2/13/18
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.
The Senate
began debate today on an immigration bill.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/12/17003552/senate-immigration-bill-floor-debate Suit Up Maine gives us more info and what we can do to
support DREAMers: https://www.suitupmaine.org/immigration-debate-stay-focused-dreamers/
2.
On
Sunday, 60 Minutes featured a
story on the "Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would make gun
permits—like driver's licenses—transportable across state lines. In other
words, if someone has a license to carry a concealed firearm in his or her own
state, that person would be able to carry it in all of them. The bill, which
has already passed the House and has the full support of President Trump, is
now headed for the Senate, where it has 39 co-sponsors." https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kroft-talks-guns-and-concealed-carry-reciprocity-act
The
bill, S.
446,
has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, so it's not ready for a
vote. However, when it does come onto the floor for a vote, let's make
sure that our Senators know we want them to vote NO. We can also join the
efforts of Moms Demand Action:
https://momsdemandaction.org, which is working to stop this NRA-sponsored
legislation from passing, by texting DANGEROUS to 64433.
3.
Republicans
in Congress are pushing H.R. 620, legislation that would make it more difficult
for Americans with disabilities to get their rights enforced (https://qz.com/994853/republicans-in-congress-think-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-is-too-easy-to-game-so-they-want-to-make-it-harder-to-enforce/). Let’s contact our members of Congress and
tell them to oppose this bill. We can find talking points from the ACLU here.
4.
“President
Trump has unveiled his budget proposal for 2019, which calls for $1.7 trillion
in cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs, while significantly
increasing defense spending and setting aside money for the border wall, which
Trump has repeatedly promised will be paid for by Mexico.”
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/373419-read-president-trumps-fiscal-year-2019-budget Lets tell our reps that this
budget is for the wealthy just like the Tax Plan is for the wealthy. Trump
continues to try to break the ACA and he did not encourage timely funding to
CHIP. He doesn’t care about your health and care. NO WALL, NO MEDICAID and
MEDICARE CUTS. Let’s tell our MoCs--now,
well before a vote-- that any support of this draconian budget will lose them
our support in the ballot box.
5.
On
Monday, June 5, accompanied by his personal security detail, Pruitt settled
into his $1,641.43 first-class seat for a short flight from the District to New
York City. His ticket cost more than six times that of the two media aides . .
. That Wednesday, after traveling with Trump on Air Force One for an
infrastructure event in Cincinnati, Pruitt and several staffers raced to New
York on a military jet, at a cost of $36,068.50, to catch a plane to Rome. The
transatlantic flight was part of a round-trip ticket for the administrator that
cost $7,003.52, according to EPA records — several times what was paid for
other officials who went. In total, the taxpayer-funded travel for Pruitt and
his top aides during that stretch in early June cost at least $90,000,
according to months of receipts obtained by the Environmental Integrity Project
under the Freedom of Information Act.” PRUITT often sits in first class seats,
something his predecessors did not do. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/first-class-travel-distinguishes-scott-pruitts-epa-tenure/2018/02/11/5bb89afc-0b7d-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.101f1ffe8a58 Let’s tell Pruitt to sit in
economy with his staff and stop wasting taxpayer money on his extravagances.
Email him at Pruitt.scott@Epa.gov Let’s tell the White House, too: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house
Election 2018 –
General
1.
With
just weeks to go before the March 13th special election for Congress
in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump and the Republican Party are putting their full
weight behind state representative Rick Saccone. There are signs that Saccone,
an anti-union, anti-choice, pro-tax
scam reactionary, might be in real trouble against Democratic nominee Conor
Lamb, a military veteran and federal prosecutor who is refusing to accept
corporate PAC donations (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/05/pennsylvania-republicans-special-election-389964). Republican money is flooding the district,
and Conor needs our help. Let’s sign up to make phone calls for him at bit.ly/FlipThe18th.
Election 2018 –
By State
Other Actions
1.
The Iowa
City City Council has expanded gender definitions beyond binary: http://daily-iowan.com/2018/02/07/council-moves-on-gender-identity/ Let’s pause and say thanks to the
Council for this step: council@iowa-city.org or 410 E. Washington Street, Iowa
City, IA 52240
2.
From Citizens Climate Lobby: Climate
change can feel like a big, overwhelming challenge---but Americans have never
backed down from big challenges. We may not have completely solved every issue,
but we've made huge, positive changes over the course of our history. Today, we
are launching a video to remind us of that. It's called Undo
Your Part. Undo Your Part was created to inspire those
who are alarmed about #climatechange but haven’t taken action yet. Maybe
they feel hopeless or aren't sure what to do. With this video (https://www.facebook.com/CitizensClimateLobby/videos/10155106903800808) and your #UndoYourPart posts, we'll inspire our fellow Americans to
believe that if we work together, we can solve this.
3.
Twitter
has become a nexus of political activity but learning to navigate it can seem
daunting at first. Now there is help. If we want to get started on Twitter, but
don’t know where to begin, or if we are already on Twitter, but want to learn
more about getting followers and participating in Twitter Storms, we can look
to Gail Cookson’s Twitter 101 for answers. We can get started by clicking this
link.
4.
Last
week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered counties that plan to replace
their electronic voting systems to buy machines that leave a paper trail as a
safeguard against hacking. Pennsylvania is one of 13 states where most or
all voters use antiquated machines that store votes electronically without
printed ballots or other paper-based backups. (Source: ABCNews). Let's contact our own governors to ask what they are doing to help
secure the 2018 elections.
5.
The
Guardian is compiling all their
Trump-Russia investigation news in one place. Let's bookmark the
page here for future reference.
6.
Last
week Bermuda repealed gay marriage. (Source: NPR). In March (14-16), the Harvard Hasty
Pudding Theatricals group is scheduled to perform in Bermuda. (Source: Hasty
Pudding)
Let's hold them accountable and ask why they are still planning to perform.
Don't they support LGBTQ rights? Let's contact them and ask using the
contact information here. Please note: our Rogan's list contributor
used the "contact us" form and it was returned as undeliverable. We
recommend calling or writing using the information on the page instead.
If we are Harvard alumni, let's also contact the University and the Harvard
Alumni Association.
7.
Postcards
for Virginia, https://postcards4va.com/, was among the very effective groups that
brought massive progressive gains in Virginia’s November 2017 election. Let’s
read this study about how their campaign made a difference,
http://bluevirginia.us/2018/02/study-finds-postcard-writing-a-powerful-political-engagement-tool-in-virginias-2017-house-of-delegates-elections , and let’s request their new guide to
see how we might replicate their success in our own state:
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
States
1. ALL:
The State of Pennsylvania is moving forward with using voting machines that
have paper back-up for recounts (but only when old systems need
replacement): https://apnews.com/b33d9d5fd72642058552662c9cfbf426 Since
we know that election interference is already afoot for 2018, let’s check in
with our own governors: https://www.usa.gov/state-governorand
secretaries of state
https://www.thebalance.com/secretary-of-state-websites-1201005 to
express our concerns about fair elections processes.
2. KS: Stop the Constitution Convention! Idaho just
voted No, now it’s Kansas’ turn to defeat this dangerous Koch backed scheme to
turn our Constitution into a regulation and benefit slashing Koch Friendly
document. Only 34 states are needed to call for this to make it happen and many
have already signed on. Kansas’ bill, SCR 1611 in Federal
and State Affairs Committee, covers term limits, fiscal and judicial
limits, but it’s a Trojan Horse: once a Convention is called, any and all
topics are on the table. We can see how this works from this Washington Post
Opinion piece. http://wapo.st/2o2aD7x We
can testify against this alarming bill at the Committee hearing at the Senate
in room 144-S, from 10:00-12:00 Wed Feb 14th. We can also call (785)
296-239 to tell our State Senators to Vote NO on this call for a
Convention of States. We can read more about the Koch scheme here.
3. KY: Nearly
one-fifth of the Kentucky House is sponsoring a bill that would require school
districts to set aside separate bathrooms and locker rooms for students based
on their “immutable biological sex as male or female,” or else risk paying
damages if students’ families choose to sue. House Bill 326 revives
the debate over the use of public bathrooms by transgender individuals.
(Source: Lexington
Herald-Leader). If we are Kentuckians, let's
contact our state house
legislators to let them know that we oppose
HB326.
4. MA:
Since the Santa Barbara shooting, lawmakers in many states have been fighting
for a new gun safety measure called extreme risk protection orders. These
orders make it possible for someone worried about the mental state of a family
member to seek judicial restraint against them buying or possessing guns (http://abcnews.go.com/US/temporary-restraining-order-guns-stop-mass-shootings/story?id=51042163).
We are at a critical point in the fight to bring these life-saving orders to
Massachusetts, with Rep. David Linsky’s H3081 pending before the Judiciary
Committee, and we need to take action. Let’s call our state reps to urge them
to support H3081. We can find out if they are already on board at this link. We can
find talking points from Stop Handgun Violence here.
And when we make the calls, we can report back on the results here.
5. NY--AND
BEYOND: “Reclaim New York,” which counts among its founding directors Kellyanne
Conway, Steve Bannon, the Federalist Society’s Leonard Leo, and Lawrence Mone
of the Manhattan Institute and which is funded by the Mercer Family Foundation,
is building a network of citizen watchdogs and pushing into issues at all
levels of New York government, including small municipal ones. This right-wing
effort to influence local politics—which often involves suing
financially-strapped small towns that can’t afford the huge legal costs their
defense requires—is not limited to New York State; it appears, rather, to be
the Right’s new strategy in their war against democracy: https://www.wnyc.org/story/trumps-army-battle-new-york/
We need to be on the lookout as these efforts spread, and find effective ways
to counter them.
Reading/Watching
1.
Alice Walker:
Go to the places that ccare you: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/its-your-body/alice-walker-go-to-the-places-that-scare-you
2.
“2017
Lie of the Year: Russian election interference is a 'made-up story'” - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2017/dec/12/2017-lie-year-russian-election-interference-made-s/
3.
“Understanding
news? We’re not even close” - https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/understanding-news-were-not-even-close-1770c7f89954
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