Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/4
Wednesday mini-edition!
Hey, everyone!
No real newsletter today. I did, however, want to remind you that Senate Dems are holding a live Ask Me Anything from 5-9 p.m. ET TODAY. It will stream on @senatedems Instagram and YouTube. I did submit about ten of your questions—hopefully they’ll get to some of them!
Also, I thought many of you might like to share the below post with friends and family. Medicaid goes by many different names depending on the state it’s in. Lots of people don’t even know they are on it! Read this to learn more. (Thanks to subscriber Janice for sharing.)
Another thing: here’s the new CBO report on the budget bill if you’re interested. The toplines are:
That’s revenue down, spending down, debt up and uninsured population up, in case you can’t make out the arrows. Link to the original post is here. You can view it even if you don’t have X (I don’t) but might not be able to read his thread.
Finally, Coleman Rogers did a great, SHORT Resistbot letter about the recissions. Let’s all send it! It says:
Trump's request for retroactive congressional approval of DOGE's illegal funding cuts is an outrageous overstep that must be rejected outright. DOGE's unilateral withholding of congressionally appropriated funds violated the Impoundment Control Act and the Constitution's Appropriations Clause.
Granting after-the-fact approval would not only condone this egregious abuse of power, but set a dangerous precedent emboldening this regime to further defy the legislative branch's exclusive authority over federal spending; they have already promised to send more approval requests if these are passed.
The very nature of this request is an affront to the separation of powers and system of checks and balances fundamental to American democracy. Failure to rebuke this unconstitutional action would represent a dereliction of Congress's sworn duty to uphold the rule of law.
Categorically deny this request and reassert the legislative branch's constitutional prerogatives over the power of the purse.
You can send it by texting SIGN PXUTEJ to 50409, or wherever you do Resistbot.
OK, all. Back tomorrow with a normal email. Thanks!
Jess
So I was getting gas at Giant Eagle and the station speakers played a message advertising its pride items in the main store and explicitly stating the company's commitment to "DEIA" AND "diversity, equity, and inclusion". I plan to send them an email thanking them for explicitly stating this given those terms are contentious right now, and letting them know that we are choosing our shopping sources based on who is sticking by their previously stated commitment to DEIA. Not sure if they'll be getting negative messages but I'd love to flood them with positive messages. It is important to boycott stores who caved to this administration and equally important to reward and encourage those who are standing up for human rights and dignity. Even if they are just trying to avoid boycotts, I'd rather have companies be willing to stand with us against attacks on DEI than cave to the racist, ableist, and homophobic pressure from this administration.
Woohoo! Short short short!