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. Yesterday, we learned that
Trump, with Mitch McConnell’s support, will sign the bipartisan agreement on
border security so as to avert another government shutdown, BUT will declare a
“national emergency” to get his money for the unnecessary border Wall to
appease his base; his plan seems to be to raid military funding. Congress
could, in theory, strip Trump of his emergency powers, but many lawsuits seem
more likely:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/14/donald-trump-emergency-border-wall-long-legal-fight/2548526002/ or https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcconnell-says-trump-will-declare-a-national-emergency-for-border-wall/ We must make it clear to our MoCs that, like
Nancy Pelosi, we regard this as an “end run around Congress” and count on them,
Democrat or Republican, to oppose this fake emergency in all the ways available
to them. Otherwise, our democracy becomes a sham.
2. While many across the country
are being surprised that despite the tax cut which was said to help, most of us
are actually paying more in taxes this year as we file with the IRS. As expected, however, the tax cut, which
favored the wealthy and big corporations, has enabled some companies, even
those who have high profit margins, to not be paying any tax. Amazon, for example, will be paying
zero. http://fortune.com/2019/02/14/amazon-doesnt-pay-federal-taxes-2019/ Let’s tell
our MoCs that we need a tax code overhaul that will be fair and equitable.
3. S1, the controversial bill that was passed by the
Senate last week, now goes to the House. In addition to providing more military
weapons to an already heavily armed area, this bill would allow states to
refuse to award contracts to businesses who participate in the boycott against
the Israeli government. Whether or not we support the boycott, we should be aware
of the First Amendment issues this bill challenges and how it could set a
precedent for disallowing other boycotts, as discussed by the ACLU. This is the reason that several Jewish
organizations who do not support BDS, like J Street and Americans for Peace Now have come out against this bill. Let’s make sure
our House Reps. know that we do not see a position against this bill as
anti-Semitic, as proponents are claiming, and we expect them to make a strong
stand for free speech.
4. Comments on the Department of
Education’s Title IX reform proposal will be open again today, but for just 24
hours. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/public-comments-reopen-devos-campus-sexual-assault-rules-only-one-n970956. Among the many problems with the reforms is that
it will make it much harder for schools to deal with any sexual assaults that
happen off-campus, which is where most incidents occur. https://www.apnews.com/3823e7c2ca3349e1a77487e62cfbf891. Let’s make sure to take a few minutes to submit a
comment here by midnight tonight. For more information on what to
say, we can check out Hands off IX, but any brief expression of opinion will be
counted.
5. New resolutions in Congress, HJ Res. 37 and SJ Res 7 have been introduced to stop providing aid to the
Saudis on their devastating war in Yemen, which has led to an extreme
humanitarian crisis. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/11/01/662634864/a-call-for-a-ceasefire-in-yemen-makes-news-its-catastrophe-doesnt HR Res 37
passed in the House on Wednesday. The same
resolution passed the Senate last year and might have passed the House if Paul
Ryan had brought it up for a vote, so this has a really good chance of passing
if we keep up the pressure. Let’s thank our reps who voted for this and check
to see if our Senators have signed on as co-sponsors, and ask them to
support using the War Powers Resolution to stop an unauthorized war. As with
the money for the Wall, Trump claims he can get congressional authority
elsewhere. This way lies authoritarianism. We can find more information here from Indivisible.
6. In order to prevent another
shutdown, Congress and Trump must pass another budget agreement by this
afternoon. There seems to be a deal in the works, one that doesn’t include
money for a physical wall. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/12/negotiators-an-agreement-in-principle-to-avoid-government-shutdown.html This is good, but let’s remind our MoCs that
we aren’t thrilled with alternative plans from Democrats to fund a “smart
wall,” or technology like drones and surveillance that serve primarily to deter
and intimidate. That’s not any more humane than a wall. “Instead, we’d like to
see a shift in U.S. border policy that genuinely prioritizes the protection of
human life.” https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/429454-democrats-smart-border-technology-is-not-a-humane-alternative-to-trumps Let’s remind our Senators and Representatives
that border policy is only a part of immigration policy, which really needs an
intelligent and humanitarian-based overhaul. Human lives are not bargaining
chips in any case.
7. The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) has introduced a proposal to rescind an Obama-era rule
that was set to go into effect this August regarding payday lending (https://on.mktw.net/2SPNyX6). The rule would have required payday lenders to
assess a borrower's ability to pay back a loan, but with the new proposal, even
that would no longer be required. (https://bit.ly/1NBCLqw, https://nyti.ms/2thIMDk). Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the
House Financial Services Committee, is asking CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger to
rescind the proposal and instead "work on implementing a comprehensive
federal framework -- including strong consumer safeguards, supervision, and
robust enforcement -- to protect consumers from the cycle of debt.” (https://politi.co/2GsPqi1). There are a couple things we can do to fight back
against this new proposal: 1. Let's make sure to leave a comment opposing
proposed rule at the Federal Register and 2. We can join Representative Waters in
asking Director Kraninger to rescind the rule: Mailing address: Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G St. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20552
Phone: (855) 411-2372
8. Last year, the Trump
administration proposed a rule to ease firearm export regulations by switching
licensing from the State Department to the Commerce Department for certain
kinds of weapons. This would mean that there would be no licensing fee, and the
process to obtain the license would be less complex (https://bit.ly/2GN3Yt3). Now, the administration has decided to go ahead
with the rule, with the changes going into effect in less than a month (https://nbcnews.to/2DjVC8P). To prevent this from happening, and ensure that
we maintain stricter regulation, Representative Norma Torres (D-CA-35) has
introduced a bill (H.R. 1134) to expressly prohibit the removal of these
firearms from the United States Munitions List. Let's contact our
representatives in the House and ask them to cosponsor and support this
legislation.
Election/Voting
1. Postcards to Voters' volunteers
have already written to voters in Virginia for next Tuesday's special election
with Campaign 144: Ibraheem Samirah for Delegate. We can still obtain address
for Campaign 143: Eric Coleman for Tennessee State Senate. Let's
continue to request 5 addresses to help get out the vote in 2019.
Other Actions
1. Registering voters by mail in
key battleground states is part of Swing Left’s (https://swingleft.org/) larger strategy to take back the White House and
the Senate, to keep the House, and to flip state seats to end extreme
Republican gerrymandering. Let’s organize a Voter Registration by Mail
party and get underrepresented, Democratic-leaning voters on the rolls. Even if
only a small percentage of them vote, it could make all the difference in
battleground states. Information and instructions are here: https://swingleft.org/p/vrbm
2. If we need some help sorting
out which candidates for the 2020 presidential election aligns best with issues
we feel strongly about, let’s check out I Side With: https://www.isidewith.com/elections/2020-presidential-quiz
3. Generation Citizen https://generationcitizen.org/ is a civics-education organization that
partners with schools to teach young people how to use the political process to
make change in their own communities. GC’s Democracy Coach Program places
college volunteers in high school classrooms to help teachers implement the
curriculum. Let’s encourage college students to check out the program and
apply: https://generationcitizen.org/our-programs/democracy-coach-model/
4. Yes, we need to win in 2020.
But what happens in 2020 depends on elections in 2019. We need to flip seats in
governorships and state legislatures around the country to reverse extreme
Republican gerrymandering and voter suppression laws that block Democratic wins
in federal (and state) elections. Let’s contribute what we can to the Flippable
Fund to help flip key state seats blue in 2019. Even $5.00 can make a difference! https://flippable.org/act-now/
5. In honor of Valentine’s Day,
let’s think of a resistor, a journalist, an activist, or a politician who would
appreciate hearing words of thanks and encouragement from us and then follow
through.
6. It's time once again for
Audubon's Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), a free, fun, and easy event
that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time
snapshot of bird populations. We can read more at Audubon. The 22nd annual GBBC will be held this
weekend: Friday, February 15, through Monday, February 18, 2019. We can visit
the official website at birdcount.org if we want to participate.
7. Let’s ask our local grocery
stores where we shop to stop selling National Enquirer. Here’s why:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-perspec-zorn-national-enquirer-bezos-extortion-morality-0213-20190212-story.html
8. From one of our own: I decided I wanted to assemble a data base
for the legislation I'm tracking so I can sort it by topic, house of Congress,
status, etc. I'm hoping it will allow me to do more through, comprehensive
issues/addresses write-ups. Please use/share/distribute as you see fit. I'll be updating it at least once a
week—hopefully more often than that.
Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m96oNurFCCOmNU95cDYS3Ct8tMhoOY5NloFJlTqS1Kw/edit#gid=0
9. We need good people to run in
every district, for every elected office, but it can seem challenging to find
resources to conduct a campaign for local positions. If we are interested in
running for School Board or another local government position, we can check
these two resources to get started. The Candidate Bootcamp offers a free
detailed timeline of steps to run for office, including access to checklists
and worksheets. They also offer resources on budgeting, fundraising. We can
check them out here. https://candidatebootcamp.com/how-to-run-for-political-office-2019/ VoteRunLead has this well detailed Campaign
Plan series that is free and easy to access. We can take a look at it
here: https://voterunlead.org/resources/campaign-plan-part-1-understand-the-game/
State Actions
1. CA: Two urgent issues are addressed in a newly
introduced bill SB281, gun control and affordable housing. This bill would ban
gun shows at the Cow Palace and transfer the land to locally controlled joint
authority of San Francisco, Daly City and San Mateo County. According to Scott
Weiner, one of the bill’s co-authors, “for decades, Cow Palace has ignored
local views on the site: that there shouldn’t be gun shows & that the land
should be developed. The local community will now decide the future of this
land, e.g., whether to keep Cow Palace & whether to create housing/mixed
use development.” The bill is co-authored by the entire San Francisco and
San Mateo County legislative delegation. We can read more about the bill here: https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Bill-would-ban-Cow-Palace-gun-shows-could-lead-13614916.php We can read
the full text of the bill here:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB281 We can use
this tool to find our Representatives here and then ask them to support this
much needed bill: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
2. FL: In a
5-3 partisan vote, the Florida state Senate Education Committee approved SB7030, which would give school districts the authority to
implement the controversial “guardian” program and allow classroom teachers to
be armed. Let's read more at Florida Watchdog. The Florida State Legislature doesn’t convene
until March 5 so let's go ahead and contact our FL state senators to let them know we oppose SB7030.
3. KY: The
KY state Senate voted 23-12 to pass bill SB100, which would effectively kill the solar
industry in Kentucky. The bill now heads to the KY State House. Let's read more
at Courier-Journal then contact our KY state representatives to let them know we oppose this solar-killing
bill.
4. VA: The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is still in
play. There are some legislative hijinks
going on, but it looks like it could still come to a vote on the floor. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2019/02/14/rule-81-five-consecutive-readings-and-a-weird-trick-advocates-hope-will-get-a-floor-vote-on-the-era Let’s call
our rep in the House of Delegates to help make this happen.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize
1. On Friday, February 22,
from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM (EST) DemLabs is holding a Digital Storytelling workshop in
Washington, D.C. Experts will review their storytelling projects and the
apps used to create them. The workshop
is free, but space is limited. RSVP here.
2. On March 15 there will
be Youth Climate Strikes all over the world.
Let’s keep an eye on this site for updates of where and when we can
attend and help: https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org/
Reading/Watching
1. Inside The Largest And Most Controversial Shelter
For Migrant Children In The U.S. - https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694138106/inside-the-largest-and-most-controversial-shelter-for-migrant-children-in-the-u-
2. A Reading List for Ralph Northam: If he won’t step down, the governor will need
this anti-racist syllabus - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/antiracist-syllabus-governor-ralph-northam/582580/
3. Shutdown deal includes language to protect a
butterfly sanctuary and other landmarks from border barrier - https://www.texastribune.org/2019/02/14/government-shutdown-deal-includes-protections-south-texas-landmarks/
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