Rogan's List

7/16/18 

Contact Federal Government Officials

Find elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Fax legislators for free:  Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

and Senate: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php

or use Resistbot:  https://resist.bot/

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.       This week in Congress:  The House will be considering forty-eight (48) bills and resolutions per the Senate Majority Leader's Weekly Schedule. Twenty-four (24) of the bills are scheduled for votes on Monday after 6:30pm. Let's review the schedule so we know what's coming.  The Senate begins its Monday, July 16 session (Source: Senate Executive Calendar) by resuming consideration of the nomination of Scott Stump, of Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education, Department of Education. We can review Stump's background at AllGov. Additional nominees being considered are a) Randal Quarles of Colorado, to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of fourteen years. We can read Quarles bio on the Federal Reserve site; b) Andrew S. Oldham of Texas, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit. We can read this statement of opposition to Oldham from The Leadership Conference; and c) Ryan Wesley Bounds of Oregon, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit. Alliance for Justice provides us this snapshot of Bounds that indicates greater scrutiny by the Senate is warranted.

2.      GOP lawmakers are responding to Special Prosecutor Mueller’s 12 new indictments of Russian nationals last Friday, providing definitive evidence that Russian military intelligence hacked our election, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/13/politics/russia-investigation-indictments/index.html, by pushing forward with documents to impeach Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/13/house-republicans-rod-rosenstein-impeachment-719816. Let’s tell our MoCs that it’s time to put country before the party, and to stop trying to cover up what was clearly an illegitimate election. We insist on keeping Rosenstein in office and letting Robert Mueller finish his work. To do anything less would amount to complicity in further attacking the foundations of our democracy. Our Republican MoCs need to hear this loud and clear and our Democrat MoCs should be doing everything possible to stop the treasonous behavior of their colleagues.

3.      If this verification were not bad enough, " Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned of an impending, potentially devastating cyberattack on U.S. systems, saying the country's digital infrastructure "is literally under attack" and warning that among state actors, Russia is the "worst offender.""  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/intel-chief-dan-coats-says-of-cyber-attacks-we-are-at-a-critical-point/ Knowing what we now know about the Russian hacking of the 2016 election, it is imperative that our MoCs know that we want them to do everything possible to secure the upcoming elections, including paper ballots so that there is a a secure backup to verify the votes.

4.      Despite all we now know, Trump still insists on meeting Putin alone, without media or diplomats.  As Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) tweeted on Friday, "Putin is not our friend nor merely a competitor. Putin is our enemy—not b/c we wish it so, but b/c he has chosen to be. He chose to invade Ukraine & annex Crimea. He chose to help Assad slaughter Syrians. He chose to attack our election & undermine democracies around the world."  We know the atrocities that have happened under Putin regime, even if Trump does not.   https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-summit-critics/as-trump-says-putin-not-my-enemy-skeptics-in-us-see-danger-idUSKBN1K2348  It is the duty of the president to protect our democracy and Trump is not. Let's impress upon our MoCs that legislation to protect us, and those who count on us, is imminently needed.  

5.      It's been only a week and already the NAACP, National Education Association, the National Immigration Law Center, National Women's Law Center, Fight for the Future, Human Rights Campaign, NARAL, Americans United, Alliance for Justice,  Leadership Conference, Lambda Legal, Anti-Defamation League, AFL-CIO, and the Sierra Club have all come out against Brett Kavanaugh to fill the open SCOTUS seat.  These red flags from such diverse organizations should give us pause.   If we are looking for information about Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh’s positions, we can check out Demand Justice Initiative’s one-page document with citation links here:   

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GaoKGfTDW4DMqte6dHGoWixiTDWn-cG0  Perhaps the most frightening parts are his views that The President should be able to control any investigation into his own criminal acts and cannot, while he is office, be held liable for them. Let's continue to contact our senators in opposition to Kavanaugh for Supreme Court.  We can look to these organizations for additional talking points and actions.  We can also check organizations of which we are members to see if they have issued their own statements and concerns.

6.      US District Judge Dana Sabraw has ordered the federal government to stop requiring parents to bear the costs of reuniting with their children who were separated from them at the border. The US is balking. http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-must-pay-travel-dna-costs-for-separated-immigrant-families-2018-7 Let’s tell our MoCs that we expect monies to be appropriated for all reunification costs, including but not limited to DNA testing and transportation, but this money should not be taken from other essential DHS programs. 

7.      FEMA has released an internal report which details its response to the 2017 hurricane season, including its failings in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (https://n.pr/2Ne32O3, https://nyti.ms/2KVt5Nx). The report found that FEMA was understaffed, and the emergency supply warehouses were almost empty when the hurricanes struck. On top of that, there were numerous logistical and communication issues, as FEMA did not seem prepared for the challenges of a crisis outside of the continental U.S. Let's make sure that this does not happen again. We can contact FEMA Administrator Brock Long and ask him how and when he plans on enacting the recommendations from the report. Phone: 202-646-2500 Mailing address: 500 C Street SW, Washington DC 20472 Twitter: @FEMA_Brock  We can also call our MoCs and tell them that we have not forgotten about Puerto Rico, that residents of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands still need our help, and that we want to see our MoCs do more to ensure their recovery from last year's hurricanes.

8.     The Trump administration is trying to get around the Flores settlement, which bars indefinite detention of immigrant children, by claiming opponents of family separation are forcing them to detain children with their parents (http://www.businessinsider.com/immigration-loopholes-asylum-law-trump-administration-congress-2018-6). Let's tell Congress we want them to oppose any effort to undermine the Flores settlement protections for kids, and push to reinstate alternative methods like the Family Case Management Program which Obama piloted to keep migrant families together, but Trump ended. (H/t Jessica Craven)

9.      After a strange news conference exchange in the UK between Trump and CNN’s Jim Acosta, the White House has canceled a CNN interview with John Bolton. Sarah Huckabee Sanders took to Twitter to say that the interview was canceled because CNN was disrespectful to the President. This is a lie based on the video of the exchange and also took place after the President was genuinely disrespectful to the Queen and Prime Minister in the UK:  http://thehill.com/homenews/media/397055-white-house-we-cancelled-boltons-interview-with-cnn-after-jim-acosta  Let’s let Ms. Huckabee Sanders know how tired we are of the gaslighting and the disrespect to our Constitution: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or on Twitter @PressSec

10.  To create a better future, we need to come to terms with the white supremacy that has allowed Trump to thrive. That includes the legacy of racist violence during the Jim Crow era, including lynching. The great-granddaughter of leading anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells is trying to build a monument to her to help grow the knowledge of this chapter of our history (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-ida-b-wells-monument-20180618-story.html), and she is looking to hit a milestone today - the 156th anniversary of Ida Wells' birth. Let's consider donating here. We can also continue her work by telling our senators to support S. 3178, which would make lynching a federal hate crime at last.

11.   Congressman Jim McGovern, (D-MA) is the first voting MoC to sign a call to ratify the 2017 International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has already been adopted by the U.N. and signed by 59 countries. https://www.gazettenet.com/McGovern-endorsing-treaty-for-nuclear-free-future-18815645. Let’s ask our MoCs to follow Congressman McGovern’s lead and endorse an international treaty for a nuclear-free future

12.  This weekend marked five years since the Black Lives Matter movement began, following the acquittal of the police officer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Let's read more , from one of the founders, about what Black Lives Matter has accomplished, then commit to working to end systemic racism and police violence. We can begin by reading this post at the ACLU, then calling our MoCs and asking them to cosponsor and support the House's End Racial Profiling Act and Senate's End Racial and Religious Profiling Act (H.R. 1498/S. 411).

13.  Former HHS Secretary Tom Price took 20 trips that violated federal requirements, according to a federal auditor that urged the department in a Friday report to recover at least $341,000 in wasted spending.  The audit from the HHS inspector general, which came about 10 months after Price’s resignation, found he and his staff spent more than $1.2 million on travel during his tenure at HHS. The report identified roughly $480,000 in costs from chartered planes and another $700,000 in military flights.  A department spokesman said HHS will seek guidance from the Justice Department “whether there is legal basis for recoupment.”  https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/13/tom-price-auditor-travel-685778 Let’s hope that a legal basis can be identified so taxpayers can recoup some or all of this money.  Price and Pruitt may be gone but they left us large bills. Let’s ask our MoCs to enact some clear laws for penalties and repayment for those department heads that violate the spending guidelines. 

14.  There’s compelling evidence that the NRA has been violating campaign finance laws by using a shell corporation to channel outsized sums directly to Republican candidates. The NRA apparently used this strategy to help flip the Senate to Republican control in 2014, and to retain GOP control in 2016. Let’s share this article, which covers the story, with the FEC and demand an investigation: https://www.thetrace.org/2018/07/nra-campaign-finance-onmessage-starboard-strategic/. Contact: Caroline Hunter, Chair (Republican), commissionerhunter@fec.gov; Ellen Weintraub, Vice Chair (Democrat), 

commissionerweintraub@fec.gov . Bonus points for sending the article link to the editor of our newspaper of record and telling them to cover the story.

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.       “Former President Barack Obama stars in a promotional video for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), released Wednesday. Chaired by former Attorney General Eric Holder, the NDRC aims to battle gerrymandering, or partisan redistricting.”  http://fortune.com/2018/07/11/obama-ndrc-gerrymandering-video/  Let’s join the NDRC and learn how we can help:  https://pac.democraticredistricting.com/page/s/join-the-ndrc-pac

2.      In the wake of the special counsel's revelations for that a 2016 congressional candidate asked for, and received, information hacked by Russia, former U.S. Rep. Brad Ashford announced that his emails were hacked during his unsuccessful re-election campaign that year (https://www.omaha.com/news/nation/morton/brad-ashford-says-his-emails-were-hacked-too-showing-how/article_2ff45da6-01e1-5533-8a84-d238cf783484.html). The candidate who beat him is current rep. Don Bacon (R-NE). Let's hold him accountable - and help elect a progressive champion for health care for all at the same time. We can sign up to make calls for his challenger, Kara Eastman, at https://call.eastmanforcongress.com.

3.      Let's help flip a US congressional seat in Ohio! Postcards To Voters has another week's worth of addresses to go for Campaign 93: Danny O'Connor for Ohio US Congressional District 12. This large Central Ohio district has been held by Republicans for all but two of the last eighty years. The special election is Tuesday, August 7. If we are verified volunteers already, we can request addresses here. or via our usual preferred method. If we're new to this effort to get-out-the-vote, we can sign up to volunteer here.  Let's write 5 cards today and tell our family and friends in Ohio about this opportunity to make a difference.

4.      Democratic candidates, especially those running in state and other down-ballot races, are often way, way behind in the use of technology to win elections.    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/technology/tech-midterms-democrats.html Tech for Campaigns is an organization of hi-tech workers volunteering their time and expertise to help Democratic candidates with web development, social media, paid marketing, data analysis, and other assistance. If we’re techies, let’s sign up to volunteer. If we’re campaigners, let’s ask for help:

 https://www.techforcampaigns.org/

5.      We must take back the Senate, and that means fighting hard to keep every seat, while flipping more. Unfortunately Rick Scott, Republican senate candidate who spent 75 MILLION  of his own money to become Governor of Florida, has another 75 million to spend on his Senate campaign, so Bill Nelson needs our help to keep his seat!
A group of #FlipFlorida volunteers in South Florida have created a postcarding project to strategically target groups of voters in Florida with a hard-hitting message to get them to vote on November 6th. Whether or not we live in the state, we can join in and write postcards to get out the Vote.  In order to receive our instructions and list of addresses, we can email flpostcards@gmail.com. Then we can share this message with our friends all over this state and the country who want to help FLIP FLORIDA BLUE! As of now there are over 30,000 addresses to mail to, so let’s get busy!

Election 2018 – By State

1.       Upcoming voting dates and deadlines:

July 17	Kansas	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary
July 17	Alabama	Election date	Runoffs
July 17	North Carolina (FED ONLY)	Election date	Runoffs
July 20	Louisiana	Filing Deadline
July 22	Alaska	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary
July 23	Georgia	Early voting ends	runoffs
July 24	Minnesota	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary
July 24	Georgia	Election date	Runoffs
July 28	Tennessee	Early Voting ends	Primary
July 30	Arizona	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary
July 30	Florida	Voter Registration Deadline	Primary
July 30	Arkansas	Early Voting begins	State Senate Dist 8
July 30	Hawaii	Early Voting begins	Primary
July 31	Kansas	Early Voting begins	Primary

(source:  by date:  https://goo.gl/gjFv2u by state:  https://goo.gl/7gTzvE)

2.      TN:  Tennessee 8/2 Primary: At a Glance

3.      KS:  Kansas 8/7 Primary: At a Glance

4.      MI:  Michigan 8/7 Primary: At a Glance

5.      MI:  If we live in the MI-01 Congressional district, our candidate was not allowed on the primary ballot due to a mix-up.  So, to get him on the ballot in November, at least 3000 of us need to write him in when we vote in the primary.  Let’s make sure to write in:  Matt Morgan (and fill in the bubble next to it!)  Let’s check out his campaign:  https://mattmorganformichigan.com/ 

6.      MO:  Missouri 8/7 Primary: At a Glance

7.      WA:  Washington 8/7 Primary: At a Glance

Other Actions

1.       “The top Democrat on the Senate Rules Committee wants more answers from voting machine vendors after two of the three largest companies skipped Wednesday’s election security hearing. Hart InterCivic sent a representative, but Election Systems & Software and Dominion did not. “ https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-cybersecurity/2018/07/12/voting-machine-vendors-under-pressure-277054  Now that we know election hacking is real and purposeful, we need to know more from these companies in order to trust them in the future.  Let’s tell these two companies, that count for 80% of our election equipment, that we want them to attend a hearing so that we all know what is happening.  Election Systems & Software (ESS):  https://www.essvote.com/contact/ and Dominion Voting Systems:  http://www.dominionvoting.com/contact

2.      Grandmothers are taking charge!  "We are grannies on a mission. We are outraged by the cruel and inhumane way our government is treating immigrant children and their families who have risked all to find refuge from violence and oppression."  Let's join or help these grannies, if we can!  https://www.granniesrespond.org/

3.      Peter Schey, lead class counsel on the Flores Settlement (1997), a decision that obligated our government to treat children in its custody humanely, is visiting each of the 60 child detention centers to interview the children in ongoing compliance litigation against the government.  Sponsoring this is The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, (CHRCL), the only non-governmental organization in the country permitted to inspect every detention site where children are held and to interview and assess the treatment of all detained children. They are connecting parents, even those who have been deported, with their children by phone, assessing the children’s needs, working to bring deported mothers back, offering legal aid and more.  They are creating a database of children, parents, and volunteers to help reunify and reintegrate families post-release. We can learn more about the project, volunteer, donate and use social media to spread the word to our family and friends. If we have an organization that would like to assist, we can contact them there as well:  http://reunify.org/  CHRCL needs to reach the largest audience possible - internationally (particularly people from the Northern Triangle). We can help by getting the word out on the Reunify.org project via all social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram).  We can share this project description in Spanish as well:  El Proyecto Reunify.org es un recurso impresionantemente integrador que busca identificar, conectar y reunir a las familias mientras luchar contra ésta injusticia de separación. Visitas al sitio.  Encontrar niños.  Ubicar padres.  Trae a mamá de Vuelta. 

4.      Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin visited a predominantly African-American school in his state and had this to say about their chess team:  "not something you necessarily would have thought of when you think of this section of town.":  http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/396949-kentucky-governor-under-fire-after-saying-kids-playing-chess-at  Let’s let the Governor know that his ‘aww shucks’ version of racism is hurting his own state:  https://governor.ky.gov/contact/

5.      Calling all get-out-the-vote postcarders! Midterms are right around the corner, and now’s the time to expand our capacity to reach voters—meaning, now’s the time to recruit more postcarders to our writing teams. Let’s take the time to solicit friends, family, and neighbors and get them on our lists so we can double, triple, quadruple our impact! We can learn more and sign up here:  https://postcardstovoters.org

6.      From Bake America Great Again:  We have a grassroots volunteer group here in LA called Bake America Great. We raise dough for progressive causes. So far, we've raised $120,000 for causes like Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project and Moms Demand Action. We are planning to do a big round of bake sales on June 30/July 1st to help raise money for the families being separated at our border. We are not a 501c3 yet, because we are taking some initial steps here with Mayor Garcetti to change the rules for non-profit bake sales, but we hope that we will be soon, and we will be doing a big national push at that time. We have had several sales here in LA, though and have had a few volunteers from other cities join us. Our basic model is similar to No Kid Hungry, except we're trying to do a little ground work to make it easier for people to host their own sales. Bake Sale - No Kid Hungry 

7.      There is a big difference between patriotism and nationalism:  https://www.facebook.com/AmericaVersusbyattn/videos/1854242781550639/  Let’s use this information to become better patriots and help others to do so as well.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       The Parkland/March for Our Lives students are still on tour” to get young people educated, registered, and motivated to vote.”  This week they are in TX, NM, CO, and UT.  Let’s meet up with them.  Here are their July dates and locations:  https://marchforourlives.com/tour/

2.      Trump is continuing to fight to discredit the Mueller investigation - and it may be working (http://time.com/5304206/donald-trump-discredit-mueller-investigation/). In response, all across the country on July 18th allies will Confront Corruption and Demand Democracy with a candlelight vigil at sundown. These vigils are being spearheaded by the Trump Is Not Above the Law network of more than 375,000 people who are RSVPed to attend more than 900 events nationwide should Trump fire Mueller or Rosenstein, or pardon key members of his campaign or administration. We can learn more, find vigils near us or launch our own here.

3.      July 22 at 3pm EDT, Issue Voters of Northern Nevada will be presenting a webinar on “Voter Mobilization:  Strategies and Best Practices”.  Here is the event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/191292124873267/ We can register here:  https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vEbS2tQKQKyrs-yoroJ2qA

4.      ​The immigrant-led activist group Cosecha is calling for us to take the next step, with a national day of action to end cooperation with ICE on July 31st, demanding cities, counties, companies and all institutions stop working with them. Let's get involved. We can check out the #WeWillNotBeComplicit Action Guide at this link.

States

Find elected state officials: https://openstates.org/

1.       MA: S2314 would prevent public utilities from instituting heavy “demand charges” on customers who choose to install solar panels. These demand fees have already been struck down in 15 states because they are bad for both consumers and the environment. Let’s make sure to contact our state senators and ask them to do everything they can to make sure this bill passes by the end of the legislative session on July 31. The Alliance for Solar Choice has more information and an email writing tool here.

Reading/Watching

1.       Experts in authoritarianism advise us to keep a list of things subtly changing around us, so we’ll remember.  Amy Siskind is keeping that list for us. Amy writes, "This week Trump continued his hostility towards the free press and his attacks on free markets, while taking steps to consolidate power. Important developments, like Trump’s executive order doing away with non-partisan administrative law judges and the confirmation of Brian Benczkowski to a top Justice Department position, got very little notice in the chaos."  Let's review Amy Siskind's list week 87. 

2.      “The Trump era won't last for ever. But we must do our part to end it” - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/13/trump-era-hope-activism-organise-protest

3.      Eight states will have just under half of the total population of the country, 49.5 percent, according to the Weldon Cooper Center’s estimate. The next eight most populous states will account for an additional fifth of the population, up to 69.2 percent — meaning that the 16 most populous states will be home to about 70 percent of Americans. Ornstein’s (and Waldman’s) point is clear: 30 percent of the population of the country will control 68 percent of the seats in the U.S. Senate. Or, more starkly, half the population of the country will control 84 percent of those seats.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/07/12/in-about-20-years-half-the-population-will-live-in-eight-states/?utm_term=.83e3a65dbdc3&wpisrc=nl_most&wpmm=1.  An interesting read on how population movements are creating a different political future in the USA.