Minimal script for call: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep./Sen [___] to celebrate “Thank a Mail Carrier Day” by:
Passing this year’s bipartisan version of the USPS Fairness Act. [Rep. – H.R.695/Sen. – S.145] (removes the onerous burden of pre-funding retirement.)
Ensuring the quick appointment of strong and diverse public service advocates to the USPS Board of Governors who can vote out DeJoy. (Currently, the 6-member board has no Black or women members.)
Returning postal banking, and adding other financial services like check-cashing, that help poorer communities.
Ensuring that the Postal Service continues to provide good jobs for workers, including Black workers, workers without bachelor’s degrees, and military veterans.
Opposing any privatization and outsourcing of USPS services.
The impeachment trial is starting on February 8, but we need to make the phones jump in our senators’ offices. If you live in a state with GOP SENATORS, OR HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT DO, ask them to make 10 CALLS to their senators offices before that date.
This morning (1/3), President Biden, Vice President Harris and House and Senate leadership met in the Rotunda to pay their respects to Officer Brian D. Sicknick, the U.S. Capitol police office who died defending the Capitol on Jan. 6. At least 134 police officers were assaulted, some with life-changing injuries and two have committed suicide. A horrified country won’t soon forget the images of white nationalists with confederate flags and Nazi paraphernalia, sacking and looting our capitol. Neither will the rest of the world, which recognizes a coup when they see one and has no confusion over who’s to blame.
Minimal script for Democratic senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote to convict Trump and to disqualify him from holding further office. Americans are united in the importance of holding him accountable to strengthen the country’s safeguards against a future presidency like his.
Minimal script for Republican senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to vote to convict Trump and to disqualify him from holding further office. I hope [he/she] will honor [his/her] oath & defend our Republic. If inciting a militant attack on our country and Capitol, doesn’t disqualify a leader from public office, what does? #DoYourDuty
More script if you want it (both parties): I am also frustrated that the Senate sees fit to waste taxpayer-paid time playing games with the Constitution, trying to shirk their responsibility to hold a trial. Trump was impeached while still a sitting president, but the Constitution allows impeachment even after an official leaves office, and lawyer/legislators like Senators Hawley and Cruz, who both worked for Supreme Court justices, should know better. We are tired of funding this kind of corruption.
Action #1:Tell Your Rep(s) to Support Rep. Cori Bush’s Resolution H.Res. 25
There are still people in Congress who played a role in the violent insurrection a few weeks ago, which attempted to overturn the election and incited a white supremacist attack. Denouncing the white supremacy behind the attack now, after amplifying Trump’s lies for months, is too little, too late. We must remove its endorsers from Congress — Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the over 100 Republicans who voted against certifying the electoral college and condemn all targeted and malicious efforts to disenfranchise Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters.
Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] for Rep. [___] to support Rep. Cori Bush’s Resolution H.Res. 25 to investigate and report on whether members of the House who have sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election have violated their oath of office. If they are found to have violated their oath of office, I want [him/her] to support serious sanctions, including removal from the House of Representatives.
Rep-checkhere. Neither Brownley nor Carbajal are signed on as cosponsors yet.
Contacts
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
Image: Assemblymember Monique Límon with her A+ Courage Score poster from 2019.
It’s “Thank or Spank” time for CA legislators!
(from CEJA) “Today, the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) released its 8th annual Environmental Justice Scorecard. The scorecard is the only one in the state to grade legislators and the Governor on their voting and veto record on environmental justice bills.The scorecard highlights last year’s underwhelming performance by lawmakers and the Governor. …Only 5 lawmakers earned A+ grades by supporting critical Environmental Justice legislation at every turn — down from 30 in 2019. Only 17 California legislators scored 90% or higher on the Scorecard in 2020 compared to 61 legislators in 2019.” (Available in English, Spanish, Chinese or Korean)
Action #1: Please email a quick note of thanks to our “A” level legislators!
We expect more from legislators who have “Democrat” after their name, and it comes as no surprise that one of those “A+” grades went to our retired Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (!!!), another one went to Sen. Henry Stern and Assemblymember (now Senator) Monique Límon got an “A.” We can’t thank them by bringing big posters to their offices like we’ve done before, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show our legislators that we appreciate their fighting for our environment. Please send a short “Congratulations/Thanks” note to the legislators who’ve made us proud!
David Hogg, from March for our Lives has asked for our help.
“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launched her career by attacking me and my classmates. She called to EXECUTE lawmakers and cheered on armed white supremacists at the Capitol. A resolution to expel her from the House is being introduced today – ask your Rep. to support it” -David, March For Our Lives
The recent insurrection clarified a serious issue…GOP refusal to vote for DC statehood last year put its residents in danger.
Phone/email and postcard scripts! Join in! LET’S COMMIT TO REVERSING THIS INJUSTICE NOW! (Very enlightening interview with the D.C.’s shadow legislator – Sen. Paul Strauss. )
The residents of what is now the District of Columbia lost their full democratic rights to self-government and a government of, by and for the people over 221 years ago. Ever since then, they have been demanding that Congress restore the full rights of American citizenship. Now, with future insurrectionists planning their next attacks, being without full rights is not just unjust. It’s also dangerous.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, “We must get statehoodon the President’s desk within the first 100 days of the 117th Congress. Congress must immediately transfer command of the District of Columbia National Guard from the President of the United States and put it squarely under the command and control of the District of Columbia.”
Asked how she would have responded to the riot had she been a governor instead of a mayor, Bowser said, “We would not be restricted in any way for how to deploy the Guard, so we wouldn’t have to clear a deployment plan with the secretary of the Army.”
Call your legislators! – The Senate just introduced their own statehood bill – S.51
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Rep./Sen. [___] for being an original cosponsor for the [Rep. – HR.51/ Sen. – S.51] – Washington, D.C. Admission Act. I’m also requesting the Rep./Sen.[___] cosponsor [Rep. – H.R.1/Sen. S.1] – For the People Act of 2021, which includes support for DC statehood.
These 3 actions will take you less than 10 minutes…
#1 – Tell your legislators to support the American Rescue Plan.
(5calls.org) The new Biden-Harris administration has put forth a 1.9 trillion dollar package, the American Rescue Plan, aimed at economic aid for struggling families, relief for small businesses, and a national vaccination program to increase testing and vaccine distribution. (White House fact sheet here.) (Comparison between previous COVID relief plans and this one here.)
give $170 billion for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education,
provide $350 billion in state and local government aid,
add an additional $50 billion toward Covid-19 testing, and
provide $20 billion toward a national vaccination program.
Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep./Sen. [___] to support the American Rescue Plan. [you can point out issues from the list above that are especially important to you and your family.] People have been kept waiting for this too long and there is true suffering in our country. Please move this through quickly.
Call out your senators to do their job. Our Constitution requires them to hold an impeachment trial.
(Header quote here.) What the GOP wants: In the live-action Constitution class which is now our country, Republicans, just off their last performance of subverting that document and two centuries of precedent to overturn our election, are backing an argument by former Judge Michael Luttig against holding a Senate hearing of Trump’s impeachment charges. His opinion, as restated by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.): “The Senate lacks constitutional authority to conduct impeachment proceedings against a former president. The Founders designed the impeachment process as a way to remove officeholders from public office—not an inquest against private citizens.”
Update: Rand Paul just forced a vote on the constitutionality of an impeachment trial.
What the experts say: Steven Calabresi, the co-founder of the GOP’s beloved right-wing Federalist Society and 170 others across the legal spectrum confirmed that not only can Trump be tried by the Senate, but it is, in fact, their constitutional duty, not a choice, to try any official impeached by the House, whether in office or not. The letter was also signed by Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University, who is the “leading scholar on the specific question of whether former officials can be impeached.”
Minimal Script: I’m calling from [zip code]. I want to make sure Sen. [___] knows that 170 Constitutional experts such as Steven Calabresi, co-founder of the Federalist Society, have determined that the Senate has a constitutional duty to try Trump for inciting insurrection. And though they can no longer remove him from his seat, we want [him/her] to strongly support his conviction and the constitutional remedy of disqualifying him from future federal office.
Image and new movie date: In Frank Capra’s classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart’s everyman hero uses a filibuster to shame a corrupt Senate baron into confessing his schemes.
We have only 2 years before the next election and we have a lot to fix NOW!
This is a great video explainer from 2019 explaining what a Senate filibuster is.
The potential of the Democratic majority in the Senate actually passing progressive legislation has so alarmed now-Minority (oh, say that again!) Leader Mitch McConnell, that he’s already begun obstructing Joe Biden’s policy agenda. He’s threatened to delay an Organizing Resolution (which determines the power-sharing agreement in the 50-50 Senate) unless Democrats commit to keeping the archaic filibuster rule intact, hobbling ourselves on his hope that a majority of GOP will be ushered in at the midterms.
However, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) stated: “I don’t think there is any way that Democrats would find it acceptable to invoke new rules that McConnell certainly never volunteered to abide by himself.” Encourage and embolden our senators by calling them!
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to be sure that Majority Speaker Schumer is willing to end the filibuster as necessary to get the will of 81 million Americans pushed through the Senate.
H.R.1/S.1 – For the People Act of 2021: The most important bill for our democracy is still the first one.
HR 1, first introducted in 2019, is a collection of reforms to campaign finance, voting rights, and government ethics for all three branches of government. After Trump’s real-time master class in corruption, we need this bill’s stronger guardrails more than ever. (This helpful video, from 2019, is a great conversation with the bill’s author, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD-3). More videos from him on this bill here.)
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Rep./Sen. [___] to cosponsor [House: H.R. 1/Senate: S. 1], the For the People Act and urge [him/her] to work to swiftly pass this legislation.
More script if you want it: Addressing corruption, protecting voting rights, and reforming campaign finance should be bipartisan priorities to make our democracy better for all Americans, regardless of their political affiliation.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 