Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/30

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!

I hope you had a spectacular holiday weekend and got plenty of rest. Lord knows you’ve earned it.

I myself did not rest; I attended the California Democratic Party' convention all weekend. I am an elected delegate, so pretty much had no choice. But it’s OK—I love the convention! It was in Los Angeles, so I didn’t have far to travel, and the speaker lineup was pretty great. The highlights of the weekend were getting to hear from all three candidates for Feinstein’s seat, listening to an incredible speech by Maxwell Frost, and getting a selfie with Katie Porter. 🤯

Late on Saturday, while waiting to vote in a caucus’s leadership election, I saw the news that Biden and McCarthy had reached a deal. Wow! We wrapped up our vote, then I headed home to find out what, exactly, President Biden had agreed to.

The details were slow, at first, in coming, but on Sunday night I got to sit in on a briefing about the bill by White House staffers. I left it feeling largely positive about what Biden had accomplished. It was only this morning that I learned about the problematic environmental provisions in the bill. But this was a negotiation, and considering what we could have lost—and what the GOP wanted—we didn’t do badly at all.

So we’ll work to get the worst parts of the bill stripped out before Wednesday and wait to see if it passes. My guess is it will.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be thrilled to stop hearing about the debt ceiling for a while. My goal? To ensure that we win a trifecta in 2024 so that we can abolish it completely. It’s become a danger to our democracy and must be eradicated.

For now, though, it seems that Joe Biden may once again have surprised us all. He’s done great. We should really start expecting it.

So let’s get to work perfecting the work he started, and then enjoy the rest of our day, knowing we’ve done our part to protect our democracy—and planet—for future generations.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m glad President Biden and Speaker McCarthy have reached a budget agreement. But I’m very unhappy that their compromise bill forces completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and weakens NEPA. This is unacceptable.

Senator Kaine of Virginia has already offered to introduce an amendment to remove this part of the bill. I'm asking you to support it. We cannot go backwards on climate, and we cannot permit new fossil fuel projects. Nobody wants a default, but there's no reason the bill can't be amended and improved by Congress in the next few days before final passage. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I’m glad President Biden and Speaker McCarthy have reached a budget agreement. But I’m very unhappy that their compromise bill forces completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and weakens NEPA. This is unacceptable.

Senator Kaine of Virginia has already offered to introduce an amendment to remove this part of the bill. I'm asking you to support it. We cannot go backwards on climate, and we cannot permit new fossil fuel projects. Nobody wants a default, but there's no reason the bill can't be amended and improved by Congress in the next few days before final passage. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Send a letter to your representatives saying essentially the same as above using Climate Hawks Vote’s tool here.

Get Smart! 📚

Join the National Network of Abortion Funds and abortion funder Ukwuoma Ukairo from Baltimore Abortion Fund on Tuesday night 7PM ET/6PM CT/4PM PT when they host Reproductive Justice 101.

In Reproductive Justice 101, they will explore the basics of the Reproductive Justice (RJ) framework together and the importance of situating abortion access work at the intersections of racial, economic, environmental and gender justice. Join them to dig deeper into understanding the framework of RJ through: 

• Exploring the differences between reproductive health, rights, and justice

• Reviewing the 3 core principles of RJ and what they mean 

• Deepening understanding of the priorities, issues, and work of the RJ movement

Register for Reproductive Justice 101 here

Spread the Word! 📣

I took my notes from the White House briefing and made them into a two-minute video breaking down what’s in the budget agreement. If it’s helpful please feel free to watch and/or share it. It’s important that we understand exactly what’s in the bill so we can talk about it intelligently. (I made the video before I knew about Mountain Valley Pipeline, so that’s not included, unfortunately.) It’s here on TikTok and here on IG.

Also, to understand why Democrats are being fairly muted in their excitement about the agreement, read

Jay Kuo

here 👇🏼.

Spin Cycle

Give 💰!

If you missed the Blue Tennessee event I raved about last week you can now access the recording here. Please share it with friends or family members who may be interested in supporting Blue Tennessee. And/or CLICK HERE TO MAKE A PLEDGE TODAY. No money will be taken from your credit card until they reach their 64K goal. Let’s help them if we can—they still have 50K to raise and this is such a worthy cause!

Win Races! 🗳

Have you always wanted to call voters but need more training first? Good news! The DNC Call Crew is launching a new Summer School Training Series! Each week, they will tackle different topics, bring in special guest trainers, and cover everything you need to thrive as a phone banker.

Their Summer School is an 8 week long training program. Topics will include: Persuasion and Messaging, Data 101, Organizing Your Community, and more! 

The first training is this coming Wednesday, May 31st at 8pm ET/5pm PT. They will gather each week at the same time. 

You can view the full Summer School schedule and sign up for each or any session using this link.  

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

[to all 3 reps] [H/T] [quick send: text SIGN PZDKTD to 50409]

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of educators has declined by nearly 570,000—and 55 percent of those remaining are considering leaving the profession. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. teachers must take a second or third job to make ends meet. On average, teachers earn nearly 20 percent less per year than similarly educated workers.

The Economic Policy Institute attributes rising educator shortages to the decline in teachers’ pay relative to other college graduates and increasingly stressful working conditions. The shortages are most severe in certain subjects, geographic areas, and schools with high proportions of students of color or students from low-income households.

Both the Pay Teachers Act (S. 766) introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and the American Teacher Act (H.R. 882) introduced by Rep. Frederica Wilson would raise starting teachers’ salaries to at least $60,000 a year.

Educators deserve a living wage. I’d like you to co-sponsor these bills. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess