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Briahna Joy Gray

25 Jan, 8 tweets, 3 min read

https://twitter.com/timsonderman/status/1353802978696822786

Sam Seder spent months arguing against the merits of a plan all while not understanding the basic mechanics of it.

It was rank negligence, and I did him a kindness by not drilling him on how irresponsible he’s been on our program.

https://twitter.com/timsonderman/status/1353802978696822786

He went on to admit that his objection was not to the strategy, which again, he didn’t even understand. His objection was to the fact that he thought the strategy was part of some greater scheme he doesn’t agree with.

He didn’t even bother to *understand* the argument.

I asked Sam *repeatedly* to articulate the downsides of #ForceTheVote. He argued that if there were a split between Pelosi and the squad, that Pelosi, whose unfavorables are worse than Trump’s, would garner public sympathy. Not just corporate media sympathy. The ppls sympathy.

Sam then argued that the FTV “asks” weren’t big enough. I asked what *he* would’ve demanded. He mentioned paygo exemptions. I pointed out that I’ve consistently argued that eliminating paygo & all of Sirota’s suggestions were among my asks. He was ignorant of that fact.

https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1346624376632963077

He went on to claim that the limited paygo exemptions for COVID and climate change were of greater “material” significance, even as I argued that they could’ve used force the vote to *eliminate* paygo altogether. He went on to call the plan—designed by the DSA— middling.

https://twitter.com/briebriejoy/status/1346624376632963077

He initially argued that FVT might be a good idea if they asked for something more significant. Like committee positions. I pointed out that committee positions could’ve been part of the FTV ask, & that progressives got screwed on committee positions after not forcing the vote.

But he really gave the game away when, at around the 10 minute mark, he said “I don’t know that [Medicare for All] would’ve made a material difference” in a pandemic.

I had no plans to harp on or excavate any of this. I appreciated the conversation and Sam's willingness to engage. But his choice to lob petty snipes days later instead of having the integrity to confront me when we were live on air is shameful.

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More from @briebriejoy

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

12 Jan

@JoeBiden

Please watch this video to get a good sense of what @JoeBiden could do if he cared to do it.

It answers all the questions.

#CancelStudentDebt

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1147954939634651137

Some takeaways:

80% of all student debt is held by those making less than $127k a year.

Families making less than 60k a year took out 280% MORE student loan debt than families making over 100k.

Women hold 2/3rds of student loan debt.

And Black women hold more than anyone else.

12 years after starting school the median Black student loan borrower owed more debt than they originally took out. And 21% have defaulted on their loans.

Read 7 tweets

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

12 Jan

I know I'm late to this but . . . Why is Nicole Kidman in Prom?

The casting is so weird. Like, why?

Also, Keegan Michael Key as Meryl Streep's love interest? Was Stanley Tucci busy?

(Meryl is excellent btw).

But Meryl's character is supposed to be from small down PA, yet she still doesn't know how to pronounce Applebees? What's with coastal elites and midrange dining chains?

Read 4 tweets

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

5 Jan

Is the *left's* position that the only way to change hearts & minds is to knock millions of doors & have 30 min conversations with each person abt Medicare for All? Or might high profile events that draw attention to the failure of our healthcare system in this moment be helpful?

Organizing is important. But Biden didn't knock doors or even have field offices in many key states until late in the game. What he did have was the total support of the corporate media, & a solid narrative for them to push: "I am the only one who can beat Trump."

Biden also had the support of every corporate interest group in the country.

It's hard to compete with that. But it given how much bipartisan distain for this type of behavior there is, you can endeavor to make taking this money politically toxic.

Read 11 tweets

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

5 Jan

https://twitter.com/nataliesurely/status/1346321358330990593

Where have I said that number equals “a powerful base in itself.” I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.

You can push a poll to build support and make people confident about leaning into a policy solution. Or you can argue people *actually* like their healthcare.

https://twitter.com/nataliesurely/status/1346321358330990593

When Bernie polled #1 with Black voters in February, we should’ve screamed it from the rooftops! You push positive polls to break through bad narratives. That’s common sense.

Medicare for all is a good policy that saves lives and money. AND it’s polling well. ADVERTISE THAT.

Why on EARTH would you adopt right wing taking points about how support changes when the question changes. THATS TRUE OF EVERY ISSUE ON EARTH.

Even despite BILLION spent on anti-M4All adds and misleading polls were still winning the polling war!

Read 4 tweets

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

5 Jan

https://twitter.com/jamie_elizabeth/status/1346275102191734791

No. As I have explained, the goal of #forcethevote is to bridge the gap between enormous support for #medicareforall (88% among Democratic voters) and the tepid support among elected Democrats (barely half of house dems).

How?

https://twitter.com/jamie_elizabeth/status/1346275102191734791

My opinion is that a key driver of this gap is the corporate media.

The media refuses to air how popular the policies are, so most ppl think M4All is a losing political issue & forgive Dems for not backing it. Ultimately, they prioritize Dem victories.

In fact, the media actively parrots right wing talking points -- convincing voters that Medicare for all is too expensive, too unpopular, and too impractical to vote in favor of.

The goal of a floor vote is to wrest control from the corporate media & tell the truth.

Read 7 tweets

Briahna Joy Gray

@briebriejoy

29 Dec 20

I'm an hour 20 min into watching the 2019 Ways and Means committee hearing on universal healthcare and there hasn't been a single question aimed at exposing how much money anti-M4All witnesses or congress members have taken from the private healthcare industry.

@RepKevinBrady

This is @RepKevinBrady from TX-8.

He received the 2nd highest amount in contributions from the healthcare industry in 2016: $202,751.

Might have something to do with the dishonest anti-Medicare for All screed he spouted.

He's been in congress 30 years. #primarytime

@VernBuchanan

This is @VernBuchanan from FL-16.

He took $110k from a healthcare PAC. Might have something to do with his choice to lie about the cost of Medicare for All, which a conservative study found offers enormous cost savings by cutting out the middle man that's lining Vern's pockets.