3/14/18
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.
This
should not be surprising, but is disheartening nevertheless: "Republicans
on the House Intelligence Committee announced Monday that they are
prematurely shutting down their investigation into
Russian interference and potential coordination with the Trump
campaign. The announcement came after they apparently reached the opposite
conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community.
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/12/17111492/trump-russia-collusion-probe-house-intel-committee Democrats,
who are expected to issue their own report, are claiming that several
additional witnesses should have been subpoenaed and that witnesses should not
have been allowed to pick and choose which questions they would and would not
answer. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff (D-CA) went even farther
in accusing Republicans of prioritizing “protecting the President over
protecting the country.” Now is the time for us to call our MoCs and express
our outrage at this attempt to cover up justice and to tell them that we
support the ongoing -- and actually bipartisan -- investigation being done by
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Let's contact the members of this
committee and let them know we want the truth: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov. We
can also let our MoCs know that we continue to support the independent
investigation being led by Robert Mueller.
2.
Breaking
ranks with the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee who prematurely
issued their report, Rep. Tom Rooney said that there is evidence
that Russia did try to help Trump: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/378049-florida-republican-says-theres-evidence-russians-tried-to-help Let’s
thank Rep. Rooney for choosing country over party: https://rooney.house.gov/contact
3.
Trump is
replacing former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson—who urges maintaining the Iran nuclear
agreement, is critical of Russia, has decimated the State Department, and may
or may not have called Trump a “moron”—with his sycophantic CIA director Mike
Pompeo—who opposes any plan to close Guantanamo, wants to increase domestic
surveillance, rails against the Iran nuclear deal, led the charge against
Hillary Clinton, and has been cozying up to the president for
months.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/mike-pompeo-on-national-security-issues.html Neither man should be running State;
perhaps our senators should withhold confirmation until someone with even
minimal experience in diplomacy can be found.
4.
Let’s
not be tempted to applaud Trump’s nomination of a woman as head of the CIA to
replace Mike Pompeo, especially not a woman who oversaw a “black site” prison.
Christopher Anders, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s
Washington legislative office, claims Gina Haspel “was up to her eyeballs in
torture.” He has called for the CIA to declassify her torture record
before the Senate considers her nomination. John McCain has joined him,
saying “Ms Haspel needs to explain the nature and extent of her involvement in
the CIA’s interrogation program during the confirmation process”:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/who-is-gina-haspel-trump-cia-director-torture-site-link Let’s contact our senators and insist that they join McCain, Anders, and others in demanding a full accounting of Haspel’s history at the CIA before she is confirmed.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/13/who-is-gina-haspel-trump-cia-director-torture-site-link Let’s contact our senators and insist that they join McCain, Anders, and others in demanding a full accounting of Haspel’s history at the CIA before she is confirmed.
5.
The
Senate may be voting THIS WEEK on S.J. Res. 54, which would end U.S. involvement in the
unauthorized war in Yemen. 55 organizations, both progressive and conservative,
have signed a letter supporting this resolution. https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/senators-will-vote-pulling-troops-yemen Let’s read more about this very important
issue from Indivisible here and make sure to ask our Senators to support
this bipartisan effort.
6.
Not
surprisingly, Trump seems to have had his knuckles rapped by the NRA and is
backing away from his strong statements about sensible gun control but The
White House insists that he is not “chickening out”: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/377987-white-house-insists-trump-not-backing-down-from-nra Let’s
send Trump a postcard to let him know that we know he is, in fact, chickening
out: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500
7.
Trump
inherited 100 judicial vacancies and is rapidly filling them with unqualified
extremists. Current candidates Mateer, Grasz, and Willett are now
flying under the radar to LIFETIME appointments. We can read about them here, then:
A) Call or email our Senators. Demand that they OPPOSE the
nominations of Mateer, Grasz, and Willett, B) Help generate national pressure
to OPPOSE these nominees by sharing this call to action and with friends in
other states. Repost this call for action. Ask others to contact their
Senators. This is all the more important because major national resistance
groups are not currently highlighting the issue, and C) If we are a practicing
or retired lawyers can join others in your profession as independent
group to oppose these appointments.
8.
The Trump
administration’s failure to fight back against Russia’s attacks on our
democracy is not theirs alone. Republicans in Congress have the power to force
the White House to take action, and they are not using it (https://www.forbes.com/sites/stancollender/2018/03/11/gop-congress-is-complicit-in-state-department-not-spending-russian-investigation-dollars/).
They will have particular leverage over the next two weeks as Congress
considers another government spending bill and moving forward as they consider
Mike Pompeo's nomination to be the next Secretary of State. Let’s contact our
reps and let them know we want them to use their appropriations power to force
the executive branch to do something to push back against Russian interference.
And let's let our senators know they should not confirm a new Secretary of
State without assurances they will spend the money appropriated to challenge
Russia's malfeasance.
9.
As part
of Trump’s NRA-approved response to gun violence, he passed the buck to the
states to pass “red flag” laws that would allow law enforcement to temporarily
take firearms from people who might hurt themselves or others (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/gun-violence-what-trump-said-vs-what-trump-did-n855756).
Since Trump clearly isn’t going to lead on this, we’re going to need to turn up
the pressure. Let’s contact
our legislators and make sure they know we want to see
action on red flag laws in our state. And let’s reach out to our MoCs and tell
them we expect them to do better than Trump and support the Graham-Blumenthal Federal Extreme Risk
Protection Order Act of 2018 to allow people to seek protection
orders in federal court along with legislation that would authorize grants for
states that put red flag laws in action.
10. Conservative television outlet Sinclair media
has instituted a new policy forcing their local anchors to issue promos
suggesting that all stories reported by mainstream media outlets are likely to
be “fake news.” http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/07/media/sinclair-broadcasting-promos-media-bashing/index.html. Sinclair already has 81 stations and
reaches 38% of U.S. households. With its pending merger with Tribune Media,
which needs FCC approval, Sinclair’s reach would expand to 72% of U.S. households. Let’s tell our MoCs that we oppose the
Sinclair-Tribune merger and that we find Sinclair’s actions to discredit any
independent media that refuses to simply rubberstamp the president’s agenda as
reprehensible and insulting to the intelligence of the American people.
11.
There is
a bill sitting in Congress right now that would create as many as 2.3 million
new jobs in the US, jobs that could never be shipped elsewhere for cheaper
wages. This bill would also enable 1.6 million of the country's most qualified
yet underemployed people to finally take jobs. This bill is called The Child
Care for Working Families Act (S.
1806), and it deserves our support. https://theconversation.com/why-child-care-costs-more-than-college-tuition-and-how-to-make-it-more-affordable-92396 Let's all tell our MoCs that we'd like them
to co-sponsor the bill and get it a fair hearing. We can also sign this
petition from the National Education Association: http://edadvocacy.nea.org/app/write-a-letter?6&engagementId=399733
Election 2018 –
General
Election 2018 –
By State
Other Actions
1.
In the
wake of the successful teachers’ strike in West Virginia, educators across the
country are standing up for the salary they deserve and better schools for our
kids. Arizona, whose elementary school teachers are the
lowest paid in the United States, is home to a growing
movement demanding change (https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2018/03/12/redfored-arizona-teachers-plan-march-protest/411629002/).
Let’s show them some support! Today, Arizona teachers and those who stand with
them are wearing #RedForEd. We can help amplify their message. Using the
#RedForEd hashtag, let’s post on social media tagging Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and
the Arizona state legislative caucuses telling
them teachers deserve better pay and sharing with them what teachers make in
our states.
2.
Today is
the National School Walkout:
https://www.actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/enough-national-school-walkout Is there a student or teacher in our
life whose participation we can support?
3.
MEDICAL
SUPPLIES NEEDED Save the Syrian Children is looking for much needed
medical supplies, especially for vulnerable traumatized children many of whom
have lost family. The area where kits are delivered is also under constant
attack; many hospitals have been destroyed. We can see what is needed and how
we can help here. https://goo.gl/d7R6W4 We can also share this document. If we
work in the Medical Field, we can see about donating extra supplies to help
these children too.
4.
“The Trace is an independent,
nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to shining a light on America’s gun
violence crisis.” Let’s subscribe to their free daily news roundup: https://www.thetrace.org/
5.
Let’s ask
Amazon to stop carrying products by Bass and Bass Pro:
6.
From one
of our own: Steve Bannon will be
speaking at a Financial Times event in NYC on March 22. Sleeping Giants has
launched a campaign on Twitter to pressure FT into dropping him! https://twitter.com/slpng_giants/status/973587355033485312?s=21 Today, please contact the Financial Times in
a tweet, by email at help@ft.com, or by phone to their Customer Service Desk at
(917) 551-5005. Please be polite but remind them of Bannon’s stint with
Breitbart and his recent comments to racists in France. Tag Sleeping Giants to
RT.
7.
From Postcards from Kate: ICE
spokesman James Schwab left his job last week in order to be able to speak the
truth. That's the courage we need right now. Read more here, and then send him a note of encouragement
via the journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle who reported the story. We can find more info here as well as the
address we need: https://mailchi.mp/0bec7ae38f0a/dailythanks-400809
8.
The
artist/activist behind Portraits of Parkland:
https://www.facebook.com/Portraits.of.Parkland/ has created spare, extraordinary
postcards we can send to legislators, stores, and corporations as we petition
for gun safety and against gun violence. Postcards, and also posters, are
freely available here:
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
States
1.
MD: We
can fight voter suppression in Maryland by supporting Automatic Voter
Registration and Election Day Registration measures that are before the
legislature.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0314-voting-bills-20180312-story.html Let’s tell our state legislators to
pass House Bill 152 and Senate Bill 1048 (AVR), and also House Bill 532 and
Senate Bill 594 (EDR). Look up:
Reading/Watching
1.
CORRECTION:
Childhood poverty has hit a record HIGH in the U.S to include
nearly one in four children. We all need to understand what this means for
these children and for us as a country: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/poor-kids/
2.
““Why the Hell Are We Standing Down?”: The
secret story of Obama’s response to Putin’s attack on the 2016 election”
- https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/03/why-the-hell-are-we-standing-down/
3.
Let’s take a look at someone who could have been
our Secretary of Education, Diane Ravitch, a former assistant secretary of
education as she speaks with Bill Moyers about the value of public education
and the problem with charter schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BfoWt1LeBg
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.