-by Rachel VenturaI am sure that it was a gut punch for Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg to get the call from the corner office of the DNC encouraging them to drop out before Super Tuesday. I am sure that both still think that they are the strongest candidate for the general election, but they sucked it up and did it anyway. We still don’t know what these candidates were offered in exchange for their Biden endorsement, but I am sure that whatever was offered made the painful decision easier to make.Right now, the people who worked tirelessly for Elizabeth Warren are also feeling that sting. I can identify with the women who still want a woman president and in my lifetime I will work to make that happen. Last night I participated in a Medicare for All townhall meeting and there were several women there who expressed their grief, and I encouraged them to move quickly and unite behind the only progressive in the race, Bernie Sanders.Former 2016 Sanders Delegate and 2020 Warren delegate, state Representative Will Guzzardi didn’t hesitate to shift back to Bernie Sanders following Warren's withdrawal from the race.I went on the Ben Joravsky show today as well on Chicago’s Progressive Talk Radio, WCPT 820am, to encourage supporters who wanted Warren to come out to Illinois’ 11th congressional district and canvass for Rachel Ventura and Bernie Sanders. If we want Medicare for All, The Green New Deal, a $15/hour living wage, meaningful criminal justice reform, a pathway towards citizenship for undocumented people pursuing the American dream, or meaningful campaign finance reform, there is only one candidate left in the race. From now until March 17th our campaign will be knocking on doors for Rachel Ventura and Bernie Sanders. In Aurora we are helping Junaid Afeef who is running for States Attorney. In Naperville, Illinois we are helping Denika McMillen who is running for State Representative. In Bolingbrook, Illinois we are helping Dagmara Avalar and in Plainfield, Illinois Michael Crowner is the progressive choice for State Senate 49.Working for progressive change needs to happen up and down the ballot and that is where we all need to be. We need to be united and continue to push for the change that we want to see in the world.As someone who has battled the establishment and won, I feel confident that we will win if we are united. I also know, that as someone who has been a strong voice for the people on the Will County Board that voters genuinely appreciate being represented. When our campaign knocks on doors in the overlapping parts of the 9th County Board District it is always nice to hear positive feedback from voters who have followed my fights for clean water, fair taxes, affordable housing, higher wages and a sustainable future. I know that people also appreciate Bernie Sanders 40 years of consistency and tireless advocacy for the marginalized and people who our political system has forgotten.This is where I am most concerned with a potential Biden nomination. The Democratic establishment supported a corporate Democrat through the 2016 nomination process and they lost to Donald Trump. We cannot afford to make that mistake in 2020. We cannot afford 4 more years of Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate left standing who is speaking directly to poor people, people of color, women, and those who are not equally represented in our political system. We need a candidate who gives those people a reason to go to the polls in November, not the status quo. They deserve a candidate who will make it easier for everyday Americans to run for office through implementing policies like publicly financed campaigns and an end to citizen’s united.From day one my campaign has been powered by supporters of both Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. I am asking those who supported Warren to join me in supporting Bernie Sanders.We will all be watching Michigan, a battleground state where Bernie Sanders came from behind and won in 2016. The driving issue in 2016 was trade and once again, it will be an issue that separates the corporate Democrat, Joe Biden and the progressive Democrat, Bernie Sanders. Donald Trump will be touting his “fulfilled” campaign promise of bringing jobs back with his United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA, also referred to as NAFTA 2.0 trade renegotiation bill). While there were some small provisional gains in that trade deal, it was not good enough and we will continue to lose jobs because of the lack of environmental standards. I would have voted “no” on it unlike my opponent. Bernie Sanders did vote “no.” In sharp contrast, Joe Biden has supported free trade agreements like NAFTA and the China Free Trade Agreement. He supported Barack Obama’s TPP that caused Hillary Clinton to lose in the Midwest where manufacturing jobs have been decimated by these trade agreements.At the end of the day the election in these states is going to be very similar to the 2016 cycle. In a hypothetical match-up between Trump and Biden, Donald Trump will be touting his version of NAFTA and pummeling Joe Biden for supporting the initial, flawed Clinton version. Courting white blue-collar voters in Michigan and other battle ground votes will require having a strong record of fair trade, and only Bernie Sanders brings that to the ticket.We need to pay close attention to where Joe Biden won on Super Tuesday. He won in the south, a place where no Democrat is expected to win in 2020. We can’t have another election where the Democrat wins the popular vote and we still end up losing to Trump. We need someone like Sanders who can win in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. These are places where white middle-class voters are likely to stick with Trump if we can’t give them a better choice. Additionally, Sanders voted against Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 creating greater contrast between him and Trump. He can point to some of the shortfalls to Trump’s version of the trade agreement. For those who are not following trade closely, here are a few things that I wrote about Trump’s NAFTA in December when the bill passed the House and Senate.
Donald Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 had support from republicans and corporate democrats like my opponent. I would have voted against Trump's NAFTA deal because it will only exacerbate the climate crisis. I would have stood with these environmental groups: 350.org, Earthjustice, Food and Water Action, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, Sierra Club, and Sunrise Movement.It perpetuates the offshoring of toxic waste and the outsourcing of jobs, creates incentives for more pipelines like the Keystone XL pipeline, and allows big oil companies to challenge environmental protections through a corporate tribunal process known as ISDS.This trade deal does little to address the climate crisis and fails to even mention the words, “climate change." At least 10 national environmental groups are opposing Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 because the legislation is worse than the original NAFTA with respect to our climate.The environmental concerns of NAFTA 2.0 are very real. This deal allows corporate polluters to dodge climate and environmental policies in the United States by outsourcing tightly regulated businesses like battery recycling.The highly controversial Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process that allows corporations to sue a sovereign government over lost profits due to increased environmental standards remains intact for fossil fuel companies. Unfortunately, this means that oil companies like Shell or Exxon Mobile can sue Mexico in private tribunals if new environmental policies undercut their government contracts for offshore drilling, fracking, oil and gas pipelines, refineries, or other polluting activities.The Trump administration’s text included a new “rule of origin” that would make it cheaper for oil corporations to export climate-polluting tar sands oil to the U.S. through dangerous oil pipelines like Keystone XL. The text also failed to include a provision that is needed to preserve the U.S.’s autonomy to determine if gas exports to Mexico and Canada are in the public interest. This provision is necessary to fix NAFTA’s automatic gas export guarantee, which has contributed to a five-fold surge in gas exports to Mexico since 2010, fueling increased fracking in the U.S. and an expansion of controversial cross-border gas pipelines.As the next representative from Illinois’ 11th district I will make sure that we address the climate crisis in every trade deal. In addition to stricter environmental standards, I will also support the inclusion and expansion of human rights, women’s rights and strong, enforceable worker’s rights standards. NAFTA 2.0 makes small strides forward with labor standards. However, while these baby steps need to be recognized, I still have serious questions about how labor standards will be enforced on factory floors. Regardless, NAFTA 2.0 remains damaging to the environment despite these modest gains.The deep irony here is that in the past, my opponent has used fossil fuel industry talking points and defined climate change as a “global problem," rather than addressing the problems right here at home in the U.S. Specifically, he has singled out other carbon-polluting nations like India and China as a way of dismissing the need for serious climate action by the United States Congress. The best way for the U.S. to influence the climate policies of other nations is through trade agreements like USMCA. Bill Foster cannot talk out of both sides of his mouth by criticizing other nations and then voting for a trade agreement that makes the climate crisis worse.This trade agreement is far from being a “template” for future trade agreements. It represents a starting place and there is still much work to be done.
If we elect Bernie Sanders for President, in the U.S. House of Representatives I will be fighting hard to change all of our trade agreements to put the environment and human rights first. I am encouraging all of my current and past supporters to vote for fundamental change on March 17th in the Illinois Democratic Primary.
