Chop Wood, Carry Water 11/30
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
Yesterday’s intro was long, so today’s will be short. (Plus I am still a bit weak from COVID—when does that end?)
I’ll just say this: we are not only living in historical times; we are making history. What. A. Thrill. Am I right?
Of all the ways to spend a life, what better way to do so than by working to incrementally improve the country—and world—we live in? With other wonderful folks! By simply taking tiny, easy actions that anyone can take!
What a deal. Aren’t we lucky?
I say we are. Now let’s add to that luck by taking more quick actions…together.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling because I know Congress is working on legislation to force railroad workers to come to an agreement in order to avert a strike, and that there are now two competing bills–one that includes sick days for the workers in the agreement and one that doesn’t. I want the Senator/Congressmember to only vote for the agreement that includes the sick days. Four paid sick days is the bare minimum any American worker should be receiving. I will be watching this vote closely. Thanks.
[to DEMOCRATS ONLY add:]
Also, before the 117th Congress adjourns, I want Democrats to raise the debt ceiling through the reconciliation process to an amount high enough that Republicans can’t use it to blackmail the incoming 118th Congress. If the only way to do that is to remain in session seven days a week and extend the adjournment dates, then that is what you need to do, even if it is inconvenient. Thanks. [H/T]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling because I know Congress is working on legislation to force railroad workers to come to an agreement in order to avert a strike, and that there are now two competing bills–one that includes sick days for the workers in the agreement and one that doesn’t. I want the Senator/Congressmember to only vote for the agreement that includes the sick days. Four paid sick days is the bare minimum any American worker should be receiving. I will be watching this vote closely. Thanks.
[to DEMOCRATS ONLY add:]
Also, before the 117th Congress adjourns, I want Democrats to raise the debt ceiling through the reconciliation process to an amount high enough that Republicans can’t use it to blackmail the incoming 118th Congress. If the only way to do that is to remain in session seven days a week and extend the adjournment dates, then that is what you need to do, even if it is inconvenient. Thanks. [H/T]
Stop Disinformation! 🛑
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Win in Georgia! 🍑
[Don’t forget, the whole “Help Us Win in GA” doc is here.]
Commit to Democracy sent me this email today:
We are going to do something crazy. We are going to try and get everyone we know onto our Call Hub dialer and make 60,000 calls before Friday at noon PST and make sure everyone gets to the polls this week!
This Is How It Will Work:
1) You can come to a phone bank shift TODAY from 1-3 PM PST /4-6 PM ET or 3-5 PM PST / 6-8 PM ET.
2) You can come to our phone bank marathon tomorrow (Thursday) from 9 AM to 5 PM PST with shifts and training every hour on the hour.
3) You can call on your own at any time, and we hope you will do that Friday morning as well.
We can not take the chance of Herschel Walker getting onto the Senate Floor. This is not a "football" game. Whoever gets in office will make consequential decisions for real people for a long time to come, and we do not get a do-over. Let's leave nothing to chance.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to your Senators] [H/T] [quick send: text SIGN PGVPGH to 50409]
I’m writing today to urge you to support the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
It is unacceptable that employers can discriminate and retaliate against workers when they ask for pregnancy accommodations.
No one should have to choose between a paycheck to provide for their families and the health of their baby.
More frequent breaks, no heavy lifting and flexibility to attend doctor appointments are among the reasonable accommodations all employers should be required to accommodate.
The United States does not have a national standard for paid pregnancy leave or to provide health care for all pregnant people, unlike most developed countries.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will allow pregnant people to remain on the job to support their families without risking their health or the health of their baby.
I urge you to do everything you can to pass it during this session. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
On another topic, Jessica. Would you consider recommending to your readers that they email their representatives of either party with something along these lines: "It appears likely that Leader McCarthy will put Hunter Biden in the star chamber as soon as he can. It would be a worthy act of bipartisanship to have a a similar investigation launched into the why and how of the $2bn investment that was made into the Jared Kushner Fund despite advisor recommendations not to invest. An impartial and bipartisan observer would be likely to think that the latter is at least as serious as the former, if not more so."
When I call and urge my congresspeople to stay in session for things like the debt ceiling, I like to remind them how hard we all worked to deliver these last midterm results. They owe us!