Melanie D'Arrigo Profile picture
Exec Director @NYHCampaign, VP Legislation NY National Organization for Women, LGBTQ nonprofit cofounder Bluesky: @darrigomelanie Threads & IG: @melanie_darrigo
Nov 30, 2023 11 tweets 4 min read
Happy "Last Day in Congress for George Santos Day" to all who are celebrating in and outside of #NY03

🧵Here's a quick recap of some of the lies and potential crimes uncovered over the last year: Image George Santos:
• Lied about his mother being a victim of the 9/11 attacks despite living in Brazil
• Lied about being Jewish
• Lied about his grandparents surviving the Holocaust
• Lied about having employees killed in the Pulse Nightclub shooting Image
Oct 23, 2023 11 tweets 4 min read
There are 9 Republican men vying to be Speaker.

Tonight's GOP Speaker candidate forum is brought to you by some of the worst special interest groups.

🧵Let's meet the candidates and their sponsors: Image Rep. Tom Emmer's Speaker candidacy is brought to you by the finance and the insurance industry, who has given him $263,000 so far this year to use his position on the Financial Services committee to protect Wall St, promote deregulation, and increase the wealth of billionaires.⬇️ Image
Mar 27, 2023 13 tweets 3 min read
Last election cycle, the gun industry donated $4,624,340 to Republicans in Congress. This doesn't include dark money, independent expenditures to boost their campaigns, just straight up donations. (per OpenSecrets)

🧵Here are the top 10: 1. Rand Paul (R-KY) accepted $196,913 from the gun industry in 2022.

Rand Paul is paid to promote gun culture among kids. Image
Apr 21, 2022 14 tweets 3 min read
🏳️‍⚧️Trans Rights are Human Rights.🏳️‍⚧️

We must pass federal legislation to ensure those words have meaning. 🧵⬇️ Trans communities, especially trans youth, are under attack by Republicans seeking to strip them of their rights, identities and the essential services and protections that keep them safe.

We must respond forcefully and with solutions that ensure their equality and protection.⬇️
Mar 27, 2022 16 tweets 10 min read
The House Oversight Committee will be holding a #MedicareForAll hearing on Tuesday — the first since the pandemic began and exposed just how much harm our for-profit healthcare system has done to families and our economy.

🧵Here are 🔟 things you may not know about #M4A ⬇️ 1⃣ Health insurance ≠ healthcare.

#MedicareForAll would guarantee high-quality healthcare to every single person in America. "Healthcare is a human right," means there are no physical, bureaucratic or financial barriers to care — which is what #M4A delivers. ⬇️
Mar 26, 2022 6 tweets 1 min read
Recuse, Resign and Step Aside: I’m calling for the removal of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas from his seat. 🧵⬇️ “Clarence Thomas must recuse, resign, and step aside. The reports that his wife repeatedly used her influence to try and overturn the 2020 Presidential election are deeply disturbing, but not surprising. ⬇️
Mar 2, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
President Joe Biden laid out a vision to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic crisis that have challenged working families across the country. ⬇️ If our federal government can come together to adopt progressive policies that prioritize working families over corporations…
⬇️
Feb 19, 2022 16 tweets 11 min read
Universal healthcare is a necessary, moral and fiscally responsible solution to our country's healthcare crisis.

So why don't we have #MedicareForAll? And why is there so much misinformation spread about it?

Let's bust some #M4A myths:
🧵⬇️ Health insurance is not the same as healthcare.

People would move from their restrictive insurance plans and upgrade to #MedicareForAll

No more private insurance with varying degrees of coverage, restrictive networks, dealing with insurance bureaucracy or medical bills.
⬇️
Jan 31, 2022 15 tweets 4 min read
People are living longer, earning less and their quality of life is declining. The dream of retirement isn’t something many seniors can realize.
#NY3 has over 155,000 adults over the age of 65. The problems they face are policy choices we can correct. Here are some ways how:
🧵⬇️ Over 60% of seniors depend on Social Security for most of their income and one-third rely on it for virtually all of it.

Without Social Security, the poverty rate of seniors would be nearly 41%. We must protect and expand it.
⬇️
Jan 30, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
By the looks of it, the next Representative for #NY3 will need a boat to serve all constituents.

Below is my statement on the alleged new congressional maps for #NY3 ⬇️ “By the looks of it, the next Representative for New York’s Third Congressional District will need a boat to cross the Long Island Sound to serve all constituents.

“We cannot stay silent as we watch the state legislature float a map that extreme gerrymanders our district... ⬇️
Jan 15, 2022 14 tweets 5 min read
We must protect voting rights to secure our elections, but our democracy will always be under attack as long as corporations are allowed to buy the people who were elected to represent us.

To protect democracy, we must end the corruption.
🧵⬇️ Nothing that ever helped working families started with a corporate lobbyist cutting a check to a member of Congress.

If you want to see why a problem isn't being fixed, just follow the money back to the people profiting from it remaining broken.
⬇️
Aug 14, 2021 12 tweets 8 min read
Guaranteeing healthcare for every American isn't "radical" or "divisive."

Allowing people to die because they can't afford to see a doctor is.

#MedicareForAll is moral, fiscally responsible and the only policy that treats healthcare as a right.

🧵⬇️ Here are 10 things to know: #MedicareForAll is fiscally responsible.

Our current healthcare system is inefficient and wasteful. #MedicareForAll would save $450 Billion per year. #M4A would also cost an estimated $650 Billion less per year compared to the proposed Public Option.
1/
Jul 24, 2021 13 tweets 9 min read
No one should die or go into debt because they can't afford to see a doctor or get medical treatment.

Insurance, pharma and medical lobbyists disagree— spending billions buying politicians and spreading lies.

Let's cut through their BS with some #MedicareForAll mythbusting:
🧵 Health insurance ≠ healthcare.

Having "access," to purchase health insurance doesn't mean you'll be able to afford it, or the out of pocket costs associated with using it. It also doesn't guarantee your insurance provider will cover your doctor visits or treatments.
1/
Jul 22, 2021 7 tweets 2 min read
🧵It’s hard to really comprehend the mind boggling amount of money lobbyists spend buying policies on Capitol Hill. Here are what the top lobbyists spent *in just Q2* this year:

1️⃣ U.S. Chamber of Commerce - $11.6M
2️⃣ National Assoc of Realtors - $10.1M
3️⃣ PhRMA - $6.4M

1/
4️⃣ National Assoc of Manufacturers - $5.5M
5️⃣ American Hospital Assoc - $5.1M
6️⃣ The Business Roundtable - $5M
7️⃣ Amazon - $4.9M
8️⃣ Facebook - $4.8M
9️⃣ American Medical Assoc - $4.2
1️⃣0️⃣ Lockheed Martin - $3.6M
1️⃣1️⃣ Biotechnology Innovation Organization - $3.5M

2/
Jun 29, 2021 9 tweets 6 min read
A good portion of our country is melting today, so now is as good of time as ever to bust a few #GreenNewDeal myths.

🧵1/ Let's jump in: First off, implementing the #GreenNewDeal now will never, ever, be more expensive than the cost of dealing with the repercussions of our climate crisis down the road. 2/
Jun 16, 2021 9 tweets 6 min read
There's a lot of lobbyist-funded misinformation out there preventing us from realizing "healthcare as a human right."

Let's bust a few #MedicareForAll myths, shall we? People ♥️ their doctors, not their insurance companies. #MedicareForAll eliminates the barriers insurance companies put up between you and the doctors you ♥️ and the care you need.
Dec 24, 2020 14 tweets 4 min read
🎶🎄🎅
Twas the night before Christmas 
When all through the White House
All the grifters were stirring
expecting pardons from the louse.
Covid relief
Hung in the balance without care
With hopes of $2000 checks
vanishing into thin air.

1/14 🎶🎄🎅
Children nestled everywhere
Still some with beds
While the realities of eviction 
Danced in parents' heads.
Melania in her kerchief
And Trump in a stupid red cap
Still planning to override
The 2020 electoral map.

2/14
May 12, 2020 14 tweets 7 min read
❓Why do Democrats primary Democrats❓

Short answer:
Because not every Democrat fights for Democratic values.

Long answer:
<thread>⬇️ The battle for the soul of the Democratic party happens in primaries. It comes down to which candidates put #PeopleOverProfits and which do not.

#DownBallotProgressives 🚫corporate💵 and fight for people.

Centrist Dems vote to protect the profits of their corporate donors.

2/
Feb 22, 2020 13 tweets 8 min read
Let's talk #MedicareForAll •vs• Public Option

#M4A:
✅ Covers everyone, no exceptions
✅ Includes vision, dental, hearing aids, mental illness & long-term care
✅ $0 premiums, deductibles and co-pays
✅ You see the doctors and hospitals you choose to see

1
<thread> Public Option = our current system + option to buy into a Medicare-like plan

The Medicare option would mimic traditional Medicare w/ premiums, deductibles & coinsurance. This is an improvement over our current system, but doesn't come close to the care you'd receive w/ #M4A

2
Jan 30, 2020 6 tweets 6 min read
We assume NY is progressive because it's Blue, but we're represented by Reps that oppose progressive policies that are overwhelmingly supported. ( @DataProgress )

🌎 #GreenNewDeal 64%-20%
🏥 #MedicareForAll 59%-24%
🏠 #HomesGuarantee 62%-21%

<thread>
1
filesforprogress.org/memos/new-york… With the exception of @AOC, NY Reps survive by their corporate donors pumping $millions into their campaigns to push policies benefiting the super-rich at the expense of hard working NYers.

💰That's why 70% of NYers support corruption reforms.

2
dataforprogress.org/the-new-progre…
Jan 24, 2020 16 tweets 6 min read
Lost in this disturbing video is the troubling answer Rep. Tom Suozzi gave around receiving donations from the same corporations he regulates through his seat on the House Ways & Means committee.

🥊Spoiler Alert: The only person he fights for is himself.

[thread]
1 In the last two election cycles, Suozzi has taken over $1 million from corporate PACs and Super PACs funded by corporate PACs. That's public record.

He happily admitted in the video to accepting corporate donations.

Why?

2
opensecrets.org/members-of-con…