2/13/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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CORRUPTION
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE: Tuesday,
as the NH primary was taking place, an emergency was unfolding at the
Department of Justice. On Monday, the DOJ made their sentencing recommendations
in the Roger Stone case. Overnight on Monday, Trump tweeted out the unfairness
of the sentencing recommendation. Tuesday, the DOJ announced a revision to the
recommendation. Then, the four DOJ prosecutors resigned from the case in
protest of the intervention of Attorney General William Barr. Then Barr
announced that that he will be controlling all aspects of cases related to
Trump (like the Stone case) which Trump is pleased about: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-stone/trump-hails-barr-for-taking-charge-of-stone-case-democrats-vow-probe-idUSKBN2061NT
Barr has agreed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 31,
but that seems much later than needed. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/12/attorney-general-william-barr-to-testify-before-house-judiciary-committee-114601 Regardless of Barr’s willingness to testify,
this is a disturbing and dangerous politicization of the DOJ and is not the
behavior of democracies. Let’s call our one Congressional Rep and two
Senators to say that they must speak out about this assault on the rule of
law and that we cannot allow the DOJ to be co-opted in this way. We need to let
our MoCs know that we are very concerned about Barr setting up a Giuliani
information channel, taking over all Trump related cases and slashing the Roger
Stone sentencing recommendations. Capitol Switchboard is 1-202-224-3121 or we can look up their
local office numbers. Let’s call the Department of Justice Comment line to
leave a brief message demanding Barr's
resignation 1-202-514-2000 (press 4 - voicemail box). After the beep
we can say, "I am calling for Attorney General Barr's resignation due to
his corruption." Let’s call the White House to demand Trump's resignation.
These are volunteer operators - please thank them for their service. You need
not give your name. The person who answers will say "may I please take
your brief message for the president?" and you can say "I am calling
for his resignation. Thank you for volunteering." 1-202-456-1111
DOJ AND
PRESIDENTIAL INTERFERENCE: The
four prosecutors who made sentencing recommendations against Roger Stone have
withdrawn from the case, and one has resigned from the Department of Justice
(DOJ) after the DOJ sent a court memo recommending a shorter sentence for Stone
(https://n.pr/39qQzSk).
Since then, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has stated that the Judiciary Committee will
"get to the bottom of this," and the government watchdog group
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for
communications between the DOJ and U.S. Attorney's office. However, with
Republicans leading the Senate, there is a greater likelihood that the issue of
DOJ and presidential interference in the Stone case will be largely ignored.
With enough public pressure though, they may have to take action. Let's
join Senators Harris and Blumenthal in asking Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey
Graham to call Attorney General William Barr to testify before the committee.
Mailing address: 290 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510,
Phone: (202) 224-5972, Fax: (202) 224-3808
SEND
POSTCARDS OF THANKS TO US ATTORNEY WHO RESIGNED IN PROTEST: Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Kravis just
resigned from the Washington Bureau of the DOJ rather than carry out Barr’s
slashing sentencing recommendations for Roger Stone. https://www.vox.com/2020/2/11/21133622/roger-stone-prosecutor-aaron-zelinsky-resigns
We can send him postcards of support at
this address where he is teaching a course this semester: Jonathan
Kravis, Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University, 2000 H
Street, NW, Washington, District of Columbia 20052
POVERTY IN
A BOOMING ECONOMY: We are told that the economy is in great
shape; that the stock market is thriving.
However, household debt levels made the biggest jump in 14 years. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/02/11/Household-debt-levels-make-biggest-annual-jump-in-14-years/7511581443571/ In addition, 40-50% of Americans not do have
$400 readily available for emergencies, one in five children is living in
poverty, our life expectancy is lower than Canada. https://www.recorder.com/my-turn-hynes-IncomeInequality-32233688 “When the Trump administration first came
into office, it promised to remember the “forgotten man and woman.” We were
told we’d have the “greatest economy ever,” that wages would skyrocket, and
millions would be lifted from poverty. Instead, the
administration has made the work we do as leaders in the fight against poverty
even more difficult.” https://www.insidesources.com/we-cant-let-the-trump-administration-pretend-poverty-away/ Let’s contact all our MoCs and ask what
they are doing to address these trends and remind them that the economy is not
really “great” for everyone.
DISABILITY
RIGHTS: It's been seven
years since the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture determined that
electronic shock devices (ESDs), used by the Judge Rotenberg Center, an
institution for people with disabilities, "often meet the criteria for
torture," at the very least are" inhuman and degrading," and are
always in violation of international law. Nearly six years ago, the FDA held
a hearing in which it ultimately determined that ESDs
should be banned. In the fall of 2018, then-FDA Commissioner Scott
Gottlieb announced that ESDs would finally be banned in the
upcoming year. These decisions are snapshots of a decades-long
story in the fight against the Judge Rotenberg Center's tortuous
practices. Most recently, Senator Chris Murphy is again leading a group of
senators, asking FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn to finalize the rule
banning the use of ESDs on people with disabilities. Let's read the letter from the senators, then join them in
asking Dr. Hahn to finalize the rule: Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, Commissioner of Food
and Drugs, Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave, Silver
Spring, MD 20993
TRUMP’S
BUDGET: Yes, it’s only a
budget proposal at this point, but it proposes cuts of $1 trillion to Medicaid
and the Affordable Care Act, $180 billion to food and nutrition assistance,
$1.7 billion to school meals for low-income children, $170 billion to student
loan programs, $75 billion to Social Security disability programs, and cuts as
well to the EPA and housing for low-income families: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BUDGET-2021-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2021-BUD.pdf and https://americansfortaxfairness.org/issue/trumps-groundhog-day-budget-tax-cuts-rich-paid-slashing-services-rest-us/
We must make sure our MoCs know that we know--and won’t tolerate this shredding
of the social safety net.
STONEMAN DOUGLAS
ANNIVERSARY: Friday, February 14th marks the second
anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida. To honor the lives lost and support the national March
For Our Lives movement, join or support a chapter near you: https://marchforourlives.com/chapters/. If there is not a
chapter near you, you can sign up to start one at https://marchforourlives.com/start-a-chapter/. On
Friday, please call your Senators and tell them you want universal background
checks. S.42, the Background Check Expansion Act, is in the Senate; it has 41
cosponsors (all of them Democrats and Independent). Check to see if your
Senators are supporting the bill here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/42/cosponsors
Background checks are a no-brainer. 97% of Americans want background checks,
for God’s sake! (h/t Small
Deeds Done)
HISTORY ACCORDING TO TRUMP: Last month, David S. Ferriero, the
chief archivist of the US, announced that ICE could start destroying records
from Trump’s first year, including detainees’ complaints about civil rights
violations and shoddy medical care; the Department of the Interior and the
National Archives have decided to delete files on endangered species, offshore
drilling inspections, and drinking water safety; the State Department will
start using algorithms to separate the “historic” from the “temporary” and does
not plan to turn these records over to the National Archives — a clear
violation of the Federal Records Act: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/opinion/archives-document-destruction.html
Ferriero’s response to historian Matthew Connelly, who wrote about this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/opinion/letters/national-archives.html
And Connely’s retort: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway Before we blame Ferriero, however, let’s demand that our MoCs provide resources to the wildly underfunded, understaffed National Archives, whose budget has been cut every year for the past three.
And Connely’s retort: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway Before we blame Ferriero, however, let’s demand that our MoCs provide resources to the wildly underfunded, understaffed National Archives, whose budget has been cut every year for the past three.
ELECTION/VOTING
PRIMARIES/CAUCUS CALENDAR: https://ballotpedia.org/Elections_calendar
ATTENTION DEMS ABROAD: "Starting February 18th, we'll be able to
download your Primary ballot from the Democrats Abroad website, vote it, and
email or post it back in. We can also wait until our Primary week - March 3rd
through 10th - and vote in-person at a voting centre in our
country. A reminder: Democrats abroad may only vote in one
presidential primary. Those who'd like to vote in the Global primary cannot
vote in their state's presidential primary. (We may vote down the rest of our
state's ballot - for US Senator, Congressperson, governor, etc)." All
the info we need to vote in the Global Presidential Primary is right here:
HELP WISCONSIN GET OUT THE VOTE. Indivisible Chicago
Alliance and the same team that organized 200,000 handwritten
postcards to voters in IL-6 in 2018 have partnered up to organize a project
to send 500,000 handwritten postcards to WI voters ahead of
the April 7th primary. The organization will send us the
postcards, instructions and addresses; we just need to provide the
stamps. We'll be mailing the postcards between March 20-26,
which gives us lots of time to write them. We can order postcards in increments
of 100. Let's request postcards today for writing at home or for
hosting a postcarding party at postcards2WI.com.
NEVADA CAUCUS: FEB.22. In Nevada, early voting for the
Democratic presidential primary runs from Feb. 15 - 18 prior to the Saturday,
Feb. 22 caucus. Nevada will NOT be using the election app that caused so much
trouble in Iowa. (Source: LATimes) We can find our precincts and more
information at NVDems.com.
VOTE BY MAIL, FLORIDA! Registered Democrats in
Florida who are signed up for vote by mail have already begun receiving their
presidential primary ballots. The primary is scheduled for MARCH 17. If
we are FL voters, we can find more information at the Florida Division of Elections.
RESIST VOTER SUPPRESSION. Three weeks ago,
Florida's Supreme Court ruled that convicted felons must pay “all terms of
sentence” before they can vote. This includes not only terms of a person’s
imprisonment and supervision, but also fines and other obligations imposed as
part of a punishment. (Source: The Hill.) Floridians overwhelming passed Amendment 4 which
would allow 1.4 million former convicts to vote. Since then, the Republican
governor and legislature have worked hard to block this from happening.
(Source: Miami Herald) The Florida Rights Restoration
Coalition is helping former felons regain their right to vote. We
can help with a tax-deductible donation to cover fines and fees at wegotthevote.org.
APPLY FOR SWING LEFT’S SUPER STATE YOUTH COUNCIL: In an effort to turn
out the youth vote in historic numbers, Swing Left has created a Super State
Youth Council (SSYC) for college students interested in organizing to get young
people to the polls in 12 “super” states (AZ, CO, FL, GA, IA, ME, MI, NC, OH,
PA, TX, WI) to win federal and state elections. We can learn more
here, https://swingleft.org/p/youth-council ,
and apply here: https://swing-left.breezy.hr/p/a388432cee6f-college-network-lead-member-of-the-super-state-youth-council
STATE/LOCAL
ALL: PRISON GERRYMANDERING: While many of us are
familiar with gerrymandering, something that often goes under the radar is the
issue of prison gerrymandering, in which the census counts prisoners where they
are incarcerated, rather than at their home address. This artificially inflates
the population, giving more voting power and representation to those districts,
often white and rural, while taking it away from their home district (http://www.naacpldf.org/case/prison-based-gerrymandering).
Some states are taking action; New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed a bill to end prison gerrymandering, and in
Michigan, a bill was just introduced in the Senate to do the
same. Let's take action to fix the problem at the state level;
the Prison
Gerrymandering Project has information on where our state currently
stands, along with legislation that has been proposed, and model legislation we
can send to our legislators as we urge them to make sure that prisoners are
counted correctly, in their home district:
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS
JOIN THE #AAPA TWITTER TOWN HALL TODAY AT 2 PM
EST: Caucus season has begun, and 40% of the #AAPI, Asian American Pacific
Islander, vote is still in play. It’s time for a Town Hall focusing on AAPI
concerns and it’s happening today or Twitter! Candidates Biden, Bloomberg,
Buttigieg, Klobuchar, Sanders, Steyer and Warren Niall all be participating,
moderated by @NBCAsianAmerica. We can join the National Council of
Asian Pacific Americans and the Asian American Journalists Association for
the #AAPI 2020 Twitter Town Hall TODAY at 2pm Eastern Time. When we click this link,
we can find more data about AAPI concerns and to preview the questions to be
asked.
ATTEND LOVE NOT HATE EVENTS ON THE BORDER:
FEBRUARY 14-17. Four days’ worth of activities are being planned for the weekend of February
14-17 as part of the witnessing actions on the border of Brownsville Matamoros.
These include attending tent courts, witnessing deportations at the Brownsville
Airport, vigiling at the courthouse, and participating in several protest
rallies. Let’s see if we can attend and/or let our friends and neighbors
know. The schedule is here. More information is available on the Witness
at the Border Facebook Page.
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
Why all
white people are racist, but can't handle being called racist: the theory of
white fragility - https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/why-all-white-people-are-racist-cant-handle-being-called-racist-theory-white-fragility
Trump's
greatest vulnerability is the economy – just ask poor Americans - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/11/trump-economy-poor-americans-vulnerability
How to
Cope with Trump-era Depression
- https://kirschnerskorner.com/2020/02/02/trump-anxiety-disorder/
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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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