7/14/20
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:
White
House contact: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house
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REOPENING
SCHOOLS: Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos took to the Sunday shows to share her anti-science views on
reopening schools in the COVID era: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/13/betsy-devos-schools-reopen-fall We
know that Trump wants the illusion of a autumn back-to-school normalcy to
appeal to his base, but we also know that any child’s life lost is one too
many. Let’s contact our MoC to say
that we must be guided by science when it comes to the education and lives of
our children.
STOP ICE: In an incredibly ill-advised attempt to improve
its public image, ICE is apparently trying to pilot a "Citizens'
Academy," a six-week course "on immigration enforcement, which will
include training for citizens on how to arrest undocumented
immigrants." https://www.newsweek.com/ice-launching-citizens-academy-course-how-agency-arrests-immigrants-1516656 Needless
to say, the idea of ICE using private citizens to spy and report on
their neighbors is a very bad idea. Let's call our members of
Congress to insist they put a stop to this "Citizens' Academy."
PUSH SENATE
TO REVISIT 2013 PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP BILL: In 2013, a bipartisan Senate “gang of eight” pushed through a bill that
would provide a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented
residents in the U.S. and protect the dreamers. The bill got 68 votes.
Presidential nominee Joe Biden has promised to make immigration reform a top
priority on his agenda https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/506942-democrats-see-immigration-reform-as-topping-biden-agenda,
but with Trump refiling to end DACA, and ICE going rogue with deportations and
arrests, we can’t afford the luxury of waiting. Let’s tell our Senators, and
let’s also tell turncoat Lindsay Graham (202-224-5972), who was one of the key
proponents of the bill, that we want them to introduce and pass legislation to
protect the dreamers and provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented
members of our community now.
STOP ICE FROM TRANSPORTING COVID-POSITIVE PATIENTS: This disturbing report from The Marshall Project documents how ICE has consistently violated safety protocols by transporting COVID-positive patients to other states and deporting them to other countries, risking the health of everyone they come into contact with and spreading the epidemic around the globe. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/07/10/how-ice-exported-the-coronavirus? Let’s contact our MoCs and ask them what we can do to stop this practice. Let’s also spread this report widely so that our communities know what is being done in our name.
PUBLIC
COMMENTS ON NEW ASYLUM RULES DUE TOMORROW: Reminder--public comments on the new asylum rules are due tomorrow,
July 15. Immigration advocacy groups are saying that it's fine to make more
than one comment as long as we are taking a slightly different tack. Also, we
should make sure to upload documents in support of our arguments, as it's
important to give the DHS a lot of information to read through, which they must
do before proceeding with the rule. Let’s make sure to submit
a comment. We can find more information here.
GRATITUDE
TO LT. COL. ALEXANDER VINDMAN: Citing
“bullying, intimidation, and retaliation by President Trump, Lt. Col. Alexander
Vindman retired from the military last week. He was a key witness in
Trump’s impeachment, having witnessed and reported to his superiors his
national security concerns about the “quid pro quo” phone call between Trump
and Ukrainian President Zelensky. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/07/08/lt-col-alexander-vindman-who-testified-against-trump-announces-retirement-from-the-army/ During
his testimony, Vindman expressed his belief in America’s commitment to the rule
of law by famously telling his worried father: “Do not worry. I will be fine
for telling the truth.” https://www.businessinsider.com/vindman-impeachment-testimony-sends-emotional-message-father-2019-11 That
Vindman, a refugee, Army colonel, and Purple Heart recipient with twenty years
of honorable military service. https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-alexander-vindman-army-nsc-veteran-trump-ukraine-2019-10 is
not “fine for telling the truth” is a testimony to how much we have lost. Let’s
send a note of thanks to Vindman through his lawyer, David Pressman, Jenner
& Block LLP, 919 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022-3908, or dpressman@jenner.com.
PANDEMIC
HAZARD PAY FOR GROCERY WORKERS: The
New England, New York, and New Jersey grocery chain Stop & Shop had been
paying its union hourly workers a 10% pandemic hazard increase, but abruptly
stopped doing so last week. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/employees-to-call-on-stop-shop-to-restore-hazard-pay-amid-pandemic/2154593/ and https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/union-asking-stop-shop-to-reconsider-discontinuing-hazard-pay-for-employees/ These
workers are still on the frontlines and still at risk. Let’s contact
Stop & Shop’s Chief Executive Officer, President, and Senior Vice President
and tell them to reinstate the 10% hazard pay immediately, https://elliott.org/company-contacts/stop-shop/.
We can also sign this petition: https://ufcwlocal1445petitions.org/.
FAUCI SIDELINED BY TRUMP: Undoubtedly angered by the fact that Americans
place far greater faith in the words of public health expert Dr. Anthony Fauci
than they do in his wishful thinking about the coronavirus, Trump is trying
desperately to silence or discredit him: https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-house-seeks-discredit-fauci-memo-leaked-reporters/story
Fauci has been prohibited by the administration from many public appearances,
on TV and elsewhere: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-of-face-the-nation-on-july-5-2020/
As Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Michael Caputo of HHS is
responsible for approving press requests to interview Fauci; let’s insist on
our right to hear from reliable sources about a pandemic that puts our lives at
risk: Michael.Caputo@hss.gov
Let’s also tell our MOC’s to tell Trump to stop this attack. While we are at it,
let’s send a thank you to Dr. Fauci for telling us the scientific truth: National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health,
31 Center Drive MSC 2520 Building 31, Room 7A03 Bethesda, MD 20892-2520, Director:
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. (301) 496-2263 (phone) (301) 496-4409 (fax) Email: AF10r@nih.gov
FRACKING
FAILS; CLIMATE DAMAGE RISES:
One effect of the pandemic has been the (no doubt, temporary) collapse of the
fracking industry as oil prices have plummeted: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/28/business/chesapeake-energy-bankruptcy/index.html
But while we may celebrate the demise of a filthy, polluting method of oil
extraction, this collapse, which mostly takes the form of chapter 11
bankruptcies, leaves in its wake tremendous environmental damage—unplugged
methane leaks and other “maintenance” problems--that these companies refuse to
address: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/12/climate/oil-fracking-bankruptcy-methane-executive-pay.html
According to the NYT, “The federal government estimates that there are already
more than three million abandoned oil and gas wells across the United States,
two million of which are unplugged, releasing the methane equivalent of the
annual emissions from more than 1.5 million cars.” The EPA has already
made its unwillingness to regulate methane clear-- https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/j5ym38/the-epa-is-deregulating-one-of-the-most-climate-destroying-greenhouse-gases
or https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29082019/methane-regulation-oil-gas-storage-pipelines-epa-rollback-trump-wheeler
Let’s turn to our state environmental agencies and Congress to demand that
these companies clean up their mess—before they spend their bonuses and kill
our planet.
POSTCARDING
OPPORTUNITY: From one of our own: Let's pay attention and speak out together to
make our voices heard. ICE "camp" for "good" citizens;
threats to education and public health workers; mail-in ballots; the Breathe
Act; and let's not forget Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. Let’s use/share/distribute
in any way we can: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DL8CD30_VXqiMT2-yJFoiWOUNGuWa5yflMOx73PKEOQ/edit?usp=sharing
SUPPORTING
LOCAL & INDEPENDENT NEWS: Nowadays
it’s even more important to read and fund local/independent journalism. Rising
autocracies everywhere, including in the US, want to control our understanding
of reality, which is why they are trying so hard to stifle the news outlets
holding them to account (https://t.co/IC8RxwmKLZ). As
citizens we have a duty to be informed, and right now that means using (and
paying for or donating to) the news sources that dare to tell us the truth: https://knightfoundation.org/features/localnews/
USE COURSE
SWAP SITE TO HELP INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS STAY HERE: Trump’s
latest punitive policies force International Students to leave if they are
enrolled in an online only program. To stay they must be in program that
includes in-person classes. While several institutions are challenging this in
the courts, students are scrambling to find in person or hybrid classes that
will allow them to remain here and continue their educations. https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/507039-17-states-sue-trump-administration-over-foreign-students-rule
Now Support Our International Students has come
up with an inventive solution, an international students course swap
where students help each other stay on the country by finding eligible
classes. If we are International Students looking for an eligible class, or
want to help out, we can search for classes and connect with fellow students,
or donate our spot in a class that someone else might need. They also have
resources, including potential solutions for schools, emails to send to schools
and faculty, talking points and contact information for Congress, legal
information and more. We can click
here to find an eligible course, or offer one to student in need: http://sois.us/
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
REACH
OUT TO EDUCATORS: Action for Better Citizens (abc Vote) is a
non-partisan group reaching out to college educators to ask them to talk to
their students about the importance of voting and get them registered to vote
during or adjacent to class. abc Vote has created a website of voting action
and resources to help educators do this. Let’s check out their website then
share the link to those folks who could use it: https://abcvote.org/
WRITE
NOW TO GET OUT THE NOV. 3 VOTE! Indivisible
Chicago Alliance has organized for volunteers to write postcards to swing
states. Already over 25,000 volunteers have written over 2 million postcards.
The organization will mail us the postcards and addresses we need. We get to choose
from 2 messages and 10 states. We provide the labor, stamps and mailing of the
postcards in October. Let's sign up today at Postcards to Swing
States to help the blue wave!
LET’S
MESS WITH TEXAS: What will
happen if Democratic voters in Texas come out in force in 2020? They could
potentially tip the state to Biden, giving him 38 Electoral College votes. They
could potentially flip the Texas House of Representatives and prevent extreme
Republican gerrymandering for a decade. Blue Action Democrats, and their
campaign FLIP the Texas House, are building off of the work of Beto O’Rourke,
which put 17 state house districts into play. Democrats need to flip only 4
seats to get a majority in the Texas House. Let’s visit the websites of
Blue Action Democrats https://www.blueactiondems.com/ and FLIP the
Texas House https://flipthetxhouse.com/ to
see how we can help.
FLIP
MICHIGAN: If Democrats
out-vote Republicans in this state, Biden could win 16 Electoral College votes
and extreme Republican gerrymandering could end for a decade. All 110 seats in
the MI House of Representatives are up for election in 2020. If Democrats flip
just four seats, they’ll have the House majority there. https://ballotpedia.org/Michigan_House_of_Representatives . Let’s
sign up with the Michigan Democratic Party and move that needle! https://michigandems.com/
FLIP
PENNSYLVANIA: If enough
Democratic voters go to the polls in PA, they’ll deliver 20 Electoral College
votes to Joe Biden and flip the entire state legislature Blue, ending extreme Republican
gerrymandering for a decade. Democrats need to flip four state senate seats and
nine state house seats to control the state legislature. Let’s help
make it happen—we can sign up at Turn PA Blue, https://turnpablue.org/,
Sister District Project: https://sisterdistrict.com/pennsylvania/,
and/or Swing Left: https://swingleft.org/p/pennsylvania
STATE/LOCAL
RALLIES/GATHERINGS/TRAININGS/GROUP ACTIONS/TWEETSTORMS
FREE
ACTIVISIM 101 WEBINAR: Activism 101 is a free, one-hour (ish)
webinar for folks who have very little to no experience with activism and/or
political action. It’s a survey course with one goal: to give those who are
furious and sickened by the state of our, bite-sized actions they can take to
help vote Trump out, flip the Senate, win a bunch of down-ballot races, and
basically make good things happen in November and beyond. Workshop will be led
by Jessica Craven who is a mom, veteran activist, elected member of the Los
Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee, legislative chair of her
Moms Demand Action chapter, and the author of daily actions email “Chop Wood,
Carry Water.” Let’s grab a few
friends and inquire about times: cwcwdailyactions@gmail.com
READING/WATCHING/LISTENING
‘Please
Tax Us’: Dozens Of Millionaires Urge Governments To Tax The Rich To Pay For
Coronavirus Impact - https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/07/13/please-tax-us-dozens-of-millionaires-urge-governments-to-tax-the-rich-to-pay-for-coronavirus-impact/#5ab686426cc8
Mary
Trump’s Book Shows How Donald Trump Gets Away With It - https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/mary-trump-book-psychoanalysis-enablers.html
American
Politics Is Now Democrats Versus Authoritarians - https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-26/american-politics-is-now-democrats-vs-authoritarians
The
Dangerous Ones - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dc7EfUCA1E
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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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