ELEANOR ROSS ## GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN RALLY SPEECH ### “A LITTLE BREATHING ROOM. A STRONGER AMERICA.” *Approximately 7–9 minutes* My friends! It is wonderful to be here with you today! Look around you. Look at the people standing beside you. Look at the families, the workers, the students, the small-business owners, and the people who have taken time out of their lives to be here. This is what America looks like. Not a collection of statistics. Not a line on an economic chart. Not a talking point in Washington. America is people. People who get up early, work long hours, raise families, care for their parents, build businesses, serve their communities, and keep this country moving forward. And I want to ask you something. When did doing everything right become so expensive? When did working a full-time job stop being enough to give a family some financial security? When did a grocery trip become something you had to calculate down to the last dollar? When did finding an affordable place to live become an extraordinary challenge? I don't think Americans are asking for too much. They're asking for a little breathing room. They're asking to work hard and actually see the benefits of that work. They're asking to build a future without wondering whether the next rent increase, medical bill, or utility payment will knock everything off course. And I believe that is a reasonable expectation of our government. **Because the economy should work for the people who make it work.** Now, President Mueller has spent his administration confronting an economy in which families have continued to face rising living costs. And I recognize that inflation is complicated. I recognize that presidents cannot simply sign an order and make every price fall the following morning. But acknowledging a problem is not the same thing as solving it. And explaining why families are struggling is not enough when those families are asking what comes next. We need a plan. And I intend to offer one. My American Cost-of-Living Plan begins with something very simple: putting more money back into the hands of working families. I'm proposing a refundable Working Families Cost-of-Living Credit. An eligible individual earning below $40,000 could receive up to $1,200 annually. A qualifying household earning below $60,000 could receive up to $2,400. And instead of making families wait until they file their taxes, we will deliver that relief in quarterly payments. Because your bills don't wait until April. Your rent doesn't wait until April. Your grocery store doesn't wait until April. Why should your government make you wait for relief? But tax credits alone are not enough. We must confront the cost of housing. I want an America where teachers can afford to live in the communities where they teach. Where nurses can afford to live near the hospitals where they work. Where young families can find a home without sacrificing every other financial priority. That's why I'm proposing $40 billion over ten years in housing construction incentives and affordable rental development. We will reward communities that approve and complete new housing. We will invest in construction near jobs and transportation. And when developers receive public money, they will have to meet enforceable affordability requirements. Public investment must produce public benefits. And when it comes to groceries, I want a marketplace where competition actually works. I'm proposing $12 billion over ten years to strengthen regional food distribution, storage, and transportation. I want smaller producers to have a fair opportunity to reach consumers. I want federal authorities to investigate documented price-fixing and anti-competitive practices. And I want companies that break the law to be held accountable. We cannot promise that every grocery price will suddenly fall. But we can work to make markets more competitive, strengthen supply chains, and address practices that undermine consumers. And we must invest in the infrastructure that powers our economy. Our energy system needs modernization. Our electricity grid needs greater reliability. Our communities need infrastructure that can support economic growth. That's why my plan includes $35 billion over ten years for grid modernization, transmission improvements, and energy reliability projects. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. How do we pay for all of this? That's a fair question. And I will not insult your intelligence by pretending that government programs are free. Our preliminary ten-year framework places the cost of the entire plan at approximately $350 billion. We intend to offset that spending through reforms to unjustified corporate tax preferences, closing high-income tax loopholes, eliminating ineffective subsidies, and redirecting lower-priority federal spending. And before major legislation advances, I will demand independent budget assessments and publicly identified funding sources. We will publish the numbers. We will publish the results. And if something isn't working, we will have the courage to change it. That is what accountability means. It also means understanding that our economy is not the only thing that matters. We have a responsibility to protect civil rights. To defend equal protection under the law. To safeguard reproductive freedom. To ensure that LGBTQ Americans are treated with dignity. To protect access to the ballot box. We have a responsibility to strengthen public education, support American workers, and make healthcare more accessible. These are not separate concerns from the American promise. They are part of it. And I want to talk about something else. I want to talk about what kind of presidency I intend to lead. I am not running to be president of one faction, one region, one political personality, or one group of people who happen to agree with me. I am running to serve a country. There will be people who disagree with me. There will be people who challenge my proposals. There will be people who vote against me. And they will still deserve a president who listens to them. I believe disagreement is part of democracy. I believe compromise is sometimes necessary. And I believe that having principles does not require treating everyone who disagrees with you as an enemy. But let me make something equally clear. Pragmatism does not mean surrendering your convictions. Being willing to negotiate does not mean abandoning your responsibilities. And governing responsibly does not mean accepting that things cannot get better. I have spent my career believing that government should be measured by what it accomplishes. Not by how loudly it celebrates itself. Not by how many promises it makes. By whether people can afford their homes. Whether workers have opportunities. Whether families can access healthcare. Whether communities are safer, stronger, and better prepared for the future. That's the standard I will bring to the presidency. My friends, this election is about more than one administration or one campaign. It is about the direction we want to take this country. Do we want a government that simply explains our problems? Or do we want one that takes responsibility for addressing them? Do we want an economy where families are constantly asked to adjust their expectations? Or do we want an economy where opportunity is something people can actually experience? I believe we can do better. I believe we can build more homes, strengthen our infrastructure, create opportunities for American workers, protect our rights, and make the cost of living more manageable. Not overnight. Not through magic. Through hard work, responsible decisions, public accountability, and a government that remembers who it serves. And I know that the work ahead will not be easy. But I also know something about this country. We have never moved forward because the challenges were simple. We moved forward because ordinary Americans decided that the future was worth working for. So to everyone who has been working, waiting, worrying, and wondering whether anyone in Washington is listening: I hear you. I see the challenges you're facing. And I am asking for the opportunity to do something about them. Let's build an economy that rewards work. Let's build communities where families can afford to stay. Let's protect the rights that belong to every American. Let's restore accountability to our government. And let's give the next generation something more than another set of promises. Let's give them a future they can believe in. My friends, I am Eleanor Ross. And I am running for president because I believe America can move forward together. **A little breathing room. A stronger America.** Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America!