Hi, all, and happy Friday!
Hope you’re holding up OK after another challenging week.
Here's some good news: Public pressure works! The USS Abraham Lincoln is apparently going to get relief!
Per CBS News:
The USS George Washington aircraft carrier is headed to the Middle East to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, a U.S. official tells CBS News. The Lincoln has been deployed for almost nine months and in recent weeks, some families have voiced concerns about conditions on the ship.
“Some families have voiced concerns?” Yes, that’s true. But thousands of you have as well! Lawmakers’ phones have been blowing up over this crisis; even the Trump administration knew they needed to remedy it STAT. And they are!
I point this out just to remind you that our calls do and can make a difference. “Popular outcry” is a real thing, and it moves our lawmakers in ways that are undeniable.
Does such outcry always work? It depends on how we define the term. Do we always get the swift and definitive results we seem to have gotten with this aircraft carrier crisis? Of course not. But are our calls and other protests moving things behind the scenes in ways we’ll never know, and often stopping the worst from happening? I would posit that that’s the case far more than we believe.
Outcry matters. It matters on foreign policy. It matters on domestic policy. It matters in the face of corruption and it matters in the face of scandal. It matters in protecting our sevicemembers, and in standing up for immigrants. It matters for helping detained children. It matters wildly, all the time, everywhere.
Your calls to Rep. Diaz-Balart yesterday mattered enormously. His office told many of you that Martina’s family needs to contact them before he can help. The person they say they need to hear from—the mother— is in detention with Martina! Making contact with anyone from ICE detention is exceedingly difficult! But even though they gave you misleading answers make no mistake—your calls are making a huge difference. I’m hearing this straight from the advocates working to free Martina and her mom.
Here’s the point: Just because we don’t always get complete results on our first try doesn’t mean that our voices aren’t changing the world—and history—every day. So let’s keep doing that.
Thank you for all you do. Those you’re helping with your advocacy may never know to show you gratitude, but I do. You are heroes in my eyes.
History will see you similarly.
Now let’s get to work.
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I am furious that $323 million of taxpayer money that should be going to our national parks is instead going to Trump’s vanity projects in DC. That’s a nearly 5000 percent increase from 2024. Meanwhile Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks are seeing multi-million dollar reductions in funds. These are some of the most stunning and beloved attractions in America and they’re being starved of resources. This is not OK and I want Congress to stop it. Protect our parks and public lands everywhere! [H/T and more info]
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I am furious that $323 million of taxpayer money that should be going to our national parks is instead going to Trump’s vanity projects in DC. That’s a nearly 5000 percent increase from 2024. Meanwhile Yellowstone, Yosemite and Grand Canyon national parks are seeing multi-million dollar reductions in funds. These are some of the most stunning and beloved attractions of America’s National Park Service and they’re being starved of resources. This is not OK and I want Congress to stop it. Protect our parks and public lands everywhere! [H/T and more info]
Also, I to urge the Congressmember to add his/her name to the Dream and Promise Discharge Petition, HR 1598. This would provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and TPS holders. Please lead courageously and ensure this bill receives a vote and passes the House of Representatives. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Let’s contact Compliant Technologies, the company that makes ICE’s electric shock gloves, and tell them what we think of their arming a bunch of Gestapo thugs. They brag that they are an all-veteran-run company. Yikes!
Their contact form is here (thanks to reader Wendy for finding it!) Here’s what I said, although I’m sure you can do better:
I think it is awful that an all veteran run company is selling electrical shock gloves to ICE agents who will use them to violate the law and the US Constitution on a daily basis. Your products will be used to separate families, terrorize small children, subdue peaceful protestors, devastate communities, and almost certainly kill innocent people. I don’t know how you can live with yourselves. You’ve abandoned whatever oath to the Constitution you may have once taken, as well as the American principles of due process, civil rights, and freedom of speech. Shame on you.
Get Smart! 📚
I happen to have stumbled on TWO amazing new tools today. They will both make you so much smarter!
First, a resistance group in Redding, CT has developed a tool that they call the Accountability Scorecard to help voters easily and quickly assess whether their House Rep. is in fact representing them. The tool reports on your representative’s voting history on three key bills in the past year and details their campaign financing. It also highlights challengers (where appropriate), local groups you can join, and more. It’s AWESOME!
Second, if you care about Israel/Palestine an org called A New Policy has introduced an amazing new site where you can look up your representatives to see where they stand on U.S. policy there. Then it makes it easy to contact them, find out whether they have town halls coming up, and/or tweet about their record.
Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣
Here’s some information we should spread around in any way we can, with source links! We should be hitting Trump on the economy every day, all day.
The average household has had to spend more than $3,500 extra since Trump took office, and with less than 100 days until the midterms, Last week’s jobs report showed that the economy lost 23,000 jobs in July while the numbers for May and June were also sharply revised downward.
Families are expected to pay nearly $4,000 per child for the upcoming school year.
Trump’s war with Iran is projected to cost American taxpayers as much as $100 billion — an estimated $1,100 per household since the war started.
Next year, health insurers are planning to dramatically raise premiums for Americans who get their healthcare through the ACA marketplace.
REMINDER: Democrats hold a 9-point advantage over Republicans on the economy and a 20-point advantage among extremely motivated voters. Let’s keep widening that gap!
Give 💰!
Swing Left is hoping to send 33 buses filled with Ground Truth canvassers to swing districts between now and November 3rd. They need to raise $100,000 to make it happen. Can we help?
Each bus we fund means more volunteers in swing districts, more doors knocked, and more conversations with voters in the races that will decide control of the House, Senate, and key governorships. This Ground Truth canvassing is supposed to be AMAZING! Let’s help spread it far and wide!
Win Races—Use Social Media!
Swing Left is holding a “social bank” on August 20 at 7PM ET.
A social bank works kind of like a phone bank. Volunteers show up together at a set time, but instead of calling voters, they spend an hour engaging with pro-Democratic content on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter).
Likes, comments, shares, and watching videos all the way through all juice a post in the algorithm, generating more views—and when a group of people do this together, the effect compounds—giving Democratic messages a better chance of reaching people who aren’t already following political accounts or looking for political content. It’ll be easy, fun, and effective!
Win Races—Do Voter Protection! 🗳
☎️ Join the Wisconsin Dems’ Hotline and Ballot Cure Teams 🚨
Help protect the vote in Wisconsin by joining WisDems’ Hotline and Ballot Cure Teams for the fall election! Hotline volunteers staff the Voter Assistance Hotline during elections, by answering voting related questions or concerns. Ballot Cure volunteers make phone calls to absentee voters whose ballots are in danger of being rejected and guide them through the “cure” process. Yes, these can all be done remotely!
Join the Ballot Cure Team here!
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: your Senators] [H/T] [Text SIGN PEIYDY to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]
(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)
The No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act, S. 5353, from Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), would prohibit state-regulated utilities from giving their C-suite leaders a bonus in years when electricity rates increase faster than inflation.
Utilities would have to run bonuses by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or risk financial penalties. Those forfeitures would be redistributed to customers in the form of a rebate. I support this bill! Congress must do all it can to help Americans afford their utility bills and this is a good place to start.
No utility CEOs should be making giant bonuses while Americans are struggling to afford basic power costs. Pass this bill now! Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
I simply cannot Thank You enough, Jess...
For ALL this important information!!
WE ARE NOT INTIMIDATED!!
WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!!
WE WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING BACK for AMERICA and DEMOCRACY!!
VOTE 'EM ALL OUT!!
THEN LOCK 'EM ALL UP!!
Trump's answer to a reporter today. 🙄 Basically "nuh uh" and he said they needed to stay longer. I hope military Trump voters are listening to the shit he's saying.