safe.

This is the commonsense plan to win back Americans and lead our Great American Moment.

Chapter 7: How We Get This Done

The kind of change required for our Great American Moment – upending the status quo, fixing broken systems, and taking on the super wealthy and well-connected – will not happen overnight.

While this will be difficult, our history shows us that it’s possible. Overcoming adversity and coming back stronger is fundamental to who we are as Americans.

Here are three areas we must focus on to build our Great American Moment.

Leadership and Staffing. We need full-time, dedicated leaders and staff. We need buy-in from existing leadership but we also need new leaders – from faith, business, and community leaders to elected officials to communications and policy experts. Our movement needs structure and organization, while also being energetic, anti-establishment, and driven by public feedback.

Communication and Messaging. We have to go everywhere – podcasts, national and local news outlets, college campuses, townhalls, community events – to amplify our message and build as broad and inclusive a coalition as possible. We also need to be active on social media to spread our message and provide opportunities for public engagement and feedback.

Legislation. We need to have clear, publicly accessible legislation that members of Congress can sign onto. We must work with lawmakers across the political spectrum to draft legislation and ensure we have the majority support we need to enact real change.

Chapter 8: We’ve Been Here Before

Our country’s long history of overcoming adversity gives me reason to believe our Great American Moment is possible – not inevitable, but possible.

This isn’t the first time our country has faced a moment of reckoning. Over the course of American history, we’ve seen moments of incredible progress and advancement. But we’ve also endured periods of uncertainty and painful setbacks – when our democratic institutions caved to pressure, when violence and fear seemed to overwhelm hope, when division threatened to tear the country apart.

We are in a moment of uncertainty and painful setbacks.

But our country has always found its way back – and forged a better path forward. We are a people that have always met these moments with an unrelenting desire to do better – and to build something better.

This is what makes our country so special.

We always fight back.

This has been true since our country’s earliest days. During the Revolutionary War, we fought the most powerful empire on earth to secure our freedom.

A few years of uncertainty and disarray later, we established one of the most groundbreaking and influential documents in human history – the U.S. Constitution.

Our founders started this country with the purpose of building something better, with a promise of freedom, equality, and opportunity for everyone. As the Constitution begins: “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for Ourselves and our Posterity, do ordained and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Nearly 80 years later – another moment of reckoning. A divided country, the horrors of slavery, and a civil war that almost ripped the country in two.

In that moment, President Lincoln called for dedication to three great tasks that remain before us today: That the honored dead at Gettysburg “shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Our country was saved from destruction and division, and emerged stronger and more unified. With Reconstruction came the abolition of slavery, the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, the expansion of voting rights and equal protection under the law, and the election of historic numbers of African Americans to office.

50 and 60 years later, the country was tested again by World War I and the Great Depression. The country responded with Social Security, labor and banking protections, and massive investments in the future of the country.

10 years later, the country faced another crisis in World War II. America defeated the greatest threat to democracy the world had seen, and then set off a period of rapid economic expansion, rising wages, the growth of the American middle class, the construction of tens of millions of new homes, the expansion of women’s rights, and veterans going to college through the G.I. Bill.

And then, another moment of reckoning. McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare brought loyalty oaths, blacklists, government corruption and censorship, fear, mistrust, and neighbors turning on neighbors. The country emerged from this with a renewed commitment to transparency, accountability, civil rights, and justice.

Then, in the wake of the brutal era of Jim Crow, came the Civil Rights Movement – Freedom Rides, Montgomery Bus Boycotts, and March on Washington, landmark Supreme Court rulings and the end of segregation, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It was during this time that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously reminded us, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

The assassinations of Martin Luther King, President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s shocked the nation.

Less than a decade later, after a period of unprecedented corruption, the country faced another moment of reckoning with the Watergate scandal and the resignation of President Nixon. We overcame the immense division, grief, and corruption of this period – and moved forward together.

Throughout our history, America has faced moments of crisis and reckoning. Each time, we’ve grappled with our contradictions, shortcomings, and failings – emerging stronger and with a

renewed dedicated to the fundamental promise of our country: freedom, equality, and opportunity for everyone.

Today, nearly 50 years later, we’re facing another moment of reckoning.

Since the 1980s, wealth and power have become dangerously concentrated in the hands of a few elites, and they’ve rigged our economy and politics for themselves. This problem has continued to grow since the financial crisis of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The American people have been further stripped of their wealth and power by a broken economy, healthcare and housing crises, rampant corruption, and ongoing attacks on our democracy and the rule of law.

Through all of this, we’ve lost something fundamental to who we are as Americans: our shared purpose, the sense that we’re all in this together.

Every generation before us has faced moments of reckoning – and has had the choice of whether to give in or fight back.

We must meet this moment with the purpose, heart, and focus of the generations of Americans before us when they chose to fight back.

This is our Great American Moment.

Chapter 9: My Reason to Believe

My own experience in politics also gives me reason to believe that this is possible.

Years ago, I set out with others to make Cincinnati the first city in the country to provide two years of quality preschool. It took us years of organizing, but we got it on the ballot in 2016. It passed with the largest margin of victory in the school district’s levy history.

When I was at City Hall, we brought people together to pass comprehensive eviction prevention reforms. This included the first-ever Eviction Prevention Fund to provide emergency rental assistance to local families – an effort has kept tens of thousands of children and families in their homes.

We also passed budgets that invested in police, fire, prenatal care, childcare, youth jobs, and affordable housing.

In 2022, I was one of only two people to beat a sitting incumbent, flipping our congressional district from red to blue. I won again in 2024 – in a purple district – by nearly ten points.

In my first term in Congress, we forced a vote on the Social Security Fairness Act – a bill that had over 300 cosponsors but hadn’t moved in Congress for 25 years. We got our vote and passed the bill. Now millions of retired teachers, police officers, firefighters, and letter-carriers receive every dollar of the Social Security benefits that they earned and paid for – which amounts to $20 billion each year.

When you believe in something, and you refuse to give up, you can make big things happen. It’s been true for me, and it’s been true for our country. And it will be true about this Great American Moment.

Chapter 10: Conclusion

In 1942, in the middle of World War II and widespread anxiety and fear of world destruction, playwright Thornton Wilder warned, “Living is a struggle. Every good and excellent thing in the world, stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger, and must be fought for – whether it’s a field, or a home, or a country.”

This country is a good and excellent thing. And we must fight for it.

Fight for what makes America, America. For our shared values of freedom and democracy, hard work, fairness, and opportunity, community and caring for one another.

This country belongs to all of us. Not just to them. Our Great American Moment is our way to remind all Americans of that.

As bad as things are, this is our moment. We won’t give up on the place, the people, and the promises of America.

We all desperately need a shared purpose – something to believe in, to hold on to, to fight for. Together, we will get our country back to a place where we can do big things again: take on our broken economy and return wealth and power to the American people.

It’s always what we do together that matters the most.

This is our Great American Moment — and we will meet it together.