Chop Wood, Carry Water 12/19
Hi, all, and happy Monday!
I know I promised not to send normal newsletters this week, but I can’t help it. There are really important and time sensitive things happening! I’ve got two sets of important calls to make—please do them if you can—and a couple of other items that could use attention. Then I will leave you to your holiday preparations, or to watching the J6 hearings! That’s what I’m doing!
Sending all of my love and encouragement. It’s going to be quite the week. Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together.
Call the House Ways and Means Committee 📲
Tomorrow the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to review Trump’s tax returns. At the meeting, the Committee can vote to make them public!
Here are the members of the House W&M Committee with a link to their offices (click on their picture) if you don’t have their contact info. If one of them represents you please consider calling and saying:
My name is _____ and I’m a constituent from [zip]. I’m calling because I know that tomorrow the House Ways and Means Committee will meet to review Trump’s tax returns and vote on whether or not to make them public. I know that the Congressmember sits on this committee and I urge him/her to vote yes. It is in the public’s interest to know what is in those tax returns, especially as Trump is once again running for President. Thanks.
If none of them represents you feel free to call one or more of them anyway. Just take out the “I’m a constituent” part and tell them you’re a “concerned citizen.”
Call Four Congressional Leaders About Manchin’s Dirty Deal (AGAIN!) 📲
There are rumors circulating that Senators Schumer and Manchin may be trying to attach the dirty deal to the end-of-year spending package that will be released today. We can’t be sure if this is true, but since they’ve tried to force passage of this bill 3 times in the last few months, we’re taking action just in case.
Please call the Congressional leaders in charge of negotiating the end-of-year spending bill and ask them to oppose the dirty deal!
Senate Appropriations Chair Senator Leahy: (202) 224-4242
House Appropriations Chair Congresswoman DeLauro: (202) 225-3661
Senator Schumer: (202) 224-6542 or (518) 431-4070 or (202) 224-6542
Speaker Pelosi: (202) 225-4965 or (415) 556-4862
When you’re connected, here’s what to say:
My name is _____ and I’m calling from ______. I’m calling to urge ______ to oppose attaching Manchin’s dirty permitting deal to the end-of-year spending bill. I'm deeply concerned about any legislation that would fast-track fossil fuel projects and undermine protections for environmental justice communities. [Feel free to add something about why climate change is a top issue for you.]
Extra Credit ✅
Y’all, many of you know about the amazing Climate Action Now app—I’m a HUGE fan. It’s the smartest and best app of its kind that I know of, making it incredibly easy to take impactful climate actions every day in just a few minutes.
Incredibly, the Climate Action Now community has taken more than 931,000 planet-saving actions this year. And they’re hoping to get to ONE MILLION before the year is up. Can we all help?
Please, if you haven’t already, download the app here. Take the recommended 5 actions a day or, if you already do that, maybe do a few more. The actions are brilliantly curated and incredibly wide-ranging—I wholeheartedly endorse everything they’ll suggest to you.
Let’s get them to a million! And then, of course, keep going in 2023.
Extra Extra Credit!
Please sign and share the Save the Post Office Coalition’s new petition asking Senator Gary Peters, (D-MI) Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to lead the fight to send public service champions to the USPS Board of Governors—champions who will vote to fire DeJoy.
Help them get 100K signatures by Jan. 6!
Get Smart! 📚
Tonight at 6PM CT please join Newtown Action Alliance and HP Strong as volunteers come together for an evening of action on gun violence prevention (GVP). Action will be followed by a 'social half-hour' where volunteers will stick around to chat about their backgrounds, their motivations, the state of policy, or whatever else. First-time volunteers are EXTREMELY welcome. These events happen weekly, and actions may change depending on where policy and lobbying currently stand and efforts are most needed.
Can’t go tonight but interested in the subject? You can join the Campaign Against Assault Weapons HERE.)
Win Races! 🗳
If anyone has time to make calls today or tomorrow the Environmental Voter Project is offering two guided phonebanks into VA to help elect a Democrat to the up-for-grabs seat there—very important! These are the easiest and most pleasant calls you’ll ever make!
The two phonebanks are:
Monday, December 19th at 6pm ET / 3pm PT and
Tuesday, December 20th at 12pm ET / 9am PT.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
First, thank you for all you do! Second, I think you posted a link to a piece that outlined all the orgs helping women find abortion services? Can you share that with me? I am trying to find that link. Thanks.
I am a day late to this party, but I wanted to say that I found my first twenty minutes with the Climate Action Project app to be very satisfying and informative. Lots of wood to chop, lots of water to carry.