Hi, all, and happy Monday!
I hope you had a lovely weekend. And a restful one, too. Because it’s likely to be a wild week.
Look, I know there’s a lot of violent rhetoric being tossed around right now—the right is deeply inflamed by Trump’s indictment and I’d be lying if I said their threats weren’t alarming. But it’s important to remember that rhetoric is one thing; action is another. The fact that many of the far-right’s leaders are in jail due to their participation in the January 6th attacks means that while threats are abundant, actual organized attacks will be harder to carry out. This isn’t to say that violence is unlikely. It just means that whatever violence we do see is more likely to be conducted by “lone wolves,” and will therefore be somewhat more containable.
Of course no violence is OK, and one wishes fervently that Republicans would dial down the rhetoric. But they won’t. So it’s our job to stay calm, resolute, and determined. We are on the side of right. We are the majority. We are the empowered ones. Why? Because love and a fealty to justice is more powerful than hate and fear.
Trust in that. Trust in yourself. And trust in your fellows.
Stay the course, in other words. We’re going to get through this, and we’ll do it together.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling in response to the PGA Tour’s merger with LIV Golf. I understand that Rep John Garamendi has introduced a bill, the No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act, that would eliminate the tax exempt status for major sports leagues. I’d like the Senator to support such a bill. There’s no way the human-rights abusing, authoritarian, oil-rich Saudis should be given nonprofit status. I’d also like the Senator to call on the Justice Department to investigate this merger. The whole thing is repugnant and I want the Senator to do everything s/he can to stop it. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling in response to the PGA Tour’s merger with LIV Golf. I understand that Rep John Garamendi has introduced a bill, the No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act, that would eliminate the tax exempt status for major sports leagues. I’d like the Congressmember to support such a bill. There’s no way the human-rights abusing, authoritarian, oil-rich Saudis should be given nonprofit status. I’d also like the Congressmember to call on the Justice Department to investigate this merger. The whole thing is repugnant and I want the Congressmember to do everything s/he can to stop it. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Let’s call Dick Durbin AGAIN at 202-224-7703. Newton Alliance and the folks sitting in at the Capitol want us to ask him (again) to mark up S. 25 (the Assault Weapons Ban Act) in the Senate Judiciary Committee. All Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary are now cosponsors of the assault weapons ban (AWB) bill therefore the bill will pass the committee if brought to a vote.
Just say:
I’m calling Senator Durbin in his capacity of chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee to ask him to please mark up S. 25, the Assault Weapons Ban Act, and bring it to a vote in this committee. We must keep pushing to get this bill passed. [Feel free to add a personal reason why this is important to you.]
Also, please check out the below lists of the Senate and House Democratic holdouts on the Assault Weapons ban. If your rep or Senator is on the list please call and ask them specifically why they refuse to co-sponsor this no-brainer of a bill.
118th Senate Holdouts: S25 Assault Weapons Ban (PUBLIC)
118th House: Holdouts for HR 698 Assault Weapons Ban (PUBLIC)
Get Smart! 📚
The Human Rights Campaign is hosting a live Membership Town Hall tomorrow, 6/13, at 6:00 PM ET, in which they will discuss their historic and unprecedented declaration of a “State of Emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the United States and the resources they’ve released to help ensure the health and safety of the community.
Chop Wood Save the Planet! 🔥
I’ve got another great climate newsletter for you to subscribe to, courtesy of one of my subscribers, who’s been publishing it since 2016. It’s called Climate Change Resources and it seems incredible. Subscribe here — I did!
Win Races! 🗳
The Northeast AZ Dems are doing postcarding into and they need more writers! As they say:
In 2023, our team must reach every high-potential Native Democratic voter on Navajo, Hopi, and White Mountain Apache lands in Northeast Arizona. With your help, we can empower Native voices in Arizona politics to vote for a Blue Arizona. Our organization has no "off" years - the Presidential election may be in 2024, but our voters are there every year and building our relationship doesn't take a year off.
Please sign up to get a list of 25 voter addresses and a script to help us reach our voters.
You provide the cards. Learn more and sign up here.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[to all 3 reps and Biden] [H/T] [text SIGN PFRZBR to 50409 or share here.]
The newly-announced PGA-LIV Golf merger is a blatant violation of antitrust laws. In fact, Bloomberg News is reporting that neither side even bothered to consult antitrust lawyers before announcing the deal.
PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan even admitted that this move is expressly intended to “take the competitor off the board.”
Additionally, Saudi Arabia, which funds LIV Golf and would become the leading investor in the new golf entity, has an abysmal record on human rights. Since the Saudis launched LIV Golf 18 months ago, 9/11 families have accused the Saudi Arabian government of attempting to “sportswash” the Saudi’s record.
Thankfully, this merger cannot go forward unless Congress grants an exception.
I urge you to reject this merger to protect against this sports monopoly and protect U.S. assets from being owned and controlled by the Saudi Arabian government.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Hey Jess, grateful for all you do. Day-to-Day. Literally!
I was just on the Lunch & Learn with Newton Action Alliance (thanks to you, I learned about the organization and remain awed by their work!) and seems Chairman Durbin's voicemail is full again. So as an alternative, folks can email him at: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email
They can make the same request / demand of him to bring the Assault Weapons Ban to a committee vote, as you so aptly guide above.
More and many thanks for this and all.
Hi Jessica
I was just watching Brian Tyler Cohen's newest "Short" on his Youtube page and thought you should know about it for your newsletter. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pwCVHGVyA-Q
He stated the Public Comment period is now open on a new rule Biden is proposing to make power plants cut their emissions up to 90%, which would really help with climate change. He, no make that the planet, needs us to all write comments to help offset the mammoth amount of pressure the fossil fuel industry will put on the EPA to not accept this new rule. Here is the link to make your comments -
https://www.regulations.gov/search?filter=epa-hq-oar-2023-0072-0001
Click on the "Comments" box to make your comment. And note, it appears July 24th is the last day to make a public comment.
You can also make your comment at - https://act.evergreenaction.com/letter/EPA-clean-up-climate-pollution_at_advocacy/?utm_source=___atAd_BTC&source=___atAd_BTC
However that is a long form letter you sign onto. And Jessica always tells us to change our comments a bit so it doesn't look like just another form letter. Thus my giving the link to the actual comment page at EPA.