Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/8 🔥
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
What a happy day, indeed. WHAT A SPEECH! I actually found myself texting a certain political Substack author halfway through to see if I was crazy.
“Is it me or is Joe Biden killing it right now?”
A few moments later he responded: “Best speech of his life!!”
And he was right.
Did Biden cover everything we wanted to the extent that we wanted? No—
of “Abortion, Every Day” (a literal must-read) correctly points out that the time allotted to abortion rights was wildly inadequate—but did Biden’s speech cover most of what it should have, in the tone it should have, and with the confidence it should have? Yes, yes, and yes again!As for the moment when Biden tricked the Republicans into taking Social Security and Medicare off of the chopping block? Pure brilliance. I’ve never seen anything with such huge implications handled so adeptly in such a public forum.
One more thing on this before moving on: Republicans’ behavior last night was repugnant. I’ve got a potty mouth, too, but I know when to leave it at home. Yelling profanities at the President of the United States from the House floor is disrespectful and completely unacceptable. While it dismayed me to watch it, however, I couldn’t help but feel a small sense of satisfaction in the knowledge that these puerile actions were being viewed by tens of millions of Americans, including Independents and swing voters who have repeatedly told pollsters they despise this sort of behavior. Civility matters to most of us. It was entirely lacking in these members last night. Duly noted.
One happy word more before I go: Democrats won all three Pennsylvania statehouse seats last night! In landslides! This means we have held control of the House. This will have enormous implications for abortion rights, LGBTQIA+ protections, voting rights, and more. With just a one-seat majority we will be able to hold a tremendous amount of evil at bay. Thank you to everyone who made calls, sent postcards, or donated towards these races. Now onwards to Virginia and Wisconsin!
Speaking of the latter, I hope many of you were able to get to either the Focus For Democracy Wisconsin fundraiser last night or the Flip the Vote one. I made half of each before hopping off to watch the SOTU, and left them both feeling extremely fired up over this election. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe its importance. Please consider joining me today at my phonebank and I’ll tell you more about it!
More on that below. Let’s get to work!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
Last night President Biden did a great job of highlighting legislation that has wide support from Americans and should be passed in a bipartisan fashion. Three bills I specifically want to express support for are the PRO Act, to protect Americans’ right to unionize, the EQUALITY Act, to protect our LGBTQ community, and S. 25 the Assault Weapons Ban Act. [The first two bills have yet to be re-introduced this session so remain unnumbered.] I also support President Biden’s calls for a Billionaire’s Minimum Tax and want the Senator to as well. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
Last night President Biden did a great job of highlighting legislation that has wide support from Americans and should be passed in a bipartisan fashion. Three bills I specifically want to express support for are the PRO Act, to protect Americans’ right to unionize, the EQUALITY Act, to protect our LGBTQ community, and the Assault Weapons Ban Act. [These bills have yet to be re-introduced this session so remain unnumbered.] I also support President Biden’s calls for a Billionaire’s Minimum Tax and want the Congressmember to as well. Thanks.
[If GOP add:] One more thing: I am delighted that Republicans committed publicly last night to leaving Social Security and Medicare untouched. I hope they will also agree to immediately raise the debt ceiling, which I’m sure they know also has wide public support.
Extra Credit ✅
I attended SURJ’s weekly “Abolition Action Hour” yesterday (I highly recommend going to one); we focused on easy actions surround Cop City and Tyre Nichols. You can find the google doc of actions they gave us here, but if you want the short version I’ve got three easy things you can do:
For Tyre: Send this letter to Mayor Lee Harris, the Shelby County Commission, Sheriff Bonner, Mayor Jim Strickland, the Memphis City Council, and Chief C.J. Davis and demand they take the necessary steps to immediately pass Decarcerate Memphis' Data Transparency Ordinance, and end pretextual traffic stops.
For Tyre: Use my quick-send tool (which won’t work if you use a VPN) to send the Memphis Mayor and City Council an email you can personalize by clicking here.
For Cop City: Sign this petition asking corporations in Atlanta to divest from Cop City.
The next Abolition Action hour, where volunteers come together to hear about racial justice efforts then take easy actions as a group, is Thursday, February 16th from 3-4pm ET. Register here if you’d like to check it out!
Get Smart! 📚
Interested in youth voting patterns? I’ve got the event for you.
On Friday, February 10th at 10:00 AM ET Markers For Democracy is hosting pollster John Della Volpe from The Institute of Politics at Harvard.
John Della Volpe has led the institute's polling initiatives on understanding American youth since 2000. The Washington Post referred to him as one of the world's leading authorities on global sentiment, opinion, and influence, especially among youth and in the age of digital and social media. John is a Political Contributor on MSNBC and appears regularly on Morning Joe. He is also the founder and CEO of SocialSphere, a public opinion research firm in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of the acclaimed book Fight: How Gen Z is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save America with a Foreword by David Hogg.
Spread the Word! 📣
Let’s not let Republicans off the hook. They say they never wanted to cut SSI and Medicare? We’ve got the receipts. Please amplify this tweet.
Or this article:
Washington Post Opinion: “[Rick] Scott’s plan would also sunset — eliminate — all federal legislation over five years, under the (risky) assumption that worthy laws would be reenacted. That could mean an end to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, everything else mentioned above — and potentially more.”
Win Races! 🗳
Today: I’ll be leading a phonebank into Wisconsin from 3:30-5:30 PT. Early voting has started! Please join me! I’ll explain exactly what we’re doing (voter education) and how very important it is! Sign up here.
Tomorrow: at 7PM ET Vote Riders is launching a letter-writing campaign into Wisconsin focused on voter ID requirements and free help offers. Once trained on their letter-writing platform, volunteers can request addresses and write letters on their own time until they close out the campaign in late March before April 4 elections! Woot! Sign up here for the party!
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[to all 3 reps] [Letter pulled from this article] [Quick send: text SIGN PIYNTO to 50409]
Nearly 76,000 Afghans who worked with American soldiers since 2001 as translators, interpreters and partners arrived in the U.S. on military planes after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. The government admitted them on a temporary parole status as part of Operation Allies Welcome, but we have failed to finish the job.
For the past year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, backed by veterans organizations and former military officials, has pushed Congress to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would do just that. It would prevent the Afghans from becoming stranded without legal residency status when their two years of humanitarian parole expire in August 2023. It would enable qualified Afghans to apply for U.S. citizenship, as was done for refugees in the past, including those from Cuba, Vietnam and Iraq.
This bill should have passed in the Omnibus, but didn’t. It’s unacceptable.
What message are we sending to the rest of the world if we don’t do this? To those who stand with our soldiers, who protect them, who provide security for their families? How can we expect them to do so next time if we don’t protect our allies now?
And most people in the United States appear to share my sentiment.
A survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taken the month after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan found that 72% of respondents regarded giving the Afghans refuge from any Taliban retaliation as a duty and a necessary coda of the nearly 20-year war.
Yet we haven’t done it yet. This must change. It’s time to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Thanks Jessica, that so easy! I called all three of my congress critters and asked for their support of the bills you suggested. I used the script you provided itt took lessl than 2 minutes. Now I will share with my friends and relations. I feel so good for having made the calls.