“When my party has won the White House in the last 50 years, it’s always been somebody who’s from outside Washington, offering the message around our values and calling for a new generation of leadership.”
– Pete Buttigieg
Is it starting to feel to you like the far left and far right are tearing the limbs off everyone in the middle, like an old Holly Hobby doll in a St. Bernard tug-of-war?
A sensible but progressive approach to our country’s needs is more important than ever. For that to happen, we must have a president who can appeal to both liberals and conservatives, specifically those who voted for Barack Obama, but flipped to Donald Trump in 2016.
It’s exactly those voters that Pete Buttigieg is speaking to right now on the ground in Iowa.
Jefferson, Wapello, Des Moines, Louisa, Muscatine and all the other Iowa “Obama counties” that turned red in the last presidential election: Pete Buttigieg is fighting to earn your support.
Pete knows you’re there. He knows you’re worried about the direction of the country. You want health care that won’t send you into bankruptcy. You work because you want security, not to just pay this month’s bills.
Pete Buttigieg knows what you know: we all can be better than we are right now.
In Davos this week, impeached President Donald Trump said he would focus on cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security by the end of this year. He’ll also continue to drive a knife into the American health care system, which means higher premiums and copays for all of us (You can see it here for yourself – advance to 17:50 for Trump’s answers on entitlements)
From the start of his campaign, Pete Buttigieg has smartly ignored Trump, instead focusing on the fight for his vision of a government that works for everyone. As the youngest candidate in the field (38), he has more of a vested interest than any of the other Democratic candidates in the race. He will be here for the next fifty years, raising his children, and fighting to preserve the advantages and freedoms of this country for his grandchildren, just like you do every day.
Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders (78), Vice-President Joe Biden (77), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (70) continue using their time on the stump to remind us we have a cold-hearted pugilist in the White House. My question is: who doesn’t know this already? Why waste time arguing that Trump should be beaten instead of presenting a case for stabilizing the American middle class again once he’s gone?
Unfortunately, Joe Biden has a documented history of attempting to cut Social Security benefits. In 1984, he proposed freezing spending on Social Security. And in the mid-1990s, he voted for a Republican-sponsored balanced budget amendment that would have made severe cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Biden seemingly boasts about it here.
It’s fair to say that Joe Biden’s record on Social Security is dubious at best.
Further left, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are both promising you universal health care.
Now, my father is a Republican just like many of you in Iowa. He’s a sensible and educated fiscal conservative. His question to me, the wayward liberal son, has always been the same: “Gary, where’s the money coming from?”
And when it comes to Warren and Sanders, I have to side with my dad, and ask the same question.
Elizabeth Warren is unable to explain how she’ll pay for universal health care and, not surprisingly, barely mentions it at her rallies anymore. Bernie has at least made his payment source clear: he’s going to increase taxes on the middle class. You can see him cop to it here. I already cringe when I see all the deductions on my paycheck. What about you?
Income inequality is real. Change is necessary. But a plan that can’t get through Congress is just another empty campaign promise. A President Sanders or Warren can blame Republicans when the time comes, but how will they explain all the Democrats who won’t vote for universal health care when their constituents rebel at higher taxes? The support in Congress is not there now. There’s no reason to believe it will be next year.
Unfortunately, a vote for Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren on the basis of universal health care is a vote for magical thinking.
By contrast, under Pete Buttigieg’s “Medicare For All Who Want It” plan, corporate insurance companies will have to COMPETE to earn your dollars. If you live someplace with only a single insurer and sky-high rates, you will now have a choice.
And if you currently have private health care you like, Pete’s plan allows you to keep it. Sanders and Warren’s plans will force you to abandon it and put you into one giant insurance pool.
Pete’s health care plan will expand funding to veterans, and increases Medicare reimbursement for providers in underserved areas.
Pete’s plans have a better shot at becoming law because they take into account the needs of all Americans, instead of penalizing one group at the benefit of another.
If you haven’t considered Pete yet, and this interests you, I hope you’ll do what I did: take a look at his proposals at PeteForAmerica.com.
Iowa, you understand how caucuses work better than I do. I’m a simple California primary man. Pete doesn’t necessarily have to be your first choice on February 3rd. And if he’s not your candidate when you walk in to caucus, I only ask that you have him on your radar. A stellar showing allows him to continue going forward and making his case – to you, everyone like you, and even those not like you, in America.
Pete is the true change candidate for 2020. Watch one of his CNN or FoxNews town halls. The Fox News crowd gave him a standing ovation. That alone makes him worthy of your time, doesn’t it?
Pete Buttigieg has the plans that can pass either a Republican or Democrat-led Congress. Pete Buttigieg has led an issue-focused campaign of respect for middle-America values. He is, after all, a proud son of South Bend, Indiana.
Most importantly to me, Pete Buttigieg will lead with kindness and inclusion, not with cruelty and intimidation. Pete is the only choice for a future that can rise up from the misfortunes of our present.
YouCantBeatPete 