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4/12/18

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


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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.       At long last, we are finally seeing movement on legislation to protect the special counsel investigation, with a new version of proposed bills now on track for a markup within the next week (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/11/senate-bill-protect-mueller-514494). Let’s contact our senators and let them know we have had enough stalling, and we want them to swiftly move this bill forward. And let’s call our House members and tell them that if the Senate passes this legislation we want a prompt vote on it, and we expect them to vote yes.

2.      Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday—titled “Reducing Poverty in America”—meant to force low-income recipients of food assistance, Medicaid and low-income housing subsidies to join the work force or face the loss of their benefits and directed at “any program that provides means-tested assistance or other assistance that provides benefits to people, households or families that have low incomes”: 
https://www.vox.com/2018/4/10/17221292/trump-welfare-executive-order-work-requirements  Trump’s domestic policy chief, Andrew Bremberg, in announcing this order, used Trump’s pejorative “welfare” to encompass both cash assistance and safety-net programs like Medicaid—a distinction neither Trump nor his followers seem to recognize.  We need to point out to the officials charged with overseeing these social programs that they are inadequate as is and, moreover, that ¾ of recipients already work: Alex Azar, Health & Human Services, 877-696-6775 or 200 Independence Ave, SW, DC 20201 and Sonny Perdue, Agriculture, 202-720-2791 or 1400 Independence Ave. DC 20250

3.      Demonstrating yet again his disdain for Latin America—and, as one Democrat put it, his inability to “walk and chew gum at the same time”—Trump has used Syria as an excuse to skip the Summit of the Americas in Peru where, unlike Saudi Arabia and China, he was not likely to be greeted with pomp and adulation.  He is the first president to miss this gathering of heads of state in the Western Hemisphere since 1994:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-americas-summit-trump/trump-cancels-trip-to-latin-america-prompting-relief-and-criticism-idUSKBN1HH223 and https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/politics/trump-cancels-trip-latin-america-crisis-syria.html  Let’s tell the White House that neither Trump’s legal problems nor his war-mongering justify this “appalling demonstration of disrespect for Latin America.”

4.      Every day there’s another sign that the Republican majority in the House is in serious jeopardy, but due to a challenging map the Democrats have a tougher hill to climb to take the Senate (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/28/senate-races-midterm-elections-488706). Fortunately, we’ve got some great candidates running like Rep. Beto O’Rourke in Texas, and we can start helping them lay the groundwork for victory right now. We can sign up to text voters to help Beto unseat Ted Cruz at this link.

5.      Trump is continuing to threaten a military response to the horrible chemical weapons attacks in Syria. But he does not have the legal authority to do so without congressional approval, and senators on both sides of the aisle are pushing him to follow the law ( https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/10/politics/congress-reactions-syria-aumf/index.htmlhttp://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/382316-gop-senator-wants-vote-before-trump-uses-force-in-syria). Let’s use this script from 5Calls to add our voices and let our reps know we want them to do their job and not give Trump a blank check to make war:  https://5calls.org/issue/congressional-approval-aumf.

6.      Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced last month that the 2020 Census would have a question on citizenship, which numerous attorneys general argue is unconstitutional. We have a few things we can do to fight back against the administration's strategy to misrepresent various districts across the U.S. A) Let's call our senators and make sure that they cosponsor and support S. 2580: Every Person Counts Act. B) While we're on the phone with them, we can also join civil rights groups in asking that Congress hold hearings to examine the methods used to develop the citizenship question. C) Finally, let's check to see if our attorney general has joined the lawsuit against the Department of Commerce, and if they have, thank them. If they have not, let's be sure to call our attorney general and ask them to join the lawsuit. We can use the information and call script at Indivisible to help guide the conversation.

7.      A vote is expected this Thursday, April 12th on the appointment of coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. With Scott Pruitt's remaining time at the EPA so uncertain, it is even more important to we make sure that have a second-in-command who will not continue to dismantle environmental protections. Let's read more about Andrew Wheeler, then contact our senators and ask that they oppose his nomination. We can use the call scriptavailable at 5calls.org

8.     With Chief of Staff John Kelly losing control in the White House, and the president’s anger escalating due to the recent raid on his lawyer, Michael Cohen, the possibility that the president would fire Special Prosecutor, Robert Mueller has never been greater. http://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/382583-the-memo-fears-rise-of-trump-move-against-mueller  We need to tell our MoCs loudly and clearly that this move would spark a constitutional crisis and acceptance of this move by anyone on any side of the aisle would show complicity with obstruction of justice. We should also tell our MoCs to pass the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act (S. 1735/H.R. 3654) and The Special Counsel Integrity Act (S. 1741/H.R. 3771) now. If Mueller is fired, we need to make sure to take to the streets at events that will be organized across the country. We can find an event in our area here.

9.      HR 620, The Americans with Disabilities Education and Reform Act, has passed the House and is now in the Senate. According to the ACLU, this dangerous bill makes it much harder for disabled individuals to assure that businesses make accommodations for public access. https://www.aclu.org/other/hr-620-myths-and-truths-about-ada-education-and-reform-act. Let’s make sure our Senators vote against this bill.

10.  Marc Rotenberg, president of the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, wants reporters and members of Congress and their staff to ask better questions than the ones being aimed at Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Rotenberg’s questions are here:  https://www.facebook.com/marc.rotenberg/posts/10155256252406875 Let’s send them along to our MoCs and tell our MoCs that we want answers.

11.   A member of the US National Parks Advisory Board is harkening a warning that, “For those who care about the environment, every day since Donald Trump took office is a Humpty Dumpty day —with something being broken beyond repair.” https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2018/02/20/trump-breaking-environment-beyond-repair/sc8Kg39ehzrMCh7jBKNtlJ/story.html  Let’s let our MoCs know that we are counting on them to keep damage to a minimum. 

Election 2018 – General

1.       Current Postcards to Voters opportunities no matter where we live: 

A)    Campaign 73 is for Harvey Epstein running for State Assembly in New York, NY. His district is very safely Democratic but with the possibility of Democratic votes being diverted to 3rd parties, it makes sense to write to a specially-targeted list of Democratic voters. Also, this gives us an opportunity to recruit some new postcarders in New York. We can fill out a new volunteer registration form here. Let's tell our Manhattan friends about this campaign.

B)    Campaign 74 is our first in the state of Texas as we write in support of Cecil Webster in his run for State House District 13. Cecil is running in a ruby-red district: Writing to Democratic voters here is more of a mission to help them lay the foundation for the hard work ahead to make TX HD 13 purple. Let's show our support for Texas by writing 5 cards for Cecil.  If we're new, let's fill out a new volunteer registration form and get started. Let's make sure our Texas friends and family know about this campaign.

Election 2018 – By State

Other Actions

1.       CORRECTION:  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/

2.      Trump may characterize the FBI raid on the offices of his personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen as an “Attack on Our Country,” but it would seem actually to be an investigation into Cohen’s efforts to silence women who claim to have had affairs with Trump:
 https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10142033923 [or here’s the original NYT article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/us/politics/trump-russia-mueller-rosenstein.html].  While the president accuses Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein and special counsel Robert Mueller of a “witch hunt,” it is worth noting that all of the top law enforcement officials involved in the raid are, in fact, Republicans and Trump appointees. Nonetheless, Trump is threatening to fire Rosenstein and/or Mueller, and we need to be prepared; Here is the handy rapid response tool:   https://www.trumpisnotabovethelaw.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response/search/

3.      “Last week, the state of Michigan approved a permit that would allow Nestle to significantly increase the volume of fresh water it currently pumps with no extra cost.  Four days later and 100 miles away, residents of Flint, Michigan were told they would no longer be receiving free bottled water from the government.”  https://www.sciencealert.com/flint-michigan-residents-clean-water-nestle-pump-gallons-cheap  Nasty Women Action Network is asking us to call the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Michigan today. Tell them their work is far from done in Flint, and they need to continue to supply the community with clean water. Shame them for giving away Michigan's clean drinking water to Nestle for pennies when they have an entire city of Michiganders who can't even drink from their taps. Contact info:   Gov. Rick Snyder: 517-373-3400 or governorsoffice@michigan.gov and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley: 517-373-6800 or brian.calley@michigan.gov

4.      “A Republican group defended special counsel Robert Mueller against attacks by President Trump in an ad that aired Wednesday morning during “Fox & Friends” — a show that Trump is said to frequently watch.”  Here is the 30-second piece by Republicans for the Rule of Law:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFXWlFnb_tk  Let’s thank this group in comments on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/republicansfortheruleoflaw/ 

5.      Sinclair attacking is now CNN, requiring that their affiliates show video accusing CNN of airing fake news. Sinclair needs to know that this is simply unacceptable and we can tell them now, by filling out comment forms on the affiliate websites. Here’s a step by step explanation of how to do it:  https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/984114252842721280.html?refreshed=yes

6.      ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom, is holding political campaigns accountable for the ads that they place on Facebook, and has already discovered deceptive ads, campaigns breaking FEC rules, and political groups making misleading claims. We can help by adding their Political Ad Collector tool to our browsers. Here’s how: http://politicaladcollector.com/

7.      Bank of America “announced Tuesday that the bank will stop lending money to companies that manufacture "military-style" rifles that are available for civilians to purchase.”  http://thehill.com/policy/finance/banking-financial-institutions/382521-bank-of-america-will-stop-lending-to-assault  Let’s thank BOA: 100 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28202-0001 or 704-386-5000

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       June 22-23:  2nd Annual Virginia Women’s Summit 2018 hosted by Network NoVA - Pre-summit networking on Friday Evening, full day conference on Saturday (8-5pm), and ½ day training by Emily’s List.  $45.00: workshops, speakers, panels, representatives from 11 Congressional districts, and more.  Women’s Summit E-News Women’s Summit FB Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-summit-2018-tickets-36166656443
States

1.       WY: The public comment period is open for a draft of a regulation regarding grizzly bear hunting season as Wyoming seeks to re-establish grizzly bear hunting. Let's read more at the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.  We can submit public comments until April 30 on-line here or write to: Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Hunting Season/Regulation Comments, 3030 Energy Lane, Casper, WY 82604

Reading/Watching

1.       Young activists lead the way in the #NoCopAcademy campaign, calling out Chicago's investment in a new police academy, and subsequent closure of schools: 

2.      "Increasing voter turnout will strike at the heart of the NRA." Let's work together to take back control from the NRA. http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/380884-increasing-voter-turnout-will-strike-at-the-heart-of-the-nra

3.      "America's Three Bad Options in Syria" – 

4.      Part 3 of The Information War Handbook gives us a first-person account of winning a fake news battle with Russian Intelligence during the Doug Jones campaign. This gripping story also gives us hope and suggest ways future battles can be won. - https://medium.com/@joohnchoe/the-resistance-information-warfare-handbook-part-iv-a375993f3dc0






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