Chop Wood, Carry Water 7/31
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
I’m in Nova Scotia with my family now; I’ll be here until August 10. This means a much lighter publishing schedule for me for the next ten days—in fact I will likely take next week off completely unless something huge comes up. I hate to do it, but everyone needs to take a breather from time to time. My time has come.
I’ll finish out this week—albeit with shorter newsletters—before I go off on my retreat. And I know most of you will keep plenty busy without my prompting.
I do want to respond here to a question I got from a reader yesterday. He asked what he needed to know about calling his representatives for the first time, and described himself as somewhat anxious to do so.
I told him—and I’m reminding you, too—that if calling your reps gives you anxiety there is absolutely no need to do it during business hours! That’s what voicemail was made for! Just call after hours and leave a message! The important thing is to make sure to leave your full name and zip code, and to state that you are a constituent.
I did also tell him, for whatever it’s worth, that in all the years I’ve been calling my representatives’ offices I have never once been challenged or questioned by the person who answered the phone. The people doing this job are interns or staffers whose entire assignment is to liaise with the public. They are there to help! Generally they simply take down my opinion and tell me they will pass it on to their boss. That’s it! Nowhere in their job description is it suggested that they should enter into debate with constituents, and they don’t.
There may be exceptions to this rule, but I haven’t encountered one yet. And if you leave a message at night or over the weekend you’re guaranteed to never find out.
Hope that’s helpful for some of you!
OK, all. The winds continue to be in our favor, so let’s get our sails up and fly faster towards our goal!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I know that Senators Manchin and Barrasso have released the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, new legislation that would open up federal lands and waters to more leasing and drilling and unnecessarily rush the review of proposed gas export projects. I strongly oppose it and want the Senator to as well. I support permitting reform, but this bill is nothing more than another attempt by fossil fuel industry boosters to give handouts to polluters at the expense of our communities and the climate. It’s a nonstarter. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
Please ask the Congressmember to co-sponsor H.Res 1353 and H.Res 1354, the Articles of Impeachment against Alito and Thomas. These are overdue and necessary to fight back against two justices who are dead-set on destroying democracy, and enriching themselves in the the process. Thanks. [H/T Trina W.]
Extra Credit ✅
This
roundup of what Project 2025 will mean for abortion rights—and women’s rights more generally—is really, really harrowing and clear. Your extra credit assignment is to send it to a woman (or person with a uterus) who thinks this election isn’t that important—or to a man who loves that person. I know that the Heritage Foundation is claiming to have “cancelled” Project 2025. Believe that and I’ve got a bridge to sell you.Get Smart! 📚
Helpful resource: The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy's new report on the tax contributions of undocumented immigrants is out this week.
Study: Undocumented Immigrants Contribute Nearly $100 Billion in Taxes a Year
Immigration policies have taken center stage in public debates this year, but much of the conversation has been driven by emotion, not data. A new in-depth study from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy aims to help change that by quantifying how much undocumented immigrants pay in taxes – both nationally and in each state. [...]
More detail in the links from ITEP below:
Bloomberg News story: Undocumented Immigrants in US Pay Nearly $100 Billion in Taxes
Spread the Word! 📣
A group called Twin Impact has dropped a social media toolkit we can use to brag abut Harris’s grassroots support. Find it here!
Give 💰!
All In for North Carolina will host its final fundraiser of this election cycle on August 6, 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT, “4 Million Doors.”
It will be in support of a massive canvassing effort undertaken by four community organizations to knock on 4,000,000 doors in a critical part of the state before Election Day - over 650,000 are done already.
NC has important statewide elections this year and one particularly egregious Republican candidate in the gubernatorial race, Mark Robinson. His Democratic opponent, current Attorney General Josh Stein, will be joining the young leaders of these organizations at this event to make the case for canvassing. Former Durham mayor Steve Schewel will moderate.
We’ll hear from the leaders of four critical NC grassroots orgs:
Carolina Forward
Down Home North Carolina
North Carolina Asian Americans Together
Siembra North Carolina
These groups have been serving their constituencies for years. They need supplemental funding now to hire people who can join them as trusted messengers and have those face-to-face conversations with “voters who need to be persuaded.” Watch Kamala Harris set the priorities: We Have Work to Do
It’s the grand finale, it’s one last push, it’s now or never: donate and register here: 4 Million Doors.
Win Races! 🗳
Someone put together this great set of links and I’m sharing—it’s your one stop shop of ways to get involved!
Volunteer:
Join a Coalition:
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
I actually did get questions and pushback from a staffer for my congressman (Mike Simpson, R-ID and I do mean R) when I called to urge support for reforming and expanding the Supreme Court. He actually told me he doesn't think we should blame someone for what their spouse does (as in, Alito's wife's vicious flag-flying and Ginnie Thomas's enthusiasm for a Christo-Fascist coup as evidenced by her involvement with Jan. 6). It caught me off guard — but it'll never happen again, because if he or someone like him tries the same thing I will use my starchiest tone to remind him that his job is to express my viewpoint to MY congressman, and I didn't call to debate the issue with the guy who answers the phone.
Hi Jess,
I am a gay parent, now a senior, living in the San Fernando Valley. Our twins were conceived via IVF; we labored for almost 5 years before my partner got pregnant. When she did, we were both in our 40s. We had the most beautiful girl boy twins, and as middle-aged lesbians having children do, we loved them ferociously every day of our lives. In 2018 after they had turned 19 by less than four months, Nora had a catastrophic auto accident. Her head injury left her in a coma. After four days, when there was no brain activity at all, we turned off the machines. That was November 29, 2018.
If my daughter, born of IVF, was alive today, she would be working for Kamala - and I would be ferociously working alongside to protect her rights. Now I work in her name and in her honor to make sure other young women are protected and allowed to choose what happens to their bodies and their lives.
Thanks for all you do.
XoMargot Rose