1/31/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
Contact all Federal
Members of Congress
(includes contact info and
links to social media)
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
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IMPEACHMENT
TRIAL: It is now Friday – the
day when the Senate will decide whether to call witnesses in the impeachment
trial. While this should not be a hard decision, it remains very unclear
whether enough GOP Senators will find their way to doing the right thing: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment/democrats-republicans-brace-for-high-stakes-tussle-over-witnesses-as-trump-trial-resumes-idUSKBN1ZT18E Although
the effort can feel very rock-up-a-hill, let’s continue with our calls/faxes/Resistbot
messages, etc. to our Senators to say that we want witnesses at the trial and
let’s also keep reaching out to friends in other states with their Senators’
phone numbers and a simple phrase to say when calling like “I am a constituent
of the Senator’s and I am calling to demand that there be witnesses at the
impeachment trial because the purpose of the trial is seeking the truth.”
USE
TRANSLATION SKILLS TO AID IMMIGRANTS: If we are bilingual in English and Spanish and would like help
immigrants at the border without having to leave home, Project Lifeline could use our
help. Project Lifeline is looking for volunteers for a Remote
Translation Pilot program by February 3. We can sign up here to learn more
and join the Innovation LawLab
family and assist the Defend Asylum program with time sensitive needed
translations from Spanish to English: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekpf593xyqgl0Tzan8PiJIFeQmOtBdoPlUHb10Ocoeont7lA/viewform
RESTORE ASYLUM
NOW: From Immigrant Justice Now: 1) Call your member of Congress to
co-sponsor the Asylum Seeker Protection Act HR. 2662
and share this graphic
to get 3 friends to join you., 2) Ask presidential candidates to commit to
ending the MPP program on day 1 of their administration and fix our broken
asylum system, and 3) Physician and Lawyer sign on letter here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/co-sponsor-the-asylum-seeker-protection-act-hr-2662
ELECTION/VOTING
PRIMARIES/CAUCUS CALENDAR: From Ballotpedia:
Iowa (statewide)
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Primary election
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February 3, 2020
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New Hampshire
(statewide)
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Primary election
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February 11, 2020
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Wisconsin
(statewide)
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Primary election
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February 18, 2020
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Nevada (statewide)
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Primary election
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February 22, 2020
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South Carolina
(statewide)
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Primary election
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February 29, 2020
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ELECTION RESULTS. Two elections for which Postcards to
Voters' (P2V) volunteers wrote took place on Tuesday. a) Campaign 187: Eliz Markowitz for TX
state house. Republican Gary Gates won this seat by 16 points. Markowitz
will be on the ballot again in November. More at Texas Tribune. b)
Campaign 188: Anna Eastman for TX state house (no post on P2V site). Eastman
won this seat with 65% of the vote. Before participating in the next state
legislative session in 2021, however, Eastman must win at least two more
elections: the Democratic primary on March 3 and the Nov. 3 general
election. We can read more at The Leader.
STATE/LOCAL
CA: ASK GOVENOR NEWSOME TO NOMINATE AN ENVIRONMENTALIST
TO AIR QUALITY BOARD: Southern California’s air quality is getting worse. With
the worst ozone pollution in the country, and climate change making pollution
more deadly, pollution related deaths have increased 10%in the last
decade. We need to act now to clean up our air and save lives. The
South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), responsible for improving
air quality in the greater Los Angeles area, now has an open Governing Board
seat. Current board members come from aviation, mining, oil industry and
other corporate-friendly backgrounds. Now we have a chance to make sure a
person committed to improving the health of our communities joins them. We
can sign this petition, and we can call Governor Newsom at (916)
445-2841 and ask him to nominate a public health advocate or
environmental justice advocate, from the community not a corporation, to the
AQMD Governing Board: https://www.change.org/p/gavin-newsom-appoint-a-climate-advocate-to-the-aqmd-board
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
ALL RISE: Lawyers Demand Impartial Justice: Lawyers for
Good Government are asking lawyers and law students to show up in
Washington D.C. today, January 31st to demand impartiality among the
U.S. Senate. The event will start at the U.S. Capitol building, then
participants will march to the U.S. Supreme Court. Let's check out the
event details and sign up here: https://www.lawyersforgoodgovernment.org/allrise
LAUNCH PARTIES FOR THE GREEN NEW DEAL—The Sunrise
Movement, a youth-led anti-climate change organization, https://www.sunrisemovement.org/ ,
is giving us a way to recruit millions of young people and their allies to
gather momentum for the passage of the Green New Deal. Let’s consider
organizing a 2020 launch party on January 29—we can sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/our-plan-to-win-the-gnd-2020-launch-parties
NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE TO CLOSE THE CAMPS—Tsuru for
Solidarity, a non-violent, direct action project of Japanese American social
justice advocates, is leading the planning of a gathering of Japanese Americans
from across the country in Washington, DC, June 5-7, 2020. The purpose of the
gathering is to express solidarity with immigrant and refugee communities under
attack in the US. Attendees will bring 125,000 paper cranes (tsuru) to
represent the Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in concentration camps by
the US government during World War II. We can support the pilgrimage by holding
“Tsuru Fold-ins” to bring to D.C. or to mail them to Tsuru for Solidarity by
May 1, 2020. To organize a fold-in, receive updates, register to attend
and learn of other ways to participate, let’s visit: https://tsuruforsolidarity.org/2019/11/13/125000-paper-cranes-to-dc-in-june-2020-for-tsuru-for-solidaritys-national-pilgrimage-to-close-the-camps/
READING/WATCHING
Trump
Is Wrong Suggesting Social Security Cuts. It Needs Expanding -
Heather
Cox Richardson's Impeachment Marathon - https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2020/01/30/heather-cox-richardsons-impeachment-marathon
Can You
Survive The Pompeo Challenge? Name These Unmarked Countries - https://www.rferl.org/a/pompeo-npr-kelly-ukraine-map-quiz/30403854.html
Meet
the social media master who could win Trump a second term - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/30/brad-parscale-trump-social-media-rasputin-campaign-manager
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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
