8/8/18
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.
“Some of
President Trump’s most cartoonishly evil policy initiatives have come at the
expense of the environment. In the past few months alone, his administration
has lifted a ban importing big-game hunting
trophies,
sought to repeal California emissions standards and released a
plan to gut the Endangered Species Act. It’s all done in the name of unmitigated
capitalism, to which the president clearly feels the environment is beholden.
So too, apparently, is the health of Americans, as the Environmental Protection
Agency is now allowing asbestos to be legally used in construction.” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-asbestos-707642/ Asbestos
is a known carcinogen and has been banned in most countries for decades. Let’s tell our MoCs that we didn’t think that
we’d need to ask them to enact legislation that bans its use, but apparently,
we do. Let’s also appeal to more
reasonable heads at the EPA: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/environmental-protection-agency
2.
On
Monday, Rick Gates testified against Paul Manafort in court and is
continuing on Tuesday with further details about their
criminality: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/06/paul-manafort-rick-gates-fraud-trial As
this trial continues and Trump gets more tweaked, let’s let our MoC know that
we expect them to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
3.
“Over
several months, in speaking with 21 people who know (Wilbur) Ross, Forbes
uncovered a pattern: Many of those who worked directly with him claim that Ross
wrongly siphoned or outright stole a few million here and a few million there,
huge amounts for most but not necessarily for the commerce secretary. At least
if you consider them individually. But all told, these allegations—which
sparked lawsuits, reimbursements and an SEC fine—come to more than $120
million. If even half of the accusations are legitimate, the current United
States secretary of commerce could rank among the biggest grifters in American
history. “He’ll push the edge of truthfulness and use whatever power he has to
grab assets,” says New York financier Asher Edelman. One of Ross’ former
colleagues is more direct: “He’s a pathological liar.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/08/06/new-details-about-wilbur-rosss-businesses-point-to-pattern-of-grifting/
Just like so many of trump appointments,
another businessperson with no morals or values. Let’s ask our MoC to
investigate and to support the senators who asked for an SEC investigation on
Wilber Ross in June of this year.
4.
In the
past week, via Tweet, Trump has told Sessions to end the Mueller investigation,
has insulted African-American luminaries, has confessed to the true intent of
the Russian “adoption” meeting, and most recently has shared lies about the
California wildfires: http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/400637-trump-picks-fight-with-california-over-wildfires Let’s
call the White House comment line (volunteer-staffed) to ask for his
resignation. It can take a while to get through but takes five seconds once
connected – “I am calling for the president’s resignation”: 1-202-456-1111
5.
The
Bureau of Land Management is taking steps towards starting drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/07/25/stories/1060090983).
But it's not too late for Congress to put a stop to it. Let's ask our reps to
co-sponsor and push for a vote on H.R.
5911, the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain
Protection Act, which would repeal the provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
which required that the Coastal Plain of ANWR be opened to oil and gas
development. (H/t Jessica Craven)
6.
“No one
would mistake President Trump for an expert on climate change or water policy,
but a tweet he issued late Sunday about California’s wildfires deserves
some sort of award for most glaring misstatements about those two issues in the
smallest number of words. The current wildfires, which have killed nine people
and consumed nearly 400,000 acres of woodland, destroyed 1,100 homes and forced
the evacuation of thousands of residents, are among the worst in the state’s
history. They’re unrelated to water supplies or environmental laws. The
likeliest explanation for his take on water is that he’s confused by the
demands for more irrigation water he’s hearing from Republican officeholders in
the Central Valley. They’re the people who grouse about water being “wasted” by
being diverted to the ocean, rather than into their fields” http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-trump-fires-20180806-story.html. In
the meantime, Trump has offered no condolences to those families who lost
lives, lost properties or offered thanks to the firefighters who are risking
their lives daily. Let’s tell trump to stop picking on CA because he lost it in
the election. Let’s ask him to step up and offer help and condolences.
7.
In the
Trump administration, incompetence and treachery often combine to produce
actions that hurt America in multiple ways simultaneously. Case in point is a
decision to take $750 million away from building a much-needed icebreaking
ship, and instead spend that money on the un-needed U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The U.S. currently has only 1 functioning (but old) icebreaker to counter
Russia's 40 icebreakers in the Arctic, at a time when Russia is greatly increasing
its claims over contested energy resources and territory there (https://www.stripes.com/news/coast-guard-icebreaker-funding-reallocated-to-us-mexico-border-wall-1.540857). Right now, the best way we can help our
country is to get rid of its traitor-in-chief, so when we call our MoCs, feel
free to use this as an example of how bad this quisling is for America.
8.
House
Republicans are pushing H.R.
4219, which would undermine state and
local paid sick days laws and allow employers to deny workers requested sick
time if it “unduly disrupts” their business (https://www.refinery29.com/2018/07/205544/what-is-workflex-21st-century-act-paid-sick-leave).
Let's contact our reps and tell them we want them to oppose this law, and
instead focus on something actually important - like national paid family and
medical leave.
9.
Next
week the Senate will vote on appointment of Kathy Kraninger to head the
Consumer Financial Protection Board (CFPB). . http://thehill.com/policy/finance/400638-vulnerable-dems-side-with-warren-in-battle-over-consumer-bureau?userid=200565.
Kraninger has no experience in this area and is expected to follow Acting
Director Mick Mulvaney’s lead in limiting the board’s scope and power. Let’s
tell our Senators that we want to see a CFPB head who will follow the Board’s
original mission of protecting consumers from corporate financial abuse of
power, and to vote no on Kraninger’s confirmation.
10. Supreme Court Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh
has written that a president can ignore laws that he doesn’t think are
constitutional. https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/06/politics/brett-kavanaugh-president-ignore-laws-unconstitutional/index.html.
Considering this president has continually voiced public disrespect for our checks and balances
rule of law, it is extremely dangerous to our democracy
to have a Supreme Court Justice who supports expanded executive authority. We
must keep pressuring our Senators to do everything possible to make sure that
Kavanaugh is not confirmed.
11.
In its
latest attack on immigrants, the administration is putting forth a proposal to
limit legal immigrants from attaining citizenship, especially those who have
used public assistance. The number of immigrants who were granted green cards
dropped 20% from 2016 to 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/now-trump-administration-wants-limit-citizenship-legal-immigrants-n897931.
Ultimately, this policy will result in increased deportations, hunger, and
homelessness for families and children. Let’s register our outrage to DHS
(202-282-8000; DHSSecretary@hq.dhs.gov; https://homelandsecurity.ideascale.com/;
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity/;
Twitter: @DHS.gov) and also ask our MoCs what they can do to assure the
hard-working legal immigrants are not denied the process of attaining
citizenship.
12. In a democracy there is no right more
important than the right to vote. We used to protect it with the Voting Rights
Act, but ever since key parts of that law were gutted by the Supreme Court in
2013, our right to vote has been under steady and increasing attack by moneyed
interests and opportunistic politicians. Congress has introduced new
legislation to restore these lost protections, the Voting Rights Advancement
Act (H.R.
2978, S.
1419), but it needs more support in order to
advance. http://altoday.com/archives/25605-on-its-53rd-anniversary-terri-sewell-says-voting-rights-act-must-be-restored Let's tell our MoCs to co-sponsor and lobby
for this bill, and we can get started by signing this Common Cause
petition:
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.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is getting in on the postcards-to-voters
movement as part of their GOTV effort.
Their approach is to send postcards to like-minded folks who did not
vote in the last mid-term election. When
we sign up, ACLU will send us postcards, we write them and return them to ACLU who
will send them. Let’s check it out here
and sign up to help: https://go.peoplepower.org/signup/aclu-gotv-postcards/
2.
Many
people who are attempting to vote in primary or special elections are being
told that they are not registered. HeadCount shows how to verify registration status,
find the correct poling place, and see a sample ballot. Before we next vote, let’s check this
out: https://www.headcount.org/verify-voter-registration/ Let’s
share with family and friends, too.
Election 2018 –
By State
1.
Upcoming
voting dates and deadlines:
|
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.
Upcoming Primaries:
3. NH: This
year, the Jewish High Holiday of Rosh Hashana falls on the same day as the
State Primary—September 11. If we observe this holiday and can’t make it to the
polls that day, let’s make sure that we vote absentee. We can get more info
here:
4.
TX: Calling all Texas students!
On August 13th at 8pm central, we can join a call to hear how we can
help elect Beto O'Rourke as our next Senator. We can learn about the new
Student Ambassador program, receive a special update from the campaign, and
hear from students across Texas on what they are planning for their college
campuses. Become a part of the Students for Beto family and connect with a
tremendous network of young people who are seeking to change the culture of our
generation. Together, we can get students to the polls this November! We
can register here: https://act.betofortexas.com/go/StudentsforBetoCall Then we can share with our friends on social media. We can also check out the Students for Beto
on Facebook here: https://m.facebook.com/TXStudentsForBeto/
5.
TX: If we are interested in
organizing a Students for Beto chapter on our campus, we can also fill out
this form to get connected to a large network of student volunteers who are
working together to get Beto elected. Student Ambassadors are leading
efforts to organize at each school. We can indicate in the form if we are
interested in learning more about our Student Ambassador program. By
filling out this form, we are agreeing to receive communications by the
Students for Beto leadership team as well as our local Student
Ambassadors.
Other Actions
1. Hundreds
of children remain separated from their families, and it's looking like the
government could care less. One of the ways we can help turn the tide is by
donating **frequent flyer miles** (and other needed items) to advocacy groups
like Michigan Support Circle: "We help support the reunification of
families by providing rides, housing, clothing and other essentials once the
families have been released." We can enquire here for more info: https://www.misupportcircle.org
2. Last
week an employee of Smith College called the police to report “a black man
demonstrating suspicious behavior" on the Smith College campus. The person
in question turned out to be Oumou Kanoute, a student at Smith, who was simply
eating her lunch and reading a book in a common room on campus. https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/03/us/smith-college-student-police-trnd/index.html. Though the Smith administration has
apologized and the employee has been placed on leave while the incident is
being investigated, Ms. Kanoute is still very shaken up and she has written
about the incident publicly on her Facebook page, where the reactions have been
mixed. Let’s go to her page and show her some support.
3. From
one of our own: Being in detention is a lonely
experience. In addition to last week’s long list of volunteer
opportunities and needed in-kind donations, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee
Service (https://www.lirs.org/connect-with-a-pen-pal-in-detention), First Friends of NJ and NY (https://firstfriendsnjny.org/volunteer-2/), and the Queer Detainee Empowerment
Project (http://www.qdep.org/volunteer/) have pen pal programs, so we and our kids can write letters to immigrants in
detention centers. Visit the individual sites for more
information.
4. Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian
gives us the pros and cons of guns in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR9NHjDi4EA As she says, “If you’re going to #MarchForOurLives
make sure you’re armed — with snappy comebacks to the NRA’s talking points! “Let’s
watch this and use these arguments.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
Tonight, 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.
Some Republicans are starting to wake up and
repudiate the Party that has allowed the outrageous cruelty and corruption of
Donald Trump to go unchecked. We can encourage other Republicans of conscience
to join them, by participating in the Second Part of Action Together
Network’s #WalkAwayFromRepublicans twitter storm TODAY, August 8 at
8pm EST. When we click on this link, we will find more information about the
storm and a link to prewritten tweets that we can send out with just a few
clicks. https://www.facebook.com/events/2147713645517464/
3.
On Thursday, August 16, join hundreds of
volunteers for a host call to learn how you can plan a successful Organizing
for '18 House Party on Saturday, August 25 at 8PM EDT, and start mobilizing
folks to volunteer for crucial campaigns this fall, and make their voices heard
at the polls this November. We can sign
up for the webinar here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4c4n3bQmROGtDI1PKRMpPw
4.
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.
5.
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.
What Did You Learn in History Class? - http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2018/08/what_did_you_learn_in_history_class.html
2.
670 ballots in a precinct with 276 voters,
and other tales from Georgia’s primary - https://www.mcclatchydc.com/latest-news/article216056560.html
3.
ACLU lawsuit accuses US of wrongfully denying
asylum -
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