2/23/18
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Contact Federal Government Officials
********************************
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.
Phone
number correction: The NRA has been
accused of illegally conducting political spending while reaping the tax
benefits of being a non-profit:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/apr/21/nra-illegal-political-spending-lobbying-pac and Citizens for Responsibility
and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint (http://crew.3cdn.net/9d9bdeceea844c1be0_fam6yx6ix.pdf) with the IRS in 2015 and updated its
findings in 2016 that "the NRA has failed to disclose $60 million in
political spending since 2008." (https://www.csgv.org/action/tell-fec-irs-investigate-nra-violations-federal-law/) Let’s tell IRS Commissioner
David J. Kautter to launch investigations into the NRA’s fraudulent activities
immediately: 1111 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20224-0002
or (202-317-7070) or
Fax: (202)
622-5756
We can also send information that raises questions about an exempt
organization’s compliance with the Internal Revenue Code by submitting Form
13909, Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint (Referral) Form: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f13909.pdf Form 13909 and any supporting
documentation may be submitted via: mail to IRS EO Classification, Mail
Code 4910DAL, 1100 Commerce St., Dallas, TX 75242-1198, fax to 214-413-5415, or email to eoclass@irs.gov
2.
At a
crucial moment for our planet’s future, the administrator of the EPA is someone
who thought it was worth his time to personally oversee the removal of
information on climate change from the agency’s websites (http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/371955-pruitt-personally-monitored-removal-of-climate-change-info-from-epa). This is one of the greatest threats our
country faces, and we need to make sure Scott Pruitt knows we know it. NextGen
America is encouraging folks to submit public comments to the EPA opposing the
repeal of Obama’s Clean Power Plan. Let’s let Polluting Pruitt hear our
voices at this link.
3.
Before
anyone buys an assault rifle they should see a Film showing a trauma surgeon
trying to save a victim shot by an AR-15 gun. Wayne LaPierre of the NRA should
be the first one to see that film. Here is what a trauma surgeon saw while
reviewing a CT scan. “I was looking at a CT scan of one of the victims of the
shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who had been brought to the
trauma center during my call shift. The organ looked like an overripe melon
smashed by a sledgehammer, with extensive bleeding. How could a gunshot wound
have caused this much damage? The reaction in the emergency room was the same.
One of the trauma surgeons opened a young victim in the operating room and
found only shreds of the organ that had been hit by a bullet from an AR-15, a
semi-automatic rifle which delivers a devastatingly lethal, high-velocity
bullet to the victim. There was nothing left to repair, and utterly,
devastatingly, nothing that could be done to fix the problem. The injury was
fatal. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/what-i-saw-treating-the-victims-from-parkland-should-change-the-debate-on-guns/553937
We
don’t need to raise the age for this gun, we need to ban this weapon
completely. Please keep the pressure on Congress. Our children deserve to live
in a safe America.
4.
In one
of the more alarming ideas to emerge in our nation’s discussion of gun violence
over the past week, Trump seems gung-ho about arming teachers:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns/u-s-students-protest-over-gun-laws-trump-considers-arming-teachers-idUSKCN1G51QY Let’s let Trump know that we the people are
taking a hard pass on that approach.
5.
“Knowing
the facts about firearms, crime trends in the U.S., and the effectiveness or
ineffectiveness of gun legislation are a vital part of staying safe and
informed. Continue reading to see the relationship between gun laws and gun
deaths in the U.S.: https://www.safehome.org/resources/gun-laws-and-deaths/ Some
of this data is displayed here by state:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EJ2EZuID0e0ZhISYFf9WftVNnDqaWhgs5Hz6Kmj7ndQ
6.
Rather
than resigning for his abuse of taxpayer funds, VA Secretary David Shulkin has
gotten dispensation to fire whistleblowers for “subversion”: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/20/shulkin-veterans-agency-purge-417896 Let’s let Shulkin know that it is his
subversion of trust is what needs attention and that we expect him to resign:
Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin
https://www.va.gov/opa/bios/secva.asp(mailing address at bottom)
7.
Republican
Tim Miller wrote this piece for Crooked Media (the folks who bring us Pod Save
America podcasts) and it is titled: “Propping Up President Trump Isn’t Public
Service”: https://crooked.com/article/not-public-service-propping-president-trump/ Let’s send copies of it to the “adults
in the room” and ask them to read it: A) Secretary
of Defense James Mattis, US Dept of Defense, 1400 Defense Pentagon, Washington,
DC, 20301-1400, B) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, US Dept
of State, 2201 C St NW, Washington, DC 20520, C) Lt. Gen. HR
McMaster, National Security Advisor, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania
Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500, and D) General John Kelly, Chief of Staff,
The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500
8.
The
president might have followed the instructions someone carefully printed on his
cue cards https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/22/i-hear-you-trump-uses-cue-cards-to-remind-him-to-listen-to-shooting-survivors and “listened” to the students and other gun
control advocates at a meeting at the White House on Wednesday. And while he
seems to be taking some small steps on policies that are opposed by the NRA http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/374980-trump-tiptoes-toward-possible-fight-with-nra, one proposal that should alarm us all is
the idea of arming teachers. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns/u-s-students-protest-over-gun-laws-trump-considers-arming-teachers-idUSKCN1G51QY. Let’s make sure our MoCs know that we do
not want to solve gun violence issues with more guns, and that the role of a
teacher is to educate students, not to shoot attackers.
9.
Now that
Congress has passed the budget deal, they are in the process of writing
appropriations bills, and it is speculated that these bills will include a
number of environmentally harmful riders that would kill the Clean Water Act,
repeal methane emissions regulations, and endanger protected flora and fauna. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/opinion/republican-environment-policy.html These
bills would never pass the Senate on their own, which is why the Republicans
are trying to attach them to must-pass legislation. Let’s tell our Senators
that we do not want to see controversial environmental legislation tied into
budget appropriations and ask our Senators to vote NO on any legislation that
includes these environmentally destructive riders.
Election 2018 –
General
1.
Although
yard signs are not a very glamorous part of a campaign, they can still play a
surprising strong role, as we can see in this article about how they
helped Doug Jones win: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article199865299.html If we are a candidate, working on a campaign,
or know someone who is, The
Campaign Workshop has a yard
sign calculator to determine whether this is a cost-effective route for us. Joe
Fuld of the Workshop also recommends Paul Lage's 7
industry tips to navigate the process of designing and printing yard signs for campaigns here!
Election 2018 –
By State
1.
CT: A special election for the position
of Connecticut House of Representatives District 120
2.
FL: These 25 seats are held by NRA graded A/A+ Republicans
and have no opponents: http://www.miamidadedems.org/defeatthenra Time to run or find people to run against
these folks.
3.
KY: A special election for the position
of Kentucky House of Representatives District 89
4.
NH: A special election for the position
of New Hampshire House of Representatives District Belknap 3
5.
TX: From Shaun King who spoke in Dallas on Wednesday and listed five action we all can do: https://drive.google.com/open?id=13nW0eWJfP82lvrcgQXGj2NptPyNeUJ24TWog9yzo5bg
Other Actions
1.
Yesterday,
a group of television writers, directors, and producers headed by Warren Leight
(from Law & Order: SVU) approached Amazon.com to ask that it stop streaming
NRAtv, the public entertainment mouthpiece of the National Rifle Association.
The channel is available for free and exists to spread pro-gun content from the
likes of Dana Loesch and Oliver North. Let's support Leight and his group by
telling Amazon how we feel about their continuing to offer gun glorification in
the wake of the mass shooting in Parkland FL. Amazon customers can write a
review of NRAtv here (https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_wr_but_btm?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=B01CKO10KM), while others can leave general feedback at
888-280-3321. Either way, be sure to mention Leight's name.
2.
From ActLocal: We
are thrilled to share the application for hosting an ActLocal 2018 event!
ActLocal events are powerful ways to bring the activist/grassroots groups in
your community and state together for in-person power and relationship building
as well as strategizing and coordinating local efforts. We seek out local hosts
to head each event and then provide national support, so you can run your event
in a way that makes sense to you and feels valuable for your community. And
don't let "application" scare you, we just want to get a sense of who
you and your group(s) are. Anyone in this group would be a perfect host. If you
are interested, please fill out this form: https://goo.gl/forms/HrjzF6cMLaJPVaQs2 Want
to learn more? Check out this article we recently published on Medium: https://medium.com/actlocal/building-local-power-together-70ee63bbadf4 Or -
email me at andrea@actiontogethernetwork.org
3.
Many
school districts around the country are facilitating the March 14 school walk
out. http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Marquette-Area-Public-Schools-respond-to-March-14-planned-walk-out-474622453.html Any
word from your school? Let’s call and see how we can help and support our
students and schools!
4.
Last
week, Unilever's chief marketing officer, Keith Weed, threatened to pull
Unilever's ads from Facebook and Google, if the companies don't do more to stop
the spread of "toxic content" http://politi.co/2opR2OG http://wapo.st/2oiD95V In the short time since Weed's speech,
trolls have spread conspiracy theories about the Parkland, Florida students,
using Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms: http://n.pr/2Cd3meK http://bit.ly/2EH1axH Considering this, Sleeping Giants is
asking that we e-mail Chief Marketing Officer Keith Weed and urge him to pull
Unilever's advertising from Facebook and Google. We can use the sample e-mail
available on Sleeping Giants' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/slpnggiants/posts/2004290386480267 then send it to keith.weed@unilever.com
5.
As
students across the country organize to fight for gun control, some school
districts are threatening to punish those who participate in walkouts (https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/21/us/student-walkout-punishment-trnd/index.html). The ACLU of Alabama has a prepared guide
on student protest rights under the First Amendment. Let’s review the guide here, share it widely, and make sure anyone who
believes their rights will be violated knows to contact
their state ACLU affiliate.
6.
Seventeen
(17) Massachusetts mayors and nine (9) Connecticut mayors have sent letters to
their respective US Senators urging them to support strong clean car
standards. The Republican administration is currently working with
automakers to try to significantly weaken the federal clean vehicle standards
that were agreed important ways to slash carbon emissions and dangerous air
pollution that threatens our public health. We can read more at Sierra
Club about both Massachusetts and Connecticut. Let's contact our own local mayors to
let them know that we support clean car standards and want them to voice their
support to our US Senators. We can also contact our Senators directly
about this issue.
7.
On
Thursday morning, Trump called the leaders of the National Rifle
Association “Great People and Great American Patriots.” The NRA--which peddles
guns (and hate), funds right-wing politicians (including Trump), and opposes
universal background checks, age limits, or any legislative restriction on gun
sales—reaches more than 11 million people through its print and online
magazines, has about 8.7 million followers on Facebook and Twitter, and has
recently spent $35 million on NRATV in an effort to reach millions more.
Touting itself as "America's Most Patriotic Team on a Mission to Take Back
The Truth," NRATV is distributed by Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire
TV: http://www.watoday.com.au/world/where-the-nra-speaks-first-and-loudest-20180222-p4z1am.html Let’s tell these distributors to stop
shilling for the financiers of gun violence: Apple, 408-996-1010 or One Apple Park Way, Cupertino, CA
95104; Amazon 206-622-2335 or CEO Jeff Bezos, 206-266-1000 or 1200 12th Ave. South, Suite 1200,
Seattle, WA 98144-2734; Roku VP Stephen Kay, 408-556-9391 or 150 Winchester Circle, Los Gatos, CA
95032.
8.
We all
know there is a deep divide between Democrats and Republicans that needs to be
addressed. Better Angels has set out to bridge that divide. They’ve “designed several workshops that
successfully help red and blue Americans rebuild trust and better understand each
other’s' perspectives. Our signature "Red/Blue Workshop" brings
together 7 conservative-leaning participants and 7 progressive-leaning participants
for moderated activities and discussions that clarify disagreements, reduce
stereotyped thinking, and begin building the relationships needed to find
common ground.” Let’s check it out: https://better-angels.org and get involved in helping our country come
together.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
Just days before the Supreme Court hears a crucial
case for organized labor, leaders from civil rights movements, labor unions,
environmental justice groups, religious groups and community organizations are
coming together for a Working People’s Day of Action tomorrow, February
24th (https://michronicleonline.com/2018/02/14/civil-rights-and-labor-groups-announce-working-peoples-day-of-action/). They will be
standing up for the freedom of working people to organize and fight for decent
and equitable pay, affordable health care and secure futures. We can find
events near us to take part in at this link.
2.
Now is the time to talk about Gun Violence! Now is
the time for stronger laws to protect our children and our schools! With
Parkland students leading the way, the country is finally ready to demand real
change. To keep this powerful message in the public eye, we can join
Action Together Network’s Twitter Warriors Tweet Storm this Sunday, February
25th at 8pm EST. The tweets are already written, so we can send them
out with just a few clicks. We can find
out more about the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/168135487165157/ We can tweet prewritten tweets from this
sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1f1zHNuUJdFXaoopbh1uQnqnHVtCtu9rkGGzeK_e3okg/htmlview
3.
Women's March Youth Empower will be holding public
calls each Thursday leading up to the March 14th National
School Walkout. While the first phone call was held yesterday, we can still
sign up to attend the calls on March 1st and March 8th, both
at 8:30pm ET http://bit.ly/2Fj5tw1 We can also
find more information on the Facebook page for the Enough! National School
Walkout https://www.facebook.com/events/1767175080245694/
4.
“On April 20, education organizations are
joining forces to protest gun violence and demand action from state and federal
legislatures. We call it a Day of Action Against Gun Violence.” https://dianeravitch.net/2018/02/20/coalition-supporting-a-day-of-action-against-gun-violence-grows/
States
1.
GA: A
discriminatory anti-LGBTQ adoption bill has advanced to the full [Georgia
state] senate. State Senate bill SB375 is an anti-LGBTQ “License to
Discriminate” bill that would allow taxpayer-funded adoption
agencies to turn away same-sex couples. Let's read more at Georgia Equality. If we are Georgians, let's contact our
state senator to tell them we oppose discriminatory bill SB375. Georgia
Equality is sponsoring an LGBTQ lobbying day on March 1 at the state
Capitol. We can find out more here.
2.
UT: The
[Utah state] Senate Health and Human Services Committee on
Wednesday approved a pair of bills promoting the growth of full-strength
marijuana in the state and terminally ill patients' right to try medicinal
cannabis products. HB197, a bill instructing the Department of
Agriculture to grow cannabis in the state that passed the House earlier this
month with the fewest allowable votes, and HB195, which allows patients defined as terminally
ill to use cannabis products if recommended by a doctor, are now slated to be
considered by the full Senate. Let's read more at Deseret News. If we are Utahns, let's contact our state
senator in
support of HB197 and HB195.
Reading/Watching
1.
The
Equal Justice Society is an organization committed to "transforming the
nation’s consciousness on race through law, social science, and the arts. Led
by President Eva Paterson, our legal strategy aims to broaden conceptions of
present-day discrimination to include unconscious and structural bias by using
social science, structural analysis, and real-life experience." Its
director, Eva Paterson, has recently started a "This Week in White
Supremacy" list modelled on Amy Siskind's https://theweeklylist.org.
Let's check out Paterson's list, as well as the other initiatives of this
group.
2.
From
EcoWatch: Update on Nestlé: Michiganders Mobilize to Take Back Public
Water. Let's read how public pressure and action have halted Nestle's plans
so we can understand how to take on Nestle and other water bottlers if they
come to our towns.
3.
“Walkouts,
Marches and the Desire to 'Do Something': What You Need to Know About Stoneman
Douglas Activism” - https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/walkouts-marches-and-the-desire-to-do-something-what-you-need-to-know-about-stoneman
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