Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/3

Feed truth; starve lies.

Graphic from DemCast’s awesome new No Kings toolkit. Check it out!

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday.

Remember how I told you yesterday that Republicans are lying about what’s in their Big BS bill? Well, two articles came out in the last 24 hours showing exactly that. One is a piece by the New York Times entitled “Trump and Allies Sell Domestic Policy Bill with Falsehoods,” (not paywalled) and the other is Rolling Stone’s “Republicans Are Flat-Out Lying About Their Medicaid Cuts.” (This shouldn’t be paywalled either.) It’s pretty wild to read in black and white how patently dishonest Republicans are being about their legislation.

I also just stumbled across a coalition sign-on letter by the Disability and Aging Collaborative—it’s been signed by 750 advocacy groups so far—that lists all the ways Republicans’ Medicaid cuts will gut healthcare for people with disabilities and older adults. The letter, which is well-sourced, very thorough, and extremely informative, will abolish any remaining doubts you might have that these cuts will, in fact, slash healthcare for the exact people Republicans are claiming they’ll protect. You can read it here. (By the way, new organizational signers are still welcome!)

The most important takeaway from all of this? Republicans are flat-out lying about the consequences of this bill. They’re being mendacious. They’re speaking falsehoods. It’s amoral, venal, and a betrayal of their promise to protect their constituents. But they’re still doing it, all in order to get their tax cuts.

Tell a friend. In fact, tell lots of them.

In better news, Senate Democrats are trying to get in front of as many Americans as possible to educate them about the Big BS bill. Tomorrow, in fact, they’re holding a live Ask Me Anything from 5-9 p.m. ET. It will stream on @senatedems Instagram and YouTube. They’d like a few folks to submit questions in advance, and I’ve got a way to get those questions to them. So if you have a question you’d like to see answered please drop it in the comments and I’ll pass it along. I can’t promise it’ll get a response, but it may!

I know things remain completely insane, folks. It’s tough out there. But I’d like to hearten you a bit, before I go, by showing you the below video, which depicts San Diego residents standing up to—and in fact pushing back—ICE agents who’d come to their neighborhood to do a sweep last week. There’s a lot of cursing, so be warned, but it’ll make you feel deeply moved and proud, so maybe watch it anyway.

Friends, THIS is the energy we need to summon and maintain. This rage. This self righteous fury. This courage. Just as these brave citizens stood up to ICE, let us all stand up to MAGA. As they stood shoulder to shoulder, so must we. As they remained peaceful in their anger, so must we. As they raised their voices loudly, over and over, so must we.

As they succeeded in driving away bullies—even if temporarily—so will we succeed, eventually, in driving them out as well. It’s only a matter of being persistent, having courage, and taking right actions. We can do that. We already are!

So let’s get to work one more time.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

I'm calling to urge the Senator to restore full funding for weather and climate research and prediction in the budget reconciliation bill and this year's appropriations process. These cuts have hurt our weather forecasts, stopped essential weather and climate research, and endangered lives. And since our FEMA director is unqualified for his job—he literally didn’t know we have a hurricane season—accurate weather forecasts are all the more urgent. Folks won’t get the help they need after a disaster, so at the very least they need to know about weather events in advance. Thanks. [H/T]

[If GOP add:]

Also I want the Senator to vote no on the Big BS Billionaire bill. We know Republicans are lying about what’s in it. Nobody is buying what they’re selling. This bill is awful, cruel, and destructive and Republicans will never hold a majority again if they pass it. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

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

I'm calling to urge the Representative to oppose any cuts to HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program. Fair housing is the law, and this program provides essential resources to local advocacy groups who prevent and address housing discrimination. We need to do all we can to make housing MORE, not less affordable. Thank you. [H/T]

Extra Credit ✅

Robert Reich wrote a great post this week about how to protect our judges. In it he suggested we urge Chief Justice Roberts to speak out against Trump’s attacks on our federal judiciary. So let’s do it!

I tried the number Reich posted, and while it did get me to a human, she told me that comments must be submitted in writing. So we can either leave our comment here—you will have to submit it and then verify your email address in order for it to go through—or write a snail mail letter to: Chambers of Justice John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, 1 First Street NE, Washington, D.C., 20543.

We can say something simple, like:

I’m writing as an American citizen who is terribly worried and upset about President Trump’s attacks on our federal judiciary. Chief Justice Roberts, you are the only one who may be able to stop them. Please strongly rebuke Trump and any members of his administration who use inflammatory language against federal judges. Remind them that there is no place in our constitutional system of government for accusations by an administration of “USA hating judges,” “judicial tyranny,” or “usurping” presidential authority.

Please also explain why administrations must respect checks and balances built into the Constitution, why judges must be fearless and independent in their roles, and why such accusations by an administration against the judicial branch are dangerous. And please signal that you will continuously speak out whenever the president or his White House violates these norms.

Otherwise your job will soon become meaningless, and none of us want that.

Thank you.

I cribbed that pretty much entirely from Reich’s post, by the way. It does the trick! But better if you write your own, or at least personalize. A bunch of identical letters will be treated like spam.

Get Smart! 📚

America's Role in the World: The Value of Leadership and Alliance—a conversation with Sen. Chris Murphy.

THURSDAY JUNE 5, 2:00 PM-3:00 PM ET. ONLINE VIA ZOOM

To address the harms of Trump’s foreign policy and articulate an alternative vision for American leadership in the world, please join the Center for American Progress as we welcome Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a leading foreign policy voice in Congress. Whether in his role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or in town halls across the country, Sen. Murphy has demonstrated to the American people what principled leadership looks like at home and around the world.

The conversation will be moderated by CAP President and CEO Neera Tanden.

RSVP here.

Amplify! Amplify! Amplify! 📣

Disappeared In America is a campaign led by a coalition of immigrant rights, faith, rule of law, and pro-democracy organizations. They’re mobilizing members to shine a light on a disturbing reality: under Trump’s immigration agenda, people are being forcibly detained, deported, and even disappeared.

Use their click-to-post toolkit to help amplify the stories of some of Trump’s disappeared.

They’re also having a mass mobilization call on Monday—more details soon!

Give 💰!

Rural voters are a key constituency in many battleground states, yet they have long been ignored by Democrats. That’s why Swing Blue Alliance is supporting Rural GroundGame (RGG), a grassroots organization that will provide direct, on-the-ground support to candidates in rural Virginia’s winnable pink districts.

Swing Blue Alliance is helping to raise $15,000 to pay for a once-weekly Rural Ground Game phone bank, which will run from June 4th through the November election.

Please donate to support RGG’s outreach to rural voters.

Grab Your Wallet! 💳

Popular Information is out with a new article about the 19 major companies pulling their support from Pride this year. Please make every effort not to patronize them!

19 companies pulling back their support for Pride

Chop Wood, Save the Planet 🔥

Intro to the Environmental Voter Project Webinar

The Environmental Voter Project is one of my FAVORITE organizations working to turn out climate voters, and they’re getting results! Want to learn more? Please join their Introduction to the Environmental Voter Project webinar this Wednesday, June 4th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.

I promise, you’ll be so impressed!

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

Coleman Rogers has a great Resistbot letter out today in honor of Pride. It’s called “Pride Month: Defend LGBTQ rights, equality for all Americans, pass Equality Act.” It’s a bit long to post here but you can read the whole thing here and/or send it by texting SIGN PISYHH to 50409. Please do!

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

Talk soon.

Jess