80 Comments

It is SOOO frustrating that I don't have anyone to call from DCl!!!! How can that possibly still be ok...and it will be for at least another 4 years?

Love your balance of a call to action and a call to a restful celebration...and sharing a great casserole. As great grandmother, I get to bring a Costco pie to a scrumptious dinner that my extremely talented granddaughter creates every year! Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving, Jess. I am so grateful for you!

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Oh I just read that I can call Schumer as Majority leader! Will do.

PS LOVE the Ghandi quote.

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yay, glad you saw that. i was gonna suggest that for sure. there are 4 phone numbers all of which are recordings. I left a VM on 2 out of the 4. I was in tears for both. ugh. but there's also a letter/petition you can send.

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You can still call Schumer!

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I just wanted you to know I didn't sign the Indivisible letter because of the tone. I think we can express whatever feelings we want, but I don't think it's right to say things like "just because it's easier" when speaking to someone who is in public service. Due, respect, that's assuming we know why he did something we don't like, and we don't know that. I don't think that's a tone that encourages someone to change their mind. Just fyi, and thanks again for all you do!

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Just got back in - about to call right now!!

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Jess, I called all four numbers in your call to action. FYI, the fourth one was a private residence - I didn't quite get the name on their voicemail, but it was "the XXX residence."

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Oh really? That is extremely weird. Can you tell me which area code has the private residence number?

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It was this one. ‭(914) 734-1532‬. I checked my "recents' to make sure I hadn't miss-dialed. (I just saw that I had posted about the private number twice so I deleted one!

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It was this one. ‭(914) 734-1532‬. I checked my "recents' to make sure I hadn't miss-dialed. (I just saw that I had posted about the private number twice so I deleted one!

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Called both offices of my Senator-the great Elizabeth Warren. Thanks for the alert!

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Thank you!

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Jessica, Please check out Democracy Docket's Marc Elias' take on this. BTC had an interview with him posted yesterday. He says we have it wrong. That the deal is a GOP mirage to placate Trump. Two of the four positions are not even vacant yet, and the other two have some Dem opposition that would make their confirmation impossible. I was surprised to hear this myself. He sees Schumer doing things right and going all out for confirmations. I do trust Elias, of course, given his detailed knowledge. Still, I'd like to hear this confirmed by someone else.

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Thanks,David ! I’m a DD supporter but hadn’t viewed the interview.

You also may have seen Elias’ recent email where he said DD has not added outside investors so owes nothing to external financial backers and is not tax-exempt so seeks no favor from the government.It hosts its own w-site,which is more expensive,but DD can never be shut down by a platform like Substack….“fiercely independent and uncompromisingly pro-democracy”. Marc has our back !

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Thanks. Yes, I did see it. I was inspired to double my monthly donation to DD. They're among the very best we have!

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They’re wonderful.

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Thanks for posting this, David. I thought there was likely some strategy behind Schumer's move, which is why I was reluctant to send messages before learning more.

Edited to add: I don't think it hurts to send messages. It's good for lawmakers to know we're staying on top of things.

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I had the same hunch, so was really pleased to hear the interview. As things stand, Dems are on pace to confirm more judges under Biden than Trump got in his first term. The Biden team has done excellent work over the years with the quality and diversity of nominees. I gather the failure of Republican senators to show up is making it harder for their leadership to obstruct.

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Interesting. Indivisible is super opposed.

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It's a real odd situation. Elias seems to have some sort of inside knowledge here. That's what he was claiming, essentially. Thune is putting up the image of a good deal for GOP to placate Trump, and doesn't want to admit that they're in a bad spot till Jan. 20.

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I do think that Mark Elias should be considered, however I just sent the thing through indivisible and I’m beginning to regret it…

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I wouldn't regret it. It's one of those situations where, in the worst case and we're wrong--which the folks at Indivisible rarely are--we're still giving our Senators a sense of urgency about confirming judges AND standing up to Republicans. It's not a bad thing. Having said that, Indivisible isn't the only one sounding the alarm on this deal. I stand by the calls to action. But anyone can feel free to skip them.

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Nov 25Edited

You Tube Link to conversation that David mentioned. https://youtu.be/WJsOlvhKKew?si=ct2rHuTaFQgN_FaF

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Thanks, Ann. I should have linked it myself. I have such great respect for Marc Elias.

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I just left a message for Chuck Schumer and I found the best phone number was the 202–2 24–6542 number. I talk to a real person! I so appreciate being able to do this. It is really helping me with my depression. Thanks, Jessica.

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Thank you, Dr. Kellogg!

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These are fantastic!!! I just shared on Bluesky!!! Both of my Senators' offices (CT) said they've been getting calls all morning! YAY!

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Thank you!

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Done, done, done, and done! Phoned both senators re Press Act and Schumer's, plan, and called Schumer's office, and sent Indivisible's letter. Thanks for making it so easy to strike some blows for democracy!

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Thank you!

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On the subject of Chuck Schumer, an acquaintance of mine shared an idea with me the other day. Instead of just using the filibuster against H.R. 9495, why doesn't Schumer and whoever his committee ends up being just modify the bill by removing Section 4 from it? That way, we don't need to worry about it anymore and it passes as a harmless, if essentially redundant, bill.

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They can’t modify a bill unless they’re in the majority, which they won’t be, come January.

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I think they meant before January. Do you think there's not enough time for the Senate to meet before the new Congress is sworn in?

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Thanks so much for giving us easy step by step instructions. My anxiety would have me practicing what to say for hours and never actually contacting them.

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I'm really glad I could help.

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Same here!

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Thank you for this, Jess. Called and wrote my Senators about that awful surrender on the courts, and called all 4 of Schumer's numbers. Left 3 messages for him, and got to talk to one of his staffers.

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Thank you!

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Gently shaking the world here, by leaving messages for Wyden and Merkeley (OR) and Schumer, plus signed the letter. Citizenship continues even holiday weeks! I am totally going to make that cheesy corn cornbread! Thanks for the lists, they give focus to my mornings.

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What do you all know about getting the Equal Rights Ammendment published before the next presidency?

https://thedemlabs.org/2024/11/13/equality-for-women-record-the-equal-rights-amendment-era/

Let's make it happen!!

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I’ve had several actions about this in the newsletter recently…

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I wrote directly to President Biden @ www.whitehouse.gov

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Emails sent. Thanks for the link.

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This was a good task for Resistbot. Time to reconnect to that helper. I used this frequently during Trump’s first term.

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Thank you for the phone numbers. I called both Democratic senators from Illinois (Durbin and Duckworth) and I called Chuck Schumer and left those messages.

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I just called our California senators, Senator Chuck Schumer’s Washington DC office (the 212 number didn’t work), and I signed Indivisible’s letter as well. Thank you for spurring us to action, Jessica!

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Thanks, Victoria!

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I left a voicemail with the script to Senator Schumer. I hope his office is flooded with calls. This is capitulation if he does this.

We need a strong voice as Minority Leader in the next Congress!

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Agree. I've long felt that Schumer was the wrong man for this moment. I truly wish he'd step aside.

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