Weekend wonkery… Help us choose state bills to follow!

Action – Help nominate bills for CA StateStrong to push through to the finish line!

The Indivisible coalition “CA State Strong” is choosing important grassroots bills to follow and promote through our state’s complicated legislative process and Indivisible Ventura has the opportunity to send in 10 of our favorites for consideration. Check here for this year’s crop of new legislative proposals. Email your picks to indivisibleventura@gmail.com by end of day Monday, 2/25 (if you have an explanation why a bill is so important to you, send that too) and we’ll send them in. Yes, even for the perpetual civics class we now live in, this IS an extremely wonky activity.

You know who you are… Continue reading “Weekend wonkery… Help us choose state bills to follow!” →

Fri 2/22: Immigration Friday! Email your legislators and get ready for Sunday’s “Swap Meet Justice.”

**“Far from the public eye, the Trump administration is strangling the naturalization process.”**

– Steven Choi, National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), a coalition of advocacy groups that is pushing to offer naturalization workshops and legal services to would-be citizens

Action #1 – Ask our legislators to stop the paperwork war on those who would be citizens.

The Trump administration is sneakily interfering with the citizenship process. While the 750,793 people who have applied for citizenship since last June is a normal number (Nine million immigrants are eligible to become citizens), the rate at which their applications are being processed is the lowest in a decade. On top of the $725 immigrants must pay to apply for citizenship, the wait for naturalization is now twice what it was two years ago, ranging from ten months to 31 months in some places, with no legitimate excuse to explain the slowdown. Lawyers claim that the Citizenship & Immigration Services has become “a third immigration enforcement component of DHS.” More green card holders are being deported under harsher Trump-rules too, with their information being shared with ICE. The NPNA states that the Trump administration is creating a “second wall” of barriers to citizenship and resultant voting rights, with:

Continue reading “Fri 2/22: Immigration Friday! Email your legislators and get ready for Sunday’s “Swap Meet Justice.”” →

Thu – 2/21: Keeping on the pressure.

Thanks to the over 200 protesters who showed up Monday, Presidents’ Day! (KEYT)(VC Star)(VCStar)(VC Star images) You were amazing! And we were not alone!

Action #1 – Call your friends and family in Red states & ask them to call their legislator’s offices.

Why should we have all the fun? Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) introduced a joint resolut ion of termination to end Trump’s national emergency declaration and already has 92 cosponsors. So these are the rules: If this passes in the House, the Senate has to vote on it within 18 days. If the resolution passes both chambers and the president vetoes it, then a two-thirds majority is necessary to override it. So how do we get from here to there?

In the House, Democrats have a 235-197 majority . For a veto-proof 2/3rds vote with all members present, we would need 53 Republicans to join in.
In the Senate, Democrats/Independents are down by 47 to 53. We would need 4 Republican votes to pass and 22 Senators who’ve relocated their civic duty to be veto-proof.

Who are the most persuadable?
For senators, those listed below are the best bets, but try them all. Really, all they want is to get re-elected, so have your family and friends prove to them that they are active voters.

“Oppose” -At least eight GOP senators have said they oppose the national emergency declaration – which doesn’t guarantee a vote but it’s a start. They are: Sens. Lamar Alexander (TN), Collins (MN), Murkowski (AK), Paul (KY), Rubio (FL), Sasse (NE), Thom Tillis (NC) and Toomey (PA)

Continue reading “Thu – 2/21: Keeping on the pressure.” →

Wed – 2/20: New “Courage Scores” for our state legislators! Click & Thank!

(CA Indivisible leaders just got back from a Summit meeting in Los Angeles, and we’re sharing some of the great information we talked about.)

Action – Thank our state legislators for voting for us. It’s easy!

Today, 2/20, is the rollout of the latest Courage Scores for our state legislators (2018). This gives us a chance to see how our Democratic representatives are translating our progressive values into votes. Lucky us, ours are “A” legislators! Some, however, are voting like Republicans, and have been awarded Hall of Shame “F” status. (No actual Republicans are counted in this process.)

(From CourageScore) “Courage Scores grade California state legislators on their political courage, revealing how well they stand up for their constituents over corporate lobbyists that exploit Californians, particularly the poor, disadvantaged, or communities of color.

Continue reading “Wed – 2/20: New “Courage Scores” for our state legislators! Click & Thank!” →

Tues – 2/19: 4 civil rights activities – learn, join in!

Tonight – Meeting – “Police and White Supremacy” Panel

Hosted by Showing Up for Racial Justice – SURJ Ventura County and TheLAB
Facebook link, 7 PM – 8:30 PM (see note below for new attendees),
11137 Azahar St, Ventura, California 93004

Continue reading “Tues – 2/19: 4 civil rights activities – learn, join in!” →

Tues 2/19: Buzz through this action on bees…

Action – Email your legislators to ask them to stop the EPA’s policy of granting large exceptions for the spraying of apicidal pesticides.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported last week that in 2018 it issued so-called “emergency” approvals to spray sulfoxaflor—an insecticide that scientists as well as the agency itself consider to be “very highly toxic” to bees—on more than 16 million acres of crops known to attract bees.

Read this article here. The video below shows one aspect of what is happening to the bees when exposed to these types of chemical pesticides.

Continue reading “Tues 2/19: Buzz through this action on bees…” →

Tues 2/19: More actions against the wall!

Thanks to the over 200 protesters who showed up yesterday! (KEYT)(VC Star)(VCStar)(VC Star images) You are amazing!

Action #1 & 2 – Tell your legislator we support their use of “every remedy available” to stop this wall boondoggle.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, confirmed in a tweet Friday that she and Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, plan to introduce a joint resolution to terminate the emergency declaration, something House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Thursday that he fully supports.

Minimal Script #1 for all legislators: I’m calling from [zip code] and I support Rep./Sen. [__] efforts to use every remedy available, including voting for a resolution of disapproval for the president’s false declaration of an emergency and to engage in a lawsuit if necessary to stop this process.

Minimum script #2 for senators only: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want /Sen. [__] to know that I support the RAIDER Act of 2019

Continue reading “Tues 2/19: More actions against the wall!” →

Mon – 2/18 – This is no ordinary Presidents’ Day! Come out and roar!

“…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”. (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address)

Action #1 – Join us on Presidents Day— Today – Monday (2/18) from noon to 1:30pm

We’ll be at the corner of Victoria and Telephone in Ventura in front of the Government Center (800 S Victoria Ave, Ventura) (Share this Facebook link: here)

Bring your flags, signs, dress in red, white, and blue – and show what real patriots look like!

If you aren’t within driving distance of Ventura, look here for your nearest event. There are over 260 protests happening at 12 noon all across America!

Remind our legislators that we expect them to protect us from a nonsense campaign slogan run amok.
Remind our legislators that we expect them to protect the people, animals and environment from the harm this wall would cause.
Remind our legislators that we expect them to protect our tax money from being wasted on a vanity project.
Remind our politicians that when this debacle is recorded in the history books, they’re getting one chance to be described as the heroes who saved our system of checks and balances. Continue reading “Mon – 2/18 – This is no ordinary Presidents’ Day! Come out and roar!” →

Stop the #FakeNationalEmergency! Presidents’ Day Protest Ventura

Share, share, share the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2474989142574688/ – we need a HUGE turnout! This is a NATIONAL EVENT!

Join us on Presidents Day—Monday, 2/18 from noon to 1:30pm— on the corner of Victoria and Telephone in Ventura in front of the Government Center (800 S Victoria Ave, Ventura)

Bring your flags, signs, dress in red, white, and blue – and show what real patriots look like!

Donald Trump has declared a #FakeNationalEmergency—an illegal power grab from an unhinged man to push his racist, dangerous policies.

Let’s be clear: Trump is the real national emergency. In crisis moments like this—when a president abuses power so egregiously—how the citizenry responds in the immediate aftermath can shape the course of our country’s history. That’s why MoveOn members and allies are launching hundreds of events all across the country.

Together, we will say NO to Trump’s power grabs, NO to his racist border wall, NO to xenophobia, and NO to HATE.

Trump’s undemocratic power grab Continue reading “Stop the #FakeNationalEmergency! Presidents’ Day Protest Ventura” →

Fri 2/15: #FakeNationalEmergency is now in full swing. 3 actions!

Read this article. It’s a great primer to understand the scope of this issue.

Right after El Chapo’s trial made it completely clear how useless a border wall would be, right after both New Mexico and California withdrew their guard troops as unnecessary, and in the face of a spending bill that reflected that reality, our president has decided to take a huge authoritarian leap forward with a declaration of a national emergency. This is a deliberate end run around Congress and our country’s system of checks and balances, all to appease his voting base.

While California‘s governor and attorney general get their legal challenges tuned up…

…we have work to do…

Action #1 – Tell Nancy Pelosi we expect her to bring her “A” game with this petition.

Those of us who aren’t in Senator Pelosi’s district can’t call her or email her. However, we can add our names to a petition to demand that she push back hard against this racist and anti-immigrant policy. Sign the petition here.

Continue reading “Fri 2/15: #FakeNationalEmergency is now in full swing. 3 actions!” →