5/23/18
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. The Hill
describes Trump’s latest shots across the bow in his confrontation with the
Department of Justice as “flirting” with a constitutional crisis:
http://thehill.com/homenews/the-memo/388712-the-memo-trump-flirts-with-constitutional-crisis Let’s let our MoC know that we
are not interested in ANY connections with a constitutional crisis and let’s
make sure we are signed up for alerts about national protests:https://act.moveon.org/event/mueller-firing-rapid-response-events/search/
2. “Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday that it’s up to individual schools to decide
whether to call U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement if they suspect their
students are undocumented.” Perhaps DeVos
did not realize that this is unconstitutional. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/22/undocumented-children-schools-devos-immigration-603277 “The
Supreme Court has made clear that every child in America has a right to a basic
education, regardless of immigration status. Secretary DeVos is once again
wrong.” Let’s remind DeVos: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/u-s-department-of-education
3. The
“Volcker Rule,” put in place after the financial catastrophe of 2007-8,
prohibited banks from making their own risky bets with our deposits; now, in
deference to the big banks and as part of Trump’s larger deregulatory agenda,
this rule is about to be “softened.” Five federal agencies — the Fed, Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), FDIC, Securities and Exchange
Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission — are all devising changes
to the rule that would allow the banks themselves to define improper
trading:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/business/volcker-rule-fed-banks-regulation.html. We’ve seen this before and it isn’t clear
how we fight these moves, but we can at least let the Fed know that we don’t
want the banks gambling with our money: Federal Trade Commission, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 or (202) 326-2222. And more
importantly, we can ask our MoCs to oppose any legislation that endangers the
few remaining financial watchdog agencies.
4. In an
appalling decision on Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that companies can
use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from
banding together as a class to take legal action over workplace issues. Ruth
Bader Ginsberg, in an unusual oral dissent, called the majority opinion
“egregiously wrong” and said the upshot of the decision “will be huge
under-enforcement of federal and state statutes designed to advance the well-
being of vulnerable workers”:
http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/388601-supreme-court-upholds-agreements-that-prevent-employee-class-action She appealed to Congress to intervene;
we can help by insisting that our MoCs bring legislation that protects the
rights of workers to bring legal action collectively--and therefore
affordably--against employers who steal wages, permit workplace abuse, or
otherwise violate labor laws.
5. It has
been over a year since the Disability Integration Act (S. 910/H.R. 2472) was introduced, and it has still not been
heard in committee. The bill would ensure that people who qualify for
long-term support services get the help that they need through community-based
services and programs, rather than having to resort to institutionalization (http://www.disabilityintegrationact.org/). Last week, ADAPT secured support for this bipartisan
bill from Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
(HELP) Committee Patty Murray, while Chairman Lamar Alexander refused to meet
with ADAPT members (https://rewire.news/article/2018/05/18/disability-activists-fight-right-live-communities/). Let's contact Senator Alexander and tell
him that we want him to support the Disability Integration Act and that it's
time for the bill to move through the HELP Committee: Address: 455 Dirksen
Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: (202) 224-4944 Fax: (202)
228-3398 Let's also be sure to call our own MoC and ask them to cosponsor and
support the Disability Integration Act,
6. While
too many Democrats crossed party lines to confirm Gina Haspel as CIA director
in spite of her record of torture, one who has plenty of reason not to rock the
boat with Republicans stood firm, even when it became clear she was going to be
confirmed anyways: Senator Doug Jones of Alabama (http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/387856-doug-jones-to-oppose-haspel-as-cia-chief). Let’s make sure he knows we noticed his
stand for decency, and we appreciate it. We can write him at 326 Russell Senate
Office Building, Washington, DC 20510
Election 2018 –
General
An election guide from Postcards for America: In this Google doc (updated
regularly), 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. We’re
right around the corner from another set of special elections – and we’ve got
the chance to help roll back some of the damage Scott Walker has done to
Wisconsin from home. On June 12, the two
seats Walker tried to avoid calling special elections for are up. (http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/field-set-for-next-month-s-assembly-senate-special-elections/article_fbfc02a2-ef80-597a-acfa-515893e28415.html). Flippable is organizing virtual phonebanks
to help elect Caleb Frostman to the state senate and Ann Groves Lloyd to the
assembly. Let’s join in! We can sign up here.
2. Yesterday,
Postcards to Voters launched Campaign 88: Penny Newman for Riverside County, California,
Supervisor. In this June 5th election, there are 4 Republicans
running. Penny is the only Democrat. If Penny wins, she will flip the
board to a 3 to 2 Democrat majority for the first time since the great
depression. Let's request 5 addresses for Riverside County voters if we are
returning postcarders. If we are new volunteers, we can sign up by following
the instructions here.
3. Michigan
is among several states where democracy will be on the ballot in November,
thanks to the "Promote the Vote" initiative to amend the state
constitution. The initiative would allow no-excuse absentee voting, protect a
secret ballot, add audits for election results and make it easier to register (https://www.wxyz.com/news/political/spotlight-on-the-news/spotlight-on-the-news-the-campaign-to-promote-the-vote-the-future-of-the-mi-state-fairgrounds). We can help expand voting rights in
Michigan from anywhere in the country. You can sign up to phone bank from home
at this link.
Election 2018 –
By State
1. Voting
dates and deadlines this week:
|
May 25
|
Iowa
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
May 26
|
Utah
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary (postmark)
|
2. CA: Our Primary Election is coming soon, on June
5. Along with voting for our elected officials, we must decide about five
Ballot Propositions. To help us make an informed decision, The League of
Women Voters is providing a Pros & Cons PDF on these
ballot measures in English and Spanish. We can also see our entire ballot and
polling place using Voter's Edge as we get ready to vote. We can
sign up, using our email here. The League won't sell or share our email.
We can read their privacy policy to make sure. https://lwvc.org/vote/download-june-5-2018-pros-and-cons-pdf If
we prefer, we can just see the Pros and Cons on this page here: https://lwvc.org/vote/elections/ballot-measures
Other Actions
1. An
Orlando high-schooler is planning a “die-in” on June 12thon the
second anniversary of the massacre at Pulse nightclub: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/21/us-gun-control-protest-high-school-die-in-day Let’s share this information with
our favorite student activists.
2. "Amazon
has entered the surveillance business, and they're selling to the government. Amazon's product, Rekognition, has the power
to identify people in real time, in photos of large groups of people, and in
crowded events and public places...[but] Facial recognition is not a
neutral technology, no matter how Amazon spins this." I think we can all
see what a corrupt administration could do with such technology. Let's sign the
American Civil Liberties Union's petition to tell Amazon to "get out of
the surveillance business": https://action.aclu.org/petition/amazon-stop-selling-surveillance
3. Gun
violence continues to be one of our most pressing problems today, yet much
of what people say and believe about guns in this country is simply not
true. Let’s get armed with the facts from Moms Demand Action, so we can
refute misinformation when we hear it. When we check out this page, we can find
some of the key myths the gun lobby spreads and the facts we can use to rebut
them. While we’re on this page, we can also can find graphics to use on
Social Media. Let’s spread the truth about guns and help save lives! https://momsdemandaction.org/campaigns/debunking-gun-myths/
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
States
1. CA: Some law enforcement bodies have been
surveilling our online activities without public scrutiny, or even public
awareness. This state of secrecy has already led to abuses of power against
racial minorities, immigrants, and Muslims. To remedy this, the ACLU is
asking us to tell our state senators to support SB 1186 (https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1186), which would bring greater transparency and
oversight to police use of online surveillance. We can use this: https://action.aclu.org/send-message/ca-support-sb1186
2. MI: From AFT Michigan: "In conjunction with
the MEA, AFT Michigan will participate in a month of action every Wednesday in
May. Wear red for public education on Wednesdays and plan a walk-in for May
23rd! Walk-ins are easy-to-plan
collective actions illustrating that we are all dedicated to the cause of
valuing students, respecting educators and funding schools. On Wednesday, May 23rd walk into your school
as a group to show our unity." We can register our walk-in
here.
Reading/Watching
1. “Twitter
Bots Helped Trump and Brexit Win, Economic Study Says” - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-21/twitter-bots-helped-trump-and-brexit-win-economic-study-says
2. Economic inequality undermines democracy in many
ways—including by making it close to impossible for those without wealth to run
for office. Let’s read more here:
3. Here’s a book suggestion for those of us trying
to gain some insight on Putin, Russia, and how we got here: From
Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia by Michael
McFaul. The author is uniquely poised to comment on the pickle in which we
currently find ourselves. “From one of
America’s leading scholars of Russia who served as U.S. ambassador to
Russia during the Obama administration, a revelatory, inside account of
U.S.-Russia relations from 1989 to the present.” We can borrow it from our
local library or order from our local bookstore.
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