5/2/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
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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. A
whistleblower at the EPA has said that Administrator Scott Pruitt lied during
Congressional testimony about retaliation: http://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/385605-whistleblower-says-pruitt-lied-during-congressional-testimony This is just one more reason why
we need to keep paying attention to Pruitt’s many misdeeds and call on him his
resignation:
https://www.epa.gov/home/forms/contact-epa or on Twitter at
@EPAScottPruitt And let’s let our MoCs know that we expect them to
stand up to Pruitt.
2. Some
conservative lawmakers have drawn up articles of impeachment against Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/385587-conservative-house-lawmakers-draft-articles-of-impeachment-against. And in light of the leaking of the
questions Special Counsel Mueller would like to ask Trump, we can expect Trump
to be especially hot under the collar about Mueller and Rosenstein. Let’s let
our Senators know that we expect them to step up to protect Mueller and
Rosenstein and the integrity of the Special Counsel’s investigation.
3. Members
of Congress were told on April 26th that the Department of Health and Human
Services had lost track of nearly 1,500 migrant children it had placed with
sponsors in the U.S., raising concerns that they could end up in the hands of
human traffickers or be used as laborers by those posing as relatives (read
more here and here). Let's let DHS and HHS know how we feel, and thank Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio for investigating and holding them
accountable.
4. From one
of our own: In an effort to deter
families from seeking asylum in the United States, nearly 700 immigrant
children have been separated from their parents since October, including 100
under the age of four. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/us/immigrant-children-separation-ice.html) The American Academy of Pediatrics
has joined more than 200 child welfare , juvenile justice and child development
organizations in demanding that the government put an end to this cruel policy
. Call your federal legislators and urge them to oppose any policy that
separates children from their parents at the border. Share messages on social
media using #protectchildren to oppose this harmful policy.
5. Trump is
being coy about whether he will impose sanctions against Iran (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-30/trump-hints-at-u-s-ending-iran-deal-after-netanyahu-speech). This is dangerous, not only because the
move would void the Iran deal, which waives sanctions against Iran so long as
they abstain from building nuclear weapons, but also because it would signal to
North Korea that the U.S. is that much less trustworthy when we make deals (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/world/asia/korea-iran-trump-interpreter.html). Indivisible has more information, as well
as a call script we can use as we call our members of Congress and ask them to
speak out in support of the Iran deal: https://www.indivisible.org/resource/no-war-iran-stop-trump-ripping-iran-deal/
6. The
Senate will likely be forcing a vote on the Congressional Review Act to
overturn the FCC's repeal of net neutrality (http://thehill.com/policy/technology/385539-dems-plan-net-neutrality-vote-next-month). While there may be just enough votes to
pass the CRA in the Senate, the measure is unlikely to win the House. Still,
let's be sure to contact our senators to ensure their support for the CRA, then
let's also call our representatives to tell them that we support overturning
FCC's ruling. We can also join in Battle for the Net's Red Alert online starting May
9th to show our support for net neutrality: https://www.battleforthenet.com/redalert/
7. “There
was a time when the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine helped keep its radio and TV licensees
responsible, and responsive, to their communities by requiring them to “offer
contrasting views on issues of public importance.” But after the Reagan
administration dropped the policy in 1987, most stations quickly shed any pretense of
covering substantive issues, or making any effort to do so in a truly fair and
balanced manner. (http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article209395249.html)
8. Michael
Brennan is headed for a full Senate vote on whether to confirm him to a
lifetime appointment on the federal bench. This comes despite the fact he has heavy backing from the Koch brothers and that in his Senate Judiciary
Committee hearing, he refused to acknowledge racial bias in the justice system,
a particularly disturbing comment in light of his expressed skepticism about
the glass ceiling (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/michael-brennan-trump-judicial-nominee_us_5a85dc8ae4b00bc49f4212ad). Let’s call our senators and tell them
someone with Brennan’s regressive views shouldn’t get their vote for a federal
judgeship. We can make the call with this 5Calls script.
9. Public
health experts have come out strongly against the president’s proposal to
punish drug dealers with the death penalty https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/19/health/trump-death-penalty-drug-traffickers-reaction/index.html. Furthermore, the death penalty has been
proven to disproportionately affect people of color http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0406-dealer-death-20180404. S. 1917, the Reform Sentencing Act is a bipartisan
counter proposal with a
nearly equal number of Democrat and Republican co-sponsors that calls for more common sense reform of
sentencing laws and institutions. The bill has been favorably reported out of
the Judiciary Committee. Let’s ask our Senators to bring this to the floor for a
vote.
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. “2018 is
looking like it's going to be the "Year of the Scientist," as more
scientists than ever before are preparing to run for political office. Of the
historic 455 Democratic challengers already filed to run for Congress in 2018,
nearly 60 of them have STEM backgrounds. "Me being a scientist is a key
part of my story and my campaign," Westin told us over the phone. “There
are no cancer doctors in Congress, there are no cancer researchers in Congress
and there are not enough scientists in general in Congress." He's not
wrong. Right now in Congress there is only one PhD physicist, one
microbiologist and a handful of engineers. The rest are pretty much all
lawyers.” https://www.scienceaf.com/us-never-seen-this-many-scientists-run-for-office Meet five brilliant scientists
running for office here. http://bigthink.com/news/these-5-scientists-running-for-office-are-part-of-something-much-bigger
2. Get to
know the founders of Sister District, their track record and how they work to
turn red states to blue states. “Fifteen of the 16 candidates the group
supported last year won. The one Sister District candidate who lost was in a
race that ended in a tie that officials resolved by literally pulling a name
out of a hat.” http://www.sanjoseinside.com/2018/04/11/meet-the-silicon-valley-activists-trying-to-turn-red-states-blue/. If you want to help in the 2018
elections, you can work with Sister District in a variety of ways. Check it out
here: https://www.sisterdistrict.com/
3. Democrats
have picked up 40 state legislative seats so far in the Trump era, and we have
a chance for more pickups in special elections in Pennsylvania on May 15(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2018/04/25/democrats-flip-40th-legislative-race-of-trump-era-this-time-in-new-york/). We can help get out the vote for Helen
Tai, Katie Muth and Clark Mitchell Jr. by texting! We can join the Red2Blue
Slack team to get involved here.
4. Many of
us have hopped on the postcard writing bandwagon and feel a satisfied sense of helping
to make a difference. A long-time #PostcardsToVoters volunteer writer shares this account of
how sending fun, friendly election reminders has benefitted her: https://vocally.com/blogs/sending-postcards-to-voters-saved-my-sanity If we
have not already, let’s join in: https://postcardstovoters.org/
Election 2018 –
By State
Other Actions
1. If we
are Facebook users and have been troubled by the new algorithms being use and
think we are missing some important posts, we can benefit from the 4-step
instructions provided by Suit Up Maine to help make sure we see what we want to
see: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15QFacgZWfL-P48XR_wu0Vv0jUmhyxgiFzxDUBwJucaA/edit (N.B.
– while we can prioritize people and pages, we cannot yet prioritize groups)
2. Syrian
refugee moms give birth far from home with little or no supplies to care for
their newborns, so Parcel of Love and their partners, Heroic Hearts Organization and Save the Syrian Children, plan to deliver fully equipped baby boxes
to 2,000 moms and their babies living in camps throughout Syria. Boxes contain
warm clothing and blankets, health care items, and a packable bassinet for the
baby to safely sleep in. To spread the word through social media they need to
set off a Thunderclap, a social media flash mob message blast,
but they have only 4 DAYS to get 64 more supporters. We can
help them here. First, we can click, add our social media support on
Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. THEN cut, paste and share: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/69798-donate-to-parceloflove We
can find out more about the Parcel of Love project here: https://campaign.hchearts.org/parceloflove
3. The Time's Up movement's Women of Color committee
published an open letter on Monday, which asks RCA Records, Ticketmaster,
Spotify and Apple Music, and Greensboro Coliseum Complex to break ties with
singer R. Kelly (https://slate.com/culture/2018/04/times-up-movements-women-of-color-committee-and-more-join-campaign-muterkelly.html). The call to action is part of the
#MuteR.Kelly campaign, which seeks to hold R. Kelly accountable for his long
history of alleged sexual abuse and child pornography, by asking organizations
to stop profiting off of his music. We can help add pressure to these
organizations by contacting RCA Records (Phone: 212-930-4000 Address:550
Madison Avenue New York, NY 10022 Twitter: @RCARecords), Ticketmaster (Phone:
(310) 867-7000 Address: 9348 Civic Center Drive Beverly Hills, CA
90210 Twitter: @Ticketmaster), Spotify (Address: Spotify USA Inc 45
W. 18th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10011 Twitter: @Spotify), and
Greensboro Coliseum Complex (Phone: 336-373-7400 Address: Greensboro Coliseum
Complex Administrative Offices 1921 W. Gate City Blvd. Greensboro, NC
27403 Online form: http://www.greensborocoliseum.com/about-us/contact-us) and asking them to cut all ties with R.
Kelly and his music
4. In Illinois,
the State House has passed a bill, 64-25, for a pathway to provide unarmed
mental health professionals. (http://www.columbiachronicle.com/metro/article_091d3bea-4a7a-11e8-b06b-7f9227527cfa.html) The bill now goes to the State
Senate. States are choosing to battle
the issue of safe schools in their own way since congress won’t. Let’s check our
own school districts and ask how many mental health care professionals are
available to students in our district.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. “On May 14, the Poor People’s
Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival will launch its
first nation-wide event of the season with nonviolent moral direct actions in
over 30 state capitals. Through highly publicized, non-violent moral fusion
direct action over a 6-week period in at least 30 states and the District of
Columbia, the Campaign will force a serious national examination of the
enmeshed evils of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation and
the war economy during a key election year.”
Let’s find an event to attend: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/index.php/events/
States
1. ALL: Did you know that chances are
good our local government is under cyberattack daily, or even hourly? If we
didn't, it's no wonder, because most of our government officials are totally
clueless about this, too. (https://theconversation.com/local-governments-cybersecurity-crisis-in-8-charts-94240) Forewarned
is forearmed, so let's ask our mayors, councilors, alderpersons or other
elected official to create a comprehensive cybersecurity plan, with a budget,
and to make that plan public. We can
find them here: https://www.usa.gov/local-governments
2. MOST: “A coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia sued the
Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, asking a federal court to block a
Trump administration attempt to weaken automobile emissions standards.” https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01052018/states-lawsuit-epa-vehicle-emissions-standards-fuel-efficiency-rollback-pruitt-climate-change If
our attorney general is included here, let’s thank him/her; if not let’s ask
why and to please do so. We can find our
attorney general here: https://www.usa.gov/state-attorney-general
3. CA: California’s chance of passing
effective, Progressive legislation is in grave danger due to a sneaky
Republican attack. By targeting Josh Newman for a recall, they aim to eliminate
our state’s Democratic supermajority and stop any further meaningful
legislative action. Some of us remember the grim days of partisan gridlock that
this will bring back. Code Blue provides us with a list of resources, so we can
learn more about “how to fight back against this baseless GOP effort.” - https://docs.google.com/document/d/10DvzxqmEhbSuwVSf9dbcnS0mYsJ80wdYQRNm44vOM8k/edit?usp=sharing We
can read more about the recall here:
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-newman-recall-20180108-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-newman-recall-20180108-story.html
4. IL: The Illinois Senate passed the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) in early
April. A vote will happen in the Illinois House in two weeks. All the
Democrats in the House are on board, but we need some Republican yeses. Not
only can we call our GOP reps, but we can also submit a Witness Slips where
citizens and organizations weigh in on the bill. We can be a proponent
for this legislation by submitting this form by May 6 to be counted: http://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create?committeeHearingId=15992&legislationId=0&legislationdocumentid=0 (For
subject matter, select "SJRCA4")
Reading/Watching
1. Much has been said about the inappropriateness
of Michelle Wolf’s stand-up
at the Washington Correspondents’ Association Dinner, while very little has
been said about Trump’s outrageous words in Detroit the same evening: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2018/04/30/trump-was-outrageous-in-michigan-so-wheres-the-outrage/?utm_term=.04a72f03ffe1
2. “Bornstein claims Trump dictated the glowing
health letter” - https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/01/politics/harold-bornstein-trump-letter/index.html
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