(In honor of this National Day of Mourning, we’ve reconfigured our original post on “Would you rather use $500 million dollars to paint Trump’s wall or have FEMA help with the burial of his “warriors?” )
UPDATE 5/22/2020: Thanks to all who called! Trump is finally going to order flags at half-staff, possibly just for the Memorial Day weekend, after a letter from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) was made public. In April, Joe Biden (D) made the same request, stating “We’ve lost more people to this virus in the last several months than we lost in the entire Vietnam War.”
STILL NO AUTHORIZATION FOR FEMA TO HELP FUND BURIALS…
“The people of our country are warriors.” (Trump)
Or we’re cannon fodder.
How can we tell which? By the respect given to our dead, which, by today’s count, is closing on 94,000.
“The frame of war allows the president to call for the collective sacrifice of laborers without taking the measures necessary to ensure their safety, while the upper classes remain secure at home…The president’s language of wartime unity is a veil draped over a federal response that offers little more than contempt for those whose lives are at risk.”
And nowhere is that contempt more obvious than for the victims of this pandemic – Trump hasn’t bothered to lower the White House flag, a gesture to honor the dead which would cost him nothing, nor has he let FEMA help families with burial costs.
That agency normally funds funerals after disasters and on March 13th, the Trump administration declared that a “major disaster exists in all States and territories as a result of the virus.” In 2017, FEMA paid out $2.6 million to cover 976 funeral cost requests as a result of three hurricanes – appoximately $2,700 per approved application. But months into the coronavirus pandemic, families of COVID-19 victims have been forced to turn to religious centers and GoFundMe campaigns, because Trump has personally barred it from providing any services other than crisis counseling. This is on him and him alone.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and want Rep./Sen. [___] to know that almost 100,000 “warriors” have died in service to our president’s economic war and their sacrifice should be treated with respect. Why haven’t our nation’s flags been lowered to half staff? Why, after a disaster has been declared, hasn’t FEMA been authorized to help families of COVID-19 victims with funeral costs?
Contact
Rep. Julia Brownley: email, (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
or Rep. Salud Carbajal: email.(CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
and Senator Harris: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884
Who is my representative/senator?:https://whoismyrepresentative.com
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 