2/12/18
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.
This
week in Congress. Twelve (12) bills are coming up for a vote on the House floor
starting Tuesday per the Majority
Leader's Schedule. Let's take a look to see what's coming. A
couple of the bills need our immediate attention: A) On Wednesday, the House will be voting
on HR3299,
the “Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017.” This bill would allow
payday lenders and other non-bank institutions to use “rent-a-bank”
arrangements to evade state usury laws and make loans with interest rates in
the triple digits, enabling the kind of “access to credit” that will drive
low-income consumers into even deeper debt and do them more harm than
good: https://civilrights.org/oppose-h-r-3299-protecting-consumers-access-credit-act/
The identical bill in the Senate is S1642. Let's
tell our representatives to vote "no" on HR3299, and B) On Thursday,
the House will be voting on HR620,
the ADA Education and Reform Act, which would roll back disability rights and
inclusion: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/343880-passing-the-ada-education-and-reform-act-would-be-a-step Let's start the week with calls to our
representatives to let them know that we oppose HR620 and want to protect our citizens
with disabilities.
2.
Much to
our dismay, last week’s budget bill did not address the Dreamers: https://www.npr.org/2018/02/08/584181838/senates-2-year-budget-deal-doesnt-address-fate-of-dreamers Let’s check to see how our senators
voted: https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=2&vote=00031 Let’s call our senators to say thanks if it
was a “no” vote, and to ask why if it was a “yes” vote. Report back on social media the reasons and
let’s see if there is a pattern. Then, let’s
do the same with our representatives.
Here is how they voted: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2018/roll069.xml
3.
Today, in
keeping McConnell’s promise, the Senate will convene at 3pm and
resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.2579,
the vehicle for immigration legislation. A vote is set for 5:30pm. Let's
continue to let our Senators that we want to see a responsible bi-partisan
immigration plan and that must include protection of Dreamers. Let’s see what else we can do to help
Dreamers: https://www.indivisible.org/resource/whats-next-fight-protect-dreamers/ Let’s
also let our reps in the House know that we expect them to bring this to the
floor as well.
4.
Rachel
Brand, the number 3 official at the Justice Department and next in line to
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, were Trump to fire him, resigned last
week after less than a year, as did her assistant Currie Gunn. Brand’s
office oversees the Antitrust Division, the Civil Division, the Environment and
Natural Resources Division, the Tax Division, the Office of Justice Programs,
the Community Oriented Policing Services, the Community Relations Service, the
Office of Dispute Resolution, the Office of Violence Against Women, the Office
of Information and Privacy, the Executive Office for United States Trustees,
and the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. https://www.npr.org/2018/02/09/584673003/no-3-justice-department-official-rachel-brand-will-step-down As
of January, many of these agencies were headed only by temporary acting
appointees; now they are without anyone overseeing their operation: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/03/575123392/key-vacancies-at-justice-department-not-a-recipe-for-good-government
The DoJ is clearly in major disarray, in large measure because of Trump’s
recurrent attacks on the department. Let’s tell him to cease and desist
his bad-mouthing and nominate responsible leaders for these crucial positions.
5.
Trump is
to announce his infrastructure plan today, but there is much speculation that
his $1.5 trillion plan may not take climate change, about which he is
skeptical, into account. “The impact of not considering climate change when
planning infrastructure means you end up building the wrong thing, in the wrong
place, to the wrong standards . . . . That’s a whole lot of waste,” said
Michael Kuby, contributing author to the National Climate Assessment, the
federal government’s most comprehensive scientific study of the effect of
global warming on the US: http://www.pressreader.com/usa/chattanooga-times-free-press/20180211/281676845370984Before
our money is spent, we must demand verifiable reports on the anticipated
effects of climate change of each project AND the effects of the projects on
the climate. To this end, let’s contact DJ Gribbin, Trump’s Special
Assistant for Infrastructure Policy (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/white-house-national-economic-council-director-announces-senior-staff-appointments/),
at the White House.
6.
As the
Rob Porter scandal unfolds, it reveals/reinforces two key issues: The Trump
administration has a virulent disregard for women’s safety and has national
security gaps large enough to drive trucks through: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/10/trump-tweet-domestic-abuse-rob-porter and https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/10/rob-porter-john-kelly-national-security-216964 Let’s
make a lot of noise about this one – with our MoC and with Trump because
security matters at many levels: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house
7.
Not
surprisingly, Trump is refusing to release the Democratic counter-memo and we
can guess why: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-memo/trump-says-democratic-memo-on-russia-is-very-political-needs-redactions-idUSKBN1FU0QD The
Congress can circumvent him so let’s let our MoC know that is what we expect.
8.
“The
planning for President Trump’s military parade may be in its infancy, but
already lawmakers and local officials are stepping in to try to put the brakes
on the idea.” http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trumps-military-parade-faces-resistance-from-federal-local-officials/article/2648754 The Military Times polled its readers and
learned that 89% of them did not support such a parade: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/02/08/89-of-readers-say-no-parade/ Let’s let our MoCs know that we do not
support a military parade while our soldiers are needy and so many of our
veterans are in dire straits.
Election 2018 –
General
1.
This
week features five legislative special elections, including two in Minnesota
TODAY (https://flippable.org/get-smart/special-elections/). Those of us who live in Senate District 54
in Minnesota should be sure to head to the polls and vote for Karla Bigham. If
we’re in Minnesota House District 23B, let’s vote for Melissa Wagner. Tomorrow,
folks in Georgia’s State House District 175 will have a chance to flip a seat
by voting for Treva
Gear,
and those in Oklahoma State Senate District 27 will be able to cast their
ballots for Amber
Jensen.
And of course, we’ve got a chance to pick up a hard-fought seat in Florida’s
State House District 72 by voting for Margaret Good.
Let's make sure we get out and vote!
2.
We’ve
got a couple chances to flip legislative seats this week, but the biggest will
be in Florida tomorrow, where Margaret Good is running for a state House
of Representatives seat against a well-financed opponent whose father was named
one of the most corrupt members of Congress (http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/district-house-race-receives-national-attention/article_f69a8c54-0de1-11e8-b8f0-b33a081b95e0.html). Let’s help her get over the top. We can
sign up to make phone calls for Margaret with the Sister District Project at this link, or we can help text voters for her through
OpenProgress here.
3.
On issue
after issue, from immigration reform to healthcare reform to campaign finance
reform, liberal & progressive views are either the majority view or rising
towards it. We are the future, but to end the madness afflicting our
government, we need to make our votes count, especially in those swing
states/districts that Republicans have gerrymandered to serve the tyranny of
their minority. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee has just
unveiled its list of states/districts to be targeted for correction, so let's
check out their plan and give them a hand. They take donations, of course, but
they're also looking for people to take meaningful action to restore our
democracy! https://democraticredistricting.com/2018-targets/
4.
Voter
Participation Center and
Sister District Action Network have teamed up for a postcard-writing
project to boost voter registration among progressive-leaning folks living in
Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Let’s help increase voter registration and
participation among millennials, unmarried women, and people of color in these
important states by offering to get involved: https://www.sisterdistrictactionnetwork.org/contact-1/
5.
Postcards
to Voters is taking on its first primary campaign with Campaign 54 for Marie Newman, Democrat for Illinois
congressional district 3. The incumbent Democrat (Daniel Lipinski)
has not been a champion for progressive causes. (More about this race
at The
Intercept) This
is also the district in which the candidate running unopposed in the Republican
primary is Arthur Jones, a holocaust denier and former American Nazi party
leader. (Source: ABCNews) It’s time for a bona-fide liberal
progressive like Marie Newman to hold the seat in Congress. We can help by
writing 5 postcards to voters in IL03 to get out the vote. Returning
writers may text WIN to (484) ASK-ABBY which is (484)
275-2229 and
get addresses right away, 24/7 with an emailed courtesy copy for added
convenience. If we are new to this effective grassroots effort:
Email: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org OR text JOIN to (484) ASK-ABBY.
If we have any friends or relatives in or near Chicago, let's be sure to tell
them about this campaign.
6.
Power to
the Pens: join a Stamp NC Blue Postcard Team! We've got 25 teams in
place across NC and 1 team of out-of-state folks (and welcome more
out-of-staters). We still need to recruit 24 more teams (of 10+ people each) to
fulfill our goal of reaching 5,000 target voters across our 5 priority NC-House
districts this year. Sign up at:
Election 2018 –
By State
1.
PA: Today is the last day to register to vote for
the March 13th special election in PA-18.
Conor Lamb is the Democratic candidate:
https://observer-reporter.com/news/election/commentary-lamb-would-represent-us-well-in-the-th-district/article_89f6f23a-02cf-11e8-99c6-277fc454ff65.html Get registered and vote!
Other Actions
1.
Jen
Hofmann has a list chockful of places we can send valentines in this week’s Americans of Conscience Checklist: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kDwrQfF-k32qAe-GleftYZIFQ3br0yOplC56rpghr8c/edit
2.
If we
are living organ donors we can join other living organ donors from around the
world at the Cloud Gate in Chicago on April 21 to set a Guinness World
Record. Detail here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/living-donors-meeting-to-attempt-guinness-world-record-tickets-41312598093
3.
“We
sometimes think of political issues in binary terms. Is someone pro-life or
pro-choice? But most individuals hold views that are more complicated than a
binary can capture.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/a-better-way-to-look-at-most-every-political-issue/552752/
Let’s read this and try to find ways to interact that do not ultimately place
people in an either/or, this/that situation.
4.
From one
of our own: Here’s the latest round of issues/addresses that I’ve
prepared for my postcarding group. Please use and share these however you wish.
(Please note that on some entries the addresses are for CA Senators and
Representative. Depending on where you are, you may want to sub information on
your own Senators/Representative): https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0k1qCMVpKZpenFWZVoya2hMb1d5UG5GQzgxTjRLY3JKYXBn
5.
Wisconsin
governor Scott Walker, fearing voter backlash against his unpopular president
and agenda, has decided to not hold special elections for 2 state senate
districts. Walker pulled away legislators Frank Lasee and Keith Ripp to work in
his administration and plans to leave voters in those districts with no
political voice for a whole year. Walker's outlandish and undemocratic
decision, flouts both Wisconsin tradition and Walker's own previous record on
calling special elections (https://www.wiscontext.org/tradition-special-and-swift-elections-wisconsin).
Local coverage of this issue has been strangely thin, so let's ask ask the
local newspapers for those districts to give their readers the information
they need to defend their voting rights: WI Senate District 1 for Frank
Lasee (Green Bay Press-Gazette Media, Robert Zizzo, 920-431-8392),
WI Assembly District 42 for Keith Ripp (Columbus Journal: Kevin Damask, kdamask@wiscnews.com, 608-963-7323
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
States
Reading/Watching
1.
Experts
in authoritarianism advise us to keep a list of things subtly changing around
us, so we’ll remember. Amy Siskind is keeping that list for us. Amy
writes, "Troubling signs that Russia never left, and plans to meddle
in our midterms emerged, although an increasingly autocratic Trump has
conveniently yet to acknowledge Russian interference in our 2016
election." Let's review Amy Siskind's list week 65. As a reminder: Weeks 1 through 52 are
included in Amy Siskind's upcoming (March 27 release) book "The List:
A Week-by-Week Reckoning of Trump's First Year. " We can pre-order her
book at Barnes and Noble, Amazon or through our favorite independent
book seller.
2.
Here's
an exciting new podcast by ProPublica and WNYC, who "are digging into
President Trump’s businesses." The format: to inform but also to
crowdsource information! "We’re thinking of it as an 'open investigation.'
We’ll be laying out what we know and what we don’t. And we’re inviting everyone
— our journalism colleagues elsewhere, experts, tipsters and anyone
else interested — to join us in the quest for answers." Tune in
here: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-many-mysteries-president-businesses
3.
And, as usual, our weekly dose of Small
Victories: https://mailchi.mp/peaceisloud/small-victories-we-could-be-heroes?e=86890239c4
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