Chop Wood, Carry Water 10/5
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
And a meaningful Yom Kippur to those who are celebrating it.
Because it is a holiday for some, and because my child is once again off of school and intent on going ice skating later, I’ll make this a slightly abbreviated newsletter. We’ll have no Senate calls today, for one, and I won’t write much myself.
Except this: I know these are exceptionally scary times. Fear is our constant, unwelcome companion. It’s tiring, to say the least. I, for one, endure it by trying to hold onto this Franklin D. Roosevelt quote:
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.
Something else is: Our very survival. Our freedoms. Our future. So no matter how scared, or exhausted, or furious we are, let’s take our small, potent actions one more time. Remembering always, that, as Ovid said, “dripping water hollows out a stone.”
Keep dripping. I will, too. We can do this, courageously or not.
All that matters is what we do.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling to see if the Congressmember is yet co-sponsoring and pledging to support H.R.8558, the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act. This tax will close a loophole that currently allows some billionaires to pay little or no federal income taxes on their investment gains. Recent polling shows that 74% of voters support a Billionaire Minimum Income Tax―including 55% of Republicans! Please support this bill! Thanks!
Extra Credit ✅
October 11 is the voter registration deadline in many battleground states, including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Texas — and early voting is starting soon (or already underway) for voters across the country! We need everyone’s help to equip battleground state voters with the tools they need to be vote-ready.
Fortunately, the Progressive Turnout Project just published dozens of new images with state-specific info about voting. We just need to save the images to our devices and share!
Go here to find all the graphics you need to share about voting in critical states. Then do it!
Get Smart! 📚
On October 11 at 2:30 pm ET/ 11:30 am PT, join the States Project for a “TSP Democracy Hour,” featuring Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC). He’s an amazing speaker, by the way.
The States Project’s Executive Director Daniel Squadron and Attorney General Holder will discuss the critical role state legislatures must play in protecting our democracy in these midterms and beyond. If you haven’t heard Squadron speak I *highly* encourage you to attend.
Register here to join them next Tuesday, October 11, at 2:30pm ET.
Give 💰!
I recently learned about Flip the Vote from one of my subscribers. I’ve since met with the founder and was so impressed that I’ve agreed to co-host a house party for them this weekend. It’s this Sunday, October 9, 2022, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT.
FtV's mission is to encourage citizens to be deliberate in their political giving and to contribute to organizations and candidates that will make the most difference at the ballot box. They rely on analytics to recommend the most effective ways to donate. They do not collect any proceeds from our donations.
Please join me and dozens of like-minded people across the country for this inspiring and informative one hour event.
Register here and please bring a friend! You’ll LOVE it, I promise.
Oh, and if you can’t come but would like to donate, your money will go to one highly effective grassroots group working in each of seven battleground states. I know the groups they’ve chosen, and they are EXCELLENT.
Win Races! 🗳
From an activist on the ground in Michigan:
I wanted to bring to your attention one of our more important races.
In Michigan State Senate district 9 a current State House representative is running for Senate in a tight race in a newly configured district which leans Republican, but which we can flip. This race is crucial to flipping our legislature.
The Dem candidate, Padma Kuppa, is supported by the States Project, Sister District, and the East Bay Activist Alliance. Padma is the only Asian American who flipped a competitive state legislative seat in 2018 and then won reelection in 2020. She is also the first Hindu woman elected to office in the U.S.
She has been one of the most responsive and hardest working representatives we have. Also…we need a Democratic legislature in 2024 to protect our electoral votes. This race has national implications.
Upcoming phonebanks for Padma are here.
Textbank with Team Padma here.
Please, y’all, can you assist this amazing candidate by volunteering? Oh, and donations are apparently really important, too. You can do that here. (Kuppa is on Blue Tent’s list of the top ten races IN THE COUNTRY to give to. WOW!)
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send: text SIGN PVHYNR to 50409]
As your constituent, I’m calling on you to pass the Judiciary Act.
Our fundamental freedoms are being attacked by a hyperpartisan supermajority on the Court. The Supreme Court is dismantling abortion rights, common sense gun laws, and environmental protections across America—and this could just be the beginning. It’s very likely that the Voting Rights Act could be next.
On top of that, one of its members is married to an insurrectionist and yet refuses to recuse himself from cases relevant to the 2020 elections or the January 6th attack. It’s deplorable.
The 6-3 conservative majority does not represent the majority of our country’s diversity or politics, and Congress must take action to correct this injustice. The Judiciary Act would rebalance the Supreme Court by adding four new seats, giving us 13 justices in total. It’s what we need to move away from extremely partisan rulings and restore the legitimacy of the Court.
I urge you and your colleagues to expand the Court by passing the Judiciary Act. Congress has changed the size of the Court seven times in its history; it’s time for you to rebalance the Court again. Thank you!
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
Yay!!!! I'm so happy to see that you're hosting a Flip the Vote party!! I'm definitely going to attend because Flip the Vote events always fill me with hope!
By the way I just got the fund-raising total from the party I co-hosted with our neighborhood social justice group (Neighbors for Justice). We raised over $19,500. :-)
And I saw that BLOC just expanded into Kenosha and Racine and hired 20 more ambassadors to knock doors. Seriously, donating to these organizations and hosting a party are SUCH impactful actions.
And now Flip the Vote is making it so easy to co-host a house party. I encourage everyone to attend Jess's event, learn more and then sign up to co-host one of Flip the Vote's Election Countdown Events here: https://www.flipthevote.org/events
So excited to be invited to your house party!!! COVID was truly awful, and yet I am so grateful for this expansion of activities that I can join - I didn't even know what zoom was before! Thanks!