Rogan's List

5/16/18

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.    On Monday, the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem, endorsing the view that Jerusalem is solely the capital of Israel (despite the UN and the EU) and reversing decades-long US policy; this week also marks the “Nakba,” commemorating the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in 1948 with Israel’s creation.  At demonstrations made larger by the embassy’s opening, over 55 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded by Israeli soldiers while protesting at the border wall:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/14/israel-tells-palestinians-they-are-risking-lives-in-us-embassy-protests  Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign assistance, receiving $3.8 billion in taxpayer-funded weapons each year; this and the move of the US embassy legitimizes Israel’s apartheid regime. We need to tell our MoC that we do not support—and do not want to bankroll—Israeli violence against Palestinians.

2.    United Nations officials have condemned the Israeli actions against Palestinian protestors:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/15/palestinians-to-bury-58-people-killed-in-us-embassy-protests  As we continue to see the stark contrasting footage of the deadly protests while Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner celebrated nearby as the new US embassy opened in Jerusalem, let’s let this power couple know that we want them to step away from the Middle East peace process: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington DC 20500 or Ivanka on Twitter @IvankaTrump

3.    Believing the blame should be on Hamas, the US, at a United Nations Security Council emergency session to discuss the deaths and injuries of so many Palestinians, blocked the UN from seeking a Security Council investigation into the situation.  Fortunately, afterwards, a United Nations Human Rights official called for an independent probe into the Israeli killing of Palestinian protestors:  https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/UN-official-demands-Gaza-probe-after-US-blocks-UNSC-investigation-556472  Let’s thank this UN official  for wanting to learn what really happened:  Rupert Colville - phone:  +41 22 917 9767 or email:  rcolville@ohchr.org or Twitter:  @RColville  Let’s also let our ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, know we did and ask if there is nothing to hide, why we would we want to  stop an investigation:  https://usun.state.gov/contact or Twitter:  @nikkihaley  or Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NikkiHaley/

4.    Bi-partisan efforts to pass the Farm Bill (H.R. 2) have stalled over Republican insistence on making existing work requirements for SNAP, (Food Stamp) recipients excessively stringent, thereby threatening them with food insecurity, the persistent threat of hunger. In attempting to “fix” problems that don’t exist, this Bill exacerbates ones that do. SNAP is not a program of able bodied freeloaders, but rather a simple safety net for the vulnerable among us.  Recipients get only an average of $1.40 per person per meal and overall fraud is less the. 3%. With 76 percent of snap benefits going to households with children, the elderly and disabled people account for most of the rest, with people temporarily between low income jobs making up a very small part of the program. Adding more red tape and harsher requirements will cut millions being off from much needed assistance, causing more hunger, more poverty and more distress for our already beleaguered people in need.  We can read Food Research Action Center’s analysis of the bill here:http://frac.org/wp-content/uploads/frac-analysis-hr2-agriculture-and-nutrition-act-2018.pdf  We can write, tweet, call or meet with our Representatives about the bill using these toolkits:  https://www.handsoffsnap.org/ and http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5118/p/salsa/web/common/public/content?content_item_KEY=13623  If we are on Twitter, we can also tweet prewritten tweets from this sheet: https://bit.ly/2Ils3cn

5.    We can strike the next blow for net neutrality today when the Senate votes to overturn Ajit Pai and Trump's FCC ruling. Savvy activists will say this vote is pointless because the ruling will only be overturned if the House also votes for it, and if Trump signs it into law. Savvier activists, however, will tell you that getting the 1 additional Senate vote needed by Wednesday will 1) keep the issue in the public eye; 2) force vulnerable Republicans to take an unpopular position (helpful for the midterm elections); 3) shape the debate around any bipartisan net neutrality legislation that might come in the future. So, let's call those senators asap, and sign here: https://stopthefcc.net/

6.    Scott Pruitt has been the target of several investigations and he is misusing federal funds, he is back-tracking on environmental protections that will set us aback years. https://www.publicintegrity.org/2018/05/15/21748/what-scott-pruitt-s-been-doing-while-you-weren-t-looking  Despite all the issues over such a long period of time, it is only now that a GOP member of Congress, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is threatening to call for Pruitt’s resignation.  http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/387786-gop-senator-threatens-to-call-on-pruitt-to-resign  Let’s thank him and ask our own senators to get behind the idea, too.  We need our environmental protections back.

Election 2018 – General

An election guide from Postcards for America:  In this Google doc (in process), each State shows ALL Democratic Candidates running for Congress, Governor, Lt Gov, Attorney General, Secretary of State (if applicable) with links to their websites and Twitter. Each has a link to a Twitter Thread, a Shareable Facebook Post and a Document. For most States, there are also Info & Links for Voter Registrations, Absentee Ballots, Early Voting & Voter ID, Age Requirements and being a Poll Worker.  Let’s check this out and use and share it:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NCYjsm3xKb79z19Gx7PWt5Zs9lkLiTqglHBHYs9mlX8/edit

1.     One of the biggest single expansion in voting rights in decades is on the ballot in Florida this November, with Amendment 4 set to restore voting rights to 1.4 million people who lost them permanently after being convicted of felonies. A recent poll showed almost three-quarters of Floridians are ready to pass Amendment 4 and put an end to this Jim Crow-era practice (http://floridapolitics.com/archives/262686-voters-overwhelmingly-support-felon-voting-rights-amendment). But the amendment needs 60% support to pass and supporters are concerned that major Republican politicians will rally their voters against it. Let’s do our part to help voting rights win by signing up to make phone calls at:  https://tinyurl.com/2ndChanceFLCallTeam.

2.    Senator Claire McCaskill is a Democrat in a red state and is up for reelection this fall in Missouri. In a strange twist, the legal challenges of Governor Eric Greitens there may affect her opponent’s chances of beating McCaskill: http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/387672-missouri-governor-becomes-thorn-in-gops-senate-hopes  Let’s help McCaskill keep this essential seat with a donation if possible: https://clairemccaskill.com

3.    It's primary season: we're picking the candidates who are going to make it onto the ballot come November. Whoever wins the primary, though, is still going to need our help. Here's where Swing Left comes in. "Swing Left District Funds are pots of money that we're raising right now to give the eventual Democratic nominee in each Swing District a financial head start in the 2018 House elections." Swing Left has added a fun feature: a leaderboard that tracks which districts have raised the most money to date! We can check in to see how our districts -- from CA-49 to KY-06 -- are doing, and to contribute if we can! Let's make that blue wave happen.

 https://swingleft.org/fundraise

Election 2018 – By State

1.     Voting dates and deadlines this week:

May 18	Texas	Early voting ends	Runoffs
May 18	Washington	Filing Deadline
May 19	Washington D.C.	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary (postmark)

Other Actions

1.     Sierra Club has launched a new peer-to-peer texting tool where we can encourage other environmentally-minded activists to join us for local events and campaigns that will help add pressure and fight back against environmental de-regulation. Let's sign up and help protect our environment.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

States

1.     ALL:  Last week, a Senate Intelligence Committee report found that Russia “conducted an unprecedented, coordinated cyber campaign against state election infrastructure,” and even successfully penetrated a voter registration database.” Let’s read the report’s summary, https://www.burr.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/RussRptInstlmt1-%20ElecSec%20Findings,Recs2.pdf , and let’s tell our state legislators to (1) replace outdated and vulnerable voting systems with machines that have a voter-verified paper trail and no Wi-Fi capability; and (2) implement widespread, statistically sound audits of election results. We can find our state legislators here: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

2.    MI:  Promote the Vote, ACLU of Michigan's campaign to expand voting rights in Michigan, will be hosting a call today (Wednesday, May 16th) where we can learn about the progress that the ballot initiative has made, and about the work that remains in the coming weeks in collecting signatures. We can RSVP for the call here, and sign up to volunteer here. We can also check out the official ballot proposal here.

Reading/Watching

1.     “An analysis of more than 30 years of House general elections suggests: Don’t nominate someone who will motivate the other side to show up” - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/upshot/unable-to-excite-the-base-moderate-candidates-still-tend-to-outdo-extreme-ones.html

2.     
As the “family values” administration of Trump and friends now make family separation a feature of their immigration policy, we might take heed of Masha Gessen’s warning:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/taking-children-from-their-parents-is-a-form-of-state-terror 

3.    “Michigan term limits sounded good, but they’ve failed” - https://www.bridgemi.com/guest-commentary/opinion-michigan-term-limits-sounded-good-theyve-failed