To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Mr. President, enact the executive actions of the People's New Deal
During this primary, we learned what the American people want and what they don’t want. We learned what policies have the majority of Americans’ support. Below is what a supermajority of democrats, republicans, independents, and others’ support. The following are the executive actions Bernie Sanders would have taken if he were elected President. We the People are demanding that these actions be taken now before the people need to take direct action themselves.
We the People demand these executive actions be made by President Obama:
On Immigration
Direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately stop deportations of undocumented immigrants who have committed no violent offenses.
Expand deferred actions programs for undocumented young people and parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. Despite courts blocking some of the 2014 executive actions, we expect President Obama to rewrite them and find a way to protect eligible parents at risk of deportation despite the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, or DAPA.
DACA and DAPA should be supplemented by deportation relief for parents of DACA recipients, along with other family members and anyone who would have been eligible for legal status under the 2013 immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but never got a vote in the House.
Victims of domestic violence and unaccompanied minors who came to the U.S. from Central America should be considered a distinct group for purposes of asylum, a policy that could make it easier for them to remain in the U.S.
Women who come to the U.S. with their husbands would be able to work even if they entered because of their spouses’ work visas, something many are not currently allowed to do.
In other words, President Obama needs to direct immigration officers to stop initiating the deportation process for anyone who might be eligible for relief, end inhumane deportation programs and private detention centers, and stop criminalizing immigration. Our country should not deny a path to citizenship to an undocumented parent for re-entering the country after being separated from his or her children or for not having a driver’s license.
On Taxes
We the People demand that President Obama issue the executive action to address these problems because the corporatists in Congress have made it clear that they will not address these problems that can be fixed now. The following loopholes must be closed:
The "check the box" loophole, which allows multinational companies to characterize offshore subsidiaries in different ways to different governments, leading to profits ultimately escaping any jurisdictions' taxes.
The Hewlett-Packard loophole, which allows U.S. companies to avoid paying taxes on offshore profits that are brought back into the country via short-term loans from subsidiaries in tax haven countries.
The real estate investment trust, or REIT, loophole, which allows certain businesses to claim their money comes from rent and so structure themselves as REITs that do not pay corporate income taxes.
The corporate inversion loophole, which allows mergers with a usually smaller foreign company in a lower-tax country, with that smaller entity then designated in corporate documents as the headquarters to take advantage of the more beneficial foreign tax laws.
The carried interest loophole, which allows wealthy hedge fund managers to characterize much of their compensation as capital gains taxed at 20 percent instead of ordinary income, taxable at rates as high as 39.6 percent.
The valuation discount loophole, which allows for dramatically reduced business property value for estate and gift tax purposes.
Changing these laws would raise more than $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury over 10 years.
Trust-busting and banks failing the stress test.
We the People demand the actions below to be taken by President Obama to secure our economy from economic and catastrophic collapse:
Use the Dodd-Frank act that allows the U.S. Government to stress test the banks and requires the banks to lay out a plan should they fail. Banks that fail their stress test should immediately be told they are required to reduce to a safe, manageable level. This will require them to reduce the number of assets they manage by a set number, which would ensure that they no longer fail their stress tests.
Use antitrust laws that allow the U.S. Government to bust/breakup trusts/monopolies. We have a corporate and economic chokehold over our markets. No small business can sustain itself as it is kept out of the market. Because of these strangleholds, we have a cartel of services like the internet with Comcast and TimeWarner agreeing to not compete in certain regions so that they can charge higher prices.
We the People demand these executive actions be made by President Obama:
On Immigration
Direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately stop deportations of undocumented immigrants who have committed no violent offenses.
Expand deferred actions programs for undocumented young people and parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. Despite courts blocking some of the 2014 executive actions, we expect President Obama to rewrite them and find a way to protect eligible parents at risk of deportation despite the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, or DAPA.
DACA and DAPA should be supplemented by deportation relief for parents of DACA recipients, along with other family members and anyone who would have been eligible for legal status under the 2013 immigration reform bill that passed the Senate but never got a vote in the House.
Victims of domestic violence and unaccompanied minors who came to the U.S. from Central America should be considered a distinct group for purposes of asylum, a policy that could make it easier for them to remain in the U.S.
Women who come to the U.S. with their husbands would be able to work even if they entered because of their spouses’ work visas, something many are not currently allowed to do.
In other words, President Obama needs to direct immigration officers to stop initiating the deportation process for anyone who might be eligible for relief, end inhumane deportation programs and private detention centers, and stop criminalizing immigration. Our country should not deny a path to citizenship to an undocumented parent for re-entering the country after being separated from his or her children or for not having a driver’s license.
On Taxes
We the People demand that President Obama issue the executive action to address these problems because the corporatists in Congress have made it clear that they will not address these problems that can be fixed now. The following loopholes must be closed:
The "check the box" loophole, which allows multinational companies to characterize offshore subsidiaries in different ways to different governments, leading to profits ultimately escaping any jurisdictions' taxes.
The Hewlett-Packard loophole, which allows U.S. companies to avoid paying taxes on offshore profits that are brought back into the country via short-term loans from subsidiaries in tax haven countries.
The real estate investment trust, or REIT, loophole, which allows certain businesses to claim their money comes from rent and so structure themselves as REITs that do not pay corporate income taxes.
The corporate inversion loophole, which allows mergers with a usually smaller foreign company in a lower-tax country, with that smaller entity then designated in corporate documents as the headquarters to take advantage of the more beneficial foreign tax laws.
The carried interest loophole, which allows wealthy hedge fund managers to characterize much of their compensation as capital gains taxed at 20 percent instead of ordinary income, taxable at rates as high as 39.6 percent.
The valuation discount loophole, which allows for dramatically reduced business property value for estate and gift tax purposes.
Changing these laws would raise more than $100 billion for the U.S. Treasury over 10 years.
Trust-busting and banks failing the stress test.
We the People demand the actions below to be taken by President Obama to secure our economy from economic and catastrophic collapse:
Use the Dodd-Frank act that allows the U.S. Government to stress test the banks and requires the banks to lay out a plan should they fail. Banks that fail their stress test should immediately be told they are required to reduce to a safe, manageable level. This will require them to reduce the number of assets they manage by a set number, which would ensure that they no longer fail their stress tests.
Use antitrust laws that allow the U.S. Government to bust/breakup trusts/monopolies. We have a corporate and economic chokehold over our markets. No small business can sustain itself as it is kept out of the market. Because of these strangleholds, we have a cartel of services like the internet with Comcast and TimeWarner agreeing to not compete in certain regions so that they can charge higher prices.
Why is this important?
The president has a duty to the people to protect them from dangers brought by the establishment. We must fight for these changes now.