A mysterious group called Healthy Future LLC is spending a ton of money spreading lies that I want to cut Medicare. Who are they? I looked up their address in Stafford VA and found this storefront in a strip mall. Hmmm...Let me tell a story of dark money and lies. THREAD
A Healthy Future is blasting ads and stuffing mailboxes and inboxes with lies. What I am actually trying to do is lower drug prices through negotiation, set out of pocket maximums, and give everyone on Medicare vision hearing dental coverage. We are strengthening Medicare. 2/11
So why is this group not talking truthfully about efforts to lower drug costs and instead lying about cutting medicare? The answer is that efforts to lower drug costs are very popular with Americans, and they know that. See new poll today ⬇️3/11 politico.com/news/2021/10/0…
So who is this group spending millions spewing lies? I went to A Healthy Future’s website to try and figure out who they are. They seem really friendly with a picture of a loving family. They have no info at all. Not a phone # or email. It’s literally just a homepage. hmm… 4/11
I searched for the LLC filing and found a filing in Ohio by an attorney James G Ryan. Not much there but found some additional information that this one attorney was also flagged as having established several other dark money groups. 5/11 documentcloud.org/documents/5775…
We don’t know who runs or funds A Healthy Future. I think the logical guess is Pharma, but it is absurd and cowardice that groups can spend millions with no accountability/transparency. Can’t have a political debate if other side is hiding. 6/11 nj.com/opinion/2021/0…
This outside money isn’t new, it just has a bigger influence that’s marked by a much bigger price tag. Dark money spending increased from $749M in 1990 to $3.3 Billion in 2020. 7/11 opensecrets.org/outsidespendin…
Not only is spending exploding, but transparency is way down. Before Citizens United decision in the Supreme Court, 80% of outside spending was disclosed. In 2018 it was only 53% (@OpenSecretsDC). Outside groups have spent $7.3B to influence elections since 2010. 8/11
I ran for Congress in 2018 to get govt back to working for the people, not big corporations or dark money interests. I want to show people that we can disagree with decency and civility and still remain united as a nation. @StopBigMoney@usapromise 9/11 nj.com/opinion/2021/0…
To A Healthy Future and its backers, since I can’t seem to find a phone number to call you, I want you to know that your lies and gross tactics to deceive only strengthen my resolve to protect Medicare and stand up for our Seniors and others who are asking for fairness. 10/11
And know that there are many Americans that feel the same way as I do about stopping dark money and lowering drug costs. There is a legitimate debate that can be had about how we do this. So get out of the shadows and let’s talk. Oh yeah, and stop lying to my constituents. END
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When Lincoln was shot he wore a coat embroidered with “One Country, One Destiny.” I’ve turned to those 4 words to help me process this moment. This assassination attempt was one of the worst events I’ve seen in our democracy. It feels like we are a country unmoored…THREAD
I’ve never experienced a time more unpredictable yet with such generational consequence. So what does this particular moment mean? I remembered a passage in a book I read. “Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.” 2/10
The deep unease we carry is in part the fact that we witnessed with the shooter one person trying to use the means of violence to impose their will upon a nation of 330 million and subvert the power of people that underlies our very democracy. 3/10
This month is 20 yrs since I started serving the country, first as an intern and now today I’m on the ballot to be the Dem nominee for Senate. I’ve been blessed to serve, working my way up from a desk in the photocopy room. But I always remembered my 1st lesson in service. THREAD
20 yrs ago, arriving at Union Station, I realized I didn’t know anyone else in the entire city of DC. I didn’t come from a political family or had any previous experience in DC except for a family trip or two. I was nervous. I felt out of place. I felt like I didn’t belong. 2/11
Who was I to think I could work in government? I am a son of immigrants, a public school kid. I made my way by metro lugging a big duffel to Foggy Bottom where I had a dorm room in George Washington University for the summer. 3/11
I first met @YaelBromberg, @bmpugach and Flavio Komuves just 5 months ago. While we talked, the gravity of what we were considering hit me. I asked them point blank, what’s our chance of winning a lawsuit against the political machine? Is this a Hail Mary or do we have a shot?🧵
The three of them didn’t flinch. They each took turns telling me why this was real. They embodied confidence yet humility. They were pragmatic and tactical while maintaining the hopefulness and courage one needs to take on NJ politics. 2/6
I explained to them how this would set off a massive firestorm. In some ways I wanted to make sure they were ready for it. But I realized when I talked that the three of them understood exactly what they were doing as they’ve been fighting this fight for years. 3/6
Politics in NJ is facing a real crossroads right now between elite control and power of people. The same leaders who gain political control through the county line on ballots are flexing to ram through a bill gutting OPRA and transparency. These problems are interconnected THREAD
Of all the things to fast track...leaders are spending time and capital reducing transparency. We have affordability, environmental, infrastructure challenges. It's a real prioritization problem to have a politics more interested in preserving/expanding their own control. 2/10
The actions yesterday of reportedly replacing a state Senator on a committee because he planned to vote against the bill shows how broken this process is. It gives the impression that individual lawmakers are irrelevant, and all that matters is what top leaders want. 3/10
The broken politics in New Jersey needs to end once and for all. Today I am filing suit and seeking an injunction to stop the corrupt county line system for this June 4 primary and to abolish it permanently going forward. 49 states use fair ballots; it’s time NJ does too. THREAD
Right now NJ allows a handful of party elites to give their handpicked candidates preferential placement on the ballot. This is a deeply unfair advantage that disenfranchises voters by applying undue influence and suppressing choice of candidates.
Voter disenfranchisement particularly harms candidates and voters of color. We’ve seen leaders from those communities - like NJ State Senators Shirley Turner and Troy Singleton - have the courage to take risk and come out to call for change. I’m grateful for their leadership.
Last week I was proud to be endorsed by College Democrats of NJ, but I found out the terrible backstory that shows how Jersey politics is broken. The college students were pressured and threatened to not endorse me. Good thing they recorded the call. Here’s what happened…THREAD
Prior to the endorsement announcement, someone who works for the state Democratic Party told student leaders that endorsing me could affect their future job prospects and their org’s funding. The student leaders felt threatened and recorded the call. 2/9 nytimes.com/2024/01/14/nyr…
I read the transcript of the call pressuring @NJCollegeDems to not endorse me. This line stood out to me:
“I also think there’s a very clear candidate here who should be representing the state. However, the powers that be do not want that candidate to be representing.”
3/9