Tag: take action

Indivisible Guide on Twitter

The Two Step Strategy to Win the Supreme Court Fight

THE 2-STEP STRATEGY

The only way we can defeat Trump’s nominee is to:

1. Get to 51 votes. To start, we need 49 “no” votes from EVERY SINGLE SENATE DEMOCRAT to have a fighting chance. … That gets us to 49. To get to 51, we need a couple Republican Senators. The two most logical targets are Senators Collins (ME) and Murkowski (AK). …

2. Take back the Senate. If we accomplish that first step, that will extend the fight past November. But that’s not enough. In order to actually win this fight, we have to retake the Senate, otherwise Trump will just appoint an extremist after the election. Democrats need to hold all of their seats and PICK UP TWO MORE SEATS. There are 5 pickup opportunities this year:

  • Defeat Ted Cruz (Texas)
  • Defeat Dean Heller (Nevada)
  • Defeat Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi)
  • Replace retiring Republican Bob Corker (Tennessee)
  • Replace retiring Republican Jeff Flake (Arizona)

EXECUTING THE 2-STEP STRATEGY IN YOUR HOME TURF

STEP 1: HOW YOU CAN HELP US GET TO 51 VOTES.

Call your senator.

Be patriotic this July 4th recess.

STEP 2: HOW TO HELP US RETAKE THE SENATE

We need your people power to retake the Senate—not just in November, but NOW. Money doesn’t win elections—people do. There are hundreds of Indivisible groups throughout our five target states—Arizona, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, and Tennessee. They’ve been working their butts off and we need to lend them a hand. If you’re in those states—great! Keep it up. If you don’t live in those 5 states, we need you to pitch in.

So what can you do from where you live? Indivisible is going to be running a GINORMOUS phonebank for out-of-state volunteers to help flip these seats and retake the senate….

CALL Scripts:

FOR ALL OTHER DEMOCRATIC SENATORS

Caller: Hello! My name is ___ and I’m calling from [part of state]. Can you please tell me what Senator ___ plans to do about the Supreme Court vacancy?

Staffer: Hello, nice to talk with you! The Senator plans to vote against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. The stakes are too high.

Caller: Thank you! I’m very glad to hear that. Too much hangs in the balance to let Trump fill this seat with someone from his list of totally unqualified, extreme judges. That includes a woman’s right to choose, the Affordable Care Act, and marriage equality. I want Senator ___ to use every tool at his/her disposal to stop Trump from filling this vacancy with anyone on this list.

Staffer: Thank you, the Senator agrees with you. I’ll make sure they get your message.

FOR ALL OTHER REPUBLICAN SENATORS

Caller: Hello! My name is ___ and I’m calling from [part of state]. Can you please tell me what Senator ___ plans to do about the Supreme Court vacancy?

Staffer: The Senator will support President Trump’s nominee.

Caller: That’s terrible. Too much hangs in the balance to let Trump fill this seat with someone from his list of 25 totally unqualified, extreme judges. That includes a woman’s right to choose, the Affordable Care Act, and marriage equality. I am extremely disappointed with the Senator.

Staffer: The Senator disagrees with you. I’ll make sure the Senator gets your message.

Caller: I hope the Senator will recognize that the people on Trump’s list are way outside the mainstream and not choices that his/her constituents want. Please take down my name and phone number so you can let me know if the Senator decides to stand up for his/her constituents instead of being a rubber stamp for Trump.

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video at this link

About 575 Arrested as Women March on Capitol Hill to Protest Trump Immigration Policy

More than 1,000 female activists marched through Washington Thursday to protest the separation of children from their immigration parents at the US-Mexico border.

US Capitol Police arrested approximately 575 individuals with unlawfully demonstrating, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington.

…

The protestors chanted “abolish ICE” as well as “where are the children?” as well as other chants that are hard to hear within the building.

The activists sat on the floor of the Senate building with emergency blankets to demand Congress act to end the Trump administration policies that criminalize and detain undocumented immigrants and separates their children from them.

Congress is set to leave town for a week-long recess without passing any legislation to address the situation at the US border. On Wednesday, the House failed to pass legislation that would have address in part several high-profile immigration-related policies including border wall funding and an eventual pathway to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

AJ+ on Twitter

Trumpcare

anexplanationofunfortunateevents:

I am never going to tell you not to look into something for yourself.
I will, however, suggest that if you are going to dig into this bill,
maybe also set aside some time for a palate-cleanser, like Oliver
Twist, or The Hunger Games. What you need to know is that yes, it
is that bad. If you see a headline or snippet and think “pft,
that seems a little dramatic” then you should probably be
suspicious that the source is underselling it. 


This bill punishes people for things for which they are blameless:
receiving a cancer diagnosis, or having a baby through a c-section.
It punishes people for responsible behavior, like treating a chronic
health issue before it gets bad, and for really difficult and
admirable behavior, like reporting an abuser for the criminal he is.

If you are going to read more, some terms:

ACA = Affordable Care Act = Obamacare

AHCA = American Health Care Act = this travesty

CBO = Congressional Budget Office. When you hear about them “scoring”
a bill, it means they’re approximating what implementing it will
cost. The House passed this bill without waiting for the CBO to tell them what it would cost. (Its estimate of Trumpcare 1.0 was horrifying, and a new study shows even worse outcomes.)

What you can do:

Find out who your member of Congress is and how they voted. If they
didn’t support the bill, then you can donate to one of the groups who are working to flip the house in 2018, such as Swing Left,
Daily Kos, or the DCCC. This will help them fund Democratic
challengers, and it might help scare some Republicans into line. 

If you’re represented by someone who did vote for the bill, punish
them. Make an example out of them so that your senators don’t think there will even be a short-term reward for supporting repeal. 

If you’re not involved in a local activist group, look up the Town
Hall Project and Indivisible groups in your district. 

It’s also worth being ready to push your senator. Watch The Center
for American Progress (@amprog on Tumblr doesn’t seem to be
frequently updated, but they’re also on Facebook and Twitter), or Indivisible on Facebook or Twitter. They’ll tell you when it’s time to
move. 

And, as ever, when one of your dumber friends starts yelling about
WHY DIDN’T THE DEMOCRATS STOP THIS!! say “because Democrats are
in the minority, because people like you don’t bother to show up
for midterms.”

House Republicans just passed Trumpcare. So what’s next?

reincepriebus:

Things this bill does:

  1. Only covers 5% of people with pre-existing conditions.
  2. Exempts Congress from the worst parts of this bill, though they say they’ll fix that.
  3. Lets insurers once again put annual and lifetime limits on coverage for people with employer plans, effectively ends Medicaid expansion, leaves gaps in benefits, threatens Medicaid home- and community-based services for people with disabilities, and more.

The bill goes on to the Senate, where many are saying it’s dead on arrival. Regardless, we need to send a message to House Republicans that they’ll pay for their “YES” votes by losing their seats. Here’s what you can do:

  1. Use Contacting Congress to find out who represents you in the House.
  2. If your representative voted “YES” [here’s the list]: Use Contacting Congress to call their office and tell them you disapprove of their vote.
  3. Whether your representative voted yes or not, do the following:
  4. Donate to SwingLeft’s campaign to raise funds for Democratic challengers to the 35 swing district Republicans who voted for TrumpCare.
  5. Use Town Hall Project to find out if your representative is holding a town hall during recess. So far, only 6 of the 217 are.
  6. Sign up to volunteer for SwingLeft and/or check out Indivisible Guide for more actions for you to take.

After you’ve done that, you can contact your Senators. Use the same website listed first above (Contacting Congress) to find your two Senators. Give them a call, show up at their town halls, and donate to their Democratic opponents if they indicate that they’ll vote for TrumpCare.

The only way we’re going to take down this bill is if we keep the pressure on the GOP and let them know that voting for it will result in them losing their seats.

  1. Find out if you’re registered to vote. If not, find out how to.
  2. Here are some answers to some questions you might have about registering.
  3. Student voters: This is for you.
  4. What to bring with you to the polls.
  5. Click here for more voting information, and to find out who’s going to be on your next ballot.

Special Elections coming up:

Most other midterms are November 6th, 2018. Get ready.

Watch: ACLU People Power Resistance Training

3/12/17

What is the ACLU’s Freedom Cities campaign

President Trump is seeking to recruit, and where that fails, compel local law enforcement agencies to help his administration pursue its mass deportation agenda.

In response to this effort and many other Trump administration plans that fly in the face of our Constitution and norms, the ACLU is launching an ambitious campaign called “Freedom Cities.” Immigration will be the first battle we wage, but many others are coming. On immigration, just like activists organized locally to demand the release of people detained at our airports by federal authorities, People Power activists we will organize in our communities to ensure that our local law enforcement officials defend – not threaten – our friends, families, and neighbors. People Power will be a powerful grassroots force supporting the ACLU’s efforts to propose, support, and win local laws that make it more difficult for President Trump to pursue his dangerous agenda. And make no mistake about it, America’s cities, counties and towns are places we can and will win.

As part of this local grassroots strategy, the ACLU has identified areas in which municipal opposition to, or lack of cooperation with, the Trump administration will impede objectionable policies the president is pursuing.

ACLU’s “Freedom Cities” plan brings local grassroots activists together and provides a blueprint for local-level campaigns – in cities and counties – to defend our communities and block the worst abuses of the Trump administration. These are campaigns that will generate victories in the short term even as we work towards comprehensive protections nationwide in the long term.

The ACLU is calling for help on a grassroots level, with your mayor, your police chief, your city council.  The ACLU streamed an online training event on 3/11/17.  You can still watch a video of the event on their website and sign up for updates.  

Watch: ACLU People Power Resistance Training

Norway pledges $10 million to counter Trump’s global anti-abortion ban

tpfnews:

Norway has committed to join an international initiative that plans to raise millions of dollars to replace funding shortfalls from Donald Trump’s ban on American-funded global NGOs that offer information about abortion.

Let that sink in. Trump’s ban doesn’t just cover organizations that offer the medical service of abortion, a procedure that can be necessary to save the life of a pregnant person. The ban will de-fund organizations that offer speech or educational materials that include information about terminating a pregnancy.

That’s medieval. It’s just as insane as all the “Muslim extremism” stuff American conservatives go on and on about. This is 2017. Women get to be human beings with sovereignty over their bodies. If not in America, then dammit, the woke folks in Norway gonna make sure we get to be complete humans at least somewhere.

From Reuters:

In January, the Netherlands started a global fund to help women access abortion services, saying Trump’s “global gag rule” meant a funding gap of $600 million over the next four years, and has pledged $10 million to the initiative to replace that.

Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Finland, Canada and Cape Verde have all also lent their support.

“The government is increasing its support for family planning and safe abortion by 85 million Norwegian crowns ($10 million) compared with 2016,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg said. “At a time when this agenda has come under pressure, a joint effort is particularly important,” he said in a statement.

Last month, Trump reinstated a policy requiring overseas organizations that receive U.S. family-planning funds to certify they do not perform abortions or provide abortion advice as a method of family planning.

Norway pledges $10 million to counter Trump’s global anti-abortion ban

Republicans Charge Into Resistance at Tumultuous Town Halls

2/19/17

MOUNT
PLEASANT, S.C. — The Republican lawmakers stood with fixed smiles,
shifting in place, facing down turmoil but no trial inside a municipal
courtroom overstuffed with constituents.

Across
the room, the first questioner foretold a long Saturday morning: “Are
you personally proud,” the man, Ernest Fava, 54, said of President
Trump, “to have this person representing our country?” The more than 200
attendees stirred, with at least as many waiting outside.

Senator
Tim Scott tried first: “Given the two choices I had, I am thankful that
Trump is our president,” he said, to ferocious boos.

Then Representative Mark Sanford waded in: “I think we’re all struggling with it,” he said of the tumultuous first month, to nods.

Continue reading the main story

As
members of Congress return home during a legislative recess many
Republicans are dreading, a hearty few on Saturday charged headlong into
the resistance. At events across the country, lawmakers have strained
to quell the boiling anger at Mr. Trump — and often, the Republican Party — after four extraordinary weeks.

The
break from Capitol Hill is doubling as a real-time stress test for both
pro-Trump Republicans and anti-Trump protesters — an early signal of
how much latitude will be afforded to members who continue defending the
president and how much venom they are willing to absorb.

…

For the lawmakers, early returns were mixed. In North Harmony, N.Y.,
Representative Tom Reed confronted what felt like interminable jeers,
navigating hostile questions about abortion rights, efforts to dismantle
the Affordable Care Act and Mr. Trump’s tax returns. The crowd at a
senior center was so large that the event was moved to the parking lot
outside. Chants of “Do your job!” rang out.

When your town hall comes with GUI comments.

Republicans Charge Into Resistance at Tumultuous Town Halls

Indivisble, getting organized! – #resist!

Indivisible, getting organized! Press roundup, February 14–17

With
Congressional recesses next week, the Indivisible movement’s preparing
for Town Halls. There’s even more national coverage than in Ramping up! (the previous press roundup), including including Claire Foran’s The Anti-Trump ‘Resistance’ Takes Hold in Red States in The Atlantic, Time, Newsweek, NPR, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, Vice, and of course Rachel Maddow.

Once
again, though, it’s the local newspapers and TV stations who are where
the action is — which is pretty much everywhere at this point! Here’s a
partial roundup … if you know some other links, please leave them as
“responses.”

I’ve been seeing a lot of twitter posts about Townhalls and protests happening in everything from small, rural towns to big cities.  The big media franchises seem to be focusing on the narrative of big city protests, but now I’m seeing more local media coverage.  

Charlottesville, VA; Buffalo, NY; Boise, ID; Charleston, SC; Rocklin, CA; Sartell, MN; Mansfield, OH; Durango, CO; Yakima, WA; Ogden, UT; Terre Haute, IN; Las Cruces, NM; Dayton, FL; Wilco, TX; West Valley, AZ; Evesham, NJ; Fayateville, AK are just a sampling collated by Jon Pincus in this post.  

Indivisble, getting organized! – #resist!