Rogan's List

5/3/18

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

********************************

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.    Correction:  “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) Let’s tell our MoCs that reinstating the Fairness Doctrine would help stop the proliferation of fake news.

2.   In response to GOP saber-rattling regarding the Special Counsel, Deputy Attorney Rod Rosenstein spoke up on Tuesday and said, “I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted.”:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/01/rod-rosenstein-trump-russia-event-washington  Let’s thank Rosenstein for holding strong in difficult times: https://www.justice.gov/contact-us

3.   Vice President Mike Pence chose to sing the praises of despicable Arizona Senate candidate Joe Arpaio: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/385776-pence-hails-arpaio-in-arizona-as-champion-of-rule-of-law  Let’s let Pence know that Arpaio does not deserve to be held up: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or on Twitter at @VP 

4.    It does not seem possible that more corruption scandals can spill forth daily about EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt but the hits keep coming:  https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/01/epa-chief-scott-pruitt-top-aides-depart-ethics  and  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lobbyist-helped-arrange-scott-pruitt-morocco-trip-now-earns-40000-from-moroccan-government-report/  Let’s keep the pressure on Pruitt to resign:  https://www.epa.gov/home/forms/contact-epa  or on Twitter at @EPAScottPruitt

5.   Last year, Gabby Giffords' gun control advocacy group sued Trump's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms for not responding to multiple FOIA requests regarding the NRA's communications with the Administration (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2017/11/10/gun-control-group-sues-atf-alleging-agency-wont-turn-over-policy-documents/?utm_term=.ac5bb7c730fa). To date the BATF has remained silent, which is suspect given the uncanny similarities between statements from both Trump and the NRA about recent mass shootings. Is Trump taking more than just donations from the NRA? Let's ask the BATF's congressional oversight committees to investigate this delay. Highest contact points on our side would be House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Diane Feinstein (D-CA). We can also show support for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence by signing this petition:  https://act.endcitizensunited.org/page/s/giffords-nra-lawsuit-april

6.   The Senate is set to petition for a vote on net neutrality on May 9^th. 

(https://www.cnet.com/news/etsy-tumblr-foursquare-and-others-plan-red-alert-protest-to-protect-net-neutrality/). While various websites prepare to go on "red alert" in support of the Congressional Review Act to overturn the FCC's repeal of net neutrality, we can do our part by making sure the vote passes. Indivisible has identified Senator John Kennedy as the Republican most likely to support the CRA. Let's visit Indivisible so we can take a look at the information which supports this, then we can use the call scripts and office phone numbers they provide: https://www.indivisible.org/resource/senator-kennedy-net-neutrality-call-script/ **Please note that the Senate is on recess from April 30th-May4th, so we should be calling their district offices rather than their D.C. office during that time**

7.   The caravan of migrants that has provoked the President’s ire on Twitter has arrived at the United States border. Two hundred people, many with harrowing stories of rape and gang violence, are trying to seek asylum; however the government is refusing to let them in and hear their cases. (https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/607191017/central-americans-from-migrant-caravan-arrive-at-u-s-border-to-find-crossing-at-)  Let’s use this five calls script to ask the Department of Homeland Security to grant them fair hearings.

8.  "Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price used to say that Obamacare's individual mandate increased health-care costs. Now he's saying Congress' decision to repeal it could actually increase costs."  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/01/tom-price-changes-mind-says-repealing-individual-mandate-will-raise-costs.html  Let's let our MoCs know that we are still waiting for them to fix the health care mess.

9.   From Alt National Park Service (created by a coalition of National Park Service employees, state park employees, local park employees, National Forest Service employees, EPA employees, USDA employees, NOAA employees, BLM employees, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, and environmental scientists.): "National Alert: We could use your help to speak out. Please share. There is a major management shake-up underway at the National Park Service, including the proposed reassignment of the veteran superintendent of Yellowstone National Park and six other senior executives. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and his deputies have emphasized that they see shifting Senior Executive Service (SES) officials to different locations as a way to invigorate the department’s approach to decision-making. But don’t be tricked by their words these reassignments are because they have spoken out against the administration’s policies. Zinke has stated that he has “30 percent of the crew that’s not loyal to the flag.” Several shifts would involve demotions! Help us protect the resistance by sharing and calling your representatives. Your voice does make a difference!"

10. The NRA has its annual convention in Dallas this weekend.  Protesters will be in full force.  (http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-trump-nra-convention-20180430-story.html)  Let’s use this time to let our national and state legislators know that we are no longer letting commonsense gun laws be ignored.  We want a ban on assault weapons and bump stocks, closure of the background check loopholes including gun shows and second hand sales, closing the “boyfriend” loophole, and raising purchase age to 21. 

11.  The Trump administration is continuing to try to wall us off from the rest of the world, proposing  that anyone seeking a visa to visit the United States be required to allow the State Department to review their last five years’ worth of social media posts (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/trump-admin-wants-to-track-14-million-us-visitors-social-media-history/). This invasive step is likely to drive away students, tourists and business from our country. We have until May 29th to submit comments in opposition to this change. Let’s make sure we do so here. 

12.  Bristol Bay, Alaska is one of the most productive marine ecosystems in the world and the source of the world's largest wild salmon fishery. Right now, it’s threatened by a proposed gold and copper mine known as Pebble Mine, which could destroy this pristine habitat (http://kbbi.org/post/community-protests-and-comments-pebble-mine-scoping-meeting). We have until June 29 to submit public comments in opposition to this devastation. Let’s join World Wildlife Fund in making our voices heard here.

13.  During the last presidential election, 29% of eligible college students were not registered to vote. These numbers are far too high. We must do better than that. Fortunately, Senator Cory Booker(D-NJ)  and Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) have introduced the Help Students Vote Act (HSVA) which makes sure that college students nationwide get the information they need to register to vote and become active citizens. HSVA builds on the provision of the Higher Education Act that requires colleges and universities to make a “good-faith effort” to distribute voter registration forms, by adding much-needed clarity and support for voter registration. young people do get registered to vote, they turn out in similar numbers as other age groups. Colleges and universities can play an important role in helping their students - many of them first time voters - get registered to vote and be ready for Election Day. We can read the bills here: H.R. 5564 and S.B. 2699  We can call our Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor and support these bills. We can also sign this petition and share on Social Media with the #StudentVote hashtag:  https://secure.everyaction.com/tzwuUH8BqE-0xxMzGMCmLQ2?ms=yi

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.    While the GOP argued that tax cuts for corporations would lead to a boost for everyday workers, we are consistently shown that this is not the case. In anticipation of the cuts they would get through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Apple gave a significant pay raise to its CEO and top executives. Numerous companies also opted to give one-time bonuses to their employees, rather than increase their base pay. Most recently, it is being reported that, rather than allow their profits to "trickle down" to their employees and increase pay and benefits, Apple is returning a large portion of its profits to its shareholders, increasing the quarterly dividend by 16%. As we head towards the midterms, let's remember who voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the House and Senate, and if we have a candidate who touts the bill as they campaign, let's remember that we did not want it in the first place, and that their initial promises have not come to fruition.

2.   From one of our own:  So Richard Painter [an ex-Bush ethics attorney who now teaches law and is the vice-chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics,] has decided to run, as a democrat, for Al Franken’s old seat. I like Painter because he’s ant-trump, but why would he primary an incumbent democrat for the seat? Why wouldn’t he run as a Republican, which he was, and try to take back his party? Let’s ask him: 

https://www.painterminnesota.com/contact  or on Twitter:  @RWPUSA,  or on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/RWPMinnesota/

3.   Election 2018 results: Postcards to Voters' volunteers wrote to voters in two of Tuesday elections, both for Florida state house seats. 1) FL - Campaign 59: Ricky Shirah lost with 40% of the vote to Republican candidate Josie Tomkow. 2) FL -Campaign 69: Javier Fernandez received 51% of the vote for the win. He will run again for this seat in November as the incumbent. We can read about both elections at WOGX (Tallahassee). Let's continue to write get-out-the-vote postcards and encourage others to do the same. We can volunteer here. 

Election 2018 – By State

Other Actions

1.    If we are new to Rogan’s List, we might not have heard of Postcards From Kate – a weekday email that calls us into expressions of gratitude through postcards to folks doing great work in the world. It is a nice daily energy boost:  https://www.postcardsfromkate.org

2.   Pen America, an organization that defends writers' freedom of expression, just published a guide to fighting online harassment. "Writers and journalists are facing unprecedented levels of online hate and harassment. While there are no easy answers, this digital Field Manual contains effective strategies and resources that writers, journalists, their allies, and their employers can use to defend against cyber hate and fight online abuse." It has a number of tips useful to anyone with an online presence. An excellent resource to help defend ourselves and others:  https://onlineharassmentfieldmanual.pen.org

3.   Malibu, California has moved to ban single-use plastic. Swiftly following Malibu's plastic ban are Seattle and the California cities of Davis and San Luis Obispo. Two cities in Florida, Miami and Fort Myers, have also decided to take similar measures in banning straws. We can read more at NPR. This article also tells us about pasta straws as a eco-friendlier plastic straw alternative. Let's read more at NPR and use this information to encourage our own local city governments to adopt similar policies. Let's encourage any restaurant owners we know to make the switch to Pasta Straw.

4.   If we are a young activist or know one, tired of the attacks on Arizona families and wanting to engage voters to build a better future, we can check out Central Arizonans for A Sustainable Economy (CASE) summer canvassing program, where we can help get out the vote. CASE is a movement of young people and working families committed to achieving economic, social and immigrants’ justice in Arizona. They are a grassroots organization led by volunteer leaders, the majority of whom are young people trying to build a future in a State that currently provides them too few educational and economic opportunities.  We can find out more about CASE here: http://case-az.org/.  We can learn about their partner for this project, ONE Arizona here:  http://www.onearizona.org/.  We can email Rachele Smith if we are interested in the program Rsmith@case-az.org

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

States

1.    ALL:  As teachers strike for living wages and states claim they have no money for education, we should pay close attention to how much these same states are spending on incarceration. “Between 1980 and 2013, education budgets grew by 58 percent in West Virginia, 69 percent in Oklahoma, and 102 percent in Kentucky; during that time there was an explosive growth of spending on incarceration with an increase of 483 percent in West Virginia, 341 percent in Oklahoma and 259 percent in Kentucky.” http://thehill.com/opinion/education/385520-taxing-our-kids-to-fund-prisons. Other states have similar patterns. Let’s tell our state legislators that we want to see our taxpayer money spent on education, not incarceration, which disproportionately affects people of color and does not make us safer.  

2.   MI: The action group Indivisible MI-08 (Ingham county) has created a resource we can use to help fight back against Nestle and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's (MDEQ) repeated decisions to ignore Michigan citizens. We can find out how to help support the legal battle against Nestle, boycott Nestle products, and call on our elected officials to better represent their constituents. Let's take action, and protect our water:   https://indivisiblemi8.com/lets-stop-nestle/

Reading/Watching

1.   “Why does the U.S. still have 'debtors' prisons'?” -  http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-43916040/why-does-the-us-still-have-debtors-prisons

2.   The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is rapidly accumulating plastic and has been described as "an island of trash twice the size of Texas."  We may have read articles about it like this one in Newsweek.  Now, we can read a scientific report with data at Nature. Let's stay informed about environmental issues.

3.   Plastics are not just affecting the ocean and land. Record levels of microplastics have been found trapped inside sea ice floating in the Arctic. Let's read about this at BBC. Let's consider ways we can reduce our own single-use plastic consumption. Saying "no" to plastic straws in restaurants when we eat out is just one way to get started.