Issue Position: Opportunity for Everyone

Issue Position

Jeff Merkley's vision of America is one where every child has a full opportunity to thrive no matter which side of the railroad tracks he or she is born on.

But that vision is fading. Workers are working harder than ever, yet slipping further behind.

This is no accident. It is the result of trade policies that ship jobs overseas and a failure to invest in the foundations for thriving families -- affordable housing, quality education, health care, and good-paying jobs.

Let's change that. We can create millions of good-paying jobs rebuilding America's infrastructure from roads and bridges to docks and jetties. And let's put high-speed broadband in every rural community in America.

Health care is just too expensive, complicated, and stressful. We should give every American the opportunity to participate in simple, seamless, cost-effective Medicare for All. And we must end the gouging of Americans on drug prices by banning drug companies from charging more for a drug than they charge in Canada, Europe, and Japan.

We should reduce class sizes in elementary schools, bring back shop classes and technical education, and give every young person who wants to the chance to go to college debt-free.

Housing and child care should be affordable in every community and to every family.

And may we truly be a nation of opportunity for all, fighting against discrimination, bigotry, and racism and fighting for the rights of workers to lift themselves up by forming unions and negotiating strong wages and benefits.

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