Voting Rights Since 1965, the VRA has been instrumental in protecting the constitutional rights of citizens who might otherwise have been disenfranchised by discriminatory practices. In 2013, in Shelby County v Holder, the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Section 4 laid out the procedures whereby Justice Department approval was necessary for certain states (mostly in the South) before they could make changes to their electoral laws or district maps. The Supreme Court recognized that discrimination continues to exist but found that Section 4 was out of date and could no longer be justified constitutionally. In order for the VRA to keep its teeth, Congress must rewrite and amend parts of the Act. Events in Charlottesville have shown us that we’re a long way from being safe from racism and discrimination. It is crucial to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act. Action: Contact your Member of Congress and ask them how they plan to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act.
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CHIP Funding Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program expires on September 30, 2017. The continuation of this program is crucial to providing health care for many American children whose parents can’t afford coverage for their families. Action: Everyone who has Twitter: Go to http://familiesusa.org/initiatives/childrens-health-insurance-program and re-Tweet the Tweets. Plus: 1. Write a letter to the editor of a local paper describing the importance of continuing the CHIP program. Letter helps here: http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50902/letter/?letter_KEY=1457 and/or: 2. Contact your Member of Congress and ask them to ensure that Congress continues funding for the CHIP program. http://www.house.gov. Some good guys singing a good song for Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3__WmcmY1o Bonus: http://www.npr.org/2017/08/10/541628170/first-listen-the-blind-boys-of-alabama-almost-home Still Charlottesville Representatives Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NY) have introduced a resolution to censure Trump’s Charlottesville remarks. Action: If your Member of Congress is Republican, fax or email them to ask that they support the effort by Jayapal et al to formally censure Trump for failing to name and blame the true perpetrators of the violence in Charlottesville. Ask for a reply to your message. If your Member of Congress is a Democrat, send a free fax to Jayapal, Nadler, and/or Coleman thanking them for introducing the resolution. Charlottesville Again Action: 1. Write the following (or similar) to your Member of Congress: The President has made his moral depravity perfectly clear. It has come to the point where you can support American values or support this President. You cannot do both. If you do not openly declare for this President’s impeachment, you are not doing your job. If you do not repudiate him, you will not have a job. (Thanks, Kevin!) 2. Call your Member of Congress and ask what his/her position is on the President’s refusal to name and blame the true perpetrators of the Charlottesville terror. Contact info: www.congress.gov Donald Trump is Racist + Clean Water Rule
Scott Pruitt has proposed that the EPA move to rollback or remove an Obama-era protection to water supplies in the form of the “Clean Water Rule”. Rescinding this regulation would allow businesses to dump waste into bodies of water that are currently protected and that feed into drinking water. From July 27th a 30-day public comment period began on the proposal – before this period is up we need to flood them with comments!! Action:
Donald Trump has responded to the violence in Charlottesville by saying that the “alt-left” is equally to blame. Action: Call the White House and tell him you disapprove of his response and want to see him take a more active roll in fighting white supremacy. Contact info here. For more information on the EPA rollbacks read these articles: https://undark.org/article/clean-water-rule-epa-pruitt/ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/14/poison-flowed-americas-waters-trump Sam Clovis
President Trump has nominated Sam Clovis for Chief Scientist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Given that Clovis is not a scientist, this could have a negative impact on our environment if he makes unfounded choices about which research is appropriate to conduct. Action:
DACA The Obama-era DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program is about to be challenged in court by ten states, with D.A. Ken Paxton of Texas leading the pack. The White House and the Justice Department have not said whether they plan to defend the program. Thousands of young Americans will be in danger of deportation to what, to them, is a foreign country. Action: 1. Contact the Justice Department and ask them to defend the DACA program. 2. Contact the President and ask him to defend the DACA program. Charlottesville Unlike POTUS45, the Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, has spoken out strongly and decisively against the white supremacists whose hateful actions caused the mayhem in Charlottesville. McAuliffe did not pull any punches - he clearly named, identified, and blamed the true perpetrators. Action: 1. Contact Governor McAuliffe and thank him for his robust and timely words. You could also thank him on social media. 2. Contact Trump and condemn his flimsy response, which seems to suggest that racial bigotry is only one among many problems which may have caused the riots. A White House spokesperson said, "The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together." Lame. Sunday. No worries; enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiViJkz10nw |
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November 2019
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