Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/12
Deeeeeeep breaths.
Hi, all, and happy Thursday.
I hope you’re hanging in there. Needless to say we’re in the middle of a maelstrom, so be sure you’re clinging to something strong. Me, I look to friendship, family, and my (nonsecular) spiritual practice to keep me going. Right now those things are more important than ever. Whatever you do to keep yourself centered, I hope that at this moment you’re doubling down on it. It’s vitally important.
I’m on a call right now hosted by the Coalition on Human Needs—they’re talking about what’s happening with the Senate version of the reconciliation bill. It’s still bad, folks. We had hoped that Republican Senators might make the bill better—but they are in some ways making it worse. Not only are the attacks on healthcare still there, but there are still massive cuts to critical programs, a total gutting of climate action of any kind, attacks on housing funds, and an ending of the SAVE plan; as a result the average student loan payment will go up by $400 a month.
More frustrating still, I learned on a messaging call yesterday that half of the country still doesn’t know about this bill! Yikes! Once they do learn about it they hate it, but 50% of America has no idea that major cuts to our social safety net—or any of the rest of it— are being discussed. I know we’re tired, but it’s clear that we need to redouble our efforts to educate our friends and family about what’s happening. I’ve got some tools for that below, and will keep them coming.
We also need to double down on our calls to the Senate, regardless of which party our Senators are. Republicans need to be hammered on the healthcare cuts, but we also need to make a ton of noise with the dozen or so Republican Senators who are troubled by the clean energy tax cuts in the bill. They can be peeled off, but we need to hit them harder. Here’s who they are (Hawley is on the list because of his problems with the Medicaid cuts, not clean energy):
And Democrats needs to be pushed to do more to get the message out about how bad this bill is. Some of them are performing brilliantly, and we should thank them for that. But most could be doing more, and now’s the time for them to step it up.
I’ve done my best to give you scripts for all possibilities below.
In other news, the House is voting on their awful 9 billion dollar rescissions package today. This is the one that would gut federal funding for Public Broadcasting, among other things. So please call about that as early in the day as you can.
OK, folks. I’m keeping this opening short so I can get the newsletter out. But please remember, as you continue to navigate this challenging time, what the stoic Epictetus said:
“The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.”
When this time is behind us and victory is ours, our joy will be all the greater because of how difficult the fight was.
Now let’s get to work.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
[If Republican:]
I’m sure the Senator has seen the new Quinnipiac polling showing that a majority of voters hate Republicans’ budget bill, and especially hate the cuts to Medicaid. In case s/he hasn’t seen it, 47% of Americans think Medicaid funding should increase, while 40% think it should stay about the same. Just 10% think federal funding should decrease. The bill passed by the House will end Medicaid coverage for millions of people. Shameful. Please tell the Senator s/he needs to vote no.
[If you are in West VA, NC (Tillis), Maine, PA (McCormick), Alaska, Iowa, Arkansas, Ohio, ND (Hoeven), or Kansas (Moran) please add:]
One more thing: this bill kills the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax credits that are bringing major manufacturing projects to our state. If the Senator votes for it I will be sure to let everyone know that they lost their jobs because of him/her. Vote no! Thanks.
[If Democrat:]
I’m asking the Senator to get more aggressive in highlighting how bad this reconciliation bill is. I just heard that half of America doesn’t even know it exists. Once Americans learn what’s in the bill they strongly oppose it but they’re still way too uninformed. The Senator has a huge platform and I want him/her to get more creative about educating his/her constituents. We elected him/her to fight for us. Right now fighting looks like getting very loud about the massive harm this bill will do—not just to our healthcare system and nutritional assistance but also to our environment, to jobs and to student borrowers. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I know the House is voting today on a rescissions package that would defund Public Broadcasting and several foreign aid programs. I strenuously oppose this. Trump is spending 50 million dollars on a military parade and 140 million on an unnecessary and unwanted military escalation in Los Angeles. Cutting spending clearly isn’t a priority to him or to Republicans. I want the Congressmember to vote no on rescission please. But Congress should cut funds from Trump’s deportation machine. Immigrants keep our economy running and make America great. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
The Department of Energy is trying to make harmful changes to Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act. These changes would make it optional
for new buildings to be accessible for people with disabilities. When
accessibility is legally optional, it doesn’t happen.
Fortunately, we can still act to stop these changes to section 504 and
put the administration on notice that we won’t lose our rights and
protections in silence. If the proposed changes get enough negative
comments from the public then the Department of Energy will be forced
to change their harmful regulatory language. Comments must be
submitted by June 16.
The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
has created a step-by-step guide on how to submit comments to protect
disability rights and protections. Click on the link below. Write a
comment and keep the world accessible.
Please make a comment using this excellent toolkit!
Get Smart! 📚
In today’s information ecosystem, leaders who can govern effectively and break through the noise to connect across political lines are rare—and more needed than ever. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) is one of those leaders. As governor, he’s delivered on education, reproductive freedom, climate, and the economy. And for the past few months, he’s been traveling the country, through red districts and blue districts, listening to Americans who feel left behind by their federal government.
On FRIDAY, JUNE 13, at 10:30 AM-11:30 AM EDT please join the Center for American Progress on Zoom for a conversation with Gov. Walz moderated by CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden.
Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣
I was on a Zoom for content creators with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her team yesterday. They are asking for help getting out information about Trump’s budget bill. Why? Because Americans who know about it overwhelmingly oppose it, but only half of Americans know about it!
Warren’s team has put together an excellent “one-pager” that explains what’s in the bill and debunks some of Republicans’ favorite talking points about it. It also suggests how to talk about it with your friends and family.
Check out the document here and please share widely!
Get in the Streets! 🪧
So that you are best prepared for rallies and protests, including No Kings Day on Saturday, Steve and I included an interview with the Director of US Programs at Nonviolent Peaceforce, Kalaya’an Mendoza, on our podcast this week. It’s really worth a listen—and you can do so here or here—but if you don’t have time, check out Kalaya’an’s linktree, which contains a wealth of information on safety during protests.
Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥
On Jun 24, at 10:00 AM PT / 1PM ET please join the Environmental Polling Consortium for their second quarterly community poll briefing of the year. This briefing is open to the public and will include presentations on:
Recent polling on electric vehicle production courtesy of the Sierra Club and HIT Stratgies;
Messaging to support IRA clean energy tax credits, courtesy of Potential Energy;
Linking home insurance costs to climate change impacts, courtesy of Potential Energy; and
Public perceptions on the Trump administration's energy agenda, courtesy of Embold Research.
Please register in advance. They will record this session and if you are unable to attend, please register to ensure you receive a follow-up email with the recording and resources shared during the session. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: your Senators] [H/T] [Text SIGN PNQAFD to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]
(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)
I am writing to urge you to reject the proposed budget moving through the reconciliation process that would prioritize mass deportations and jailing of immigrants over critical investments in families and communities. The $350 billion proposed budget for militarized enforcement and mass deportations would tear families apart while slashing essential programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and student aid that millions of people rely on.
Instead of investing in education, healthcare, and infrastructure, this budget would fund immigration raids in schools, churches, and hospitals — creating fear and instability in our communities. It would also fund the deportation of DACA recipients, farmworkers, and childcare providers, which would devastate local economies and harm businesses.
As your constituent, I urge you to reject this proposal and instead pass a budget that invests in strengthening our communities — one that provides stable support and childcare for working families, expands early childhood education, creates affording housing, and increases access to health care. Our tax dollars should build opportunity, not fund family separation.
Please stand against this harmful budget and instead fight for policies that support families, strengthen local economies, and ensure everyone has the resources to thrive.
OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
The other day you urged us to ask at least one other person to attend a demonstration this Saturday, the #NoKings demonstrations. I'm here to say I gathered my insecurities into my introversion, balled them up and contacted an even dozen family members. So far, I have two "YES" and waiting to hear from most others--that's already tripling my attendance (and one, my DIL, is bringing her Dad along).
When are we advocating for a National Shutdown? I know it sounds extreme, but we’re watching as the media and parts of the military buckle under this rolling coup.