Contact Federal Government Officials
Find senator’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/RLiotu
Find representative’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/5i7SXC
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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.
Recent
accounts of the inner workings of Trump's administration, and his mind,
emphasize his confusion and ineptitude. These shortcomings, however, don't
blunt the force of Trump's powerful ability to manipulate the fears and desires
of literally millions of people, a conman's skill that he has deployed
successfully over his entire working life. To defeat this sort of genius, each
of us must commit to shaping our thoughts, words and deeds with reason, logic,
and facts. Then, let's remind our representatives to do the same, whether that means
trusting the science of climate change, following the evidence in the Russia
investigations, or evaluating the past performance of trickle-down economics
for regular Americans.
2.
Many of
us were somewhat mystified by the tweets coming out of the WH in support of
demonstrators in Iran last week, especially given that Iranian nationals are
among those forbidden to travel to the US. A short resource from Indivisible
explains the apparent paradox.https://www.indivisible.org/blog/trumps-tweets-support-iran-dont-hold-lets-stop-making-things-worse/ Also, here's what we can do about it:
"Right now, before Trump disrupts the situation with Iran, your Members of
Congress should start hearing from you that you will not tolerate war with
Iran, and that you demand the nuclear deal be protected."
3.
From
Actions to Withstand: “…forced arbitration clauses in 56% of employee
contracts, there are millions of people who have no need for legal aid since
they can’t even take their employer to court no matter the claim. Watch this video
to learn more about the policy changes that could help give people their voice
back.” Recent proposed legislation is
designed to stop that practice, the Ending
Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Act (H.R.
4734/S.
2203): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSIskjcP0D8 Let’s call and ask our MoCs to co-sponsor
and support this set of important bills.
4.
From
Indivisible: "When he de-certified the Iran Deal back in October, Trump
threatened to throttle the deal next time he got the chance, if Congress didn’t
act. Congress didn’t act, and now Trump has another deadline in January where
he could break the deal and take us closer to war with Iran. Call
your Members of Congress to tell them to protect the deal and keep us out of
war, and catch up on the state of play for the fate of the Iran deal." For
more information on the Iran Deal, and why it's so important to maintain, let's
read through the explainer over at Indivisible http://bit.ly/2m21pY0 Then, let's make sure to call our MoC
and ask that they pass legislation to protect the Iran Deal.
5.
Temporary
Protected Status (TPS) designations have already been revoked for Haitians and
Nicaraguans living in the U.S., and now the same may happen to individuals from
El Savador http://bit.ly/2D8KKdx TPS is granted when conditions in one's
country make it too dangerous to safely live in. Let's call our MoC and ask
that they speak out in support of a renewal of the TPS status for El Savador,
then let's use MomsRising's online tool to write a Letter to the Editor to show
our support for individuals with Temporary Protected Status:
6.
Net
Neutrality will come up for a vote in Congress, now that at least 30 Senators
have signed on to the bill: https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/1/8/16863912/senate-ed-markey-claire-mccaskill-net-neutrality-cra-bill
It is time to call our senators and remind them
that we are counting on them to vote to restore our free and open internet.
7.
Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has approved a plan which would separate families
if they enter the U.S. illegally, rather than keeping the families together in
detention centers http://bit.ly/2CTdA4A http://wapo.st/2CS57yt Before the plan is enacted though, it
must be approved by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Let's contact Secretary Nielsen and ask that she oppose this cruel plan. We can
call the DHS comment line (202-282-8495) or mail the Secretary directly: The
Honorable Kirstjen M. Nielsen Secretary of Homeland Security Washington,
D.C. 20528
8.
Tomorrow,
January 10th, there is a briefing on the Adoptee Citizenship Act,
which would provide citizenship to all the people who were brought to the U.S.
as adopted children, whose parents never completed the naturalization
process. There are an
estimated 35,000 adoptees whose citizenship was not granted during
the process of adoption, immigration, or by the Childhood Citizenship
Act of 2000. Without citizenship
papers, adoptees face barriers with securing employment, accessing
health and medical care, and obtaining government IDs. http://adopteerightscampaign.org/aca/ These
“undocumented” people have fallen through the cracks. They are in every state. Let’s tell our MoCs to get on board behind
this important issue and help these people live the lives for which they were legally
brought here as children.
9.
From INDIVISIBLE Work for a Blue Wave 2018: “We’ve built
a whole program focused on participating in this year’s election called Indivisible 435. It already includes guides on election
law and how to make an endorsement in a race. We also have a 50-state voter
registration guide where you can get started on the work of bringing out new
people to vote against the Trump Administration’s disastrous agenda and take
back the House (and Senate!) this year.” Get started planning a voter
registration event, no matter where you live, here: https://indivisible435.org/voterregistration
10. Two important hearings are happening today:
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s energy subcommittee is discussing
ways to modernize the Department of Energy, and the Natural Resources Committee
is discussing Trump’s proposal to shrink the Bears Ears National
Monument. http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/367677-week-ahead-house-gop-looks-to-revamp-energy-department If our Congressperson is on one of
these committees: https://energycommerce.house.gov/subcommittee/energy or https://naturalresources.house.gov/about/members.htm), lets contact him/her urging support for
clean energy (Energy Committee) or maintaining the size of the Bears Ears
National Monument (Natural Resources Committee).
11.
Two
senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) have asked the
Senate Judiciary Committee to “release the transcript of its meeting
with the CEO of the research firm that produced the controversial dossier
about President Trump.” http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/367927-senate-dems-demand-release-of-fusion-gps-interview The
citizens of this country deserve to know.
Let’s all of us ask the same of the committee: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members
12. The Republican regime is caving to lobbyists
and is intent on undermining Michele Obama's Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act
(2010) by allowing higher sodium options and non-whole grain grains for our
kids' school lunches. (source: Newsweek) We have until January 29, 2018 to submit a
formal comment opposing these changes at the Federal Register. Let's keep our children healthy.
13. Undeterred by the outpouring of objections
that kept Thomas Farr from getting a confirmation vote for a federal judgeship
by the full Senate, Trump is re-nominating him for a lifetime seat on the
bench. Farr was involved in a notorious effort to suppress the African-American
vote in North Carolina to get a Republican senator elected, and lied to the
Senate about how much he knew about it (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/under-the-dome/article193165329.html). If Trump won’t give up on the fight, we
need to redouble our efforts. Progressive groups are fighting to make sure the
Senate knows Thomas Farr is an unacceptable nominee. We can use this easy call
tool from Let America Vote to make our voices heard, and share it with those in
other states: https://secure.letamericavote.org/page/content/farr
14. Even Republicans representing states that
would be impacted by Trump’s expansion of offshore drilling are making their
opposition known, with Senator Susan Collins saying she’ll oppose any effort to
make waters off the coast of Maine available for drilling (http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/367960-maines-senators-offshore-drilling-would-hurt-states-environment-and). There’s also been opposition from
Republican lawmakers at the state and local level, citing worries both about
the environmental impact and the risk to local industries. Let’s turn these
bipartisan concerns into action. New Jersey Democrats have introduced the COAST
Anti-Drilling Act to block the Department of Interior from moving forward with
their plans. Let’s check the links here and here to see if our members of Congress are
co-sponsoring this legislation, and contact them either with our thanks or to
ask them why not.
Election 2018 –
General
1.
The
mission of VoteVets.org's Political Action Committee is to
elect Veterans to public office; hold public officials accountable for their
words and actions that impact America’s 21st century service members, Veterans,
and their families; and fully support our men and women in uniform.
Though progressive, VoteVets PAC has endorsed both Democrats and
Republicans. Let's check out VoteVet's list
of Veterans running for office in 2018 and consider supporting those whose
platforms align with our values.
2.
Candidates With A Contract is a non-partisan political reform program
started in 2016. The contract commits candidate who sign
to overturn Citizens United and end partisan gerrymandering.
They commit to introducing legislation requiring members of Congress to work 40
hours/week with just 4 weeks of vacation per year, and locking in
congressional salaries at their current percentage of the national
household median income (~330%). The contract has been signed by 43 U.S.
House and Senate candidates. We can read more and see who these candidates
are at Candidates With A Contract. Has our favorite candidate signed the
contract yet?
Election 2018 –
By State
1.
KY: From Indivisible Kentucky - Kentucky’s
Congressional District 1 urgently needs a new candidate, since Sam Gaskins had
to drop out for health reasons. We can reach out to our networks and help find
a viable candidate to file before the Jan 30 filing deadline.
2.
TX: From Postcards
for America - The
primary is set for March 6. Let’s use
this guide to helps us know what’s happening:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZMiQZA8USw38TKRzrKMA2PLMJKozxMd4/view
Other Actions
1.
Link Correction: For those of us who are interested in starting
our own postcarding events, this is from one of our own who does this monthly
and is sharing: “Attached you'll find the January versions of the
topics/addresses list that I'll be sharing with my postcarding
group tomorrow. Please feel free to make use of this in any way that works
for you. Please note that on some
entries the addresses are for CA Senators/Representative. Depending on where
you are, you may want to sub in information on your own
Senators/Representative.” Here’s the link: http://www.whatifknits.com/2018/01/the-january-list/
2.
Some of
us are always looking for postcard sources to for our postcarding efforts. Here is a fun place to get free, downloadable
resistance postcards that we can print at home or take to a printing
facility: https://postcardsfortheresistance.tumblr.com/ Postcards to Voters also provides links to other postcard
sources as well: https://postcardstovoters.org/faq/postcards/
3.
CNN
anchor Jake Tapper shut down an interview with White House aide Stephen Miller
because he felt that Miller was wasting his viewers’ time:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367803-tapper-cuts-off-heated-interview-with-miller Let’s take a moment to thank Mr. Tapper
for showing integrity in these difficult times: Jake Tapper, CNN, 820 1stSt,
NE, Washington, DC 20002
4.
Here's
how we raise a politically engaged younger generation! "Later this year,
the ACLU will convene a special Summer Advocacy Institute in Washington,
DC, for high school students entering their junior or senior year in fall
2018." It's an intensive week-long summer program for students to
"develop strong leadership skills, build relationships with other activists,
and advance their advocacy abilities to fight on behalf of justice and equality
in their communities." Deadline is January 19! Click here to
apply/for more info: https://www.aclu.org/issues/aclu-summer-institute
5.
Educator
Tanya Muftic noticed that LGBTQ students often get neglected by the school
system. As a nod to her Gender Queer students, she started wearing ties
on Tuesday. Now she's started the Tie Tuesday Project, an organization to
encourage other educators to wear ties on Tuesday in support of LGBTQ youth by
bending the binary rules of a heterogenous society. We can read more about this
project on the Tie Tuesday Project FaceBook page. If we are educators (or just want to
support the movement), let's pick out a tie to wear next Tuesday.
6.
Free
Press Action is urging us to phone our Representatives to urge that they vote
against the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act, temporarily reauthorized in December. And they have
provided a handy call guide:
http://act.freepress.net/call/internet_702_house_bill/ By January 19, the budget
deadline, this section of FISA will have to come to a vote in the House, though
that vote may come as soon as next week. Section 702 allows the government to
monitor the communications of people in the United States without a warrant.
Its targets are supposedly foreign entities, but the program allows for
monitoring of phone and internet conversations of “United States persons.”
Let’s join Free Press Action in opposing warrantless mass surveillance in the
US.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. Republicans
in Congress may make speeches against Trump’s reckless and cruel policies, but
they vote for them almost every time, putting party over country. Let’s call
them out by joining Action Together Network’s Twitterstorm Wednesday at 8pm EST.
We can find more about the storm here: https://www.facebook.com/events/317609188757723/
We can tweet from this sheet: http://bit.ly/2mdGH8l
States
Reading/Watching
1.
If you missed it, Oprah Winfrey’s Cecil B.
DeMille acceptance speech at the Golden Globes last evening should be watched
by us all. Such eloquence and truth in
these troubling times; she is a reminder of what effective leadership looks
like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss6qQM054B0
2.
Michigan is taking a double-pronged approach to
fight gerrymandering. The citizen-led group Voters Not Politicians is working
to get a proposal on the ballot, while the Michigan League of Women Voters
filed a lawsuit in December stating that Michigan's congressional and state
districts are illegally gerrymandered http://on.freep.com/2CQ2RY0
3.
Susan Faludi’s article in the NYT this
past Sunday, “The Patriarchs are Falling. The Patriarchy is Stronger Than
Ever,” smartly places the MeToo campaign in the context of an on-going
feminist movement:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/opinion/sunday/patriarchy-feminism-metoo.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/opinion/sunday/patriarchy-feminism-metoo.html
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