10/31/18
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. Trump
is throwing scary shiny objects at the midterms as he gets more desperate to
please his base with blatant racism. His newest effort is claiming that he
wants to remove birthright citizenship, protected by the 14th
Amendment, with an executive order which is unconstitutional:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/413803-gop-lawmaker-blasts-trump-birthright-citizenship-is-protected-by-the Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC)
responded by saying that he would introduce Congressional legislation to outlaw
birthright citizenship. https://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/413832-graham-to-introduce-legislation-ending-birthright-citizenship. Amidst
our Get Out The Vote efforts for the midterms, let’s let our MoC know that we
will not stand for this authoritarian garbage.
2. Called
a “political stunt” by a former Customs & Border Protection chief and a
“fear war” by others, Trump will deploy 5200 more troops to join National Guard
members at the Mexican border—bringing the total to more than the number of US
troops currently in Syria and Iraq, the Wall Street Journal notes; these are
ostensibly to protect us against the ever-dwindling “invasion” of poor people
traveling in caravan from Central America, who are currently 1000 miles from
the US border and not likely to arrive there for several weeks: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46026050 The post-Civil War “posse comitatus”
measure bars the US military from using its capabilities to enforce US domestic
laws — including immigration laws — unless Congress specifically authorizes it
to do so, but these soldiers will be armed and they will cost us, the
taxpayers, hundreds of millions of dollars to purportedly “harden” the
border against these dangerous "invaders":
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/29/18026646/military-border-caravan-immigrants-trump-caravan. Let’s tell Trump and Kirstjen
Nielsen that we see through their clumsy, if expedient, fear-mongering:
202-282-8495 or Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, Washington,
DC 20128. Let’s also understand that
this, too, is an empty, pandering to his base prior to next Tuesday’s election.
3. “Most
members of the migrant caravans come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador –
three countries devastated by violence, organised crime and systemic
corruption, the roots of which can be traced back to the region’s cold war
conflicts. Experts say that alongside
those factors, climate change in the region is exacerbating – and sometimes
causing – a miasma of other problems including crop failures and poverty. And
they warn that in the coming decades, it is likely to push millions more people
north towards the US.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/30/migrant-caravan-causes-climate-change-central-america Climate
change is a factor in the caravan. Our own citizens in some coastal areas
are already seeing rising seas and will be forced to move inland. We must
encourage congress to create hard laws to combat climate change. Laws that
can’t be changed by executive orders. Let our Reps know.
4. If
we didn’t know before, we certainly know now—from Trump himself, no less—that
the US is fueling Saudi Arabia’s military, enabling it to starve children and
kill civilians in Yemen. https://www.newsweek.com/us-has-enabled-saudi-crimes-years-could-jamal-khashoggis-murder-change-1180842 Before the devastation reaches the threatened
"biblical" proportions, we need to plead with our MoCs to support the
Yemen War Powers Resolutions, H.Con.Res. 138, and S.J.Res.54,. These privileged resolutions, which will come before Congress
in the next weeks, would end U.S. military involvement in the Saudi and UAE-led
war in Yemen.
5. If
the House version of the Farm Bill is passed by the U.S. Senate later this
fall, 155 local governments across the country would have their local laws
restricting the use of pesticides overridden by the federal
government. This is a ban on bans – to benefit the pesticide industry.
Let's read more at WYPR (an NPR station). We can read more of
the Farm Bill itself and its amendments at the Senate Agriculture Committee. Let's contact our Senators to let them
know that we object to the ban on pesticide bans in the Farm Bill and want that
language removed.
Election 2018 – General
1.
Link correction:
President Obama speaking in Detroit last week: https://www.clickondetroit.com/michigan-elections/president-obama-speaks-at-democratic-rally-in-detroit
2.
Today (Wednesday, Oct. 31) is the last day to
mail in-state postcards to get out the vote. The final three Postcards To
Voters' campaigns launched for the Midterms are: 1) NY: Campaign
132: Jim Gaughran for State Senate. 2)FL: Campaign 133: Gillum and Taddeo 3)
ND: Campaign 134: Heidi Heitkamp for Senate. Other campaigns are still open as
well. Let's request 5 cards if any of the remaining campaigns are in our own
states and we can get them out today. Writing with Postcards to Voters is
not just a midterm activity. New campaigns for up-coming special elections will
be launching. If we've been postcarding for the midterms, let's make a plan to
keep up the habit throughout the year.
3.
As we come to the mailing deadline for Postcards
To Voters campaigns, let’s turn our attention to what can be done before
Tuesday: local honk and waves for candidates in our districts, phone banking,
text banking, canvassing, one to one connection with friends and family,
driving people to the polls, etc. Resources from The Last Weekend can help
focus our energy: https://thelastweekend.org
4.
Young people nationwide are going to walk out of
class on November 6th and head to the polls to vote en mass. We can promote and
support this effort by using the hashtag #WalkOutTheVote in our social media
posts and encouraging our friends and family members to spread the word! www.walkoutthevote.org
5.
The American Association of People with
Disabilities (AADP) has a Voter Resource Center to help get out the disability
vote. Let’s take a look and share it:
6.
If we’re in the Washington, DC, area, we can be
volunteers to staff a voter hotline to assist voters across the country. The
Democratic National Committee is hosting the hotline and provides training.
Let’s click here for more info and to sign up: https://events.mobilizeamerica.io/protectthevote/event/37972/
7.
Mad Libs for the election: https://madlibs.headcount.org/
8. In
a glimmer of good news, there is a chance to get avowed White Nationalist Steve
King out of his Congressional seat in Iowa as his opponent, JD Scholten, closes
the gap in the week before the election:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/413787-poll-steve-king-leading-dem-opponent-by-1-point If we can, let’s make a donation
to Scholten so he can bring it home: https://www.scholten4iowa.com
9.
North Carolina needs phone bankers and we can
help out from home. All the materials we need are right here to make the phone
calls that can make a *HUGE* difference in these critical races to break the
Supermajority in North Carolina. When we click on this link, we will get
instructions on how to use the Virtual Phone bank link, along with information
on the candidates and a access code to get us started: https://sites.google.com/openprogress.com/texttroopwiki/home/texters/NCIP
10. Florida
Needs Help! 756,000 Democrats received Vote By Mail ballots and we need
to call or text to remind them to get those ballots turned in asap. Sign
up to text: https://goo.gl/forms/FgngcJc8HINM4now1
or to sign up to make phone calls, email rita@arccd.com for
instructions.
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. The
president’s response to the recent shooting in Pittsburgh that was clearly
motivated by anti-Semitism was to blame the media for being the true enemy of
the people. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/29/donald-trump-pittsburgh-reaction/1804708002/. Even if we were to put aside the numerous ways his
statements have fueled the flames of racism, to make this comment at this time, rather than putting his
focus on expressing heartfelt sympathy for the victims and loudly and
definitively denouncing white nationalism, a move he refused to make both
directly after Charlottesville and on its one year anniversary. https://www.vox.com/2018/8/11/17679108/donald-trump-unite-the-right-nazis-white-suppremacy. Over 30,000 people signed an open letter published by Bend the Arc, a progressive
Jewish organization that is working for justice for all, telling the president
he was not welcome in Pittsburgh until he denounced white nationalism https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/29/he-is-not-welcome-here-thousands-support-pittsburgh-jewish-leaders-calling-trump-denounce-white-nationalism/, but in his usual display of callous
insensitivity, the president is going anyway. Let’s honor the victims of the
Pittsburgh shooting by joining with or donating money to Bend the Arc, which is
sponsoring a number of ways to take action. We can find out more here.
2. As
a reminder, the New York Times is counting on us to help them identify pre-election
mis-information: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/technology/disinformation-tipsheet.html
3.
Another little glimmer of good news for
those of us rage eating carbs – Ben and Jerry’s has a new flavor honoring
resistance:
https://www.apnews.com/5610ca05475b42ac8dfb0a3d90345795 Cheers! Resist on!
4. Now,
with our electoral system and voting rights under constant attack, it is
important to know who our allies are. For over 50 years, the Lawyers' Committee
for Civil Rights Under Law has used legal advocacy, litigation, and
education to protect elections and extend voting rights to traditionally
disenfranchised populations. Let's help one of the country's staunchest
pro-bono organizations to keep helping us: https://lawyerscommittee.org/project/voting-rights-project/
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1. Tonight,
we can join in Equal’s Twitterstorm in support of the student walkout
the vote effort. When
we click on the following link, we will find prewritten tweets to send out with
just a few clicks. https://www.facebook.com/events/2109903992671921/?ti=cl
2.
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.
Special
Counsel Refers Scheme Targeting Mueller to FBI - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/special-counsel-refers-scheme-targeting-mueller-to-fbi/574411/
2.
The labor
market is booming, why aren’t your wages? - https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/10/26/the-labor-market-is-booming-why-arent-your-wages/
3.
What Will
Conquer Hate? What Will Combat Trump, and Trumpism? - https://markinreport.com/2018/10/28/what-will-conquer-hate-what-will-combat-trump-and-trumpism/
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