Demand the Next Presidential Debate Put Issues of Working Americans First

TO:

Dean Baquet, Executive Editor, New York Times
Jeff Zucker, President, CNN
Marty Baron, Executive Editor, Washington Post
Noah Oppenheim, President, NBC News
Nancy Barns, Editorial Director, NPR News
James Goldston, President, ABC News
Paula Kerger, President and CEO, PBS
Luis Carlos Vélez, Executive Vice President, Noticias Telemundo
José Zamora, Senior Vice President, Univision
Susan Zirinsky, President, CBS News

RE: Tackling the Economy at Future Presidential Debates and Forums

On September 26, the Census Bureau released a report ¹ that proved what working people—no matter where we come from or the color of our skin— experience every day: income inequality among all Americans is at a fifty-year high. While CEO pay has reached astronomical gains², the minimum wage has stayed stagnant for more than a decade.³ While union membership has declined⁴, the wealth gap has continued to grow⁵. And though the unemployment rate has dropped⁶, tens of millions of jobs don’t pay enough for employees to take care of themselves or their families.⁷

Americans are living out the contradictions of our economy, and many continue to be left behind.

The next presidential debate must talk about what Americans face every day. How will they make ends meet while the cost of healthcare goes up, retiring with dignity becomes harder, and the cost of living soars while wages and salaries stay the same? Candidates must be pressed to provide a concrete plan for how they would make America a country where everyone can thrive—Black, white, Latinx, and Asian. This can happen if you, your networks, and moderators make these topics a priority in every debate moving forward and reflect the fact that Americans have been protesting, striking, and demanding an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Since the earliest minutes of the first night of the first debate⁸, topics like income inequality have been absent from moderator questioning, even though a majority of Americans say they have lost their optimism regarding our country’s economic growth.⁹ Numerous economists agree that America is on the verge of tilting into a recession¹⁰, but that word has not been uttered once during any of the three presidential debates held.

It comes as no surprise that the economy is one of the most important issues Americans think about every day.¹¹ A quality, good-paying job is central to many Americans’ ability to survive and thrive. The reality for sixty-four million Americans is that they still make less than $15 an hour, a disproportionate amount are from communities of color.¹² Nine in ten workers don’t have a union, and almost half of all workers are excluded from being able to join a union at all¹³. The United States is the only developed country in the world without paid family or medical leave as a right¹⁴. And, no matter the industry, workers continue to face unprecedented situations.

Workers of all backgrounds and industries are facing epidemic levels of sexual harassment on the job.¹⁵
In 2019, over 8 million workers pieced together several jobs just to put food on the table for their families.¹⁶
Public school teachers are paying for their own school supplies, and taking on second jobs like waiting tables or driving for Uber to supplement their salaries.¹⁷
Autoworkers are on strike for bare minimum healthcare benefits and basic workplace protections during a time when their company reaped record profits.¹⁸
Domestic workers who provide vital care to our children, aging parents, and people with disabilities lack basic protections and, just like the millions of “gig” workers, have little to no benefits or job security.¹⁹

Presidential debates provide a unique opportunity for millions of Americans to hear directly from candidates and determine whether they meet the values of someone who could represent them in the White House. For voters to make that determination, they need to hear about the issues that impact their lives daily. Your viewers deserve to hear about the issues they care about, and multiple data points show that the economy is top among these issues.

The undersigned stand united in asking that all future debates, forums, and town halls make an effort to focus on the daily experience Americans face as they struggle to cover basic needs like food, housing, education, and prescription drugs. As the networks hosting and driving our national discourse, we urge you to listen to the millions of voters and viewers and make tackling the economy a central issue of the upcoming debates.

Sincerely,

Ai-jen Poo, Executive Director and Co-Founder, National Domestic Workers Alliance
Mary Kay Henry, International President, Service Employees International Union
Lee Saunders, President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
Thea Mei Lee, President, Economic Policy Institute
Wendy Chun-Hoon, Co-Director, Family Values @ Work
Erica Smiley, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director, MomsRising
Rahna Epting, Executive Director, MoveOn
Lily Eskelsen García, President, National Education Association
Christine L. Owens, Executive Director, National Employment Law Project Action Fund
Debra Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, National Women's Law Center
Rebecca Goldman, Interim-CEO, TIME'S UP
Cecile Richards, Co-Founder, Supermajority

Demand the Next Presidential Debate Put Issues of Working Americans First

TO:

RE: Tackling the Economy at Future Presidential Debates and Forums

References