9/17/19
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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SAUDI ARAMCO ATTACK
AND CLIMATE CRISIS: While
the news media persists in separating “climate news” from other news, we must
connect the dots. In this, the week of the emergency UN Climate Summit to
which Secretary General António Guterres has pleaded member nations bring not
“a speech” but “a plan,” Saudi Aramco, the country’s state-owned oil company,
has suffered a major military attack:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/un-climate-summit-2019-why-it-matters and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/saudi-arabia-oil-attacks-everything-you-need-to-know Quite aside from who is responsible—the Houthi claim the attack, our “locked and loaded” president insists it’s Iran's doing—Trump has authorized the use of oil from the country's emergency oil reserves to prop up supply and prices of one of the world's greatest pollutants:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/16/un-climate-summit-2019-why-it-matters and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/16/saudi-arabia-oil-attacks-everything-you-need-to-know Quite aside from who is responsible—the Houthi claim the attack, our “locked and loaded” president insists it’s Iran's doing—Trump has authorized the use of oil from the country's emergency oil reserves to prop up supply and prices of one of the world's greatest pollutants:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/15/business/oil-prices-donald-trump-spr/index.html
Will Trump start a war with Iran, directly or through its Israeli proxy,
without congressional authorization? What effect will the huge Saudi oil
fires have on the surrounding environment? And what about extraordinary
US assistance to the filthy fossil fuel industry, given that a major CBS News
poll has found that two-thirds of Americans now believe climate change is
either a crisis or a serious problem and a majority want immediate
action?
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/15/americans-climate-change-crisis-cbs-poll
We must tell our MoCs that we understand—and expect them to understand--that
the Saudi Aramco attack and the climate emergency are NOT unrelated. That we
want neither war nor fossil fuels. And we must participate in the
September 20 Climate Strike “to demand transformative action be taken to
address the climate crisis”:
IMPEACH KAVANAUGH: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), a
2020 presidential contender, on Sunday called for Supreme Court Justice Brett
Kavanaugh to be impeached following the latest allegations of sexual
misconduct against him, blasting his confirmation process as a “sham.” “I
sat through those hearings,” she tweeted, referring to the Senate hearings
after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. “Brett Kavanaugh lied to
the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people," she added.
"He was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court
is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice. He must be impeached."
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/461483-harris-bashes-kavanaughs-sham-nomination-process-calls-for-his-impeachment
“More than 40 people with potential
information into the sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court
nominee Brett Kavanaugh have not been contacted by the FBI, according to
multiple sources that include friends of both the nominee and his accusers.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/dozens-potential-sources-information-have-not-been-contacted-fbi-kavanaugh-n916146. Let’s
support Senator Kamala Harris, write a note on her FB page:
https://facebook.com/SenatorKamalaHarris/ and
ask her to pursue this. Then, let's call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and
insist that she begin impeachment proceedings: 202-225-4965. Let’s also let all our MoCs know we support
this effort. We can also write to the
DOJ and ask them to follow up and investigate properly all the complaints
against Kavanaugh. https://www.justice.gov/contact-us
COMMONSENSE GUN LAWS: “Along with stronger background checks, the
business leaders are calling for a strong red flag law, which could prevent shootings
in cases where family members or law enforcement report concerns about someone
who may be at risk of harming themselves or others.” https://www.npr.org/2019/09/12/760144527/145-ceos-call-on-senate-to-pass-commonsense-bipartisan-gun-laws Let’s join these 145 CEOs and ask our
senators to bring to a vote the already-passed bills from the House.
NATIONAL
SECURITY/BORDER WALL: According
to a report by the U.S. Air Force, Trump's border wall funding is being taken
from 51 military projects, risking our national security both within the U.S.,
and overseas: https://nbcnews.to/2mkIbRd, https://bit.ly/2kh15ro Let's contact our MoC and tell them
that withdrawing funds from projects that would in fact make us more secure
further demonstrates that the wall is nothing more than a vanity project for
the president. We can also ask the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, why he is
putting our national security at risk: Department of Defense: Secretary Mark
Esper, 1000 Defense Pentagon, Washington, DC 20301-1000, https://www.defense.gov/Ask-Us/,
703-571-3343; Twitter: @DeptofDefense
WE THE PEOPLE MARCH: Four
days to go until the We The People March in Washington DC with many sister
marches available too: https://www.wethepeoplemarch2019.org A
great deal happened over the weekend that gives us deeper pause and concern
about our nation. Let’s get to DC if we can and a sister march if we
can’t. Let’s donate money if possible, to help support the effort and let’s
spread the word anywhere we can to inspire others to get involved. Many will
make last minute decisions about whether or not to go. Let’s particularly think
about friends and family in the mid-Atlantic who may have easier travel
options.
BOYCOTT AMAZON: Amazon CEO, Jeffrey Bezos, the richest person in
the world, has just cut healthcare benefits from 1900 part-time workers at
Whole Foods, which Amazon now owns. https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-healthcare-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-promises-business-roundtable-2019-9.
And if this isn’t enough of a reason to boycott Amazon (and Whole Foods), they are one of 15 organizations cooperating with ICE.
(Amazon’s role has been to provide access to facial recognition software, which
caused them to be a target of nation-wide Never Again actions last week.) Let’s
express our displeasure by contacting Amazon at 1-888-280-4331.
RESOURCES FOR
TEACHERS: Teachers and students alike are working on
curriculum material to help teachers fight white nationalism (https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/cps-teacher-develops-toolkit-to-fight-white-nationalism/11ba8fdb-ef4b-4f40-866f-60fc30831b98)
and develop racial literacy (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/tell-me-who-you-are-racial-literacy-curriculum). Let’s use these resources as teachers or
share with the teachers and school curriculum folks in our lives.
LEARN THE EFFECTS OF
DOWN BALLOT RACES ON WOMEN’S REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM: We
all know that elections matter but may not realize that even down ballot races
can have a chilling effect on women’s reproductive freedoms. Whether it’s a
State Treasurer defunding a clinic, or a sheriff forcing inmates to give birth,
elected officials make more choices about women’s bodies than we may realize.
We can read Vote Pro
Choice’s report here to see the effect of ballot offices, like state treasurer
and sheriff on women’s reproductive freedom, share this information with our
friends on social media, and remember to find and support prochoice candidates
for all offices when casting our votes: https://www.voteprochoice.us/downballotreport
DEFUNDING HATE: Trump's destructive policies need money to
advance his white nationalist, misogynistic, tyrannical agenda. The money comes
from Congress through the appropriations process, which has a deadline of
October 1st. So, there's still a little time for us to tell our MoCs
exactly what we do and don't want our money spent on, and Indivisible has
provided a list of specific items to use when calling: https://indivisiblesf.org/call-scripts/2019/7/3/power-of-the-purse
Let's use it every time we call in the
next two weeks.
NATIONAL VOTER
REGISTRATION DAY 2019: "There
is nothing more crucial to changing the course of our country than turning out
voters in droves for every election. And to have voters turn out, we need to
register them first." This short piece by Political Charge has some tips
about how we can get involved in raising awareness and registering
voters on September 24:
UNIVERSAL POSTAL
UNION WITHDRAWAL: "The
Trump administration is attacking voting rights again - this time the rights of
Americans abroad - through their plans to withdraw from the Universal Postal
Union on October 16th. If the withdrawal goes forward, postal mail
service to the United States will be thrown into disarray and the USPS expects
postal service to and from the States to be massively disrupted." This is
a big big deal for the 4 million Americans, including military, who live
abroad. This piece by Democrats Abroad tells us how we can talk to our
elected officials about this dangerous move: https://www.democratsabroad.org/take_action_now_about_the_universal_postal_union_treaty_withdrawal
REGISTER VOTERS IN
IMPOVERISHED COMMUNITIES: Starting
September 16, 2019, through May 2020, the Poor People’s Campaign will be
touring 22 states to raise awareness of the conditions of America’s poor, and
to help people register to vote.
https://apnews.com/aaaa2f16472b4a45bc2a5e5391f760d1 The
first three cities are already organizing. Let’s sign up to help: 1) El
Paso, TX, Sept 16-Sept 18, 2019 https://actionnetwork.org/events/elpaso-tx-more-tour,
2) Greenville/Greensboro, NC, Sept 27-Sept 30, 2019 https://actionnetwork.org/events/north-carolina-we-must-do-more-tour,
and 3) Portland, ME, Oct 10, 2019 https://actionnetwork.org/events/portland-me-march-and-mass-meeting-we-must-do-more-tour
VOTING RIGHTS: According
to the National Democratic
Redistricting Committee, there has not been a single question at a
Democratic presidential debate on gerrymandering, voter suppression, gutting
the voting rights act, attempts to rig the census, or election interference Let’s
contact one or more of the Democratic presidential candidates and tell them
that we want to know how they plan to protect voting rights and save democracy,
and we want them to say so at the next presidential debate, whether they are
asked about it or not. Internet-search their websites for contact info. Let’s also contact the following and tell them that we
want moderators at the next Democratic presidential debate to ask what the
candidates plan to do to protect voting rights and democracy in America: 1) CNN
Feedback, https://www.cnn.com/feedback,
2) NBC News, contact.nbcnews@nbcuni.com,
3) CBS News,
https://audienceservices.cbs.com/feedback/feedback.htm, 4) ABC
News, https://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346&cat=ABC%20News%20Specials,
and 5) PBS News Hour, viewermail@newshour.org
POSTCARDING: From one of our own – Here are this week’s
issues/addresses write-ups for postcarding: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Tj0tociN1soQQRcGj5_MPS3TgyZiTITC91h-fBY06ug/edit Look them over and choose the ones that
speak to you.
BLOCK ALL MONEY FOR
ICE ABUSES AND BORDER WALL CONSTRUCTION: The Senate is facing a tough job of passing appropriations bills before
the shut-down deadline. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/461372-senators-struggle-to-get-spending-bills-off-ground-as-shutdown-looms. The
current proposal for Homeland Security does NOT include any limitations on
money that can be borrowed from other projects to continue to fund ICE abuses
and a border wall. (This amendment was offered by Democrats but rejected by
Republicans on the committee.) The Senate cannot pass the Homeland Security
appropriation without Democratic support, so now is the time we should tell
our Democratic Senators to hold firm on blocking all extra funding for ICE and
assuring that money allocated to Homeland Security is spent
appropriately.
PASS ANTI-GUN
VIOLENCE LEGISLATION: The House
Judiciary Committee has advanced legislation that would improve “red flag” laws
that keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people, prohibit people
convicted of hate crimes from possessing firearms, and ban magazines with a
capacity of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Once again, no
Republicans supported the proposal, though Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) said he
would work with Democrats on “common sense” gun legislation. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/460781-house-advances-anti-gun-violence-legislation.
Let’s tell our Republican MoCs that everything in this legislation and
everything in H.R. 8, the anti-gun violence bill passed by the house and
languishing in Mitch McConnell's Senate graveyard, is common sense and remind
them that a great majority of the American people want to see action, not
pandering to the NRA.
ELECTION/VOTING
FOLLOWUP:
POSTCARDS TO VOTERS' ELECTION WATCH: Volunteer postcard-writers were disappointed last week as both
candidates lost to their Republican competitors. 1) Campaign 166:
Dan McCready for CD09. Dan won 48.9% of the vote but it wasn't
enough. More at Aljazeera. 2) Campaign 169:
Allen Thomas for CD03. Allen won only 37% of the vote, which we
had expected in this deep red district. More at The News and Observer (Raleigh). Let's
continue to reach out to Democratic voters.
FLIP KENTUCKY:
WRITE NOW! Kentucky has
statewide elections this November for executive branch offices from Governor to
Treasurer. Upset victories in a few weeks will give KY Dem county parties the
fuel to recruit new volunteers and raise new funds to mount a year-long
organizing effort to #DitchMitch. Already over 1,000 Postcards To Voters'
volunteers have written some 24k+ fun, friendly election reminders. Let's
request 5 addresses today for Campaign
171: KY Democrats.
STATE/LOCAL
CA: BAN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT PRISONS: The private prison industry is
set to be upended after California lawmakers
passed a bill on Wednesday banning the facilities from operating in the state.
The move will probably also close down four large immigration detention
facilities that can hold up to 4,500 people at a time. The legislation is being
hailed as a major victory for criminal justice reform because it removes the
profit motive from incarceration. It also marks a dramatic departure from
California’s past, when private prisons were relied on to reduce crowding in
state-run facilities. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/12/california-private-prison-ban-immigration-ice. Check
your own states to see if Private For Profit Prisons are used by your state
governments. Tell your legislators to ban these for-profit prisons in
your state. Ask them to follow the language in law used CA.
FL: LEARN HOW TO REGISTER VOTERS: The New Florida Majority is an
inclusive, pro-democracy organization mobilizing for a better Florida for
all, https://newfloridamajority.org/who-we-are/ .
On September 18, the NewFM will be offering training sessions on how to
register voters in Florida. Let’s sign up on their Events page: https://newfloridamajority.org/support/events/
MI: 2020 BUDGET/PROP 2: From MI Resistance: The Republican-led
Michigan Legislature is now completing the latest budget proposal for 2020. One
of the line items is for the $4.6 million needed for the Citizens Redistricting
Committee mandated by the passing of Proposal 2 and the redrawing of our
gerrymandered voting districts. The funding could come from the General Fund
like lots of other programs, but the Republican-led legislature has chosen to
pull it from the Secretary of State (SOS) budget. The SOS offices in Michigan
are already overburdened and crowded and slashing their budget could result in
longer lines and waiting periods. The SOS is also charged with implementing the
eight voting policies mandated by Proposal 3; including straight-ticket voting,
automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, and no-excuse
absentee voting. Let's call these Republicans in Lansing and
demand they find another way to finance the Proposal 2 Citizens Redistricting
Commission and keep the Secretary of State’s budget intact: Senators
Ruth Johnson: (517) 373-1636, Jim Runestad: (517) 373-1758, Kenneth Horn: (517)
373-1760, Dale Zorn: (517) - 373-3543, and Representaties Scott VanSingel:
(517) 373-7317, Gary Howell: (517) 373-1800, Julie Calley: (517) 373-0842, and
Tommy Brann: (517) 373-2277
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
TWITTERSTORM
TO HELP INCREASE VOTER TURNOUT IN 5 KEY STATES:
The Trump
Campaign is already focusing on five states that are crucial to the 2020
election, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Fortunately, the Movement Voter Project is ready to strike back, supporting key
organizations in each state to get out the vote. We can help raise
awareness of this important GOTV project by joining Action Together Network’s
Twitter storm this Wednesday, September 18, at 8pm EST. We can click this for
more information and access to prewritten tweets to send out with just a few
clicks: https://www.facebook.com/events/2130562523904106
We can also find out more about the
Movement Voter Project when we check out their website here:
https://movement.vote/ Let’s
help get out the vote and get our country back in 2020!
GLOBAL CLIMATE
STRIKE: “On September 20,
three days before the UN Climate Summit in NYC, young people and adults will
strike across the US and world to demand transformative action be taken to
address the climate crisis. Millions of us will take the streets to demand a
right to a future, and we’re inviting you to #strikewithus
Find a strike near
you to attend on September 20 on the map . . . If you don’t see an event in your area, organize
one! We’ll provide everything you need to get started in planning something in
your community, so no experience is necessary.”
Let’s check out more here: https://strikewithus.org/ (scroll down page to see map of locations) If we are outside the U.S., let’s check out
this site for opportunities: https://globalclimatestrike.net/
We also have access to this Climate
Strike Arts Kit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xwo8dPjzjJFNHLC-REojFTUBRTK1PrwOS5L4E-I4Hj0/mobilebasic?urp=gmail_link If we are unable to attend an event, we can
join digitally: https://digital.globalclimatestrike.net/
WE THE PEOPLE MARCH: Nine days to go until the We The People March in
Washington DC with many sister marches available too:
https://www.wethepeoplemarch2019.org Let’s
get our bodies out in the streets to stand up for democracy.
READING/WATCHING
Reasons for
Optimism- https://robertreich.org/post/187746862280
Marker supplies
historical context for DeKalb’s Confederate monument - https://www.ajc.com/news/local/marker-supplies-historical-context-for-dekalb-confederate-monument/3mGyZ6ITzCEGVgz785O1zJ/
Justice Sotomayor
warns the Supreme Court is doing “extraordinary” favors for Trump - https://www.vox.com/2019/9/12/20862320/sotomayor-supreme-court-favors-trump
Candidates Who
Explain Progressive Policies via Conservative Principles Could be Uniquely
Persuasive - https://psmag.com/news/framing-liberal-policies-within-conservative-values-can-be-uniquely-persuasive
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We can stay up to date
on Congress by checking out their schedules. a) The House publishes a
weekly schedule at The Weekly Leader (published and dated Friday)
as well as daily schedules at The Daily Leader. b) The Senate updates
their schedule daily at the Senate Floor Schedule
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