Chop Wood, Carry Water 12/9
Hi, all, and happy Friday!
Thanks, as always, for your many kind comments—both public and private—in response to yesterday’s post. I truly believe I have the best subscribers in the world.
Speaking of which, as soon as I publish this newsletter I’ll open up my weekly thread for paid subscribers. Last week’s discussion yielded several excellent show recommendations, as well as some great book titles to check out. We had conversations on a wide and varying range of subjects, in fact. It was great. I really enjoy these Friday “hangs,” and hope my supporters do, as well. It’s the least I can do to thank you for helping me to keep the lights on, so to speak.
One more thing: I’ve decided to add a new permanent section to this newsletter! It’s called “Spread the Word.” Since we all see shortfalls in Dems’ messaging, I figure we should get busy trying to help with it. I receive emails daily with items the DNC is trying to amplify, so I thought I’d pass a few of them on to you. Even if all you do is read the headline it may give you a sense of the breadth of Biden’s ongoing accomplishments. Perhaps you’ll find yourself spreading the word as you go through your day!
We don’t have a Fox News. We don’t have a Tucker Carlson (thank God.) So we must be mouthpieces of the party. That starts with simply knowing what’s happening. I’m going to try to help with that, and I hope you will share what you learn.
Finally, Kyrsten Sinema. I know. It’s enraging. From what I understand, though, it won’t change anything functionally, as she plans on keeping her Democratic Comittee positions and therefore caucusing with us. But it will make it harder to unseat her. Grr.
My suggestion? Give her as little attention as you can. It’s what she most craves, and we’ve learned from hard experience that providing narcissists with more notice than they deserve has dire results.
No matter what she throws at us, in short, we will deal with it. We will deal with what all of them throw at us. We always have, and we always will. We are strong. We are seasoned. We are determined.
And we will win.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling about two important things today:
First, in light of the fact that the Supreme Court is hearing cases that could further erode our voting rights and irreparably harm our democracy, I am calling to urge the Senator to work to end the filibuster of H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote John R. Lewis Act. The Senate needs to debate and vote on it before it’s too late. We all know it will not be re-enacted by the new House of Representatives in 2023. If we want to protect our democracy we need to do it now. Do not leave voting rights up to individual states! [H/T subscriber Alice Schaffer Smith]
Second, the National Labor Relations Board is in desperate need of funding. American workers are facing outrageous and often illegal union-busting tactics. Without increased funding, the NLRB will be unable to monitor union elections and investigate abuses and violations of the law. Please work to get this funding to the NLRB right away! And also please try to pass the PRO Act during the lame duck period! 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 the National Labor Relations Board is in desperate need of funding. American workers are facing outrageous and often illegal union-busting tactics. Without increased funding, the NLRB will be unable to monitor union elections and investigate abuses and violations of the law. Please work to get this funding to the NLRB right away! Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
The Starbucks Workers Union is asking for our help today, on the one-year anniversary of their first unionized store in Buffalo, NY. As you already know, Starbucks engages in horrible union-busting tactics. Their workers are asking us to amplify a campaign called #NoContractNoGiftCards, which simply asks that people not give Starbucks gift cards for the holidays this year. The hope is that a dent in the company’s bottom line will finally get them to the negotiating table.
I made a Tiktok about it which you can view on instagram here. And here’s a document with more background on Starbucks’ terrible behavior. Please read it and spread the word.
Finally, here’s a sample tweet:
Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the 1st @Starbucks Union win. Let’s stand with unionizing Starbucks workers & demand that Starbucks bargain with workers in good faith. Until then please shop for gift cards (& drinks) elsewhere.
Get Smart! 📚
Are you interested in polling? Is climate a top issue for you? Then you should really attend the below:
Environmental Polling Consortium’s Quarterly Poll Briefing: Climate Change and the Environment in the 2022 Midterms
This session will cover presentations on climate change and the environment as factors in the midterms, how specific environmental issues stack up against other issues like the economy, and other core climate and environmental debates that mattered to voters this year.
We will record this session and if you are unable to attend, please register to ensure you receive a follow-up email with the recording and resources shared during the session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
These briefings are always fascinating and encouraging. Highly recommend.
Spread the Word! 📣
STAT OF THE DAY
90 – As of this week, the Senate has confirmed 90 judges nominated by President Biden, of those confirmed nearly 50% are women of color.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [Quick send text SIGN PGYSIV to 50409]
Our retirement tax system is broken. Each year, it showers hundreds of billions of dollars of tax breaks primarily on the richest households. But few of these incentives reach the households that need help the most.
Instead of worsening inequality by giving more tax breaks to the rich to shelter their untaxed fortunes for retirement (and which ultimately get passed onto their heirs), Congress must advance retirement legislation that favors those most at risk of retirement insecurity―low- and middle-income workers and their families.
The SECURE Act (HR 2954) and the EARN Act (S 4808) will provide very limited support for those most at risk of retirement insecurity. They will primarily subsidize the wealthy and worsen the racial wealth gap.
We need legislation that better subsidizes retirement savings of low- and middle-income workers. And, we need lower contribution limits for the wealthy, reining in of Mega IRAs, and establishing a lifetime limit on tax-subsidized contributions to retirement accounts by the wealthiest Americans. Most of all, we need to expand Social Security, the bedrock of retirement for most Americans.
If Congress wants to invest billions in addressing our retirement security crisis, you must subsidize retirement savings of low- and middle-income households, not provide a windfall for those at the top. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk Monday. Have a great weekend.
Jess
Frankly, I had been wondering when Sinema would show up on the national stage. Manchin has been getting all the buzz as the "spoiler" senator, thwarted by Warnock's win on Tuesday. She is an oddball who craves attention. Now she has it, but I predict her center-stage turn will be brief and not give her what she ultimately wants: power and relevance. The voters of Arizona won't put up with her silly behavior, i wager.
You might suggest that for those of us that eschew the TwitMusk we can use the suggestions likewise on Mastodon.