Rogan's List

 9/10/18 

Contact Federal Government Officials

Find elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Fax legislators for free: 

Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

Senate: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

or use Resistbot:  https://resist.bot/

White House contact:  https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house

 

********************************

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.       This week in Congress:  Thirty-five (35) bills and resolutions are on the House schedule starting Wednesday. (Source: Majority Leader's Schedule.) Let's note that nine (9) of these are post office name changes. Let's review the other bills on the agenda so we know what's coming. The Senate starts its Tuesday, Sept. 11 session by resuming consideration of the nomination of Charles P. Rettig, of California, to be Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the term expiring November 12, 2022. Source: Senate Executive Calendar. During the 2016 campaign, Rettig defended Trump's decision to break with tradition by refusing to release his personal tax filings. We can read more at USNews. Let's tell our own Senators that we have concerns about Rettig. 

2.      The nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to fill the open seat on the Supreme Court continues to cause significant concerns due to his views on abortion and birth control, his perspective on rights for LGTBQ people and those with disabilities, and evidence that he has perjured himself in front of the Senate in prior hearings:  http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405663-kavanaugh-comes-under-new-scrutiny-over-abortion-views  and  https://www.newsweek.com/brett-kavanaugh-face-perjury-investigation-liberal-groups-tell-democrats-1112583  Rebecca Solnit shares with us a list that shows where each Senator stands.  We need specially to contact those senators ". . .  who lean toward opposing confirmation, but need to be told to stand up and stand against an extremist candidate put forward by an unindicted coconspirator in a felony who has withheld the documents the senate needs to see to make a decision based on the facts. Call them or write them, especially if they're yours."  Also included in this link are the email addresses for the key legislative aides who focus on the judiciary:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IhksP1EBXbIxirXRILNBOjTH89drJp8im3d2ELnvlSg/htmlview?sle=true#gid=1913565360 Let's start working through this list.

3.      Indivisible is organizing a phone bank to call constituents of key Senators who could oppose the Kavanaugh nomination. We can sign up here. We can also check their Save SCOTUS toolkit for a list of other things we might do.

4.      As of September 4th, there are still 416 migrant children who have not been reunified with their families. While the media cycle continues its quick pace with this administration, let's not let the momentum of this issue die down. We can continue to share the stories of these children, to help humanize them and illustrate the trauma that they are subjected to, such as this video from The Atlantic. Then, let's call our MoC to ask that they put pressure on the Trump administration, and more specifically Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, to reunify these families. We can also make sure that we've commented at the Federal Register, opposing indefinite child detention here.

5.      The Money Follows the Person (MFP) program has enabled people with disabilities to transition out of institutions, in order to live in less restrictive environments, become more independent, and integrate into their communities:   http://bit.ly/2E2h0ml http://kaiserf.am/2s7cL31 However, in 2016 the program was never renewed, and now states are set to lose federal funding for the program. Months ago, Republican and Democratic members of Congress introduced S. 2227/H.R. 5306: EMPOWER Care Act, which will reauthorize the Money Follows the Person Demonstration Program. Now, it looks like there may be some movement on this legislation in the House: https://bit.ly/2QhSUXa. Let's give our MoC a call and encourage them to support this straightforward, bipartisan bill.

6.      “Only five senators attended the testimony of a Parkland shooting survivor who spoke about her concerns about Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. In her testimony, Parkland shooting survivor Aalayah Eastmond recalled details about the deadly Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. Sens. Chuck Grassley, Sheldon Whitehouse, Cory Booker, Mike Lee and John Kennedy sat and listened to her testimony, which drew applause from those in attendance. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/07/parkland-survivor-testifies-supreme-court/1224915002/  Every senator of both parties should have been in that room listening to this young woman. Let’s remind all our Reps that these young voices count. We can send a note of thanks to those five who attended.  

7.      In its continuous search for “alternative facts,” the administration has chosen to ignore a report that concludes that refugees do not pose a major security threat. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-admin-rejected-report-showing-refugees-did-not-pose-major-n906681. Instead, immigration hard-liners have issued their own report, which experts say is based on faulty evidence. Let’s tell our MoCs that it’s time to heed the rhetoric spoken by members of both sides of the aisle at John McCain’s funeral and to stop spreading fear-mongering and racist falsehoods.   

8.     House Republicans are now looking at ways to punish members of their parties who don’t vote along party lines--perhaps because they might be listening to the concerns of their constituents instead? http://thehill.com/homenews/house/405301-republicans-mull-new-punishments-for-dissident-lawmakers  Let’s remind our MoCs right now that they work for us, not their party leaders, and they should not be instituting punishments for people who are actually mulling the issues, listening to the opinions of the people in their districts, and voting their conscience.

9.      The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reconsidering the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards (MATS) rule (https://reut.rs/2LEwFHa). The rule, implemented in 2011, reduced the emissions of mercury and other toxic substances from coal plants, as they have significant detrimental effects on health. The EPA has not submitted an official proposal on the rule yet, but we can still contact them to let them know that we do not want to see any changes to the MATS rule; coal plants should not be prioritized over our lives. Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler: Phone: (202) 564-4700 Mailing address: USEPA Headquarters William Jefferson Clinton Building 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Mail Code: 1101A Washington, DC 20460 E-mail: Wheeler.andrew@Epa.gov

10.  Responsibility for culling and producing documents for consideration of Supreme Court nominees belongs to the National Archives. In Brett Kavanaugh's case, however, and for the first time ever, a large part of that duty has been outsourced to a private attorney. That attorney is Bill Burck, a Republican insider who is also representing Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and others in Robert Mueller's ongoing investigation, the results of which could very well bring legal action against Trump to the Supreme Court.  http://www.news-herald.com/article/HR/20180902/NEWS/180909906  If putting Burck in charge of deciding which documents the Senate can see when deciding on Kavanaugh's nomination sounds like a glaring conflict of interest, let's make sure our senators know that we expect them to put a stop to this egregious example of bad process.

11.   A federal judge in Texas heard oral arguments last Wednesday for and against granting a preliminary injunction that would suspend the ACA until the it is decided whether eliminating the tax penalty for failure to have health insurance, which last year’s tax bill did, makes the entire law unconstitutional; at risk is the requirement that insurance companies sell to people with pre-existing conditions and not charge them more:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/04/644529224/whats-at-stake-in-the-latest-affordable-care-act-court-battle    We cannot lobby the court, but we can contact our MoCs and demand that Congress act to protect our health care. And we can contact the state attorneys general and the governors of the 20 states which have brought this lawsuit:  Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

12.  “The mining industry scored a major victory in Minnesota Thursday, when the federal government lifted a controversial stay on minerals exploration in national forests just outside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”  http://www.startribune.com/feds-reopen-northern-minnesota-to-mining-exploration/492609551/ and https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/09/06/boundary-waters-mining  National forests are set aside as protected areas owned by all of us through the federal government.  The classification alone defies corporate benefit.  Let’s tell our MoCs to enact legislation that keeps our national forests pristine.

 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.       With so many stories of people getting to their polling places only to be told they are not registered (when they thought they were), let’s all make sure that we are listed as registered to vote and that our polling place is where we think it is so that when the time comes, we can vote without a surprise.  Let’s check here:  https://www.vote.org/am-i-registered-to-vote/

2.      Apparently even Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s budget chief, thinks both the House and the Senate could be up for grabs in November: at an ostensibly private meeting on Saturday, he reportedly worried that Sen. Ted Cruz will lose to Democrat Beto O’Rourke in the Texas race and urged that candidates distance themselves from Trump. Other Republicans express fears that Gov. Rick Scott might not defeat Sen. Bill Nelson in Florida. 

 http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/405719-trump-adviser-says-its-possible-cruz-could-lose-senate-race or https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/us/politics/republicans-midterms-ted-cruz.html  It is up to us to take back both houses of Congress.  Send postcards at https://postcardstovoters.org; check your local ACLU to join phone or text banks or look here:

https://www.indivisible.org/phonebank/  And in November, we need to be ready to drive voters to the polls, volunteer as poll watchers, contact voters and do whatever else we can do to defeat Republican voter suppression.

3.      Postcards To Voters' volunteers are now working on Midterm Elections starting with Campaign 107: Adrienne Bell for Congress, Texas district 14. Bell is one of seven African-Americans running for Congress in Texas. Let's write 5 cards for Adrienne today. If we haven't written get out the vote postcards before, our efforts are needed! We can sign up as new volunteers here.

4.      Want to write postcards to GOTV? There are now 10 Congressional races in California, and a handful in other states, for which you can send handwritten postcards encouraging voters to elect the Democratic candidate. Tired of Nunes, McClintock, LaMalfa, Rohrbacher, Calvert and the rest of the gang? Here's your chance! Check out this resource with instructions for how to get voter addresses and voter-themed postcarding supplies: HTTPS://tinyurl.com/CA-Dem-GOTV-Postcards

Election 2018 – By State

1.       Upcoming voting dates and deadlines:

September 11	New Hampshire	Election date	Primary
September 12	Rhode Island	Election date	Primary
September 13	New York	Election date (State primary)	State Primary
September 17	Alaska	Early Voting begins	REAA
September 17	Illinois	Early Voting begins	General
September 21	Minnesota	In person absentee voting begins	General
September 21	South Dakota	In person absentee voting begins	General
September 21	Wyoming	In person absentee voting begins	General
September 22	Vermont	Early Voting begins	General

    (source:  by date:  https://goo.gl/gjFv2u   by state:  https://goo.gl/7gTzvE)

2.      NH:  New Hampshire 9/11 Primary: At a Glance

3.      RI:   Rhode Island 9/12 Primary: At a Glance

4.      NY:  New York 9/13 (State) Primary: At a Glance

Other Actions

1.       One of the most heartbreaking consequences of the family separation policy is that many parents who were separated from their children in the U.S. and who have been deported are making the painful choice of letting their children remain in our country for fear of their safety should they, too, go home.  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/migrant-families-separated-by-u-s-are-refusing-reunification-over-dangers-aclu-idUSKCN1LN2QL  Let’s open our hearts, wallets, and homes for these children by becoming aware of the foster options available for these children:  http://www.usccb.org/about/children-and-migration/foster-care/index.cfm

2.      We can help reunite immigrant families by donating air miles, hotel, and rental rewards to Immigrant Families Together. Let’s consider doing this, and also tell our friends.

3.      It is almost 60 days now that protests dubbed “The Kremlin Annex” have being held each evening from 7:30 until 9:00 in Lafayette Square across from the White House. The organizers say “we have made it our mission to protest the occupant of our White House every night, rain or shine.  We are standing up for democracy and national security, while combating Trump’s attempts to normalize his influence peddling for America’s greatest enemy.” Let’s learn more about this and how we can help:  https://www.kremlinannex.org/ and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. 

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       Today, September 10, at 2:30pm ET, “join Rock the Vote and Teaching Tolerance for a timely webinar on how you can engage your students and school community in our diverse democracy. Both organizations have created exciting new materials for teachers that will not only educate students about U.S. democracy and civics but also inspire them to become active participants. Attendees will learn about free, use-tomorrow resources and strategies to help combat polarization in the classroom and create a culture that encourages civil discourse.”  We can register here.

2.      She the People, a network to advance the political power of women of color for progressive goals, is kicking off a 3-year initiative with a summit on Thursday, September 20 in San Francisco. Registration is open to the public. Let’s go!  https://www.shethepeople.org/#summit-section

3.      On September 22 there will be a protest at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago in Florida in commemoration of the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria:   http://thehill.com/latino/401578-trumps-mar-a-lago-to-be-greeted-with-massive-protest-on-hurricane-maria-anniversary    Let’s put this on our calendars if we will be nearby.

4.      On September 22 there will be a protest at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago in Florida in commemoration of the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria:   http://thehill.com/latino/401578-trumps-mar-a-lago-to-be-greeted-with-massive-protest-on-hurricane-maria-anniversary    Let’s put this on our calendars if we will be nearby.

5.      The 2018 March for Black Women will occur in Washington, D.C. on September 29 and New York City on September 30, with sister marches all over the country.   Let’s fine more information here:   https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/march-for-black-women  and here: https://www.facebook.com/events/187741818714062/  Let’s learn how to start a sister march/townhall here:  https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/town-halls-sister-marches

States

Find elected state officials: https://openstates.org/

Reading/Watching

1.       As Months Pass in Chicago Shelters, Immigrant Children Contemplate Escape, Even Suicide - https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-immigrant-shelters-heartland-internal-documents

2.      Children still remain separated from their parents due to Trump's "zero tolerance" policy at the border, but even at the best of times, immigrants at the border are treated badly. Read and watch this excellent and compelling video story featuring prizewinning illustrator Molly Crabapple and her illustrations of families and children being processed and released from Post Isabel Detention Center in Los Fresnos, Texas. While interviewing immigrants, she also sketched them. A compelling reminder of how art can reveal our humanity better than any photo.  https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/immigration-border-crisis-molly-crabapple-713991/

3.      These are the 7 most inspiring lines from Obama's triumphant return to politics - https://www.upworthy.com/these-are-the-7-most-inspiring-lines-from-obama-s-triumphant-return-to-politics