As Vice President Joe Biden unveiled his plan to further women’s economic and physical security and ensure that women can fully exercise their civil rights, Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo called out Donald Trump’s record of broken promises to women in Florida and across the country.
“Not only has Donald Trump failed to deliver on this promise to ‘do more for women,’ he’s actively worked to make it easier to discriminate against women,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo, “The list goes on and on, but perhaps one of the most egregious examples is his push to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which among other issues, would allow insurance companies to once again charge women more for health insurance and discriminate against patients with pre-existing conditions. Joe Biden has long been an ally for women and I’m thrilled to see his comprehensive plan to tackle inequality and provide real support to help women thrive.”
BACKGROUND ON TRUMP’S BROKEN PROMISES TO FLORIDA WOMEN
TRUMP: “Look nobody respects women more than me. Greatest person ever was my mother, believe me, the greatest. Nobody’s going to be better or do more for women than Donald Trump, that I can tell you, that I can tell you. [Trump Campaign Rally, Doral FL, 10/23/15]
Trump is a threat to women’s health care
Vox: “The Affordable Care Act changed everything. It prohibited insurers on the individual market from charging people more based on their gender or their medical history. Women are more likely than men to have a preexisting condition, which can include a history of rape, domestic violence, or even pregnancy. The law required insurers to cover certain services, including maternity care, ensuring women would be able to buy a health plan that actually covered the medical care they needed.”
ABC News: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled 7-2 upholding President Donald Trump’s move to let more employers opt-out of the Affordable Care Act mandate guaranteeing no-cost contraceptive services for women. The case involved a 2018 regulation from the Department of Health and Human Services exempting any employer with a religious or moral objection to contraception from a requirement that such coverage be included in an employee’s health insurance plan.”
Trump is OK with pay discrimination
Washington Post: “A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate an Obama-era rule that required companies to report pay data by race and gender, a move advocates say will help shrink the wage gap. Tanya S. Chutkan, a U.S. district judge for the District of Columbia, ruled that the Trump administration violated the law when it halted the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s efforts to collect pay data by race and gender from large companies.”
Vox: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to carry out a plan to close the gender pay gap — a plan the White House has spent the past two years trying to sabotage.
Huffington Post: “While Trump has supported the idea of fair pay in theory, saying in August that men and women deserve ‘equal pay for equal work,’ he said he opposes the idea of a law requiring employees to pay women and men the same. ‘People have to go out and they have to fight for themselves,’ Trump said at a November rally in Iowa.”
Trump’s tax scam was a ‘step backwards’ for child and dependent care assistance
Elaine Maag, Tax Policy Center: “While most of those households still benefit modestly from the TCJA overall, they lost some or all of the benefit of the child and dependent care credit. That is a step backwards in providing additional help to families who pay for child care to work or attend school. Even before the TCJA, the CDCTC provided only modest benefits to low- and moderate-income families. Because the credit is nonrefundable, its value is limited to the amount of federal income tax a family owes. But the child and dependent care credit after the TCJA provides even less value to many moderate-income families.”
Trump scaled back paid sick leave
New York Times: “The Trump administration has substantially scaled back paid leave requirements for employers that were created by a new coronavirus relief law, effectively exempting many small businesses in a move that infuriated lawmakers who had fought to expand the benefit.”
Trump’s disastrous coronavirus response has been especially harmful to women
Politico: “The U.S. is experiencing its highest levels of unemployment since the Great Depression, even as businesses begin to reopen. The burden is disproportionately falling on women, who are more likely to have been laid off, to have left the labor market or to be considering quitting their jobs so they can manage family responsibilities, Labor Department data, academic research and surveys show.”
Teachers, Legislators Called Out Trump Admin. For Reckless Coronavirus Response Ahead of Pence Visit
Ahead of Mike Pence’s visit to Miami yesterday, Florida legislators and teachers called out the Trump and DeSantis administrations for their failure to get the coronavirus pandemic under control and their reckless demand that schools reopen as community spread of COVID-19 runs rampant across Florida.
Florida Politics: Donna Shalala sends counterpoint to Mike Pence visit to MiamiU.S. Rep. Donna Shalala will lead a group of South Florida leaders on a Monday morning conference call to talk about the state and federal government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the specific implications of sending kids back to school. Florida Politics: Donna Shalala rips Mike Pence ahead of Miami visitU.S. Rep. Donna Shalala and a chorus of south Florida leaders welcomed Vice President Mike Pence to Miami on Monday but questioned his leadership in ameliorating the COVID-19 pandemic. WFME Central Florida: Now Is Not The Time To Reopen Schools, Teachers And Democrats Say Florida teachers and Democrats say it would be reckless to reopen schools now as the number of coronavirus cases in Florida surges. They spoke out Monday on a conference call with reporters as Vice President Mike Pence visited South Florida. The teachers and Democrats said the Trump and DeSantis administrations have left school leaders with — as they put it — impossible decisions over how to manage school reopenings. Among those on the call was Keegan Schlake, a high school teacher in Orlando. He says teachers want to get back in the classroom but are fearful. Florida Phoenix: FL educator: “I don’t want to die going back to the classroom”Schlake’s comments came during a virtual press conference Monday with educators, Democratic state lawmakers and a Florida congresswoman about reopening brick-and-mortar public schools despite a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths. Miami Herald: Vice President Pence visits Miami for launch of Phase 3 of COVID vaccine clinical trialShalala was one of at least two Miami Democrats who criticized the vice president ahead of his visit to UM on Monday. Democratic state Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez said Pence and Trump are “trying to take credit for developments they don’t deserve credit for, and were actively trying to thwart until now.” News Service of Florida: VP Pence joins Gov. DeSantis in announcing Florida COVID-19 clinical trialEven though Pence’s visit was focused on COVID-19, the optics of the trip became political fodder for Republicans and Democrats. Democrats blasted Pence’s visit and continued to hammer DeSantis for pushing to reopen brick-and-mortar schools. They also faulted him for reopening the state’s economy too soon. “The vice president’s visit is just a mere distraction, trying to highlight what they think is a Hail Mary approach to dealing with this crisis by finding a vaccine instead of doing the hard work and taking care of the basics that are absolutely essential to get this pandemic under control,” state Rep. Javier Fernandez, D-South Miami, said.
Politico: Florida Playbook VP IN MIAMI — Vice President Mike Pence today is making his third trip to the battleground state of Florida in the last month. Pence will discuss work on a coronavirus vaccine with University of Miami leadership and researchers. It’s not clear if Gov. Ron DeSantis will join Pence at the event. Democrats already have a counterprogramming event scheduled where they will criticize Pence and the Trump administration over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The campaign of Joe Biden is also weighing in over what it calls an “abdication of leadership” by both DeSantis and the Trump administration. “And, while both DeSantis and Pence may like to distract and pretend this crisis is over, the facts are clear: Florida is in trouble, and it’s because leaders like Vice President Pence didn’t lead with the guidance of public health officials from day one,” said Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager and communications director for the campaign.
Three years after McCain’s “Thumbs Down” Vote, Trump is Still Threatening the ACA
On this day three years ago, Senator John McCain voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act, temporarily saving the landmark legislation responsible for providing affordable health care for millions of Floridians. After failing in Congress, Donald Trump turned to the courts to continue his relentless push to repeal the ACA with no replacement plan.
If Trump succeeds in overturning the ACA, Floridians across the board would suffer the consequences — 3.5 million Floridians with pre-existing conditions could lose access to care and see massive price increases, nearly 2 million Floridians enrolled in the ACA marketplace could be in jeopardy of losing their coverage, and seniors could be forced to pay more for prescription drugs as the Medicare ‘donut hole’ would reopen.
Florida Democratic Party Director Terrie Rizzo released the following statement:
“Millions of Floridians are at risk of losing their healthcare because of Donald Trump’s continued attacks on the Affordable Care Act. Today we’re reminded of what’s at stake in this election — our health care. Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle our health care in the midst of a pandemic, without so much as a whisper of a plan to replace the ACA, is cruel and senseless.
“Luckily, we have an opportunity to vote for someone in November we can trust with our health care. Joe Biden not only helped pass the ACA ten years ago, but has a plan to strengthen this legislation to make health care more affordable and accessible for Floridians.”
