3/28/18 Rogan's List

3/28/18

Contact Federal Government Officials

Find senator’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/RLiotu

Find representative’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/5i7SXC

Fax legislators for free:  Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

and Senate: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

White House contact:  https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house

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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 Commerce Department has announced that the 2020 census will include a question on citizenship (https://nyti.ms/2GieUeP https://usat.ly/2GzJaWg). This could skew the data by causing non-citizens to fail to answer, shifting political representation and federal funds to rural areas. Let's call our reps and tell them that we oppose any question on citizenship status in the 2020 census. We can use the script available at 5calls: https://5calls.org/issue/citizenship-question-2020-census. Let’s also add our voices to those reaching out to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross directly: Wilbur Ross, Dept of Commerce, 202-482-2000 or 1401 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20230.

2.       The FEC has launched a preliminary investigation into whether Russian entities gave illegal contributions to the NRA that were intended to benefit the Trump campaign during the 2016 election cycle (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/16/nra-russia-election-donations-fec-investigation-468661). But we know the NRA supported many more candidates than just Trump. We can find a list of candidates who received NRA contributions in the 2016 cycle from the Center for Responsive Politics here. If they represent us now, let’s contact them and ask them to publicly commit to donating any funds they received from the NRA during the 2016 election season if the FEC finds they did get illegal contributions from Russia.

3.       The Agriculture Department is considering a policy change that would expose more and more people to the harsh three-month time limit on food stamp benefits.  (https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/02/22/feds-plan-could-add-food-stamp-work-requirement-in-most-counties/). This will help no one get out of poverty and will take food away from people who need assistance. We can submit public comments objecting to this change here, and find taking points from the Food Research and Action Center here.

4.       In the bogus name of “research transparency,” the EPA’s Scott Pruitt is proposing a new regulation that would only allow studies with public data to influence writing regulations. This would drastically reduce the pool of scientific research on which the EPA could base its rules, eliminating many environmental health studies that involve confidential patient information or proprietary details about companies (https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/23/17147330/epa-science-regulations-pruitt). Pruitt’s attack on science seems to know no bounds.  Let’s oppose this rule and make it clear that we recognize censorship even when it’s called “transparency”: @EPAScottPruitt or 202-564-4700 or Environmental Protection Agency, Mail Code 1101A, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460.

5.       As Trump faces a May deadline to either renew or terminate the Iran nuclear agreement, the National Coalition to Prevent an Iranian Nuclear Weapon issued a statement on Monday enumerating 10 reasons why preserving the accord is in our best interest (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/26/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-letter.html). This statement was signed by 118 national security leaders—among them, 49 retired flag officers of the US military, 19 former members of Congress, 31 former ambassadors, including 5 former ambassadors to Israel: http://coalitionagainstirannukes.org/our-statements.  Let’s add our voices to theirs and tell Trump that killing the agreement by resuming sanctions on Iran endangers the whole world, not to mention our reputation in it.

Election 2018 – General

Election 2018 – By State

Other Actions

1.       If we’ve already called our MoCs demanding they push for action on legislation to protect the Mueller investigation from Trump, there’s still more we can do to keep up the pressure (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-reluctant-chastise-trump-mueller-n858101). MoveOn is having volunteers text activists across the country, encouraging them to make those calls to Congress themselves. To get started, we can visit this page, and we can find details and scripts for calls here. H/t Massachusetts Indivisible.

2.       Teachers across the country are following West Virginia's lead and taking action to get the salaries they deserve. In Arizona, the #RedForEd movement is launching a #TextForEd campaign, where they're aiming to text 40,000 voters and urge them to contact Governor Ducey and demand more funding for public education (http://tucson.com/news/local/gov-doug-ducey-signs-off-on-extended-education-sales-tax/article_21f014f3-cbab-5e5d-98e4-11ccb553af9b.html). ProgressNow Arizona has us set up so that we can help them do this outreach from anywhere in the country. We can sign up to help out at this link.

3.       California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is suing the administration over its decision to include the citizenship question in the 2020 census, and so is a multi-state coalition led by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman of New York (http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/380391-california-ag-to-sue-trump-administration-over-census-citizenship). Let’s contact our state attorney general and ask them to join California in these lawsuits if they haven’t already. And if they won’t, let’s start checking out who we might vote for to replace them: https://democraticags.org/meet-the-candidates/.

4.       Since the FCC ended net neutrality, a movement has been building to demand that our cities and states protect the free and open internet (https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/03/net-neutrality-executive-orders-fcc-mayors-bill-de-blasio/555344/). The list of those rising to the challenge is growing, but many cities have yet to join. Let's tell our mayors that we want city contracts for internet services only going to companies that abide by net neutrality rules. A personal call is most effective, of course, and there is also a petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/sign-to-email-your-mayor-set-net-neutrality-protections-in-my-city.

5.       On Greyhound buses in innumerable places across the country, Customs and Border Protection agents have increased their warrantless “immigration checks,” potentially in violation of our 4th amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.  Ten state affiliates of the ACLU are trying to get Greyhound to stop cooperating with the Border Patrol, saying they are not legally obliged to do so (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/mar/27/aclu-to-greyhound-stop-border-patrol-searches-on-b/) We can learn more about these Border Patrol searches here. And we can urge Greyhound to stop allowing these “checks” or risk our business:
Greyhound Lines, Inc, 600 Vine St., Ste 1400, Cincinnati OH 45202 or 513-241-2200 or fax 513-419-3394 or @GreyhoundBus.

6.       It has been reported that, as of 2016, only one in four no-loan financial aid colleges keep their cafeterias open during spring break (https://nyti.ms/2FN7lAC, https://dailytrojan.com/2017/03/06/spring-break-policies-hurt-poor-students/). These colleges are ostensibly more welcoming for low-income students, but by closing their cafeterias during breaks, they are ignoring the fact that many of these students rely on school cafeterias to ward of starvation. In addition, some of these colleges charge their students to stay on-campus during break. Let's call our alma maters, state, and community colleges and ask them what their policies are for on-campus cafeterias. If they close cafeterias during breaks, let's ask them to change their policy and keep these cafeterias open. We can also ask that they establish an on-campus food bank if they have not already done so.

7.       Snopes.com, “the definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation,” needs our help. They’ve run into some legal trouble with a former vendor, and it’s costing our favorite fact-checking service lots of money. We can best support the worthwhile, useful services they offer by contributing to their GoFundMe, here: http://gofundme.com/savesnopes/. If we’d like more details on the case and how they’re handling it, we can read about it here: https://www.snopes.com/update-team-snopes-regarding-savesnopes-campaign/#.WrhnCyk2jzg.twitter.

8.      From Now This Politics:  The day before the March for our Lives, "student journalists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School discuss their experiences reporting on the Parkland shooting that killed 17 of their fellow students and teachers":  https://www.facebook.com/NowThisPolitics/videos/1977111732320307/. Let's take time to thank these young journalists:  Eagle Eye Staff,  5901 NW Pine Island Road, Parkland, FL 33076.

9.       After each mass school shooting, there is a natural desire to increase security measures in order to keep children safe. Research shows, however, that heightened security will often erode trust and communication in schools, leading to a more dangerous environment (https://theconversation.com/culture-of-trust-is-key-for-school-safety-92731). On the other hand, allowing a freer and more open society to flourish among students, teachers, and staff produces safer schools, where information about truly dangerous students is more likely to reach the adults. Is the school in our neighborhood/district doing what's safest for kids? Let's call the principal/superintendent and find out! 

10.   For those of us who are musical, here we can share our talents:  Justice Choir has a mission "to further social and environmental justice movements by engaging communities in singing together."  Let's check to see if there is a chapter we can join or how to start one: http://www.justicechoir.org/ We can download their songbook here:  http://www.justicechoir.org/songbook/.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

States

1.       PA: Pennsylvania is a test case for the reversal of gerrymandering and other states with gerrymandered electoral maps are watching it closely. The state supreme court threw out the GOP's unfair map and replaced it with a fairer one. Republicans responded by starting a drive to impeach the judges who tossed their map (http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/379897-republican-chief-justice-of-pa-supreme-court-scolds-gop-over-impeachment). Their House leadership has expressed opposition, but this is not something to take chances with. Let’s contact our state legislators and ask them to publicly commit to not impeaching judges now or for any partisan reason: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/.

2.       MI:  "In all, at least 39 gun bills (most, pro-gun) have been introduced in the Michigan legislature this term, many with no hearing scheduled. More than a month after 17 people were killed in Florida, and days after mass demonstrations against gun violence, Michigan legislative leaders appear to be in no hurry to take action on any of them” (https://www.bridgemi.com/public-sector/michigan-lawmakers-treading-lightly-guns). Let's let our state lawmakers know that the only gun bills we want passed are those having to do with greater protection, not availability: http://michiganlcv.org/at-the-capitol/find-your-elected-officials/.

3.       MA: Clean energy champions in Massachusetts have introduced an omnibus energy bill (S. 2302) that would ban the pipeline tax, stop new pipeline construction, further cut our state’s greenhouse gas emissions and reduce fossil fuel usage (http://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2018/02/12/senate-energy-bill). With the Trump administration rejecting climate science, this sort of measure is more important than ever. Consumers for Sensible Energy has set up a tool that allows us to contact our state senators and tell them to support the bill – let’s make sure we take advantage of it here.

Reading/Watching

1.       The Supreme Court hears arguments today in Benisek v. Lamone, a case about whether or not gerrymandering in Maryland violated the constitutional rights of voters. For a preview of a case that could be transformative in American politics, we can read this Politico article by election law expert Richard Hasen.

2.       Elections matter. Here’s more proof from Philadelphia, where a new district attorney is revolutionizing his department. Civil rights attorney Larry Krasner in just a few months has removed obstructive prosecutors and police, changed sentencing guidelines to reduce mass incarceration and begun a dramatic reform program. We can read this article by Shaun King to see what our criminal justice system could be like.

3.       “An Ohio Bill Would Ban All Abortions. It’s Part of a Bigger Plan.” - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/25/opinion/ohio-abortion-ban-bill.html