Chop Wood, Carry Water 4/19

Link to post. This JUST happened.

Hi, all, and happy Friday!

Welp. Twelve citizens have been selected to sit on Donald Trump’s criminal trial jury. It’s happening! Six alternates have also just been found. We may actually be in opening arguments by Monday! Remarkable.

These jurors, a more-or-less randomly selected set of “average” New Yorkers, will face intimidation, threats, and possibly violence if their identities leak out. They all had the chance to decline the job. They didn’t. They are true heroes of democracy, every one. Let’s never forget it.

Speaking of unlikely heroism, Mike Johnson is plowing ahead with the vote on four separate (but to-be-conjoined) supplemental security bills. Last night Democrats on the Rules Committee supplied the four extra votes needed to pass the rule to proceed (a handful of Freedom Caucus members refused to support it). Such a thing—the minority party’s supporting a rule vote like this—rarely happens, apparently, but we’re living in extraordinary times.

Today the entire House voted to approve the rule for debate on the legislative package. Bravo! Democrats provided more votes than Republicans, but it was a solid bipartisan showing.

This sort of co-operation—I almost hesitate to use the word for fear of jinxing it—is unprecedented in recent times and deeply heartening to behold. Could the pro-Putin faction in Congress finally be eclipsed by a larger, pro-democracy coalition?

I’ll believe it when I see the Ukraine aid bill pass. If it does, I’ll find my pinhole camera and wave it around while I dance a jig.

Speaking of Ukraine, I received an interesting update from my subscriber Jim McBride. He recently attended the American Coalition For Ukraine's 4th Action Summit on Capitol Hill, which included over 500 delegates taking over 200 meetings with congressional offices.

McBride said:

Increasing media attention and grassroots advocacy made an impact as the [Ukraine funding] announcement was made immediately after [ACU members’] meetings with Republicans emphasized a "What Would Reagan Do?" message and Speaker Johnson's latest remarks showed it had an effect. 

The Ukraine House Caucus also hosted a press conference with Gold Star Moms of Americans killed fighting in Ukraine.

A vote on these bills might occur this weekend and the ACU recommends calling Congress daily until a bill is passed to let your members know you support Ukraine. Pro-Putin Propaganda is influencing Americans to call and say they're against it by a margin of over 10-1 in many offices.

You can call the Capitol Switchboard and leave a VM with Members 24/7 at 202-224-3121. 

You can also use the call tool I posted yesterday. Let’s make sure we stay loud until this thing is done! Also, nice work advocates! And nice work every one of you who’s been calling Mike Johnson and your representatives! It’s moving the needle for sure.

Finally, you may have heard that the TikTok bill is back in the mix again. It is, with revisions. A bill forcing its divestiture is included in one of the four supplementals, but it now allows a year, instead of six months, for the sale to transpire. Whether or not it will pass and end up in the final package sent to the Senate is unclear, but according to a political influencer friend who’s in regular touch with higher-ups at TikTok, they’re now considering it a fait accompli.

There will be much anger from TikTok users over this—heck, I’m already seeing tons of it and the bill hasn’t yet passed. In the end, though, I’m cautiously optimistic that, should it prove necessary, this massively valuable platform will find an American buyer. Regardless, we’ll survive whatever happens. At least we know we have TikTok until the elections are done (and likely long after, considering the legal challenges sure to come). As President Biden recently said (in a totally different context), let’s take the wins where we can get them.

Speaking of wins, it’s time to get to work. Because this democracy isn’t going to save itself!

P.S. — For those of you asking where to find the recorded version of this newsletter, it’s at the top. See the below.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I understand that a group of House Democrats have introduced legislation that would strengthen oversight of the Supreme Court. It’s called The Judicial Ethics Enforcement Act of 2024. It would basically authorize the creation of an office of the inspector general to investigate allegations of misconduct in the judicial branch. Will the Senator help introduce the Senate version right away? Supreme Court reform is a top issue for me.

The bill has no number yet, but the Senator can contact Congressmember Raskin’s office for the text of the bill. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I want the Congressmember to support the funding for Ukraine the House will be voting on tomorrow. American national security is completely tied up with Ukraine’s. We must help them.

Also, I understand that a group of House Democrats have introduced legislation that would strengthen oversight of the Supreme Court. It’s called The Judicial Ethics Enforcement Act of 2024. It would basically authorize the creation of an office of the inspector general to investigate allegations of misconduct in the judicial branch. Will the Congressmember sign on as a co-sponsor right away? The bill has no number yet, but s/he can contact Congressmember Raskin’s office for more information. Thanks.

[I feel so strongly about this that I made it the Resistbot letter, too. See below.]

Extra Credit ✅

The SEC has proposed a rule to prevent investment funds and advisers from using misleading marketing and advertising tactics to sell Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment funds to investors, including workers saving for retirement.

If finalized, the rule will tackle rampant greenwashing and other exaggerated claims about what a fund’s investment strategy really is (or isn’t).

But here’s the catch: If the SEC does not finalize the rule soon, then it may be subject to a Congressional Review Act resolution, a tool that is used by Congress to overturn federal regulation. If enough of us speak out right now, we can encourage the SEC to do the right thing and issue a strong ESG rule that can protect retirement savers and beat the CRA clock.

Please use this tool from Americans For Financial Reform to submit a public comment to the SEC. They give you a suggested letter but please modify it.

Ask the SEC to protect working people’s retirement savings by cracking down on misleading marketing and sustainability claims. This matters!

Get Smart! 📚

STOP THE SUPREME COURT’S RELENTLESS POWER GRAB: VIRTUAL COMMUNITY KICKOFF

Since President Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, the MAGA supermajority has eliminated our right to abortion, made it harder to prevent school shootings, allowed massive corporations to pollute our air and water, helped politicians suppress our votes, and so much more. Now, they stand to seize even more power to rewrite the rules in favor of special interests, billionaires, and major corporations — helping the rich get richer and the powerful gain more power — at the expense of the American people. 

While they are gearing up to further this relentless power grab, we must be even more relentless in stopping them. Join United For Democracy and many co-sponsors, (myself included), at an event where we’ll discuss how. It’s going to be amazing.

Wednesday, April 24 at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT 

Register here.

Spread the Word! 📣

Robert Reich has done a stellar job explaining who Robert Kennedy Jr. is, why he’s a crackpot, and how he’s a danger to democracy. He’s asking us to share this video widely (TikTok apparently took it down right away. Hmmm….) and I can’t urge you strongly enough to do so. We have GOT to get the word out!

Give 💰!

Please join Central Valley Matters (CVM) for a zoom fundraiser “A Conversation with Jane Fonda and Dolores Huerta” on Thursday, April 25 at 5pm PDT. Money raised goes directly to key community groups that have a track record of getting out the vote in CA22. This district is one of the best opportunities in the country to flip a congressional seat from Red to Blue.

For the past three years CVM has been raising funds to expand the progressive infrastructure in CA22 and support local organizations that work year-round to improve the lives of people there. This heavily Latino area is the poorest district in California, home to the United Farm Workers and a place that desperately needs a Democrat representing them.

To Meet Jane Fonda and Dolores Huerta register here for the April 25th zoom fundraiser.

Win Races! 🗳

If you’re alarmed at the fact that RFK Jr. made it onto the Michigan ballot there’s something you can do about it! Sign up to call MI voters with Supermajority on Saturdays or Thursdays, every week!

We’re going to need to talk to every voter in Michigan we can about the danger of voting third party, and we have to start now. We can overcome this obstacle, but only if we do the work!

Please sign up for a shift if you can!

Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥

Climate Action California is hosting two online webinars in May, focusing on personal actions we can take to break up with fossil fuels, and policy modeling that can lead to the society-wide change we need. Please join them—these aren’t specific to California.

You can read information about the webinars if you click on their hyperlinks.

Green Finance: Investing in a Greener Tomorrow Thursday, May 2, 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern 

En-ROADS Demonstration: Exploring Climate Solutions on Wednesday, May 8, 4pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern (this actually sounds really cool!)

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

[To: your HOUSE rep] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PWCSGV to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

A group of House Democrats, led by Reps. Melanie Stansbury, Ilhan Omar and Jamie Raskin, have introduced legislation that would strengthen oversight of the Supreme Court. I’m writing in support of it.

The Judicial Ethics Enforcement Act of 2024 would authorize the creation of an office of the inspector general to investigate allegations of misconduct in the judicial branch. The inspector general would also investigate alleged violations of the Supreme Court code of ethics, issued in November; conduct and supervise audits; and recommend changes in laws or regulations governing the judiciary. The inspector general would be required to inform the attorney general when they believe there has been a violation of federal criminal law.

Congress must pass this bill. Confidence in the Supreme Court is at an all-time low, and there’s good reason for that. Several of its justices are deeply compromised and everyone can see it.

Please co-sponsor The Judicial Ethics Enforcement Act of 2024 right away, so the provisions in it can begin to restore Americans’ faith in our highest court. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess