The Power of Many - Minnesota

Friday, February 9, 2018

Friday 2/9 Call to Action

Friday

1. Mini Government Shutdown
The government shut down for five hours last night thanks to Senator Rand Paul, who delayed the vote in an act of opposition against the addition of $320 billion to the federal budget deficit. (Strangely, Paul was not as vociferous when he voted for the tax bill that will add $1.5 trillion to said deficit.)

The new budget finally passed the House in the wee hours of the morning. It passed both the House and Senate with bipartisan support.
The new budget is a spending extravaganza that will increase funding for the military and support domestic programs, such as the following:
*Extend CHIP funding for 10 years
*Fund community health centers for two years
*$80 billion for disaster relief
*$6 billion for opioid and mental health treatment
*$5.8 for a Child Care Development Block Grant
*$4 billion for Veterans’ hospitals and clinics
*$20 billion for the National Institutes of Health
*$20 billion for infrastructure
*$4 billion for college affordability programs for teachers, police officers, and firefighters

In light of the recent tax cuts, where will the government get money to pay for all this? Congress also voted to increase the debt ceiling.

A solution for Dreamers was not included in the budget deal. Starting next week, Congress will hopefully start negotiations on a bill that will create a plan for these young, undocumented immigrants that have been waiting since September for protection against deportation.

Our job this week will be to remind our members of Congress to pass a clean DACA bill for once and for all.

From yesterday, here’s that Dreamer toolkit to guide your way when making calls. https://www.indivisible.org/…/immigrant-ally-toolkit-intro…/

5 Calls has a good calling script as well: https://5calls.org/issue/clean-dream-act-daca

I don’t know about you, but I am sick of calling about this. I can’t imagine how tired these poor Dreamers must be living the past five months in limbo.

2. Local Elections
The elections that take place in 2018 will have long term repercussions for Minnesota. We must mobilize and work together to get out the vote.
Minnesota’s first test is coming up on Monday, February 12th. (That’s 3 days away!)
Karla Bigham is running for the state Senate seat in district 54.
Melissa Wagner is running for the state House seat in district 23B.
You can help them succeed by volunteering to knock on doors or phone bank.

Karla Bigham
Door Knocks-
February 9 at 3 pm; Saturday, February 10 at 9 am; Sunday, February 11 at noon; Monday, February 12 at 9 am. Newport Field Office (1594 Hastings Ave., Newport)
Phone banks-
February 9, 5 pm and 7 pm shifts. AFSCME Office (300 Hardman Ave. South #3, South St. Paul)
Sign up here: http://www.karlabigham.com/events.html

Melissa Wagner
Check out this Facebook Even for opportunities to volunteer.https://www.facebook.com/events/180492566058189/

3. Fake Facebook Ads
(From Rogan’s list) Julia Angwin from ProPublica is collecting political ads from Facebook to save in case someone needs to check on them later. Remember, Russia bought thousands of ads during the 2016 campaign season with the intent of swaying the election. Angwin created a browser plugin that collects ads from Facebook. She asks users to decide if the ads are political or not. Any ads marked as political will be gathered into a database. Interested in helping? Check it out here:https://www.wnyc.org/story/political-ads-facebook/

Check out this new website for active activists in Minnesota's 2nd congressional district. https://cd2action.com/
Here’s a great way to keep track of Rep. Jason Lewis’ actions in Congress.http://mn02congresswatch.org/

Klobuchar-202-224-3244
Smith (202) 224-5641
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121
MN Legislators: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/legislators
Resistbot: https://resistbot.io/
Governor Dayton- https://mn.gov/governor/contact-us/

(ENG) Theme song for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Torch Relay (ENG sub)

The theme song for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Torch…

YOUTUBE.COM

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Thursday 2/8 Call to Action

Thursday 2/8

1. DACA
With a government shutdown looming House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi gave a marathon speech in support of Dreamers. Our Members of Congress need to know that we want them to pass a Clean Dream Act now. S1615/HR 3440
https://apnews.com/e53ae9e78f114f09beb83298f2edd021

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/nancy-pelosi-house-floor-speech-support-dreamers-8-hours?mbid=social_twitter

Looking for other ways to help? Check out this Immigrant Ally Toolkit Indivisible has put together.
https://www.indivisible.org/resource/immigrant-ally-toolkit-introduction/

2. Russian Hacking
DHS cybersecurity said that Russia hacked into US voters system in 2016 election. Congress needs to do something about protecting our voting process and not let foreign countries meddle in our elections.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/russians-penetrated-u-s-voter-systems-says-top-u-s-n845721?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

Borrowed from previous posts.

Minnesota's own, Senator Amy Klobuchar is working on bipartisan bills that will help protect our elections from foreign influence and make it easier for all eligible Americans to exercise their right to vote.

S.2261 Secure Elections Act https://www.congress.gov/bi…/115th-congress/senate-bill/2261
During the 2016 elections, Russia reportedly hacked presidential campaign accounts, launched cyberattacks against at least 21 state elections systems, and attacked a US voting systems software company. Sen. Klobuchar is working with Senate Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that would
*Improve cybersecurity information-sharing between states
*Provide resources to states so that they can scan voting systems for vulnerabilities
*Help states update voting equipment. (42 states have not updated their election equipment in over a decade!)
*Provide paper ballots as backup to ensure elections can be audited. (There are twelve states that cannot be audited right now!)

Unfortunately, it’s too late for comprehensive changes by the 2018 elections. If Congress acts now, they could help states start screening for vulnerabilities and share important information.
Senator Klobuchar thinks this should be a national priority and so do I. Let’s call Sen. Klobuchar and thank her for her work. Then call Senator Smith and encourage her to support this bill. Ask your representative to sponsor a similar bill in the House.

New bipartisan bills called, “Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines have been introduced in the Senate and more recently the House. These bills would impose penalties on Russia or any other foreign country that tried to interfere in US elections. Despite the fact that Trump refuses to sanction Russia, it would be a good idea to call your members of Congress and tell them to support these bills.

S 2313 https://www.congress.gov/bi…/115th-congress/senate-bill/2313
HR 4884 https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4884

3. Healthcare over Politics

Andy Slavitt along with a team of people have started a new movement called the United States of Care. What is this about?

*Every American should have an affordable regular source of health care for themselves and their families.

*All Americans should be protected from devastation due to illness or injury.

*Policies to achieve these aims must be economically responsible and win the political support needed to ensure long term stability.

https://unitedstatesofcare.org/

http://tcbmag.com/news/articles/2018/february/andy-slavitt-forms-affordable-health-care-focused

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Wednesday 2/7 Call to Action

Wednesday

1. Did you go to caucus last night? How did it go? Please share pictures and your experience in the comments.

The elections that take place in 2018 will have long term repercussions for Minnesota. We must mobilize and work together to get out the vote.
Minnesota’s first test is coming up on Monday, February 12th. (That’s five days away!)

Karla Bigham is running for the state Senate seat in district 54.
Melissa Wagner is running for the state House seat in district 23B.
You can help them succeed by volunteering to knock on doors or phone bank.

Karla Bigham
Door Knocks-
February 7-9 at 3 pm; Saturday, February 10 at 9 am; Sunday, February 11 at noon; Monday, February 12 at 9 am. Newport Field Office (1594 Hastings Ave., Newport)

Phone banks-
February 7-9, 5 pm and 7 pm shifts. AFSCME Office (300 Hardman Ave. South #3, South St. Paul)

Melissa Wagner
Check out this Facebook Even for opportunities to volunteer.https://www.facebook.com/events/180492566058189/

Need some motivation? Mike Revis, a 27 year old Democrat just won an election for a Missouri state House seat in a historically Republican area that went for Trump in the 2016 election. Revis won by 108 votes! Every vote counts, people. We have to do our part to get our neighbors motivated. Read more here: http://thehill.com/…/372670-dems-pick-up-deep-red-legislati…

1. Keeping the Government Running
Continued from yesterday. The House passed a short term bill that will not likely pass the Senate. The Senate is working on a budget that includes more spending for defense, may include money for community healthcare centers, but will probably not include a solution for Dreamers. So much spending! The debt ceiling will need to be raised as the government is predicted to run out of money by the end of March.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/1639ab26-0b53-11e8-8b0d-89…
We need to keep calling our members of Congress and remind them what is important to us.

Some points to remember:
* Per Trump’s design, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) will expire on March 5th. A federal judge blocked that move, ordering renewals to continue but that decision could be overturned at any time. (https://www.cnn.com/…/california-judge-daca-appl…/index.html) Congress needs to pass a clean Dream Act (S1615/HR 3440) now.

*Thankfully, CHIP was funded during the last continuing resolution for six year.s Community healthcare centers (CHC) were not so lucky. 26 million Americans will be left without access to healthcare if Congress does not find funding for CHC’s now. Read more here: https://www.vox.com/…/169…/community-health-centers-congress

*Congress needs to adequately fund disaster relief for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and California

* The new tax bill will cost the US $136 billion in revenue in 2018 pushing the government to run out of money sooner than expected. What is Congress’ plan to address the debt ceiling? https://www.cnn.com/…/spending-vote-government-s…/index.html

Blondie-Call Me

An excellent video of Blondie mega hit Call Me.

YOUTUBE.COM

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Tuesday 2/6 Call to Action

Tuesday

1. Keeping the Government Running
The continuing resolution that caused such a kerfuffle a few weeks ago is due to expire on February 8th. The House has proposed another short term spending bill that will fund the government until March 23rd. It seems this administration is content to govern by simply limping along. Will they ever commit to a long term spending bill? Today would be a good day to contact our members of Congress and tell them we expect a bipartisan funding bill ASAP.
https://www.cnn.com/…/spending-vote-government-s…/index.html
Some points to remember:

* Per Trump’s design, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) will expire on March 5th. A federal judge blocked that move, ordering renewals to continue but that decision could be overturned at any time. (https://www.cnn.com/…/california-judge-daca-appl…/index.html) Congress needs to pass a clean Dream Act (S1615/HR 3440) now.

*Congress needs to adequately fund disaster relief for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and California

2. Some Good News

* K. T. McFarland may have lied to Congress about her involvement in the Trump-Russia affair. She has subsequently withdrawn here name for consideration for Ambassador to Singapore. https://www.reuters.com/…/trump-pick-k-t-mcfarland-withdraw…

*CDC Director, Brenda Fitzgerald was caught investing in tobacco and has since resigned. https://www.politico.com/…/cdc-director-resigns-fitzgerald-…

*Kathleen Hartnett, nominee for environment advisor and climate change denier, has been dropped by the Trump administration.https://www.theguardian.com/…/kathleen-hartnett-white-dropp…

*The Supreme Court will allow Pennsylvania’s gerrymandered districts to be redrawn. A big win for Democrats and democracy. https://www.cbsnews.com/…/supreme-court-allows-pennsylvani…/

*Former Republican congresswoman, Michelle Bachmann will not run for US Senate in 2018. Whee!! http://www.startribune.com/michele-bachmann-will-not-run…/…/

2. Caucus is TONIGHT!
I really hope you plan to attend your precinct caucus tonight. Try it, you will like it!

Caucus is tonight: Tuesday, February 6th at 7 p.m. (Get there a little early to get checked in.)

Where do you go? Look here to find out: http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

What does it mean to caucus?
Here’s a video for beginners: https://youtu.be/WKL31V6IKcE

Check out this website for more information:
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/…/how-electio…/precinct-caucuses/

What the heck is a walking sub-caucus? Watch this video here: https://youtu.be/NbweajxezH8

Learn more about Caucus Resolutions here: https://www.minnpost.com/…/how-caucus-resolution-becomes-pa…

Here’s a spreadsheet of resolution ideas (thanks M.F.!): https://docs.google.com/…/1Cp8dBm4iF9jIQSBC6K40aV4mPW…/edit…
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Madonna - Causing A Commotion [Official Music Video]

Madonna ➜ Causing A Commotion (Official Music Video) . ©…

YOUTUBE.COM

Monday, February 5, 2018

Monday 2/5 Call to Action

Friday, February 2, 2018

Friday 2/2 Call to Action

Friday
1. The Memo
Reports predict that Trump will allow the release of the Nunes Memo today. The controversial memo, full of classified information alleges that the FBI abused surveillance privileges when it approved a FISA warrant for former Trump foreign policy adviser, Carter Page. (Learn more about Page here: http://ti.me/2DV7XDC )
The memo also claims that special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is biased because the catalyst for the investigation, the Christopher Steele dossier was at one point supported by the Clinton campaign and the DNC. (Fusion GPS testimony tells us that Steele made the dossier because of his concerns about Russia’s involvement with Trump.)

Here are some highlights (lowlights) of the Nunes Memo that will most likely be released today:
*It is believed that the goal of the memo is to discredit Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and derail the Mueller investigation.
*The memo contains classified information that was entrusted to the House Intelligence Committee.
*Reports claim that Nunes cherry picked and altered information to make the memo more inflammatory.
*A rebuttal memo, created by Democrats in the House Intelligence Committee will not be released.
*The FBI has come out strongly against the release of the memo. Some reports say FBI director Christopher Wray may even resign over this. (https://www.vox.com/…/16955674/fbi-statement-memo-nunes-tru…)

Read more here: http://wapo.st/2nwAF2w?tid=ss_tw&utm_

Or here: https://www.vox.com/…/nunes-memo-schiff-trump-fbi-russia-sc…

Want to watch a video? Robert Reich gives a recap of all things memo. https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/videos/1847616725250915/

Yesterday, Representatives Pelosi and Schiff called on House Speaker Ryan to remove Devin Nunes as the chair of House Intelligence Committee, claiming that his release of this memo is an abuse of his position and a sign that Nunes is unable to put country before his own interests.
https://www.nbcnews.com/…/schumer-pelosi-call-nunes-be-remo…

Today, call your members of Congress and let them know that releasing this memo is unacceptable. Tell them you think Representative Nunes needs to step down from his position.

Sign MoveOn.org’s petition to remove Devin Nunes. https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/remove-nunes

2. Caucus Time is Nigh
Do you plan to caucus? You should! Here are some tips to get your ready.

Caucus night: Tuesday, February 6th at 7 p.m. (Get there a little early to get checked in.)

Where do you go? Look here to find out: http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

What does it mean to caucus?
https://www.dfl.org/caucuses-conventions/
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/…/how-electio…/precinct-caucuses/

Learn more about Caucus Resolutions here: https://www.minnpost.com/…/how-caucus-resolution-becomes-pa…

Here’s a spreadsheet of resolution ideas (thanks M.F.!): https://docs.google.com/…/1Cp8dBm4iF9jIQSBC6K40aV4mPW…/edit…

George Thorogood And The Destroyers - Bad To The Bone

Music video by George Thorogood And The Destroyers…

YOUTUBE.COM

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Thursday 2/1 Call to Action

Thursday 2/1

1. More of the same. Borrowed from a previous post because it's so important.
Today, call your members of Congress. Let them know that we expect the following:
*A fair solution for Dreamers
*Funding for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) -a program that provides quality healthcare to people in primarily rural areas.
*Relief for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and California.

2. Antiquities Act of 2018
New Mexico's Senator Tom Udall and a group of democratic senators have introduced this bill to enhance protections for national monuments against Trump and his administration, and their attacks on our public lands. Senator Smith has shown support of this bill so you can thank her for that. Let's get Senator Klobuchar on board.
https://www.tomudall.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Antiquities%20Act%20of%202018%20Bill%20Summary.pdf

3. Census
Kris Kobach comes out in favor of citizenship questions on the census. The government is run by racists. I've copied some of this post from a previous day but with a new link to Breitbart. It may hurt your eyes and brain when reading it.
The census is vital in part in protecting the functioning of American democracy, and we’ve seen it being attacked under this administration and the GOP-led Congress. The 2020 census is right around the corner and the Justice Department is proposing citizenship questions that are purely politically motivated to suppress minority participation. “Asking about citizenship status would deter undocumented people — or even legal immigrants who fear how far the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreigners will extend — from returning census forms. Many states — particularly blue states — could end up shortchanged.” If Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross does not refuse the addition of citizenship status questions to the census then Congress should reject it.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/01/30/exclusive-kobach-bring-citizenship-question-back-census/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-pushes-for-a-change-that-could-derail-the-census/2018/01/02/1e4c43d2-f00a-11e7-b390-a36dc3fa2842_story.html?utm_term=.d278b2fe93cf

4. Don’t forget that Minnesota’s precinct caucuses take place on Tuesday, February 6th. Make plans now to attend. Find out the location of yours here:
http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

Learn more about Caucus Resolutions here: https://www.minnpost.com/…/how-caucus-resolution-becomes-pa…

Remember, there is a special election taking place on Monday, February 12th. State Senate seat 54 and state House seat 23B are up for grabs depending on if we can get voters to the polls. You can help, even if you don’t live in these districts. Visit the candidates’ web or Facebook pages for more information on volunteering.

Karla Bigham running for State Senate in District 54
Web page: http://www.karlabigham.com/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/karlabighamforstatesenate/

Melissa Wagner running for State Representative in District 23B
Web page: https://www.melissawagner.org/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wagner23b/

Donate to their campaigns (and get a refund!):http://www.revenue.state.mn.us/…/refund_for_political_contr…

Vote early in person or by mail: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/…/other-ways…/vote-early-by-mail/