Contact Federal Government Officials
Fax legislators
for free:
Or use StampsLicked to have
messages hand-delivered to our own legislators:
https://stampslicked.org/
1. Last week a Coast Guard
lieutenant, Christopher Paul Hasson, was arrested after planning extensive acts
of domestic terrorism against media, Democratic politicians, and against the
public at great scale: https://www.apnews.com/e919eb94af514cfc9a43982fc7e2e617 Hasson is a white supremacist. Let’s let
our MoCs know that Trump’s white supremacist views and anti-press sentiments are
not harmless and add fuel to these fires.
2. Representative Joaquin Castro
(D-TX-20) is expected to introduce a resolution today, with the support of over
100 democrats, opposing Trump's national emergency declaration: https://politi.co/2tt2ImQ, https://wapo.st/2Tac05F If a
veto-proof majority passes the resolution in both the House and Senate, the
state of emergency will be terminated. While this is not very likely, it is
still possible, and we can at the very least get our MoC on the record with a
vote. Let's contact all three of our MoC and tell them that we want them to
vote in favor of a resolution opposing Trump's national emergency.
3. Last week, the Department of
Health and Human Services, in response to a lawsuit brought about by the ACLU,
claimed that it was too hard to reunite missing migrant children with their
families, https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/govt-response-declaration-2. Meanwhile, investigations have uncovered several
of these missing children at risk of being illegally adopted.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/deported-parents-may-lose-kids-adoption-investigation-finds-n918261. Let’s contact our MoCs and the Department of
Health and Human Services (1-202-205-5445; https://www.facebook.com/HHS/; Twitter: @HHS.gov) and demand that these children
be united with their parents.
4. “A wide-ranging
disinformation campaign aimed at Democratic 2020 candidates is already underway
on social media, with signs that foreign state actors are driving at least some
of the activity.” https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/20/2020-candidates-social-media-attack-1176018 Given what
we now know about foreign meddling in our past elections, let’s ask our MoCs
what they are doing to protect us from this continuing attack on our democratic
process.
5. On Wednesday the New York Times reported that Trump asked Acting Attorney General Matthew
Whitaker to reappoint prosecutor Geoffrey Berman, a Trump ally, who recused
himself from the case involving Trump’s role in the allegedly illegal cash
payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and playboy model Karen MacDougal, in
order to buy their silence about their affairs with Trump. https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/430611-trump-wanted-top-ally-in-charge-of-cohen-probe-report. Let’s tell our MoCs that this is another one of
many clearly cut cases of Trump obstruction of justice, and a reason for Congress
do their Constitutional duty and begin impeachment proceedings.
6. The report from special
prosecutor Robert Mueller is expected to be delivered to the Department of
Justice very soon, possibly as early as next week. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/us/politics/mueller-report-ending.html. Attorney
General William Barr has not committed to making the report public, or even
available to members of Congress. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Chuck Grassley
(R-IA) introduced legislation which would make require the report to go to
Congress, https://www.apnews.com/1045f256ef04413a80957137e6b17c36, but Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell,
refused to hold a vote. Now, Democrats are planning to subpoena the report if
it is not shared with Congress. Let’s tell our MoCs and the Department of
Justice (202-353-1555; 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC, 20530-0001; website form; Facebook; Twitter: @TheJustice Dept.)that we believe in
transparency and democracy and we want the full report to be public, and let’s
encourage our Democratic MoCs to pursue the subpoena if they can’t get the
report any other way.
7. While the government shutdown
ended and most government workers have been paid, government contractors who
continued work during that time still have not been paid. Let’s learn more about this and what we can
do: https://politicalcharge.org/2019/02/20/a-shutdown-problem-that-still-needs-fixing/
8.
In remembrance of Japanese
Americans who were held in U.S. internment camps during World War II, Senators
Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono, and Representative Mark Takano have
reintroduced the Korematsu-Takai Civil Liberties Protection Act (S.505/H.R.1288), prohibiting the imprisonment
of American citizens based solely on race, religion,
nationality, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability
(https://cnn.it/2E1hXbt, https://bit.ly/2Iuu9Hf). The bills were first introduced last year but
stalled in committee. Recognizing the current administration's propensity
towards bigotry, bills like this are essential in order to protect human
rights. Let's contact our MoC in the House and Senate and ask them to support
this legislation.
9. The Presidential Committee on
Climate Security is supposed to hold its first meeting today, headed by William
Happer, a retired Princeton physicist and vocal climate change denier who
joined the National Security Council (NSC) as Trump’s adviser last September;
it is not clear who else will be on this panel. Happer became notorious
when, in 2015, he claimed that “More CO2 will benefit the world. The only way
to limit CO2 would be to stop using fossil fuels, which I think would be a
profoundly immoral and irrational policy.” The object of this panel is to
challenge the various climate studies and defense reports released recently by
the UN and the US government, including those released under Trump; these
various reports are detailed in the NYT coverage:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/climate/climate-national-security-threat.html The NSC document about this panel asserts,
contrary to all evidence, that “these scientific and national security
judgments have not undergone a rigorous independent and adversarial scientific
peer review. . . .”: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/430788-new-white-house-national-security-climate-panel-to-include-climate No doubt, partly a retort to the increasing
popularity of a Green New Deal, we must vehemently protest Happer’s
appointment-- to the White House and to the NSC (202-456-1414 or Eisenhower
Exec. Off. Bld., Washington DC 20504)—quickly, before this committee gains
any Congressional foothold.
10. Under the Trump regime a green card is no defense
against deportation, so 750,793 people have applied for citizenship (as of last
June); the rate at which these citizenship applications are being processed is
the lowest in a decade.
On top of the $725 immigrants
must pay to apply for citizenship, the wait for naturalization is now twice
what it was two years ago, ranging from ten months to 31 months in some
places:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/21/us/immigrant-citizenship-naturalization.html There is no increase in applications,
according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association:
http://www.tribtown.com/2019/01/30/us-immigration-delays/; the lawyers claim that the Citizenship &
Immigration Services has become “a third immigration enforcement component of
DHS.” One effect of these delays--one that has surely not escaped
Trump--is that immigrants who are kept from becoming citizens cannot vote in
2020. We should remind the USCIS—funded by application filing fees—that
they are meant to serve immigrant applicants not Trump’s Homeland Security:
USCIS 800-375-5283.
11.
House lawmakers introduced a
bipartisan bill last week that would make court records free to the public. The
reintroduced bill, HR1164, the Electronic Court Records Reform Act,
would make federal court records – now 10 cents per page – free of charge
online via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, known as
PACER. We can read more at The Hill. Let's contact our representatives to let them know
we support HR1164.
12. “Months after the Trump administration announced an
end to its widescale separation of migrant parents and children, the policy
remains a heated issue in the courts and at the border as critics contend the
government is still needlessly breaking up immigrant families. The Texas Civil
Rights Project released a report Thursday that counts 272 separations at a
single Texas courthouse since June, when President Donald Trump issued an
executive order ending widespread separations amid public outrage. The bulk of those
cases involve children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border with relatives other
than their parents, such as grandparents, uncles and aunts, or adult siblings.” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/advocates-say-u-s-still-separates-migrant-families-needlessly Taking
children away from any family members is disgusting and dangerous. The
administration is still separating them using the fact that they arrive without
a parent, even if they are with a legal guardian. This needs to
stop. Let’s ask our MoCs to pressure the WH to stop this tactic.
Election/Voting
1. Postcards to Voters needs our
help! Enthusiasm for writing postcards is down since the Midterms and we are
trying to reach every Wisconsin Democrat with Campaign 146: Judge Lisa Neubauer for WI State Supreme Court. The election is
scheduled for Tuesday, April 2. Let's request 5 addresses today, let our
friends and family know about this opportunity, and, if we were thinking about
having a postcarding party or get-together, let's plan one to write for Judge
Lisa. If we are new volunteers, we can start here.
2. Congratulations! Dr. Ibraheem
Samirah won his election for Virginia Delegate (D86) with nearly 60% of the
vote on Tuesday. More at Loudoun Times-Mirror. Postcards To Voters' volunteers helped get out the
vote for this special election with Campaign 144. Our thanks to everyone who wrote.
Other Actions
1. Foreign actors like Russia
and China used social media to dupe many of us in the 2016 election, and 2020
is looking like more of the same. As politically engaged citizens we need to
choose our information carefully, since propaganda/misinformation on Twitter/Facebook/etc.
spreads to other media outlets, and even reaches into our private conversations
with family and friends. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/20/2020-candidates-social-media-attack-1176018 When
evaluating candidates, let's always check their stated platforms/positions
at the source (usually their campaign websites) and their voting records: https://votesmart.org/
2. Many of us are probably
familiar with Flippable.org, which focuses on "flipping—or shifting the
balance in—chambers in states with a history of unfair elections and a
demonstrated effect on national politics." But we may not have heard about
their blog! This welcome addition to their repertoire informs us about what
they're up to and explains various issues as they manifest on the state level.
Check out https://blog.flippable.org for articles like "Who's schooling who?
How lawmakers are shaping the state of education" or "Will your state
see fair maps?"
3. Curtis Gatewood, president of
the NAACP of Alamance County, NC, was arrested on Monday, February 18, 2019, at
a meeting of the Alamance County Board of Commissioners, when he overran his
allotted 3-minutes for public comments and refused to step down. His act of
non-violent civil disobedience involved speaking out against the commissioner’s
vote to allow local law enforcement to hold detainees for ICE. https://www.thetimesnews.com/news/20190218/alamance-naacp-president-arrested-at-county-commissioners-meeting Let’s (1) protest his arrest by contacting the
Alamance County Board of Commissioners, https://www.alamance-nc.com/commissioners/commissioner-contact/ and (2) if we are able, donating to the
NAACP, https://www.naacp.org/donate/
4. “It’s a situation being
replicated across the US as cities struggle to adapt to a recent ban by China on the import of items intended for reuse. The
loss of this overseas dumping ground means that plastics, paper and glass set
aside for recycling by Americans is being stuffed into domestic landfills or is
simply burned in vast volumes. This new reality risks an increase of plumes of
toxic pollution that threaten the largely black and Latino communities who live near heavy industry
and dumping sites in the US. The
huge
Covanta incinerator just outside Philadelphia, located in Chester
City, Pennsylvania, is sent about 200 tons of recycling material every day
since China’s import ban came into practice last year, the company says.”
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/21/philadelphia-covanta-incinerator-recyclables-china-ban-imports
China has set new restrictions on what
recyclable materials they will accept. We need to encourage our local, state
and government representatives to find solutions to this problem. All of us
need to reduce our personal use of plastics and packaging.
5. If we are a student filmmaker
between the ages of 14-22, or know someone who is, we can check out this March
for Our Lives – Long Island Video Public Service Announcement contest. When we send in a 1-minute long PSA video to marchforourlivesli@gmail.com we have a chance to win a $100 prize and
get our video reposted on March for Our Lives National social media accounts.
We can check out this tweet for more details:
https://mobile.twitter.com/mfolLongIsland/status/1097894597282410498
6. From one of our own: A few weeks ago, I floated the idea of
creating my own 2020 Democratic Nominee Power Rankings. There was some
interest, so I did it. Polling data is
sparse right now. I'm currently using national and Iowa aggregates from Real
Clear Politics. For right now I'll just update those numbers and add as new
numbers are available out of NH, SC and eventually other states. I'm only
including candidates with at least an exploratory committee. I'll update this weekly. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mjjs91bf2Q0lnQmtpKiaSCVgviq4Hs5xdQs4umLu_Is/edit#gid=1699220179
7. #VOTEPROCHOICE is already hard at work researching and endorsing
prochoice champion candidates at both the local and state legislative levels
from Chicago to Mississippi to South Dakota and almost everywhere in between. They are looking to identify pro-choice 2019
candidates in these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Missouri, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. If we know of any, let’s ask them to apply directly here - http://bit.ly/vpc-app
State Actions
1. CO: On
Tuesday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed HB 1129, legislation to protect LGBTQ youth from the
dangerous and discredited practice of so-called “conversion therapy.” Last
Friday, the Colorado House passed HB 1039, legislation that would allow transgender
Coloradans to update the gender marker on their birth certificate without
restrictive and unnecessary surgical requirements. Let's read more about these
bills at HRC.org. Both bills now head to the Colorado Senate
for consideration. Let's contact our CO State Senators to encourage them to support these important
human rights bills.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize
1. Today, February 22, from
9:00 AM to 2:30 PM (EST) DemLabs is holding a Digital Storytelling workshop in
Washington, D.C. Experts will review their storytelling projects and the
apps used to create them. The workshop
is free, but space is limited. RSVP here.
2. On February 26, from
5-7PM (PST) Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) is offering a webinar on
“Understanding Antisemitism and its Intersections with White Supremacy &
White Nationalism”. This webinar is aimed at strengthening our collective
movements for liberation. Our goals are: 1) to enable people to recognize anti-Semitism
2) learn how antisemitism intersects with white supremacy and white nationalism
3) develop a shared commitment to ending anti-Semitism alongside all
oppressions. We can find more info
here: https://www.facebook.com/events/280149326014879 and register here:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GfSJz_tbTqyVqXn7RNkAFw
3. If we are elected women or
self-identifying women activists, we can check out the free Power Through
Education webinar series, presented by Rep19 and Vote Run Lead. Organizers inform us that presenters will include,
“our country’s top thought leaders, elected officials and political experts.”
We can for as many webinars as you would like. but some webinars are limited
exclusively to elected women. All webinars will be at noon EST / 9am PST,
starting on March 6. Information will be sent out prior to the event. We
can find out more and register here. https://rep19.com/events
4. On March 15 there will
be Youth Climate Strikes all over the world.
Let’s keep an eye on this site for updates of where and when we can
attend and help: https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org/
Reading/Watching
1. How to increase voter turnout in 15 minutes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxijOJtNqsY&feature=youtu.be
2. Why Are People So Unwilling to Do What Is Proven
Effective for Protecting Unborn Life? - https://www.patheos.com/blogs/suspendedinherjar/2019/02/why-wont-people-do-whats-effective/
3. How the US has hidden its empire - https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/15/the-us-hidden-empire-overseas-territories-united-states-guam-puerto-rico-american-samoa
4. Troops do not view
immigration as a ‘national emergency.’ Not even close - https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/02/15/troops-do-not-view-immigration-as-a-national-emergency-not-even-close/
5. North Carolina Is Getting A
Do-Over Election - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/north-carolina-is-getting-a-do-over-election/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.