Contact Federal Government Officials
Fax legislators for free:
or use
Resistbot: https://resist.bot/
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.
From one
of our own: On 8/22/18, the Senate Rules
Committee will deliberate on @amyklobuchar’s
Secure Elections Act [S.
2261].
Demand that the Committee amend it to require states to (1) give voters the
option to mark their ballots by HAND; & (2) conduct Risk Limiting Audits! ….
Here is a link to the addresses & phone numbers of all members of the
Senate Rules Committee. We must call, email, & tweet to ALL of them nonstop
between now and 8/22!! Not enough people are contacting them. Here’s how:
2.
Countable
tell us that the Senate will spend its week debating an $854 billion
"minibus" funding package that combines two of the fiscal year
2019 spending bills. Let's read about these at Countable.us and
contact our Senators with our feedback.
3.
While
Trump hailed the “heroes” of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at yesterday’s ceremony at
the White House, he did not successfully take the heat off the problems those
agencies are causing. He did, however,
blame Democrats for making the problems worse.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-gives-salute-to-ice-live-stream/ Not to be dissuaded by his version of the
truth, we know the reality about the activities of ICE and CBP and know that changes
need to be made: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-parker-cbp-20180819-story.html Both the Senate and the House have subcommittees
that oversee border security. Let’s
contact those subcommittee members and share our concerns. Senate:
https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/subcommittees/subcommittee-on-border-security-and-immigration and
House: https://judiciary.house.gov/subcommittee/subcommittee-on-immigration-and-border-security/
4.
Last
week, Senator McCaskill released the U.S. Senate Homeland Security &
Governmental Affairs Committee minority report,
which notes that the Trump administration's proposed budget would cut funding
for inspectors general (IGs) at the Environmental Protection Agency, Homeland
Security, State Department, the Treasury, Department of Agriculture, and the
Troubled Asset Relief Program. The importance of these governmental watchdogs
cannot be overstated, as they are non-partisan and provide oversight to each
respective agency (https://wapo.st/2L9VMkX).
Let's contact our MoC and make sure that they oppose the Trump administration's
funding cuts for IGs for the FY 2019 budget. We can use the call script
available at 5Calls here.
5.
Trump’s
new tactic of threatening to revoke security clearances for anyone he considers
oppositional or threatening leads us down a dangerous path. http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/402591-presidents-decision-to-revoke-brennans-security-clearance-takes.
DOJ official Bob Ohr is the administration’s latest target. Yesterday, the
president stated that he planned to revoke his security clearance and called on
AG Jeff Sessions to fire him. http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/402634-trump-says-doj-official-should-be-fired-over-role-in-russia-probe.
For the sake of our democracy, let’s press our MoCs on the urgency of enacting
legislation that prevents the executive branch from randomly revoking security
clearances of anyone he considers threatening to his consistent overreach of
authority.
6.
Last
week, FBI Agent Peter Strozk was fired, ostensibly for sending text messages to
his girlfriend that were critical of several political leaders, including the
president. In its initial response to the incident, the FBI had conducted an
independent review and recommended suspending Strozk for 60 days as a
disciplinary action. However, that decision was overturned by FBI Deputy
Director David Bowditch, a decision that appears politically motivated and
worrisome in the way that it continues to subvert the authority of our
democratic institutions. Let’s ask our MoCs to call for Judiciary Committee
hearings in order to determine whether or not Strozk’s firing was
inappropriately politically motivated. https://www.vox.com/2018/8/13/17683566/peter-strzok-fired-fbi-trump-russia.
5calls.org has
a script here.
7.
White
House speechwriter Darren Beattie was let go from his position after it was
learned that he spoke at a white supremacist meeting. https://www.bustle.com/p/trump-aide-darren-beattie-spoke-at-a-white-nationalist-event-now-hes-out-at-the-white-house-10173594 Let’s contact the White House and ask they
also let Stephen Miller go as he falls into that same camp: https://www.newsweek.com/stephen-miller-trump-white-house-aide-essays-op-eds-duke-774534
8.
For
those of us who have been contacting our legislators about reinstating the ban
on chlorpyrifos pesticides: Good news! A federal appeals court ruled that the
Republican administration endangered public health by keeping this widely used
pesticide on the market despite extensive scientific evidence that even tiny
levels of exposure can harm babies’ brains. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco ordered the EPA to remove chlorpyrifos from sale in
the United States within 60 days. Let's read more at AP
News.
Let's continue to make our voices heard about environmental issues.
9.
Were
John Bolton’s ties to Russia properly vetted before he joined the Trump
administration as national security advisory this year? Based on reports that
Bolton worked with alleged Russian spy Maria Butina through the NRA, Democrats
on the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
have written to Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly demanding that the
administration turn over documents “relating to whether Mr. Bolton reported his
previous work with [Butina] on his security clearance forms or other White
House vetting materials prior to President Trump appointing him to his current
position.”
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000165-57da-d696-a76f-7fda2b820001 ; https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/20/john-bolton-russia-connections-hosue-democrats-789451 Let’s
thank Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings and Ranking Member Subcommittee on
National Security Stephen F. Lynch for demanding these documents, and let’s
tell John Kelly that we support their demand for production of these documents
by September 4. Cummings: 202-225-5074 or https://cummings.house.gov/contact or
@RepCummings ; Lynch: 202-225-5074 or https://lynch.house.gov/contact-me/email-me or
@RepStephenLynch; Kelly: General John F. Kelly, Chief of Staff, The White
House, 1650 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500 or https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/write-or-call/
10. The Republican administration suffered seven major
environmental setbacks, including the chlorpyrifos pesticide ban, in the past
week as mounting losses in federal courts stall its deregulatory agenda. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-environmental-setbacks_us_5b770743e4b05906b4135d4f and
https://gazette.com/trump-administration-keeps-losing-environmental-court-cases/article_47cd3d60-a338-11e8-8363-cfd65e6eb86d.html The administration's fortunes could change in
the future as the Republican's tighten their grip on the courts with their
nominees. Let's keep opposing anti-environment judicial nominees and dangerous
deregulation.
11.
If we
wondered whether we were living in an Orwell novel, no need to wonder any
more. In a typically belligerent and incoherent exchange with Chuck Todd
on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani
insisted that “Truth isn’t truth”; it’s all a matter of he-said,
she-said. Fired federal prosecutor Preet Bharara suggested in a tweet
that he “try that one with a jury”:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45252493
Let’s tell the White House that we, his “jury,” believe that facts enable us to
tell truth from lies.
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:
1.
Phone
number correction: The Randolph
County Board of Elections in Georgia has proposed shutting 7 out of 9 polling
places in the area. https://www.wrbl.com/news/local-news/randolph-county-board-of-elections-proposes-closing-a-majority-of-polling-places/1377250612. The spurious reason given is that these
polling places do not comply with ADA requirements. However, many residents of
the county, which is heavily African American do not have cars and would have
to walk over 3 hours to vote. Let’s contact the Randolph County Board of
Elections at 855-782-6310 and demand that these polling places stay open. We
will be told that they are closing due to ADA compliance issues, but we know
that accommodations can be made or the voting locations can be changed.
2.
“Defeat
Hate. Vote!” is the message of the NAACP’s Turn Out 2018 voter registration and
mobilization campaign. Let’s use this great toolkit, which includes voter
registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) guides, webinar training, social media
toolkit, shareable graphics, and more: https://naacp.org/campaigns/fighting-for-democracy/
3.
From one
of our own: Not sure which candidate to
vote for? Let Vote411 from the League of Women Voters help: “Enter your
address to find your polling place, build your ballot with our online voters'
guide and much more! With our voters' guide you can see the races on your
ballot, compare candidates' positions side-by-side, and print out a
"ballot" indicating your preferences as a reminder and take it with
you to the polls on Election Day. Check out our resources for military and
overseas voters!" GO HERE: http://vote411.org/
Election
2018 – By State
1.
Upcoming
voting dates and deadlines:
|
August 21
|
Wyoming
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary (same day registration)
|
|
August 21
|
Alaska
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 21
|
Wyoming
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 23
|
Oklahoma
|
Early Voting begins
|
Runoffs
|
|
August 25
|
Oklahoma
|
Early voting ends
|
Runoffs
|
|
August 25
|
Guam
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 25
|
Florida
|
Early Voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
August 28
|
Arizona
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 28
|
Florida
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 28
|
Oklahoma
|
Election date
|
Runoffs
|
|
August 28
|
Arizona
|
Early voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
September 1
|
New Hampshire
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary by mail: in person-same day
|
|
September 3
|
Alaska
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
REAA
|
|
September 4
|
Massachusetts
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
September 6
|
Delaware
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
September 11
|
New Hampshire
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
September 12
|
Rhode Island
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
(source: by date:
https://goo.gl/gjFv2u by state:
https://goo.gl/7gTzvE)
2.
Upcoming Primaries:
A)
Tuesday, 8/21
B) Tuesday, 8/28
3.
GA: Georgia canceled the registration of more than a half-million voters,
part of an ongoing round of maintenance to clean up the state’s voting
rolls. Each of the 591,548 voters affected by the move had already been on the
state’s “inactive” registration list. Let's read more at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Although this was not a random purge, if we are Georgians let's take a moment
to review our voter registration status and
consider signing-up on-line for convenient mail-in voting. We can also register on-line to vote in Georgia.
Let's share this information with our family and friends in Georgia so they can
check/register too.
4.
GA: From one of our own: A historic motion to preclude Georgia from
using its paperless touchscreen voting machines in Nov. could be decided as
soon as THIS WEEK. (With paperless touchscreens, there is no software
independent record of voter intent to confirm the legitimacy of the electronic
tallies.) Here are the jaw-dropping facts behind the #GA06 election
& other events that were the catalyst for the lawsuit: https://medium.com/@jennycohn1/georgia-6-and-the-voting-machine-vendors-87278fdb0cdf Let’s watch for the decision that could
change how we vote.
Other
Actions
1. From Sleeping Giants: "Yesterday, our friends at Right Wing
Watch and ThinkProgress unearthed a bombshell: Stripe processed between $250k - $1 million
over 5 years for Richard Spencer, essentially funding last year's events in
Charlottesville. For the uninitiated, Stripe enables people and businesses to
accept credit card payments at a rate of 2.9% + 30 cents. We're not good at
math, but we know that means Stripe's making a lot of money funneling funds to
white supremacist groups. But it gets worse. According to an anonymous
employee, Stripe is still processing payments for white nationalist groups like
League of the South, Occidental Quarterly and Counter–Currents Publishing - and
they are well aware of it." Let's contact Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson
and tell her that by profiting off of white nationalists, Stripe is actively
violating its own mission to maintain an inclusive work environment. Sleeping
Giants has a template we can work from as we reach out.
Claire Hughes Johnson, COO at Stripe: claire@stripe.com
2. From
one of our own: If you have not yet done
so, check out SwellCollective.org and please join me in welcoming and
thanking Emily Gonzales Escalante for building this valuable training curriculum. Wow. “Our
mission is to invest the tools and skills of conscious collaboration, ethical
exercise of power & privilege, and resilience & self-care directly into
the hands of those working towards and dreaming of peaceful, healthy and
diverse communities.”
3. As
goes Facebook, so goes social media generally. And right now, finally, Facebook
is starting to acknowledge and adapt to its emerging role as an information
utility company with a responsibility to the public trust (https://theconversation.com/facebook-begins-to-shift-from-being-a-free-and-open-platform-into-a-responsible-public-utility-101577). From the article: "Utility companies
need to be accountable
to the public, offering transparency about their
operations, providing accountability when things go wrong, allowing
verification of their claims and obedience to regulations meant to protect the
public interest." Embracing this new role would make Facebook a better
actor in our society, so let's take a moment to encourage the company to
finally grow up and assume its proper place among us: https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/268228883256323 (for "Product of Service,"
choose "Newsfeed").
Marches/events/webinars/TwitterStorms to
attend/organize
1.
Tonight, August 21 at 8pm ET, join in the TwitterStrom
in support of a free press: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XLGesAuKyjBoY0bAdMpWENswqs4lX3PQJ5AG_6_7X-4/edit#gid=0
2.
Organized by Unite for Justice, activists across the country are coming together
for a 50-state day of action against Kavanaugh’s nomination on August 26th.
Let’s find an event near us or start our own here. We can also download posters and social graphics on
the website.
3.
On September 8, the Peoples Climate
Movement will lead a national mobilization for
climate, jobs, and justice. We can find a Rise for Climate event near us here, or we can sign up to organize our own.
(Note: Rise for Climate,
Jobs, and Justice action in New York City will be held on THURSDAY,
SEPTEMBER 6 at 5:30 p.m. at Battery Park.)
4.
On September 22 there will be a
protest at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago in Florida in commemoration of the first
anniversary of Hurricane Maria:
http://thehill.com/latino/401578-trumps-mar-a-lago-to-be-greeted-with-massive-protest-on-hurricane-maria-anniversary Let’s put this on our calendars
if we will be nearby.
States
Reading/Watching
1.
In greeting challenges with defensiveness, we
miss important opportunities to listen and move forward: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a22717725/what-is-toxic-white-feminism/
2.
Listen To The Spymasters - https://www.newsandguts.com/listen-to-the-spymasters/
3.
“The Center for Media and Democracy, publisher of ALEC Exposed, brings you
this unique wiki resource on the billionaire industrialists and the power and
influence of the Koch cadre and Koch cash.” - https://www.prwatch.org/topics/koch-exposed
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