Inauguration day is here, a day that many of us have dreaded.

Our opposition to President Donald Trump is based not only on our profound disagreement with him on most of the important issues facing our country but, even more importantly, the lies, fear mongering, bigotry, and xenophobia which underlay those policies. Democracy flourishes where differences of opinion are respected and debated. Democracy is severely undermined under the barrage of bigotry, hate, and disinformation that Trump and many of his acolytes propagate.

Further, as Trump returns to the presidency, there is deep frustration with the inability of the Democratic Party to provide a clear alternative to Trumpism. It appears that most Democrats have learned little or nothing from the recent disastrous elections. It’s just not good enough to critique Trump and right-wing Republicans. That’s been done for the last 10 years. You have to stand FOR something. You have to provide an alternative to a status quo economy and political system which is just not working for the average American.

This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and major advances in technology can make us even wealthier. There is no rational reason why 60% of Americans should live paycheck to paycheck or why we have massive and growing income and wealth inequality. There is no rational reason why we are the only major country not to guarantee healthcare for all, and why we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. There is no rational reason as to why 800,000 Americans are homeless and millions of others spend more than half of their limited income to put a roof over their heads. There is no rational reason why 25% of seniors in America are trying to survive on $15,000 a year or less, why we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any wealthy nation, why young people leave college deeply in debt, or why childcare is unaffordable for millions of families.

We can do better. We must do better. But, in order to effectively move forward, we need to explain to the American people the role that Oligarchy and corporate greed have played in destroying working class lives in this country. We need a progressive agenda that addresses the many crises that working families face and points us forward to a better life for all.

Short-term, as Trump comes into office, we must call his bluff. In the recent campaign he ran as an anti-establishment populist prepared to take on the political class and act on behalf of working families. Well, let us hold him to his words and demand that he do just that. If not, we must expose him for the fraud that he is.

During his campaigns Trump has said that the pharmaceutical companies are “getting away with murder” and that he wanted to lower the cost of prescription drugs in this country. If that is true, we should be willing to work with him to make that happen. We have made some good progress under former President Joe Biden in this area, but much more needs to be done. If Trump is unwilling to stand up to the power of the pharmaceutical industry, we must make that clear.

At a time when many financially strapped Americans are paying 20 or 30% interest rates on their credit cards, President Trump stated that he wants to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. I agree and will soon be introducing legislation to do just that. Let’s see if he supports that bill.

Trump has rightfully pointed out that disastrous trade agreements like NAFTA and PNTR with China have cost us millions of good-paying American jobs as corporations shut down manufacturing in this country and moved abroad to find cheap labor. As someone who strongly opposed those agreements I look forward to working with him on new trade policies that will protect American workers and create good paying jobs in our country. Is he serious about this issue? Let’s find out.

Some of Trump’s nominees have also made important points. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. says that food corporations are “poisoning” our young people with highly processed foods that are causing obesity, heart disease, and other serious health problems. Is Trump willing to take on the greed of major food corporations that are making record breaking profits? I doubt it, but let’s give him the opportunity.

Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been supportive of the PRO Act, which would protect a worker’s right to join a union and bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. She is right. Workers must have the right to join a union without illegal interference by their bosses. Will the Trump administration stand up to corporate interests and work with us to pass the PRO Act into law? Stay tuned.

No one denies that we must end waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. Elon Musk, for example, is correct when he points out that the Pentagon has failed seven audits and cannot fully account for its budget of over $800 billion. We must make the Defense Department far more efficient. If we do that we can save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year and cut defense spending.

While we should be prepared to work with the Trump administration in areas where we can find agreement, we must also be prepared to vigorously oppose them in the many areas where they are not only wrong, but are bringing forth extremely dangerous policy.

We must vigorously oppose Trump, his multi-billionaire cabinet, and Republicans in Congress when they try to pass massive tax breaks for the rich while cutting Medicaid and other public health benefits desperately needed by working families.

We will oppose them when they try to privatize or cut Social Security, the Veterans Administration, Medicare, public education, the postal service, and other important public agencies.

We will oppose them when they try to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away healthcare from millions of Americans.

We will oppose them when they represent the needs of the fossil fuel industry and try to rollback climate protections that put at risk the very habitability of our planet for future generations.

We will oppose them when they try to further take away the rights of women to make healthcare decisions about their own bodies.

If there were ever a time when progressives need to make their voices heard, this is that time.

We must oppose them as if we were fighting for our children, for future generations, for democracy, and for the very well-being of our planet—because that is precisely what is at stake.

Let us not forget that Republican margins in the House and Senate are very slim. If we mobilize effectively we CAN stop some of their worst proposals. It was not that long ago, for example, that people making their voices heard all across the country saved the Affordable Care Act from Trump and a Republican majority.

It is also critically important that we never stop fighting for our vision for the future—one in which we have a government that works for all of its people, and not just a wealthy few.

Can we, one day, create an economic system based on the principles of justice, not greed? Yes, we can.

Can we transform a rigged and corrupt political system and create a vibrant democracy based on one person, one vote? Yes, we can.

Can we make healthcare a human right as we establish a system designed to keep us healthy and extend our life-expectancy, not one based on the profit needs of insurance companies and the pharmaceutical industry? Yes, we can.

Can we, in the wealthiest country on Earth, provide free quality public education and job training for all from childcare to graduate school? Yes, we can.

Can we combat climate change and protect the very habitability of our planet for future generations, and create millions of jobs in the process? Yes, we can.

Can we make certain that artificial intelligence and other exploding technologies are used to improve the quality of life for working people, and not just make the billionaire class even richer. Yes, we can.

And even though we are not going to succeed in achieving that vision in the immediate future with Trump as president and Republicans controlling Congress, it is imperative that vision be maintained and that we continue to fight for it.

Let’s not kid ourselves. This is one of the most pivotal and difficult moments in the history of our country. What happens in the next few years will impact this country and the world for decades. Despair is not an option. We must aggressively educate and organize and go forward together.

Thank you for standing with me in that fight.