Background Check Expansion Senator Christopher Murphy (D-CT) has introduced the Background Check Expansion Act, S. 2009. This bill would make background checks nearly universal, closing the gun-show loophole and mandating that all gun sales, including private sales, go through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Action: 1. Contact your Senators and ask them to support S. 2009, the Background Check Expansion Act. 2. If one of your Senators is already a co-sponsor of the Act, thank them. 3. The bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. If your Senator sits on this committee, ask them to send the bill to the Senate for a vote.
0 Comments
SNAP Work Requirements The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program helps 40 million low-income Americans purchase food and is a vital factor in reducing poverty and food insecurity. Funding for SNAP is through the Farm Bill, which is reauthorized every five years. The House on 5/18 voted against the Farm Bill, but it will be brought to a vote again very soon. The Republicans have added strict work requirements which will affect the eligibility of many SNAP recipients. As most SNAP recipients are children, adults with disabilities, or senior citizens, the work requirement is harsh, unnecessary, and will certainly increase hardship and poverty for many, especially as penalties for failing to meet requirements will lead to punitively extended loss of benefits. Action: Contact your Member of Congress and ask them to vote against H.R. 2, the Farm Bill, if it contains any work requirements to access SNAP. Catch-Up Day! If you haven’t crossed this week’s finish line yet, today’s the day! It’s Past Time to Impeach USA Today (hardly a bastion of the Left) has just published an op. ed. piece entitled “The real impeachment question isn't if Trump broke the law. It's if we can survive him.” The article points out that it’s not so much any particular crime which renders Trump unfit for office - it’s his behavior in general: "To start, there is little evidence that the phrase “high crimes and misdemeanors” was understood in the 1780s to mean indictable crimes. Rather, the Framers were broadly concerned with abuse of power, corruption and injury to the nation." It is clear by now that Trump’s presidency is indeed characterized by abuse of power, corruption, and injury to the nation. Action: Contact your Member of Congress to say that it is time to impeach the President before he does any further damage to the nation at home and to its reputation abroad. Net Neutrality Good news! The Senate has just passed S.J. Res. 52, “A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to ‘Restoring Internet Freedom’.” In other words, the Senate wants to return to net neutrality. All Democratic Senators plus three of their Republican colleagues voted for this measure. The measure now moves to the House. Action: 1. If your Senator is a Democrat, thank them for passing this resolution. 2. Thank one or more of the Republicans who voted for it: Collins, Murkowski, and/or Kennedy. 3. Contact your Member of Congress to express your approval of S.J. Res. 52 and asking them to support the the same measure in the House, H.R. Res. 129, in order to nullify the FCC’s ruling known by the misnomer “Restoring Internet Freedom.” Trigger Happy Cop We’ve probably all heard about the Buena Park, CA off-duty policeman who threatened a shopper with a gun because he (wrongly) suspected the man of - gasp - having stolen a packet of mints. The Buena Park PD seem pretty sorry about the whole thing, but the incident is sadly indicative of a prevalent style of policing in this country - coercive, violent, and punitive. Action: Write or telephone the Buena Park Police Department to complain about the officer’s behavior. The Police Chief is Corey S. Sianez if you wish to write to him personally. Phone numbers and address for Buena Park PD: http://www.bppd.com/contact_us/index.php Condemn Israel’s Attack Israeli forces reacted with deadly force against Palestinian protesters on Monday, causing 52 deaths (including six children and one paramedic) and hundreds of casualties. Action: Contact the Israeli Embassy, condemning Israel’s indiscriminate shooting of civilian demonstrators. Trump and McCain The White House has refused to apologize for aide Kelly Sadler’s tactless and callous reference to McCain’s imminent demise. A lot of Senators, including Republicans, are angry about this rotten behavior. Action: Contact your Senators and ask them to censure the White House’s behavior in the matter of Sadler’s insensitive and rude remarks. No to Protect and Serve Act Both Houses have introduced the Protect and Serve Act, which would make law enforcement officials a protected class and turn crimes against them into the equivalent of hate crimes carrying additional penalties. Attacks on police officers are in fact at an all-time low, and the introduction of this act is bluster and propaganda. Police do not need extra protections - they need more training and more accountability. Action: 1. Contact your MoC and ask them to OPPOSE HR 5698, Protect and Serve Act of 2018. If your MoC is one of the co-sponsors, contact them and complain loudly. 2. Contact your Senators and ask them to oppose the Senate version of the Protect and Serve Act which has been introduced by Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). If it ain’t broke, don’t make a law to fix it - this law is all about grandstanding and chest thumping, not about fixing an actual problem. |
Archives
November 2019
|