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11/14/19

NATIONAL ISSUES




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FOLLOW IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS WITH SUIT UP MAINE’S IMPEACHMENT GUIDE: Now that a impeachment hearings have begun, there’s a lot keep track of. Fortunately Suit Up Maine has made it easier for us to follow and stay informed as things unfold.  Using Suit Up Maine’s Impeachment Guide (https://www.suitupmaine.org/impeachment-guide/), we can find out what the key issues are, where to watch the hearings, who will be testifying and when. We can also read key transcript experts, find analysis of events and then use their links to contact our Representatives about what we’ve heard.

IMPEACHMENT VOTING OPTION:  Now that the impeachment has begun and we expect that it will eventually be passed on to the Senate for their portion of the process, we understand that most GOP members are reluctant to vote their true heart.  However, if the Senate would vote to make it a secret vote, these senators could without repercussions.  https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/11/12/path-to-removing-donald-trump-from-office-229911  Let’s tell our senators that we are open to this secret vote.  It will only take three Republican senators to vote for this option to make it happen.   

STOP CONFIRMATION OF RACIST, MYSOGYNIST JUDGE, STEPHEN MENASHI: With all the hoopla on impeachment, it will be easier for the Senate to quietly confirm Judge Stephen Menashi for a lifetime position on the federal court . The vote could be happening as soon as today. Menashi has refused to answer questions about the White House Ukraine cover-up; written racist, sexist, and homophobic editorials; and most recently worked for the Department of Education overseeing the repeal of Obama-era civil rights protections. https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/10/15/2nd-circuit-nominee-steven-menashi-one-trumps-most-radical-picks/3983913002/. 5calls.org has more information and a script here. While it’s important to call our own Senators, key Republicans who may be pressured to break with their party are Murkowski (R-AK; 202-224-6665) Kennedy, (R-LA; 202-224-4623) Ernst (R-IA; 202- 224-3254) Scott (R-SC; 202-224-6121) Gardner (R-CO; 202-224-5941) McSally (R-AZ; 202-224-2235) Romney (R-UT; 202-224-5251) Rubio (R-FL; 202-224-3041) Sasse (R-NE; 202-224-4224) Alexander (R-TN; 202-224-4944) Isakson (R-GA; 202-224-3643.) and Enzi (R-WY; 202-224-3424). Let’s call our own Senators, and as many of these Senators as possible. Let’s also spread the word to friends who live in states represented by these Senators. 

DEMAND RESIGNATION OF STEPHEN MILLER: Congresswomen Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) are demanding the resignation of Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration policies after leaked emails confirmed his ties to white nationalism. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/470194-ocasio-cortez-calls-for-stephen-miller-to-resign-over-leaked-emails. Let’s thank Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortex (202-225-3965) and Omar (202-225-4755) for continuing to speak truth to power. Let’s also ask our own MoCs to join the call for Miller’s resignation. Let’s also let the White House know our thoughts on this.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT (ERA) POSSIBILITY:  The legislation for removing the deadline for the ratification of the equal rights amendment (H.J.Res.79) has been voted out of committee and is on its way to a full House vote.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/us/politics/congress-era-equal-rights-amendment.html  and  https://msmagazine.com/2019/11/13/the-house-judiciary-committee-just-advanced-an-era-resolution/ Virginia is now posed to be the final state needed to pass the ERA (https://wamu.org/story/19/11/11/advocates-eye-virginia-in-push-to-ratify-equal-rights-amendment/) that will make this amendment the rule of the land.  Let’s let all our MoCs know that we support this and have already waited too long. 

DEFUND ICE AND DEMAND END TO CHILD DETENTION AND FAMILY SEPARATION: The United States held 69,500 migrant children in detention so far this year, an increase of 42% from 2019. https://www.courthousenews.com/us-jailed-69500-immigrant-children-so-far-this-year/, deliberately creating a crisis that would allow them to violate standards set for humane treatment of children, including a 20-day limit for incarceration. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/a-trump-administration-strategy-led-to-the-child-migrant-backup-crisis-at-the-border/2019/11/12/. There have been major periods of public outcry on this issue, followed by a lulled acceptance as other news stories take over the headlines. Let’s make sure we stay aware of this issue and let our MoCs know that we expect them to speak out about this issue by making sure that no “emergency” discretionary funds are allocated to ICE and Customs Border Patrol in the next round of budget appropriations. 

FIGHT VOTER SUPPRESSION: “Reclaim Our Vote, a non-partisan phone bank, postcarding, and textbanking campaign created by the Center for Common Ground, focuses on contacting voters of color in voter-suppression states to help them register and vote.” Let’s sign up and get to work:   https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup

GRAHAM REFUSES TO DO HIS JOB “Sen. Lindsey Graham has said he will not watch the start of the impeachment hearings of President Donald Trump because "it denies the basics of due process. "So why am I not going to watch this tomorrow? Because I think it is a threat to the presidency. I don't want to legitimize it, it's un-American, it denies the basics of due process."  https://www.newsweek.com/impeachment-lindsey-graham-donald-trump-fox-1471378. If Lindsey Graham is your Senator, call his office and ask him why he refuses to do the job you elected him too; and why did this process work for the GOP on the Clinton impeachment but not for trump. Tell him, it’s his job to read these documents and to see the hearings so he is educated about the issues.  If he is not your Senator, tweet him @LindseyGrahamSC “Do your job, Read the documents, watch the proceedings.”

EPA RULE ENDANGERS PUBLIC HEALTH:  Here’s the draft of the new “secret science” rule floated by the EPA and designed to disallow inconvenient scientific evidence to interfere with the Trump administration’s efforts to end public health and environmental regulation:  https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6438-epa-science-rule/0056cd3a5a080415e713/optimized/full.pdf#page=1  The new rule would demand raw data from scientists, including confidential medical records, if the EPA is to consider the study in any rulemaking--and it is likely to be retroactive: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/469990-epa-rule-proposes-to-expand-limitations-on-scientific-studies “Let’s call this what it is,” said a spokesperson for the Union of Concerned Scientists, “an excuse to abandon clean air, clean water, and chemical safety rules. . . [to] upend the way we protect communities from pollution and other health threats.” Before this rule is even posted in the Federal Register and opened for comment, we must let Andrew Wheeler and the EPA that we will not allow our health and our planet be destroyed so that corporations can thrive: 202-564-4700 or Mail Code 1101A, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20460

HELPING ICE-IMPACTED FAMILIES:  A Methodist church in Morton MS is paying the utility bills of families affected by ICE raids in their town 3 months ago    https://www.npr.org/2019/11/12/778468304/we-visit-a-mississippi-town-3-months-after-massive-ice-raid Let’s help this small church by sending them donations for this purpose:  Morton First United Methodist Church, PO Box 519, Morton MS 39117

IMPEACHMENT DOCUMENTS: “Just Security has compiled and curated all publicly available documents in Congress’s impeachment inquiry concerning President Donald Trump in connection with Ukraine. This collection seeks to include significant original source material, including relevant legislation, letters, subpoenas, deposition transcripts, executive branch communications, and litigation documents.”  Let’s take a look at this site and use the information as needed:  https://www.justsecurity.org/67076/public-document-clearinghouse-ukraine-impeachment-inquiry/

APPLY FOR DEMOCRATIC TRAINING COMMITTEE’S CAMPAIGN STAFF TRAINING: If we are thinking about becoming a Democratic campaign staffer, the National Democratic Training Committee is ready to help us get the training we need in their 2020 Staff Academy Cohort. If we are women, people of color, trans/transgender or non-binary, our applications will be prioritized. The 8-week training is free and combines online instruction in management and leadership skills with a choice of three tracks: communications, digital, or fundraising. Successful cohort members will travel to Washington, DC for further training and networking with potential employers.
We can click here to find out more about the Democratic Training Committee’s 2020 free Staff Academy Cohort:  https://traindemocrats.org/staff-academy-interest/ If we are interested, we can apply before the deadline on November 17th (the application closes at 10:59 pm CST/11:59 pm EST)!

STAY INFORMED ON ACLU BATTLES WITH TEXT ALERTS: With all the ways the ACLU fights for us, it can be hard to keep track of their important battles as they defend our reproductive rights, voting rights, asylum rights and more. To stay better informed, we can text FIGHT to 82623 to receive real-time updates about the ACLU’s most urgent fights in civil rights and liberties – and ways we can help them win.

ELECTION/VOTING

2020 ELECTIONS: If we are looking for 2020 Election information or if we have some to share, we can check out Equal Vote Local’s BlueWave Database 2020. We can click here to find information about candidates, voting and more arranged by state. This editable document also allows us to add our groups and any candidates running for office:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ir8YGs1F0Lfayl6T7XR7tklnYrEk4VcEzTkPumLVWAI  We can also find out more about Equal here at their website:  https://www.equalvotelocal.com/

LOUISIANA RUNOFF FOR GOVERNOR:They [Louisiana] had their primary earlier in October, and the Democratic governor who is running for re-election, John Bel-Edwards, secured just under the 50% he needed to win outright. So, he now must win the runoff election, which is on Saturday, November 16.”  Let’s follow the ideas here to see how we can help:  https://politicalcharge.org/2019/11/08/2019-elections-one-race-left-to-go/

VETS AND VOTING:  From one of our own: "In an advertising campaign that began last week and is running in 14 House districts, veterans read the oath on camera and ask congressional Republicans to hold President Trump accountable for violating his own (very similar) oath. The campaign is part of the Defend American Democracy project, run by a coalition of groups alarmed by Trump’s behavior, including Republicans for the Rule of Law.   Veterans are effective messengers, because the military remains one of the few American institutions that’s widely trusted across the political spectrum. In a recent Gallup Poll, 73 percent of Americans said they had confidence in the military, compared with 38 percent for the Supreme Court, 36 percent for organized religion, 29 percent for public schools, 23 percent for both big business and newspapers and a mere 11 percent for Congress."  Leaders in MI-06, TX-31, NE-02, MO-02, NY-01, and FL-15, please go to this Youtube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoq2zLpVH6fmwVMGZP8teoQ, find your ad and tell your members to share the heck out of it widely - publicly. Let's help get this effective message out.

STATE/LOCAL

RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS

WEBINAR ON ENGAGING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT VOTE:  The unique, nonpartisan, and scalable Right Question Institute’s Voter Engagement Initiative offers an educational strategy designed to increase voting rates for the long term. The free webinar is on Nov. 19 at 3pm EST.  Let’s sign up to learn about their innovative, simple, and powerful approach to engaging people who traditionally don't vote. Register now: https://bit.ly/2NeNw7D    (H/T)

CLIMATE STRIKES CONTINUE:  From Future Coalition:  On Nov 29 & Dec 6, we strike again! Youth across the U.S. will lead a #ClimateStrike on Nov 29 & Dec 6 to demand legislative action to combat the climate crisis.  Strike with us!  Let’s find or host an event:  https://strikewithus.org/

ATTEND A NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW RALLY: MoveOn is sponsoring “No One is Above the Law Rallies on the night before the House votes on Articles of Impeachment. We can sign up here to organize or attend an event in our area. 

READING/WATCHING

The ultimate guide to the Donald Trump impeachment saga - https://www.vox.com/2019/11/5/20914280/impeachment-trump-explained


What Is Ranked Choice Voting and Can It End Negative Campaigning? - https://politicalcharge.org/2019/11/12/what-is-ranked-choice-voting-and-can-it-end-negative-campaigning/

Federal Election Commission Chair: Microtargeting Political Ads are the Problem - https://www.cnbc.com/video/2019/11/04/fec-chair-microtargeting-political-ads-are-the-problem.html
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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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