5/18/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
********************************
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. Wednesday
was an incredibly full news day with many implications. The Loyal Opposition has summarized it and noted its significance
for us here and provided two calls to action:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=120Lva6KasF74zBpetZvepuY4Mg--nFxM
2. The farm
bill and immigration are both competing for a top spot in the House. Last evening, House leadership agreed to
bring an immigration bill to the floor.
Nonetheless, the GOP is eager to get the farm bill passed, particularly
for the work requirements. https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/17/politics/conservative-bill-immigration-daca-negotiations/index.html Let’s
let our reps know that we want the DACA program saved and a path for citizen
for DREAMers and their parents. Let’s
also let them know that there are too many concerns with the current farm bill
for us to condone it.
3. On
Wednesday, during a roundtable with California officials who are opposed to
sanctuary cities, Trump stated "These aren't people. These are
animals," referring to immigrants (https://bit.ly/2L8rG2x). As we witness asylum seekers being
separated from their children, DACA recipients being deported, and ICE raids
occurring across the country, Trump's language only serves to legitimize what
is happening by dehumanizing the victims of the administration's cruel
immigration policies (https://wapo.st/2Gtyq7s). Allowing this rhetoric to go unchecked
further de-sensitizes us to Trump's abhorrent actions. Let's contact our MoC
and demand that they speak out against Trump's statements. And although it can
feel like screaming into the void, let’s let Trump know that we know where
dehumanization leads, and we expect better: The White House, 1600
Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20500 or on Twitter @realdonaldtrump
4. Save our
Dreamers! "Republican lawmakers are trying to force House leadership to
take up a series of votes on legislation to protect immigrants
who were brought to the country illegally by their parents. Since the Trump Administration
announced the end of the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, last fall Congress has failed to pass
legislation that would shield this group of immigrants from deportation, which
they are at risk for in the program’s absence." http://time.com/5273034/daca-undocumented-immigrants-dreamers-discharge-petition/ These House reps (19 so far) are acting
against Speaker Paul Ryan's wishes. Let's encourage them and urge *our* House
reps to sign on. Here's a script we can use:
5. Unsuccessful
thus far in trying to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood through
legislation, the Trump administration, under pressure from anti-abortion
lobbyists and the GOP, is now looking at altering regulations to that end. http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/387876-trump-expected-to-cut-planned-parenthood-funding-through-regs Once
again, we need to contact our MoCs and remind them that no federal funds are used
for abortion by Planned Parenthood and that PP offers so many important health
services to so many of us.
6. There
are approximately 22.5 million refugees in the world. This fiscal year, we've
admitted approximately 13,500, and we're projected to have only 20,000 for the
entire fiscal year (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/refugee-admissions.html). 50 of the 350 refugee centers affiliated
with the State Department have had to close because they cannot sustain such a
small number of refugees and keep their operation running. The current U.S.
effort to aid in refugee resettlement is shameful; let's contact our MoC and
ask them what they plan on doing to reverse this downward trend.
7. While President
Obama used military bases to house unaccompanied immigrant child refugees in
2014 on an emergency basis (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-children-idUSKBN0EK1VM20140609) , Trump now wants to use them for children they
intentionally plan to separate from their families. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-migrant-children-military-bases-20180515-story.html Let’s
tell our MoCs and Homeland security that we want families to stay
together. Contact Homeland Security
here: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/u-s-department-of-homeland-security
8. The
Trump administration-imposed trade restrictions on ZTE, a Chinese electronics
manufacturer, after ZTE violated international sanctions on Iran, bringing ZTE
to the edge of bankruptcy. Earlier this week, Trump reversed policy, tweeting
that he was working with Chinese President Xi to save the company.
Coincidentally, a Chinese state-owned construction firm has signed a $500
million deal to build a theme park in Jakarta, which will include Trump-branded
hotels, golf courses, and other developments. http://theweek.com/speedreads/773325/trumps-call-save-zte-may-benefit-major-trump-organization-deal-chinese-developers Let’s A) tell our MoCs that we expect
Congress to investigate whether Trump is making foreign policy based on his
personal financial interests, and B) demand that the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform look into the matter, https://oversight.house.gov/whistle/
9. The good
news is that net neutrality passed the Senate. Now our focus turns to the House
where the next vote must take place. If we are ready to demand that our
Representatives protect a fast, free and fair internet, we can use these tools
at Battle for the Net to tweet, write, email, or visit them. https://www.battleforthenet.com/ Let’s
also use this form provided by the ACLU:
https://action.aclu.org/send-message/save-net-neutrality
Election 2018 –
General
An election guide from Postcards for America: In this Google doc (updated
regularly), each State shows ALL Democratic Candidates running for Congress,
Governor, Lt Gov, Attorney General, Secretary of State (if applicable) with
links to their websites and Twitter. Each has a link to a Twitter Thread, a
Shareable Facebook Post and a Document. For most States, there are also Info
& Links for Voter Registrations, Absentee Ballots, Early Voting & Voter
ID, Age Requirements and being a Poll Worker. Let’s check
this out and use and share it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NCYjsm3xKb79z19Gx7PWt5Zs9lkLiTqglHBHYs9mlX8/edit
1. Open
Primaries is a movement of diverse Americans who believe that no American
should be required to join a political party to exercise their right to
vote. The mission of Open Primaries is to advocate for open and
nonpartisan primary systems, counter efforts to impose closed primaries,
educate voters and policymakers, advance litigation, train spokespeople,
conduct and support research, and participate in the building of local, state
and national open primaries coalitions. If we live in a closed primary state
and want to take action, let's check out Open Primaries to find out how to get involved locally.
2. From
Teen Vogue: "Teenagers
Are Helping Flip Seats in 2018 Elections With Postcards to Voters." If we know any young people not
yet of voting age, who are looking for a way to make a difference, let's
introduce them to Postcards to Voters. This could help start a lifetime of civic engagement.
Election 2018 –
By State
1. Voting
dates and deadlines this week:
May 18
|
Texas
|
Early voting ends
|
Runoffs
|
May 18
|
Washington
|
Filing Deadline
|
|
May 19
|
Washington D.C.
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary (postmark)
|
2. CA: California will play a vital role
in taking back the House this year, so we must make sure to vote! Since it is
so important it is that we show up at the polls next week, let’s make sure that
we, our friends, family and neighbors are all registered to vote. The
deadline to register to is midnight Monday, May 21. If we, or someone
we know, still needs to register, we can do it online here: link:
https://registertovote.ca.gov) registertovote.ca.gov We
can also download a mobile voting app to check our voter status, polling
location and get a quick guide to propositions. If we visit Google
Play or the Apple Store and search “Vote California,” we can download the app
on our phones. Clicking this link will tell us more:
3. ID: Paulette Jordan has won the Idaho
democratic primary for governor (https://wapo.st/2k3uWQg, https://bit.ly/2Il3cp8). While she won with a substantial 18-point
margin, the election in November is expected to by much more challenging in
this heavily-Republican state. One of the hurdles will be improving voter
turnout for Democrats; while, according to the Washington Post, 64,000
Democrats voted in the primary, 187,000 showed up for the Republican primary.
If we are Idaho residents, let's make sure we are registered to vote; we can
check out registration requirements here. Then, let's help improve voter turnout by
getting involved with ACLU Idaho's Let
Me Votecampaign.
We can also learn more about Paulette Jordan's platform here.
Other Actions
1. “Under a
proposed regulation now under consideration, the Trump Administration has made
clear its intent to make life more difficult for immigrant families, including
their U.S. citizen children, by restricting their ability to access basic
programs that safeguard their health care, nutrition, housing, and economic
security.” The
National Immigration Law Center is
collecting stories of those who will be affected by the new policy. If we are, or know someone who will be, let’s
let them know: http://action.nilc.org/page/s/PIF-stories-long
2. “Despite
angry protests and the threat of a looming lawsuit, the city of Boulder,
Colorado, took a bold stand for gun control this week. Its city council
unanimously passed an ordinance on Tuesday to ban the sale and
possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines — becoming
one of a handful of cities nationwide that has taken action to change its gun
laws in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting massacre. https://www.yahoo.com/news/boulder-city-council-unanimously-votes-104954671.html. Cities take the lead. Our votes for
city council members are just as important as our votes for larger state
and federal candidates. These positions are stepping stones to achieve a
larger office. Be sure to research your city council candidates and get
those votes out.
3. Every
year, more than 400,000 horseshoe crabs are bled for the miraculous medical
substance that flows through their bodies—now pharmaceutical companies are
finally committing to an alternative that doesn't harm animals. Eli Lilly is
leading the way Horseshoe crabs bled for the biomedical use in the United
States are returned to the ocean, but an estimated 50,000 also die in
the process every year. We can read more at The Atlantic. We can let Eli Lilly know we support their
efforts at: Eli Lilly and Company Global Headquarters, Lilly
Corporate Center, Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
4. Homelessness
is a huge issue in California and our country. No one seems to have any answers,
but the Sacramento city council is not waiting for government solutions. “The
Sacramento City Council on Tuesday evening gave unanimous support to
a project that would offer residential care for homeless people suffering from
terminal illnesses. The care facility will be one of the first of its kind in
the country. The hospice is designed to care for people who might otherwise die
on the streets.” http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/homeless/article211262204.html One of the speakers in favor of the project
expressed that he was nearly homeless and dying of cancer. The Mayor,
immediately after the meeting asked that placement be made for this individual.
Let’s elect people that that have hearts and want to make our
cities a better place for all. Let’s follow the lead of
Sacramento.
5. If we want
to help get the word out about net neutrality and we have a website, we can
join the fight by adding their Red Alert Widget asking our visitors to contact
Congress. We can Click
here for a demo, grab
the code on GitHub, or
use one of these banners. The alert will appear once per user per day
and users can easily click away. We can link the banners directly to this
website. Add this line of code to our site's leader: <scriptsrc="https://redalert.battleforthenet.com/widget.js" async></script>
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. Although it can start to feel like crying wolf,
there are concerns that the one-year anniversary of the appointment of Special
Counsel Mueller alongside the reports that came out on
Wednesday about Cohen and Don Trump Jr. will provoke Trump into action
against Mueller and/or Rosenstein: http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/388078-divisions-deepen-as-mueller-probe-hits-one-year If
we have not already, let’s make sure we are signed up for alerts for protest
actions if that comes to pass: https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
2. Donald Trump may well be president today because of
voter suppression (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/dispatches/2018/05/17/whistleblower-bannon-and-cambridge-behind-voter-suppression-efforts ) But activists
nationwide are coming together to fight back in this election cycle and
beyond. This Saturday, Let America Vote is hosting "Voting Rights
House Parties" to unite advocates to organize for our rights in their
communities. We can find one near us to attend - or host our own - at https://votingrightshouseparty.com/.
3. Florida's felony disenfranchisement law strips more
than a million potential voters, disproportionately people of color, of their
right to cast a ballot for life. A movement led by former inmates is fighting
back, and they've got a constitutional amendment up for a vote in November (https://www.voanews.com/a/us-voter-rights/4395975.html). They're holding
national days of action May 23rd, June 23 and July 28, where they're gathering
activists in house parties to reach out to Florida voters. Let's find one near
us to participate in - or schedule our own! We can sign up here.
States
1. AK, AZ, AR, DE, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, NV, NM,
ND, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, WY: Dontia Patterson spent 11 years in prison,
convicted for a murder he did not commit. This week, the charges against him
were dropped. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/dontia-patterson-philadelphia.html Those who are wrongfully convicted and
later exonerated spend an average of 14 years in prison—time that deprives them
of the ability to build lives for themselves. Eighteen states do not have
compensation statutes to help the wrongfully convicted get back on their feet:
AK, AZ, AR, DE, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, NV, NM, ND, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, WY. https://www.innocenceproject.org/compensating-wrongly-convicted/ If we are in these states, let’s tell
our state legislators that we want them to pass compensation statutes that
conform to the recommendations of the Innocence Project. https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
2. OH, and MANY: Thinking that upgrading
technology is a good move, many states are going for touchscreen voting
machines. While it sounds good, given
what we now know about election hacking, these touchscreen-voting machines do
not offer the option of having a real, non-barcode, paper backup of votes in
case they are needed. https://medium.com/@jennycohn1/progress-states-are-replacing-unverifiable-touchscreen-voting-machines-with-unverifiable-3d77c0905cfd Let’s
check with our state election officials to make sure that our state has bonafide
paper backups regardless of the election equipment they purchase: https://www.usa.gov/election-office If
we are on Twitter, we can keep up to date on this issue of essential voting
equipment by following Jennifer Cohn: https://twitter.com/jennycohn1
3. MANY: “Thirty-one percent of
Americans, and 41 percent of millennials, believe that two million or fewer
Jews were killed in the Holocaust; the actual number is around six million.
Forty-one percent of Americans, and 66 percent of millennials, cannot say what
Auschwitz was. And 52 percent of Americans wrongly think Hitler came to power
through force.” http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/04/19/millennials-holocaust-knowledge-gap-roger-brooks Knowledge of this devastating period in the
world’s history is essential for all Americans, as well as all the world’s
citizen, to know. As of a year ago, only
eight states (New York, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, California, Rhode
Island, Michigan and Indiana) required its teaching. http://www.newsweek.com/two-new-efforts-launched-require-holocaust-education-nationwide-one-triggered-592671 If we are not in one of these states, let’s
ask our state legislators to mandate Holocaust education.
Reading/Watching
1. “Trump vs. the “Deep State”: How the
Administration’s loyalists are quietly reshaping American governance.” - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/05/21/trump-vs-the-deep-state
2. This week A U.S. district court
today ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015 wrongly
denied Endangered Species Act protection for the bi-state sage grouse,
which lives in parts of California and Nevada. The court found that the
2015 decision wrongly relied on conservation measures that were not certain to
be effective. We can read about this on-going legal battle to protect the
endangered sage grouse at The Center for Biological Diversity.
3. "If they go low, we go to the polls!"
Oprah Winfrey's commencement address to graduates of USC's Annenberg School for Communication and
Journalism:
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