End the Filibuster
From Indivisible National:
None of the progressive issues that Democratic candidates and congressional leaders are discussing today will become law unless we do something about the filibuster. If Mitch McConnell expects to be the Grim Reaper of progressive policies, the scythe he’ll use is the Senate filibuster. Unless we change the rules. Check out Indivisible's plan here.
Let's understand what we'll be asking our next president to do, and why. Our future may depend on it.
Submitted by Kristan Smith-Park, Indivisible Acton
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Call to Defund Hate
Newly released documents show that once again ICE is attempting to raid FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Transportation Security Administration, and many other agencies to compensate for its massive overspending. In fact, DHS has spent more than four billion dollars this fiscal year expanding immigration detention just to uphold Trump’s border and immigration policies.
And now they’re going after $271 million (including hundreds of millions from FEMA alone) in funding to expand detention beds, implement cruel policies that endanger asylum seekers, and tear children away from their families and homes. Join Indivisibles across the country on Monday, September 9 for Calls to Defund Hate Day of Action by using this link to call your reps to ensure that they do not fund ICE any more!
Submitted by Kristan Smith-Park, Indivisible Acton
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Support Gun Reform Legislation
It’s no secret that Senator Mitch McConnell has been sitting on two pieces of gun legislation that are supported by a huge majority of Americans and would save hundreds (thousands?) of lives per year. (You can read about the bills here.) Call your senators and demand that when they return they make sure these bills are brought to the floor immediately.
H/T Small Deeds Done
Submitted by Kristan Smith-Park, Indivisible Acton
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Take Action for Election Security
Here are two things you can do to ensure election security.
- Encourage your senators to put pressure on this administration to nominate someone for the FEC. With the most recent departure, the FEC is now without a quorum, meaning that it can’t open new investigations, it can’t issue advisory opinions, and it can’t issue rules. The FEC is so important to our election security that we should expect our senators to put pressure on this administration to nominate people to the FEC.
H/T Small Deeds Done
- Support increased voter participation in your community by emailing your state elections official (look them up here) and suggesting that they check out the Center for Technology and Civic Life and especially electiontools.org. They offer ideas for using social media more effectively and tools to estimate voting time and polling place needs.
H/T Americans with a Conscience Checklist
Submitted by Kristan Smith-Park, Indivisible Acton
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Support the ROE Act at the MA Democratic Convention
The September 14 Massachusetts Democratic Convention is an ‘action agenda’ convention (also known as an ‘issues’ convention) where the party begins the process of identifying and developing strategies for the issues of the coming year.
Many Indivisible members from across the state are delegates to the convention this year. We will be asked to vote for resolutions that reflect our values and goals. These resolutions can be submitted by any group or individual to the Resolutions Committee before August 30 for review by a sub-committee.
Indivisible-MA would like to endorse an important resolution being presented for consideration concerning women’s reproductive rights. Several Indivisible chapters across the state have been working closely with the ROE Coalition (Planned Parenthood, NARAL, ACLU, and others) to support the ROE Act (S.1209/H.3320) that is currently in the legislature. The ROE Act is a bill that would protect and expand abortion access in MA by updating our outdated laws and would codify modern and compassionate abortion law in MA if attacks on Roe v. Wade are successful.
You can read about it here.
We are currently collaborating with the ROE Coalition on a proposed resolution that we are hoping the committee and the entire convention body would support. The proposed resolution states:
“NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Democratic Party hereby states its commitment to the protection of abortion rights, access to reproductive health care, and an individual’s right to make reproductive decisions about their own body. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Democratic Party does hereby support the immediate passage of the ROE Act, Massachusetts Senate Bill S.1209 and House Bill H.3320.”
The Indivisible-MA board and many Indivisible chapters have indicated strong support for this joint resolution proposal, and we would like to confirm that a strong majority of the Indivisible MA chapters agree with an endorsement of this resolution. All resolution proposals must be submitted by August 30 in order to be considered by the committee and to ultimately be approved (we hope overwhelmingly) on the floor of the convention!
This newsletter is one of the ways that we are seeking to confirm the support of as many MA groups as possible and we are hoping you can let us know as soon as possible as the deadline is coming soon. Please email veninger@aol.com or ppoindexterpup@gmail.com.
Submitted by Laurie Veninger, Indivisible Outer Cape
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Early Voting Has Begun for Dan McCready
Early voting has started for an epic election redo in North Carolina’s Ninth Congressional District, where Democrat Dan McCready is running against Dan “Bathroom Bill” Bishop.
Both Democrats and Republicans are anxiously awaiting the outcome of this special election. A Democratic win could further dim GOP hopes of taking back the House in 2020, leading to more incumbent retirements. If the Republicans prevail, it could give the GOP momentum toward retaking dozens of House districts on Trump turf currently held by Democrats.
With early voting underway, the McCready campaign is ready to drive likely Democratic voters to early voting sites (different from polling locations!) While the early voting period runs from 8/21-9/6, weekend voting at most locations is limited to just a few hours on the first weekend. It’s likely that there will be long lines at these voting locations, making it difficult for people who cannot take off time from work to vote.
McCready’s campaign has received steady support from Massachusetts donors and volunteers since he began running for this seat in 2017.
Go here to find out how you can help kick Dan's campaign into high gear.
It's time to win this thing!
Submitted by Susan Labandibar, Swing Left Greater Boston
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Ditch Mitch BBQ Events on the Cape and Islands
On behalf of Indivisible Kentucky, a six-part Cape-and-Islands-wide fundraising effort is ongoing, sponsored by Lower Cape Indivisible, Indivisible Outer Cape, Indivisible Martha’s Vineyard, and Indivisible Nantucket.
We are raising funds to help their #DitchMitch2020 campaign to oust Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and raise funds for capacity-building and billboard campaigns to spread the word in rural Kentucky that Mitch McConnell is bad for Kentucky and bad for the country.
Only one event remains: Martha’s Vineyard, Saturday, September 21, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
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Register College Students in Maine to Defeat Susan Collins
Now is the time to register students as they head back to school in Southern Maine. Three-quarters of Maine’s voters have voted for Susan Collins for Senate at least once. Happily, new student voters have no such track record!
Five voter registration trips to choose from:
- September 3, Portland, University of Southern Maine.
- September 4, South Portland, Southern Maine Community College.
- September 5, Portland, University of Southern Maine.
- September 6, South Portland, Southern Maine Community College.
No experience is necessary. We'll provide training. carpools, and everything else you need.
RSVP and get details here.
Submitted by Susan Labandibar, Swing Left Greater Boston
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Medicare for All Forum in Groton
Healthcare ranks as one of the highest concern among Americans.That's one of the many reasons why Medicare for All is so important. Do you still have unanswered questions about this progressive legislation to provide basic health care rights to everyone in Massachusetts?
Come hear a panel of experts speak about why the proposed legislation is so urgently needed, and why the time is now to get it passed. Sponsored by Senator Jamie Eldridge and Indivisible Nashoba.
RSVP here.
Day Wednesday, September 18
Time 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Place Groton Public Library, 99 Main Street, Groton
Submitted by Margaret Scarsdale, Indivisible Nashoba
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NEWS FROM the BERKSHIRES to BOSTON
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Links to Local News From Around MA
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This Land: How Cowboys, Capitalism, and Corruption are Ruining the American West
By Christopher Ketcham
A hard-hitting look at the battle now raging over the fate of the public lands in the American West–and a plea for the protection of these last wild places
The Mueller Report
Looking for some light summer reading or listening? Here are ways to read the Mueller Report so that you know exactly what is at stake.
Here are a couple of ways to get a quick overview:
- Read or listen to Mueller's Executive Summaries: the 10-page summary of Volume I, which deals with Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and its interactions with the Trump Campaign, and the 6-page summary of Volume II which focuses on the obstruction of justice portion of the Investigation.
- Watch Mueller's televised statement (<10 minutes) or read it here.
H/T Indivisible Acton Area newsletter
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by Jane Mayer
One of the New York Times best books of the year.
Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today? From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group.
In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump's victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a huge victory for the billionaires who have been pouring money in the American political system.
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
by Nancy MacLean
“[A] vibrant intellectual history of the radical right . . . [MacLean] has dug deep into her material—not just Buchanan’s voluminous, unsorted papers, but other archives, too—and she has made powerful and disturbing use of it all. . . . The behind-the-scenes days and works of Buchanan show how much deliberation and persistence—in the face of formidable opposition—underlie the anti-governing politics ascendant today. What we think of as dysfunction is the result of years of strategic effort.” —The Atlantic
The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage
by Jared Yates Sexton
A first-hand account of the events that shaped the 2016 presidential election and the cultural forces that powered Donald Trump into the White House.
“Sexton grapples with the Trump campaign from the perspective of the crowds reveling in the candidate’s presence and message. It is a useful vantage point given the increasingly blatant bigotry in the months since the election.” —The Washington Post
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life
by Eric Klinenberg
Eric Klinenberg is a professor of sociology and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. In this book, he focuses on how social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life. "In Palaces for the People, Eric Klinenberg offers a new perspective on what people and places have to do with each other, by looking at the social side of our physical spaces." —New York Times
Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History
by Kurt Andersen
“The single most important explanation, and the fullest explanation, of how Donald Trump became president of the United States . . . nothing less than the most important book that I have read this year.”—Lawrence O’Donnell
How Democracies Die
by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Both authors are Professors of Government at Harvard University. Based on years of research into the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, the authors present a deep understanding of how and why democracies die; an alarming analysis of how democracy is being subverted today in the US and beyond; and a guide for maintaining and repairing a threatened democracy, for governments, political parties and individuals.
Fascism: A Warning
by Madeleine Albright
A personal and urgent examination of fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state. #1 New York Times Bestseller.
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Running for Office? Let Us Know!
While Indivisible-MA may not do any candidate endorsements this year, we can let other Indivisibles across the state know about your race. Use this form to tell us about your candidacy. Thank you for stepping up!
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Submit Items to the Mass Action Newsletter
Submit any events you would like to place in our online calendar and this newsletter using this event promotion form.
Tell us about your group's activities and successes using this submission form. You may include links to pages with more details.
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Keep in Touch - Join Us on Slack
MA Indivisibles have a place to chat and share events and ideas on Slack. If you're not familiar with Slack, don't worry, it's easy to use. Ask your group leader to send you an invitation.
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Give a Little to Keep Indivisible Growing
Both the national organization and local groups are building tools and infrastructure so that we can coordinate to have a stronger voice here in Massachusetts as well as nationally as we carry this work forward to the 2020 elections. This all takes a bit of cash. Please donate to the national organization or to your local group to help us continue this work.
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Our Mission
The Indivisible mission is to fuel a progressive grassroots network of local groups to resist the Trump Agenda.
Indivisible Massachusetts is a consortium of leaders from more than 250 local Massachusetts Indivisible groups, working together to bring our groups together for events and to leverage our numbers to make our efforts more effective.
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