A Focus on Economic Justice

Our economy has been rigged by the same wealthy, white oligarchy that has undermined our democracy. They have done this to further enrich themselves, through tax cuts and regulatory giveaways for the ultra rich and biggest corporations, and by stealing every penny they can away from programs that help our families and communities. Even worse, they have leveraged racism and anti-immigrant nativism to pit the victims of their greed against each other, and Black, brown, indiginous, and immigrant communities have suffered the consequences. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. We have all the resources, expertise, and compassion necessary to create an economy that supports everyone, corrects racial injustices, and prioritizes workers over shareholders. Together we can create a country where instead of outsourcing jobs to low-wage countries and hiding their profits overseas, corporations create jobs here and invest locally so our communities can thrive. We can create a country where all parents and children are supported with affordable, high-quality childcare and schools, and nobody’s kids are going hungry. Rather than allowing predatory mega-corporations to plunder minority communities, we can create a country that protects consumers and workers, empowering them to make decisions about their own health and wellbeing. Housing can be affordable, jobs can be readily available and pay family supporting wages, and prosperity can be shared with the many, not just the few. 

Economic Justice Reforms We Want to See

1. A robust and equitable economic recovery that creates millions of family supporting, union jobs, especially in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the current crises or the legacies of past injustices; 
2. Tax policies that require the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations to pay their fair share, and prioritize supporting workers and families;
3. Laws that ensure prosperity is rightly shared with the people who create it through raising wages, holding corporations liable for their actions, extending legal protections to all workers, and supporting small businesses;
4. Using public money for public benefit by investing in strong, healthy communities and a comprehensive social safety net so nobody faces financial hardship through no fault of their own; 
5. Ensuring every family can thrive by expanding affordable family and dependent care, guaranteeing affordable housing, and removing economic barriers for people of color, women, and LGBTQ people.

How We Plan to Win Economic Justice

Aggressive advocacy, with an inside-outside strategy. Indivisible will work with partner organizations, congressional champions, and (most importantly!) local Indivisibles to highlight the urgent need for these policies and to advance the strongest, most transformative economic justice agenda possible. We will support the work of legislators who advance our progressive goals, and put pressure on legislators who are tempted to pursue watered down solutions.

Rejecting austerity and fighting for the investments we need across the economy. We know that politicians on both sides of the aisle will make appeals to reducing the federal deficit or panicking about the national debt. We also know that deficit spending poses little to no risk to the economy, while failing to spend money on creating jobs, strengthening our communities, and caring for each other will cause a tremendous amount of avoidable harm and suffering. We will push back on any effort to enforce austerity or place arbitrary limits on progressive policy. 

Fighting for big changes to create an inclusive economy. We know that, just like our democracy, we cannot hope to solve our economic problems by nibbling around the edges and hoping things work out. We need structural changes that take power away from the wealthy and powerful, and put that power in the hands of workers, families, and communities. We must be bold, strategic, and progressive in our advocacy—that is the only way we will win economic justice.