Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/27

Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

I know this email is quite late, but my mom and I are getting ready to drive to Maine again tomorrow, this time to pick up Mj from camp and head on to Nova Scotia. This newsletter, then, will be doing double duty as today’s and tomorrow’s. I’m sure you won’t mind.

Yesterday my mom brought me along to a local gathering to which she’d been invited—a candidate meet and greet hosted by members of the Orange County, NY Democratic Committee. I love attending political gatherings the way some people love going to sporting events—I don’t care who’s speaking (as long as they’re not a Republican) and I don’t need to know the candidates. I just thrill at seeing grassroots organizing in action.

And what a delightful example of just that this was! Despite the overwhelming heat and humidity, about 30 of us came to the host’s lovely back garden to listen to five candidates running for municipal seats here in Rockland County. These were regular folks, some already in politics, some not, each of whom stood up to share why they’d decided to throw their hats into the ring for these (way) downballot seats. Some were moms, some were teachers; one was a musician. All seemed genuinely interested in bringing transparency and accountability to towns and hamlets that had been run (poorly) by Republicans for too long.

Me being me, of course, it was all I could do to not leap up on my chair and yell “This is so important! Give these people money! Volunteer for them! Downballot races are where it’s at!”

But I kept my mouth shut, deciding I’d wait and vent all of my fervor here.

So remember, my dear friends, downballot races are where it’s at! Please support Democrats running in them in any way you can! Donating to Run For Something is a great place to start, or, better yet, give time or money to your own local municipal candidates. They’ll stretch your contributions—whether of time or funds—quite far, I promise. These races are generally decided by a handful of votes; your help could make the difference.

Democracy begins in your very own back yard, all. Even if it’s not big enough to host a meet and greet, it’s certainly a good place to look for a down-ballot candidate to help.

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

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

First, I know the Senate has a lot of work to finish up this week but I’d like them to prioritize confirming Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission.

Second, I want the Senator to support S. 1138, the Fossil Free Finance Act. I’m freaked out about climate change and the Senator should be, too. This bill would require big banks to stop financing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and reduce their financed emissions by 50% by 2030. Please ask the Senator to support and co-sponsor the Fossil Free Finance Act now. 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 Congressmember to vote NO on House Joint Resolution 66, which seeks to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Final Rule on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Section 1071 will help borrowers by curbing excessive pricing, reducing abusive terms, and increasing access to credit for traditionally underserved small businesses. The fact that House Republicans are trying to gut it with a Congressional Review Act is unacceptable. [H/T]

Extra Credit ✅

One organization doing remarkable work on the environment is Habits of Waste— they work to reduce plastic pollution and food waste and they’ve achieved a lot of important wins. They’ve created a new campaign to ask restaurants to require an opt-in option for plastic cutlery in take-out orders. They’ve already helped stopped millions of pounds of the same from being included needlessly in deliveries.

Text CUTLERY to 52886 and get started!

Get Smart! 📚

In partnership with several groups on the ground, the Environmental Voter Project (one of my favorite orgs) is hosting two special briefings over the next few weeks. The first event will take place on Wednesday, August 9th from 7-9pm EDT and will be a combined briefing and phone bank focused on the 320,696 registered environmental voters in Louisiana who are all unlikely to vote in the upcoming gubernatorial election. The next week they'll shift their focus to the 237,103 low propensity environmental voters in Long Island, New York; that briefing webinar will be held on Monday, August 14th from 8-9pm EDT.

Both events will be led by EVP's Executive Director, Nathaniel Stinnett, and include the latest environmental voter data and analysis alongside what you can do to make an impact. I really can’t recommend these briefings or EVP highly enough. If you care about the climate crisis you should care about the vital work they’re doing.

RSVP for the August 9 Louisiana Briefing & Phone Bank

RSVP for the August 14 Long Island Briefing

Spread the Word! 📣

This is the kind of article we need to amplify widely. Please do!

Need One Bit Of Good Economic News? How about Four?

Win Races! 🗳

Gotta get this email out, so I’ll just post a reminder again of all the ways you can still help us win in Ohio listed in this doc right here.

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

[to all 3 reps] [H/T

Alan Unell Ph.D.

] [Quick send text SIGN PPLQRH to 50409]

I am your constituent and I am shocked to see that the Republican led House Appropriations Subcommittee that addresses Health, Labor and Education has proposed an 8% cut to cancer research. $7.1 billion. But that’s not the worst of it. The National Cancer Institute really needs $9.988 billion in order to build out prevention and early detection programs and to fund novel and innovative treatments so we can cut the cancer rate in half (Cancer Moonshot). I want you to disapprove the Republican recommendation and provide the amount that the National Cancer Institute really needs. Lives are at stake here and you can fix this.

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

Talk soon.

Jess