Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/28

Quite the 12 hours.

Hi, all, and happy Friday.

I’m in a hotel room in Tyson’s, VA, taking a quick rest after a morning trip to the Supreme Court. I went for a United For Democracy protest, (shown above), and was still there when today’s rulings started to come down—the decision allowing the criminalization of unhoused persons sleeping on the street, the one gutting the DOJ’s ability to fully prosecute January 6 insurrectionists, and the one overturning the Chevron Deference. Oof.

This, of course, all followed hard upon a red-eye from Los Angeles, which itself followed hard upon the “debate heard round the world.”

Suffice it to say it’s been quite the 12 hours.

This morning was hard; last night was, too. I’m not going to add much to the punditry on the latter—I likely had the same wrenching experience you did, and experienced the same fear and confusion afterwards. Unlike many others, however, I lack certainty about what the next steps should be. I can’t say I fall into the “withdraw NOW!” crowd; nor do I feel I belong in the “Biden must stay!” contingent. I am, frankly, torn. We all stand to lose so greatly if the wrong choice is made.

Fortunately, no one is looking to me for advice. My job—and ours, if you don’t mind my saying so—is to simply keep going, whatever happens, following the lead of those who make such decisions and working to save democracy.

I will say that being at the Supreme Court today was clarifying. Seeing their latest rulings come down was even more so. This court is absolutely devastating our system of checks and balances, the rules that have kept our air and water clean, the agreements that have given us bodily privacy. Their unabashed allegiance with oligarchs is terrifying.

Because of this, and because Trump was appalling by every standard last night, and because Democrats make life better, and for so many other reasons, I will back whomever our presidential candidate is with my entire heart. I have to. And so, I think, do we all.

If it is Biden—and I think it’s likely that it will be—we could do far worse. He was a poor debater last night, but he’s been a (largely) terrific President.

Either way, what I am going to do today is chop wood and carry water. I’m going to do the work. When I feel anxious I’ll look for someone who’s more worried than me and try to help ease their anxiety. I’ll tell them “this, too, shall pass,” because we know, of course, it will.

Speaking of which, a quick anecdote: As I was walking down Pennsylvania Avenue this morning I came upon a great pale building—sharp-angled, stately, old. The inscription on its side caught my eye. It said:

THIS BUILDING HOLDS IN TRUST THE RECORDS OF OUR NATIONAL LIFE AND SYMBOLIZES OUR FAITH IN THE PERMANENCE OF OUR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

I was looking, of course, at the National Archives.

And as I thought about all that was contained therein—the carefully gathered remnants of scores of administrations, with their dramas, intrigues, battles, betrayals, wars, legislative victories, administrative overhauls, personnel changes, holiday announcements, funeral plans, diplomatic exchanges, and the rest—I remembered that we are but one chapter in a very long, rich, and detailed history. The National Archives and all it symbolizes have been here for hundreds of years; they will be here long after we’re gone. Others in other times have walked past it fretful and worried by the crises of the day; others will again. It’s the way of the world.

I have faith in the permanence—or at least the great strength and resiliency—of our “national institutions.” I believe they will weather this storm. I feel sure we will, too. Democracy is bigger than any one candidate, any single debate, any year or decade, even. It’s a massive, important saga in the making, and we’re merely scribbling our little part until we pass our pens along.

Still, while we’re here let’s write the best things we can, shall we? It matters!

P.S. — This is an extremely truncated newsletter—I have to go to a “PostcardPalooza” soon! The Network NOVA Women’s Summit is beginning!

Get Smart! 📚

This post by Billy Wimsatt, who runs Movement Voter Project, is long but should be required reading. It’s got some of the smartest strategic stuff I’ve seen about winning the youth vote and, overall, is an incredibly hopeful document. Please, please read it. The end is the best part.

Bat Signal 3: Sliding Doors

Spread the Word! 📣

The One Dem Minute Film Festival is crowdsourcing short videos with pro-democracy messaging, to inspire "squishy" Democrats and undecided voters to vote blue in November. You don't need to be a professional filmmaker -- if you have a compelling message, they want to see your vision!

Join the producers on a Zoom call Monday, July 1, 5PM PST / 8PM EST to learn more about how you can participate, watch a few past finalist videos, and ask any burning questions you might have.

Sign up here via Mobilize!

Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥

This article, Extreme heat should inspire urgency, not doom, is excellent and should be a must-read. It’s a gift link, thanks to subscriber Shelley C!

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

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PYNNMA to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

As Congress moves forward with FY 2025 funding for the Department of Labor, and with child labor violations sharply on the rise, policymakers should ensure DOL can hire additional enforcement staff in the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and properly fund the Office of Solicitor of the Department of Labor (SOL) to ensure that WHD has the enforcement capacity it needs.

A report from the Economic Policy Institute found that in 2023, the number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws increased by 37% over the previous year. And the DOL is reporting an 88% increase in overall child labor violations between 2019 and 2023.

The exploitation of children in the workforce overwhelmingly impacts children of color, immigrant children, and children in low-wage-earning families―putting children in danger and exacerbating racial and income inequality.

The passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 outlawed child labor by setting the general age to enter the workforce at 16 years old, limiting the number of hours children can work, limiting how late they can work on school nights, and protecting children from working in unsafe occupations. But today, those protections are threatened by lack of resources for enforcement. As Congress moves the FY25 Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations bill, I urge you to include an additional $7.5 million to hire 50 additional enforcement staff in the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to combat exploitative child labor, $3.8 million for the Office of the Solicitor/ Department of Labor (SOL) to ensure that WHD has enforcement capacity, and $10.7 million for SOL to offset over a decade of near-flat funding. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of investments that are threatened by harsh and arbitrary funding caps that would result in at least $75 billion in reduced funding for critical human needs.

I urge Congress to reject cuts to the Department of Labor budget in FY2025 to ensure continued enforcement of child labor violations―and work to pass bipartisan spending bills that invest in our communities.

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

Talk soon.

Jess