Alan Grayson's Emails

  Being a Democrat hasn’t been easy these last few days. Through the DNC email leak, we’ve found definitive proof that our party has been working to sabotage the campaigns of other Democrats, including our own Alan Grayson. We’ve seen how the sausage gets made in our party, and it ain’t pretty.

From here on out, it’s going to be hard to trust our leaders, and even harder to believe that there are still genuine progressives out there, when our party leaders work so hard to thwart and purge them. But I want to tell you a quick story about why you shouldn’t give up quite yet.

Once upon a time, I was a high school student, watching MSNBC, when I saw a clip of my Congressman on the House Floor. He was explaining that the GOP Healthcare Plan was “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.” At the time, my own family was struggling to convince our insurance to cover treatment for a terminal illness, and so his words really hit home to me. I did some research, and the more I read about him, the more I liked him. He was bold, courageous, and progressive. And most importantly, at the time when my family needed his help the most, he stood up for us.

They say you aren’t supposed to meet your heroes, because they’ll just end up disappointing you. Well, I met my hero, Alan Grayson. I’ve worked with him for years now, and he’s never disappointed me. In fact, I believe in him now more than ever. I’ve seen him get upset and frustrated at policy that he fears will hurt people -- like the TPP, and proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts. I’ve gotten emails from him at 3 AM when Congress is in session, because he’s up that late working on getting amendments passed to try to make bad bills better.

And I’ll even admit this: it’s my job to make sure we have the funds we need to win this election, and in times of desperation, I’ve asked him to quiet down about an issue that might be controversial. He has refused. Every single time.

Alan Grayson is the real deal. And he is the reason why I will not give up on this election cycle, and why I’m asking you not to either. We can’t throw away our shot at getting a genuine progressive champion elected to the U.S. Senate.

Chip in an emergency contribution of $10, or whatever you can afford, to help us save one of the few genuine progressive champions left in DC, Alan Grayson >>

I speak from experience -- and I can promise you that Alan Grayson never disappoints.

Courage,

  There’s something happening in Florida right now -- and it stinks of corruption. Also, it just stinks.

Toxic blue-green algae has invaded our beaches, hurting tourism, home values, our aquatic life and our water. We’ve already lost at least eight manatees, as well as countless fish and other wildlife to this toxic sludge.

Our state’s largest newspaper, The Tampa Bay Times, had some choice words to describe our primary opponent’s reaction to this environmental crisis, when they named him the “loser of the week” this week. I’ll let you read about it for yourself:

“Patrick Murphy. The Democratic U.S. Senate candidate was left explaining emails in which his congressional staff tried to delay an announcement about financial relief for businesses affected by the toxic algae crisis until he could hold a press conference.” - The Tampa Bay Times

That’s right. This slimy faux-gressive actually wanted to delay the announcement of financial relief, so that he could falsely claim credit for it. Now that really stinks.

Fortunately, we did have one Floridian in Washington, DC this week, looking for ways to help. When Alan Grayson read . . . the . . . bill, and saw that House Republicans were trying to cut funding for the National Estuary Program and Coastal Waterways during this environmental crisis, he knew he had to stop them. He whipped up an amendment to reverse those GOP cuts, and went to work persuading both Democrats and Republicans to support his amendment. He stayed on the Floor of the House until midnight, and . . .

Passed it. UNANIMOUSLY.

While our opponent was faking the news, our Congressman with Guts was making the news, protecting our clean water and our environment.

Alan Grayson: winner. Patrick Murphy: sinner.

Alan Grayson: progressive. Patrick Murphy: no-gressive.

Alan Grayson: leader. Patrick Murphy: bottom-feeder.

If you believe we need a progressive champion who passes good laws instead of faking good press conferences, chip in $5, or whatever you can afford, to help us elect our soon-to-be Senator with Guts, Alan Grayson >>

With your help, we can get rid of the toxic slime -- in Florida waters, and in our government.

  If you haven’t seen any of the Republican National Convention, good for you! Life is short, and it’s just not possible to make Donald Trump’s ego any larger than it already is.

If you’ve been watching it, then perhaps you are somewhere between saddened and appalled by the pervasive dumbsanity of it all. If “he just said something stupid” were a drinking game, we would have been under the table in the first five minutes.

That’s why we decided not to focus on the RNC psychodrama (Trump: narcissistic personality disorder, or is he simply a sociopath?) Instead, we’re just gonna show you some really great Grayson bills, to help remind you that not all hope is lost. So mute your TV, and bask in the warm glow of these gloriously progressive policies:

The Seniors Deserve a Raise Act. This Grayson bill gives seniors a Social Security raise of 2.9% that they missed out on this year, and corrects the cost of living adjustments.

The Freedom From Fear Act. This Grayson bill restores the assault weapons ban permanently, in hopes of preventing future tragedies like the Orlando Pulse massacre.

Scrap the Cap. The Social Security tax applies only to the first $118,500 of income (the “cap”). When people reach that limit, they’re done for the year. This Grayson bill scraps that cap, which will not only make our tax system fairer, but also will make Social Security solvent forever.

The College for All Act. This Grayson bill is the House version of Bernie Sanders’ Senate bill to provide tuition-free public college for all Americans.

The Seniors have Eyes, Ears, and Teeth Act. This Grayson bill expands Medicare to cover -- you guessed it -- eyes, ears, and teeth.

So feel free to ignore the incoherent barking noises that you hear coming out of the Republican National Convention. This is where the action is -- making progress towards justice, equality, and peace. Don’t you feel better already? Good, me too.

Now join our campaign to elect our progressive champion, Alan Grayson, to the U.S. Senate, by chipping in $5, or whatever you can afford, right here and right now >>

And hey, you might want to keep this list handy. We have a long week ahead of us.

Courage,

  For the first time in history, the Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC founded by Harry Reid’s minions, is spending against a Democrat in a primary. They’re flooding the airwaves with a $1 million dollar ad buy against us in our primary.

This is not the first time that the Democratic party I have been so loyal to for so many years has fought against me. They have dedicated so much of their energy to defeating me this cycle, in hopes of promoting a candidate who maxed out donations to Mitt Romney, of all people, in 2008. A candidate who has accomplished nothing in Congress, except to collect more checks from Wall Street than any other Member of Congress, excluding leading Republicans: Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

I have given this job, and this progressive movement my all. That’s how I have been able to write more bills and pass more amendments than any other Member of Congress, Democrat or Republican. Good, solid progressive legislation -- no post office renaming fluff. And I’ve been able to do that while running for the Senate, in this insurgent campaign we began just over a year ago.

Meanwhile, the party has done all it can to keep us down. But every time our campaign gets a small dollar contribution from a teacher, a nurse, a plumber, a bartender, a taxi driver -- I am reminded of why now, more than ever, I cannot give up -- and we cannot give up. This cause is so important to so many of us. That’s why we invest the blood, sweat, tears, and funds for a shot at winning.

This isn’t about some BS revenge scheme Harry Reid is plotting against me. It’s not about boosting my ego to defeat the Establishment. It’s about the workers across this nation who need a $15 minimum wage -- fast food workers, administrative assistants, adjunct professors, and so many more. It’s about the Americans whose jobs are at risk because of the treacherous TPP. It’s about every senior in this country who needs a raise in their Social Security checks, and who needs Medicare expanded to cover their eyes, ears, and teeth. This is about every person in this nation who would benefit from more progressive policies.

No matter how many times they try to defeat us, or tell us that our votes and our voices don’t matter, or that we need to “get in line,” we will rise up. Our cause is too important, and our movement is too big for them to destroy. No matter what they do, we will rise up.

Help us rise up, in spite of the Establishment’s historic ONE MILLION dollar ad buy against us by chipping in $18.81, our average online contribution, now >>

No, I am not the Establishment’s choice for the U.S. Senate. But I’m okay with that, as long as I’m your choice.

Courage,

  Straight from the furthest outer edge of political discourse in America comes this doozy: one of my Senate opponents called the President an animal.

Don’t let someone who stoops that low get away with it. Please contribute to our campaign, and make him pay a price for that kind of malevolence >>

Here’s what he said:

“Unfortunately, for seven and a half years this animal we call ‘President,’ – because he’s an animal, OK – seven and a half years, has surgically and with thought and [a] very smart, intelligent manner, destroyed this country.”

Oh, God, where to begin?

I will concede that President Obama is not a mineral, or a vegetable. But that doesn’t make him an animal, either. In fact, the incoherent and feral grunting that I’m hearing actually comes from the source of that epithet, not the object of it.

And while we’re on this zoological subject, I saw a video of a bear opening a car door recently. In fact, a hyena tried to do that to a car that I was in, once, in Kruger National Park. But I have never, ever seen any animal conduct surgery. So that whole “animal . . . surgically” thing makes no sense whatsoever. That’s not just mixing metaphors; that’s putting them in a blender.

And my opponent thinks that the President is an “animal,” but also “very smart, intelligent”? Like those velociraptors in Jurassic Park? Or the pigs in “Animal Farm”? Say what?

Any way you look at it, that’s no way to talk about the President of the United States. My opponent who said this badly deserves to be defeated. Donate to our campaign, and make that happen >>

When my opponent dropped the A-bomb on the President, I said that he was using racist code-words. In response, he said that I was being “crazy” and “absurd.” Having Cuban parents who spoke Spanish, he elaborated that “it’s not uncommon in the Spanish language when somebody’s just doing things that are stupid” to call that person an “animal.” “When my blood pressure goes up my Spanish stuff kicks in,” he dumb-splained.

Rebutting racism with more racism – that’s creative. But I’m wondering when his “brain stuff” will “kick in.” As Forrest Gump might say, “stupid is as stupid says.”

We can’t let anyone this nasty get any closer to the U.S. Senate than the security perimeter. If you feel that it’s OK to call President Obama an animal, then do nothing. If you feel that that’s definitely not OK, then please contribute to our “STFU Fund,” right here and right now >>

Courage,

  I’m running for the Senate, that’s true. But I refuse to allow that effort to stop me from doing good things for people – that’s my real job, no matter what. And during the past 90 days, we’ve gotten a lot of good things done. Let me give you some examples.

During the past 90 days, I passed more than a dozen amendments through the House of Representatives. That’s around twice as many as my primary opponent has passed – in four years.

As usual, these were all good, solid progressive amendments, for instance:

Increasing medical research funding by up to $11 million;

Working across the aisle to extend a death benefit for military survivors that was going to expire;

Providing everyone leaving the military with expanded mental health counseling options.;

Punishing federal contractors who cheat the government; and

Requiring encryption of “smart meter” utility information outside your home.

After the mass-shooting tragedy in Orlando, my home, I introduced a one-sentence bill to reinstate the ban on assault weapons. I stood on the Senate Floor offering encouragement and support during the Senate Democratic filibuster and I participated in a House Democratic sit-in at the Capitol, to demand action on gun violence. I also gave two landmark speeches in the House, one condemning the bigoted North Carolina bathroom law and the other on race relations in America today.

My November opponent Marco Rubio has been less busy. Giving credit where credit is due, since he dropped out of the Presidential race, he has shown up for work in the Senate occasionally. He voted to allow suspected terrorists to purchase guns, and he voted against universal background checks. He didn’t pass any legislation; he never does. He smiled for a lot of cameras, and I’d bet he did a lot of fundraising too.

The press and the pundits think that I should follow Little Marco’s lead, begging the rich for campaign funds instead of passing meaningful legislation. Help me prove them wrong by chipping in $3, or whatever you can afford, to show that you want someone in office who gets good things done:

Chip in $10

Chip in $20

Chip in $50

Chip in $100

Chip in $200

I understand that fundraising is part of my job as a candidate, but I won’t swap cash for favors, like everyone else does. My most important job is representing you in Congress, fighting for the Greater Good. That’s why I have been named the most effective Member of Congress by Slate magazine, a standout exception in a do-nothing Congress by Time magazine, and the most productive Member by Business Insider.

But look: we still have to communicate with 20 million Floridians during this campaign, and that costs money – lots of it. I can’t count on the special interests to provide that money. I need to know that I can count on you.

Will you help us prove that I can be the most effective Member of Congress, AND win this crucial Senate race, by chipping in to our insurgent People Power campaign right now?

Together, we can win this, AND get good things done.

Courage,

  Today is July 4. If you have time, please read the Declaration of Independence, issued 240 years ago. It won’t take you long; it’s only 1333 words.

The Declaration of Independence is not a Poly Sci paper, or a speech. It’s a list of grievances. Specifically, a list of serious gripes regarding the policy decisions by the Executive Branch of that time, a/k/a King George III.

Some of the complaints are strangely familiar. For instance, he refused to appoint judges. Note to Senate Republicans – King George III refused to appoint judges.

But the most telling complaint is the first one, i.e., “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance. . . .”

Does that sound familiar?

An impermeable determination to get nothing useful done. That’s what gave us the American Revolution.

And we need a political revolution today. A rebellion against the rule of billionaires and multinational corporations and special interests. Contribute $17.76 to our campaign today, and liberate us all >>

Today, we have much the same problem. Wall Street dictates our economic policy. Big Schmutz dictates our energy policy. The military-industrial complex dictates our foreign policy.

There is little or no effort to pass laws “necessary for the public good,” even when there is “immediate and pressing importance.”

Let me provide you with two examples that are close to home, literally. A few weeks ago, one person, using one weapon, killed 49 members of my community, here in Orlando, in a matter of minutes. It’s much too easy to kill too many people too quickly. Ninety-plus percent of Americans recognize that we need universal background checks when someone wants to buy a gun. So what laws have we passed?

None.

Second example: sometime between now and the end of the summer, the Zika virus likely will become endemic to Florida. All it takes is one mosquito biting one individual who was infected elsewhere, and comes here. Last week, Florida’s first Zika baby was born, with microcephaly. So what laws have we passed?

None.

And that’s just some of the “immediate and pressing” stuff. Where is the law to increase minimum wages, so that someone who works full-time can support himself without food stamps, the EITC, Section 8 housing, Medicaid and TANF? Where is the law to allow everyone who is sick to see a doctor, and get the care that he or she needs to stay healthy and alive? Where is the law to end our $1 billion-a-day trade deficit, and bring all those jobs that have gone overseas back home? Where is the law to help every bright young student to go to college? Where is the law to prevent our pollution from bringing Planet Earth to a slow boil?

How long have we lived in “patient sufferance” for all these reasons, as the Declaration of Independence states? These are our grievances. Not against King George III, but rather against the billionaires and the multinational corporations and the special interests and the lobbyists and the PACs, and their “history of repeated injuries and usurpations.”

Let me repeat: we need a political revolution. The power to make the laws by which we all live is the greatest power in any civilized society. It has been usurped, and we need to take it back. Contribute $17.76 to our campaign today, our campaign for liberation >>

No one who is bought and paid for by special interests can be a legitimate agent of change. It just doesn’t work that way. But the converse is true, too. When you contribute to this campaign (or to any of the still-tiny number of People Power campaigns that are starting to bubble up this year) YOU MAKE CHANGE POSSIBLE.

Think of all of the bills and amendments that I’ve passed as a small down-payment on the change yet to come. It was support from you, and people like you, who made that possible. In order to have hope for a revolution, we need leaders who are unbought and unbossed – who owe nothing to anyone but We, the People.

The revolution becomes possible when we replace the sewer money drenching our political system with support from people like you. That is truly revolutionary.

Let’s declare our independence from the Big Money dictatorship. Help us. Make it happen >>

Courage,

  As the end-of-quarter deadline approaches, we’re hoping for a little gift from you, so we thought that we’d offer a gift in return. No, silly, we’re not giving you a tax break, or a bailout, or a no-bid contract, or “regulatory relief.” We’re going to give you the gift of laughter. Actually, GIFs of laughter.

You may have seen the syncopated versions of Marco Rubio robotically reiterating that President Obama “knows exactly what he’s doing.” That’s a Rubio classic. Well, our Digital Dictator (that’s what we call her) has discovered some Rubio GIFs that are just as good as those, or better. See for yourself.

By the way, we really do need to raise a lot of money, and we do need to do it before the end of quarter deadline tomorrow night. But we deserve a break, and so do you.

So please contribute to our campaign for justice, equality, and peace, and then enjoy these hilarious GIFs of our opponent Marco Rubio. The first one is known as “Watergate”; in the second, Rubio appears to murder a small boy, and in the third . . . well, see for yourself. Just remember – we’re not laughing with him. We’re laughing at him.

CONTRIBUTE NOW

Courage,

  On May 16, Marco Rubio sent out this tweet:

“I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January.”

And now he is running against me for the Senate.

Let’s make sure that Rubio was right the first time! Let’s work together to beat Little Marco in this election, and let’s make him “a private citizen in January.” Contribute to our “He Was Right the First Time” Fund >>

On June 22, in his announcement statement, Rubio tried to rationalize why he was doing a 180° and running by saying that he had “never claimed to be perfect, or to have all the answers.”

On that, we can all agree. Rubio definitely is not perfect, and he definitely does not have all the answers. In fact, I can’t think of a single answer that he does have. Frankly, I don’t even think that Rubio knows any of the right questions. God help him if he ever appears on Jeopardy.

No matter what excuses Marco Rubio may give, he’s just another right-wing pol on the make. Please donate $10, or whatever you can afford, to restore Little Marco to private citizenry >>

There is another line from Rubio’s announcement that I want to call to your attention:

“The Senate can also be a place from which great policy advances can be made. I am proud that we have done that too.”

Huh? “Whatchootalkinabout?” Rubio doesn’t give even one single example of any “great policy advance,” for one simple reason: he’s done nothin’ for nobody.

In the last four years, I have written more bills and passed more amendments than any other Member of the House. Good, solid progressive legislation, time and time again.

And Rubio? He passed a resolution to rename September “Spinal Cord Injury Month.” That’s it.

Grayson vs. Rubio. The Most Effective Member of Congress vs. the Least Effective Member of the Senate. Feel it.

We can beat “Braggadocio” Rubio. But I need your support – right here and right now. Please, contribute $10 to our campaign, and help Team Grayson to victory against Little Marco >>

Courage,

I’m on the Floor of the House, right now, following the House Democratic sit-in on gun safety.. The speeches are over. It’s quiet now. The only sound I hear is vacuum-cleaning. But we’re just in the eye of the storm.

This issue is gun safety. And the issue is democracy itself. Are we still a government of the people, by the people, and for the people? Can a majority of us still make wise laws to protect ourselves? Or have we already fallen into the abyss?

Support our campaign for commonsense gun safety, and support our campaign to restore democracy, right here and right now >>

The very word “democracy” means rule by the people, the demos. And that has been thwarted by the weapons merchants, and their accomplices in Congress. (I won’t call them “Representatives”; that would be ridiculous.)

Ninety percent of us, or more, want a background check on everyone who wants to buy a gun.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Ninety percent of us, or more, think that if you’re considered too dangerous to fly, then you’re too dangerous to buy a gun.

That makes sense, right?

And yet, when the Senate voted on these two measures earlier this week, the GOP defeated one with a vote of 52-2, and the other with a vote of 53-1.

We can’t let this go on. We have to take our government back.

I represent Orlando in Congress. Orlando, the city where the worst mass shooting in U.S. history took place, less than two weeks ago. I joined the House Democratic sit-in yesterday and today, and I spoke to the world via Periscope, because I-Just-Can’t-Take-It-Anymore.

And you? You may feel the same way.

I stayed here until the end, and beyond. I’ll do it again, as many times as I need to. Things have got to change.

Please join our campaign for gun safety, our campaign for democracy, our campaign for the greatest good for the greatest number >>

Courage,

  An awful lot of reporters have asked me during the last few days whether I’m “concerned” that Marco Rubio may run against me for the US Senate.

Nope. Not as long as I have you in my corner.

Let’s send Marco Rubio a message. Contribute $10 to our campaign today, and show him that he’s in for a fight >>

Why would I be scared by Marco Rubio, attack puppy against Donald Trump? If anyone is scared, it’s Little Marco himself. A few weeks ago, he called me a “certified lunatic.” So I seem to have gotten in his head, not vice versa.

“No Show” Rubio against the Most Effective Member of Congress. I like that match-up.

I’ve introduced more bills and passed more amendments in the last three years than any other Member of Congress. And during his past five years, Rubio has passed exactly one bill – a resolution to rename September “Spinal Cord Injury Month.”

Oh, yes, please. Bring it on.

Rubio is the perfect foil for what Team Grayson is trying to do this year: demonstrate that we can fight for justice, equality, and peace, AND WIN. I’m not just talking about winning elections. I’m talking about making the world a better place.

With. Your. Help.

Let’s show Marco Rubio – and America -- what People Power can do. Contribute to our People Power campaign – right here and right now >>

Frankly, it was annoying to me that Marco Rubio ever ran for President, much less the Senate. I understand that he has good hair. He mouths plausible lies. But what has Marco Rubio done – what has he EVER DONE – for We, the People?

He doesn’t deserve a promotion. He deserves to be fired – by the voters.

Help me do just that. Let’s send a message to Marco Rubio that he doesn’t represent us, and he won’t represent us after November, by making an emergency contribution of $10, or whatever you can afford now >>

Let’s all get together and say, “adios, Marco.”

Courage,

  You may receive many other Father’s Day e-mails today. But I’m guessing that this will be the only one that is 100% platitude-free. Let’s talk about how to make Father’s Day into “Happy Father’s Day,” for everyone.

Moments after my first child was born, I took Skye in my arms, and put my face close to hers. (Newborns are near-sighted.) I looked into her eyes, and it seemed to me that she was looking back. I blinked.

She blinked.

I opened my mouth, wide.

She opened her mouth, wide.

Were we communicating? Maybe. It seemed that way.

Either way, for sure, from that moment on and ever since, I wanted her to have a good life.

I want my children to be all that they can be. In fact, I want everyone’s children to be all that they can be.

Which is why I introduced the Sanders “College for All Act” in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 4385.

That’s what this campaign is all about – helping everyone to reach his or her full potential, unchained by poverty, discrimination, sickness, poor education, or any other impediment that we can overcome. That WE SHALL OVERCOME. Be part of it: donate $10 to this campaign today >>

If you watch my campaign video at “SenatorWithGuts.com,” you’ll hear me say that I’ve known plumbers who could be engineers, and truck drivers who could be lawyers. Why not? In most cases, because they couldn’t get a college education. Not because they didn’t want one, but because they couldn’t afford one.

My daughter Skye is now all grown up, and 21 years old. She is a student at Columbia University. That costs $62,000 a year. Very few people can afford that.

As a father, I want every child – everyone’s children – to have the opportunity to go to college, and then be all that they can be. Which means that we need free public college, for all. My father had that, for him. So should my father’s grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren.

I want the best life for my children. That makes me a father. And I want the best life for your children. That makes me worthy of your support.

Help me take our fight for free ‘College for All’ to victory, by chipping in $10, or whatever you can afford, to my Senate campaign now >>

When we win that fight, it sure will be a Happy Father’s Day, then, and forever after.

To every father (like me, and like my father, may he rest in peace), to every daughter (like my Skye and Star), to every son (like my Sage, Storm and Stone), all across America and across humanity, Happy Father’s Day.

Courage,

There is a culture of hatred in our midst, targeting our LGBT community. It is not some remnant of a generation soon to pass, nor merely a product of the fringe. To some degree, it is born in the halls of our own offices of government offices, and lauded by some of our own so-called leaders.

Westboro Baptist Church “leaders” have announced that they are coming to our City Beautiful, Orlando, to “protest” at the funerals of our friends and neighbors whom we lost in the terror attack/hate crime on our LGBT community at Pulse. But even their demented cries of “God hates f****” won’t be as loud as the deafening silence against such hatred exhibited by so many elected officials, and even worse, that barely-audible sound of pen on paper signing hatred into law.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Senator Marco Rubio have spoken out against mass murder perpetrated on the LGBT community this weekend, though often conveniently excluding the LGBT detail. But they have launched legal attacks themselves against this community for years now. They have not apologized, and they have not committed to do better. They have cried crocodile tears for the cameras. That’s all.

A few months ago, Rick Scott removed protection from discrimination for LGBT foster youth in Florida. Pam Bondi wasted $500,000 of our tax dollars fighting tooth and nail to stop marriage equality from coming to Florida – all the way to the Supreme Court. Marco Rubio dismissed same-sex couples who wanted to start a family as a “social experiment,” and fought against their right to foster children in our state.

They have attempted to normalize, and even mandate, discrimination against the LGBT community. Now they ask how a gay nightclub could be under attack, how such a horrific hate crime could happen in our home state. They should be asking who created this culture of hatred, now that more than 100 innocent people, their friends, their families, and our entire community, must pay the hefty price.

I am heartbroken. But I am also furious -- not only about what has happened on Sunday morning, but about what has happened continuously to an innocent, victimized group of decent people throughout the years. I am frustrated at a society that makes members of my own staff nervous to hold their same-sex partners’ hands in public, for fear they could be shamed, hurt, or even killed. (None of them will ever be able to forget that the killer’s father suggested that the killer’s action was triggered by seeing two men showing affection in a public place.) I am frustrated at right-wing media who ask questions like “was it a terrorist attack OR a hate crime?” or “why hasn’t the President launched [yet another] attack against ISIS?” rather than reporting on the hatred and discrimination against gays and lesbians that still thrives.

Young or old, male or female, black or white, English-speaking or Spanish-speaking, gay or straight, WE ARE ALL HUMAN BEINGS. Whatever your religion, whatever your age, we have to put hatred and discrimination in the rear-view mirror. It has no more place in the 21st century than slavery, or cannibalism. It’s the year 2016. Enough, already.

Today, I ask everyone to acknowledge that this wasn’t just an attack on my home, on our beautiful city of Orlando. This was an attack on our LGBT community. Forty-nine people were murdered for no reason other than their sexual orientation. The fundamental benefit of every civilized society is a sense of personal safety. Our LGBT friends deserve that as much as anyone else. We must organize against hatred and defeat it – and anyone who would perpetuate it.

NO H8.

Courage,

  Early Sunday, one person, firing one weapon, killed almost fifty people, in just a few minutes.

These people were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters. The parents of two of them, living outside the United States, contacted my office and asked if they could have visas to attend the funerals of their own children. How wrong is that -- parents attending the funerals of their slain children. So many; a slaughter of the innocents.

It’s much too easy to kill a lot of people very quickly.

The weapon that the killer used was an AR-15 assault weapon, derived from an M-16 military model. The main difference between the two is that you can pull and hold the M-16 trigger, making it spit out hundreds of rounds each minute, while the AR-15 trigger is one-pull-one-round, or “only” 100+ rounds per minute (subject to reloading). That’s automatic versus semi-automatic. But a legal modification to the AR-15 (a “replacement rifle stock”), costing around $300, essentially takes each recoil and makes it a trigger pull. And that makes the AR-15 a machine gun.

Either way, it’s hard to imagine any legitimate use for a weapon like that. Does anyone really want to drill a deer with a few hundred rounds in a minute or two? That doesn’t seem very sporting.

We need to end this lunacy.

Please sign my petition to restore the assault weapons ban >>

For a decade, you couldn’t buy an assault weapon. The original legislation had a “sunset” provision that ended the ban after ten years. Thanks to the NRA and its GOP puppets, that ban was never extended.

Seven states enacted bans (or heavy restrictions) on their own. Three of those seven states enacted their restrictions after 20 children were shot dead at Sandy Hook.

That’s where we are now.

Convicted felons can’t buy these weapons, in Florida and elsewhere. But pretty much anyone else can. In fact, until last August, anyone could buy them in WalMart. (Then WalMart imposed its own ban.)

Let me just ask you, straight up: Do you want virtually anyone to be able to buy weapons whose only practical purpose is to be able to kill hundreds of people in a matter of minutes?

No?

Then sign our petition, to reinstitute the ban on assault weapons >>

I’ll introduce the bill this week.

Courage,

Rep. Alan Grayson

Orlando has been ranked repeatedly as one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the United States. And yet, early this morning in Orlando, we lost fifty of our LGBT friends, with 53 more suffering serious injuries, after a homophobic terror attack at Pulse Orlando.

We are the land of the free and the home of the brave, and that includes the LGBT among us. We will never live in fear, no matter how heinous the attack. But the horrific carnage today reminds us of the hatred and the discrimination that continues to plague us, in a way that we can never forget.

But when I visited Orlando’s GLBT Community Center today, to show my support, I was also reminded of love, courage, and empathy that continues to thrive in our city. The lines at blood banks stretched around buildings and down the streets. Local businesses brought free food and drinks for those waiting. Help arrived, already, from as far away as Chicago. In what is perhaps the darkest hour our city has ever experienced, the people of Orlando showed our determination to help their neighbors in need.

An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. #OrlandoStrong

Many of our supporters from across the country have reached out, and asked how they can help from afar. There are local organizations who need our help to continue providing resources like grief counseling, and healthcare for survivors. Here is how they help, and how you can help:

The Zebra Coalition has opened up a hotline to provide counseling. If you or someone you know needs this service, please call (407) 822-5036 and press #1 to speak to someone. You can donate to the Zebra Coalition to help it continue to provide this service by clicking here.

The GLBT Community Center of Central Florida is providing grief counseling, in both English and Spanish. If you or someone you know needs this service, the address is 946 N. Mills Avenue in Orlando. You can donate to the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida to help it continue to provide this service by clicking here.

Equality Florida is our state’s largest LGBT advocacy organization. They have set up a GoFundMe page for victims. You can donate to this fund by clicking here. You can also donate directly to Equality Florida to help it continue to fight for LGBT equality in Florida by clicking here.

Thank you for standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us. #LoveWins.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

  According to a political gossip column, an “influential Democratic donor and Murphy supporter” recently described this as a “me against the world” campaign.

What he doesn’t get is that this campaign has never been about me. It’s been about us. I don’t mind him trying to come after me, but I do mind that he has so grossly underestimated you and your role in our movement.

What we have been able to accomplish in this movement has not been because of anything I’ve been able to do alone, but has been because people like you saw injustice and inequality in our society, and decided to come together to do something about it.

Let’s show this “influential donor” that this campaign isn’t about me; it’s about us. Chip in $10 or whatever you can afford now to go on the record as being a part of this movement for justice, equality, and peace >>

Since the beginning of this election cycle, we’ve received over 100,000 contributions from the people on our team who are determined to make a difference. That’s not something I accomplished. That’s something we accomplished.

Because of those contributions, I'm not chained to a phone dialing for big, lobbyist campaign checks. That means I do real work, and can pass dozens of bills and amendments, like protecting military survivors' benefits and ensuring that veterans get mental health counseling and a foreclosure sanctuary when they come home. Again, that's not just me. We did that.

When the U.S. Trade Representative Office asked for public comments on the job-killing TPP, we were able to collect and deliver thousands upon thousands of public comments to their office. That’s not something I accomplished. That’s something we accomplished.

When we saw the injustice in our party’s superdelegate system, hundreds of thousands of us voted in the Grayson Primary to protest the undemocratic process, and determine how we would use our superdelegate vote. That’s not something I accomplished. That’s something we accomplished.

Help us teach this “influential donor” a lesson on how grassroots movements are run (and won!) by going on the record as a member of Team Grayson with a contribution right here, and right now >>

This is not a “me against the world” campaign. It’s an “us against injustice” campaign. And with your continued help, it’s a campaign we’re going to win.

Courage,

  For the past few months, I’ve been attacked for coming out against the corruption that I see in our party, starting with “Please-Ignore-the-Fact-That-I’m-Under-Criminal-Investigation” Sen. Harry Reid. But despite what the Lie Factory at the top may want you to believe, I love the Democratic Party. I just hate what these Mafia accountants with Napoleonic complexes have done to it. In fact, it’s because I love the party that I so much hate what they have done.

I have listened to so many Democratic activists, as you have reached out to express your anger, your frustration, and your worries. You have felt ignored, belittled, and betrayed. So have I.

The disenfranchisement of Democratic voters in choosing our candidates has been largely ignored by the complicit national media. Leaders have been replaced or squelched by corporate bag men. We have been directed to sit down, shut up, and do what we are told. Or, as Archie Bunker used to say to Edith, “Stifle!”

Up for grabs, right now, is the very notion that candidates matter, that programs matter, that government matters, and that democracy even exists. Any candidate who shows the slightest commitment to Democratic principles is condemned by the party overlords and their media stenographers as “unelectable,” or “ideological,” or “unrealistic.” In fact, the one last thing that the Democratic Politburo is good at is defeating progressive Democratic candidates. Lord knows that they don’t have a clue about how to beat Republicans. In Florida, a very purple state, party bosses have delivered the nomination in statewide races to right-wing Democrats virtually every time this century. And we have lost 14 of those 15 races.

I will not sit down. I will not shut up. I will not do as I am told. And because of that, malicious party hacks are bent on ending this campaign. Help me fight back against the D.C. Establishment’s attacks, and show them you won’t settle either -- by chipping in to our insurgent campaign now >>

I cannot with good conscience stand by and watch our party abandon the progressive principles and grassroots activists who have built the party we know and love today. I cannot stand by and watch our party recruit and promote candidates who betray the very people our party is supposed to serve, by eschewing the progressive values that working families so desperately need.

Once upon a time, our party was about so much more than the color blue. This party was about recognizing that many working families and seniors are struggling, and about making things better for them. It was about recognizing the injustice and inequality in our society, and then DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

When I was growing up, my parents were Democrats, not because it was trendy, but because they counted on the Democratic Party to improve their lives. They counted on the Democrats to fight for the healthcare benefits I needed to stay alive as a sick child. They counted on the Democrats to fight for the public housing we lived in, instead of the slum my father grew up in. They counted on the Democrats to protect their right to organize, and fair compensation to them as public employees.

What our corrupt, decrepit, and power-mad Democratic Establishment seems to have forgotten is the people like my parents today, the people who would like to vote for Democrats, feel that way because they need our help. Every time our self-appointed “leaders” ram through the nomination of a sellout corporate Democrat, another angel in heaven dies, and (perhaps more importantly) another 100,000 more Democrats flee the un-Democratic Party. Yes, the lobbyists are pleased, and they will keep those PAC checks coming, but our soul is gone. As Walt Kelly used to say in Pogo, “we have met the enemy, and he is us.”

I’m trying to change that. I’m trying to remind our party that we don’t have to be Republican to beat a Republican – that never works -- and that we can still be champions for the People. But there’s only so much I can do alone.

Today, I’m asking you to stand with me, and speak out against what our party has become. Chip in now to help us send a powerful message to our party’s rotten, unscrupulous Establishment.

Despite what our party Politburo may think, there’s a lot more at stake this year than which party gets to kowtow best to the 1 percent. This election season, we will decide what kind of party we want to be from here on out. We're fighting for the soul of the Democratic Party. I hope you’ll join us.

Courage,