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Contact Federal Government Officials

Find senator’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/RLiotu

Find representative’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/5i7SXC

Fax legislators for free:  Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

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Many newspapers, including New York Times and Washington Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles each month.  We can also check with our local libraries to find out how to get online access through them.

1.       Government shut down, net neutrality, #metoo, unfair tax reform, gun policy, and decency are all in the news and in our activism efforts.  We should be much more concerned with why the United Nations is investigating extreme poverty in America and be working on eliminating that issue.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/01/un-extreme-poverty-america-special-rapporteur  Let’s ask our MoCs why there is so much poverty and what they and Congress are going to do about it.  We are ready to help.

2.      The GOP is already making plans to make up for the $1.5 trillion deficit their tax plan creates by cutting “entitlements” – also known as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid:  http://thehill.com/homenews/house/363642-ryan-pledges-entitlement-reform-in-2018 This is quite directly about taking money from lower, middle, and upper-middle class Americans to line the pockets of the richest people. The House bill and the Senate bill are not yet reconciled so there is still time to let our GOP MoC know that we see their true intentions very clearly.

3.      There’s little hope of this Republican-controlled Congress passing the minimum wage hike we need, but support is continuing to grow for raising the wage across the country. 15 states will see their minimum wage climb on January 1st (http://www.newsweek.com/what-minimum-wage-these-states-are-raising-it-2018-724430).  Let’s make sure as our reps turn their minds towards next year’s elections that they know that they are ignoring the will of the people. We can check if our senators and representatives are co-sponsoring the Raise the Wage Act (H.R. 15 and S.1242) , and contact them to thank them if they are and encourage them to do so if they aren’t.

4.      To fight the threat of white supremacist groups and other violent domestic extremists, thirteen US Senators are co-sponsoring Senator Dick Durbin’s Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2017 (S. 2148). The act would “enhance the federal government’s efforts to prevent domestic terrorism by requiring federal law enforcement agencies to regularly assess those threats and provide training and resources to assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement in addressing these threats.” 
https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-introduces-domestic-terrorism-prevention-act  If our senators aren’t on this list, let’s contact them and tell them we want them to co-sponsor this bill.

5.      With less than a week to go until the FCC's vote on net neutrality, Pai is attempting to garner support, while Democrats and various organizations push for a delay on the vote http://politi.co/2iA2hSb Let's keep calling and e-mailing, asking the FCC Chairman and Commissioners to oppose any repeal to net neutrality, or at the very least, to delay the vote until an investigation can be completed regarding the numerous fake comments on the FCC's website  FCC main phone: 1-888-225-5322, FCC main fax: 1-866-418-0232 Ajit Pai, hairman Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov Mignon Clyburn, Commissioner Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov Michael O'Rielly, Commissioner Mike.O'Rielly@fcc.gov Brendan Carr, Commissioner Brendan.Carr@fcc.gov, and Jessica Rosenworcel, Commissioner 

6.      The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R. 38) passed the House. While it is essential to contact our senators, and ask for them to oppose this bill as it heads to the Senate, it is also important to hold our representatives in the House accountable for their votes. Let's check to see how our reps voted http://bit.ly/2BShBlF Then, let's give them a call and either thank them for opposing the bill, or admonish them for voting in favor of it. Let’s tell them that elections are not far away, and we will remember their actions when it's our turn to vote.  We can also join Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America:  https://momsdemandaction.org/

7.      “Four days after Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin held a big Washington event to tout the Trump administration’s promise to house all homeless vets, the agency did an about-face, telling advocates it was pulling resources from a major housing program.” https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/homeless-veterans-benefits-trump-207781 Let’s tell our MoCs to put pressure on VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin to continue funding housing for veterans, and let’s contact Shulkin himself and tell him the same: US Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20420 or https://www.va.gov/landing2_contact.htm or via Twitter:  @SecShulkin

8.     Southern California is being ravaged by wildfires. http://abcnews.go.com/US/southern-california-wildfires-burn-containment-conditions-worsen/story Let’s contact our MoCs to urge them to provide relief.

9.      Some feel that Trump did not fully understand the implications of moving our embassy to Jerusalem:    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/06/wednesday-briefing-trumps-jerusalem-decision-dangerous   Violence has already broken out following Trump’s announcement on Wednesday: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42265337 Let’s contact our MoC to urge them to continue seeking a two-state solution in Israel. 

10.  Now that Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is resigning, we can’t help but note that it was a group of Democratic women senators who started this downfall.  http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/06/politics/franken-gillibrand-resign-senate/  It is time for the 84 women of the House to do the same for Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX).  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/rep-blake-farenthold-settled-sexual-harassment-claim-84-000-n825696  We can find them there and if we click on their pictures we are taken to contact info:  https://www.gop.gov/about/members/ We cannot have different standards of behavior for any of our sitting officials, including Trump or Moore, should be elected.

11.   Stop the confiscation of tips from restaurant workers! The Department of Labor is taking public comment on a proposed rule, championed by the National Restaurant Association, that would permit restaurant owners (including restaurants owned by giant corporations) to keep the tips of its servers. The rule will apply to employers that pay their employees federal minimum wage and do not deduct tip amounts from wages. The DOL says that new rule will allow restaurants to pool tips and share them with cooks and other back-of-the-house staff, but there is in fact nothing in the rule that will ensure tip-sharing, and nothing that stops restaurants from taking the tips and doing whatever they want with them.  http://www.newsweek.com/trump-wants-you-tip-restaurant-owners-not-servers-740792  Advocates for restaurant workers oppose the rule. The public comment period ends January 4, 2018. Let’s visit https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/12/05/2017-25802/tip-regulations-under-the-fair-labor-standards-act-flsa and tell Labor Secretary Alex Acosta that we oppose the rule, and when we tip our server, we want our server to keep the tip.

12.  It was only 12 months ago that Dow Chemical was facing double-barrel trouble regarding its brain-damaging, endangered species-killing pesticide, chlorpyrifos. So compelling was the evidence that the highly toxic organophosphate caused permanent brain damage and learning disabilities in children, that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in November 2016 that it would be banning use of the pesticide on crops.Already, earlier in the year, the EPA had announced that in working with scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries services it had found that chlorpyrifos killed or harmed 97 percent of the nation’s 1,800 protected plants and animals. Then came the Trump regime. Within days of being appointed, EPA chief Scott Pruitt announced he was reversing the planned ban on chlorpyrifos. But what about the damning research on the pesticide’s widespread harm to protected species? How do you just make it disappear? If you’re Dow, and you just donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, no worries. You simply ask the Pruitt-led pro-industry EPA to ignore the legally required biological evaluations that revealed the widespread off-target killing tendencies of one of your most popular products. A draft bill pushed by Dow that’s now floating around the halls of Congress would forbid the EPA from even assessing the harms pesticides pose to endangered species unless the maker of the pesticide requests those assessments. Now, in the make-believe world of the Trump administration, Dow is working hard to convince the members of Congress to simply look the other way and pretend the risks don’t exist. Let's read the full article at The Hill.  We need to contact all of our MoC's to let them know that we a) support the continued assessment of all pesticides with or without the makers' request. b) we want the ban on nerve-damaging chloropyrifos pesticides put back in place.  

Election 2017/2018

1.       AL:  There are just four days until the Alabama Special Election for Senate: This is a well-reasoned op-ed to the voters of Alabama about why they should cast a vote for Doug Jones:http://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/363661-brent-budowsky-a-plea-to-alabama-voters Let’s share via social media and specifically with people we know in Alabama.   There are still ways we help him win. We can sign up to make phone calls or send texts here. This site is approved by the official campaign. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg9seiN6-Tcwqm2DsSVqC3SR5Wd0JdoLTUYmhFnFfkS-yP2Q/viewform  We can contribute here to help bus voters to polls on Election Day :  https://www.gofundme.com/eliminateroymoore.  We can contribute to 
WokeVote.us working to increase Black voter turnout. 

2.      PA:  In yet another example of activist turned politician, Mark Pinsley is running for State Senate.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y3_kmT8_1c&feature=youtu.be  Let’s like his Facebook page and keep up with him:  https://www.facebook.com/VoteMarkPinsley/   A closed primary election will be held on May 15, 2018  Let’s help this seat turn blue!

State Actions

1.       Various:  A twinkling star in the dark night: over 380 mayors (representing 68 million Americans) have pledged to honor the Paris Climate Accord in spite of the White House's decision to make the US the one and only country not to do so (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/04/u-s-mayors-sign-pact-track-progress-paris-agreement/920305001/). This has grown from only 68 cities in just 6 months, so let's each call our city hall to either congratulate them for joining this initiative, or demand that they wake up and do so!

2.      MI: With the future of Dreamers still in the air, Republican Governor Rick Snyder has come out in favor of the Dream Act, writing a piece for the Detroit Free Press calling on Congress to support the Dream Act http://on.freep.com/2BKycHo Let's send Governor Snyder a "thank you" for being vocal in his support for Dreamers: PHONE: 517-373-3400 Governor Rick Snyder P.O. Box 30013 Lansing, Michigan 48909 

3.      WV - Election 2018. Don Blankenship will run for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia.  The disgraced coal baron was released in May from federal prison where he had been sentenced for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards in the wake of an explosion that killed 29 miners in April 2010. The former CEO of Massey Energy filed last week to run in the crowded Republican primary. The winner of the race, which will also include U.S. representative Evan Jenkins and West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey, will go up against Democrat senator Joe Manchin in the general election. Blankenship’s candidacy is big news in West Virginia, where he is a well-known and deeply polarizing figure who spent decades as a ruthless advocate for the coal industry. We can read more at New York magazine.  If we are West Virginia voters, let's keep our eyes out on the Republican primary. Let's pay special attention to the negative things that the Republicans say about each other that we can recycle during the election. 

4.      NH: In a move to suppress the votes of college students, State Republican lawmakers are pushing a new bill, HB 372, that “would impose steep fees on all voters who lack a New Hampshire driver’s license—despite the fact that it is perfectly legal to vote in New Hampshire with an out-of-state license. The measure is tantamount to a post-election poll tax. It stands an excellent chance of becoming law.” http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/12/new_hampshire_republicans_want_to_impose_a_poll_tax_on_college_students.html If we’re in New Hampshire, let’s contact our state legislators and say that we expect them to oppose this constitutionally questionable bill. We can look them up here: http://www.seiu1984.org/who-is-my-legislator/

5.      FL:  Florida prosecutes more children as adults than any other state in the country. “About 98 percent of the more than 7,600 children prosecuted in Florida’s adult courts since 2011 were transferred at the sole discretion of a prosecutor, without a hearing before a judge,” says a report by No Place for A Child, a coalition of right- and left-leaning groups in favor of overhauling the system. Florida Legislation filed for the 2018 Legislative Session (SB 936HB 509) aims to reform the system, in part by limiting the ability of prosecutors to put teens into the adult justice system, requiring demographic and other information on who gets charged statewide, and allowing minors to ask for a hearing before a judge “to determine whether (they) shall remain in adult court.” Let's read more at Florida Politics. If we are Floridian's lets contact our Florida state representative in support of HB509 and our Florida state senator in support of SB936.  We can also contact Governor Rick Scott (R) at his web contact form

Other Actions

1.       The FCC is scheduled to vote next week on bringing an end to net neutrality, and supporters of a free and open Internet are fighting back nationwide. Yesterday saw protests at hundreds of Verizon stores throughout the nation (http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/07/net-neutrality-protests-planned-thursday-at-verizon-stores-nationwide/). For those of us who couldn’t make it, let’s join the fight from home early next week. NextGen America is organizing people to text supporters of net neutrality and make sure the FCC hears from them. We can sign up to participate in this campaign at this link.

2.      HIAS has given us eight ways to help refugees during the eight nights of Hanukkah:  https://www.hias.org/hanukkah2017  Even if this is not our holiday, we can still partake in the activity. 

3.      Plainfield, Indiana Police Captain Carri Weber was suspended from her job by her white male police chief after pointing out while male privilege to a white male colleague:  https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2017/12/06/plainfield-officer-leave-white-male-privilege-remark/926449001/ We can wish this story was taken from the pages of The Onion but it is not. Let’s let her Chief, Darel Krieger, know that suspending her for speaking up is actually proving her point: darel.krieger@plainfieldpd.org Then, let’s tell the town council the same thing:  https://www.townofplainfield.com/town-officials

4.      5 Calls and Young Invincibles have partnered to bring you a phone bank to call or text consumers who have expressed interest in insurance through the ACA.  With fewer resources this year than ever before, it’s critical we all pitch in to get folks covered. Sign up here:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGn57hP_5BPalVp937MSsumv_eY_rA6mpAFuupZKTKpcuOKw/viewform

5.      “Breitbart chairman and former White House counselor Steve Bannon is returning to SirusXM’s Patriot channel, the satellite radio network announced Tuesday.”  http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Steve-Bannon-Returns-to-Sirius-XM-as-Breitbart-12406976.php Let’s register our complaints with Sirius (Twitter: @SXM_Help or https://www.siriusxm.com/contactus) and if we decide to cancel our subscription (call1-866-635-5020) let’s make sure they know it’s because we don’t support their decision to provide a platform for hate.

6.      From Postcards from Kate:  Activist Tarana Burke started #MeToo in 2006. Read this wonderful profile (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/10/19/the-woman-behind-me-too-knew-the-power-of-the-phrase-when-she-created-it-10-years-ago/?utm_term=.cb76347f07d3) and then send her a Thank You.  Tarana Burke, Director of Programs, Girls for Gender Equity, 25 Chapel St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

7.      Digital Trends tell us some of their favorites sites for creating disposable email addresses, so we can remain anonymous and abstain from an inbox burgeoning with advertisements for male enhancers, online degrees, and whatever else we probably don’t need in our lives right now. We can check out their article here

8.     From Showing Up For Racial Justice:  In this moment, we need everyone in the fight against racism. Building the kind of movement we need in this moment starts at the local level -- right in our own homes. House parties and kitchen table conversations are a great way to invite new people into the movement, and to make commitments to one another to fight for the world we all want.  Let’s find out more about hosting a house party for racial justice:  http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/actions

9.      Five-year-old Ryland Ward, who was injured in the Sutherland Springs, TX church shooting which killed his mother and two sisters, is still in the hospital.  His grandmother, is requesting Christmas cards for him with $1 in it so they can fill his room with joy & buy him a Go-Kart http://denver.cbslocal.com/2017/12/07/church-shooting-christmas-cards/   Cards can be sent to:  Ryland Ward, P.O. Box 174, Sutherland Springs, Texas, 78161  There is also a GoFundMe account set up for the family:  https://www.gofundme.com/yqv5x-hospital-bills-for-my-cousins-son

10.  Know someone who should run for office? Thinking of running yourself? Here's a book that can help, directed at ANYONE who is considering entering a race:
 https://www.runforsomething.net/book. "It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the first thing about running for office, or never even imagined you would. That’s what this book is for." Let's give it a read -- and we might just decide to go for it and Runforsomething.net!

Petitions

1.       “Earlier this week, Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin and HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced they were cutting a $460 million program designed to reduce veteran homelessness.”  Let’s Sign VoteVets petition calling on Secretary Shulkin ”to protect the HUD-VASH program that help homeless and dangerously at-risk veterans find homes and the support they need.”  http://action.votevets.org/page/s/hud-vash

2.      Let’s join Credo Action and sign their petition to Congress asking our MoCs to “investigate sexual assault allegations against federal officials, starting with Trump“  https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Sexual_Misconduct_Commission

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       We keep hearing how we need to listen better.  Not sure how?  Then plan to take part in this Active Listening Training on Sunday, December 10 at 7pm EST hosted by Action Together Network: https://www.facebook.com/events/349797022098054/  Register today and invite a friend: http://bit.ly/ActiveListeningWebinar 

2.      Also on Sunday, we can join Action Together Network's Twitterstorm for Doug Jones at 8pm EST. All tweets are prewritten and ready to go with a click. This link will get us started:  http://bit.ly/2k9AQ26.  We can tweet from this sheet here:  http://bit.ly/2AIsJQH  Together, we can raise a storm and elect Doug Jones!

3.      On Human Rights Day (Dec 10th), Women’s March Milan and Women’s March Global will be delivering an open letter to EU leaders asking for action to end slavery and abuse of migrants in Libya.  To underscore this we can join this tweetstorm:  https://www.facebook.com/events/143745939733228/?ti=icl  And Thunderclap: http://thndr.me/nXa6k9  We can still sign the open letter before Dec 10: https://medium.com/@WM.Global/end-slavery-open-letter-to-european-leaders-e34bb8db88fb

4.      Although  by no means exhaustive, here is a list of known organized memorial women’s marches scheduled for January 20, 2018:  https://qz.com/1139150/womens-march-2018-when-and-where-it-starts-in-new-york-los-angeles-chicago-philadelphia-san-francisco-and-more/  

Reading/Watching

1.       Need a pause for some good news? The Australian parliament passed the marriage equality law in a landslide vote: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/07/marriage-equality-law-passes-australias-parliament-in-landslide-vote

2.      Mother Jones asked their readers what the election inspired them to do—or not do. From marching in protests, voting in local elections, and even running for office, let's read the selection of what they heard: inspiring stories from people just like us Rogan's listers. Let's read the article here. Let's be inspired and encouraged. 

3.      “Impeachment of the President, Explained”:  https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/12/15615066/impeachment-trump-process-history



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