Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
There are a few newsletters I consider indispensable for getting my political information and analysis. My absolute favorite, as some of you know, is Robert Hubbell’s Today’s Edition—a thorough dissection of the day’s news through a filter of hope, intelligence, and patriotism. I highly recommend subscribing.
In last night’s email Hubbell listed reasons for cautious optimism around the infrastructure deal. He argued, too, that Trump’s loss by proxy in Texas is encouraging news.
I agree on both counts.
But I would add that Democrats’ statement that they’re about to drop a new voting rights bill should be treated with more optimism still. Remember a few days ago when I wrote that an insider had predicted this exact thing was going to happen?
That insider also said that Democrats were unified in their determination to get this bill passed, even if it meant a filibuster carve-out.
Now, maybe that part was wrong, but this source seems to have been well-informed so far, so I remain cautiously hopeful that we may be getting more breaking news on this front soon.
Hope being an action, though, our job is to absolutely pummel our Senators—particularly the Democratic ones—with calls demanding they pass exactly such a bill BEFORE they go on break.
So please. Do exactly that. We have little time to get this done. Redistricting starts soon, and once it does we start losing House seats—and our majority. (Don’t believe me? Read this.)
It’s time to push.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I know President Biden is urging Congress to extend the eviction moratorium as soon as possible. I support this request wholeheartedly. The President has done what he can—the rest is up to you.
Second, it’s critical that the Senate pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act—or legislation that contains the same provisions—before state legislatures begin special sessions on redistricting, which could happen as soon as September. We need urgent federal action to ensure fair districts and put an end to partisan gerrymandering. The Senate needs to stay in session and get this done. [H/T]
[If Democrat add:] If we don’t, Democrats’ majority in the House will be lost. So again, please ask the Senator not to go on recess until these bills are passed. I wholeheartedly support reforming the filibuster to do it.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
First, I know President Biden is urging Congress to extend the eviction moratorium immediately. I support this request wholeheartedly. The President has done what he can—the rest is up to you.
Second, I’m glad Congress is making progress on a bipartisan infrastructure bill, but I also know negotiations are ongoing. So I want the Congressmember to keep pushing for the strongest possible climate provisions, as well as rural broadband, Medicare expansion, and the human infrastructure provisions Democrats put into a second reconciliation bill. And I want all of this paid for with tax increases on the super wealthy and funding for the IRS to crack down on tax cheats. Thanks.
Extra Credit
From my friends at Every Last One, an organization that helps get migrant kids out of detention:
At Every Last One, we have been confronted with one appalling situation after another. One particularly bad one is the awful tent camp on the Ft. Bliss military base outside of El Paso. There have now been TWO whistleblower reports on how awful it is. Kids are fed spoiled milk, denied medical care, and are so depressed that they are not allowed any sharp objects including nose wires in face masks or regular toothbrushes!
We created a Resistbot letter to call on our reps to shut the camp down.
You can send it to your reps by texting SIGN PUGXDB to Resitbot at 50409, clicking on this link, or scanning the below QR code! Thanks!
Get Educated!
Tonight at 5PM PST/ 8PM EST I’ll be attending the Center For Common Ground’s webinar about how to win in Virginia this November. There is little overstating the importance of these elections to our success in the 2022 midterms. We need to prevail across the board, and it’s going to be challenging. The Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and all 100 State House seats will be up for grabs. Election day is November 2nd.
I’m considering a trip to VA to canvass the week before the election.
Won’t you consider a trip to this webinar to find out how you can help from afar? 💙
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to all of your Democratic reps] [H/T]
I’m a constituent and an active voter. I applaud efforts to make big, bold investments in human infrastructure via budget reconciliation. And since budget reconciliation doesn't limit the amount of new tax revenue it can raise, I urge Democrats to pay for it by making the rich and corporations finally pay their fair share in taxes. I would also like Democrats to include funding for the IRS to increase its ability to crack down on rich tax cheats. If the GOP refuses to do it then get it done without them.
Remeber, this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reduce income inequality; the historic social investments in the American Jobs and Families plan can and must be paid for by the 1%.
Thank you.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess