Contact
Federal Government 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
1. “The
Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday postponed a vote on attorney general nominee William Barr by
one week after Democrats raised concerns about how Barr will handle special
counsel Robert Mueller's report once
he completes his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.” https://abcnews.go.com/beta-story-container/Politics/barr-confirmation-vote-delayed-democrats-raise-mueller-report/story?id=60697597 Let’s make sure our senators know that we do not
want Barr in this position. Indivisible
tells us why and gives us talking points:
https://indivisible.org/resource/trumps-pick-attorney-general-could-help-him-undermine-rule-law
2. The
Senate advanced the dangerous S1 on
a vote of 74-19. This bill would allow states to set laws forbidding companies
from receiving contracts if they participate in the boycott against Israel.
Regardless of our positions on the Middle East BDS movement, this is a very dangerous
precedent against the First Amendment rights of free speech, as noted by the ACLU.
Several Democratic Senators voted to advance debate,
and others (notably presidential contenders Kamala Harris and Cory Booker)
chose not to vote. Regardless of how our Senators voted, let’s lobby hard
against this dangerous bill. We need to remind our Senators that boycotts were
key in enabling the civil rights movement and ending apartheid in South Africa,
and every individual and company in the U.S. should have the right to boycott
whom and what they will without sanctions.
3. Trump
has nominated Neomi Rao to fill Brett Kavanaugh's seat on the D.C. Circuit
Court, a lifetime appointment (https://politi.co/2MChgJr).
Rao has a number of disqualifying stances and
has been working in the Trump administration as the administrator of the Office
of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which has focused its efforts on deregulation.
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and
the People for the American Way have
both come out against Rao's nomination. Let's contact our senators and tell
them that we want them to oppose Rao's nomination to D.C. Circuit Court. We can
read more and use the call script available at 5calls: https://5calls.org/issue/oppose-human-rights-opponent-neomi-rao-for-dc-circuit-judge
4. Representative
Anthony Brown (D-MD) has introduced bipartisan legislation (H.R. 717)
which would raise the minimum age for purchasing assault-style weapons (https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/23/congress-guns-legislation-purchasing-age-1119920).
While many of us may prefer an outright ban, this is an important first step in
safe, common sense gun regulation. Let's contact our representatives and ask
them to cosponsor and support this bill.
5. While
the partial government shutdown has at least temporarily ended, contractors
with the federal government are still suffering, as they will not receive back
pay for the thirty-five day shutdown (https://bit.ly/2BbrpIS).
To help secure this back pay, legislators in the House and Senate have
introduced the Fair Compensation for Low-Wage Contractor Employees Act (H.R. 678/S.162).
We can read more about the bill here,
then let's contact our MoC and ask them to cosponsor and support this
legislation ASAP to ensure that federally-contracted employees are not left
behind.
6. Germany,
Europe's biggest nation, is pushing hard to make itself carbon-neutral by
committing to shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants by 2038 (https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-coal-power-20190126-story.html).
They already use renewable sources for 41% of their electricity, so we have no
excuse for being so far behind. With a Green New Deal supported by at least 9
presidential hopefuls (Kirsten Gillibrand just chimed in), now is the time to
start telling our MoCs today that tomorrow's children need the GND
today. https://augustafreepress.com/is-congress-likely-to-go-for-aocs-green-new-deal/
7. Just
like last year, Trump's proposed budget for 2019 aims to eliminate the National
Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. However,
this time he is also trying to kill the Institute of Museum and Library
Services, which provides almost all federal funding for libraries. In the same
budget, Trump demands $18 billion for his border wall, which is over 34X
the total funding for all 3 institutions, combined. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/76047-trump-renews-bid-to-eliminate-library-funding-nea-and-neh.htm The House of Representatives refused to go
along with this obscenity in 2018, so let's make sure they do the same this
year
8. “Southeast
Asians who fled from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in the late 1970s and early
1980s became the largest refugee community ever resettled in the United States.
Refugees of decades-long war, bombings, and one of the worst genocides of the
20th century, Southeast Asian Americans (SEAAs) encountered many challenges
during their initial resettlement, including high rates of poverty,
post-traumatic stress disorder, and poor educational outcomes. Youth growing up
in impoverished neighborhoods and failing schools sometimes turned to gangs and
crime as a means of survival.” Some of these
young people got in trouble with the law, often minor infractions, but they are
now being deported to a county they cannot remember. http://www.searac.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/The-Devastating-Impact-of-Deportation-on-Southeast-Asian-Americans-1.pdf
and https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/deportations-southeast-asian-americans-stress-families-finances-advocates-say-n914461 Some MoCs are asking this policy to be reexamined: https://mauinow.com/2019/01/04/hirono-urges-dhs-to-reexamine-deportation-of-southeast-asian-refugees/ Let’s ask our MoCs to support these folks to
whom we promised a better life.
9. Claiming
they will alleviate “the poverty and the starvation and the humanitarian
crisis” currently gripping Venezuela, Trump’s treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin
and his national security advisor John Bolton (flaunting a TV-ready notepad on
which was written “5000 troops to Columbia”) announced sanctions on Venezuelan
oil imports to the US, the single largest importer of Venezuelan crude; imports
from the state-owned PDVSA are allowed but payment will be impounded by the US
government rather than go to Maduro’s government—described by Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-FL) as “the Maduro crime family.” The only consequence that
interests the US government is, it seems, in boosting Juan Guaido, who last
week declared himself Venezuela’s rightful interim president; Rubio claims the
“money for oil will now go to [the Venezuelan people] through the legitimate
government of Guaido,” though his legitimacy is questionable at
best: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/28/trump-venezuela-sanctions-oil-pdvsa-maduro-guaido
or https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article225189950.html Let’s
urge the White House and our MoCs to stop this US-backed coup and instead join
Mexico, Uruguay, the Vatican, and the UN in their neutral efforts to help find
a solution to Venezuela’s political crisis.
10. Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has tapped Stacey Abrams to give the State of the
Union Democratic response:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/427508-stacey-abrams-to-give-democratic-response-to-trumps-state-of-the. Let’s
thanks Senator Schumer for this wise choice: https://www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck
and let’s make sure to watch or listen next Tuesday evening.
11. The
apartheid tactics of the Israeli government, the occupation of Palestinian
territory, and the authoritarianism of Benjamin Netanyahu have led to a decline
from 33% to 19% in the share of liberal Democrats more sympathetic to
Israel than to the Palestinians in the past 3 years; apparently in response,
a new group, the Democratic Majority for Israel, plans to wage a campaign to
remind elected officials about what they insist are the party’s shared values
and interests with Israel; they also are planning an “early states project,”
meant to organize pro-Israel Democrats in the first nominating states to lobby
the party’s presidential hopefuls. Some suggest the new group is nothing
more than the Democratic wing of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
(Aipac): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/politics/democrats-israel-palestine.html
Its
head, Democratic strategist Ann Lewis, singled out the two new Muslim house
members, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, claiming that they are “dominating the
press, the media. And they aren’t going to be able to get anything done.” Perhaps we should see which of our MoCs have
allied themselves with this group and let them know what we think.
Election/Voting
1. Special elections in February—16 and counting!
They’re occurring in Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana,
and Connecticut. If we’re in these states, let’s check here https://politicalcharge.org/2019/01/28/special-elections-in-february-2019/ to
see if these elections are taking place in our district, and if they are, let’s
get them on our calendars and vote for Democrats/progressives. Every election
at every level of government matters!
Other
Actions
1. Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, a
self-described Democratic centrist, is considering running for the Presidency
as an independent 3rd-party candidate, a move that is sure to take votes away
from Democratic candidates opposing Trump. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/29/689536814/why-howard-schultzs-independent-bid-for-president-is-a-radical-idea Let’s contact
Schultze and implore him not to
do this, for the good of the country. Let’s remind him what third-party
candidates do to an election. If he
wants to run, he should throw his hat in the ring with the other Democrats.
2. If we are supporters of Julian Castro’s presidential
bid, we now have an opportunity to join his campaign. They are looking for
“experience in all areas, not just political campaigns”, and offer “fair hiring
practices, a safe work environment, providing benefits, paying a fair wage for
work, and supporting workers’ rights to organize.” If we are not interested in
a paid position, we can also sign up to volunteer. We can find more information in this link,
including specific positions, locations and application procedures: https://action.julianforthefuture.com/page/s/join-team-julian
3. We know it is hard to keep up with all the
Russian intervention news, so here is an excellent and informative site that
tracks, documents, and summarizes each of the indictments and plea bargains in
the Russia investigation. Teri Kanefield is a non-fiction YA/popular author
with an extensive knowledge of law, so she does a great job explaining it all
for the rest of us. Bonus: there’s another link on her page, a “list of possible crimes committed by Trump
and his family and associates based on the guilty pleas, indictments, top
tier newspaper reporting, and public statements made by possible defendants.”
We can follow her on Twitter, too. https://russia-investigation-summary.com/
4. Jurisdictions in nearly every state are using
voting machines that are more than 10 years old—increasing the potential for
problems like broken-down machines and longer voting lines, according to the
ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/blog/voting-rights/its-time-update-aging-voting-equipment-2020-election Let’s
contact our federal, state, and local representatives and tell them that we
want them to appropriate money to invest in new election equipment before the
2020 elections.
5. If we are involved in an advocacy campaign, we
can learn more about Power Mapping, a tool to help us understand our political
landscape. The Campaign Workshop tells us more about the process, “Power
mapping is a very useful advocacy tool especially when you and your
organization have limited time and resources. Power mapping can be used to
target the key decision makers or influencers needed most to achieve policy
wins, allowing you to map those with voting and decision-making power over an
issue you are advocating for.” We can
learn more about how to put our power map together here:
6. We all know the danger of third-party candidates
in elections. We can help to offset the
possibility by getting involved right now in volunteering for our favorite
Democrat, whether local, state, or federal, and learn the ropes of campaigning.
Then, after the primaries, we’ll have some great experience under our belts so
we can work to put a Democrat in the Oval Office in 2020. Let’s read these
articles about how to volunteer for a political campaign: https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a26013092/how-to-volunteer-2020/ ; https://www.teenvogue.com/story/why-i-volunteer-for-political-campaigns ;
and then let’s go out and do it—by contacting the Democratic party: https://my.democrats.org/page/s/help-elect-democrats or
by using this tool:
7. The race is on to find homes for Florida's
greyhound racing dogs! Now that the race tracks must close by the
end of next year, hundreds, even thousands of retired racers will need
homes. Several organizations state- and nationwide are making it their
mission to get them all placed. We can read about one such South Florida
organization in this article at CBS Miami.
Greyhounds tend to have calm, sensitive temperaments. We can read more
about them in The Sun Sentinel.
We can find more organizations from which to adopt a greyhound at the National
Greyhound Association. If we plan to adopt a
dog in the next few years, let's consider adopting a retired racing greyhound
and let our friends and family know about this option.
8. Both Fox and Friends and White House Press
Secretary Sarah Sanders said that most Americans do not care about the Russian
investigation. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/29/polls-show-no-one-cares-about-the-russia-investigation-white-house-press-secretary-said-thats-not-true/?utm_term=.c2e8d9154b0e
and https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/roger-stone-mueller-cooperation/ Fox and Friends asked people to email them if
they do care. Let’s do it: friendslive@foxnews.com
9. From Chop
Wood/Carry Water: While professing respect for human rights,
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase continue to fund GEO Group and CoreCivic; the
biggest operators of private prisons and immigrant detention centers.
Sign this petition to
let Jamie Dimon (Chase) and Timothy Sloan (Wells) know that their customers and
potential customers are not afraid to align our money with our values. If Wells
Fargo and JPMorgan Chase don’t take action, we will -- by pledging to, and/or
encouraging others to, break up with Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase and switch
to banks that actually respect our communities instead!
State
Actions
1. The rate of arrests for homicides carried out
with guns is low and dropping, and are lowest of all when victims are persons
of color, according to “Shoot Someone In a Major US City, and Odds Are You’ll
Get Away With It,” a year-long investigation by journalists: https://www.thetrace.org/features/murder-solve-rate-gun-violence-baltimore-shootings/ Let’s
share a link to the article with our mayors and city councilors, and let’s tell
them we want them to put up the necessary resources to reverse this
trend. https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials
2. We know that Trump is crying voter fraud, but we
know that the biggest voter fraud is really voter suppression. Congress is finally taking a look at
this. https://blog.ucsusa.org/michael-latner/hans-von-spakovsky-lies-now-hes-testifying-before-congress Most of the voter laws come from the states. Let’s take a look at these recent actions in AZ, KY, MI, NY, VA,WI and help where we
can: https://politicalcharge.org/2019/01/29/voting-rights-in-the-news/
3. FL:
Identical Florida bills SB
332 (State Senate)
and HB 49 (State
House) would require state and county corrections facilities to provide
certain feminine health care products in common housing areas and in medical
care facilities. It also includes restrictions on male correctional employees
and requires documentation of pat downs and cavity searches when conducted
by a male guard. We can read more at Tallahassee.com.
If we are Floridians, let's contact our state legislators to
ask them to support these bills for incarcerated women's dignity.
4. VA: The
Virginia Senate has approved legislation that would make it easier to bring a
gun to a place of worship. The bill now heads to the Virginia House. We can
read more at Fredericksburg.com.
Although we expect that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) would veto this bill, let's stop
it from ever arriving at this desk by contacting our VA
state delegates to let them know
we are opposed to it as well.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms
to attend/organize
Reading/Watching
1. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez's 70% tax on the super-rich is more popular than Trump's tax
cuts, new poll shows - https://www.businessinsider.com/a-70-tax-on-the-super-rich-is-more-popular-than-trumps-tax-cuts-2019-1
2. Six Things
White People Can Do To Reach Friends and Family Members to End Racism
- https://medium.com/@kimberlydark/six-things-white-people-can-do-to-reach-friends-and-family-members-to-end-racism-48de9d3f24c0
3. Canada now
brings in more refugees than the U.S.: For
the first time in the history of the United Nations refugee program, the U.S.
has slipped behind another country - https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/refugee-resettlement-canada/
4. The
Supreme Court Case That Enshrined White Supremacy in Law: How Plessy v. Ferguson shaped
the history of racial discrimination in America - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/02/04/the-supreme-court-case-that-enshrined-white-supremacy-in-law
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