CALL OUT REPUBLICAN SENATORS FOR VIOLATING THEIR OATHS OF IMPARTIALITY: Before the impeachment trial, every senator swore an oath to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: so help me God,” yet every Republican Senator voted against calling for White House documents related to the withholding of aid to the Ukraine and against mandating testimony from key witnesses including former national security advisor John Bolton, and White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney. https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/479296-senate-adopts-rules-for-trump-trial. This shameful and unethical behavior makes it clear that Republicans have no interest in uncovering or allowing evidence that could further damage Trump’s presidency, which calls their “impartiality” into grave question. Let’s publicize our disgust with our Republican Senators’ breach of ethics by writing letters to the editor and posting on their social media pages.Papers now make it easy to submit them online and the NEA has a guide to help us put our thoughts together: http://www.nea.org/home/19683.htmWe can use this extensive list from National Popular Vote to find links to submit letters to the editor in our states:
PROTEST OPENING OF NEW SHELTER FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN: The Department of Health and Human Services has announced that they are opening a new detention facility for migrant children in Carrizo Springs, Texas. https://apnews.com/259d11069cbd4a34be9b4e7a187352da?f. These facilities are labeled as “emergency influx” shelters, so they do not have to abide by the Flores Settlement, which mandates that children should not be held for more than 20 days. The government is also saying that it is planning to scale back or cut recreation, English classes, and legal services at these and other migrant detention facilities. In short, this is a prison. Similar detention centers in Tornillo, Texas and Homestead, Florida, closed in part due to public outcry, and we must again put pressure on our MoCs and HHS (1-202-205-5445; https://www.facebook.com/HHS/; Twitter: @HHS.gov) to stop imprisoning migrant children.
TELL BOLTON’S PUBLISHER THAT WE WON’T BUY HIS BOOK: Tweet Simon and Schuster @simonschuster or call them at 1 (800) 223-2336 and let them know we will not purchase Bolton’s 2020 book unless he testifies at the Impeachment trial. Let use our buying power to let the Publishers know that we aren’t playing Bolton’s game.
INSPIRE ACTION WITH OUR MUSIC: The Face the Music Collective is getting ready to launch. If we are interested musician, we can use our performances to inspire action by providing suggestions for specific ways to get more of us civically involved. To get started, we can 1) Partner with an organization for a good cause, 2) Construct shows to support the cause, and 3) Provide an explicit call to action in our shows and sign people up. We can find out more about this project in this brief YouTube video:
EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT—VA, with its newly flipped state government, became the 38th state to pass the ERA, a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit discrimination based on sex. With ¾’s of the states having ratified the ERA, it is now ready to be added to the Constitution—except that the deadline for ratification has passed. Let’s tell our two senators and one representative to sign on to S.J.Res.6, the joint resolution that would eliminate the deadline for ratification of the ERA and allow for its adoption.
COMMENTS NEEDED ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY CHANGE: “On Nov. 18, the Social Security Administration announced its proposal to conduct roughly 2.6 million additional eligibility reviews of adults and children currently receiving Social Security disability benefits in the next decade. If undertaken, the change would be likely to result in the loss of benefits for many thousands of disabled citizens of all ages.” The new rule would require millions to undergo more frequent medical reviews, on the theory that many SSD recipients are actually able to work--or might someday be; this proposal joins a largely overlooked list of recent changes further disadvantaging SSD applicants:
2020 ELECTIONS: If we are looking for 2020 Election information or if we have some to share, we can check out Equal Vote Local’s BlueWave Database 2020. We can click here to find information about candidates, voting and more arranged by state. This editable document also allows us to add our groups and any candidates running for office:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ir8YGs1F0Lfayl6T7XR7tklnYrEk4VcEzTkPumLVWAI
RECLAIM OUR VOTE NEEDS VOLUNTEERS—Reclaim Our Vote (ROV) is a non-partisan phone bank, postcard, and textbank campaign within the Center for Common Ground http://centerforcommonground.org/main/ . Partners include the NAACP, Rapid Resist, Black Voters Matter, Virginia Poor People’s Campaign, DemLabs, Mi Familia Vota, Progressive Coders Network, and VoteRiders. ROV’s 2020 goal is to increase turnout among voters of color by at least 20% over 2016 in at least four states in which voters of color make up more than 20% of the population. Let’s sign up and get to work: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup
SPOTLIGHT ON GOVERNORS.Eleven (11) gubernatorial seats will be on the ballot on Nov. 3. Let's look for our own states' information and make a plan to vote in the primary. (Source: ballotpedia.org.) a) Delaware. Primary: Sept. 15. Incumbent: John Carney, Jr. (D); b) Indiana. Primary: May 5. Incumbent: Eric Holcomb(R); c) Missouri. Primary: Aug 4. Incumbent:Mike Parson (R);d) Montana. Primary: June 2. Incumbent: Steve Bullock (D) term-limited. e) New Hampshire. Primary: Sept. 8. Incumbent: Chris Sununu (R) f) North Carolina. Primary: March 3 (with runoff elections April 21/May 12); Incumbent: Roy Cooper (D); g) North Dakota. Primary: June 9. Incumbent: Doug Burgum (R); h) Utah. Primary: June 20. Incumbent: Gary Herbert (R) not running. i) Vermont. Primary: Aug. 11. Incumbent: Phillip Scott (R); j) Washington. Primary: Aug. 4 (top two move on to general election). Incumbent: Jay Inslee (D); k) West Virginia. Primary: May 12. Incumbent: Jim Justice (R). If we have family and friends in any of these states, let's make sure they know the primary dates too.
HOW TO PERSUADE NON-AFFILIATED VOTERS:There are many voters out there who have not declared a party.These non-affiliated voters (NAV) could be tapped to choose a party and participate in state primaries.Here’s how one activist used free software to create a canvassing app and a video to encourage voters to register their party preference: https://mailchi.mp/thedemlabs/triagevotersLet’s bring this idea to our own areas and ask DemLabs for help.
AM I STILL RESISTERED TO VOTE? “Millions of Americans have been purged from the voter rolls in recent years, as state governments seek to remove the names of individuals who have died, relocated, or otherwise become ineligible to vote.But such purges have been widely criticized owing to instances in which states have relied on bad information, removing eligible voters, who are often unaware until they attempt to cast their ballots on Election Day.” https://fortune.com/2020/01/14/am-i-registered-to-vote-voter-registration-deadlines-2020-how-to-check/Let’s keep checking to make sure we ARE registered using these sources the article references: “To determine your voter registration status,
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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