5/17/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
Find senator’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/RLiotu
Find representative’s contact info here: https://goo.gl/5i7SXC
********************************
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. When a
former Trump administration team member, Rex Tillerson warns of "a growing
crisis in ethics and integrity" in American democracy, saying that a
failure to confront that dilemma will usher the U.S. into its "twilight
years,” we all best sit up and listen. http://thehill.com/homenews/news/387971-tillerson-warns-of-growing-crisis-in-ethics-and-integrity-in-commencement It is
time once again to tell our MoCs to step up, put political parties aside, and
stand up for what is right and get our country back on track.
2. Yesterday
afternoon, in a 52-47 vote, using the Congressional Review Act (CRA), the Senate
voted to restore the FCC’s rule on net neutrality. “Despite the Senate's passing of the
resolution, the measure is unlikely to be enacted. It has drawn far less
support in the House of Representatives, and Trump is unlikely to sign a
resolution that would effectively rebuke his FCC chairman.” http://www.businessinsider.com/net-neutrality-senate-vote-cra-fcc-2018-5
Nonetheless, let’s urge Paul Ryan to bring it to the House floor and
have a vote so we can see, in time for the mid-terms, just who does, and does
not, support net neutrality. Let’s also
thank the three Republican senators who voted for this: Susan Collins (Maine), John Kennedy (Louisiana),
and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska).
3. Amid the
swirl of North Korea and Gaza, it can be easy to forget that somehow we are
still paying the salary of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt in spite of mind
numbing corruption and malfeasance: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/387863-epa-watchdog-announces-new-probe-into-pruitts-emails and https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/scott-pruit-24-7-security-epa-watchdog-1214909 and https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950 Let’s let our MoC that we
are tired of paying for Pruitt to harm our nation and planet and we can let
Pruitt know again that we still await his resignation: : https://www.epa.gov/home/forms/contact-epaor on Twitter at @EPAScottPruitt
4. We need
to continue fighting against gun violence on multiple fronts. Here's a quick
way to contribute: "Help us ban bump stocks by submitting a comment to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)...ATF counts every
comment submitted and takes them into account when making their decision, so
every comment counts. The comment period ends on June 27th at 11:59
pm EST." A sample comment is included: https://giffords.org/banbumpstocks/
5. Now that
the Senate Intelligence Committee has approved (10-5) the nomination of Gina
Haspel to run the CIA, it now moves to the full Senate for a vote. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/16/611574553/senate-panel-approves-gina-haspel-as-cia-chief-confirmation-appears-likely Let’s
let our Senators know that we want someone to run the CIA who will stand up for
principles before the fact, not after.
6. Corruption
in Washington has always been a danger, and right now it is so bad that operators
like Scott Pruitt, Steve Mnuchin, and Elaine Chow aren't even trying to
hide it anymore (http://www.newsweek.com/2017/11/10/trump-administration-most-corrupt-history-698935.html). But it was Mick Mulvaney who topped
everyone this month by proudly declaring that pay-to-play was standard procedure
for lobbyists to get access to him. We can start wading out of the swamp
with this small baby-step: let's sign this petition to demand legislation
limiting lobbyists' fundraising shenanigans:
7. Rather
than concentrate on the health and well-being of citizens, particularly considering
the Flint, MI water crisis, it appears that the White House and the EPA chose
to cover up a study, in fear of a “public relations nightmare”, that shed light
on nation-wide water contamination issue rather than share the information, so
work could commence. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950 Let’s
tell the White House, the EPA, our own MoCs that knowing and dealing with
these problems is how crises are handled.
Oh, and let’s tell them to fix Flint, too.
8. Today is
the 64th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. Also, today the Senate
Judiciary Committee will vote on whether or not to advance the judicial
nominations of Wendy Vitter and Andrew Oldham, who in their hearings refused to
say they supported Brown. (http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/was_brown_v._board_of_education_correctly_decided_these_judicial_nominees_w). Let's make sure our senators vote no:
#NoBrownNoVote. We can use these scripts from 5 Calls here and here.
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. Postcards
To Voters: Election 2018 update. Another exciting Tuesday! Here are the
results from the five (5) campaigns for which Postcards to Voters volunteers
sent cards. 1)PA-Campaign 72: Helen Tai for State House. We "gave 'em
Helen" whose win flipped this seat from red to blue by just 96 votes.. She
will serve out the remainder of this seat's term and run for a full 2 year term
in November. Read more at The
Intelligencer. 2) OR- Campaign 78: Joe Berney for Lane County Commissioner. Joe
won this race with 51.9% of the vote. (Source: KVAL/Eugene) 3) PA-Campaign 79: Clark Mitchell for State House. Clark lost this race
and we saw the seat flip from blue to red. More at Observer-Reporter. Clark will run for this seat again in November.
4) AL-Campaign 80: Juanita Healy for State House. Juanita lost this race
but will be running again in November. Source: DecaturDaily. 5) NE- Campaign 83: Machaela Cavanaugh for
State Legislature. Machaela won the Democratic Primary in this race and will be
the Democratic candidate on the ballot for November. Congratulations to the
winners and thank yous to all the candidates for running and postcarders for
writing. To write cards for current open campaigns, we can sign up here.
2. A public
defender might be the next district attorney in San Diego County - but only
with our help. Progressive pick Genevieve Jones-Wright is getting a lot of buzz
in her campaign for the seat, which will be decided on June 5th
(http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/sd-me-da-race-20180510-story.html). We can help her win and help continue our
progress against mass incarceration even if Trump and the Republicans block
change in Washington. Sign up to write Postcards to Voters for her here and join the Real Justice PAC call team to
support her here.
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)
|
2. AR, GA, KY, TX: If we are ProChoice voters
looking for primary candidates who support our views in this upcoming May
22 election, we can use VOTEPROCHOICE’s Voter Guide to help us find
them. When we enter our address, we’ll see all the candidates, with the
ones endorsed by ProChoice, Progressive groups clearly marked. We can then take
the guide to the polls for easy reference. We can click on this link to get
started and then share with our friends:
https://voteprochoice.us/#voter-guide-section
Other Actions
1. Americans
Against Abusive Probate Guardianship is “looking to collect around 20 cases from
multiple states to be considered by producers for a
major investigative report. Further details will be made available when
appropriate. Producers will have final say about which cases they select for
use. The criteria include but are not limited to: A) Case must be in a one party state https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/LAWS-ON-RECORDING-CONVERSATIONS-CHART.pdf No
cases from FL, CA, CT, DE, IL, MD, NH, PA or WA, B) Ward must be living
and whereabouts known. Interviewee must
be understandable and well spoken, C) Must be willing to go on the record about
their case and experience. If your case
meets these criteria, please email me at drsam@aaapg.net by no later than this Friday May 18, 2018 at 9AM Eastern to
be considered. In your email include: A)
Name of Ward, B) Your name, C Your relationship to the Ward, D) Your full
contact information, and E) a brief (no more than 50 words) synopsis of the
abuses. If your case is chosen you will
be contacted by the producers.”
2. Michigan
State University has reportedly come to a $500 billion settlement with the 300+
victims of Larry Nassar. However, "State
lawmakers and victims of Larry Nassar will have to end some of their efforts to
strengthen Michigan’s laws on sexual abuse complaints as part of a $500 million
settlement with Michigan State University, according to a source close to the
university." https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/05/16/michigan-state-larry-nassar-victims-settlement/34980415/ Since
when does a settlement affect legislation that is in the common good? As one state legislator said, “The Nassar
survivors have said all along this isn’t about Nassar. “This bill is more than
that. …The whole package is about putting together the right policies.” Let’s all, regardless of where we live, let’s
contact the Michigan State legislators. The
victims are from all over the country and we do not want any state agreeing to
be part of such maliciousness.
3. According
to the NY Times, Trump’s plan to expand access to skimpy health insurance
policies—those lacking prescription drug benefits or maternity costs or
preventive care or coverage for “prior conditions” or all of the above—as an
alternative to the Affordable Care Act was supposed to cost $96 to $168
million/year, but Medicare’s chief actuary puts the actual cost at $1.2 billion
next year and $38.7 billion over ten years:
https://khn.org/morning-breakout/first-edition-may-16-2018/ Patty Murray claims insurers are asking
for 2019 increases like 64% (VA) or 91% (MD):
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/05/15/democrats-republicans-fix-health-care-together-column/607896002/ Seema Verma, the administrator
of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), defends Trump’s
proposal by saying “Because costs have gone up so much, there are a lot of
individuals who can’t afford any coverage,” as if Trump’s plan had no
effect. We need to tell Verma that cheap, junk insurance will not solve
the problem of skyrocketing health insurance costs, much less protect those who
can’t afford coverage: CMS, 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore MD 21244 or @seemaCDS or
877-267-2323 (Local: 410-786-3000)
4. Dubbed
Project Maven, Google is designing an AI system meant to “speed up analysis” of
military drone footage by “automatically classifying images of objects and
people,” according to the tech news website Gizmodo. About a dozen of the
project’s staff have walked out over concerns about the ethics of the program;
4000 employees have signed a petition asking Google to drop the project and
promise not to develop “technology for war”; 400 “technology academics and researchers
from around the world” have signed an open letter to Google to the same effect
(https://www.icrac.net/open-letter-in-support-of-google-employees-and-tech-workers/) : http://www.theweek.co.uk/93606/project-maven-google-employees-resign-over-controversial-us-military-ai-programme Let’s join all of these people
in demanding that Google terminate its contract with the DoD, commit not to
develop military technologies, and pledge to neither participate in nor support
the development, manufacture, trade or use of autonomous weapons: Sundar
Pichai or Larry Page, Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy. Mountain View, CA
94043 or 1-650-253-0000 or FAX 1-650-253-0001.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. May 17 is the one-year anniversary of the beginning
of the Mueller investigation. “Trump’s
lawyer Rudy Giuliani says Trump and his legal team plan to use the
one-year anniversary of the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller on
Thursday to push for the end of the federal Russia probe.” http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/387880-giuliani-trump-to-use-anniversary-of-mueller-appointment-to-press-for If we’ve not already signed up to be part of
this rapid-response team, we can do so here:
https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
States
1. ALL: We know that guardianship abuse is running rampant
in this country. https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2016/05/23/guardianship-in-the-u-s-protection-or-exploitation/#716055253b49 Fortunately, a federal judge in Texas has
just allowed that state to be sued in these cases: http://aaapg.net/texas-federal-judge-allows-allows-state-judge-to-be-sued-guardianship-negligence-case/ Let’s
remember that our officials are accountable to serve and protect. Let’s do what we can help hold them
accountable in each of our states.
2. FL: Publix Supermarkets are very popular with Floridians. Right now,
this privately-held, employee-owned company is supporting Republican Adam
Putnam's run for governor with large contributions. Let's read more at Tampa Bay Times. Let's contact
Publix to
let them know we are not okay with them using the profits that they make from
us to support a Republican candidate who does not represent our interests. To
make a greater impact, let's all ask for the store manager at our local Publix
and have a face-to-face conversation about this. Did the employees vote to
support Putnam? Let's make some noise and consider taking our business
elsewhere.
3. TN: The House and Senate have passed HB
2315, an
anti-sanctuary bill which would also allow warrantless detention of immigrants,
and would require law enforcement officers to check an individual's immigration
or citizenship status https://bit.ly/2rNXAbF The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee
Rights Coalition has issued a press release noting that experts in various
fields have sent letters to Governor Bill Haslam, urging him to veto the bill (http://www3.thedatabank.com/dpg/267/pm.asp?ID=66756&Publication). Let's join them in asking Governor Haslam
to veto HB 2315: 1st Floor, State Capitol Nashville, TN 37243 Phone: (615)
741-2001 Twitter: @BillHaslam
Reading/Watching
1. “Missing Files Motivated the Leak of Michael
Cohen’s Financial Records” by Ronan Farrow - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/missing-files-motivated-the-leak-of-michael-cohens-financial-records
2. “Teenagers Are Helping Flip Seats in 2018
Elections With Postcards to Voters” - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/teenagers-are-helping-flip-seats-in-2018-elections-with-postcards-to-voters
3. “Rebecca Solnit:
The Coup Has Already Happened” - https://lithub.com/rebecca-solnit-the-coup-has-already-happened/
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