Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Wednesday, Jan 2nd Call to Action

Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Happy New Year and welcome back!! I hope you had a wonderful break. I am certainly ready for our new House of Representatives to get started tomorrow!
There are so many things to look forward to and to fight for in the upcoming weeks. Here are a few to keep track of.
H.R. 1
After two years of playing defense, we will finally have some power to propose change in Congress. The first item up for bid will be H.R.1, a bill that contains multiple reforms that are way overdue. The goals of this bill are as follows:
*Establish nationwide automatic voter registration as well as promote online voter registration
*Allow for same-day voter registration
*Restore the Voting Rights Act which will protect against purging of voter rolls, require states to update their election equipment (we’re talking to you Georgia, Florida and Texas), and restore voting rights to criminals who have done their time.
*Attempt to end partisan gerrymandering
*Increase oversight on lobbyists, and expand conflict-of-interest laws
* Overturn Citizens United and get big, anonymous campaign donations out of politics; encourage small-dollar donations
* REQUIRE PRESIDENTIAL TAX RETURNS (TRUMP!!!!!)
* Require elected officials to disclose and divest from financial interests (Trump!)
Whew! This bill has some lofty goals. Go big or go home, right? A bill this large needs equally big support from us. Starting tomorrow, we need to let our members of Congress know that we want them to push this bill as far as they can get it. We may not see it come to fruition now, but if Democrats can take a majority in the Senate in 2020, it will be ready to pass ASAP.
Make plans to attend the Rally for Democracy in support of H.R. 1 tomorrow (Thursday) at the Capitol building starting at 6:45 pm. Get more information here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1901620699934202/
Get Federal Employees Back to Work (But No Wall!)
Thousands of federal employees are currently furloughed or have been working without pay since December 22nd, while Trump and the GOP tantrum over money to build a border wall for security. Strangely enough, many of the employees affected work for airport or border security. Later today, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress will meet with Trump to discuss border security. Let’s hope Rep. Pelosi and Senator Schumer can convince Trump to stop this nonsense. Keep an eye out for that news as the day goes on.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/20c52266-0de9-11e9-831f-3a…
A federal employees labor union has sued the Trump administration over the government shutdown. Stay tuned.
https://www.axios.com/federal-employees-union-sues-trump-sh…
Environment
Now is the time for us to start taking a stand for the health of our planet. We have been pretty helpless for the last two years. 2019, is the year to change that.
As a whole, Trump has proven to be a pretty ineffective leader. Unfortunately, one area where he has excelled is in slashing rules designed to protect our environment. The New York Times reports that 78 environmental rules are on their way out because of Trump. These environmental rollbacks could lead to an extra 80,000 deaths per year and could cause respiratory problems for more than 1 million people!
https://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-environment-rules-reversed.…
Last Friday, the Trump administration tried to sneak in an announcement that they are going to loosen regulations on mercury hoping that we would not notice. Let’s make sure that we pay attention. https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/epa-make-it-harder-tighte…/
Even Chuck “Both sides” Todd has decided that climate change is an issue that needs our full attention. https://www.mediaite.com/…/chuck-todd-covers-climate-crisi…/
It is “do or die” time for our planet. Now that Democrats have the majority in the House we need to make environmental legislation a priority. Let’s support the establishment of a Select Committee for a Green New Deal that would be responsible for developing legislation that could be implemented over the next decade. Read about the Green New Deal, https://indivisible.org/…/tell-your-democratic-member-congr… and then contact your members of Congress to support it.
Holding Trump Accountable
Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives now have subpoena power over Trump! Whoop! Stay tuned for that.
https://www.cnn.com/…/democratic-investigations-…/index.html
Special Events
Attorney General-elect Keith Ellison is hosting his third listening session tomorrow, Thursday, January 3rd from 6-8 pm, at the Minneapolis Urban League, 2100 Plymouth Ave N Minneapolis, from 6-8PM.
Governor-elect Tim Walz will be having an inaugural celebration on Friday, January 11th in Mankato. Go here for more information- https://www.facebook.com/events/304461390194818/
Joy Reid will host a town hall with Nancy Pelosi on @MSNBC Friday, January 4th at 9 pm.
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/
YOUTUBE.COM

Monday, December 17, 2018

Monday 12/17 Call to Action


Monday 12/17

1. ACA
On Friday night a Texas judge threw out the Affordable Care Act and health care protections for millions of Americans. During the midterms, Republicans ran their campaigns saying they would make sure insurance companies covered pre-existing conditions, but we knew they were lying. This ruling plays right into the Republican agenda of limiting access to healthcare. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration said it wouldn’t defend the law that has protected Americans with pre-existing conditions expanded coverage to millions more. Now is the time to thank our Senators, House Democrats, and Attorney General (aren’t you glad we have a democratic AG?) for saying they will work to appeal this ruling and protect our health care. It’s important to note that Friday night’s ruling on the ACA should not impact health insurance coverage for 2019. You can enroll until January 13 in Minnesota. 
The part of "repeal and replace" Republicans never liked was the "replace" part. The Republican health care position is to let insurance companies charge as much as they like and cover as little as they like.”

 A Potent Remedy for Evictions: Obamacare.

2. Border wall and possible Government Shutdown
Stephen Miller and his painted on hair has touted that the Trump administration is “absolutely” willing to shutdown the government over the border wall.
“Trump said last week he would be "proud" to have a shutdown to get Congress to approve a $5 billion down payment to fulfill his campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. But the president doesn't have the votes from the Republican-controlled Congress to support funding for the wall at that level.”

Congress faces a deadline of midnight Friday to pass legislation funding seven agencies ― including Homeland Security ― or else the third partial government shutdown of 2018 will occur. It’s not yet clear how Congress will try to stave off a shutdown, or whether President Donald Trump will get the $5 billion in funding for border security he says is needed for his signature.” (Thank you D.R.)

3. Almost 15,000 Migrant Children Being Held at Shelters
I’m devastated to hear about seven year old Jakelin Caal Maquin’s death while in the custody of Border Patrol Agents. I’m disgusted to read that this country has almost 15,000 children being held in almost capacity shelters. We have got to figure out how right these wrongs. 

Read what Senator Smith had to say about visiting two detention centers. 
Months after the government erected a tent city in the desert, most of what happens inside the encampment remains hidden, even from curious neighbors in the nearby town of 1,600 residents. The only images of the minors in the camp, standing outside in an orderly line or playing soccer, have been released by the Department of Health and Human Services.”

4. Zinke is gone (some good news!).
The guy who is currently facing 17 ethics investigations is leaving the administration. 

There is a lot happening this week. Check out upcoming events: 

Hey MN03! You have a town hall event with your new Congressman, Dean Phillips, today! Get there early!
Monday, December 17th, 6:30
Oak Grove Elementary School
1301 W. 104th St
Bloomington

Protect Mueller Petition Delivery on Tuesday, December 18th

Now is a great time to catch up on some podcasts. Here are some good ones. Happy listening!
Anything by Crooked Media https://crooked.com/network/
Rachel Maddow’s podcast, Bagman https://www.msnbc.com/bagman
Chris Hayes’ podcast, Why is This Happening? https://art19.com/sh…/why-is-this-happening-with-chris-hayes
More Perfect (a podcast about the Supreme Court) https://www.wnycstudios.org/…/radiolabmoreperfect/season-one
Whistlestop (a podcast about the history of presidents) http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/whistlestop.html
Klobuchar-202-224-3244
Smith (202) 224-5641 
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121





Monday, December 10, 2018

Monday 12/10 Call to Action


Monday 12/10

There is a lot happening with with the Mueller investigation and Individual 1, as well as departures from the White House. Try and stay focused in all the chaos.

Yemen
Our Senators need to know that we will not support the United States involvement in the conflict in Yemen. Senator Chris Murphy along with Senators Bernie Sanders and Mike Lee are trying to “force the Senate to vote on a resolution that says this President and this administration cannot continue to engage in the conflict in Yemen without a declaration of war from Congress. Our legislation, which cleared a major procedural hurdle Wednesday and is working its way through the Senate under the 1974 War Powers Act, would require the administration to pull its support from the Saudi coalition until it gets that declaration of war.”
“It's time for us to end our disastrous engagement in Yemen, and it's time for Congress to reclaim its role as the body with the sole authority to declare war. We can start by deciding to end our involvement in the war in Yemen.”

Mass Shootings
Sensible gun laws are something we demand after the new year. Everytown For Gun Safety has come out with a report on mass shootings from years 2009-2017. It’s a bit of a long read but worth the time. 
“Policymakers across the country should address the gaps that make it too easy for dangerous individuals to arm themselves. This includes requiring background checks on all firearm sales, temporarily removing firearms through Red Flag Laws, keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and restricting the purchase, possession and manufacture of high-capacity magazines.”

EPA to roll back clean water protections
Here we go again. There is more action underway by this administration to roll back rules that protect communities and save lives. This administration is working to eliminate the 2015 Clean Water Rule which protects waterways and shields people from droughts, floods, and hurricanes. This measure also worked toward cleaning up large bodies of water, like the Chesapeake Bay. This is not ok. 

William Barr’s nomination for attorney general
Barr's nomination also has been met with concern by civil rights and criminal justice reform advocates, who point to his hard-line views dating back to the early 1990s.
"William Barr's record suggests he will follow Jeff Sessions' legacy of hostility to civil rights and civil liberties," said Faiz Shakir, the American Civil Liberties Union national political director. "Barr must commit to defending the rule of law and civil rights, not serving as a political arm of Trump's anti-constitutional agenda."

Klobuchar-202-224-3244

Smith (202) 224-5641
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121



Monday, December 3, 2018

Monday 12/3 Call to Action


Monday 12/3

Now is a break “glass scenario” emergency for getting people enrolled in the ACA. Deadline for MN is January 13, but many states have a deadline of 12/15. Spread the word. 

It doesn’t seem like much was accomplished between Xi and Trump, even though both said their meeting was highly successful. Trump is threatening to blow up NAFTA to blackmail Congress into signing his new trade agreement. 
“The U.S. and China emphasized different results from Sunday’s high-stakes meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, with the split highlighting how much of a gap needs to be overcome over the next three months.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while returning to Washington from Argentina, Trump says: “I will be formally terminating NAFTA shortly.”
Seeking to gain leverage with skeptical lawmakers to approve the revised trade pact, Trump says Congress “will have a choice” as it considers the agreement he signed with the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Friday during the Group of 20 summit.”

Thousands of acres of wetlands in northeastern Minnesota are in danger, and only the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can save them. These two agencies must rule on federally required permits related to water quality and wetlands. What’s at risk? Up to 7,694 acres of wetlands located in a region that supports the highest quality, diverse wetlands in Minnesota. 960 acres will be directly destroyed by PolyMet (in itself a huge loss), an additional 6,700 could be harmed indirectly by mining activities.”

I look forward to the day when our country’s leader is fighting for this planet again. 
“Trump’s reason for rejecting the overwhelming evidence for climate change has been to cite his “natural instinct” for science. In a Washington Post interview this week, he said, “One of the problems that a lot of people like myself, we have very high levels of intelligence but we’re not necessarily such believers.”

Indivisible Guide has some tips on how to respond to Trump’s atrocities at the border.

Klobuchar-202-224-3244

Smith (202) 224-5641
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121


Monday, November 26, 2018

Monday 11/26 Call to Action


Monday 11/26

What an ugly news weekend it has been. I’m tired of seeing what the new “lows” look like for this country. 

Sunday afternoon border patrol agents fired tear gas at people, children, who are seeking asylum. They have the right to seek asylum. This is taken from Immigrant Families Together, “If that enrages you, the Senate is in session tomorrow and both chambers are in session starting Tuesday. Start working the phones. Express your indignation that people are being harmed in this way. Ask your reps where they stand on budget allocations for DHS and ICE. Force them to answer what they’re going to do about this human rights crisis.”

Looking for resources to help those in the caravan besides just phone calls to your rep? Check this out. Thank you KMP!

Last Tuesday, Trump declared his loyalty to Saudi Arabia and suggested he wasn't overly concerned about what the U.S. intelligence community finds. The world is "very dangerous" and Khashoggi's murder shouldn't affect America's relationship with Saudi Arabia, he argued.
Graham is arguing the opposite. "We cannot have a normal strategic relationship with somebody this crazy," Graham told me. Graham said "everything would be on the table" to punish Saudi Arabia, including blocking arms sales.”

When Russia has Trump in their pocket, and post-Khashoggi Trump is unlikely to say anything, now would be the time for something like this to happen. 
Russia has fired on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels off the Crimean Peninsula in a major escalation of tensions between the two countries. Two gunboats and a tug were captured by Russian forces. A number of Ukrainian crew members were injured.”

Thanks to Senator Smith for drawing attention to what MN will suffer from under the changing environment. 
"Projected changes in precipitation, coupled with rising extreme temperatures before mid-century, will reduce Midwest agricultural productivity to levels of the 1980s without major technological advances," the highlighted section of the report says. 
It also warns that corn is especially "vulnerable," which is ominous for Minnesota as the state is a major corn producer (and 1st in the U.S. for sweet corn, according to AgMag). 
"The Midwest is projected to have the largest increase in extreme temperature-related premature deaths" according to at least one prediction model, the report notes.”
Klobuchar-202-224-3244
Smith (202) 224-5641
House of Representative switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Wednesday 11.14 Call to Action

Wednesday, November 14th
Indivisible 2.0
Did you know that last week’s midterm elections had the highest voter turnout in 50 years? Democratic candidates had the most pick-ups since shortly after Watergate and President Nixon’s resignation. Across the United States, 317 districts moved to the left. Ballots are still being counted in many contests, so the number of wins could go even higher. It feels good, right? Our hard work has helped to change the playing field. We have so many more tools at our disposal than we did this time two years ago. What should we do to keep this momentum going? Well, Indivisible has come up with a new guide to help us do just that.
Starting in January our approach will change. The last Indivisible guide focused solely on defensive tactics. The new guide will provide a three-pronged approach.
Offensive
Democrats have a nice majority in the House. This means that we have partial agenda setting power in Congress. Of course, without the Senate many of the bills Democrats propose will probably not become law. But this is a great time for us to create a progressive plan that can be implemented if/when Democrats win again in 2020. Our new roll going forward is to make sure our members of Congress are creating legislation that supports the ideals we find important. The next two years will be our time to showcase to America what Democrats stand for. Let’s show voters that we have a different vision for our country than Trump and the GOP.
Oversight
Congress has a constitutional duty to provide oversight. As we all know, current GOP members of Congress have failed at this task. With our new majority in the House we will finally be able to do something about it. The sabotage of the Affordable Care Act, family separation, Russia, emoluments, unethical cabinet members. We can investigate all the things! Our job will be to make sure our members of Congress do so.
Defensive
We’ve been doing this for two years, so this should be easy. The GOP members of Congress want to make Trump look successful before the 2020 election. To do so, they will try to cut deals with Democrats to push legislation. Our new defensive roll is to make sure that our members of Congress stand up for our progressive values.
In addition to this guide for federal government, Indivisible will be creating a guide for state legislature as well. Changing government at the state level is how we will succeed in the long term. During the Obama administration, Democrats lost 1000, state legislator seats. We got 300 of those seats back last Tuesday and we need to work over the next two years to get the rest (and more!)
The first 100 days of the new Congress will be the most important as far as pushing our elected officials to set a progressive agenda. The legislation created during this time will most likely be the bills that we can pass in 2021. That means that we will need to be ready to hit the ground running in January 2019. The next month and a half will be our time to plan for that. The first bill will most likely be a pro-democracy reform bill, including voting rights, gerrymandering, election security, holding elected officials accountable, and getting money our of politics. January 3rd will be a country-wide day of action, so keep your eyes peeled for events near you.
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/
YOUTUBE.COM
Sign up for Will.i.am news here: http://smarturl.it/will.i.am.News Music video by will.i.am performing It's A New Day. (C) 2008…

Monday, November 12, 2018

Monday 11/12 Call to Action


Monday 11/12

Thank you to the veterans who have bravely served our country. We honor you. #neverforget

Last week the American College of Physicians published a paper about reducing firearm injuries and death. On cue the NRA tweeted, “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane. Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves.” 
A couple of days later, the Centers for Disease Control published new data indicating that the death toll from gun violence in our nation continues to rise. As the NRA demanded that we doctors stay in our lane, we awoke to learn of the 307th mass shooting in 2018 with another 12 innocent lives lost to an entirely preventable cause of death — gun violence.
Every medical professional practicing in the United States has seen enough gun violence firsthand to deeply understand the toll that this public health epidemic is taking on our children, families, and entire communities.
It is long past time for us to acknowledge the epidemic is real, devastating, and has root causes that can be addressed to assuage the damage. We must all come together to find meaningful solutions to this very American problem.”
Many in the medical profession are tweeting back at the NRA for the senseless tweet. You can see some of their responses in this article. Beware, some of the images are graphic. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/11/666762890/after-nra-mocks-doctors-physicians-reply-this-is-our-lane?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The Thousand Oaks shooter used a high-capacity magazine that, in 2016, California voters banned anyone in the state from possessing, but implementation of the law has been blocked by a lawsuit brought by the NRA and other gun rights advocates.”
When our newly elected officials take office in January, let’s make sure we make sensible gun laws a priority. 

California is battling a deadly wildfire and the current leader of this country has attacked and threatened to withhold aid. “The current fire siege is a tragic showcase of how multiple trends can combine to a deadly result, with climate change serving as a threat multiplier. The crisis is far from over, and depending on how the Santa Ana winds get on Sunday through Monday, the situation may yet worsen in some areas.” Let’s let our MOC know that California deserves federal aid, despite what Trump tweets.

If you’ve been wondering about ways you can help with making sure every vote gets counted in Georgia, check this out.

Come January when Democrats are in the majority, let’s make them fight for us. “Rep. Jerry Nadler, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Sunday promised that acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker would be the first witness newly empowered Democrats call to testify when they take control in January.” 

I’m ending on a good note, because we need to relish in some of the amazing things that have happened with the midterm. High fives Minnesota!!
 Peggy Flanagan becomes the highest ranking indigenous woman ever elected in Minnesota with her win as lieutenant governor.”

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/