Rogan's List

1/11/17  To-do List                                                             

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1. Just in case you missed it Tuesday evening, here is a link to the full text and video of President Obama’s farewell speech in Chicago.  He gave us our marching orders when he said, "I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change – but in yours."     https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/10/us/politics/obama-farewell-address-speech.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

2. If you want to sign up for President Obama’s organizing group, Organizing for Action (OFA), here is where to do it:  https://www.barackobama.com/push-forward-with-ofa/

3. Trump claims only reporters care about his tax returns. However, we as citizens care as well as we would care about any incoming president.  Let’s show him that more than reporters care about his tax returns.  According to Trump.com, Trump does not receive and Is not forwarded ANY email messages, unsolicited phone or fax inquiries.  His FB page only allows comments, but he uses Twitter (his Twitter handle is @realDonaldTrump) and his snail mail address is:  Donald Trump, 721 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.  Perhaps, another postcard avalanche with the words:  We want to see your tax returns!”

4. Call your legislators and demand a full independent commission investigation into Trump ties to Russia and possible Trump campaign election collusion.  Find your legislators here: http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page

5. Most of Trump’s cabinet picks seem to agree that climate change is not a real threat to the planet.  Senators need to know that we feel otherwise and need a government   the Natural Resources Defense Council wants to help us oppose to Trump’s anti-environment cabinet nominees.   https://secure.nrdconline.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4143

6. Stand against Trump and his anti-women agenda:  http://petitions.signforgood.com/standupforwomen

7. The House has already passed the REINS Act and the Midnight Rules Relief Act, but still to come is the Regulatory Accountability Act (H.R. 5) which will likely be voted on this week.  These are all part of the Republican deregulation efforts.  The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, National Consumer Law Center, Public Citizen, along with many other consumer protection watchdogs, are against this.  All three bills would leave tens of millions of Americans vulnerable to job losses, wage cuts, workplace and environmental disasters, and more. Eviscerating our system of public protections would allow giant corporations to devastate entire communities and get away with it.  REINS and Midnight Rules have already passed in the House of Representatives. But we can still stop the RAA, and block all three bills in the Senate.  Let’s keep trying to save our regulatory system:  http://action.citizen.org/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13379

8. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) , and Sen. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) need our thanks, admiration, and support for testifying against Sessions in the Attorney General hearing.  They spoke for so many of us and  for our vision of America.  Find them here: http://act.commoncause.org/site/PageServer?pagename=sunlight_advocacy_list_page

9. The DeVos hearing has now been to January 17. Please use this time to keep calling and emailing your US Senators. You can also help by acting on this message from committee member Sen. Murray, who wrote in a recent email, “I consider one of my jobs to be making sure the voices of parents and teachers get heard loud and clear. But I need your help. Tell Sen. Murray your story on the value of public education:  http://www.pattymurray.com/act/dv-share-your-story

10. While not a new petition, given recent information, it might be best to sign this MoveOn.org one asking Rep. Chaffetz (R-UT), House Oversight Committee Chairman, to investigate Trump’s conflicts of interest.  http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/rep-jason-chaffetz-probe

11. Call your senators and the members of Senate Foreign Relations Committee to tell them that not only is Tillerson completely unqualified for the position, with no foreign policy or senior military experience, but he has a history of cutting business deals that run directly counter to U.S. interests in countries like Chad and Iraq.  With Tillerson at the helm, ExxonMobil even did business with Syria, Sudan, and Iran while those countries were under U.S. sanctions. Tell your Senator that we deserve a Secretary of State we can trust to put America’s interests—and not his business’—first. If that weren’t bad enough, Tillerson has had a disturbingly cozy relationship with Vladimir Putin for going on two decades now—a relationship that seems even more unsettling in light of Russia’s alleged involvement in our election and the emerging allegations of the President-elect’s own ties to the country. We need a Secretary of State who will stand up to foreign dictators, not befriend and enrich them.  Find members of the committee here:  https://www.foreign.senate.gov/about/committee-membership  and your own senators here:  http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

12. Want a crash-course/refresher in American civics? Join iCivics. It's a FREE set of online courses about the practical workings of government. We can all use these tools to become stronger.  https://www.icivics.org/

13. Ben Carson’s nomination hearing is on Thursday, January 12. He has NO HOUSING POLICY EXPERIENCE. Full stop. On Nov 15, he issued a public statement in that he wasn't qualified to lead a government office because of his complete lack of experience. Now he has done an about-face. One of the few public statements he has ever made about public policy has compared housing regulation to communism. He would be the head of an organization of 8,000 employees, and an office that is responsible for 5 million people who need assistance avoiding foreclosure and finding affordable housing.  His hearing for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is tomorrow. Call to oppose him, and offer questions to your members of the committee that you'd like them to ask him.  Use this link to contact members of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee:  http://www.banking.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/membership  Make sure you own senators know how you feel as well:  http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

14. This is a good blog entry if you want to learn more about using hashtags in social media:  https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/hashtags-twitter-facebook-instagram#sm.0001t8cehpvkne8nscz22qdjk2xz6

15. Tell Your Senators: Oppose Andrew Pudzer for Labor Secretary, because 1) Puzder has made his fortune on the backs of low-wage workers, 2) He doesn’t believe in the federal minimum wage and has threatened to replace his fast-food chain’s employees with robots if the minimum wage rises high enough, 3) He is opposed to the new overtime rule that would give millions of workers the right to reasonable work hours or to receive the overtime pay they deserve, and 4) His fast-food chain has a long history of wage theft—cheating workers until it gets caught by state or federal investigators or gets sued by employees.  Find your senators here:  http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/