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2/13/18


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.       The Senate began debate today on an immigration bill.  https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/12/17003552/senate-immigration-bill-floor-debate  Suit Up Maine gives us more info and what we can do to support DREAMers:  https://www.suitupmaine.org/immigration-debate-stay-focused-dreamers/

2.      On Sunday, 60 Minutes featured a story on the "Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would make gun permits—like driver's licenses—transportable across state lines. In other words, if someone has a license to carry a concealed firearm in his or her own state, that person would be able to carry it in all of them. The bill, which has already passed the House and has the full support of President Trump, is now headed for the Senate, where it has 39 co-sponsors." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroft-talks-guns-and-concealed-carry-reciprocity-act  The bill, S. 446, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, so it's not ready for a vote. However, when it does come onto the floor for a vote, let's make sure that our Senators know we want them to vote NO. We can also join the efforts of Moms Demand Action:
 https://momsdemandaction.org, which is working to stop this NRA-sponsored legislation from passing, by texting DANGEROUS to 64433.

3.      Republicans in Congress are pushing H.R. 620, legislation that would make it more difficult for Americans with disabilities to get their rights enforced (https://qz.com/994853/republicans-in-congress-think-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-is-too-easy-to-game-so-they-want-to-make-it-harder-to-enforce/). Let’s contact our members of Congress and tell them to oppose this bill. We can find talking points from the ACLU here.

4.      “President Trump has unveiled his budget proposal for 2019, which calls for $1.7 trillion in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs, while significantly increasing defense spending and setting aside money for the border wall, which Trump has repeatedly promised will be paid for by Mexico.” 
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/373419-read-president-trumps-fiscal-year-2019-budget  Lets tell our reps that this budget is for the wealthy just like the Tax Plan is for the wealthy. Trump continues to try to break the ACA and he did not encourage timely funding to CHIP. He doesn’t care about your health and care. NO WALL, NO MEDICAID and MEDICARE CUTS.  Let’s tell our MoCs--now, well before a vote-- that any support of this draconian budget will lose them our support in the ballot box.

5.      On Monday, June 5, accompanied by his personal security detail, Pruitt settled into his $1,641.43 first-class seat for a short flight from the District to New York City. His ticket cost more than six times that of the two media aides . . . That Wednesday, after traveling with Trump on Air Force One for an infrastructure event in Cincinnati, Pruitt and several staffers raced to New York on a military jet, at a cost of $36,068.50, to catch a plane to Rome. The transatlantic flight was part of a round-trip ticket for the administrator that cost $7,003.52, according to EPA records — several times what was paid for other officials who went. In total, the taxpayer-funded travel for Pruitt and his top aides during that stretch in early June cost at least $90,000, according to months of receipts obtained by the Environmental Integrity Project under the Freedom of Information Act.” PRUITT often sits in first class seats, something his predecessors did not do. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/first-class-travel-distinguishes-scott-pruitts-epa-tenure/2018/02/11/5bb89afc-0b7d-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.101f1ffe8a58   Let’s tell Pruitt to sit in economy with his staff and stop wasting taxpayer money on his extravagances. Email him at Pruitt.scott@Epa.gov Let’s tell the White House, too:  https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house

Election 2018 – General

1.       With just weeks to go before the March 13th special election for Congress in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are putting their full weight behind state representative Rick Saccone. There are signs that Saccone, an anti-unionanti-choicepro-tax scam reactionary, might be in real trouble against Democratic nominee Conor Lamb, a military veteran and federal prosecutor who is refusing to accept corporate PAC donations (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/05/pennsylvania-republicans-special-election-389964). Republican money is flooding the district, and Conor needs our help. Let’s sign up to make phone calls for him at bit.ly/FlipThe18th.

Election 2018 – By State

Other Actions

1.       The Iowa City City Council has expanded gender definitions beyond binary: http://daily-iowan.com/2018/02/07/council-moves-on-gender-identity/ Let’s pause and say thanks to the Council for this step: council@iowa-city.org or 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, IA 52240

2.      From Citizens Climate Lobby:  Climate change can feel like a big, overwhelming challenge---but Americans have never backed down from big challenges. We may not have completely solved every issue, but we've made huge, positive changes over the course of our history. Today, we are launching a video to remind us of that. It's called Undo Your Part.  Undo Your Part was created to inspire those who are alarmed about #climatechange but haven’t taken action yet. Maybe they feel hopeless or aren't sure what to do. With this video (https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby/videos/10155106903800808) and your #UndoYourPart posts, we'll inspire our fellow Americans to believe that if we work together, we can solve this.

3.      Twitter has become a nexus of political activity but learning to navigate it can seem daunting at first. Now there is help. If we want to get started on Twitter, but don’t know where to begin, or if we are already on Twitter, but want to learn more about getting followers and participating in Twitter Storms, we can look to Gail Cookson’s Twitter 101 for answers. We can get started by clicking this link.

4.      Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered counties that plan to replace their electronic voting systems to buy machines that leave a paper trail as a safeguard against hacking. Pennsylvania is one of 13 states where most or all voters use antiquated machines that store votes electronically without printed ballots or other paper-based backups. (Source: ABCNews). Let's contact our own governors to ask what they are doing to help secure the 2018 elections.

5.      The Guardian is compiling all their Trump-Russia investigation news in one place.  Let's bookmark the page here for future reference. 

6.      Last week Bermuda repealed gay marriage. (Source: NPR). In March (14-16), the Harvard Hasty Pudding Theatricals group is scheduled to perform in Bermuda. (Source: Hasty Pudding) Let's hold them accountable and ask why they are still planning to perform. Don't they support LGBTQ rights?  Let's contact them and ask using the contact information here. Please note: our Rogan's list contributor used the "contact us" form and it was returned as undeliverable. We recommend calling or writing using the information on the page instead.  If we are Harvard alumni, let's also contact the University and the Harvard Alumni Association.

7.      Postcards for Virginia, https://postcards4va.com/, was among the very effective groups that brought massive progressive gains in Virginia’s November 2017 election. Let’s read this study about how their campaign made a difference, 
http://bluevirginia.us/2018/02/study-finds-postcard-writing-a-powerful-political-engagement-tool-in-virginias-2017-house-of-delegates-elections , and let’s request their new guide to see how we might replicate their success in our own state: 

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

States

1.       ALL: The State of Pennsylvania is moving forward with using voting machines that have paper back-up for recounts (but only when old systems need replacement):  https://apnews.com/b33d9d5fd72642058552662c9cfbf426 Since we know that election interference is already afoot for 2018, let’s check in with our own governors: https://www.usa.gov/state-governorand secretaries of state 
https://www.thebalance.com/secretary-of-state-websites-1201005 to express our concerns about fair elections processes.

2.      KS:  Stop the Constitution Convention! Idaho just voted No, now it’s Kansas’ turn to defeat this dangerous Koch backed scheme to turn our Constitution into a regulation and benefit slashing Koch Friendly document. Only 34 states are needed to call for this to make it happen and many have already signed on. Kansas’ bill, SCR 1611 in Federal and State Affairs Committee, covers term limits, fiscal and judicial limits, but it’s a Trojan Horse: once a Convention is called, any and all topics are on the table. We can see how this works from this Washington Post Opinion piece. http://wapo.st/2o2aD7x We can testify against this alarming bill at the Committee hearing at the Senate in room 144-S, from 10:00-12:00 Wed Feb 14th. We can also call (785) 296-239 to tell our State Senators to Vote NO on this call for a Convention of States.  We can read more about the Koch scheme here.
3.      KY:  Nearly one-fifth of the Kentucky House is sponsoring a bill that would require school districts to set aside separate bathrooms and locker rooms for students based on their “immutable biological sex as male or female,” or else risk paying damages if students’ families choose to sue. House Bill 326 revives the debate over the use of public bathrooms by transgender individuals. (Source: Lexington Herald-Leader).  If we are Kentuckians, let's contact our state house legislators to let them know that we oppose HB326.  

4.      MA: Since the Santa Barbara shooting, lawmakers in many states have been fighting for a new gun safety measure called extreme risk protection orders. These orders make it possible for someone worried about the mental state of a family member to seek judicial restraint against them buying or possessing guns (http://abcnews.go.com/US/temporary-restraining-order-guns-stop-mass-shootings/story?id=51042163). We are at a critical point in the fight to bring these life-saving orders to Massachusetts, with Rep. David Linsky’s H3081 pending before the Judiciary Committee, and we need to take action. Let’s call our state reps to urge them to support H3081. We can find out if they are already on board at this link. We can find talking points from Stop Handgun Violence here. And when we make the calls, we can report back on the results here.

5.      NY--AND BEYOND: “Reclaim New York,” which counts among its founding directors Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, the Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo, and Lawrence Mone of the Manhattan Institute and which is funded by the Mercer Family Foundation, is building a network of citizen watchdogs and pushing into issues at all levels of New York government, including small municipal ones. This right-wing effort to influence local politics—which often involves suing financially-strapped small towns that can’t afford the huge legal costs their defense requires—is not limited to New York State; it appears, rather, to be the Right’s new strategy in their war against democracy: https://www.wnyc.org/story/trumps-army-battle-new-york/  We need to be on the lookout as these efforts spread, and find effective ways to counter them.

Reading/Watching

1.       Alice Walker:  Go to the places that ccare you:  http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/its-your-body/alice-walker-go-to-the-places-that-scare-you

2.      “2017 Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a 'made-up story'” - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/dec/12/2017-lie-year-russian-election-interference-made-s/

3.      Understanding news? We’re not even close” - https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/understanding-news-were-not-even-close-1770c7f89954









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