Rogan's List

7/25/17

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1. The healthcare vote is scheduled for today at 2pm on a bill most of our senators have not seen.  Now is NOT the time to let up with our Senators. The pressure within the GOP and from the President is tremendous and we, their employers, need to be a strong counter-voice.  Let's make sure our Senators are not just voting against the bill, but also against the Motion to Proceed, which could stop the bill before a vote.  Here is where the vote seems to stand:  https://5calls.org/

2. A few weeks ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rolled out a new rule to bar the “rip-off clauses” that take away our ability to protect ourselves against abuses by big companies. Naturally, Congressional Republicans were furious, and are trying to interfere with this new protection. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wells-fargo-ceo-cfpb-arbitration-rule-well-see-action-184918660.html They could vote as soon as today to roll it back. Let’s call them and tell them we want them to let the CFPB protect our rights without their interference. We can find more info about it here.

3. Today is the FINAL day we can leave comments opposing Trump’s rollback of our national marine monuments and sanctuaries. (http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/26/trump-order-that-could-shrink-california-and-pacific-ocean-marine-sanctuaries-moves-forward/) Trump is trying to open new territory to his buddies in the oil and gas industry. We need to let him know we don’t accept it by 11:59pm EASTERN tonight. We can submit our comments here: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=NOAA-NOS-2017-0066-0001. And we can find more information and sample text at this link:  http://ecouprising.blogspot.com/2017/07/call-to-action-public-comments-for-our.html.

4. He has changed his stance on Dreamers a few times, but two months ago, Trump told the Dreamers that they should rest easy.  Now there is a bipartisan bill (S. 1615) in the Senate to protect these young people as they’d been promised.  Trump and the majority of the GOP may have to show their true colors.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/graham-tells-republicans-moment-of-reckoning-is-coming-on-dream-act/ Let's keep calling our Senators, asking them to cosponsor and support this legislation.  The Indivisible Guide has a helpful explainer on the DACA program and DREAMers, which we can use to help inform our phone calls: https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/tell-senator-defend-daca-support-durbin-graham-dream-act/

5. In a recent interview, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer mentioned that single-payer healthcare is on the table, as are other healthcare options, and the Democratic Party will consider proposing it http://abcn.ws/2tAT6cg Let's make sure Senator Schumer knows that we're ready for a universal healthcare option 322 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 /  Phone: (202) 224-6542

6. A bill that started out with good intentions would limit free speech.  Forty-five (45) Senators have signed on to Senate bill S720, the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, that would make boycotting Israel a felony.  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/israel-boycott-crime-bill-settlements-senators-support-law-a7852101.html  The Democrats who signed on are starting to re-think their position after pressure from the ACLU.  Let's encourage all of our Senators to oppose S720.  If our Senators are among the co-sponsors, let's ask them to withdraw their names.  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/720/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22s720%22%5D%7D&r=1
   
   
7. From one of our own:  I am a chemical engineer and have worked for several large companies in the chemical manufacturing industry.  The Chemical Safety Board (CSB) provides a very useful service by publicizing their findings from past incidents so that engineers can design operations that will be safer in the future.  The budget for this organization is tiny, but the Trump Administration apparently wants to eliminate it. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/opinion/a-dangerous-idea-eliminating-the-chemical-safety-board.html This is a really terrible idea and we should contact our MOCs to urge them to protect the CSB.

8. Congressmen Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Conyers (D-MI) have “reintroduced the bipartisan Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2017 (VRAA), which would fully restore and modernize the original Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 to reflect today’s societal needs and challenges.”  https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/news/press-releases/reps-sensenbrenner-and-conyers-reintroduce-bipartisan-voting-rights-amendment  There are now 71 cosponsors:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3239/cosponsors  If our rep is a co-sponsor, let’s say thank you!  If not, let’s ask why not.

9. Trump's nominees to the National Labor Relations Board: William Emanuel and Marvin Kaplan, have already passed through Senate committee. Democrats have voiced concern that the nominees are being rushed through with critical questions unanswered. A full Senate confirmation will be scheduled soon. http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/342788-trump-labor-board-nominees-advance-in-senate  Let's call our Senators to oppose Emanuel and Kaplan for Labor Relations until these questions are answered. Let's ask for another hearing. 

10. We thought the healthcare bill was a zombie, but guess what: "the wall" is apparently also among the undead. According to Gonzalo Martínez, Policy Manager at Indivisible, Speaker Paul Ryan is trying to come up with a sneaky way of funding Trump's proposed wall at the Mexico border. "When a national security funding bill is up for a vote this week (HR 3219), a 'self-executing provision' will tack on $1.6 billion in Wall funding. This means that in order to fund the military, your Representative will be forced to also support a down payment on Trump's wall." http://thehill.com/homenews/house/341527-bill-allocates-16-billion-for-trumps-border-wall Let's contact our Representatives in the House today and request more information on this backchannel provision. Let's ask whether they will put up with being bullied into funding a wall that nearly everyone agrees is useless, impracticable, and needlessly cruel.

State Actions

1. WI: Wisconsin State Representative Andre Jacque (R- De Pere) has introduced a bill, AB206, that would forbid the University of Wisconsin at Madison from teaching OB/GYN residents how to perform abortions. https://www.wpr.org/medical-groups-wisconsin-abortion-bill-would-jeopardize-doctor-training  If we are Wisconsin citizens, let's contact our own state representative to let them know that we oppose AB206.

2. CA:  California’s congressional races are pivotal to Democratic efforts to flip the House, and there are already more than 60 candidates in more than a dozen battleground districts for the 2018 election." This Article highlights some of the races and the monies raised by incumbents and challengers so far.  Some of the republican districts are flippable.  http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-house-fundraising-20170723-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter   Let's check these out and see if we can make a donation, help a campaign or spread the word on a new candidate. 

Other Actions

1. From one of our own: The Political Compass is an international online quiz, began in 2001 that shows us where our political ideologies lie within economic and social axes.  It is not party-related.  Let’s take this interesting quiz and see where we stand: https://www.politicalcompass.org/test

2. “Every year, Operation Gratitude sends 250,000+ individually-addressed care packages to Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines deployed overseas and to their children left behind.”  One of the ways we can help is to write letters to our military:  https://www.operationgratitude.com/writeletters/
   
   
3. Nury Chavarria, a mother of four who has lived and worked in the U.S. for 24 years, has sought sanctuary in a church in Connecticut.  She has never committed a crime and has regularly checked with government authorities as required.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mom-facing-deportation-24-years-us-takes-sanctuary-church/ Support for her in her community is evident:  http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-new-haven-vigil-0724-20170723-story.html Let’s send her support from us as well:  Iglesia De Dios Pentecostal Mi, 99 E Pearl St, New Haven, CT 06513  

4. In 2010, a group of Catholic nuns sent a letter to the House of Representatives to “cast a “life-affirming YES vote” on the Affordable Care Act.  It was widely attributed as crucial to the final passage of the ACA.”   Yesterday, 7,150 Catholic Sisters called on the Senate to Cast “Life-Affirming NO Vote.” https://networklobby.org/news/20170724healthcare/  Let’s thank Sr. Simone and Network here:  https://networklobby.org/news/20170724healthcare/

5. Yesterday, Trump exploited an opportunity to speak to Boy Scouts of America at their annual Jamboree into a political rally in which he blasted the media, his opponents, used inappropriate words and nuances, and during which the audience seemed to boo former President Obama.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40715185 Nothing Trump said or how he behaved echoed Boy Scout values. Since we cannot change Trump’s behavior or his inappropriate use of the opportunity to talk to the youth of our country, we can certainly let the Boy Scouts of America know that we agree with Amy Siskind who tweeted last evening, “If the Boy Scouts organization has any decency, they'll come out with a statement tonight denouncing Trump, and giving instructions for all troop leaders to speak to these boys about what they just heard and why it was wrong.”  Contact BCA by on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/theboyscoutsofamerica/ or emailing them:  myscouting@scouting.org   or tweeting them @boyscouts   or writing to them:  PO Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015-2079 In this case, phoning is not as effective.

6. "An Alabama congressman [Mo Brooks] running for Attorney General Jeff Session’s open Senate seat is facing criticism for a campaign ad that includes audio of the June shooting of a Louisiana lawmaker in a Virginia ball field. Scalise's office responded to the ad in a short statement. I guess some people have their own ideas about what’s appropriate,” said Chris Bond, spokesman for Scalise, told NBC News."  http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/rep-mo-brooks-uses-sounds-scalise-shooting-campaign-ad-n786076?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_np Let’s tell the candidate that capitalizing on fear and hatred is not an appropriate way to run a campaign.  A video version was released on the candidate's YouTube channel on Monday and he also plans to release it on TV.  Let’s contact Mo Brooks:  https://brooks.house.gov/contact-me or tweet him @mobrooksforsen

 

Petitions

1. The Houston physician and community organizer in Texas who started a group called Pantsuit Republic, is asking us, as individuals, to sign on with numerous cities and states which have already banned travel to Texas until SB4, the 'show me your papers' law is REPEALED:  https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/show-you-my-what-boycott-travel-to-texas-now

2.     Republicans in North Carolina keep looking for a way to hang on to their gerrymandered maps, even after the Supreme Court ruled that they were illegal.  Let’s join the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and show them that we are watching: https://ndrc.bsd.net/page/s/nc-commission

Marches/events to attend/organize

Reading/Watching

1. Interesting interview in the New Yorker with NYTimes reporter Maggie Haberman: http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conversation-with-maggie-haberman-trumps-favorite-foe/amp

2. A chilling look at the ICE organization, from the inside: "During the campaign, many rank-and-file agents publicly cheered Trump’s pledge to deport more immigrants, and, since Inauguration Day, the Administration has explicitly encouraged them to pursue the undocumented as aggressively as possible. 'We’re going to get sued,' the agent told me at one point. 'You have guys who are doing whatever they want in the field, going after whoever they want.'”  http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-veteran-ice-agent-disillusioned-with-the-trump-era-speaks-out  

3. How The Systemic Segregation Of Schools Is Maintained By 'Individual Choices': http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/01/16/509325266/how-the-systemic-segregation-of-schools-is-maintained-by-individual-choices

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