10/29/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
Find elected officials: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
Fax legislators for free:
Or
use Resistbot: https://resist.bot/
Or
use StampsLicked to have messages hand-delivered to our own legislators: https://stampslicked.org/
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. This
week in Congress: The Senate is now on recess till after the Midterm
Elections except for the Senate Judiciary Committee which is holding
confirmation hearings during a Senate recess, over the objections of the
minority party. We can read more at NPR. The House is out of town until after
the midterm elections, returning to Washington DC on November
13.
2. In
a highly unusual and disturbing move, “Trump’s Interior Department, headed by
Ryan Zinke, wants to destroy records such as proposals to help endangered
species recover and proposals for protecting where the animals live. The
request is part of a proposed massive purge of Interior records that also
includes records about oil and gas leases, timber sales, dams and land
purchases.” This would include records
from every agency within the Interior Department, including the Bureau of Land
Management, National Park Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US
Geological Survey, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, and others. This content would normally be kept and preserved
by the U.S. Dept of Interior. https://www.dcreport.org/2018/10/23/zinke-destroy-interior-department-records/
and https://altgov2.org/doi-records-destruction/ Let’s A) use this email address: request.schedule@nara.gov for
a public comment against this change. The deadline for comments is November 26,
2018. (Indicate we are writing about
action DAA-0048-2015-0003 and we are asking National Archives to deny Zinke's request so that these records are kept
as they should be), and B) contact our MoCs asking them to investigate and stop
this massive destruction of records that normally are kept for historical
purposes (reference the National
Archives ID number is DAA-0048-2015-0003)
3. We
all know that voter suppression is rampant, but that voter fraud is not. Between voter purges, changes in voter ID
rules, and closing/moving polling places, voter suppression will remain a
factor in the election next week. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/2018-midterms-and-specter-voter-suppression/573826/
Let’s ask our MoCs to pass legislation that would both safeguard and
promote voting by all legitimate voters.
4. The
gun lobby’s claim good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun needs to be
exposed for the lie that it is. In fact, four of the people wounded in the
shooting were armed police officers. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/active-shooter-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting.html. Earlier this week, a man with a history of
violence and questionable mental health shot two African Americans in a
Kroger’s grocery store. http://www.wdrb.com/story/39355392/accused-kroger-shooter-had-history-of-mental-illness-and-racist-comments. While federal law prevented him from
owning a gun, the fact is that guns are so readily available, made it easy
enough for him to obtain one. Let’s once again ask our MoCs when they are going
to take strong preventive measures to make sure that guns do not fall into the
hands of those poised to commit hate crimes and other acts of violence, and
let’s remind them that we are going to vote only for people who will take a
strong stand on gun control.
5. Trump
has nominated Aurelia Skipwith to head the Fish and Wildlife Service. “The Center for Biological
Diversity (CBD) told The Guardian it was unlikely that Skipwith would
improve the situation, calling her "utterly unqualified" because she
had no training in either wildlife management or fisheries. "Aurelia Skipwith has been working in
the Trump administration all along to end protections for billions of migratory
birds, gut endangered species safeguards and eviscerate national
monuments," CBD government affairs director Brett Hartl said.” https://www.ecowatch.com/monsanto-executive-fws-wildlife-2614834727.html
Let’s tell our senators to not confirm Skipwith.
6. From
Below the Fold: #transgender rights have
been all over the headlines. . . But the most recent story of this
administration targeting transgender people is only the latest in a long line
of attempts to roll back their rights. Catch this week's episode of #belowthefold to hear
about those past attempts, my theories on why they keep targeting such a small
harmless part of the population and I even give a quick definition of
transgender in case you have been too embarrassed to ask: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EryRpc5SPI
Now, let’s use this information to ask
our MoCs (federal and state) what they are doing to protect our fellow
citizens.
7. From
one of our own: Here is a listing to help us keep track of calls for
public comment that are ending soon. Here’s the newest – for the
Week ending November 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aNDWpQnzWWTRi3PJIKWdA4kx4Is9QQWb/view
Election 2018 – General
1.
With the deadly gun violence in the past week,
let’s make sure that we choose gun sense candidates when we vote next
week. Here’s how we can find them: https://gunsensevoter.org/
2.
Have questions/concerns about any stage in the
voting process, including casting a vote at the polling station? "The
national, nonpartisan Election Protection coalition works year-round to ensure
that all voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote
count." AND they have a number of toll-free hotlines we can call for help:
"866-OUR-VOTE (administered by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law), 888-Ve-Y-Vota (administered by
the NALEO Educational Fund), 844-Yalla-US (Arabic/English) – administered
by the Arab American Institute, and 888-API-VOTE administered
by APIAVote & Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC)." We can volunteer for or donate to
them, too! https://866ourvote.org/about/
3.
This awesome political campaign ad, https://youtu.be/88yjagTmjjw , features eight amazing Democratic women running for
Congress: MJ Hegar (TX 31st), Chrissy Houlahan (PA 6th), Gina Ortiz
Jones (TX 23rd), Elaine Luria (VA 2nd), Amy McGrath (KY 6th), Mikie
Sherill (NJ 11th), Elissa Slotkin (MI 8th), and Abigail Spanberger (VA 7th).
But it can’t be aired on TV because of campaign finance laws, unless it is
sponsored by another group like, ahem, the Democratic party. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/us/politics/campaign-ads-midterm-elections.html Let’s make it go viral by sharing on
social media, and let’s tell the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to
get it on the air:
4.
This is it! This Tuesday, Oct. 30, will be our
last day to mail postcards to voters in states other than our own. If we are
current volunteers, let's request 5 addresses for one of the still-open Postcards to Voters'
campaigns, including three (3) new ones: 1) TX: Campaign 129: Beto O'Rourke and
Eric Holguin. 2) CA: Campaign 130: Josh Harder for Congress. 3) NE: Campaign
131-Machaela Cavanaugh for State Legislature. New volunteers can
text JOIN to 484-275-2229
5.
While we hope that the next month's midterm
elections will show 2018 to be the Year of the Woman, we won't succeed without
understanding and addressing the confounding factors that face many voting
women who are married. https://theconversation.com/will-women-vote-for-women-in-2018-it-depends-on-if-theyre-married-78562 and/or politically conservative https://theconversation.com/republican-women-are-just-fine-thank-you-with-being-republican-104762 Knowing about these factors can help us in
many ways, whether we're talking to friends, canvassing to GOTV, or
framing concerns to our MoCs.
6.
Here's a super helpful and quick reference from
Political Charge of what to do if we encounter a problem while voting! (Hint:
speak up and ask for help at the polls or through a hotline.) Let's save this
to our phones so we have it handy:
7.
We all know that turnout is crucial. Well,
here’s a way to increase it, sending letters to unlikely/disengaged
Democrat voters in districts that have close races. Unlikely voters who receive
letters asking them to “Please Vote” are significantly more likely to vote, by
more the 3 percentage points (that’s a lot). We can check out Vote Forward
for races to write for here. https://votefwd.org/ We can write on our own or throw a letter
writing party. Here’s how one group did it:
“If you plan to have a party and send more the 50 letters you will need
to get approved for additional names a day in advance. We each hand wrote a
letter, then photo copied a bunch of them so all we had to do was add the
salutations to personalize each letter-we’ve been able to send out close to
1,000 letters this way.”
8.
Let’s double-check if we are registered and
where we are to vote: https://www.whenweallvote.org/
Then, let’s check out how we can help:
https://www.whenweallvote.org/volunteer/
9.
Here’s a crafty way to help get out the
vote: https://news.wisc.edu/from-poles-to-polls-community-art-project-gets-out-the-afghans-to-get-out-the-vote/
10. With
the Senate race in Nevada so tight, here’s a way we can help from home. Field
offices are hard at work and super low on snacks for canvass volunteers as they
sprint into GOTV. It's still hot here and salty/sweet snacks are in dire need!
If we want your $$$ to directly help a campaign, buying an item off their
Amazon wish list is the way to do it! The Rosen/Heller race is going to be a
nail-biter, so keeping volunteers motivated is critical. We can find the wish
list here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/KSPRCID1UQ6S/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_2
Election 2018 – By State
1.
ALL: Upcoming voting dates and deadlines: by date:
https://goo.gl/gjFv2u by
state: https://goo.gl/7gTzvE
2. ALL:
If we are not sure where to start looking for information about
candidates, issues, etc., we can check this out: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NCYjsm3xKb79z19Gx7PWt5Zs9lkLiTqglHBHYs9mlX8/edit
Other Actions
1.
Events that we would have focused on for
weeks at a time have happened daily over the past week. We might feel
disoriented and overwhelmed as we try to right the ship. Please seek support
and reach out to those in your circles who are also reeling. Then, let’s dig
very deep and find the strength to give everything we have over the next eight
days: phone banking, text banking, Postcards To Voters, helping candidates
local to us, reaching out to friends and family, making financial donations,
sign-holding, and driving people to the polls. Let’s set ambitious goals for
ourselves (and write them down) and then blow right past them in the week
ahead.
2. Our
hearts are broken after the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in
Pittsburgh on Saturday. https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/10/27/heavy-police-presence-near-synagogue-in-squirrel-hill/ We
may send a note of sympathy to this congregation at: 5898 Wilkins Ave., Pittsburgh,
PA 15217 and let’s consider a donation: https://www.gofundme.com/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting
3. The
man who killed eleven people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh this
weekend, claimed he did so because of the organization’s support for HIAS (the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) an organization that supports immigrants and
refugees in the U.S. and around the world. https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/man-reportedly-opens-fire-near-a-pittsburgh-synagoue-1.6595493. Let’s make sure that the shooter and
others who share his white nationalist platform know that we will not be
intimidated by donating to HIAS in the memory of these victims.
4. There
is a growing consensus that Trump’s rhetoric and behavior is responsible for a
good amount of the ever-growing tension and hate crimes we are seeing. Last week alone, a mail-bomber pin-pointing
liberals, a murderer with a gun in grocery store because he couldn’t get into a
black church, and a murderer wanting to kill Jews. https://theintercept.com/2018/10/27/here-is-a-list-of-far-right-attackers-trump-inspired-cesar-sayoc-wasnt-the-first-and-wont-be-the-last/
and https://www.forbes.com/sites/toddessig/2018/10/26/how-trumps-psychology-of-hate-unleashed-the-magabomber/#6ecd68f81046
Let’s use this: Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response
Guide to help in our communities.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
January
19, 2019 is the date of the third Women’s March with the main event to be
held in Washington, D.C. with sister marches all over the country. Let’s find more information here: https://www.womensmarch.com/2019
States
Reading/Watching
1.
Multi-task: Prepare for the Lame Duck Session While You
Get Out the Vote - https://demwritepress.com/2018/10/26/multi-task-prepare-for-the-lame-duck-session-while-you-get-out-the-vote/
2.
Sally
Yates gave her sharpest criticism yet against Trump: 'Is all of this a
momentary detour? Or has our country lost its way?' - https://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-on-trump-white-house-dnc-speech-2018-10
3.
Our weekly dose of Small Victories: https://mailchi.mp/peaceisloud/small-victories-this-moment-calls-on-us-all
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