4/14/20
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/
Purchase stamps, postcards,
and other mailing supplies:
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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SAVE THE
POST OFFICE: BUY STAMPS AND CALL OUR REPS: The Post Office needs our help. COVID-19 has shrunk their business to
the point of collapse, and they are asking Congress for $75 billion to stay
afloat. The Post Office provides affordable vital services and are strong
employers of veterans and workers of color. We need it for a strong Democracy.
Here are several ways we can help: We
can Text "USPS" to Resistbot and they will send a letter/petition to
all three of our reps in support of the Postal Service. We can buy stamps
now at https://www.usps.com.
Forever Stamps are good... forever and will never expire. We can call our reps, at their local offices
since they are home on recess now, and tell them to support the Postal Service
and fully fund them in the next stimulus package. Celeste Pewter
suggest that we use these key points when calling, especially with GOP members,
who will likely support Trump’ resists ace for voting by mail. 1) We need the
USPS to deliver critical medical equipment/supplies. (GOP members shouldn't be
able to argue w/ this, and you can raise hell if they do), 2) We need
USPS to help deliver essentials, so people can stay home, 3) Once there
is a vaccine, USPS will 100% be needed to deliver to regions with accessibility
challenges, 4) We need USPS to help people to vote in safe, efficient
manner.
DEMAND FAIR
WAGES FOR MIGRANT FARMWORKERS: The
White House is working with the Department of Agriculture on a plan that would
increase the number of migrant farmworkers and further lower their wages. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/10/832076074/white-house-seeks-to-lower-farmworker-pay-to-help-agriculture-industry?utm.
Not only does this perpetuate a two-tiered racially based system for hires,
it also ignores the 16 million Americans who are currently out of work. Let’s
ask our MoCs to pass legislation that protects the rights of migrant farmworkers
and guarantees a fair wage to all agricultural workers, foreign and
domestic.
ASK JOE BIDEN TO CONSIDER PLIGHT OF WORKERS AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN COVID RE-OPENING PLAN. While we can be thankful that Joe Biden’s plan to re-open the economy https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/opinion/joe-biden-coronavirus-reopen-america.htmlis better than Trump’s, he doesn’t go nearly as far as Senator Elizabeth Warren does in calling for protections for the most vulnerable and strict oversight on corporate bailouts. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/opinion/coronavirus-congress-warren.html?. Let’s read these two op-eds and then let’s contact the Biden campaign and ask him to make a much stronger statement incorporating some of Warren’s ideas on protecting workers and small business owners.
INSPECTORS
GENERAL: In recent days, Trump has fired the inspector
general for the intelligence community because the IG did his job, accused the
inspector general for Health and Human Services of being politically motivated
for reporting on hospital shortages, and effectively removed the inspector
general helping overseeing the coronavirus relief package. https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/trump-attacks-watchdog-inspectors-general-government-oversight/index.html Inspectors
general are the public's watchdogs in government, and these politically
motivated attacks on them cannot be allowed to stop them from doing their jobs.
Senator Chris Murphy and Rep. Jim Cooper have proposed a bill (not yet
numbered) to protect inspectors general from being removed without real cause. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/492095-two-democrats-roll-out-bill-to-protect-inspectors-general-from-politically
Let's contact our MoCs and tell them
to support it.
MEDICAL
SUPPLY CHAIN EMERGENCY ACT: The competition between states and hospitals
on the open market for PPE is causing such problems that governors are actually
considering forming a multistate consortium to stop the competition and help
make sure supplies are affordable and get where they need to go. https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/04/08/just-madness-governors-mull-consortium-to-end-chaos-over-medical-supplies-1273929
We shouldn't need a new multistate consortium when we have an old one - the
federal government. It's time to force action. Let's call our members of
Congress and tell them to support quick passage of the Medical Supply Chain Emergency Act (S.3568)
to end this madness.
DISABILITY
RIGHTS: Nursing homes and
long-term care facilities/institutions across the U.S. are seeing rapid spread
of COVID-19 (https://bit.ly/2V83vIJ).
Individuals in these places are unable to enact proper social distancing, and
those who care for them are often working in multiple facilities, putting those
who are most vulnerable to the virus at even greater risk. While we have
called on Congress before to pass the Disability
Integration Act, which would ensure that people who qualify for long-term
support services get the help that they need through community-based services
and programs, rather than having to resort to institutionalization, now it is
even more essential to get this bipartisan legislation through Congress. Let's
read ADAPT's call to action, then let's call our own MoC and tell them
that we must pass the Disability Integration Act (H.R. 555/S. 117) immediately.
NATIONAL
BAIL OUT/#FREEBLACKMAMAS:
From Essence: "The National Bail Out (NBO)
is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers,
lawyers and activists building a movement to end pretrial detention and
ultimately mass incarceration all while supporting Black communities. As a
tactic, they have bailed out countless numbers of Black mothers from jail over
the years for mother’s day through their annual #FreeBlackMamas campaign."
Now, the organization is expanding its efforts, providing groceries, rent, and
extra support during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the work of the NBO has
always been important, right now it is essential in getting Black mothers and
caregivers out of jails, which are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 outbreaks,
and into a safe environment. Let's read more about what National Bail
Out is doing here, then for those of us who are able, let's
donate: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/national-bail-out-1 As
Mother's Day approaches, we can also learn more about the National Bail
Out's work freeing mothers in time to celebrate the holiday with their
families: https://nationalbailout.org/about/
TRUMP
RETWEETS #FireFauci: “President
Trump retweeted a call to fire his top infectious-disease specialist, Anthony
S. Fauci, on Sunday evening, amid mounting criticism of the federal response to
the coronavirus pandemic. The call, with the hashtag
“FireFauci” came from a former Republican congressional candidate, DeAnna
Lorraine, who
amassed 1.8 percent of the vote in an open primary challenge to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) this year.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/13/trump-fire-fauci-coronavirus/?utm_campaign=wp_politics_am&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_politics
and https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-anthony-fauci-donald-trump-covid19-response-latest-news-2020-04-13/ We can do two good things at once here.
Support the USPS and Dr. Fauci. Buy some stamps and send a snail
mail thank you note to Dr Fauci for giving us the science-based data to save lives.
Attention:
Dr. Fauci, National Institutes of Health (NIH), 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda,
Maryland 20892. Let’s show him our gratitude and support our postal
service.
ASK
CONGRESS TO KEEP PRESSURING THE WHITE HOUSE TO STOP DEPORTATIONS DURING THE
COVID PANDEMIC: It’s bad enough
that immigrant detention centers, including those for children, remain crowded,
and that ICE is continuing to use scarce personal protective equipment to
arrest and deport undocumented immigrants with no criminal record, putting
their own agents’ health at risk, as well as the health of the immigrants with
whom they’ve come into contact. Now the administration is further showing
their skewed priorities by issuing Visa threats to any country that won’t accept
deportees because of the pandemic. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/us/coronavirus-live-updates.html.
Let’s tell the White House and the Department of Homeland Security that we
want to see our resources and attention on the COVID crisis, not on more
arrests and deportations. Let’s also write to our MoCs and ask them to
intervene in any way they can.
QUICK
FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR COVID-19 RESEARCH: Fast Grants https://fastgrants.org/ is
an privately funded effort to speed up funding for crucial research during the
COVID-19 global pandemic. If we are a scientist at an academic institution
currently working on a COVID-19 related project and in need of funding, we can
apply for a Fast Grant. Fast Grants are $10k to $500k and decisions are made in
under 48 hours. If they approve the grant, we’ll receive payment as quickly as
our university can receive it. Researchers outside of the US are also eligible
to apply. We can find out more about FastGrants for our a COVID-19
related research and apply here. We can also share this with other qualified
researchers we think might want to apply:
https://fastgrants.org/
USE AND
SHARE UP TO DATE HEALTHCARE COVID-19 BEST PRACTICES FROM USC EPIDEMIOLOGY DEPT:
As doctors, healthcare
workers, researchers, patients and their families look for up to date
information on treatments for COIVD-19, we can checkout this Summary of Evidence
Based Recommendations From USC. This PDF file of up to date evidence-based
information on COVID as of April 10, 2020, covers statistics as well as
epidemiology and treatments. The information is heavily vetted, and sources are
cited throughout the document. This guide represents countless hours of
work from the epidemiology staff at USC- we can read it, use what works for us
and share widely with doctors, institutions, health care workers and other
concerned parties.
POSTCARDING
WRITE-UPS: From one of our own: Right now, it feels like disasters are flying
at us at warp speed, but remember that we can be the good news.
Even if it's hard to see sometimes, there are millions of us whose loyalty lies
with the Constitution, rather than partisan rancor or profiteering. Please use/share/distribute these
write-ups as you see fit.
HELP HOURLY
WORKERS: "People who
rely on hourly wages (including those who rely on tips) are suffering, having
seen their daily income all but disappear overnight, and for some already
losing their jobs. Government relief efforts are helpful, and some
businesses are continuing to pay their workers for an allotted period of time,
but many have been left out in the cold. They need immediate relief to pay for
food and other basic needs." This GoFundMe partners with Robin Hood in NYC
and Tipping Point Community in San Francisco to get financial support
to these folks right away. Let's donate if we can: https://www.gofundme.com/f/helphourlyworkers
PLASMA NEEDED
FROM RECOVERED COVID-19 PATIENTS: “In
coordination with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Red Cross is
seeking people who are fully recovered from the new coronavirus to sign up
to donate plasma to help current COVID-19 patients.” If we, or someone we know, fit this, let’s
click here to get more information and to sign up: https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/dlp/plasma-donations-from-recovered-covid-19-patients.html
ELECTION/VOTING
HOW TO VOTE
BY MAIL IN EVERY SINGLE STATE: Voting my mail is becoming more of a
necessity. Let’s check our own states
and see what we have to do: https://politicalcharge.org/2020/04/10/how-to-vote-by-mail-in-every-single-state/
TWO
BIRDS, ONE STONE: The US
Postal Service is struggling financially. And we need to get Democratic-leaning
voters to the polls in battleground states. We can help on both counts! Let’s
sign up to write letters to voters at Vote Forward (https://votefwd.org/) and let’s purchase stamps for the envelopes: https://store.usps.com/store/home
HELP
KEEP A HOUSE SEAT IN DEMOCRATIC HANDS: The special election for the California 25th House seat is getting more
competitive - political analyst Larry Sabato just changed his rating from
"Leans Democratic" to "Toss-Up." http://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/the-next-big-special-election-ca-25/ Now more than ever we need to be electing
folks who will fight for affordable health care and not for Trump's agenda. Let's
volunteer for Democratic nominee Christy Smith. We can sign up to make calls
for her from home here.
FLORIDA
AMENDMENT 4 UPDATE: A
federal judge has expanded the ruling to include all Florida felons in the
case over Amendment 4, which is set to go to trial April 27. Instead of
the 17 people involved in the original suit, the ruling will effect 430,000
people. We can read more at Tampa Bay Times.
VIRGINIA
DROPS VOTING RESTRICTIONS: Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a bill replacing a state holiday,
Lee-Jackson Day, that honored Confederate generals with a state holiday
designated for Election Day. He also signed a bill repealing Virginia’s
voter ID law and a bill expanding access to early voting. We can read
more about the full scope of this legislation at The Hill.
LET'S
REACH CALIFORNIA VOTERS: California
voters in Congressional District 25 (Simi Valley area) will vote in a May 12
special election to choose their representative. Postcards to
Voters' Campaign 198:Christy Smith for Congress can help us
encourage Democratic voters in the district to send in their ballots. This will
be an all vote-by-mail election. Let's request 5 addresses for this
campaign today.
STATE/LOCAL
ALL: TELL OUR
GOVERNOR NOT TO LET TRUMP PUT THE HEALTH OF OUR RESIDENTS AT RISK. Trump is now
considering lifting shutdown/stay at home orders and re-opening the economy by
May 1, despite pushback from public health officials. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/492293-public-health-officials-push-back-on-may-opening.
And now he’s saying that governors cannot overrule him, if he chooses to
re-open businesses and relax social distancing policies in their states. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-13/trump-declares-he-has-power-to-open-up-states-not-governors.
Let’s tell our
governor not to be pressured by Trump, and ask them to not to relax
any measures designed to protect the health of our state’s residents until
medical experts have determined that it is safe to do so.
MI: HOMELESS MICHIGANDERS: From MI Resistance:
Homeless individuals have the same needs as we all do – food, shelter and
health care. During this pandemic, many places that normally provide these
services are closed. As we combat COVID-19, it is especially important that
homeless individuals have shelter to protect themselves and others from
infection. At the same time, the hotel industry and its employees are facing
big economic losses. It is within the Governor’s power to release funding and
coordinate with hotel owners to house people immediately. Let's call or
e-mail Governor Whitmer to urge her to immediately commit state funding to
providing shelter to homeless individuals in vacant hotels. Governor Whitmer:
517-373-3400 or
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS
WHEN WE
ALL VOTE COUCH RALLY: When We All Vote had such success with their first
Voter Registration Couch Party that they're doing another one! This one
is Mon, Apr 20, 7:15pm–8:00pm EDT. This
time they will focus on teaching us to reach out to our own personal
networks through “friend-to-friend” texting about registering to vote and
voting by mail. RSVP
now for When We All Vote’s Couch Party (h/t Chop
Wood Carry Water)
READING/WATCHING
A
Natural Coronavirus Experiment Is Playing Out In Kentucky And Tennessee - https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/danvergano/coronavirus-kentucky-tennessee-social-distancing
Prepare
for the Ultimate Gaslighting
- https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0
WHO
officials say it’s unclear whether recovered coronavirus patients are immune to
second infection - https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/13/who-officials-say-its-unclear-whether-recovered-coronavirus-patients-are-immune-to-second-infection.html
Coronavirus
in New York: A paramedic's diary - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52196815
Senator
Sherrod Brown Knows How to Save the Soul of the Democratic Party - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/senator-sherrod-brown-trump-coronavirus-joe-biden-bernie-sanders-980439/
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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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