Chop Wood, Carry Water 4/29
“We can. We will. We must.”
—Cheer (Netflix TV show)
Hi, all, and happy Friday!
No garden, ever, was grown by sitting in our house, staring at the bare patch of land outside, and saying “nothing will ever grow there.”
But even the most unpromising patch of land or inch of earth can grow something miraculous if lovingly and actively tended.
Our democracy may look like an unpromising patch of land right now. But once we start to work it we will immediately feel differently.
And when those first seedlings poke out of the soil? Marvelous.
Chop wood. Carry water. Plant seeds. Pull weeds.
We’ll be amazed. I promise.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling to ask the Senator to vote no on Senator Romney’s TRUST Act, S.1295, which would allow slashing Social Security and Medicare benefits. Instead, I ask that the Senator vote yes on S.3071, the Social Security 2100 Act – A Sacred Trust. Protecting Social Security and keeping it solvent is really, really important to me. Thanks.
One more thing: I support President Biden’s 30 billion dollar ask for Ukraine and hope the Congressmember will, too. I also want Congress to do as he asked and increase the government’s power to seize assets of Russian oligarchs tied to Putin and use the proceeds to help Ukraine recover from Russia’s illegal aggression. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling to ask the Congressmember to vote no on Senator Romney’s TRUST Act, H.R.2572, which would allow slashing Social Security and Medicare benefits. Instead, I ask that the Congressmember vote yes on H.R.5723, the Social Security 2100 Act – A Sacred Trust. Protecting Social Security and keeping it solvent is really, really important to me.
One more thing: I support President Biden’s 30 billion dollar ask for Ukraine and hope the Congressmember will, too. I also want Congress to do as he asked and increase the government’s power to seize assets of Russian oligarchs tied to Putin and use the proceeds to help Ukraine recover from Russia’s illegal aggression. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
YAY! Today, in honor of Arbor Day, we’re jamming Jon Moeller’s calendar—he’s the CEO of forest-destroying Procter and Gamble. This is so easy and so effective! Procter & Gamble scored a straight “F” in forests and human rights protection on RAN’s annual scorecard last year.
This will take you all of ten seconds.
How to jam P&G's calendar:
1. Open your calendar app, like Gmail or Outlook, to send a calendar invite to P&G CEO, Jon Moeller. (And Rainforest Action Network, so they can track your impact!)
2. Pick anytime in the next two weeks for an hour-long meeting, copy the email addresses below to invite them as guests, and title your meeting "Jon Moeller: You've failed our forests" or "Jon Moeller: Stop violating Indigenous rights" or something similar of your choice.
EMAILS to ‘invite”: moeller.jr@pg.com, info@ran.org
3. Once you save the calendar invite, make sure you hit "send invitations" so Jon Moeller gets an email notification. Here’s mine! Once I hit the “send” button at the lower right it was done!
4. Finally, go here to tell Rainforest Action network that you did it!
Get Smart! 📚
For those of you who care about Wisconsin, the WisDems are having two meetings in May that sound great.
The first is on Saturday, April 30 from 12 – 1pm CDT, and it’s a new volunteer meeting. The event will discuss why Wisconsin is vital to maintaining and expanding our Senate majority and share what they have planned for this election year. Volunteering for the Wisconsin Democrats is not only one of the best ways you can help us flip a Senate seat but also protect and save our democracy! Register here.
The second event is on Wednesday, May 11 from 6 – 7pm CDT, and it’s titled “I'm Dying But Thank God I'm White!” It will explore how the Republican party has shifted to the far right, the events leading up to this shift, and how fascism threatens democracy. Register here.
Win Races! 🗳
Primary elections are right around the corner, and Reclaim Our Vote is running phonebanks to call Black voters in North Carolina and Georgia to combat voter suppression! Can you join them to provide election information to these voters? There are a number of phonebanks with training coming up on the next few days. These are easy—you’ll be calling lovely people and simply making sure they know where their polling place is—and you’ll mostly be leaving voicemails!
Saturday:
Bay Area Coalition Phone Bank (nonpartisan CFCG option), 1:00-3:00 pm EDT
Swing Left Tri-Valley Battleground Phone Bank, 1:45-4:00 pm EDT
Sunday:
Seattle Indivisible Anti Voter-Suppression Phone Bank, 5:00-6:30 pm EDT
Monday:
Hawkinsville Democracy Center Phone Bank, 1:00-2:00 pm EDT
Tuesday:
National Guided Phone Bank, 6:00-8:00 pm EDT
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T Build Back Fossil Free Coalition] [Quick send text SIGN PPIJHW to 50409]
I’m writing to strongly support President Biden’s FY2023 Budget Request of $11.9 billion to fund the Environmental Protection Agency. This funding would help reverse years of sweeping cuts that resulted in skeletal programs and staffing levels that have made it extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible, for the EPA to fulfill its mission to protect public health and safety. This funding would also support the agency’s current work at offices like the Office of Air and Radiation and the Office of Water in reviews of current clean air regulations and focus on environmental justice and communities that have been especially impacted by dirty air and water.
The EPA needs robust staffing and full funding to protect public health and safety. But the EPA remains at its lowest staffing levels since the 1980s. A long history of “level” funding has resulted in years of annual budgets not adjusted for inflation. In 1980, the EPA budget, adjusted for inflation, was twice its current levels and in 2004 the EPA budget was 45 percent higher than it is today. Inadequate resources have forced the EPA to cut back on enforcement activities, letting egregious polluters off the hook and leaving nearby communities – usually marginalized communities of color – unprotected. Full funding for the President’s EPA budget provides an opportunity to enforce environmental regulations and ensure progress towards environmental justice by cleaning up decades of legacy pollution and strengthening improving clean air and water regulations. Supporting these critical programs will better protect American families and guarantee the EPA has the resources needed to continue its mission and respond to the climate crisis.
Restoring communities and protecting public health requires innovative solutions for climate action and economic recovery, and a fully funded EPA with dedicated personnel is essential to delivering these solutions. I urge you to work to improve health outcomes of all Americans, provide resources to ensure clean air and water for all communities, and work toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions nationwide by 2050. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk MONDAY!
Jess