8/7/18
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.
Donald
Trump clearly can't be counted on to stop Russia from interfering in our
elections, making the DETER Act (S.
2313) - which makes punishment for such actions
automatic, taking it out of Trump's hands - all the more important (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia/senators-push-sanctions-to-send-putin-election-meddling-warning-idUSKBN1KC0QV). This should be common sense legislation,
and a litmus test for anyone who believes the intelligence agencies and not
Putin. Let's call our senators and asking what they are doing to force a vote
on it.
2.
Even
though the administration is threatening a government shutdown if Congress
doesn’t provide funding for a border wall, http://time.com/5353100/trump-government-shut-down-border-wall/, the Government Accountability Office
announced yesterday that the White House has not yet provided a full analysis
of the costs and projected outcomes of the project. http://thehill.com/latino/400564-gao-trump-admin-hasnt-conducted-full-analysis-of-border-wall-costs. Let’s make sure to tell our MoCs, that
without a complete accounting of the full costs and benefits of the project, it
would be fiscally irresponsible to move forward, no matter what the president
is threatening. And we can make sure to add our opinion that a wall would waste
our money and threaten our relationship with Mexico as cited here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/mexico-president-trump-andres-manuel-lopez-obrador-general-election-us-border-a8427726.html.
3.
Last
week, the administration announced that it planned to block California’s
clean-car-emission standards and generally rollback the federal regulations on
car emissions. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-23/trump-is-said-to-seek-repeal-of-california-s-smog-fighting-power. The administration claims that this will
allow more money to be spent making cars safer and also lower consumer costs,
but in reality, the number of premature deaths from pollution far outweighs any
gains in car safety. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/2/17181476/epa-fuel-economy-standards-tesla. Let’s ask our MoCs to introduce legislation
to keep car emissions standards at the current targets. 5calls.org has a script here.
4.
The
National Archives is claiming that it will take until at least the end of
October to supply all the documents that are being requested for review in the
Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. and even Judiciary Committee Chair, Chuck
Grassley, (R-IA) is admitting that the confirmation process may need to be
pushed back. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-archives-may-not-finish-reviewing-kavanaugh-documents-before-end-of-october/ Let’s make sure to weigh in on the
importance of reviewing all documents with our own Senators, Senator
Grassley
(R-IA) as well as all the members
of the Judiciary Committee.
We can reiterate the importance of learning everything we can about Kavanaugh’s
positions on presidential immunity, and urge our Senators to do their job of
taking the utmost possible care in checks and balances and assuring that our
democracy isn’t eroded on the judicial level. We can also call the Judiciary
Committee comment line: (202) 224-5225.
5.
As
Trump’s Sunday tweet affirming attempted collusion with Russia sinks
in, we can read Adam Davidson’s helpful primer about this in the New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/swamp-chronicles/the-day-trump-told-us-there-was-attempted-collusion-with-russia and then we can let Trump know
that we expect his resignation: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house or on Twitter @realdonaldtrump
6.
The
lawsuits against Trump's attempt to manipulate the census with the citizenship
question are moving forward - but we're running out of time to make our voices
heard (https://www.npr.org/2018/07/26/629773825/multi-state-lawsuit-against-census-citizenship-question-to-move-ahead). The deadline to submit a public comment to
the Department of Commerce against the citizenship question is TODAY. Let's not
leave it up to the attorneys general. We can let the administration know we
know what they're doing and we want it to stop here: http://cqrcengage.com/censuscounts2020/app/act-on-a-regulation?0&engagementId=487696.
7.
Jennifer
Rubin, conservative columnist at The Washington Post wrote a scathing piece
about Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ role in this administration:
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/400480-conservative-columnist-sarah-sanders-should-be-shunned-after-white-house-job Let’s let Ms. Huckabee
Sanders know that her involvement in lying about the Russia scandal
disqualifies her further service to our country and that it is time for her to
go: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house or on Twitter @PressSec
8.
Congressman
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)gave an impassioned two-minute speech about the hypocrisy
of the 100 hearings about Clinton’s email server vs. two re: Russian election
interference: https://twitter.com/politvidchannel/status/1025771019938627587 Let’s thank Rep. Lynch for
speaking with passion and logic about this discrepancy:
9.
From MI
Resistance: "Senate Republicans are withholding
documents from 3 of the 5 years when Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s nominee for
Supreme Court Justice, worked in the George W. Bush White House. When Supreme
Court Justice Elena Kagan was first nominated to her seat, all of her documents
from her time working under President Bill Clinton were published online. Those
public records became a part of the debate over her eventual confirmation, just
as the thousands of emails and documents attributed to Brett Kavanaugh should
be. These documents can provide important insight into the thinking that was
behind countless political and legal decisions including choosing other Supreme
Court nominees." We can use this call script as we contact our senators:
"Hello, my name is _____ and I’m a concerned voter. I am calling to voice
my support for demanding all of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s emails and documents
from his time with President Bush and the Starr Commission be released and made
available online just as Judge Kagan’s were during her confirmation. If not,
please do not confirm this judge."
10. From this month's Calvin's List: "Weakening
regulations on fossil fuel drilling is a major aim of this administration,
and HR6106, the Common Sense Permitting Act, is no
exception. It aims to ban environmental review of fossil fuel extraction
sites and pipelines in a variety of situations. This bill, the sister
to HR6107 which we looked at last month, got out
of committee just a week after it was introduced which means it is likely to
get to a floor vote." Let's read about both bills at the NRDC, along with two other dangerous pieces of
legislation, then contact our representatives to tell them we want them to
prioritize the environment over the interests of oil and gas industries, and
vote "no" on these bills.
11.
Yesterday
was the 53rd anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Over the years, Congress
has voted to impinge on many of the facets of the original bill. http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/400230-a-new-congress-could-restore-the-promise-of-the-voting-rights-act Let’s
tell Congress that we want to celebrate this important anniversary by having it
fully restored.
12. ICE seems to be making a point of going after
DACA recipients who speak out against them. “On Friday morning, August 3,
"Mapache", an 18-year-old from San Antonio was picked up from the
Occupy ICE San Antonio Texas vigil...His DACA renewal was pending. He is now
locked up with a hearing date in October.” Mapache is a client of RAICES. Let’s
help them by signing this petition, sponsored by RAICES and Cosecha, addressed
to Secretary Nielsen of Homeland Security: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/freemapache?source=twitter&. Let’s donate to RAICES, too, if we
can: https://www.raicestexas.org/donate/.
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.
We can
help get out the Democratic vote for the Virginia Midterm Elections on Nov.
6. Postcards For Virginia volunteers have already participated in 28
races and mailed over 137,000 postcards. We won't be mailing our postcards
until October so we have plenty of time to write them and/or have postcard
parties. Let's check out Postcards For Virginia. Let's make sure our friends and family from
Virginia are aware of this activism opportunity. We can participate
from any state.
2.
Indivisible
is running a national virtual phonebank to contact key voters in Arizona,
Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee, and Texas to talk about the Supreme Court seat
and help flip these crucial Senate seats in November. Sign up right now for one
of the upcoming shifts, and they’ll send us everything you need to start making
our calls! First time calling? We can
sign up for a training webinar on Tuesday, August 7 and they’ll
review best practices for our calls and how to use the call platform,
Hubdialer. Click here: https://www.indivisible.org/save-scotus/
Election 2018 –
By State
1.
Upcoming
voting dates and deadlines:
|
August 7
|
Kansas
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 7
|
Michigan
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 7
|
Missouri
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 7
|
Ohio
|
Election date
|
Special-12th congressional district
|
|
August 7
|
Washington
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 9
|
Connecticut
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 9
|
Hawaii
|
Early Voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
August 10
|
Wisconsin
|
In person absentee voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
August 10
|
Wisconsin
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 11
|
Delaware
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 11
|
Hawaii
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 12
|
Rhode Island
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 13
|
Alabama
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Municipals
|
|
August 13
|
Arkansas
|
Early Voting ends
|
State Senate Dist 8
|
|
August 13
|
Minnesota
|
Early Voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
August 13
|
Vermont
|
Early Voting ends
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Vermont
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Wisconsin
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Connecticut
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Minnesota
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Vermont
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Wisconsin
|
Election date
|
Primary
|
|
August 14
|
Arkansas
|
Election date
|
State Senate Dist 8
|
|
August 15
|
Massachusetts
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 17
|
New York (state)
|
Voter Registration Deadline
|
Primary
|
|
August 18
|
Florida
|
Early Voting Begins
|
Primary
|
(source: by date:
https://goo.gl/gjFv2u by state:
https://goo.gl/7gTzvE)
2. Today is Primary
Day in:
3.
Other Upcoming Primaries:
4.
FL - 13 amendments to the Florida Constitution are on the ballot for the
Midterm Elections on Nov. 6. The League of Women Voters has
summarized each amendment and weighed in with their own opinion here. We can also read about these
amendments at Ballotpedia. Let's be informed voters this
November.
Other Actions
1. Teaching Readers in Post-Truth America by
Dr. Ellen Carillo is meant for post-secondary instructors, but judging by this
short interview, many of us may find this forthcoming book a useful read. She
argues that students should learn “a repertoire of critical reading strategies”
to prepare them for “citizenship in a divisive climate.” That goes for the rest
of us as well, doesn’t it? Read here for a bit more info: https://style.mla.org/digital-literacy/
2. From
Together We Will Contra Costa: Please support Valley Forward's efforts
to flip key congressional districts by helping to grow their team of canvassers
- many of whom are DREAMers - all while building the capacity of young leaders
in the community! Purchase a 'We Rise,
We Vote' t-shirt here, http://radicistudios.com/store/. These shirts are designed and donated by
local artist Jen Bloomer of Radici Studios and the
proceeds from the sale of these beautiful, high-quality organic shirts go to
hiring of Valley Forward canvassers in key Central Valley swing districts.
Hurry - this fundraiser ends August 31st!
3. “Immigration
and Customs Enforcement is currently seeking new contracts for
3,000 new bed spaces in immigration detention within 180 miles of Detroit,
Chicago, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City. And just in June, ICE asked for
information from companies that could potentially accommodate 15,000 new family
immigration lockups.” These facilities
may appear economically beneficial to many towns. https://www.npr.org/2018/08/03/634047796/as-private-ice-lockups-grow-towns-could-see-economic-boon
While these facilities may improve the economy of our town, they do not improve
the nature of our country. Let’s be on
the lookout for these and oppose their proliferation.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
On August 8 at 8pm EDT, Showing
up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is hosting
a webinar on "The Alt-Right and Immigration". We can register here.
2.
Evidence is piling up that Brett Kavanaugh cannot
be trusted to protect the right to choose or check executive power (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/29/us/brett-kavanaugh-signing-statements.html). So activists across the country are coming
together for a 50-state day of action against his nomination on August 26th.
Let’s find an event near us or start our own here.
3.
Experts say we are already starting to see the
impacts of climate change playing out in real time with extreme weather
patterns: (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/27/extreme-global-weather-climate-change-michael-mann). We cannot wait
for action. On September 8th, people all over the world are coming
together in a coordinated call for local action for the climate, jobs and
justice. We can find a Rise for Climate event near
us here, or we can sign up to organize our own.
States
Reading/Watching
1.
How to
Spend Your Privilege: https://www.thecut.com/2018/08/nia-wilson-spend-your-privilege.html
2.
How Trump Radicalized ICE - https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/565772/
3.
How to Listen When You Disagree: https://urbanconfessional.org/blog/howtodisagree
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.