Hi, all, and happy Friday!
Hope you had a great January 6th. Our event was awesome and totally inspiring—not only did we have 50-60 people show up for a voter registration phonebank, (some of whom were you all!), but we enjoyed a surprise visit from Adam Schiff, whose relationship with Civic Sundays goes back years. It was deeply moving to hear him speak, and particularly amazing to hear him say, in essence, that our persistence and efforts kept him going.
“You have no idea how often I talk about you,” he said. “Really. All the time.” Then he thanked us, repeatedly, for sticking with this work.
Remember: our leaders need us as much as we need them. They’re counting on us to do the footwork. They need us to not quit. They—the good ones, at least—are deeply grateful that we’re determined to win.
The bad ones? They are deeply fearful of the same.
So let’s do today’s calls and actions for Adam Schiff, and for all the other lawmakers who are deep in the fight to save our democracy.
Nice to be on team Hero, right? 🥰
P.S. Here’s Political Charge’s Friday good news list. There’ll be more in this weekend’s “Extra! Extra!” if you’re a paid subscriber.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
[to all Senators] I’m calling to ask the Senator to fight to pass the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) to protect us from the worst ravages of climate change, create a more equitable system for working moms, and help aspiring Americans. And please make sure it keeps the extended Child Tax Credit without work requirements. Millions of kids will fall back into poverty otherwise.
Also please ask them to vote to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (S. 4) and the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) as soon as possible. [H/T]
[If GOP add:] If the Senator won’t support these bills I will do everything in my power to encourage Democrats to reform the filibuster and pass them on their own.
[If Democrat add:] If Republicans won’t support these bills Democrats have to reform the filibuster and pass them on their own. This is a life or death moment for our democracy. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
With the Supreme Court on the verge of gutting vaccine mandates I would like to call once again and ask the Congressmember to co-sponsor H.R.2584 - the Judiciary Act of 2021. To quote Adam Schiff [he said this on yesterday’s call], “This bill wouldn’t stack the courts. It would unstack them.” Please ask the Congressmember to make it a priority. Thanks.
Extra Credit
Please post on your social media (this is messaging work, y’all):
Corporate greed is slowing the fight against COVID as big corporations profit off of the recent surge in cases. https://www.wsj.com/articles/walmart-kroger-raise-prices-of-covid-19-test-kits-11641320476
Extra EXTRA Credit
[H/T Americans of Conscience newsletter.]
If you live in AK, AZ, GA, IA, KY, MI, MO, NH, PA, SC, or WI: Contact your state legislators (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] because I’m concerned about pending legislation that interferes with local election administration. I urge you to vote NO on [BILL NUMBER FROM SPREADSHEET] to keep [STATE]’s elections free of partisan tampering. Thank you.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [quick send text SIGN PZJNUZ to 50409]
I’m writing to express concern about the tens of thousands of Afghans arriving in the U.S. They need a pathway to real and lasting safety.
Most Afghans are arriving or will soon be arriving with humanitarian parole, which only temporarily allows people fleeing danger to remain in the U.S. These Afghans will need to find another pathway to safety once their parole expires.
Currently, the pathway available to them is asylum, a paperwork-intensive process with years-long backlogs that have prevented thousands of people from finding safety in the U.S. Even harder for the Afghans fleeing persecution in their country: a successful asylum claim requires proof that a person would face violence in their home country, the very documents that Afghans were advised to destroy when escaping the Taliban.
To ensure that Afghans find real, lasting safety in the U.S., I want you to support passage of the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would allow Afghan parolees to seek legal permanent residence in the U.S. Thank you.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
That WSJ article is behind a paywall. Here's one from abc news on the same topic, that anyone can access: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/walmart-kroger-raise-home-covid-test-prices-agreement/story?id=82088255