Chop Wood, Carry Water 12/13

Hi all, and happy Monday.

Hope you had a restful weekend.

I wanted to circle back and tell you about the meeting I had with my Congressmember’s office on Friday. The one organized by Demand Justice. (Spoiler alert: it was fantastic.)

We had about a dozen people there, many of them folks who had never shown up to something like this before. My Congressmember’s staffer listened respectfully as, one by one, we all spoke about why we had lost faith in the courts, and why an independent Supreme Court mattered to us. I talked about reproductive rights and also my LGBTQ child. Others spoke about gun violence, unions, or general legal precedents. We all expressed a real concern that the Supreme Court was becoming a political entity that could no longer be trusted to serve the American people.

The staffer thanked us, told us he would report back everything we had said, and suggested that the Congressmember would take a real look at co-sponsoring the Judiciary Act. It sounded very much as if he wasn't opposed to it—he just hadn't been told to make it a priority by his constituents.

Now he has.

This, quite simply, is how we make change. It's not fast, it's not instantly satisfying, and it's not particularly sexy. But, one phone call, one Town Hall, one constituent meeting at a time, we move one lawmaker at a time, and eventually we create a tipping point.

I wish things could happen faster, but in a democracy they just don't. And I like living in a democracy. I suspect you do as well.

So if you haven't yet signed up with Demand Justice please do.

If you're ready to make some calls let's do that too.

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

First, the Supreme Court’s horrifying refusal to overturn Texas’s SB8 on Friday is more proof that we need federal abortion protections immediately. I want the Senate to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act before they go on recess.

Second, has the Senator read the New York Times’s latest reporting on the so-called anti-democratic movement in this country? One of the scariest things about it is that it says that this movement is encountering almost no opposition—from Democrats or Republicans. May I send your office the article? I don't know how else to underscore how important it is that the Senate immediately pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. I'd also like to see them Senator introduce legislation to stop state legislatures from overturning election results. We are in serious danger here and it doesn't feel like anyone is taking it seriously. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

I’m calling to ask the Congressmember to vote to hold Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress tomorrow. Meadows is not only clearly in possession of critical information about an attempted coup, but is refusing to talk about material that he, himself, produced for the committee, and which he has discussed in his new book, thereby waiving any claims to privilege. He must be held in contempt and, if necessary, imprisoned. Our democracy is under attack. It's congress’s job to respond swiftly and forcefully. Thank you. [H/T]

Extra Credit

First, please read the latest Judd Legum piece on the Kelloggs strike. (If you don’t already subscribe to his newsletter, do so here. Please.) Then let’s call Kelloggs at 800-962-1413 or send an email here and say something like this (be sure to change it a bit):

I'm writing/calling to say that I am appalled by Kellogg’s behavior towards its striking workers. I won’t support companies that union bust, hire scabs, and, in general, treat their workers appallingly while simultaneously paying their Executives massive salaries.

I will stop purchasing your products as of today. Do better. Thank you.

I don't often (ever?) buy Kellogg's products. But they don't know that. Nor do they know whether I actually own their stock. So I sent a similar email to their investor relations department, at investor.relations@kellogg.com. I said:

To whom it may concern,

I'm writing to say that I am appalled by Kellogg’s behavior towards its striking workers. I oppose union busting, hiring scabs, and, in general, companies that treat workers appallingly while simultaneously paying their Executives massive salaries. 

I will not invest in a company that treats its workers this way, and will formally divest from your stocks as of today. Do better. Thank you.

Get on the Phones! ☎️

OK y'all, here's what I want for Christmas from you, my readers. 🎁 (Yes, technically this email is free, but I'm going to ask anyway.)

Will all of you please, please, pretty please sign up for one phonebanking shift with Common Cause? You’ll call people with key Democratic senators and ask them to call those senators. The ask? For them to do whatever it takes to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. This is easy—you'll be calling Democrats! Common Cause will fully train you first. I've done these calls and they're super fun.

If you've ever appreciated anything I've done will you sign up for a shift and let me know you did? (Yes, I am being slightly manipulative. If it gets any of you to call I am OK with that.) 🥰

Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)

[to Senate Dems ONLY] [H/T] [quick send text SIGN PQXFGR to 50409]

Thank you for your commitment to responsible governance and your rejection of Republicans’ debt ceiling partisanship and obstruction. Thanks to your resolve during both the October standoff and again this month, you were successful in staving off economic calamity while revealing Mitch McConnell’s animating priority: to maintain the filibuster and his ability to obstruct Democrats’ other essential priorities.

By initially insisting that Democrats raise the debt ceiling on their own while filibustering attempts to pursue a long-term extension, Senator McConnell and his Republican caucus created completely unnecessary economic uncertainty. It was a dangerous escalation in the already partisan and gridlocked Senate.

However, when it became clear that Senate Democrats were engaged in a serious conversation about Senate rules reform, Senator McConnell caved in October and helped pass a short-term debt limit extension, and then caved once again in December by negotiating a filibuster carve-out for the debt limit.

Unfortunately, while Senator McConnell and his Republican caucus allowed the filibuster to be eliminated for this latest debt limit extension, they remain committed to abusing the filibuster to obstruct democracy legislation, such as electoral college reforms, and voting rights legislation, such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.

Just as we needed to extend the debt limit to avoid economic calamity, we need to pass federal democracy and voting legislation to safeguard our democracy. And just as you had earlier been prepared to recognize that the U.S. economy is more important than the filibuster, I urge you to make a similar assessment when it comes to our democracy and our right to vote.

Thanks.

---

OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess