6! They want to kill bear cubs in their dens. It’s just another day in GOP-world.

This rule got a reprieve from its original deadline, but it’s really up tomorrow…

You have until Sep 6, at 11:59 PM ET to tell them that this is wrong.

This is not hunting. This is the lazy and inhumane slaughter of key predator animals necessary to keep natural ecosystems in balance in areas where they should be safe.

The Interior Department is planning on easing regulations on “sport” hunting in Alaska national reserves. The new rule would allow bear cubs to be killed along with their mothers, caribou to be killed while swimming, and wolves and their pups to be killed in their dens. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, speaking next to a dead animal head, argues that this is merely a move to align federal regulations with Alaska state law, while others say that the rollback would allow for cruel and inhumane hunting practices. The proposed rule has a 60-day open comment period which ends tonight.
Rule being discussed is here and you can check on the statistics of responses.

Comment here. Continue reading “Wed 9/5: THE DEADLINE IS UP TOMORROW – 9/6! They want to kill bear cubs in their dens. It’s just another day in GOP-world.” →

Wed 9/5: Write a letter to Kavanaugh! And other forms of dissent.

Enlarged version here.

Action #1 – Write a letter to Kavanaugh

Tell him to stiffen up, ditch his over-eager handlers, order the White House to release ALL of his writings. AND direct the committee to allow enough time for the papers to be properly examined.

Like the ones where he says it’s a “traditional exercise” of presidential power to ignore laws the White House views as unconstitutional, as he defended the controversial practice of signing statements prevalent in George W. Bush’s White House.

Until we can find a more direct email to the man (please share if you already have one to indivisibleventura@gmail.com), submit your letter through the email link at your senators’ office with instructions for them to print them out and hand to Kavanaugh at the hearings.

Source Material for letters: Swipe the letter above or read these great letters and reports and write something better.

Oppose the Confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the US (civilrights.org)(Indivisible)
A Report on Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh (suitupmaine)
Where Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh stands on key issues (CNN)
Kavanaugh Confirmation would do grave harm (AFJ)
The Kavanaugh Files (aclu)

Contact your Senator:
Senator Feinstein: email
and Senator Harris: email
Other Contacts: https://hq-salsa.wiredforchange.com

Email the United States Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit: WebInformation@cadc.uscourts.gov

Snail-mail the United States Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit:
Hon. Brett M. Kavanaugh
United States Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit
E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse
333 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001

Continue reading “Wed 9/5: Write a letter to Kavanaugh! And other forms of dissent.” →

Tues 9/4: MORE actions for today’s SCOTUS hearing! – updated 12:17 pm. Women getting arrested at the hearing. Donate for bail!

#1 – Make the calls – they are starting to scare the GOP and strengthen dissent against Kavanaugh

Polls are coming in and the GOP is getting nervous. Just tested this and it takes less than 6 minutes to leave short messages of support with staff at ALL of Feinstein and Harris’s offices. Especially if you set your phone up like this. Line for Fresno is busy? Call back at your next coffee break.

They’re not your senators? Go here. If your senators are perfectly OK with killing Roe v. Wade, as well as protections for pre-existing conditions, affordable healthcare, the environment, worker’s rights, seniors, students, LGBTQ people, the poor and the middle class, while protecting a possible crook and corporations, then spend that 6 minutes telling them, at every one of their offices, that you’ll send them packing boxes for after the election.

Contact your Senator:
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
Other Contacts: https://hq-salsa.wiredforchange.com

#2 – Phonebank for Planned Parenthood

Help Planned Parenthood phone bank to stop Kavanaugh FROM YOUR COUCH!! Phonebankers will be calling pro-choice North Dakotans and urging them to tell Senators Heitkamp and Hoeven to stand with North Dakotans and protect privacy in healthcare and the fairness of the Supreme Court.

HOW TO REMOTE PHONEBANK TO SAVE SCOTUS:
All you need is a phone AND headphones with a mic, a tablet, or a laptop, then:
1. Sign up with ActionID here.
2. After sign up, in a new tab, go to this link to get started:
Phone numbers, scripts, and instructions on how to log your conversation are super easy and intuitive.

Continue reading “Tues 9/4: MORE actions for today’s SCOTUS hearing! – updated 12:17 pm. Women getting arrested at the hearing. Donate for bail!” →

Tues 9/4: This is our Labor Week. 4 days to the end of Roe v. Wade. Light up your senator’s phone lines and tell them “Hell, no!”

Transcript: Interview with Trump by Chris Matthews of MSNBC

“I don’t have to call. My senator is already a Democrat.” Wrong.

(Slate) “If the Senate were currently on the brink of passing a bill that would ban abortion in much of the country, progressives would surely be swarming every congressional office—even those of conservative Republicans. Confirming Kavanaugh will have roughly the same effect, yet only a tiny fraction of the country seems especially upset about it. Roe is popular among Democrats and Republicans, and when it goes, Americans will take to the streets en masse. Their anger will snowball once they see the grim reality of abortion bans—the women arrested and imprisoned for exerting control over their bodies. (Nearly one in four women in the US will have abortion in their lifetime.) For now, though, they are watching the disaster unfold in slow motion, and few seem moved to even call their senators.”

We have four days. Despite potentially being the deciding vote in an upcoming legal battle about the President’s ability to be indicted while in office, Republicans are still largely on-board with confirming him without reading into his record all that deeply. Democrats are not sure we have their backs.

CHANGE THAT!

Action – Call your senators, Red or Blue.

Senators will be watching their call volume this week as hearings begin and Kavanaugh is back in the news. Make him too toxic to touch. It’s starting to work. Get your phone programmed so you can do this easily.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [____] to know that we support [his/her] fight against the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh for a lifetime seat on our Supreme Court. I want the vote postponed until the 100,000 pages of his records are released by the White House.

Continue reading “Tues 9/4: This is our Labor Week. 4 days to the end of Roe v. Wade. Light up your senator’s phone lines and tell them “Hell, no!”” →

Weekly Postcard Parties until the Election! Let’s help flip our sister district CA-25 – a MUST to turn the House Blue!

We will be joining the effort to get out the vote in California Congressional District 25. Our goal is to send out 5,000 postcards before the November elections! We are not endorsing a candidate, just advocating power to the polls.

Every Wednesday from 11am-2pm at Santino’s – Postcard Pizza Parties! (See below for evening parties)
September: 12th, 19th, and 26th – October: 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th
When: Wednesdays at 11:00AM – 2:00 PM
Where: Santino’s Pizza Parlor – 4321 Telegraph Rd, Ventura
Fun! Pizza will be provided (we must keep up our energy – and a little pizza grease adds to the homey, handwritten touch!)
RSVP: No need – just come!
Note: Not to be downers, but we would appreciate that if you order ANYTHING besides the pizza we provide, that you foot the bill for it! We have to account ahead of time for all funds we spend.

Postcard Party – “After Dark” at Panera Bread
When: October 17th at 6-8pm
Where: Panera Bread – 4910 Telephone Rd, Ventura
RSVP: No need – just come!

Can’t make it? Help fund these events – click here!

CD25 includes parts of Ventura County, Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and Palmdale. We Venturans can’t vote in CD25, but we can help our neighbors turn their district blue – and help ourselves by helping to flip one of the 24 districts needed to turn the entire House blue! We are not endorsing a candidate, just advocating power to the polls.

Our appeal will be directly to the Democratic voters in CA25 – NOT mass political mailings, because all of our cards will be handwritten. Each will be a message from one voter to another. We are simply asking Americans to do that most American thing — VOTE!

Fri – 8/31: 3 immigration actions – Kavanaugh, local DACA clinic, help for Paris, TX.

Action #1 – Don’t give Kavanaugh a free pass on immigration issues.

Everyone is focused on how he’ll overbalance the court into making extremist and unpopular decisions on Roe vs Wade, the Affordable Care Act, executive power, voting rights, and affirmative action, while protecting Trump from legal jeopardy. However, there are a number of immigration cases that are working their way up through lower courts that will come before SCOTUS too and he has already proven his hostility towards them.

So, guess how Kavanaugh will vote on cases regarding these issues…

DACA: Two different federal judges, two conflicting outcomes. This will be going to the Supreme Court. (C-span)(vox)
Sanctuary: The rights of states and cities versus federal agencies in immigration enforcement. (thehill)
Incarcerating children: The government’s right to separate groups as they please, including children, overruling the Flores agreement.(nytimes)
Bond hearings: The ability to detain immigrants without bond. (wapo)
Incarceration without limit: The government’s right to keep immigrants locked up in a detention facility indefinitely if the government is unable to deport them to their native country. The 2001 Zadvydas v. Davis decision that stopped this was a 5-4 decision.
Removing citizenship: The government’s right to remove citizenship from those who live next to the border, effectively creating stateless refugees (slate)
Right to education: Undocumented children’s right to attend public school regardless of immigration status ( Plyler v. Doe 1982) (LAtimes)
Birthright citizenship: (US v. Wong Kim Ark 1898) This is currently under attack, by Trump and others, and a future Supreme Court could hold that the 14th amendment does not confer automatic citizenship on the children of parents in the US without legal authorization. (wapo)
“Public Charge” restrictions: The government’s right to prevent immigrants from achieving citizenship or permanent residency if they legally accessed safety net programs in the past.

Continue reading “Fri – 8/31: 3 immigration actions – Kavanaugh, local DACA clinic, help for Paris, TX.” →

Thurs – 8/30: Net Neutrality is winning in CA! But the ISPs are fighting back…Comments to the FTC due Oct. 14th.

Action #1 – Finish it off, CA Senators! This is the “gold standard”.

SB 822, CA’s net neutrality bill that establishes net neutrality rules even stronger than those rejected by the White House, is almost at the finish line. By a bipartisan vote of 60-18, the bill passed the Assembly and it now goes back to the Senate for its final reconcilation vote. ISPs like AT&T and Comcast poured millions of dollars, doubt and discord into the legislature and scared senior citizens with misleading robocalls, resulting in the bill almost being gutted in June.

Calls in support of the legislation intensified last week after reports that Santa Clara County firefighters were hindered by Verizon’s deliberate throttling of internet service as they helped battle the massive Mendocino Complex fire in July. Although the company said that this issue is not related to net neutrality, county counsel James Williams said ““Verizon’s throttling has everything to do with net neutrality — it shows that the ISPs will act in their economic interests, even at the expense of public safety,” said county counsel James Williams.”

This issue, along with our phone calls and strong leadership by State Senator Scott Weiner, kept this mission on target.

Minimal script to your state senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to push SB 822 onto Governor Brown’s desk and watch him sign it.

Contact:

State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 http://sd19.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail
Not your people?:findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Action #2 – The ISP’s aren’t going quietly. Stop their end run through the FTC.

Continue reading “Thurs – 8/30: Net Neutrality is winning in CA! But the ISPs are fighting back…Comments to the FTC due Oct. 14th.” →

Wed 8/29: When men stop hurting and killing women, it will be time to stop this Act.

Action : Protect the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Minimal Script for a supporter: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Rep. [___] for supporting the interests and safety of women by sponsoring the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. (Carbajal and Brownley are on the list, of course.)

Minimal Script for a no show/GOP member: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to know why Rep. [___] isn’t supporting the interests and safety of women by sponsoring the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. I expect better of my congressperson and will express that in the ballot box.

Contact your Legislator

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
Other Contacts: https://hq-salsa.wiredforchange.com

Background

Continue reading “Wed 8/29: When men stop hurting and killing women, it will be time to stop this Act.” →

Tues 8/28: CA legislative update. Your calls killed AB 84! Let’s get net neutrality and police use-of-force over the finish line.

It’s the home stretch for the California state legislature who will be voting on all bills on the floor of both chambers between now and the deadline of August 31st.

If you haven’t called on these yet, do it this morning! This is most likely their last day.
Items in BLUE are new to this list today!

(For those unfamiliar with how bills are passed in CA, here is a description of each stage on a bill’s little red and green flow chart, found under the “status” tab. Here is the main page link for CA legislation.)

Good news – You did it!

AB 84 is dead! – Look how close this bill, that would have drastically changed CA campaign finance law for the worse, came to passing!

AB 84

It would have permitted caucus leaders to make unlimited contributions for independent expenditures for and against candidates of their choosing, not necessarily the candidate endorsed by their party. It would have dramatically expanded the influence of undesirable special interests like fossil fuels, charter school, and the private prison industry and was opposed by the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, and a host of other groups who oppose the influence of dark money in our politics.

Instead, it has been officially ordered to the inactive file at the request of Senator Monning.

Our top priority bills:

Continue reading “Tues 8/28: CA legislative update. Your calls killed AB 84! Let’s get net neutrality and police use-of-force over the finish line.” →

Mon – 8/27: Calls & postcards… Today’s focus – Kavanaugh and hate groups.

(Awesome protester and sign at the Stop Kavanaugh protest rally yesterday.)

Making a fuss makes a difference. Just look what happened in Georgia.

Action #1 – Your latest Kava-naw action

(Note: if you haven’t called your senators about Kavanaugh’s nomination yet, go here, here, here or here for scripts. And if you have called, call again. We need to swamp the call numbers!)

Due to recent revelations that have implicated Trump in federal crime, all ten Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have called for a postponement of the Kavanaugh hearings that were set to begin on September 4^th. Instead, they are asking Chairman Grassley to hold a special meeting “to discuss a bipartisan, fair, and transparent process for moving forward.”

Contacts
Call: Call the Senate Judiciary Committee at (202) 224-5225. Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want the Senate Judiciary Committee to postpose the Kavanaugh hearing until our president is cleared of committing federal crimes.

Send two postcards:
Send one to Senator Grassley’s office to ask him to postpone the hearing until we know whether or not our president is a criminal.
Mailing address: 135 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510

Send another to:
The Senate Judiciary Committee.
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 224
50 Constitution Ave, NE
Washington, DC 20002

Email the whistleblower contact: whistleblower@judiciary-rep.senate.gov