March 2018, Hawaii, USA
Many entrenched politicians like to brag about our unemployment rate. It’s like 2.5%.
But we know it’s because we have the lowest wages in America, and the highest costs.
So many of us are working two or three jobs and still not getting by.
31% of us don’t even meet our basic needs through our salaries, and over 80& of us are living paycheck to paycheck now, just one car crash or medical emergency away from going under.
So fighting Trump is important but it’s not enough.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been struggling before 2016. You know we pay $2000 for childcare, $700 a month for student loans.
It’s tough out here in Hawaii, and in a Democratic Primary, standing up to Trump - you get 80-90% support, that’s easy. What’s harder is standing up to people holding back change right here in Hawaii ... or corporations like Monsanto. Or luxury developers. Or the military industrial complex.
The same people who are funding Donald Trump are also funding Democratic opponents. It’s time to break that cycle of corruption here in Hawaii and across America,
That’s why we’re running a clean campaign.
If you walk outside now and you look at Kakaako, there’s these luxury condominiums going up to the sky, every couple of weeks popping up, going for twenty million dollars per condo. Right next to native Hawaiians and veterans living on the street.
Something’s profoundly wrong. Who are we building for? Who is the government representing? That’s why we need new voices, different voices, our voices. A new leadership for Hawaii’s future, and that’s what I’m offering you today,
Thank you so much.