Rogan's List

12/21/17

Contact Federal Government Officials

Find senator’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/RLiotu

Find representative’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/5i7SXC

Fax legislators for free:  Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

and Senate: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

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Many newspapers, including New York Times and Washington Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles each month.  We can also check with our local libraries to find out how to get online access through them.

1.       Now that the unequitable tax bill has passed and will soon be on its way to Trump to sign, let’s take this moment not to despair, but to promise to double down our 2018 efforts to flip both the House and the Senate next November so that it will be OUR turn to do our own replace and repeal.  To that end, the tax bill vote has shown us exactly whose seats we need to target.  Let’s contact those folks to thank them for showing their true colors and to let them know that they will be the ultimate losers as we go after their seats in full force.  Then, let’s sign up here:  https://indivisible435.org/replace-and-repeal

2.      “More than 300 Carrier Corp. workers were being laid off Thursday from the company's Indianapolis factory as part of an outsourcing of jobs to Mexico that drew criticism last year from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The nearly 340 workers clocked out after their final shifts at Carrier's gas furnace factory. Another wave of 290 workers will be let go by Dec. 22 under a timetable the company announced in late May. Although Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor, have been credited with saving Carrier's Indianapolis factory, employees don't have a sense of much job security, said Robert James, president of United Steel Workers Local 1999, which represents plant workers.
"They just don't have any faith in this plant staying in Indianapolis," he told The Indianapolis Star. "There's just too much uncertainty."  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-carrier-plant-layoffs-20170720-story.html The “great negotiator” proves again he can neither negotiate or keep a promise.  Let’s ask Trump where the jobs are. 

3.      Myanmar has barred an UN investigator into human rights from entering the country to investigate alleged attacks on Rohingya Muslims. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42425217 Let’s contact our MoC to ask them what they’re doing to take action on what’s beginning to look like genocidal acts of violence against the Rohingya Muslims.

4.      We are witnessing the wholesale looting of America, unprecedented since at least the Gilded Age, complete with Rupert Murdoch and the Koch brothers as modern-day robber barons. The GOP, instead of restraining the exploitative excesses of Donald Trump and his crony capitalist cabinet, has instead taken their rise to power as a cue to start a legislative smash-and-grab that will last until the (Republican) party ends (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/12/19/16786006/looting-of-america). Any attempt by Republicans to govern in Congress is being forgotten in the rush to fashion golden parachutes or spin that government/industry revolving door into a future lobbying gig or seat on a board of directors. We mustn't let them get away with it. Let's call our Democratic MoCs and demand that they, after we get our government back next year, prosecute these opportunists en masse for corruption under the statutes mentioned here:    (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_prosecution_of_public_corruption_in_the_United_States). As for those of us with kleptocrat Republican MoCs, maybe just let them know that we're watching, and taking notes.

5.      Although the FCC just voted to end Net Neutrality, we still a have chance to save it.  We can demand our Senators use the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows them to review and overturn regulations it doesn't approve of, to pass a “resolution of disapproval” to overturn this vote.  We only need 30 Senators to get the bill to the floor and a simple majority to pass it.  We can use this call tool to be connected to our Representatives with just one click.  https://act.freepress.net/call/internet_nn_call_congress/?t=5&akid=7705%2E9629701%2ExhDhvt

6.      Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA, spent nearly $9,000 of our tax dollars “to have his office swept for hidden listening devices and bought sophisticated biometric locks for additional security.” Is he afraid of us finding out about his secret meetings with the lobbyists he’s supposed to be regulating? 

https://www.apnews.com/242fd35342c34a41b2e2db69b64c44d1 Let’s contact our MoC to ask them what they’re doing to ensure that Pruitt isn’t misusing his office (and our tax dollars).

7.      LINK CORRECTION: “The Trump administration is rolling back Obama-era rules for how animals should be treated if their meat is going to be sold as “certified organic.”” The rules would “govern an animal’s access to outdoor space, transportation and slaughter, among other things.” http://thehill.com/regulation/365432-usda-withdraws-welfare-rules-for-animals-certified-organic  We have until January 18 to protest the withdrawal of this rule. Let’s submit our comments here https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=AMS-NOP-15-0012-6686

8.     While we are seeing heartening signs of the beginnings of a long-needed cultural shift in how Americans deal with sexual harassment in the workplace, there is still plenty of work to be done – and we certainly cannot count on someone with Donald Trump’s record of bragging about assaulting women to do it. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has put forward legislation that would end forced arbitration clauses in employment agreements that have been used to silence women in sexual harassment and gender discrimination cases:  https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/12/06/bipartisan-bill-would-eliminate-forced-arbitration-break-silence-sexual-harassment-cases/925226001/ We need to make sure they know this is the sort of leadership we want to see in Washington. Let’s contact our members of Congress and let them know we’d like them to sign on to the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Act. We can find out if they are already co-sponsoring here and here. (H/T Jessica Craven)

9.      Not content to isolate the US by pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, Trump, to the dismay of our allies, declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel, disregarding the history of Palestinian claims.  After 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council voted in favor of a resolution affirming that any decisions on the status of Jerusalem were "null and void and must be rescinded" and urging all states to "refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the holy city," the US vetoed the resolution.  Today the 193-member UN General Assembly will hold a rare emergency special session at the request of Arab and Muslim states, who condemned Trump's decision to reverse decades of US policy earlier this month. Trump, true to form, has threatened to cut off American aid to any country that votes in favor of a resolution denouncing his recent decision; Ambassador Nikki Haley has said she will provide Trump with a “list” of those who vote in favor of such a resolution and has warned that “the President and the US take this vote personally:” http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42431095  While diplomats doubt the US will actually cut aid, we need to tell Nikki Haley that US aid something other than a blunt instrument to use to bring the world into line with Trump: US mission to the UN, 799 UN Plaza, NY, NY 10017, 212-415-4062

10.  Yesterday, “Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va., warned President Donald Trump against firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller from his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.”  http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/2017/december/mark-warner-delivers-remarks-on-future-of-russia-probe  Let’s thank him for speaking on our behalf.

Election 2017/2018

1.       As we turn to the 2018 elections, let’s start becoming familiar with groups that we can help to turn seats blue.  For one, check out Sister District: https://www.sisterdistrict.com/what-we-do/  15 of the 15 seats they backed so far in 2017 have won.  They must be doing something right!

2.      Turnout matters. We've flipped a Red Senate seat Blue in Alabama and erased the Republican majority in the Virginia State legislature with just ONE vote. The road to Victory in 2018 starts today, and the more registered voters we can muster, the better. If we speak Spanish, we can help register Spanish speakers to vote in AZ, NV, & other key states for the 2018 elections.  Rapid Resist and TWW Albany-Berkeley are looking for SPANISH-SPEAKING volunteers for text campaigns. If we don't speak it, we can share this information with people who do.  We can sign up here.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd5gW53c5dd8355ZI-LgvNhcKzl8m-IWvYLNDQBr3djK7Nk7Q/viewform

 Other Actions

1.       As we seek to collect ourselves after the very disappointing tax bill outcome, let’s pause to thank a journalist, an activist, a politician, or a friend who has kept us energized in 2017. We will need to continue to sustain each other in 2018.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       Yesterday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, took to the Senate floor and warned against the firing of Special Counsel Bob Mueller.  http://heavy.com/news/2017/12/mark-warner-mueller-investigation-speech-live-video/  Should this happen, there are rapid response, peaceful protests being planned all over the country.  Let’s sign up here to keep up on what we need to do, or if there is not an event planned near us, let’s create one:  https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/

States

1.       ALL: “17 Democratic AGs are saying no thanks to Trump's decision to reverse an Obama-era mandate protecting consumers from hidden airline baggage fees.” https://twitter.com/DemocraticAGs/status/943266830361223170 If our state Attorney Generals have signed on (see the letter here:  https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/uploadedFiles/MainSite/Content/Related_Content/PressReleases/Letter%20on%20DOT's%20Withdrawal%20of%20Baggage%20Fees%20Rule.pdf), let’s thank them. If not, let’s ask them to add their names.

Reading/Watching

1.       Some communities are building their own internet. We can learn more about that here.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/7x4y8a/net-neutrality-fcc-community-networks

2.      Chelsea Clinton to Her Children: "My Hopes for Your Futures Haven’t Changed" - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/chelsea-clinton-to-her-children-my-hopes-for-your-futures-havent-changed

3.      What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA -

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-trump-regulatory-rollback-epa