Chop Wood, Carry Water 11/9
Build Higher
Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
I’ve got a couple of reading and viewing recommendations for you today. I hope you’ll check them out.
The reading has to do with messaging and how we can win in 2022—which we can. (Thanks to Dan Pfeiffer for flagging the article). It’s becoming really clear that our victory in 2022 is not only going to be about knocking doors and making calls, but about amplifying the right narrative. Which is to say, the truth. The good news is, we have ALL of the “plot elements” at our disposal. The challenge is to make as many people into adept storytellers as we can, quickly. So read this to see what story we need to be telling. Then let’s all think about what platform(s) we’re best equipped to spread it on.
Then please consider taking the 7 minutes to watch this Teri Kanefield video about cynicism and why we must fight it…not only on the other side, but on our own.
You’ll thank me, I promise.
OK, all. I know the calls below feel unbelievably repetitive. I would love nothing more than to give you different calls every day—and I do try to give you new scripts every day—but the truth is we know that the way to win is repetition. Remember my “wall of noise” idea? Well, a wall is built by piling one brick on top of another—not spreading bricks thinly across the ground.
So trust me when I say: daily calls on these bills are needed. Remember: lawmakers’ staffers aren’t counting how many times YOU have called on the Build Back Better (or Freedom to Vote) Act; they are counting how many calls they get each day about it.
So let’s make sure it’s a lot.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I want Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act. It’s historic and desperately-needed legislation that fights climate change, cuts child poverty in half, expands health care, provides for universal preschool and community college, grants our care workers a living wage and offers a path to citizenship. And it can be fully paid for by making the rich and powerful pay their fair share. Please SAY NO to the corporate lobbyists who want to water it down and get it passed!
Secondly, I want the Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Acts. [If Democrat add:] Y’all are running out of time. Reform the filibuster and get this done before it’s too late. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I want Congress to pass the Build Back Better Act. It’s historic and desperately-needed legislation that fights climate change, cuts child poverty in half, expands health care, provides for universal preschool and community college, grants our care workers a living wage and offers a path to citizenship. And it can be fully paid for by making the rich and powerful pay their fair share. Please SAY NO to the corporate lobbyists who want to water it down and get it passed! [H/T]
One more thing: although the economy has bounced back significantly, our workforce is still depleted. Offering better benefits like paid leave would be an effective tool to attract employees. Americans are fed up with being mistreated in the workplace and only want the benefits that every other country offers. Please pass paid family leave! [H/T]
Extra Credit
I’m calling Nancy Pelosi today. Join me if you like. (415) 556-4862 or (202) 225-4965. I’m saying:
“I’m calling the Congresswoman in her capacity as House Speaker to ask that, at the very least, she initiate a formal Censure resolution against Congressman Gosar. He has just threatened violence against Congressmember Ocasio-Cortez. If a regular citizen did that they’d be arrested. We can’t normalize threats of death against elected officials. To quote Ted Lieu, “in any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired.” Gosar needs to face real consequences, now. Thanks.”
Get on the Keyboards for KIDS! 🧒
As many of you know, the expansion of the Child Tax Credit has the potential to cut child poverty in America in half (!!), but that will only happen if we reach the families who need it most. So the Leadership Conference is hosting a Child Tax Credit text bank on Wednesday, November 10th at 6pm ET where volunteers will be trained on how to text parents in real time who need to sign up for the CTC. All volunteers will leave the event having made a tangible impact in the lives of women and families across the country.
We have the chance to cut child poverty in half, but only if we reach the families who need to sign up to receive the CTC. That’s why we need your help.
SIGN UP HERE TO JOIN them on November 10th at 6 p.m. EST, to text parents who need to sign up for the CTC. All volunteers will leave the event having made a tangible impact in the lives of women and families across the country.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
Send to all 3 reps (or text SIGN PBYMGM to 50409), plus President Biden (or text SIGN PFIERK to 50409).
As the Build Back Better Act moves closer to being passed by Congress, please ensure that the bill is truly the game-changer we need to transition the country to renewable energy and off of fossil fuels by 2035. I am concerned that the Build Back Better Act includes tens of billions of dollars ($35.3 billion over 6 years according to the latest analysis) in infrastructure spending on subsidies for aging, uneconomical nuclear power plants in the form of the Nuclear PTC. This would be a costly, counterproductive, job-killing mistake. Please remove all such measures in the Build Back Better Act.
Please do not allow Sen. Manchin to block our best chance at climate justice and an equitable economy at the same time he is co-sponsoring this Nuclear PTC and is fighting to keep this bailout for corrupt nuclear corporations in the bill. Sen. Manchin has fought to undermine and pare down the BBBA, weakening the provisions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand renewable energy. All the while, he has pushed to expand funding for nuclear power and other dirty energy sources while raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars in political contributions from the very corporations that have the most to lose from phasing out dirty energy. One of those companies is Exelon, the top beneficiary of the Nuclear PTC, which is poised to receive $13.5 billion from the program.
Sen. Manchin can’t be allowed to cut climate and economic justice and then push through tens of billions of dollars to subsidize dirty, old, and increasingly dangerous nuclear power plants. Preserving the bailout for nuclear reactors would steal funding from the social and infrastructure programs the nation needs. Forgoing family-sustaining jobs and investments in racial justice to bail out corrupt corporations would be a tragic waste of resources and political will.
Please do not allow these short-sighted corporate interests to profit from their efforts to strip out so many vital elements of the Build Back Better agenda.
Please ensure that infrastructure and energy legislation include no subsidies for nuclear power, and focus all energy investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and the transition to a 100% renewable, carbon-free, nuclear-free energy system.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess