Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/13

"Do it afraid."

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Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!

I don’t know about you, but I’m on this Run For Something call right now and it’s giving me a lot of hope. What a terrific organization, and what terrific leadership!

Speaking of terrific—you guys. We’ve already raised 12K for the Chop Wood, Carry Statehouses Giving Circle! WOWOWOW! I’m floored. And I feel cautiously optimistic that we can actually get to 100K. You blow me away.

So look: the news is really tough this week. I hope you’ll do what I’m doing and just keep turning your face back towards the work. There are incredible people everywhere pouring their hearts into saving this country. Focus on them! Ask how you can help them! Heck—you ARE them!

I know—it’s hard not to focus instead on the “bad guys.” There are tons of them. It’s like the White Walkers out there—it’s easy to feel like we’re being overrun.

But there are tons of us, too. Heck, there are more of us than of them!

Also, every antagonist has a weakness. For White Walkers it’s Valyrian steel. For MAGA it’s their greed, their venality, their ignorance. Ultimately they’re only for themselves. They are working with “me” as their motivator.

We, the many, are for all of us. We are working for everyone. We are motivated by love.

This distinction matters, and as long as we don’t forget it—and stay unified—we can and will win.

I’m still on this Run For Something call, and someone in the audience just raised their hand to say that they want to run for office, but they’re terrified. They asked for tips to handle the fear.

There were a few different answers— but then Amanda Litman, the founder of Run For Something said: “It’s going to be scary. Do it afraid. You’ll be so glad you did.”

I love that. Do it afraid. YES. That little phrase is everything.

I’m scared. You’re scared. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be paying attention. But courage isn’t a lack of fear. It’s feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

So let’s find our courage one more time and get to work.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

Now that the foreign aid package has been passed I’d like the Senate to focus on passing the Expanded Child Tax Credit bill. I dislike that it’s tied to more tax cuts for the mega-rich, but we must care for our most vulnerable at all costs.

Having said that, once that bill is passed I’d like the Senator to commit to voting down any further tax cuts for corporations and billionaires. They’ve had enough—I want them to pay more taxes, in fact, not less. This is an issue I will vote on. The rich need to pay their fair share. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I want the Congressmember to get aid to Ukraine passed, either by passing a standalone bill or by signing on to a discharge petition to get the foreign aid package passed. While I know there are disagreements about some provisions in the package, the aid to Ukraine is critical. We absolutely cannot allow Russia to win. If Speaker Johnson won’t bring it to a vote because he’s beholden to Trump, who is beholden to Vladmir Putin, then go around him. By investing in military aid to Ukraine today, much of which funding remains in the US and underwrites jobs and technological advances, the US will avoid much larger expenses in the future. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

If you can spare even half an hour to call for Tom Suozzi today, please don’t forget there’s MAJOR snowstorm in NY and voter turnout will be way down. EVERY VOTE will matter! Sign up here.

Get Smart! 📚

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, my friends at Climate Action Now decided to take a timely dive into the impact of chocolate on climate change. Cocoa farming is a leading cause of deforestation in Africa, while simultaneously threatening endangered species like chimpanzees.  It doesn’t have to be that way.

On Thursday, February 15 at 7:00 pm ET, I’ll moderate a panel of experts from the World Wildlife Fund and elsewhere to explain the problem. Participants will be invited to use the incredibly easy Climate Action Now app to send hundreds of messages to chocolate companies urging them to clean up their act.

I hope you’ll join me and my friends at Climate Action Now for a lively hour of learning and climate action for a sustainable planet.

Location: Zoom, registration required

Give 💰 (and get smart)!

Mind the Gap is urging us to help close the funding gap for American Independent Radio (AIR), the radio mobilization program that has been rigorously tested over the last two cycles and shown to cost-effectively turn out voters of color. Based on their evaluations, radio mobilization has generated significant impact in highly competitive races and promises to do so again in 2024. Your early investments will allow AIR to lock in lower ad rates, thereby generating more votes dollar for dollar in the races that matter most. You can make a tax-deductible contribution today to help ensure this program reaches the scale needed to maximize voter turnout.

Contribute to AIR Now.

Also, Mind the Gap is having a webinar about why radio is so important for our 2024 prospects on Feb 20 at 12:00 PM PT / 3PM ET. You can register here.

Pass the National Popular Vote Compact! 🗳

Text & Phone bank to get Maine to Join National Popular Vote Compact

There’s a solution to the winner-take-all distortion of the Electoral College: the National Popular Vote Compact. Right now there’s an opportunity for Maine to be the next state to join the NPV Compact, but lawmakers need to hear from their constituents.

RepresentUS and the Maine League of Women Voters are running text and phone banks this week. Volunteers will be connected to Maine voters, asking them to contact their lawmakers to support the National Popular Vote bill. All you need to do is click below and register.

Text bank is February 14th 3:00-5:00pm EST

Phone bank is February 15th 6:00-8:30pm EST

The National Popular Vote Compact ensures that everyone’s vote matters regardless of where they live, and it doesn’t require abolishing the Electoral College. States in the Compact commit to voting their electors for the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide. It comes into force once states in the Compact have a combined 270 electoral votes, the number needed to win the presidency. With your help, Maine can join the 17 other states in the Compact, bringing the total to 204 electoral votes.

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: ] [H/T] [Text SIGN PAAOAW to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

The Biden administration has taken bold climate action to pause LNG exports unless and until the Department of Energy updates their public interest determination process. The pause on approvals of new LNG export facilities will allow the federal government to update its outdated and deficient approach and incorporate critical new data and analysis, which has not been done since Trump left office.

But the Republican party is threatened by President Biden's climate leadership and beholden to their fossil fuel donors. The GOP is pushing a series of misguided and dangerous bills and amendments this week to ry and block Biden climate progress, and we need every Democrat and climate hawk on deck to fight back.

This week, the House could vote on H.R. 7176 – the misleadingly named “Unlocking our Domestic LNG Potential Act.” This bill would be a massive giveaway to Big Oil and Gas CEOs by opening the floodgates for gas exports that raise our energy costs, accelerate the climate crisis, and make our families sick by stripping away the federal government’s responsibility to examine the full impacts of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the economy, consumer energy costs, the climate, and local communities.

In addition, Senator Barasso is reportedly looking to add an amendment to overturn President Biden's LNG pause to a must pass military spending bill for our allies in Ukraine. As the Department of Energy, EU allies, and others have reported, President Biden's Pause on new LNG export licenses will not impact supplies of LNG to our European allies - where demand for gas is already declining due to our shared climate and security goals of moving away from fossil fuels.

On behalf of climate hawks and constituents, I ask you to stand firm in the face of Republican tantrums and lies, and support President Biden's climate leadership.

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

Talk soon.

Jess