2/27/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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STAY
INFORMED AND TAKE ACTION ON THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: As news and misinformation about the
Cornavirus spreads, it is helpful to remember a few key points. As Heather Cox
Richardson reminds us this is a “pandemic but not a deadly pandemic.” Many will
get sick, but we are not all going to die from this. So, let’s carry on. Here
are ways we can be smart, prepare and take action:
- Take sensible precautions, like frequent
hand washing, and not touching our faces since that is how the disease
transmits: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
Prepare for shortages and interruptions in services: https://virologydownunder.com/so-you-think-youve-about-to-be-in-a-pandemic/
- Stay informed: We can monitor the diseases’ progress
with daily situation reports from The World Health Organization (WHO): https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports/ We
can also check their “Mythbusters” page to stop the spread of
misinformation about the disease: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
- Defuse stigmatizing, which can drive people
to hide the disease, avoid treatment and thus increase the spread of
the disease: https://www.epi-win.com/sites/epiwin/files/content/attachments/2020-02-24/COVID19%20Stigma%20Guide%2024022020_1.pdf
- Finally, as Heather Cox Richardson reminds
us here, this
crisis, not engineered by Trump, can provide opportunities for
political change if we look for them.
FUNDING FOR
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: "For the United States, the
answers are especially worrying because the government has intentionally
rendered itself incapable. In 2018, the Trump administration fired the
government’s entire pandemic response chain of command, including the White
House management infrastructure. In numerous phone calls and emails with key
agencies across the U.S. government, the only consistent response I encountered
was distressed confusion. If the United States still has a clear chain of
command for pandemic response, the White House urgently needs to clarify what
it is—not just for the public but for the government itself, which largely
finds itself in the dark.” https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/31/coronavirus-china-trump-united-states-public-health-emergency-response/ Although it has been deemed too little, the “White
House earlier this week put forward a $2.5 billion request as the virus spreads
around the world and officials warn of eventual spread in the U.S. Only half
of the request was new money.” https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/484772-mccarthy-white-house-coronavirus-funding-request-a Senator Chuck Schumer has released a
detailed proposal for fighting this pandemic, we can read it here
and learn about it here: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/484679-schumer-requesting-85-billion-in-emergency-funding-on-coronavirus Let’s
call our MoCs and the White House to demand that his proposal be approved and implemented
now.
SPEAK OUT
AGAINST ENCROACHING FASCISM: Trump’s
ouster of National Security Director Maguire, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/21/trump-replacing-spy-chief-maguire-after-russia-briefing-stirs-uproar/4830237002/
his recent remarks that Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sonia
Sotomayor should recuse themselves from any case related to his administration https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-sotomayor-ginsberg-must-recuse-themselves-cases-related-him-n1142651
along with his accusations of bias against Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who
presided over the Roger Stone trial https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/23/roger-stone-judge-berman-jackson-117066
are simply exacerbating an incredibly scary pattern where those in government
who disagree with the current administration is accused of disloyalty,
discredited, and often in danger of losing their job. It certainly isn’t
helping that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife Ginni Thomas is
compiling a list of “disloyal” government members. Let’s ask our MoCs what
they are planning to do about this return to McCarthyist tactics and remind our
Republican MoCs that their blind support of a rogue president is leading us
down the road to facism.
DISABILITY
DAY OF MOURNING: From the Autistic
Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN): "In the past five years, over 600
people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents. Every year on
March 1st, the disability community gathers across the nation to remember
disabled victims of filicide–disabled people murdered by their family members
or caregivers." Let's use this time read through the Anti-Filicide Toolkit and learn about what filicide
is, how we can prevent it, and what to do if it happens in our community. Then,
for those of us who are able, let's sign up to
host a Day of Mourning vigil in our area; ASAN has a guidebook to walk us through the process,
step-by-step.
HUMANITARIAN
CRISIS AT THE BORDER: A new
report by Physicians for Human Rights has reaffirmed what we
already know: that the separation of children and families at the border
constitutes torture (https://bit.ly/2TlNrRc).
This torture, combined with previous trauma from their home countries and the
inhumane conditions and cruel practices of concentration camps in the U.S. will
impact the mental and physical health of these families for their entire
lives. Let's be sure to send a copy of the report to our MoC and highlight the recommendations
listed at the end of the report. Then, let's revisit this list of things we can
do to help children and families at the border:
THE ORGANIZERS’
ORGANIZER: We all know and work
with some effective organizers and we so appreciate their worth. Let’s take a little time to get to know one
of the best and use this experience to gain some fuel for what lies ahead. As Sen.
Elizabeth Warren said, “When I asked how to get organized - I was told two
words. Heather Booth.” Let’s watch Heather Booth: Changing the World on Amazon and be prepared
to be wowed: https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Booth-Changing-World/dp/B084GCM8MX/
Then, let’s share the link.
DISABILITY
VISIBILITY PROJECT: Last minute
call: "The Disability Visibility Project will be celebrating the 30th
anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with a series of
stories: #ADA30InColor. Disabled Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)
18 years and older in the United States are invited to submit a short pitch for
an essay...Twelve submissions will be selected for publication. These 12
essays/videos (1000-2000 words or 15 minutes) will be published throughout the
month of July on the Disability Visibility Project website and each selected
person will receive $250 for their work." For those of us who qualify,
let's check out the essay themes and guidelines on the Disability Visibility
Project website here. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow, February
28th.
ELECTION/VOTING
PRIMARIES/CAUCUS CALENDAR: https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar
CORRECTION - KNOW IF YOU’VE BEEN VOTER-PURGED: We can use Resistbot to check our voter
registration status. After we do so, Resistbot will check our status monthly
and alert us if our status has changed. https://resist.bot/guide Let’s activate this
service by texting vote to 50409. Then
to check on voter status, enter 'check' and Resistbot will ask for your birth
date, followed by asking you to verify your state and house number.
LET'S GET READY FOR SUPER TUESDAY: Next Tuesday, March 3
is "Super Tuesday," the day when fourteen (14) states will hold their
presidential primaries. (more about Super Tuesday at Wikipedia.)
If we are in one of these states, let's click on link to review our relevant
information at Ballotpedia. a) Alabama; b) Arkansas; c) California; d) Colorado; e) Maine; f) Massachusetts; g) Minnesota; h) North Carolina; i) Oklahoma; j) Tennessee; k) Texas; l) Utah; m) Vermont; n) Virginia. If we have friends/family in any of
these states, let's send them the link to info for their state. If we are in
one of these states, let's post this information on our social media along with
a site where we can re-check our voter registration: Vote.org
GOTV TEXTING OPPORTUNITY FOR SOUTH CAROLINA: Black
Voters Matter (BVM) is seeking texters to help get out the vote in Saturday’s
South Carolina primary. working on a
texting workflow to share info about their Campaign Against Fear to Black
voters throughout SC. We can help text by signing up at rr.team/BVM-Texting.
DEMAND MEDICAL RECORDS FROM DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATES: Apparently following Trump’s lead, several Democratic candidates for
president are refusing to make public their full medical records—a departure
from a routine that has been followed for decades by members of both
parties.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-a-historically-old-presidential-field-candidates-refuse-to-release-health-records/2020/02/23/a39045f8-5407-11ea-9e47-59804be1dcfb_story.html Let’s
tell these candidates that the American public deserves to be fully informed
about their health and their ability to do the job, and that we do not
appreciate Democrats normalizing the Trumpian practice of hiding medical
records:
- Bloomberg, https://www.mikebloomberg.com/contact-us
- Biden, https://go.joebiden.com/page/s/contact-us
- Sanders, info@berniesanders.com
- Warren, https://elizabethwarren.com/contact-us
- Klobuchar, info@amyklobuchar.com
- Buttigieg, info@peteforamerica.com
2020 PROM CHALLENGE: “The Prom Challenge is a program created
by When We All Vote and MTV with the aim to get more students
registered to vote. The program will recognize 20 high schools across the
country who are integrating voter registration into their schools in the most
creative and impactful ways. Schools can submit an application detailing how
they are recruiting voters and winners of the competition will receive up to
$5,000 for their prom.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michelle-obama-shares-1980s-prom-photo-igniting-promchallenge-student-voting-2020-02-18/ Let’s make sure that all our high school teacher,
staff and student friends are aware of this.
More information and application here:
https://mtvprom.whenweallvote.org/
HELP FLIP KEY STATES AND REVERSE GERRYMANDERING - PART
TWO: Political Charge informs us
that this year is our chance to take control of several state
legislatures, in a vitally important census year. If we control the state
legislatures, we can stop Republican gerrymandering there, since whoever is in
charge of state legislatures after the November election will be drawing the
district maps that will be in place for the next decade. For inspiration, we
can look to Virginia, which has dramatically improved voting rights since
gaining control of the state government. Here are the remaining states to
support.
- NC: We broke the
Republicans’ supermajority in the House and Senate in 2018, and in 2020,
we have a chance to take control of both chambers. Winning four to six
more seats will turn our State Legislature Blue! We can get
involved with our local Democratic Party efforts to flip our State
Legislatures here: https://www.ncdp.org/action
- PA: Chipping away at
the Republican majority, we are now in striking distance of flipping the
House and the Senate! We can get involved with our local
Democratic Party efforts to flip our State Legislatures here: https://www.padems.com/
- TX: With a
massive effort to flip the Texas House; even Beto O’Rourke is pitching in
. It’ll be competitive, but it is possible – Cook Political Report has
rated this as only “Lean Republican.” So let’s go big, and turn the House
Blue! We can get involved with our local Democratic Party efforts
to flip our State Legislatures here: https://www.texasdemocrats.org/action/
If we’re outside of these states, we can help out by
joining with the following groups that are highly focused on organizing in
these states. Democratic
Legislative Campaign Committee, Flippable’s Target States, Swing Left Super States, Emily’s
List Target
States, Sister District State Strategy and The National Democratic
Redistricting Committee Electoral Targets.
DEFEND OUR MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE: Swing Left has
created a House Defense Fund to support the re-election of House Democrats in
swing districts who are vulnerable because they supported impeachment. Let’s
support this effort by giving what we can, and/or asking others to give: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/defendhousedems
REPUBLICANS PLAN TO MEDDLE IN SC PRIMARY: Rush Limbaugh set
“Operation Chaos” in motion when he urged Republicans to vote for Clinton not
Obama in the 2008 primaries; now some tea party Republicans are urging South
Carolina Republicans to vote for Sanders in Saturday’s primary, on the
assumption that he can best be red-baited in the general election: https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/upstate-gop-leaders-plotting-to-meddle-in-sc-democratic-primary/article_f1e7abd2-4788-11ea-aa9f-33a1d262994c.html or https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/us/south-carolina-primary-operation-chaos.html
In 22 states at least one party holds open primaries, where party affiliation
is not a requirement for participation: https://ballotpedia.org/Open_primary If
we live in an open primary state, it is critical that we call on our state
legislatures to close the primaries and that we make as public as
possible—letters to editors or op eds in local newspapers, radio call-ins—the
likelihood of primary meddling. Like gerrymandering and voter
suppression, the open primary has become an all-too-handy way to skew the vote.
ELECTION RESULTS: Postcards to Voters volunteers wrote for
two campaigns in Kentucky that had special elections on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
a) Campaign 189: Rachel Roberts for State House. Roberts
won this seat with 64% of the vote; she will be the first woman to hold this
seat! (more at WCPO/Cincinnati) b) Campaign
191: Bill Redwine for State House. Redwine did not win this seat. He
received 44% of the votes to Republican Richard White's 56%. (Source:
WSAZ) Thank you to all the volunteers who worked to get out the vote
for these special elections.
JUST LAUNCHED: POSTCARD CAMPAIGN: Postcards to Voters' Campaign
197: Jill Karofsky for Wisconsin Supreme Court. (jillforjustice.com)
This 10-year term will shape the future of Wisconsin as the Wisconsin Supreme
Court will likely hear cases about gerrymandering, voting rights, women's
access to healthcare, the climate crisis, and more. In addition, Donald Trump's
allies want to use the state Supreme Court to rig Wisconsin for Trump in
November. As Wisconsin could be the pivotal battlefield state for the whole
country, it's absolutely critical to defeat Donald Trump's endorsed candidate,
Dan Kelly, who has shown he is always willing to do whatever right-wing
interests want. Let's request 5 addresses to support this campaign
today.
STATE/LOCAL
OR: CLIMATE ACTION—OREGON REPUBLICANS SHIRK THEIR
DUTIES: As
they did last year, Republicans in Oregon’s State Senate refused to show up for
work, denying a quorum and preventing a vote on a state climate change
bill. https://katu.com/news/local/a-sad-moment-for-oregon-gov-brown-asks-gop-lawmakers-to-return-vote-on-climate-bill A
quorum is 20 members on the Senate floor—Democrats were short just one
Senator. Let’s join the Democratic Party of Oregon and elect Senators
who will do their job: https://dpo.org/ .
TX: LEGAL HELP NEEDED AT THE BORDER: Many Texas corporate
attorneys, including some who even voted for Trump, are volunteering their
services to help migrants at the border in order to make sure they have due
process. Currently less than 5% are represented by attorneys. Legal help that
can be done remotely is also needed. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/immigration/2020/02/26/i-am-the-frontline-lawyers-from-big-firms-are-wading-into-border-chaos-to-help-asylum-seekers/ If
we have legal expertise, let’s contact the Texas Civil Rights Project and find out how we
can help.
TX: #VOTEPROCHOICE VOTER GUIDE: Texas Primary elections are on Super Tuesday,
March 3, and reproductive freedom is in danger in Texas. The #VOTEPROCHOICE
Voter Guide empowers voters to identify the candidates up and down the entire
ballot who will champion reproductive freedom. Let’s use and share the guide: https://www.voteprochoice.us/voter-guide as well as the social media toolkit that accompanies
it: https://www.voteprochoice.us/partner-toolkit/
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP
ACTIONS
#TheIdesOfTrump: On March 15, together let's make
history by sending 1 million postcards to Donald Trump telling him he is fired. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBq9GTAtsyU&feature=youtu.be
Light
UP America: Mark your
calendar for March 15 at dusk, and follow Vigil for Democracy to stay
updated: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vigilfordemocracy
and Instagram.com/VigilForDemocracy and Twitter.com/vigil4democracy.
This is not another march or rally. It’s a thoughtfully designed non-violent direct-action
campaign, put together by seasoned activists. While you wait, read George
Lakey’s book How We Win, or browse his org’s website: wagingnonviolence.org
READING/WATCHING
How to
Talk to Young People About Abortion - https://rewire.news/article/2019/07/12/how-to-talk-to-young-people-about-abortion/
How to
Win the Democratic Nomination if there is a Contested Convention - https://politicalcharge.org/2020/02/21/how-to-win-the-democratic-nomination-if-there-is-a-contested-convention/
Democrats,
you can Defeat Trump in a Landslide - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/opinion/democratic-primary-candidates.html
How
Russian Trolls Operate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmpWVuCb8s
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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
