Rogan's List

6/24/17

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If your senators and reps aren't saved in your phone yet,

text your US postal address to (520) 200-2223 and get a text back with your

STATE & FEDERAL legislative rep phone numbers.

1. The Senate rolled out its latest assault on our health care on Thursday, and it is a disaster http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/22/gop-health-care-bill-key-points-239858. It's going to stop millions of people from being able to afford insurance and dramatically cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Many of us live in states with two Democratic senators (and others have already called our Republican senators so many times they recognize our numbers!), so here are a list of actions we can take to move Republican votes from blue states (and red ones, too): https://docs.google.com/document/d/19kqrh5SFq3N_L1b9-8ddeid8ddKxPGSETRIhwTqWQAw/edit?usp=sharing
   
   
2. You may remember the site Stamps Licked that prints and sends postcards to Congress on progressive issues?  It is now HAND-DELIVERING cards to Senators in partnership with Herd on the Hill.  Let’s use this great service:  https://stampslicked.org/

3. Meanwhile, the Russian hacking of our election is deeper than thought and Trump said there are no tapes of his conversations with Comey. This could deepen the obstruction of justice issues if he was using the specter of tapes to threaten Comey. And guess what, Trump wants to soften the sanctions against Russia!  http://amp.timeinc.net/time/4828306/russian-hacking-election-widespread-private-data/?source=dam and https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2017-06-22/trump-said-to-not-have-recordings-of-conversations-with-comey and http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/338933-white-house-pressuring-house-gop-to-weaken-russia-sanctions-bill  While you are contacting your Senators about health care, please mention your concern about Russian hacking and Trump’s willingness to go soft on Russia.

4. Trump is holding a campaign fundraiser at a Trump hotel and Obama’s lead ethics attorney Norman Eisen has said that the Trump is “becoming more and more brazen in his efforts to monetize the presidency.” https://apnews.com/403df3f1298a46d2b00d38789d32d80c/Trump-using-Trump-hotel-to-hold-Trump-re-election-fundraiser Please write to the Office of Government Ethics to express your concerns: https://www.oge.gov/web/oge.nsf/Organization/Contact%20Us?opendocument

5. Migrant Justice's march to Ben & Jerry's Vermont facility to demand that the company join the Milk With Dignity program as promised, was a success; Ben & Jerry's CEO Jostein Solheim stated that they are "ready to go." http://bit.ly/2sYtrZv However, two of the farm workers who led the march were arrested and detained on their way home, then turned over to ICE http://bit.ly/2tWcNqL Let's ask that ICE use their discretion, and release Esau and Yesenia: http://bit.ly/2t2vv34 We can also send a Letter of Support, using the format and guidelines offered by Migrant Justice: http://bit.ly/2tBCXQd

6. The Senate healthcare proposal continues the attack on Planned Parenthood http://bit.ly/2rVFlnN Planned Parenthood provides medical care for those most in need, yet the GOP bill would strip Medicaid reimbursements from the organization for a full year. Let's call our Senators and let them know that we will continue to oppose any legislation that attempts to defund Planned Parenthood. Those of us who prefer call scripts modify the one offered at 5calls: https://5calls.org/issue/recDhWOMQEoPN6mlr  

7. Thanks to the response of tens of thousands of concerned citizens, the Department of Health and Human Services will no longer be removing a question from a federal survey regarding LGB older adults who participate in programs funded by the Older Americans Act  http://read.bi/2tCismy Still, the follow-up question regarding transgender seniors is set to be removed. Let's give the Department of Health and Human Services a call and let them know that we do not want them to erase our transgender community 1-877-696-6775 (press 5)

8. The New England Coral Canyon's National Monument is now under review by Ryan Zinke's Interior department.  https://www.ecowatch.com/zinke-coral-canyons-2445601093.html  Let's tell the Ryan Zinke and the Interior Department we want to keep this monument, and all the others under question, as is. They are irreplaceable national treatures. Ryan Zinke, US Dept of Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington DC 20240

9. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has selected a CEO of a for-profit lender to run the student loan system.  This information was absent from the release about A. Wayne Johnson.  http://thehill.com/homenews/news/338737-devos-picks-ceo-of-for-profit-lender-to-run-federal-student-loan-system Let’s let DeVos know that this is unacceptable; like putting the fox in charge of the hen house:  https://www2.ed.gov/about/contacts/gen/index.html?src=ft 

10. In a controversial decision, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has delisted the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear from the Endangered Species Act opening these bears up to trophy hunting. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/22/533965856/after-42-years-yellowstone-grizzly-will-be-taken-off-endangered-species-list  We can use the Sierra Club's tool to send a note to Ryan Zinke and the Dept. of Interior: https://goo.gl/USQbVQ  This decision reverts control of the Yellowstone Grizzlies to the states in which they reside: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.  If we are in these states, let's ask our state legislators and governors to protect the Yellowstone Grizzly Bear.

11. Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions may be demanding a return to the most destructive policies of the failed War on Crime, but there's still a bipartisan majority in Congress in favor of effective criminal justice reform, and we need to show them we still want them working together for change. Senators from both parties have come together to introduce the Fair Chance Act, which would bar federal employers and contractors from asking applicants about their criminal history until the final stage of the process. This will help make sure the formerly incarcerated get a fair shake at finding employment. (http://www.philly.com/philly/business/labor_and_unions/Booker-Republicans-introduce-federal-ban-the-box-legislation.html) Let's join our Action Alliance partners at 5 Calls and urge our senators to help move this bill forward:  https://5calls.org/issue/recGvA40wQuE7Irp4

12. We know that neither scientific expertise nor ethics matter to Trump and his minions, but it’s apparently time, again, to let Scott Pruitt know that both matter to us. The head of the EPA this week dismissed nearly all of the members of the Board of Scientific Counselors, a body charged with reviewing and advising EPA research departments on their scientific methodology: http://billmoyers.com/story/trump-epa-dismisses-people-charge-scientific-integrity/  As has been the case with the ACA, Trump and his appointees continue to sabotage the programs or agencies they can’t outright abolish.  Pruitt’s EPA phone number is 202-564-4700.

State-level actions

1. We really need to direct more attention toward what's happening at the state level, where lobbyists for powerful business interests are also trying to push legislation to avoid regulation and corporate taxation.  "[A]s a growing number of cities consider and increasingly pass soda taxes and other measures designed to combat obesity and promote healthy eating, the food industry has turned to a strategy used extensively by the tobacco and gun lobbies. The strategy, known as preemption, uses state laws to take away the right of cities to enact various kinds of regulations, reserving that power to the state." https://www.forbes.com/sites/robwaters/2017/06/21/soda-and-fast-food-lobbyists-push-state-preemption-laws-to-prevent-local-regulation/2/#144171ee9ed3 The result is sneaky state laws that *prevent* local government/cities from enacting their own laws to protect citizens, for example by requiring display of nutrition information, or even establishing their own minimum wage rules. We can tune into activist groups like https://grassrootschange.net/ to get on top of what's happening in our own state around the preemption issue, and what to do about it.

2. Here’s an opportunity to help another Congressional district turn blue! “Oklahoma's 75th House District was re-opened after the Republican who won in November's election was forced to resign in the wake of a personal scandal.  Karen Gaddis was the Democrat on the ballot then and she's back campaigning hard for the Special Election July 11th.”   Let’s help by postcarding!  Details here: http://mailchi.mp/ind-d6/postcards-to-oklahoma-voters-ok

Other Actions

1. The Trump administration’s slide towards a dystopian relationship with the press is going further down by the day: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/06/22/white_house_press_conference_no_camera_notice_is_not_reportable_white_house.html  Let’s ask the White House Correspondents’ Association to not show up for these games:  http://www.whca.net/contact.htm

2. If we're going to fight against Trump's deportation machine and for the comprehensive immigration reform we need, we're all going to need to work together. Our Action Alliance partner Wall-of-Us is joining forces with other organizations to build a map of local immigration advocacy groups to make it easier for people to get involved and coordinate. If you know about a local group that serves immigrants, you can add to their map here: https://ragtag.org/wall-of-us/map.

3. We can all partake in a Twitter Storm, hosted by Action Together Network, about healthcare on Sunday evening from 8-10pm. Details and a link to the tweetsheet can be found here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1092893884143514/

4. For those of us who run #resistance Facebook groups, some new tools have just been issued for our use.  Let’s try them out:  https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/22/facebook-group-admin-tools/

5. Arnold Schwarzenegger has partnered with Common Cause to fundraise for a top-notch legal team for the Supreme Court gerrymandering case coming out of Wisconsin.  He has started a crowdfunding effort and will match all donations.  We can find more information about this and donate here:  https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/207023/this-is-our-chance-to-make-gerrymandering-unconstitutional

Petitions

1. Sen. Mc Caskill (D-MO) wants to know if we approve of Trumpcare.  Let’s tell her:  http://action.clairemccaskill.com/p/dia/action4/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=10523

2. Sen. Stabenow (D-MI) wants us to add our names to her petition against the GOP healthcare plan:  https://stabenow.bsd.net/page/s/Vote-No-On-Trumpcare

Marches/events to attend/organize

1. June is Immigrant Heritage Month.  Let’s find an event we can join in or create one ourselves:  https://www.iamanimmigrant.com/events/

Learning

1. This is what leadership looks like.  We do more than watch out for our own self-interests.  Thank you, President Obama:  https://m.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10154996557026749 

2. Here’s our weekly update on the United States of Resistance from RISE Stronger:  https://www.risestronger.org/newsroom/itsgotimeprotectourcare

3. And, our weekly dose of “Small Victories”:  http://www.peaceisloud.org/blog/small-victories-issue-25

Rogan’s List is a participant in and strategic partner of the Action Alliance,

         a loosely-federated group of organizations that, in the wake of the

2016 election, are sharing daily or weekly calls to action.

Other member sites are listed here: https://www.actionalliance.co/  --scroll down and click through and you'll find many more opportunities to make a difference.

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Rogan’s List is also part of RISE Stronger’s United States of Resistance

https://risestronger.org/resist