5/21/20
NATIONAL
ISSUES
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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ASK
CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE SECRETARY OF STATE POMPEO FOR MISUSE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS:
In addition to the controversial
Saudi Arms sales, and the recent firing of the State Department
Inspector General, new reports have surfaced that Secretary of State, Mike
Pompeo used taxpayer money to hold fancy dinners with a variety of business
executives and media influencers, ostensibly in preparation for a future
political run. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/05/20/pompeo-scrutinized-for-lavish-government-funded-dinners-with-business-media-figures/#219067903a39.
Let’s ask the House Oversight Committee and Office of Government Ethics for
an immediate investigation and let’s demand Pompeo’s resignation.
HEROES ACT: We know
that Trump and the majority of the Senate are against approving the
House-passed Heroes Act and for a variety of reasons. Workers, families, and states are still in
dire need of support due to COVID-19.
The House bill reflects that need.
https://www.newsweek.com/heroes-act-stimulus-checks-stall-senate-dems-gop-clash-urgency-1505332 Let’s tell our senators that real people
need real help and that our state’s budget is taking a beating and could use
the same level of help that some corporations and industries received.
TELL
CONGRESS TO STOP THE FIRING OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR GENERAL: Trump’s latest firing of State Department
Inspector General Stephen Linnick is another step on the dangerous path to
dictatorship. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/15/state-department-inspector-general-fired-261536.
Since law requires a 30-day notice before the firing actually takes place,
Democrats in Congress should stop tweeting about how terrible this is and
actually do something. Former Director of the Office of Government Ethics,
Walter Shaub, has a long list of ideas of things Congress can do. For starters,
they can hold a hearing with the IG, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and other
related witnesses and blitz the media with the inappropriateness of this action.
They can also take further action by threatening budget cuts until Linnick and
Atkinson, the IG involved in the Ukraine crisis, are reinstated. Let’s look
at Walter Shaub’s list, here,
and then let’s demand that our MoCs take action. The future of our democracy
depends on oversight.
INSPECTORS
GENERAL PROTECTION: In recent weeks, the Trump administration has
removed one inspector general after another from their positions. In comments
to the press, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described inspectors general as
"serving at the pleasure of the President," making it clear they
simply don't understand the importance of having an independent watchdog for
the public (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/pompeo-press-conference/index.html).
Senator Chris Murphy and Rep. Jim Cooper have proposed the Inspectors General
Independence Act (H.R. 6668)
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.
CENSURE
TRUMP FOR WITHOLDING THREAT AND INSIST ON UNIVERSAL RIGHT TO VOTE BY MAIL: Trump is threatening to withhold funds from
Michigan and Nevada, two states with Democrat governors for sending
applications for absentee ballots to their registered voters, with the bogus
accusation of encouraging voter fraud. Several states with Republican
governors, such as Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, and West Virginia, have also sent
their voters absentee ballot applications, and Maryland, which has a Republican
governor, is actually sending everyone absentee ballots. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-threatens-cut-michigan-nevada-funding-mail-in-voting/.
Let’s call out Trump for his disgusting bullying in making voters choose
between their health and their right to vote in our local newspapers and demand
that Congress pass S3562, The Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act of 2020.
And let’s contact
our own governor and ask them to follow the lead of these states in
making sure everyone who wants one has easy access to an absentee ballot.
SAVE THE
POST OFFICE, SAVE THE ELECTION—PART I: Voting by mail is emerging as the best way for us to have a safe
and secure election during the coronavirus pandemic. But there won’t be any
voting by mail without the USPS. Unless Washington intervenes, the USPS will
run out of operating funds by September. Trump says he’ll veto any bill that
includes aid to the USPS. https://www.axios.com/trump-postal-service-squeeze-f08faad5-c1ec-43f9-b851-04c88ab3b6bb.html Let’s
pressure our Members of Congress to fully fund the USPS and provide the
resources necessary to vote by mail in November.
SAVE THE
POST OFFICE, SAVE THE ELECTION—PART II: The US Postal Service enjoys a 90% public approval rating. But,
inexplicably, the Trump/Republican regime is refusing to rescue it from running
out of operating funds before September 2020. https://fortune.com/2020/04/27/usps-bailout-biden-trump/ The
USPS is an essential part of our elections’ infrastructure, and its demise
would kill our ability to safely vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.
We need a drumbeat of media coverage of this state of affairs. Let’s
contact one or more of the following and tell them to give this issue the
urgent attention it deserves: our local TV news stations, local newspapers,
regional newspapers-of-record, our favorite columnists, our local NPR stations,
our favorite national newspapers. Contact info can be found through google
searches.
TELL
TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES TO STOP PARTICIPATING IN DEPORTATIONS: The group, Witness at the Border has been
reporting that despite COVID, deportation flights to Central America are
leaving every day from the airport in Brownsville, Texas. Over one hundred people deported to El Salvador have
subsequently been killed, and many of those deported have tested positive for COVID,
increasing the incidence of disease in these countries. The flights are
arranged by Classic Air Charter and their subcontractors, and deportees are
brought to the airport on TrailBoss
buses. The Jewish
Activists for Immigration Justice has launched a letter-writing campaign to
all of these companies. Let’s check out their letter templates here, contact these companies, and share this campaign with
our friends and networks.
NAVAJO NATION
HIGHEST RATE OF COVID PER CAPITA: With only a fraction of the population, the
Navajo Nation is now reporting more coronavirus cases per capita than New York,
one of the initial epicenters of the outbreak in the United States. https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/498517-navajo-nation-under-strict-lockdown-with-highest The Navajo Nation needs medical and community
items as well as monetary donations. Let’s ask out MoCs what they
are doing about this. We can also check
out the list of items and/or donate at this site: https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html
Correction: GHOST GUNS: 3D-printed "ghost
guns" are currently going largely unregulated - they don't meet the
current legal definition of a firearm, which means they're not required to have
serial numbers and you can purchase them or the kits to make them without
being subject to gun control laws currently on the books. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/senate-democratsghost-guns-256968 Democratic senators have introduced the
Untraceable Firearms Act (S. 3743) to make sure these weapons have serial numbers and
to keep them out of the hands of violent felons and domestic abusers. Let's
contact our members of Congress and tell them to support the bill, and share this video from Giffords to spread the word
about untraceable guns.
TELL ICE TO
STOP USING COVID-19 TO FORCE FAMILY SEPARATIONS: ICE is taking advantage of COVID-19 by asking detained
parents to sign a form that would allow children to be separated from them,
released from detention, while their parents remain detained indefinitely. https://www.newsweek.com/ice-accused-using-coronavirus-crisis-launch-family-separation-2-0-1505156
Immigrant families detained by ICE at the Berks, Dilley and Karnes detention
centers have been asked to decide between indefinite detention and risk
contagion by COVID-19 or risk being separated from their children. This cruel,
disturbing and inhumane policy must stop now. We can click this link to
email the Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf,
and urge him to release these families during this pandemic: https://www.raicestexas.org/2020/05/18/action-to-email-secretary-wolf/
NURSES
STILL AT RISK: The
National Nurses United conducted a survey of more than 23,000 union and
non-union nurses across all 50 states and Washington DC about their working
conditions between 15 April and 10 May; they found that 84% of nurses had not
been tested for Covid-19, 87% are forced to reuse single-use personal
protective equipment, and 72% of nurses have exposed skin or clothing while
treating coronavirus patients: https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/new-survey-results and https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/survey-finds-87-of-americas-nurses-are-forced-to-reuse-protective-equipment
Let’s demand that our MoCs mandate protection for these—and all—“essential”
workers, or we can sign the Union of Concerned Scientists’ letter in support of
the Every Worker Protection Act (H.R.6559)
here: https://secure.ucsusa.org/onlineactions/fvDDUmBr_UaOkchYfZK8Mw2
KANSAS
SENATE RACE NEEDS OUR SUPPORT: Democrats are looking competitive in seats
across the country as we work to take back the Senate in November - including
some unexpected opportunities. Republicans are desperately trying to recruit
Mike Pompeo to run for the Senate in Kansas, with former Secretary of State and
notorious anti-voting rights and anti-immigrant extremist Kris Kobach looking
like a strong contender for the Republican nod and Democratic state senator
Barbara Bollier outraising the GOP field as
a credible challenger. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/14/mcconnell-pompeo-kansas-senate-255451
Let's show Barbara our support by signing up to
volunteer or donating to her campaign.
ELECTION/VOTING
2020
ELECTION CALENDAR: This
resource is searchable by date and state - https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2020-state-primary-election-dates.aspx
REMINDER: Let’s make sure to regularly check
our voter registration status. States are purging voters routinely--we
don't want to get caught off guard. Take 1 minute and check right now: I Will Vote Then, let’s check how to vote by
mail in our state. Many rules have changed due to the pandemic and we may
be able to vote with a mailed ballot. We can find our state's latest voting
rules here: How to Vote By Mail in Every State
#VOTEPROCHOICE
GEORGIA VOTER GUIDE: Georgia’s
primary election is on June 9. #VoterProChoice
has issued their voter guide. Let’s
check it out: https://www.voteprochoice.us/voter-guide
We can also use their social media
toolkit: https://www.voteprochoice.us/partner-toolkit/
GET OUT
THE VOTE POSTCARD GOUPS: From one of our own: Let’s use this list to find groups with
whom we can get involved in getting postcards out to voters encouraging them to
vote: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTd9UmW__Zqj89o4Df8qYhLOK5dimPxreYvGhM97wZ-l2Cj8DcfRD3a-JAJrQbgiIaB3kKOj525G9ul/pub?urp=gmail_link
STATE/LOCAL
ALL: SAVE THE POST
OFFICE, SAVE THE ELECTION PART III: The US Postal Service is under
two threats: (1) without help from Congress and the White House, it will be
financially insolvent by September 2020; and (2) its Board of Governors is now
almost completely controlled by Trump appointees. Trump, and the Republican
party generally, is notoriously hostile to the USPS. https://www.axios.com/trump-postal-service-squeeze-f08faad5-c1ec-43f9-b851-04c88ab3b6bb.html Let’s
contact our Secretaries of
State and our State Legislators and
tell them to (1) put heavy pressure on Washington to fund the USPS and keep it
fully functioning for all Americans, and (2) develop contingency plans for
safe, secure distance voting in November in case Trump and his Republican
collaborators succeed in killing the Post Office.
CA: PROTECT VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES LIVING NEAR
POLLUTING OIL DRILLING SITES: Research shows that COVID-19 is heavily
impacting communities living in high pollution areas. The cost of living
in close proximity to oil and gas wells include risk of cancer, asthma, and
preterm birth, but also risk of water contamination, oil spills and explosions.
Now more than ever is the time to take steps to protect communities living near
oil drilling sites. Assembly Bill 345 seeks to do just that. Passing
AB345 will create health and safety buffer zones by requiring a minimum setback
distance between dangerous and hazardous oil and gas extraction wells and
homes, schools, daycares, playgrounds, hospitals, and health
clinics. The passage of AB 345 will bring us closer to protecting
children and families from the hazards of living near an oil and gas well. We
can click here to find our Senator’s number, with key talking points to urge
them to vote YES on AB345 and protect our community from the hazards of
living near an oil and gas well:
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS
TWITTERSTORM
FOR VA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE VANGIE WILLIAMS TODAY: Twitter Warriors is doing a Twitterstorm for
Virginia Congressional candidate Vangie Williams TODAY, Thursday May 21
at 8p.m. EST. Williams was the nominee in 2018, but did not win the seat, and
is now running in the primary on June 23. We can find out more about the primary on
Ballotpedia here: https://ballotpedia.org/Virginia%27s_1st_Congressional_District_election,_2020_(June_23_Democratic_primary),
read more about Vangie here: https://ballotpedia.org/Vangie_Williams and
on her webpage:
https://vangieforcongress.com/ If we decide to give Vangie our support,
we can click here to find prewritten tweets to send out with just a few clicks: https://t.co/r7dvJE49DS?amp=1
WEBINAR
ON REGISTERING VOTERS DURING THE PANDEMIC:
National Voter
Registration Day and Nonprofit Vote are hosting a webinar on Friday, May 22.
The topic is “Navigating the new urgency and tactics around voter
registration.” Let’s register and learn how we can help: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vdMvs1fiRmKB-qwHsYF_sw
ACLU
SMART JUSTICE CAMPAIGN WEBINAR: The ACLU Smart Justice campaign has decided
to host a digital day of action titled “Uniting for Pretrial Reform” in May. It
will be online, and it will be throughout the day on May 27th. Some of
the sessions include a Q&A with ACLU staff, a tele-townhall with multiple
legislators (on the topic of pretrial reform), a storytelling panel in the
afternoon, and throughout the day there will be multiples ways to engage our
elected officials. Here’s a registration
link to sign up! https://zoom.us/webinar/register/1415859446055/WN_Wb92iZkTRGmkTJlHepNcIg We want to make sure that people feel their
voices can be heard even during this new normal phase we currently we find
ourselves in and that we advocate for the most vulnerable of us.
MASS
POOR PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY & MORAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON: “The Mass
Poor People’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington is going digital! On
June 20th, we will hold the largest digital and social media gathering
of poor and low-wealth people, moral and religious leaders, advocates, and
people of conscience in this nation’s history. A global pandemic is exposing
even more the already existing crisis of systemic racism, poverty, ecological
devastation, the war economy and militarism, and the distorted moral narrative
of religious nationalism. On June 20, the 140 million poor and low-wealth
people across this nation will be heard!”
We can sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/rsvp-for-june-20-2020-mass-poor-peoples-assembly-moral-march-on-washington
READING/WATCHING/LISTENING
'Promiscuous
treatment of nature' will lead to more pandemics – scientists - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/07/promiscuous-treatment-of-nature-will-lead-to-more-pandemics-scientists
Plaintiff
in Roe v. Wade U.S. abortion case says she was paid to switch sides - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-abortion-jane-roe/plaintiff-in-roe-v-wade-u-s-abortion-case-says-she-was-paid-to-switch-sides-idUSKBN22V33D
10
Sneaky Ways Your Coronavirus Anxiety Is Coming Out - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sneaky-ways-coronavirus-anxiety-coming-out_l_5ec2feadc5b6cb36f3f2f05a
The
Trump Administration Is Rushing Deportations of Migrant Children During
Coronavirus - https://www.propublica.org/article/the-trump-administration-is-rushing-deportations-of-migrant-children-during-coronavirus
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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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