Comey, Russia, and Getting Rid of Trump Where do we begin? What about the 35 mental health professionals who signed a letter to the New York Times warning that Trump’s mental health is dangerous to the nation? Or the subpoena which the Senate Intelligence Committee has just served on Flynn? Sally Yates? How about the fact that Jeff Sessions, who already recused himself from the Russia investigation because he was caught lying, has now involved himself again in that very investigation by recommending the removal of the person in charge of it - Comey. Moreover, despite protestations from the White House that they did not hatch the plan to fire Comey, it is likely that the idea did in fact originate with the President and the Justice Department were merely ordered to come up with justifications. Action: 1. Some prominent Trump-supporting Republicans are now publicly expressing their dismay at his actions. Let’s contact (by phone or fax) the GOP Senators who have spoken out against Comey’s dismissal and in favor of an independent investigation. Thank them for their patriotism and ask them to continue demanding the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump/Russia nexus. Richard Burr (NC) (Send free fax here.) James Lankford (OK) (Send free fax here.) Ben Sasse (NE) (Doesn’t accept faxes.) John McCain (AZ) (Send free fax here.) 3. Keep visiting www.gofccyourself.com, clicking on “Express” and leaving your comments in favor of preserving net neutrality.
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God Bless John Oliver Trump and his sidekick Ajit Pai, the fox who has been put in charge of the FCC chickens, are gunning for NET NEUTRALITY. Net neutrality is the guarantor of freedom, democracy, justice, and opportunity in the modern world. And we know what Trump thinks of THOSE things. The FCC has a spot on its website where you can go to comment on the move to rescind the net neutrality rules; but they have (deliberately? ya think?) made the page almost unfindable. However, no worries - our hero John Oliver has bought the URL www.gofccyourself.com, which links directly to this page. Action:
Syria Action: Call your Senators, asking them to require Trump to comply with the Freedom of Information request submitted by the watchdog group United to Protect Democracy in an effort to discover if Trump’s missile attacks on Syria were legally justified. Senate contact info: www.senate.gov. EPA The EPA has dismissed about half the members of its 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors, which reviews EPA decisions to ensure that they are in line with the latest and best scientific research. Word is that they are planning to replace these members with representatives of the very industries which the EPA is supposed to police. In addition, the EPA has removed several pages of information about climate change from its website. And EPA administrator Scott Pruitt recently publicly denied the science behind climate change. Action: 1. Call the EPA headquarters to express your disapproval of these events: (202) 564-4700 2. Write a postcard to Scott Pruitt to complain: Scott Pruitt, Administrator EPA - Mail Code 1101A Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20460 3. Call your Member of Congress to complain about the EPA’s efficacy being undermined. House contact info at www.house.gov Health Care It’s payback time. Well, for those of us (not me) who managed to resist the temptation thus far to berate and anathematize their congressional reps who voted for AHCA, the time has come to tell them what we think. Action: 1. If your MoC voted in favor of AHCA, or if they were one of those who voted against it because it didn’t do enough to dismantle Obamacare (Andy Biggs, Walter Jones, Thomas Massie), write or call their office to express your dismay. If your call is answered by a staffer, try to engage them in conversation about their boss’s vote. One of the points to address is the fact that AHCA removed protection against high-risk patients having to pay more in premiums. Another point to press is that poor results are predicted by the Congressional Budget Office. And if you have any personal stories to tell, please do share them with your Member of Congress or their staff. 2. Write or call to ask your Member of Congress to co-sponsor and support HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act. If your MoC is already a co-sponsor, please thank them. 3. Option action for extra credit: If your MoC was a yes vote, find out if anyone is organizing a “die-in” in your District and go join the fray! House Contact Info: www.house.gov Sunday Funday - watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vs-H7xLnrs Or if you're new to the group, you could also catch up on some "housekeeping" actions which will help you in your future activist career: http://www.thetenminuteactivist.com/get-started.html Replenish Supplies, it's a marathon not a sprint.First Action:
With all the writing you've been doing to your members of Congress, you're probably due to replenish your postcards and stamps. Order some more if you need them. USPS will deliver stamps and we've been using these plain postcards. Second Action: In addition, take a moment to fax or write your senators to demand that they stop the AHCA now that they are the only ones standing between us and this disaster. WTF The House passed AHCA. Those who voted in favor apparently care more for ideology (and/or big money) than humanity. Hopefully we’ll get rid of a lot of them in 2018. Meanwhile the AHCA still has a large hurdle to cross: the Senate. So we’ll be focusing our future efforts there - all is not lost. Not ALL the GOP Members of Congress voted for the AHCA. Some voted against it because it didn’t go far enough in throwing Americans to the wolves. However, some Republicans opposed the legislation because they actually care about people, so let’s thank them for being menschen. Action: If your own MoC voted for the AHCA, you probably (like me) want to put him on the next convict ship to Alpha Centauri, but let’s forget about those guys today. Instead, here are the GOP Congresspeople who opposed AHCA for the right reasons. Send a nice postcard or email to as many as you can, thanking them for doing the right thing. Pick names you like, or pick randomly rather than starting at the beginning, or else Mr. Coffman’s going to get a swelled head. If one of them’s yours, send them flowers, or at least a heart emoji. Mike Coffman (CO 6) David Joyce (OH 14) Barbara Comstock (VA 10) John Katko (NY 24) Ryan Costello (PA 6) Leonard Lance (NJ 7) Charlie Dent (PA 15) Frank LoBiondo (NJ 2) Dan Donovan (NY 11) Patrick Meehan (PA 7) Brian Fitzpatrick (PA 8) Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL 27) Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA 3) Chris Smith (NJ 4) Mike Turner (OH 10) Stop the Zombie Apocalypse Keep AHCA in its Grave The GOP are claiming that they have enough votes to pass the amended AHCA THIS AFTERNOON (Thursday, May 4). Action: Call your Member of Congress at both their DC and constituency numbers as early as possible today. Try to talk to someone and get an answer as to how the MoC will vote. If they say they’ll vote yes, push them on the fact that states can still opt out of providing high-risk pools which don’t charge extra premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. House Contact Info: www.house.gov Net Neutrality Certain nefarious GOP Senators have introduced a bill to get rid of the FCC’s net neutrality rules. They have some fancy schmancy sounding justification for wanting to do this, but of course it all amounts to: “People we know (campaign donors? you betcha) aren’t making as much money out of the Internet as they would like.” Net neutrality underwrites the freedoms of the modern world - we CANNOT allow the GOP to get away with this. Action:
445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554 Phone: 1-888-225-5322 Email: Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov Twitter: @AjitPaiFCC
Health Care Action Again: If you have some extra time or inclination to call your MoC again, here are some talking points about the ACA/AHCA. Contact MoCs: www.house.gov Healthcare Again Action: This time when you call your Member of Congress (both numbers), have at your disposal the number of non-elderly (under 65) people in your District who have pre-existing conditions. This information can be found through this link at the Center for American Progress. The last column is the total number of non-elderly with pre-existing conditions. Ask your Member of Congress for a FIRM COMMITMENT that insurance companies will be barred from charging higher premiums for these constituents. Sour Grapes In a supremely petty move, Trump has opted to stop Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn program, an initiative which provides educational support for girls in the developing world at a cost of basically pocket change in terms of the U.S. budget. Action: Contact the White House to complain. White House and Congress contact info: Speak Out |
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