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7/6/17

Contact Federal Government Officials

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Find senators Twitter and Facebook Accounts here:
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Find representatives on Twitter here:
https://twitter.com/cspan/lists/u-s-representatives/members?lang=en

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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. Sit-ins are planned at Senate offices nationwide today to help stop the healthcare bill.  We can learn more and sign up here:  https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-to-sit-in 

  1. Hats off to all who found their MoCs over the 4th of July to protest, say thanks, or engage about the health care bill. Senator Collins of Maine said she heard from many constituents who appreciate her stance against the BCRA.  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/340637-constituents-lobby-gop-senators-on-healthcare-at-july-4th  Now is the time to keep the pressure up with our MoCsto make sure that a stack of back-room deals does not add up to passage:  http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/340571-pressure-on-mcconnell-to-deliver-obamacare-repeal  We can submit our comments and, better still, our personal stories here:  https://act.credoaction.com/sign/trumpcare_public_comments?t=2&akid=23918.2606437.0YQ2Kn

  1. Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins (remember him? A month ago he said, “…kill them. Kill them all” re: radical Islamists) blew right past the “silence” sign at Auschwitz and filmed a 5 minute video INSIDE a gas chamber in which he said things like the US military “must be invincible”: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/auschwitz-memorial-condemns-rep-clay-higgins-gas-chamber/story?id=48442634  This has been condemned by Auschwitz. Let’s let Higgins know what we think of this type of disrespect: https://clayhiggins.house.gov/contact or 1711 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515

  1. We the people, as taxpayers, pay Trump’s social media director (and former golf caddie) Dan Scavino a salary of $179,700 per year:  http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/30/trump-white-house-salaries-240149  As you think about Trump’s tweets over the past week, please take a moment to let Mr. Scavino what you think about paying his salary: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500

  1. We're coming to end of the public comment period on Trump and Ryan Zinke's unprecedented review of our national monuments. They're talking about rolling back these designations and putting these shared spaces in jeopardy. (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/28/525883061/photos-see-the-sweeping-american-landscapes-under-review-by-trump) Let's make sure the Interior Department hears from us before July 10th. We can find tips and a way to submit here: http://blog.rei.com/stewardship/protect-public-lands/.​

  1. Senators McCain, Warren, and Graham spent the 4th of July in Afghanistan and have sounded the alarm about the vacuum of embassy and state department vacancies there:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/04/world/asia/senators-afghanistan-embassy.html?_r=0  And Sen. Graham said of our Secretary of State: “Secretary Tillerson needs to come to Afghanistan quickly.” Let’s echo this important diplomatic concern to Tillerson: U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

  1. As North Korea deploys its first intercontinental missile (and Trump responds by threatening a military response); as John McCain and Lindsay Graham urge the danger of leaving Afghanistan without a US ambassador (even as Trump increases American troop strength there); as the position of special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan is scrapped, Yemen falls into chaos, and Qatar faces off with Trump’s pals in Saudi Arabia;  as Trump, agenda-less by his own account, sets off for the G20 meetings and a meeting with Putin, Rex Tillerson, at Trump’s urging, plans to reduce the State Department diplomatic staff by 2300 jobs and whittle its budget:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/04/world/asia/senators-afghanistan-embassy.html  We need to let Tillerson know that we believe in diplomacy, not war—or disarray: State Dept, 202-647-4000

  1. It is past time for Trump to speak out against the violence taking place against the LGBTQ community of Chechnya http://bit.ly/2oDwG6m With a planned visit for this Friday between Putin and Trump, let's make sure Trump knows that we expect him to call on Russia to stop these atrocities. The Human Rights Campaign has a letter we can personalize and send: https://act.hrc.org/page/7991/action/1 For more ideas on how we can help Chechens, we can check out this Slate article: http://slate.me/2orxJDD

  1. The House Judiciary Committee has passed the deceptively-titled Protection of Children Act of 2017 (H.R. 495); a bill which would eliminate protections for unaccompanied children who illegally enter the United States http://bit.ly/2u9fJA7 If Congress would like to protect children, they can reauthorize the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, rather than punishing and endangering minors. Let's make sure our Representatives oppose H.R. 495 https://5calls.org/issue/recIEVWjOHwMCkejH

  1. Let's support the bipartisan Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act.  http://www.laweekly.com/news/shark-fin-soup-could-be-banned-in-the-us-through-proposed-legislation-8248185  House bill HR1456 now has 137 co-sponsors (84 D, 48 R) https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1456/cosponsors Senate bill S793 has 10 cosponsors (5 D, 5 R). https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/793/cosponsors?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22s793%22%5D%7D&r=1  Let's ask our MoC's to support these bills.

  1. "New Mexico’s Hunger-Free Students’ Bill of Rights Act was ushered through the Statehouse by Democratic Sen. Michael Padilla, who was raised in foster homes and vividly recalls having to sweep and mop the lunchroom to earn meals at an Albuquerque public school.  “It’s shouldn’t be that way,” Padilla said. “This should not have to be a thought for a child.”  “The piece that is really different in this legislation is that you cannot turn a child away no matter what they owe,” said Nancy Cathey, who oversees food services at Las Cruces Public Schools."  http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/u-s-schools-rethink-lunch-shaming-policies-humiliate-children-meal-debts/ Every state should be feeding hungry children at school. No child should be denied or shamed because their family can't pay a school lunch bill.  Learning and improvement can't happen when you are hungry. It benefits all of us when we feed and educate our children. Let's tell the US Department of Agriculture to require nutritional meals for all students while payment issues are worked out. Embarrassing children with a hand stamp and not feeding them the proper foods impairs learning. Contact info here:  https://www.usda.gov/contact-us

State-level actions


  1. If we live in Florida, Idaho, Maine, Nebraska, New Jersey or Wyoming? If so, our state is one of the few that has not responded or not decided yet about the data request from the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Arkansas, Hawaii, and South Carolina say that they did not receive the letter but they can still respond to the premise: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/state-responded-trumps-voter-data-request/story?id=48437423  Let’s be in touch with our Secretary of State to ask for his/her refusal to comply: https://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/contact-sos/

  1. ALL:  The more we learn about the Russian attempts to infiltrate our election systems, the more frightening it gets… and the clearer it becomes that we need to be preparing to protect ourselves for future elections. (http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/21/politics/russia-hacking-hearing-states-targeted/index.html) This infrastructure is managed by the states. So let’s use this spreadsheet from the Lift Every Vote team and this contact info list from Rock the Vote to contact our state election officials and ask what they’re doing to secure us against future attacks, and to coordinate with other states to make sure we’re all doing as much as possible.

Other Actions


  1. On July 4, NPR traditionally reads the Declaration of Independence on air. This year, they also tweeted the document 140 characters at a time.  Many people were outraged, not realizing what it was and thinking it was an attack on Trump.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/05/declaration-independence-tweets-confuse-donald-trump-supporters/ Let’s thank NPR for reminding us of our country’s rebellious beginning:  1111 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002.  If we can, let’s donate to NPR for its fine work everyday.

  1. It looks like Lean In, a non-profit organization which focuses on empowering women, has not yet blocked their advertising from Breitbart. Sleeping Giants is asking that we bring this to their attention so they can pull their advertising ASAP. We can do this by following the instructions on Sleeping Giants' post: http://bit.ly/2tMzD7o or by sending an e-mail to Lean In's Head of Marketing. Katie Miserany: katie@leanin.org

  1. Stephen Colbert tweeted a selfie with the historic home of Carl Sandburg in the background. “He then asked his followers to share their own photos from the holiday weekend in order to celebrate "American greatness."” http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-colbert-american-greatness-photos-twitter-fourth-of-july-2017-7  Let’s join in by posting our own pictures on Twitter with the hashtage #AmericanGreatness. 

  1. The Afghan girls' robotics' team that was denied entry to the US for a competition was sponsored by Roya Mahboob. Mahboob is the CEO of the Digital Citizen Fund, which supports women and children's digital literacy. https://www.forbes.com/sites/hilarybrueck/2017/06/29/denied-afghanistans-all-girl-robotics-team-cant-get-visas-to-the-u-s/#4d11165d367f We can find out more here about her organization and contribute, if we are able, in honor of the robotics' team: http://digitalcitizenfund.org/  

  1. Our trusted local news may be controlled by Sinclair Broadcasting and may already be leaning to the political right. John Oliver provided excellent coverage of this on this HBO show "Last Week Tonight." We can read about it at https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/03/john-oliver-sinclair-broadcasting-rightwing-news-fox  or watch  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc  Let's be on the lookout for political shifts in our local news. We can see which channels Sinclair owns in our areas here: http://sbgi.net/tv-stations/  Please note that Sinclair is trying to purchase Tribune Media which would add channels and greatly expand their reach: http://www.tribunemedia.com/our-brands/tribune-broadcasting/

  1. If you haven’t seen it already, please watch the NRA’s appalling “recruitment”  ad, and check out Bill Moyers & Michael Winship’s article: http://billmoyers.com/story/new-low-nra/  It would behoove us to let the NRA and their lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, know what we think of their hate-filled ad: NRA 1-800-672-3888; the ILA https://www.nraila.org/contact-nra-ila/

  1. We all know this is for the long haul.  It is important that we work on making this good, sustainable activity for us by taking care of our selves.  Here are some good tips from Small Deeds Done: https://smalldeedsdone.com/ We can sign up for weekly pep talks for the patriotic!

Petitions


  1. Let’s Join CARE2 in asking Facebook to remove the inflammatory NRA video for inciting violence:  http://www.thepetitionsite.com/875/997/392/facebook-remove-inflammatory-nra-video-for-inciting-violence/

  1. Here’s another CARE2 petition, this one asking Congress to protect our national parks from oil, gas, and fracking: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/901/476/520/congress-protect-our-national-parks-from-oil-gas-and-fracking/

 Marches/events to attend/organize

  1. The Women’s March is planning a protest against the National Rifle Association on July 14 in Fairfax, VA, where the NRA is headquartered..  More info here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/220759958443652

  1. Search for Congressional town halls, protest/rallies, and other events in our area: https://www.risestronger.org/events

  1. If we are looking specifically for town halls or other public meetings with our MoCs, we can also check out Town Hall Project:  https://townhallproject.com/

Reading/Watching


  1. Here is a fascinating read by George P. Lakoff, an American cognitive linguist, on the primary difference in thinking of liberals and conservatives:  https://georgelakoff.com/2017/07/01/two-questions-about-trump-and-republicans-that-stump-progressives/

  1. “Republican voters and politicians rallied around Mr. Trump in 2016, believing he was anti-establishment when in fact he was anti-order. He turns out to be an institutional arsonist. It is an irony of American history that the Republican Party, which has historically valued order and institutions, has become the conduit of chaos.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/04/opinion/trump-declaration-of-disruption.html

  1. Thoughts on a state sharing info with the Advisory Commission on Election Integrity:  http://www.eclectablog.com/2017/07/michigans-republican-leaders-are-legitimizing-president-trumps-voter-suppression-commission.html


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





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