Rogan's List

4/10/18

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.       In the event that public pressure forces Trump to #BootPruitt, the deputy administrator would take over his responsibilities. Trump’s pick for this position is up for a Senate vote this week: Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who has spent much of his career trying to undermine the EPA (https://www.npr.org/2018/03/17/593546626/former-coal-lobbyist-on-tap-for-no-2-spot-at-epa). Let’s let our senators know that Pruitt’s corruption means this position is even more important than usual, and we want them to vote no. We can find talking points from the Union of Concerned Scientists here and scripts from 5Calls here.

2.      The omnibus spending bill that passed in March, while not everything Republicans or Democrats wanted, did have bipartisan support. Trump, however, is now seeking line-item veto power, which has previously been ruled unconstitutional, in order to edit out parts of bills that make their way to his desk for a signature:

https://wapo.st/2qjHlm2 https://bit.ly/2GIPebx On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin pushed further, suggesting that Congress should give Trump this power https://cnn.it/2Evz0kn Let's call our MoC and be sure that they oppose this unconstitutional practice. We can also contact Secretary Mnuchin and let him know that if he is going to be vying for favor with Trump, he should make sure he does so within the confines of the Constitution: Mailing address: Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20220 or Phone: (202) 622-2000 or here: https://www.treasury.gov/connect/Pages/Message-to-the-Secretary.aspx

3.      We need to be aware of the grave danger to Social Security, Medicare, and other programs contained in the benign sounding “Balanced Budget Amendment” soon to come before Congress. This amendment would write far-right fiscal policy into the Constitution, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains:
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/constitutional-balanced-budget-amendment-poses-serious-risks We can also read: 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/04/08/house-republicans-vote-balanced-budget-amendment-conservative-ire-spending/493728002/  Let’s let our MoCs know that this is not necessarily the best way to manage our needs.

4.      With hawks like National Security Advisor John Bolton and Michael Pompeo coming into key administrative positions http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/382217-juan-williams-trumps-nest-of-hawks , the need for legislated restraint has never been greater.  The No Nuclear First Strike Act, (HR 669/S. 200), will prevent the President from authorizing a nuclear first strike without the consent of Congress. Let’s tell our MoCs to pass this legislation now.

5.      Sinclair Broadcasting is eroding the integrity of local news and it is on the verge of becoming even larger.  “If the Department of Justice approves its acquisition of Tribune Media, Sinclair will be available in 70% of households here…”  https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceweinstein/2018/04/09/should-you-care-about-what-sinclair-is-doing-with-your-local-news/#5f6e7f241d03  and https://www.vox.com/2018/4/6/17202824/sinclair-tribune-map  Let’s let the FCC know that we do not want this merger to be allowed.  We can file our comments opposing the Sinclair/Tribune Media merger at https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express.  (Enter “17-179” in the “Proceeding” line.)

6.      Significant numbers of people are still struggling in Puerto Rico. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/03/05/6-months-after-hurricane-maria-life-puerto-rico-better-but-far-normal/380127002/. Let’s tell our MoCs and our Governors that we’d prefer to send our national guard troops there, not to the Mexican border.

7.      51 prominent economists, four of them Nobelists, have written an open letter to Congress, urging adequate funding be made available to the Census Bureau to ensure a fair and accurate count of the 2020 US population:  https://www.epi.org/publication/an-open-letter-from-51-economists-to-congress-urging-robust-funding-of-the-2020-census/ We can join them by urging our congress-people to vote to significantly increase funding for fiscal 2019 and provide the authority to spend at the necessary levels in absence of an appropriation.

8.     "Facebook’s feed is less a window into the world than a personal secretary that faithfully learns who you are and shows you what you want to see." A journalist pretended to be a Trump supporter on Facebook to see what the algorithms of the platform would offer her. She also looks into who's behind the fake news that took over her feed. This essay is an eye-opening reminder of how we are manipulated by social media without even knowing it. https://rantt.com/a-look-at-who-is-behind-the-right-wing-fake-news-that-spreads-on-facebook-c88bf0a81bb5   Let’s be mindful of the news we share and promote. 

Election 2018 – General

1.       We’re just TWO WEEKS AWAY from the next special election for the House in Arizona, and national Republicans have poured more than half-a-million dollars into the state to defend what should be a totally safe seat in the Eighth Congressional District. ER doctor and Social Security and Medicare champion Hiral Tipirneni is making scandal-tarred GOP state senator Debbie Lesko sweat: 

(https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2018/04/08/who-replace-trent-franks-democrats-aiming-upset-arizona-special-election/483053002/). We can help her win from home anywhere in the country! Let's sign up to make calls at this link: http://hiralforcongress.com/phonebank/

2.      Postcards to Voters continues to roll out campaigns for important elections. Here are the two we can request addresses for today: 1) Campaign 70: Aidan O'Connor Jr. for NY State Assembly District 102.  2) Campaign 72: Helen Tai for Pennsylvania State House District 178.Let's share in-state campaigns with our friends. Returning writers: Text NY to 484-275-2229 or Use Facebook Messenger: http://m.me/AbbyTheAddressBot. New to this effort?  Join by text, email, or web form: a)Text JOIN to 484-275-2229 b) Email: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org c) www.PostcardsToVoters.org/volunteer.  What happened to Campaign 71? Volunteers have already completed this campaign for Steve Stern for NY State Assembly District 10!

Election 2018 – By State

1.       FL:  There is a special election TODAY to fill a vacant state senate seat in Florida's District 31 (https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/democratic-primary-election-tuesday-for-florida-senate-district-31). If we live in the district, let's make sure we get out and vote for the Democratic nominee, state rep. Lori Berman. We can find our polling place at this link.

2.      IA:  There is a special election TODAY to fill a vacant state senate seat in Iowa’s District 25 ( https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2018/03/15/election-replace-bill-dix-iowa-senate-held-april-10/429731002/). If we live in the district, let’s make sure we get out and vote for Democratic nominee and business owner Tracy Freese. We can find our polling place at this link.

Other Actions

1.       In addition to the station in Madison, Wisconsin (Fox 47) that refused to air the Sinclair propaganda speech, there were two anchors in Eugene, Oregon who refused to take part – Lauren Lapka and Cameron Walker: http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/36618555-75/kval-co-anchors-refuse-to-read-controversial-script.html.csp Let’s send our thanks to them: http://kval.com/station/contact

2.      Cosecha  (“harvest” in Spanish) is a recently-formed diverse and decentralized nonviolent movement using our power as workers and consumers to fight for permanent protection, dignity, and respect for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US; it is made up of of local “circles” working independently--once 3 people decide to join Cosecha, they can form a circle and get full support from the movement.  As Trump prepares to send National Guard troops to the Mexican border and tries to end “ catch and release,” which afforded children, families, and asylum-seekers relief from deportation until their cases were heard (https://www.vox.com/2018/4/9/17190090/catch-release-loopholes-border-immigrants-trump), perhaps we should consider forming Consecha “circles” to aid in our local fights for immigrant protection: see information about Movimiento Consecha at:  http://www.lahuelga.com/about/

3.      Equality Labs has written a guide for people getting doxxed by Nazis and “alt-right” with safety and security precautions that are worth taking a look for all of us.  We can read the article here and then take steps we think are appropriate for our situation.https://medium.com/@EqualityLabs/anti-doxing-guide-for-activists-facing-attacks-from-the-alt-right-ec6c290f543c

4.      If the Trump administration has done nothing else, it has re-awakened the American democratic spirit and activism and could well influence the 2018 midterm elections.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/04/06/feature/in-reaction-to-trump-millions-of-americans-are-joining-protests-and-getting-political Let’s use this information to keep ourselves motivated and focused.  Mid-terms are only seven months away!

 Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       All this year, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is running a series of free one-hour special online trainings for candidates on how to get out the vote, build your campaign team, recruit volunteers, and fight for progressive policies! Whether we are a candidate running for office this cycle, a campaign manager overseeing a race, or simply thinking about running for office down the line, these are the trainings for us. Trainings are held on Selected Thursday evenings, 7pm Eastern Time, 4pmPacific Time.  We can find out more about topics offered and sign up here:  http://act.boldprogressives.org/survey/rsvp-pccc-online-candidate-training-2018/

States

1.       ALL:  In New Jersey, police will start publishing the origins of any gun used in a crime (https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/08/600687603/new-jersey-governor-signs-name-and-shame-order-on-gun-data). Since NJ has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, most of the guns recovered from crime scenes there came from somewhere else, making this new law a effort to "name and shame" other states whose lax gun laws make them gun exporters. Understanding how inadequate laws in one state enable violence/death all over the US is important knowledge for voters, so let's tell our governors to start following NJ's example. Voters in tough gun law states should know who is running guns into their neighborhoods, and voters in lax gun law states should know whom their state's negligence is hurting.

2.      ALL:  A new law is being implemented in Illinois to improve sexual assault reporting and response (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/illinois/articles/2018-04-02/illinois-law-seeks-to-improve-sexual-assault-reporting). Police now have mandatory training on trauma-informed responses, and are required to take reports for every allegation of sexual assault or abuse. Let's read through the new requirements, then contact our state representatives and ask them to pass similar legislation:

http://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/victims/improvingresponsetosa_il.html

3.      ALL:  The federal government can’t deploy the National Guard to the border without the cooperation of U.S. governors. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has already announced that she will refuse to comply with Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda. Let’s urge all of our governors to join Brown and keep their National Guard at home.  We can also join the Win Without War petition drive: http://act.winwithoutwar.org/sign/tell-us-governors-dont-send-troops-us-mexico-border/

4.      CO: The Parkland students have inspired other groups of young people across the country to stand up against gun violence. Young Coloradans who want to get involved should get in touch with Never Again Colorado, "a group of diverse motivated young people in Colorado that want to end gun violence in our schools." Coming off a successfully planned and very well attended "Town Hall for our Lives" this past Sunday April 7, it's clear that this group of youth have the passion and organizational skills to make change happen. Follow them on Twitter at @NeverAgainCO, on Facebook, and contact them directly here:  https://www.neveragainco.com

5.      CT: Senator Chris Murphy’s office is inviting students to apply for a Summer 2018 Fight Back Connecticut Organizing Fellowship. Summer Fellows will be part of a massive state-wide effort to turn out Democratic voters for the November mid-term election. Here’s the application form: http://action.chrismurphy.com/page/s/organizing-fellowship-application

6.      MA: Internet service providers are pushing back against the state’s proposed net neutrality legislation.  http://www.recorder.com/statehouse-net-neutrality-16653411. Let’s make sure to tell our state legislators that we want strong net neutrality regulations in place. We can contact our legislators here.

7.      MI:  On April 14th, ACLU's People Power will be hosting Promote the Vote Democracy Day. Events will be held across the state to collect signatures for a ballot proposal which would help expand voting rights in Michigan. We can read more about the ballot proposal here. Then, we can sign up to help collect signatures, or find an event nearby so that we can sign the petition ourselves here.

8.     WY: The 2018 Wyoming Legislature recently passed [WY] House Bill 39 to create a wildlife conservation license plate for residents to help fund efforts to reduce crashes between wildlife and vehicles. The initial price of the plate will be $150 with a $50 renewal fee each year. Proceeds from sales will fund overpasses, underpasses, fencing and signage to prevent vehicle/animal collisions along wildlife migration corridors. We can read more at the Wyoming Fish and Game Department. If we are Wyoming residents, let's consider purchasing a wildlife license plate to contribute to the effort. 

Reading/Watching

1.       Buzzfeed’s Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith has written a thoughtful perspective on his evolution as a journalist and the mistakes he has made along the way – and It happens to be framed in a historical context that is germane to where we are now: 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/ben-smith-the-mistakes-i-made-as-a-young-reporter

2.      In "Why Israel Kills," Bashir Abu-Manneh discusses how nonviolent struggle against violent occupiers is politically effective.

3.      As teachers in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and maybe Arizona demand changes in the resources made available to public schools and in their own wages, we would do well to check out this snapshot of teacher’s pay across the US:
https://www.epi.org/publication/teachers-across-the-country-have-finally-had-enough-of-the-teacher-pay-penalty/