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Tax Bill May Not Have Votes! Indivisible has said there may not be enough votes in the Senate to pass the GOP Tax Bill  Action: Keep calling your senators to say that the GOP Tax Bill does NOT have your support. Call one or more of their offices. www.senate.gov
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Tellin’ It Like It Is GOP Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona is an outspoken critic of Trump and plans to give a series of speeches underscoring the importance of truth and facts to our democracy. As #45 continues to drag down the standards, safety, welfare, and morale of the nation with his jettisoning of any kind of ethical compass, it is vital that lawmakers, especially Republicans, champion the cause of truth and refuse to be sucked down into the swamp. Action: Contact Senator Flake to thank him for standing up for truth. www.flake.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-jeff or faxzero.com/fax_senate/F000444 Tax Action: Keep calling your Senators. Tax Bill The GOP tax bill has been passed out of committee and now is ready to go for a vote before the full Senate. Action: Contact your Senators and tell them that you still don’t like it. If you called them before, call another one of their offices. If you’ve called all their offices, email. If you emailed before, send a fax. If you’ve done all of this, repeat. www.senate.gov https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php Tax Nobody knows exactly what the GOP will be voting on when they get around to voting on their tax “reform” bill. However, this much is certain: they will be scrabbling around to save money in areas where cutting funding will have disastrous results in order to send money to areas where they hope the trickle-down fairy will produce magical results. Action: Contact your senators to say that it is unacceptable to look for savings in order to put money in the pockets of the already-wealthy. www.senate.gov www.faxzero.com//fax_senate.php CHIP Congress has failed to meet the deadline to re-fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and several states are about to run out of money to continue the program. Action: Contact your Member of Congress to ask them to work quickly to continue funding for this vital program. Congressional Anti-Sexual Harassment Training Resolution Despite an ongoing problem with sexual harassment complaints on The Hill, Congress has been reluctant to institute mandatory anti-sexual harassment training. After campaigning for this measure for many years, California Democrat Jackie Speier has succeeded in bringing a resolution to a vote. The Senate recently enacted a similar measure, and the House is due to vote early this week. However, mandatory training does not go far enough to address the problem: current reporting procedures discriminate against the complainant, and secrecy shrouds the names of Congressional representatives whose behavior has lead to settlements paid for by tax dollars. Action: Contact your Member of Congress to ask that: 1. they vote in favor of Rep. Speier’s anti-sexual harassment training resolution; 2. they insist on streamlined, transparent reporting procedures which are in line with those used elsewhere in government; and 3. they release the names of lawmakers whose behavior has lead to settlements paid for out of the Congressional budget (i.e. by us) Thanksgiving The Ten-Minute Activist announces a Thanksgiving break until Monday, November 27. Take time to appreciate the good things and enjoy a break from worries. Gratitude and peace are positive forces; let us be hopeful that they have the power to help bring about the changes we want to see. Email your Senators about the tax plan one more time today, and then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dhSdnDb3tk Still Taxes Here’s a good piece in The New Yorker for you to read: “The Shocking Math of the Republican Tax Plan.” Action: Call your Senators again and remind them that the main motivation for the GOP wanting this tax plan is to toady up to their big donors who want MORE MONEY in their pockets and don’t care about the rest of us. Or mention any of the other myriad reasons why this plan is not what we want or need. Contact: www.senate.gov In honor of Pedro Infante’s 100th birthday yesterday, enjoy this excellent rendition of “Cucurrucucú Paloma.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7i3xljYFpg __________________________________________________ Also …. because Trump has backed out of his plan to end the ban on importing elephant trophies into this country, we should write to applaud his decision, in order to reinforce this rare show of good sense. The decision is not final, and he should be encouraged to continue to uphold the ban. The Trump boys have been involved in big game hunting, including elephants; they would no doubt like Dad to let them bring home trophies, and we don’t want that to happen. Apart from the unedifying spectacle of adult men gloating over the death of intelligent animals, if we allow the import of legally-obtained trophies, it will greatly increase the illegal trafficking in such items. So thanks to the POTUS for keeping the ban: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact Gun Legislation Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who (unlike his junior colleague) will occasionally surprise you and do something half-way reasonable, has introduced bi-partisan legislation, the Fix NICS Act, to strengthen the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The U.S. Air Force failed to release information to the database about the Sutherland Springs shooter’s history of domestic violence. Had they done so, he might have been prevented from buying a weapon. The bill requires that agencies and jurisdictions come up with systems which will ensure comprehensive reporting and sets out a system of penalties for those which fail to report. The legislation does not go far enough in extending the requirement of background checks to all gun sales. (Private sales are not covered, which includes a significant number of gun show sales.) However, it is a step in the right direction. Action: 1. Send a message to Senator Cornyn, thanking him for introducing the Fix NICS Act. Ask how he plans to ensure that all gun sales are subject to NICS background checks, instead of only 60% as under current law. 2. Send messages to your own senators, asking them to support the Fix NICS Act and also asking them to draft legislation to extend the requirement of background checks to 100% of gun sales. You Guessed It Yes, that’s right - Taxes! The House has passed their version of Tax “Reform” mostly along party lines. The Senate has stll to vote on their version, which would REPEAL THE ACA INDIVIDUAL MANDATE TO PURCHASE HEALTH INSURANCE, thus robbing health care from families in order to provide tax cuts to corporations. Their version of the bill has also been analysed by nonpartisan congressional tax analysts, who concluded that it would actually RAISE taxes by the end of the decade on Americans earning under $75,000 a year. It also abolishes federal deductions for payments to state and local taxes. Action: 1. If your Member of Congress voted for the Tax Bill, call their office to complain loudly. All Republicans voted for the bill, except for McClintock (CA-4), Rohrabacher (CA-48), Issa (CA-49), Jones (NC-3), LoBlondo (NJ-2), Smit (NJ-4), Lance (NJ-7), Frelinghuysen (NJ-11), Zeldin (NY-1), King (NY-2), Donovan (NY-11), Faso (NY-19), and Stefanik (NY-21). If one of these is your MoC, or your MoC is a Democrat, call to THANK them for opposing the bill. 2. Call your Senators again and state your opposition to their version of the bill and above all to the underhanded way in which it snatches health care in order to put money in the coffers of the wealthy and powerful and is predicted to actually raise taxes by the end of the decade. |
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November 2019
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