Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/8

Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!

I’m headed to DC and hoping I can get this email out before my battery dies—the Southwest plane I’m on has no outlets.

Speaking of airlines, I wanted to pass on some promising news I read this morning. Because sure, I could talk about the latest example of Aileen Cannon’s breathtaking corruption, or Stormy Daniels’ devastating testimony yesterday, or the collapse of yet another ceasefire agreement…but I feel like focussing on something positive.

So here it is! The Lever reported this morning:

Airlines may be on the verge of losing their fight against the Biden administration’s new promise of automatic refunds for canceled or delayed flights. On Tuesday, lawmakers relented to pressure following The Lever’s reporting on the matter and purportedly included a provision guaranteeing the refunds in a must-pass Federal Aviation Administration funding bill, which faces a looming Friday deadline.

I’ll explain. You’ll remember that the Biden administration and the DOT recently announced a new rule that would require airlines to issue automatic refunds to their customers for cancelled or severely delayed flights. This was rightly hailed as a big deal, as currently it’s virtually impossible to get such refunds without investing significant time. Because of this, airlines often get to keep the money.

Automatic refunds, then, would be a big win for consumers, right?

Not so fast. A week after word of the new rule broke, The Lever reported that we might be about to lose it. Four lawmakers—Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, and Reps Sam Graves and Rick Larsen—all of whom are top recipients of airline lobbying money, were trying to insert language into the FAA reauthorization bill that would have essentially rendered this policy invalid.

I don’t know how other Lever readers reacted, but I know I was mad. I decided to bring the issue to you. I asked you to call your lawmakers—especially if they were one of the four in question. And you did!

I also included a Resistbot letter about it in one of last week’s newsletters; hundreds of you sent it. I made a TikTok, too.

We must have made an impression. Because lo and behold, it sounds like the lawmakers have backpedalled. As the above excerpt reports, the four have now “purportedly included a provision guaranteeing the refunds” in the package.

That’s you. You did that.

Blowback works, my friends! Not every time, and not always as quickly as we want—but often. In this case it will mean real money in real Americans’ pockets. That’s a really big deal

Thank you and congratulations! Assuming the bill passes as now written it’ll be a huge win for all of us.

Let’s go make some more right now, shall we?

P.S. — Sorry there’s no audio version today. Maybe tomorrow?

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 help pass S. 4098, the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. It would stop corporations from sheltering profits in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg, eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and close loopholes in the tax code that allow corporations to get away with paying little to nothing in taxes.

We have massive wealth inequality in this country; meanwhile corporate profits are skyrocketing. It’s unacceptable and I want Congress to do something about it. Tax the rich like you tax us, please! Thanks. [H/T]

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 help pass HR 7933, the Corporate Tax Dodging Prevention Act. It would stop corporations from sheltering profits in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg, eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and close loopholes in the tax code that allow corporations to get away with paying little to nothing in taxes.

We have massive wealth inequality in this country; meanwhile corporate profits are skyrocketing. It’s unacceptable and I want Congress to do something about it. Tax the rich like you tax us, please! Thanks. [H/T]

Extra Credit ✅

Please read the below Popular Info piece if you haven’t. Then sign this petition demanding that the House Ethics Commission investigate Rep. Mike Collins’s response to the Ole Miss video full of racist and demeaning actions.

UPDATE: Congressman Collins feels the heat

Get Smart! 📚

I can’t recommend this webinar highly enough!

Indivisible invites you to: Persuasion to Power: Using Words that Win with Anat Shenker-Osorio on Wednesday, May 15 at 8pm ET/5pm PT.

If you’ve been with Indivisible for a while, you’re probably familiar with Anat as a regular friend and coalition partner. If you haven’t heard from Anat before, this is a great opportunity to learn from one of the best sources of education on messaging in the ecosystem. Anat is principal and founder at ASO Communications and in this session, she’ll be giving us expert guidance on “mobisuasion” -- the art of mobilization and persuasion. Learn how to navigate messaging around hot-button topics and specific issues from one of the best in the biz. 

Register here

Win Races! 🗳

I just learned of two more ways you can help us win the special election on May 21 for State Supreme Court in Georgia—please sign up if you can! A win in this race would be a huge morale booster and would be a big win for reproductive rights!

John Barrow, who is running for this seat, believes that personal healthcare decisions belong between a patient, their doctor, and their family -- and has a long history of holding pro-choice views. His opponent, Andrew Pinson, clerked for Clarence Thomas, is a member of The Federalist Society, and has a history of litigating against reproductive rights. YUCK!

Indivisible ACTion has organized a Get Out the Vote phonebank for John Barrow for Supreme Court. Sign up and you'll receive the link to the phonebank and other details. This is not a scheduled phonebank event, but something you can do on your own time at your convenience.

And Fair Fight has a text bank tomorrow from 5:30-6PM ET! Sign up here.

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

[To: all 3 reps] [Largely copied from this piece by

Thom Hartmann

] [Text SIGN PKRBLB to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

Yesterday House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that Congress, on behalf of Donald Trump, is going to use every power available to him and his colleagues to nullify America’s court system.

He said:

“President Trump has done nothing wrong here and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare. It has to stop. And you’re gonna see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can, because we need accountability. … All these cases need to be dropped, because they are a threat to our system.”

Are you kidding me?

“All these cases” (and potential future cases) include Trump:

— Sharing secrets with Russia that burned US and US ally spies. 
— Inciting rebellion against the United States on January 6. 
— Running his businesses from the White House while multiple foreign governments poured cash into his properties in violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause. 
— Stealing national defense secrets from the White House, transporting them to Florida and New Jersey, and then lying to the FBI about them. 
— Raping and then threatening and defaming E. Jean Carroll. 
— Criminally obstructing investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia. 
— Conspiring with Republicans in multiple states to defraud the American people with forged Electoral College certificates. 
— Threatening Georgia’s Secretary of State with criminal prosecution if he wouldn’t “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.” 
— Violating campaign finance laws on multiple occasions. 
— Committing tax and insurance fraud. 
— Extorting a foreign leader to manufacture dirt on his political opponent.

If Speaker Johnson—or any member of Congress—thinks these cases should be dropped then he has abdicated all responsibility to the American people, broken his oath of office, and needs to step down. Americans want to see justice done.

No one, absolutely no one, is above the law. Republicans must stop interfering with the justice system and allow these cases to play out. Thanks.

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

Talk soon.

Jess