Inside Black Lives Matter From Heritage
It’s never been more clear that the left is waging war, not just in political and policy arenas, but in every aspect of society. Sentinels must understand the true motives of the left and their center of gravity. Once we understand the battle, we can apply that knowledge to our work with elected officials by influencing their positions, getting them on the record, and holding them accountable.
Black Lives Matter as a movement, or at least a slogan, recently has attracted broad support in favor of racial equality. Two-thirds of Americans say they either strongly or somewhat support the Black Lives Matter movement, according to a recent Pew Research poll. While many are simply expressing solidarity with the truism that black lives do indeed matter, we urgently need to educate our community and elected officials about the Black Lives Matter organizations’ true agenda.
The New York Times reported a couple of weeks ago that “racial justice groups” have seen record-setting influxes of cash donations from both individuals and corporations. One single online petition alone had raised five million dollars. The most significant group is the Black Lives Matter Global Network. Amazon announced it would give $10 million to 12 groups, including BLM Global Network Foundation, Microsoft pledged to give $250,000, and Airbnb announced it will give $500,000 to the NAACP and the BLM Global Network Foundation.
The three women who founded Black Lives Matter Global Network, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi are self-declared Marxists. Cullors said in a revealing 2015 interview that “Myself and Alicia in particular are trained organizers. We are trained Marxists.” Unfortunately, many today don’t realize what Marxism is. Marxism subscribes to the belief: All property is theft. Whether it’s your house or your car, everything that would belong to you, instead would belong to the state. It’s redistribution of wealth. Communism is simply another name for Marxism. It is a failed, harsh political experiment.
BLM’s website reveals their intent to radically and completely transform America. They aim to “disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure.” One partner organization, the Movement for Black Lives, calls for abolishing all police and all prisons. M4BL also calls for a “progressive restructuring of tax codes at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure a radical and sustainable redistribution of wealth.”
This anti-American agenda is not what most people signed up for when they first aligned themselves with the movement, and perhaps inadvertently the organization, nor do many of them understand it today. That is why it’s so important we educate friends, family, and elected officials on the radical nature of many of these organizations. This quick video highlights what you need to know.
You can also check out Mike Gonzales’ new book, The Plot to Change America: How Identity Politics is Dividing the Land of the Free, which will be coming out soon.
Kagan Court Abandons Rule of Law
On Monday, the Supreme Court decided the landmark abortion case June Medical Services LLC v. Russo, overturning a Louisiana law placing common-sense health guidelines on abortion providers and requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. The decision was anti-woman, anti-life, and anti-liberty.
Chief Justice Roberts, who dissented in a similar case in 2016, has reversed course to cast the deciding vote to overrule the Louisiana legislature’s decision to protect women’s health. Justice Roberts, a so-called “conservative,” is clearly no longer the most important voice on the bench — it’s now the Kagan Court.
Where does this leave conservatives? We can’t give up on judicial nominees — the fight for good originalist judges who accurately interpret the law is more important now than ever. Both Justices nominated by President Trump decided correctly — one more responsible judge on the Court would have flipped the decision. This decision should also wake us up to this reality: no single politician, judge, or law will save us. Our ideals are under attack from every corner, including the highest court in the land. Thankfully, nine judges don’t have ultimate power. Activists and legislators in every state can and should fight for life and for our freedom — or else we’ll lose both.
Moving Toward Single Payer
On Monday, the House voted 224-179 to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act (H.R. 1425). Democrats moved quickly at the end of last week to bring this bill to the floor, and Heritage Action key voted NO. This bill includes a wish list of the Left’s health care priorities, and would limit Americans’ health care options by moving towards a single-payer system. In addition to punishing states that haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs, it would:
Establish price controls for prescription drugs. It would create an international pricing index for prescription drugs, and give power to federal bureaucrats to set a limit on drug prices equal to 1.2 times the cost of a drug’s average price in six specified countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom). Data clearly shows government price-setting has had a negative impact on all six countries included in the international pricing index.
Create a new government program. It would establish a new, unnecessary federal reinsurance program that would cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion annually.
Attack free-market alternatives to Obamacare. It would roll back the Trump Administration’s successful section 1332 waivers. Instead of taxpayer dollars going to insurance companies through premium subsidies, these waivers have allowed numerous states to establish their own innovative programs that reduce premiums (and without any further increase in federal spending!).
Provide a windfall to insurance companies. It would broaden eligibility for federal premium subsidies to everyone, regardless of income, while also expanding the size of the subsidies themselves. Ultimately, these subsidies dramatically raise costs. It is also not clear increasing subsidies would meaningfully reduce the number of uninsured. More than 99% of Americans have access to health coverage, regardless of their income or medical condition.
>> See how your member of Congress voted on Heritage Action’s scorecard.
