3/19/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
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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. Fourteen (14) bills will be considered in the House including
eleven (11) bills that will be up for a vote on Monday. Let's check out
the Majority Leader's Schedule so we know what's coming.
2.
The
Senate will convene at 3pm on Monday to consider the motion
to proceed to H.R.1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight
Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. This bill has already passed in the House.
Let's recall that HR1865 has opposition from support groups and workers in this
industry as we can read here. If we have concerns about this bill,
now is the time to tell our Senators.
3.
Unless
Congress acts soon, the government will once again face a shutdown this
Friday. While there are efforts being
made on an omnibus spending bill that would take us through the fiscal year
instead of these weeks-long spending bills we’ve been seeing, there is much
dissention about what should or should not be in the bill. (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/progress-omnibus-spending-bill-slows-congress-deadline-nears-n857031) Let’s
make sure we contact our MoCs to let them know which issues we want addressed,
such as DACA, healthcare, the environment, campaign finance, to name a
few. Let’s also tell them if we think
that a shutdown is okay with us over some of these issues.
4.
From one
of our own: This week the House will be
voting on an appropriations bill that sets aside money for states to go to
paper ballots. Paper ballots are essential for election security as
electronic voting machines can be hacked. Please call your Rep and demand
that they support this bill. This website has a script that you can use
while contacting them: https://www.theloyalopposition.net/daily-ctas/demand-house-reps-fund-paper-ballots-states-via-appropriations-bill/
5.
While we
all thought that the sanctions that the White House imposed on Russia last week
were the same ones that Congress overwhelmingly voted on last year, apparently,
they were not. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-russia-sanctions-are-trumps-strongest-action-against-moscow--but-far-short-of-what-congress-wanted/2018/03/15/2a2f8352-2869-11e8-bc72-077aa4dab9ef_story.html?utm_term=.fa58cfa94dac As Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) “who is the
ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “If
President Trump believes that today’s action sufficiently addresses the
sanctions package Congress sent to respond forcefully to Moscow’s election
interference, then he is sorely mistaken.””
http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/15/trump-finally-rolls-out-some-limited-russia-sanctions/ Our legislators need to know that we want
them to continue pressuring Trump to enact ALL the sanctions they approved.
6.
On
Friday night, Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former Deputy Director of
the FBI, Andrew McCabe (two days before his retirement, thus risking his
pension) which McCabe strongly pushed back on and which Trump bragged about on
Twitter: http://thehill.com/homenews/news/378971-mccabe-firing-roils-washington Some have said that this continues to
feel like a slow motion Saturday Night Massacre (from the Nixon era).
Let’s let our MoC know with great clarity that we expect them to protect
Special Counsel Robert Mueller and let’s be prepared for action if Trump moves
on Mueller by signing up for the MoveOn.org rapid mobilization plan: https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
7.
We’re
likely to see a vote on U.S. military involvement in Yemen this week, and it
can’t come a moment too soon. We’ve launched 22 airstrikes in a campaign never
authorized by Congress so far this year, and show no signs of slowing down (http://thehill.com/policy/defense/378495-senate-eyes-vote-next-week-on-us-involvement-in-yemen) . Let’s contact our senators and let them
know we want them to support S.J. Res. 54 and stop Trump’s war in Yemen. We can
use talking points and call scripts from Indivisible here.
8.
In
January, Senator Patrick Leahy asked Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley to hold a
hearing on the escalating politicized attacks on the Justice Department and the
FBI. He’s now publicly demanding one, arguing that it’s time for the committee
charged with oversight of the Department to do its job (http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/378947-judiciary-dem-calls-for-hearing-on-trumps-fbi-attacks). He’s right, and our MoCs need to know it.
Let’s contact them and ask them to join Senator Leahy in requested hearings in
the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on Trump’s attempts to de-legitimize
federal law enforcement.
9.
Within a
couple of days after a puppy died after having been forced to travel in an
overhead bin on an airplane, Sen, John Kennedy (R-LA) said that he would
introduce legislation making it illegal. http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/378540-gop-senator-opposed-to-gun-control-mocked-over-intense-concern-for-airline A
month earlier 17 students died at a Parkland, FL school and Sen. Kennedy and
the rest of Congress did nothing. As Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Gun
Safety, tweeted, " [the]Senator is willing to legislate common
decency, but not gun safety - even though 96 Americans are shot and killed
every single day and hundreds more are injured." Let's ask our
own MoCs where their values lie.
10. Under pressure, Secretary of Labor Alexander
Acosta was forced to admit that tips belong to workers, not big corporations
and restaurant owners (http://thehill.com/regulation/labor/377227-house-dems-offer-bill-to-protect-workers-tips). But we need to keep the pressure on
against his attempt to steal $5.8 million in tips from low-wage (and
overwhelmingly female) workers. Presente gives us the tools to demand he drop
the #TipTheft rule here: http://act.presente.org/call/AcostaStopTipTheftDOL/. And we can also tell our reps to support
the TIP Act to ensure tips go to employees and not employers. We can check if
they’re already on board with H.R. 5180 here.
11.
Laws
that make it harder for workers to form unions have been a critical weapon in
the Republican assault on workers’ rights. The GOP is pushing to bring “right
to work” (for less) laws to more and more states (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/unions-move-to-block-right-to-work-law-in-missouri/article_d7fb08a4-2417-508c-a81d-ab3f0e361971.html). But Democrats led by Senators Brown, Gillibrand
and Warren are fighting back, proposing the Protecting Workers and Improving
Labor Standards Act (S.
1838/H.R.
3827) to
rescind the law that allows states to ban union security agreements. It’s
unlikely to make any progress in this Congress, but let’s make sure our reps
know this is what we want – not more roadblocks to organizing. Let’s contact them
and ask them to co-sponsor – we can see who is already on board here and here.
12. Scott Pruitt is quietly declaring changes to
the Clean Air Act which will allow industries to pollute more and with amnesty
(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/epa-clears-the-air-for-polluters-on-u-s-factory-emissions-rules). His "guidance" and
"clarification" memos (example: https://www.epa.gov/title-v-operating-permits/reclassification-major-sources-area-sources-under-section-112-clean-air) will allow big polluters to circumvent the
rules and avoid court. Let's let Scott Pruitt know we want our clean air
standards protected: Pruitt.scott@Epa.gov, 202-564-4700.
13. From the League of Women Voters: “Stand with the League of Women Voters and
contact your Senators and Representatives. They must pass a clean DREAM Act to
protect, not turn away, the 800,000-young people who were brought to the United
States as children. We can and we must do better to be vigilant about speaking
out against racism. We must stand up as a nation and say this is unacceptable.” More info here: http://participate.lwv.org/c/10065/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=13203
14. In addition to back-tracking on his recent
gun control promises, the president has been delaying several gun safety
measures authorized in the Obama era from going into effect. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-slams-brakes-obama-gun-safety-measures-n853846. These include requiring gun dealers to make
secure gun storage and safety devices available anywhere guns are sold and
prohibiting gun ownership to anyone ordered by courts to receive outpatient
mental health services, (which would have included the 2007 Virginia Tech
shooter). Let’s tell the White House and our MoCs that to stop the delay on
these common-sense, already-authorized gun measures.
15. Republicans in the House are threatening to
defeat S. 2155, the Dodd-Frank rollback (aka Bank Lobbyist
Act) recently passed by the Senate unless it includes even more bank-favorable
measures and weakens the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. http://thehill.com/policy/finance/378860-power-struggle-threatens-to-sink-bank-legislation?userid=200565. Let’s contact our representative in the
House now and say that we don’t want to see any more changes to this already
financially risky bill. Let’s also tell our Senators (especially
the Democrats who voted for it) to
promise to vote against the bill if it’s weakened in any form, and ask Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to put forth a concerted effort to unify
Democrats against any further changes.
16. In response to the Department of Labor's proposed
rule which would allow employers to pool workers' tips and skim the tips
themselves (http://bit.ly/2rWnnSd), Democratic Representatives Katharine Clark
and Rosa DeLauro have introduced H.R.
5180:
the Tip Income Protection Act of 2018 http://bit.ly/2FLkR7W The bill would ensure that all tips,
even those that are pooled, remain the property of employees, not employers.
Let's make sure to call our representative in the House and ask them to
cosponsor and support H.R. 5180 to protect workers from wage theft.
17.
ProPublica has issued a correction in its reporting of
Trump's nominee to head up the CIA, Gina Haspel http://bit.ly/2pkVZJa While it had previously stated that
Haspel was in charge of a secret prison in Thailand and oversaw the torture and
waterboarding of Abu Zubaydah, this was incorrect. However, ProPublica and
the New York Times stand by the reports that Haspel was later in charge of the
Thai base and oversaw torture of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri http://nyti.ms/2pkZEH5 This reaffirms the importance of
getting a full, clear account of Haspel's history at the CIA before the Senate
holds her confirmation hearing. Let's contact our senators and ask that they
push for the declassification of Gina Haspel's torture records.
18. To help combat the opioid crisis, the Trump
administration is taking the war on drugs one step further, considering a
recommendation that some drug dealers receive the death penalty http://politi.co/2GFqDFp While Trump's plan has not yet been
finalized, let's still contact our state senators and representatives and make
sure that they do not consider death penalties an option, but rather treat the
opioid epidemic as the healthcare crisis that it is.
19. Scott Lloyd, director of the Office of
Refugee Resettlement, denied seven requests for abortions between March and
December of last year, including one for a rape victim. Unlike previous
presidents, Trump requires that all ORR abortion requests be approved by Lloyd,
regardless of whether federal funds are to be used. According to Sen. Patty
Murray, Lloyd’s ORR “has become a testing ground for the radical Trump-Pence
agenda to interfere women’s health choices”: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/378867-liberals-seek-ouster-of-hhs-official-blocking-abortions Let’s join Murray, Dianne Feinstein,
and others to urge Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to replace
Lloyd: Secretary@HHS.gov or 202-690-7000
Election 2018 –
General
1.
Voter
registration law are different in every state:
https://www.vote.org/voter-registration-deadlines/ Voter
registration is a big key to getting out the vote. Here are 15 ways that we can help more people
get registered: https://politicalcharge.org/2018/03/10/15-ways-you-can-help-get-more-people-registered-to-vote/
2.
Going
into the primary election for New Jersey’s 2nd congressional
district, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has endorsed
Jeff Van Drew, a candidate with a 100% approval rating from the NRA. http://www.newsweek.com/why-dccc-backing-former-nra-supporter-over-first-time-black-woman-candidate-840691 Let’s express our disapproval to the
DCCC, https://dccc.org/contact/ and let’s consider making a donation to
one or more of the other Democratic candidates listed here:
3.
Election 2018 – By State
1.
ALL: Whatever our political
affiliation... anyone who has been following the special election races knows
the feeling of losing by a handful of votes. For example, the vote in PA-18
this last week was conducted almost exclusively via electronic touchscreens,
and as Nate Silver reports, this leaves no recourse for those demanding a
recount. (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/pennsylvania-18-district-lamb-results/) It's important now more than ever for ALL
of us to lobby for voter-verified paper ballots and rigorous post-election
audits, so that we can continue to have faith in the results of our electoral
process. This week Rogan's List will be providing several interconnected steps
we can take to hold our local election officials accountable. Let’s
find out what equipment is used in our location and identify our local election
agency by consulting the Verified Voting database. (https://www.verifiedvoting.org/verifier/) In most places our local election agency
will be a County office. But there are exceptions (e.g. Wisconsin, where each
town has its own election agency). #VerifytheVote
2.
CA: If you live in the Bay Area, in CA you can
meet Rita Bosworth, the founder of Sister District Project. The group organizes
volunteers into local teams to win state elections for Democrats; 15 out of 16
races they vetted and supported went blue! There is a wine and cheese
fundraiser for the group on March 29. You can find details and purchase
tickets here. Hope to see you there! https://twwlosgatos.ticketspice.com/wine-and-winning
Other Actions
1.
Progressive
Coders Network is looking for the tech savvy among us to help build open
source/low cost tools to empower grassroots organizations (https://www.progcode.org/). Projects they are seeking help with
include: Carpool Vote, Revolution-In-A-Box, Maps For Change, and Conflict Of
Interests Detection Algorithm (Codename: Mr. Clean). We can join the Slack team
here: https://airtable.com/shraBEItZa0sYiMB0.
2.
From one
of our own: States United to Prevent Gun Violence has launched the #BackfireTrumpproject, where we can sign up to auto-tweet
at Trump weekly, daily or every time an American dies from gun violence to
remind him and our Twitter followers of the toll that guns take on us. Sign up
to take part in it here: http://backfiretrump.com/
3.
Special
Prosecutor Mueller’s request for documents from Cambridge Analytics, which was
recently suspended by Facebook for data misuse, should give us all pause.
Speculation on how the Trump campaign might have used this data to spread
misinformation (possibly through Russian bots) to targeted individuals can be
found in this article from Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/16/15657512/cambridge-analytica-mccabe-facebook-aleksandr-kogan-trump-russia. Let’s all be super-careful next time we’re
asked to take on-line personality-based quizzes and spread the word to our
friends and neighbors to stop giving out unnecessary information about
ourselves.
4.
In preparation
for the March for Our Lives on this Saturday, March 24th, CREDO is
offering free poster pdf's https://blog.credomobile.com/2018/03/march-for-our-lives-download-a-poster-and-raise-your-voice/ Let's check them out, then make our
voices heard at our local march https://event.marchforourlives.com/event/march-our-lives-events/search/
5.
It has
become increasingly apparent that Russian Intelligence is deliberately using
social media to disrupt our society, pit us against each other and erode our
faith in Government institutions. As research on the best ways to combat this
continues, it looks like one of the best ways to combat the effect of Russian
Trolls is through Cognitive Resilience, i.e., the ability to detect, these
manipulations and then resist them, as the Parkland students say, to
“call B.S.” We can watch this video, from act.tv which explains how fake news is
generated then share it widely with our family, friends and on social edit. Let’s make this video go viral. Putin will
not be pleased! https://www.facebook.com/actdottv/videos/770297793160789/ We
can see more of act.tv videos here: https://act.tv/
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
This Saturday, March 24, is the March for Our Lives organized by the
students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,
FL. The main march will be in Washington,
DC with sibling marches all over the
world. If we are going to DC, here is some good information to know: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Practical-Guide-Everything-You-Need-to-Know-for-DCs-March-for-Our-Lives-Metro-Bathrooms-Stay-Sleep-To-Do-Where-Is-the-March-477176673.html
States
1.
ALL: Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has launched an
investigation into how Cambridge Analytica used Facebook data during the 2016
election cycle: http://thehill.com/policy/technology/378940-massachusetts-launches-investigation-into-cambridge-analyticas-use-of Let’s ask our own Attorneys General to
take similar initiative: http://www.naag.org/naag/attorneys-general/whos-my-ag.php
2.
ALL STATES/NJ: Felony disenfranchisement laws take the vote away from American
citizens in 48 states. Only Maine and Vermont allow full voting rights for
felons – a group that is disproportionately made up of people of color (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/22/opinion/new-jersey-voting-rights-felons.html). New Jersey legislators have introduced a
bill to end all felon disenfranchisement and treat voting as the central
American right it is. If we live in New Jersey, let’s contact
our legislators and
ask them to back this effort. If we live elsewhere, let’s
tell our legislators we
want them to launch a similar campaign in our state.
3.
MOST: Many states are raising the
minimum wage:
http://time.com/money/5083916/minimum-wage-increase/ There
are many reasons why it is a good thing to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdom8B11sqg Let's contact our state leaders and
thank them if they've raised the minimum wage and encourage them to do so, if
they have not. We all win.
4.
KS: Kansas State Senate just defeated a measure
to ban bump stocks. http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Kansas-Senate-rejects-proposal-on-bump-stocks-477008723.html Time
to call and tell them this is NOT acceptable. We need this law re-introduced
and passed NOW! If we need to look up
our state Senator and their contact info, we can do it here: http://www.knea.org/home/312.htm
5.
MI: An attempt is being made to gauge the
interest in developing a Michigan Youth Action Coalition. Here is a link to the form with more
information: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_UZ7lxiLsVZTZtkF5MPQuuvPIQuePGwMrwZHTNHbAZvO9bA/viewform Let’s
share it with youth we know.
6.
MI:
Last week, the Michigan Senate passed bills bringing Michigan one step closer
to offering online voter registration to eligible Michiganders:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/2018/03/15/online-voter-registration-gets-overwhelming-support-state-senate/428177002/ If the measure passes the House, it
will go to the governor for signature. Let’s contact our MI reps: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ , and Governor Rick Snyder:
governorsoffice@michigan.gov, 517-373-3400, and tell them to pass and sign this
legislation.
7.
OH: With Mission: VOTE, Ohio Progressive Action Leaders (OPAL) are
challenging grassroots activist groups to engage 88,000 voters in Ohio’s 88
counties before the May 8 primary with outreach campaigns, education
forums, and voter registration drives. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1r0YVe0Cp9uvPxPtBEESXm7DDWEWm6EZN/view Let’s bring this campaign to the
attention of our group leaders and have our groups sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeW4-7BxbTYJp26KalqGHL0mea-i_jelJw_0AJ2FtidJRDqg/viewform
8.
TX: More than 600,000 registered voters in Texas can’t vote because they don’t
have the required IDs. The group Spread the Vote is holding training sessions
in Dallas (3/28), Ft. Worth (3/29), San Antonio (4/10), and Austin (4/14) for
volunteers who want to help people get their voter IDs. Let’s help stop voter
suppression by signing up to get trained and volunteer: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SpreadTheVoteUS/events
9.
Washington, D.C.: There is a network of DC metro
area moms who are mobilizing neighbors, friends, PTAs, community listservs and
student councils to identify free lodging for out-of-town marchers. If we can help, click here: https://www.dcambs.org/lodging/
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, "In another frenzied week in
America, Trump fired his secretary of state through a tweet, and continued to
stoke fears of imminent additional departures, in what was described as a White
House verging on mania." Let's review Amy
Siskind's list week 70.
2.
“The Fight Over Teacher Salaries: A Look At The
Numbers” - https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/03/16/592221378/the-fight-over-teacher-salaries-a-look-at-the-numbers
3.
"What Are Active-Shooter Drills Doing
to Kids?: The psychological effects of realistic simulations could be
dangerous" - https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/02/effects-of-active-shooter/554150/
4.
And, as usual, our weekly dose of Small
Victories: https://mailchi.mp/peaceisloud/small-victories-if-the-kids-are-united
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