1/14/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
(Including Emails & Twitter)
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
|
CALL KEY
SENATORS TO DEMAND WITNESSES AT SENATE IMPEACHMENT TRIAL: Yesterday, Lev
Parnas “submitted the contents of his cellphones to the House Intelligence Committee”
and new information may be forthcoming. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-investigators-contents-giuliani-associates-cell-phones-lawyer/story?id=68247740 With
yet another blow-back, the Trump Administration believes at least four
Republican Senators will vote to call witnesses in the Senate Impeachment
trial. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/impeachment-trial-white-house-expects-republican-defections-on-calling-new-witnesses-in-the-senate/
While this is encouraging news that our
efforts may be working; we should expect that pressure on these Senators to
abandon a fair trial will increase exponentially in the next few days. Therefore,
we must continue to call, write and tweet to these key Senators, especially if
we are constituents. We can call
(202) 224-3121 to reach Senators Lamar Alexander (TN), Susan Collins (ME),
Cory Gardner (CO), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Rand Paul (KY), Mitt Romney (UT) and
demand they insist on calling witnesses in the Senate to insure a fair impeachment
trial. If we are on Twitter, we can also
tweet at them and tag these high circulation media outlets for their states: Sen. Alexander: The Tennessean @Tennessean, Sen. Collins:
Bangor Daily News @bangordailynews, Sen. Gardner: Denver Post @denverpost ,
Sen. Murkowski: Anchorage Daily News @adndotcom, Sen. Romney: Salt
Lake Tribune @sltrib
FOLLOW-UP ON
ASSASSINATION OF SOLEIMANI: Not surprisingly, Trump kept expounding on his
reasons for ordering the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and by late in the
week he was citing threats to four embassies as undergirding the decision. On
the Sunday news shows, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that he had not
seen that evidence but then went on to say that he believed the president: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-usa/pentagon-chief-says-no-specific-evidence-iran-was-plotting-to-attack-four-u-s-embassies-idUSKBN1ZB0KM and
https://apnews.com/5a168a5d8f560e928f3924f7af10f1d8 And now we learn that Trump authorized this
killing seven months ago. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/trump-authorized-soleimani-s-killing-7-months-ago-conditions-n1113271 Serious war decisions should not be made
because you think “probably” a country’s leader might do something, it should
be built on evidence and reality. We need trump to stop playing war games as a
distraction of IMPEACHMENT and the defense secretary needs to do his job and
not follow the whims of Trump. Let’s write to Secretary Esper
(or on Twitter at @EsperDoD) https://www.defense.gov/Contact/Mailing-Addresses/ to
remind him that the president lies constantly and that his role is to serve the
country not the president in this dire time.
Let’s also tell our MoCs that we expect a fair impeachment trial in the Senate.
A good explanation of the current situation in Congress is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66eGVXjhhIo
PUERTO RICO
CRISIS: Puerto Rico has been hit with a devastating
series of earthquakes and at least 120 aftershocks. As a result, almost the
entire island has lost power. Now reports indicate that it may take up to a
year to repair the earthquake-damaged Costa Sur power plant, which provides
one-quarter of the island’s electricity. Meanwhile, the HUD continues to
withhold hurricane relief funds from Puerto Rico (a territory of the United
States), ignoring a statutory deadline to issue a Federal Register notice
permitting Puerto Rico to use $8.2 billion in disaster relief aid appropriated
by Congress. And as Rep. Darren Soto pointed out in a press release, “Puerto Ricans continue to suffer from major
hurricanes that made landfall more than two years ago while HUD illegally
withholds this aid.” This is awful and needs to be called out. Let's ask the Inspector General of
HUD, Rae Davis, to investigate the agency’s failure to process Congressionally
approved funds in a timely manner. (202) 708-0430. (h/t Chop
Wood/Carry Water)
JOIN/SUPPORT
THE WITNESS ACTION AGAINST “REMAIN IN MEXICO” (MIGRANT PROTECTION PROGRAM): The Witness action in Brownsville, TX officially
commenced with a protest last Sunday. https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2020/01/12/demonstrators-converge-in-witness-at-the-border-event/.
As at the detention centers in Tornillo, Texas and Homestead, Florida, the goal
of this witnessing effort is to establish a continuous presence observing and
reporting on what is happening at the border until the program that is forcing
asylum-seekers to wait at the border in Mexico is stopped. There is also
another protest planned for Valentine’s Day. Witness
MPP is a Facebook page specifically for people thinking about
witnessing at the border. Witness
Tornillo: Target MPP contains a wealth of information for people
concerned about this issue. Those wishing to donate money can send it to Team Brownsville,
which is helping to provide refugees with food and other basic needs.
TELL MIT
NOT TO COOPERATE WITH ICE: Faculty
and staff at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) received a memo
telling them to expect a visit from the Department of Homeland Security and
asking them to cooperate with requests for information on the immigration
status of researchers, visiting scholars and post-doctoral students at the
university. https://commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/mit-tells-staff-to-expect-visits-from-ice-2.
Let’s contact the President of MIT, Rafael Reif (president@mit.edu;
617-253-0148) and the author of this memo, Director of the International
Scholars Office, Penny Rosser, pennysun@mit.edu; 617-253-2851) and ask them not
to cooperate with an agency that has been recklessly deporting innocent people,
separating children from their parents, and violating individuals’ basic human
rights.
PUERTO RICO
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT: As
Puerto Ricans continue to be devastated by the repeated trauma of environmental
disasters, and with lack of sufficient financial support from the U.S. government slowing
down their recovery, residents are struggling with their mental health. There
are many ways we can help disaster relief efforts, but let's
especially make sure to support organizations like the Hispanic
Federation, which has partnered with the University of Puerto Rico to
provide mental health services. We can learn more about organizations that are
focusing on mental health needs in Puerto Rico here.
SENATE WON’T
PASS THE FOREVER CHEMICAL BAN: “Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)
told Bloomberg News a House bill addressing so-called "forever chemicals"
has “no prospects in the Senate.” The chemicals, which derive their
"forever" nickname from their resistance to breaking down in the
environment, are frequently used in nonstick consumer goods and have been
linked to health problems by the EPA. One study linked PFAS with kidney and thyroid
cancer along with high cholesterol and other illnesses.” https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/477363-top-republican-forever-chemical-bill-has-no-prospects-in-senate Let’s tell our senators that we want
a safe environment and these chemicals need to be removed from use.
Encourage them to support the bill for our health.
JANUARY 9TH #NoWarWithIran
PROTESTS: If we attended a January 9th
#NoWarWithIran
protest, let’s be sure to share photos on social media and thank the
organizers of the one we attended.
TRUMP’S
ATTACK ON WORKERS CONTINUES: On
March 16th, a new Department of Labor “joint employer” rule will go into
effect, potentially making it much more difficult for the 14 million people
employed by temp firms, contractors and franchises to hold companies. like
McDonalds, for instance, liable for labor law infractions, like wage theft;
under this new rule, a company is a joint employer and thus liable for
violations committed by a franchisee only if it either hires and fires
employees OR supervises the employees and controls their schedules OR
determines their pay OR manages their employment records. The old rule
took into account the real degree of dependence of workers on the “upstream”
company, like whether it provided facilities and equipment for workers,
etc.:
https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2020-01-12/new-labor-dept-rule-clarifies-joint-employer-standard or https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/business/economy/labor-rule.html
In addition to urging our MoCs to provide legislative protection for
workers, we must let Trump’s Secretary of Labor, Alexander Acosta, know what we
think of this rule and its willful ignorance of the economic realities of the
labor market: 202-693-6000.
POSTCARDING READY-TO-GO: From one
of our own: Let’s check out this ready-to-use postcarding list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Vp3XrdX3G6LjT76w9-z1VrTSz0t0lykg7mo8942E_d0/edit
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
ROCK THE VOTE’S AMBASSADOR PROGRAM—APPLY BY JAN. 15: “Rock the Vote is
seeking energetic, enthusiastic, and motivated young adults who are passionate
about volunteering and mobilizing their peers to vote and volunteer. The
organization is launching its first-ever relational organizing program and is
in search of exceptional volunteers to join a cohort of like-minded young
adults from across the country to help implement this program.” Let’s
learn more, spread the word, and apply if we are eligible:
FIVE FREE APPS FOR BETTER CANVASSING: Trying to find the right campaign app when
you're tight on money and not tech savvy?
These canvassing solutions are ideal for groups with little cash
and tech savvy. The apps are used by millions of customers
and come from large software firms not dependent on the election cycle. Let’s check this out and share with the
campaigns with which we are involved: https://thedemlabs.org/2019/07/01/free-app-simplifies-canvassing-and-makes-it-affordable-for-even-small-grassroots-groups/
PREEMPT VOTER PURGES! Postcards To Voters is
testing a new concept with Texas Blue Action by writing to voters who have not
updated their voter registrations after moving to flippable districts. It's too
late for us to participate in this test campaign but we can read more
about it here. If the statistical analysis between
the test and control groups is significant (i.e. if our postcards made a
difference), we will be working to get ahead of other voter purges in the
future. Blue
Action Democrats is a neighborhood-based network of volunteers
mobilizing progressive suburban voters in Texas. Let’s help do this and if
we are Texas voters, let's look for or start a group in our own neighborhoods.
ENCOURAGE VOTE BY MAIL. Postcards To Voters continues their campaign
to encourage every registered Democrat in Florida to sign up for vote by mail.
The new campaign to reach voters in Florida's Orange County is now underway.
Orange County includes Orlando and surrounding areas. Let's request 5
addresses today for this important campaign. We can find out more at Postcards To Voters.
WHICH DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES ALIGN WITH OUR VIEWS: The Washington Post asked the candidates a
number of questions and now provides us with 20 of them to see how ours views
line up with the candidates’ views. “Of
course, policy stances are just one reason to pick a candidate. But if you
haven’t been paying close attention to the campaign yet (and even if you have),
this quiz can help clarify: What do you think? And which Democrats — if any —
agree with you?” Let’s do this and
learn: https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/quiz-which-candidate-agrees-with-me/
STATE/LOCAL
MI: ENVIRONMENT/CLEANUP: As we learn more
about PFAS contamination across Michigan, we are also finding
that polluters are not held to sufficient standards when it
comes to contamination sites and a facility's responsibility to clean it up.
Last year, Rep. Yousef Rabhi and Sen. Jeff Irwin introduced bills in the House
(HB
4212) and Senate (SB 116) which would change this by requiring polluters to
pay for the cleanup necessary to meet specific safety standards. The bills have
seen no movement, while Michigan continues to be hit with pollution-driven
environmental disasters. Let's contact the Chairmen of the
Environmental Quality Committees in the House and Senate, and urge them to
schedule a hearing on these bills immediately: Senator Rick Outman:
Mailing address: P.O. Box 30036 Lansing, MI 48909-7536, Phone: (517) 373-3760, Fax:
(517) 373-8661, Email:
SenROutman@senate.michigan.gov.
Representative Gary Howell: Mailing address: S-1186 House Office Building P.O.
Box 30014 Lansing, MI 48909, Phone: 517-373-1800, Email:
WI: HELP STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PROTECT AND REGISTER
VOTERS
Trump has identified Wisconsin as a “must win” state and is pulling
every dirty trick he can to do so. On Monday, a Republican Judge ordered
209,000 voters, mainly from Democratic areas of the state, removed from the
voter rolls immediately. http://www.startribune.com/voter-purge-case-back-to-court-in-battleground-wisconsin/566938252/ With voter suppression efforts now in full
swing, it’s time to protect our votes and The Democratic Party of
Wisconsin is ready to act! They’ve joined Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight
Action https://fairfight.com/ to
build a Voter Protection team and we can help them reach, register and
re-register voters when we sign up here!
https://grassroots.wisdems.org/page/s/volunteers We can also automatically check each month
to see whether we’re registered and stay posted, when we sign up with ResistBot
at https://resist.bot/ Text "Wisconsin" to
50409. We can share this information widely with our friends on social
media too!
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
2020 WOMEN'S MARCH: January 18, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
and sister marches worldwide. Click
here for more information: https://womensmarch.com/home2020
and here to find or host a sister march:
http://womensmarch.com/sister-march
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
CLIMATE CRISIS SUMMIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE
SCHOOL STUDENTS: The Sunrise
Movement is holding a youth summit, February 15-17, 2020, in Washington,
D.C. Student activists from across the country will meet each other and learn
important organizing skills like recruitment, communications strategy, action
planning, fundraising, building partnerships, and more. Let’s encourage
interested high school and middle school students to apply—deadline is January
16 at 11:59 p.m.
READING/WATCHING
39
Abortion Stories Show Just How Important Abortion Access Is: There's one story
for each of the 39 Senators who asked the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v
Wade - https://www.teenvogue.com/story/abortion-stories
The
Other Swing Voter: No one’s paying much attention to one chunk of the
electorate that could prove decisive in 2020 - https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/other-swing-voter/604474/
Combat
Veterans Tell Us What We Need to Know About War - https://www.yesmagazine.org/social-justice/2020/01/08/war-veterans-military/
'Slavery
Doesn't End, It Just Evolves': Lawyer Portrayed In 'Just Mercy' Wants Film To
Inspire Change - https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/01/10/just-mercy-bryan-stevenson
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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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