Monday 2/5 – Standing Indivisible.

ACTION #1 – Stand up for our Servers! – DEADLINE TODAY, FEB. 5th!

The Department of Labor has proposed a rule making it legal for employers to take tips if they pay minimum wage. In a new report, 80% of the stolen tips, 4.6 billion annually would be taken from women and their families. Although proponents of this rule say that its for the benefit of back-of-house workers, owners do NOT have to share them with anyone else and can simply pocket them. Some already do.

Sample Written Script: I object to this tip rule (RIN: 1235-AA21). It’d go against decades of federal and state law and precedent, which has safeguarded tips as the property of the workers who receive them. If adopted, this regulation would force a vulnerable workforce further into poverty, economic instability, and vulnerability to harassment and assault. I urge the Department of Labor to withdraw this proposed rule (RIN: 1235-AA21).

Submit your comment here

More information:

Action #2 – Are we a “Give a hand up” or a “Pull up the Drawbridge!” society? Continue reading “Monday 2/5 – Standing Indivisible.” →

Friday Clean-up: Be a volunteer, calls on immigration and anti-choice bills.

Help people become citizens…and voters!

Here’s something we, as private citizens, can do to help our neighbors through a process that was usually much easier when many of our own families crossed into America. (Exceptions here)

Feb 1st: Train to be a Citizenship Fair Volunteer!

Come listen to an enlightening, frightening and often hilarious lecture from local immigration attorney Vanessa Frank on how to help a green card holder navigate successfully through their N-400 “Application for Naturalization” form. You do not need to be able to speak Spanish. Sign up for a shift at the next Citizenship Fair, Feb. 3rd. Also volunteers are needed to work with the children, do registration at the door, etc..

5-7 pm at the UU Church of Ventura. 5654 Ralston Street, Ventura.

Feb. 3rd: Citizenship Fair (There will be more!)

Link for flyer here. Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm (sign up for available time shifts) at the Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School Cafeteria. 301 N. Marquite St. Oxnard, CA 93030

Tell any Green Card holders you know who are eligible to apply for citizenship to register for this Fair!

The Fair itsef is free and applicants do not have to live in Ventura County. There are great immigration lawyers on-hand to assist the volunteers on any knotty problems that may be encountered. The applicants end up with a completed form, with required photos attached, ready to send in to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Yes, this is a very big deal.

However, the first step is that they need to register here:

805UNITEDFORALL@GMAIL.COM or call (213) 446-4851
Link for flyer here.

It’s truly one of the most amazing volunteer opportunties!

(Even if you’ve made these calls before, do it again. Our Democratic legislators need your calls on their tallies and they need to know you’ve got their back.) Continue reading “Friday Clean-up: Be a volunteer, calls on immigration and anti-choice bills.” →

Wednesday – Is “boondoggle” one word or two? Asking for a friend…

Our voices are being heard on DACA. Pile it on!

Schumer has taken back his ridiculous offer to pay for a wall in return for a DACA deal, a solution to border protection that’s simultaneously simple-minded, environmentally destructive and insensitive to property rights of states, individuals and tribal groups, while remaining useless at its stated purpose.

Current costs are estimated at 21.6 billion by the Department of Homeland Security. But its construction is just the beginning of the cost to us. But, as in East Germany, surely there will be any number of volunteers willing to remove it when this xenophobic wave passes.

Embed from Getty Images

Pile on some more. Let’s make ourselves very, very clear.

Minimal Script: I am calling from [zip code] to tell Rep./Sen. [___] that we want a clean DREAM vote, without any ineffectual and money-wasting sideshows like Trump’s wall or cruel anti-family measures (discussed in video below), and funding for the Community Health Centers and for Puerto Rico’s recovery.

Continue reading →

We ALL Marched for Justice in Ventura!

A beautiful day to march, to celebrate unity after the Thomas Fire, and to come together in peace and love, Ventura County Rising and the March for Justice was everything we hoped it would be!

Continue reading “We ALL Marched for Justice in Ventura!” →

America is greater than this…

Right now, the Trump administration is asking their supporters to swamp Democratic senators with a message. A message that they will be blamed for a shutdown by choosing “illegal immigrants” over the healthcare of 9 million kids…

…a message that our great country has sunk to the level of a “hunger-games” dystopia, where we can afford to give huge tax-cut giveaways to the wealthy and corporations, but can only leave a few beans at the bottom of a can for our children to scrabble over.

But America is greater than that.

And they are ALL our children.

The kids who born here, and the ones that weren’t. Just like America has been since its beginning.

These are the kids that need the CHIP insurance that the GOP couldn’t fit into their busy schedule of party-line health care repeals and tax-scams.
Continue reading “America is greater than this…” →

Tuesday 1/9 – We remain really bad at immigration.

(photo from https://twitter.com/Stl_Manifest, historic losers in our immigration wars. Check out the brief history of how people became citizens at the bottom of this column.)

1. Pass a Clean Dream Act – Save Them, Save Ourselves.

“Many of the young people covered by DACA are young professionals, working as teachers, doctors, nurses, and lawyers, who contribute greatly to the American economy”. Both right and left-leaning research groups indicate that ending DACA, and deporting the workers who will no longer enjoy legal status, could reduce the size of the U.S. economy by anywhere from $280 billion to $430 billion over the next decade.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Senator [___] to insist on a clean Dream Act as a condition for funding the federal government.

More script if you need it: We need to ensure that Dreamers can go to school, work, and serve in the military—but not in exchange for a border wall or increased deportation of other immigrants.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-walls-going-happen-not-going-daca/

TELL Senator Feinstein TO CONTINUE TO BE BRAVE: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

and THANK 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 Senator Contacts: http://www.phoneyourrep.com

2. A profound moral failure, carried on the backs of kids.

Continue reading “Tuesday 1/9 – We remain really bad at immigration.” →

The Miller Saturday Review – 1/6/17 Edition

(Collection of news from the week for fellow wonks and concerned citizens by Barb Miller of Indivisible Ventura)

Legislation on our minds this week…

- S. 2016 – No Unconstitutional Strike Against North Korea Act of 2017 Deeming that there is insufficient protection against global catastrophe, Senator Ed Markey advocated for his bill, which points out that the Constitution forbids presidents from launching wars that have not been declared by Congress, and which includes a ban on using any funds to violate the law by nuking North Korea. The hearing’s witnesses, and Senators from both major parties, made clear that they did not trust the president to obey laws. In fact, in launching a war, nuclear or otherwise, Trump would violate not only the Constitution but also the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the United Nations Charter. The latter also bans threatening war, which Trump does on a regular basis. Introduced 10/26/2017
- S. 2047 – Preventing Preemptive War in North Korea Act of 2017. No funds may be used for kinetic military operations in North Korea absent an imminent threat to the United States without express congressional authorization.
- S 2148 – Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2017 A bill to authorize dedicated domestic terrorism offices within the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to analyze and monitor domestic terrorist activity and require the Federal Government to take steps to prevent domestic terrorism. 11/16/2017 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
- H.R. 3771 — Special Counsel Integrity Act. Bipartisan legislation which protects the Russia collusion investigation by taking away Donald Trumps ability to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.

Civil Liberties Continue reading “The Miller Saturday Review – 1/6/17 Edition” →

Sanity-Saving Good News – The #MeToo Edition

Good News for Women!

Time Magazine chose the women brave enough to stand up to their harrassers as “Person of the Year” over the man accused of being a harrasser himself. Which is great!

However, as we learn more about the #MeToo movement, it is disappointing to learn that the actual original author, Tarana Burke, who started it as part of her work with young harrassment and assault survivors more than ten years ago, wasn’t included on the cover. Our thanks and congratulations to her.

Continue reading “Sanity-Saving Good News – The #MeToo Edition” →

Sanity-Saving Good News – “History of Resistance” – Edition

The kids are alright!

(Editor’s note: I don’t remember doing anything like this as a kid. I’m in awe of these young people…)

College students take classes to learn how to be philanthropists. We can also learn on-line, thanks to Warren Buffett’s sister.

“No Spencer, no KKK, no fascist USA.” University of Michigan students practiced the art of peaceful protest when Richard Spencer requested to speak on campus. (Hey, Ivanka, this is how you use the word “complicit“!) Meanwhile, 26 European countries have simply banned him.

These DACA/Dreamers went far beyond a simple march with signs in support of Dreamers.

Continue reading “Sanity-Saving Good News – “History of Resistance” – Edition” →

“Clean-Dream-Act” or bust.

“I was a stranger and you welcomed me”. Matthew 25:35

Who are Dream Heroes? They are members of Congress who pledge to protect Dreamers. If Congress hasn’t passed the Dream Act by Dec. 8—when funding for the government expires—then they will insist on including it as part of the December spending bill. The pledge is that they will only vote for a continuing resolution (“CR”) if it has the Dream Act included. A vote on a continuing resolution without the Dream Act is a vote to deport Dreamers.

Minimal Script to thank someone for their support: I’m writing to thank Rep./Senator [___] for standing with the 800,000 threatened Dreamers . Please join with the other supporters who will refuse to vote on a continuing resolution unless it includes a clean Dream Act.

Minimal Script for those not on the right side of history yet: I’m calling from zip code [___ to ask Rep./Senator [___] to stand with the 25 Democratic representatives who are refusing to proceed with a continuing resolution until passing a clean Dream Act.

More script if you want it: We must ensure that Dreamers can go to school, work, and serve in the military—but not in exchange for a border wall or increased deportation of other immigrants.

Will you be thanking or spanking today? Continue reading ““Clean-Dream-Act” or bust.” →