1/23/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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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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CALL OUT
REPUBLICAN SENATORS FOR VIOLATING THEIR OATHS OF IMPARTIALITY: Before the impeachment trial, every senator swore
an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so
help me God,” yet every Republican Senator voted against calling for White
House documents related to the withholding of aid to the Ukraine and against
mandating testimony from key witnesses including former national security
advisor John Bolton, and White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/479296-senate-adopts-rules-for-trump-trial.
This shameful and unethical behavior makes it clear that Republicans have
no interest in uncovering or allowing evidence that could further damage
Trump’s presidency, which calls their “impartiality” into grave question. Let’s
publicize our disgust with our Republican Senators’ breach of ethics by writing
letters to the editor and posting on their social media pages. Papers now make it easy to submit them online
and the NEA has a guide to help us put our thoughts together: http://www.nea.org/home/19683.htm We can use this extensive list from National
Popular Vote to find links to submit letters to the editor in our states:
IMPEACHMENT
TRIAL: The Senate Removal Trial
of Donald Trump continues and the partisanship and corruption of the GOP are
unrelenting: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment/trump-accused-at-trial-of-corrupt-scheme-to-pressure-ukraine-idUSKBN1ZL1BM?il=0 The
defense is offering lies as part of their approach: https://www.factcheck.org/2020/01/false-and-misleading-claims-at-impeachment-trial/
It also seems that a “large bloc of
Republican Senators reportedly skipped large portions of Wednesday’s
impeachment trial, flouting Senate rules requiring them to remain in their
seats at all times during the proceedings”
https://lawandcrime.com/awkward/21-empty-seats-more-than-one-third-of-gop-senators-reportedly-left-room-during-schiffs-speech/ Let’s be unrelenting in our contact of our
own GOP Senators (if we have 1-2) by calling them on Thursday to demand
the appropriate use of witnesses and documents at this trial and to remain and
listen. Then, let’s ask five people we
know to do the same: 1-202-224-3121. Let’s
remind each of those senators that we will work tirelessly to elect someone to
replace them who will put country over party, truth over lies.
THANKING
OUR HOUSE MANAGERS: The
Democratic House Managers for the Impeachment Trial are a remarkable
team:
https://apnews.com/29b81fda30045ec649467abb7ee47d28 Let’s
pause in this swirl and take the time to thank them and their teams for their
hard and smart work:
https://schiff.house.gov/contact
https://nadler.house.gov/contact/
https://crow.house.gov/contact/offices
https://sylviagarcia.house.gov/contact
https://jeffries.house.gov/contact/offices
https://demingsforms.house.gov/contact/
https://nadler.house.gov/contact/
https://crow.house.gov/contact/offices
https://sylviagarcia.house.gov/contact
https://jeffries.house.gov/contact/offices
https://demingsforms.house.gov/contact/
PROTEST
OPENING OF NEW SHELTER FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN: The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that they are
opening a new detention facility for migrant children in Carrizo Springs,
Texas. https://apnews.com/259d11069cbd4a34be9b4e7a187352da?f.
These facilities are labeled as “emergency influx” shelters, so they do not
have to abide by the Flores Settlement, which mandates that children should not
be held for more than 20 days. The government is also saying that it is
planning to scale back or cut recreation, English classes, and legal services
at these and other migrant detention facilities. In short, this is a prison.
Similar detention centers in Tornillo, Texas and Homestead, Florida, closed in
part due to public outcry, and we must again put pressure on our MoCs and HHS (1-202-205-5445;
https://www.facebook.com/HHS/;
Twitter: @HHS.gov) to stop imprisoning migrant children.
TELL
BOLTON’S PUBLISHER THAT WE WON’T BUY HIS BOOK: Tweet Simon and Schuster
@simonschuster or call them at 1 (800) 223-2336 and let them know we will not purchase Bolton’s 2020
book unless
he testifies at the Impeachment trial. Let use our buying power to let the
Publishers know that we aren’t playing Bolton’s game.
INSPIRE
ACTION WITH OUR MUSIC: The Face the Music
Collective is getting ready to launch. If we are interested musician, we
can use our performances to inspire action by providing suggestions for
specific ways to get more of us civically involved. To get started, we can 1)
Partner with an organization for a good cause, 2) Construct shows to support
the cause, and 3) Provide an explicit call to action in our shows and sign
people up. We can find out more about this project in this brief YouTube
video:
https://youtu.be/Wgi5UCgKcVk Then check out Face the Music Collective’s
Facebook a page here: https://www.facebook.com/FacetheMusicCollective
EQUAL
RIGHTS AMENDMENT—VA, with its
newly flipped state government, became the 38th state to pass
the ERA, a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit discrimination
based on sex. With ¾’s of the states having ratified the ERA, it is now ready
to be added to the Constitution—except that the deadline for ratification has
passed. Let’s tell our two senators and one representative to sign on
to S.J.Res.6,
the joint resolution that would eliminate the deadline for ratification of the
ERA and allow for its adoption.
COMMENTS
NEEDED ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CHANGE: “On Nov. 18, the Social Security Administration announced its
proposal to conduct roughly 2.6 million additional eligibility reviews of
adults and children currently receiving Social Security disability benefits in
the next decade. If undertaken, the change would be likely to result in the
loss of benefits for many thousands of disabled citizens of all ages.”
The new rule would require millions to undergo more frequent medical reviews,
on the theory that many SSD recipients are actually able to work--or might
someday be; this proposal joins a largely overlooked list of recent changes
further disadvantaging SSD applicants:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/16/opinion/trump-disability.html or https://www.post-gazette.com/news/social-services/2020/01/13/Proposed-Social-Security-disability-changes-recipients-pittsburgh/stories/202001070127 The
Coalition on Human Needs provides information and the means to comment: https://www.chn.org/articles/comment-today-we-cant-deny-social-security-for-the-seriously-ill/
Some of us, or those we know, have already gone through the already
near-impossible process of applying for SSD. Let’s comment BY THE END OF
JANUARY and stop a change that will only make this process harder.
MEDICARE
FOR ALL/PUBIC OPTION: “The
second-largest doctors group in the United States is endorsing
"Medicare for All" as well as a public option as possible routes
for achieving the goal of universal coverage.”
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/479111-second-largest-doctors-group-in-us-endorses-medicare-for-all-public-option It appears that the tide is turning on financing
our healthcare. Reports indicate that it would save money. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/single-payer-save-country-money-health-care-costs/story?id=68257823
Let’s use then information when we
contact our MoCs and ask for their support as well.
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
RECLAIM OUR VOTE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS—Reclaim Our Vote (ROV)
is a non-partisan phone bank, postcard, and textbank campaign within the Center
for Common Ground http://centerforcommonground.org/main/ . Partners
include the NAACP, Rapid Resist, Black Voters Matter, Virginia Poor People’s
Campaign, DemLabs, Mi Familia Vota, Progressive Coders Network, and VoteRiders.
ROV’s 2020 goal is to increase turnout among voters of color by at least 20%
over 2016 in at least four states in which voters of color make up more than
20% of the population. Let’s sign up and get to work: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup
SPOTLIGHT ON GOVERNORS. Eleven
(11) gubernatorial seats will be on the ballot on Nov. 3. Let's
look for our own states' information and make a plan to vote in the primary. (Source: ballotpedia.org.)
a) Delaware. Primary: Sept. 15. Incumbent: John Carney,
Jr. (D); b) Indiana. Primary: May 5. Incumbent: Eric
Holcomb(R); c) Missouri. Primary: Aug 4. Incumbent: Mike
Parson (R); d) Montana. Primary: June 2. Incumbent: Steve Bullock
(D) term-limited. e) New Hampshire. Primary: Sept. 8. Incumbent: Chris
Sununu (R) f) North Carolina. Primary: March 3 (with runoff
elections April 21/May 12); Incumbent: Roy Cooper (D);
g) North Dakota. Primary: June 9.
Incumbent: Doug Burgum (R); h) Utah. Primary: June 20. Incumbent: Gary Herbert
(R) not running. i) Vermont. Primary: Aug. 11. Incumbent: Phillip Scott
(R); j) Washington. Primary: Aug. 4 (top two move on to
general election). Incumbent: Jay Inslee (D); k) West Virginia. Primary: May 12. Incumbent: Jim
Justice (R). If we have family and friends in any of these states,
let's make sure they know the primary dates too.
HOW TO PERSUADE NON-AFFILIATED VOTERS: There are many voters out there who have not
declared a party. These non-affiliated
voters (NAV) could be tapped to choose a party and participate in state
primaries. Here’s how one activist used free
software to create a canvassing app and a video to encourage
voters to register their party preference: https://mailchi.mp/thedemlabs/triagevoters
Let’s bring this idea to our own
areas and ask DemLabs for help.
AM I STILL RESISTERED TO VOTE? “Millions of Americans
have been purged from the voter rolls in recent years, as state governments
seek to remove the names of individuals who have died, relocated, or otherwise
become ineligible to vote. But such
purges have been widely criticized owing to instances in which states have
relied on bad information, removing eligible voters, who are often unaware
until they attempt to cast their ballots on Election Day.” https://fortune.com/2020/01/14/am-i-registered-to-vote-voter-registration-deadlines-2020-how-to-check/ Let’s keep checking to make sure we ARE
registered using these sources the article references: “To determine your voter
registration status,
vote.org, usa.gov, rockthevote.org, headcount.org,
and the National Association of Secretaries of State all have
tools that enable voters to check their status or update their information.”
STATE/LOCAL
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
REFUSE FASCISM PROTESTS: RefuseFascism.org
“ is a movement of people coming from diverse perspectives, united in our
recognition that the Trump/Pence Regime poses a catastrophic danger to humanity
and the planet, and that it is our responsibility to drive them from power
through non-violent protests that grow every day until our demand is met.” Let’s find a protest near us and join
in or support: https://www.facebook.com/pg/RefuseFascism/events/
or https://refusefascism.org/2019/12/23/in-january-2020-join-the-outnow-movement/#times
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
READING/WATCHING
McConnell’s
Impeachment Plan Is to Make Us All Give Up - https://www.thenation.com/article/impeachment-rules-mcconnell/
Chief
Justice John Roberts drops 'pettifogging' bomb while reprimanding both sides in
impeachment trial - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/22/trump-impeachment-trial-john-roberts-reminds-both-sides-civil/4539886002/
Dan
Rather: “Our Nation Is On Trial” - https://www.newsandguts.com/dan-rather-our-nation-is-on-trial/
Trump
Brags About Concealing Impeachment Evidence: ‘We Have All the Material, They
Don’t’- https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-impeachment-evidence-we-have-all-the-material-they-dont-941140/
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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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