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Voter Suppression Voter suppression - it’s real, it’s getting worse, and it’s a deliberate GOP strategy to prevent immigrants, people of color, and low-income people from exercising their right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017, H.R. 2978 (cosponsored by 192 Democrats) and S. 1419 (co-sponsored by 47 Democrats, one Independent, and Lisa Murkowski) has been introduced in an effort to reinstitute the 1965 protections. Action: 1. Contact your Member of Congress - if GOP, ask why they have not cosponsored this bill, and ask what they plan to do to prevent voter suppression in your state. If Democrat, tell them that you think H.R. 2978 is an important piece of legislation, and thank them for cosponsoring. 2. Contact your Senator - if GOP, ask why they have not cosponsored this bill, and ask what they plan to do to prevent voter suppression in your state. If Democrat, tell them that you think H.R. 2978 is an important piece of legislation, and thank them for cosponsoring. 3. Everyone thank Murkowski for cosponsoring S. 1419.
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Sunday - cute animal day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DggHeuhpFvg Trump Praises Bully Trump has praised the actions of Montana’s Congressman Greg Gianforte, who body-slammed a reporter for The Guardian last year. Gianforte subsequently pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. Gianforte won a special election in Montana last year, but in order to serve his first full term, he needs to defeat Democratic challenger Kathleen Williams. Action: 1. Contact the White House to protest Trump’s condoning of assault. Or Tweet at him. 2. Donate to Gianforte’s challenger Kathleen Williams. Protect Benefits for Immigrants Kirstjen Nielsen’s DHS has proposed to refuse green cards to legal immigrants who are recipients of public service benefits, including common tax deductions. Cash welfare recipients are already penalized when it comes to being granted visas or permanent residency status, but the new proposals would extend this to penalize those who receive any kind of benefit, including SNAP, Medicare, Medicaid, and Section 8 vouchers. Immigrants would also be penalized if their US-citizen spouse or child receives any benefits. This is all playing to the Trump base and has no basis in reality, as immigrants are a net benefit to the country. Action: 1. Contact your Member of Congress and ask them to speak out against the DHS proposal to penalize legal immigrants who receive non-cash public benefits. As legal immigrants, they have the right to receive all the same benefits as citizens, especially as immigrants are net contributors to our economy. 2. Call the DHS at (202) 282-8000 and ask for the Secretary’s comment line. Leave a comment stating your opposition to the proposal to penalize immigrants who receive non-cash common public benefits. GOP to Prey on Medicare After crowing about how the tax breaks for the wealthy would not only not raise the deficit but would actually lower it, McConnell has (duh) realized that they made things worse. But rather than blaming the GOP’s own shortsighted and greedy tax-cutting rampage, he is blaming Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The GOP are threatening cuts to these programs to pay for their past mistakes. Action: 1. Contact Mitch McConnell and tell him what you think. 2. Contact your own Senators and ask them to pledge to protect Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. 3. Contact the White House and ask Trump to stand by his repeated promises to protect these programs. Trump's Tax Fraud On October 2, the New York Times published an investigation into President Trump's finances that credibly alleges that President Trump has engaged in frequent and extensive tax fraud. Like always, the GOP-led House and Senate have done nothing and thereby have failed to exercise their Constitutional responsibilities and hold the executive branch accountable in any meaningful way. Action: Contact your Republican representatives (if yours our Democrats, adopt the closest Republican-represented district to you) and ask them what they would do if the New York Times had credibly alleged President Obama or a President Hillary Clinton had engaged in comparable tax fraud. If your representatives offer you platitudes (likely) or simply say "no comment," feel free to let your representatives know that 1) the answer to what the GOP would do, of course, is quite a lot: multiple investigations, subpoenas, public hearings, etc. leading up to and including the Democratic president's impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate and 2) their failure to do anything amounts to rank hypocrisy and a betrayal of the country they profess to love so much. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html Trump & Sessions Oppose Police Reform Chicago has been working hard to reform its policing practices, working with the ACLU and the state of Illinois to increase police accountability and reduce violence and racial profiling. Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have criticized the plan and say they will oppose its implementation. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson together said that Trump was “out of step with the people of Chicago and out of step with reality.” Apparently Trump and Sessions don’t like accountability for police any more than they like it for themselves. Action: 1. Contact Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, decrying his interference with Chicago’s police reform. 2. Contact the White House and ask Trump to allow the City of Chicago to continue its efforts at police reform unimpeded. 3. Send a message of support to Rahm Emanuel. "If you look for the helpers, you'll know that there's hope." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGHtc_D328 |
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November 2019
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