Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/12
Save us from the SAVE Act!
Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
Wasn’t it nice to enjoy a day of mostly positive coverage yesterday? With the MSM, for a change, on our side? What a delight, and what a rare feeling! Let’s hope we get to experience more of it!
Speaking of positive things, Mike Johnson pulled his doomed Continuing Resolution yesterday, after realizing he didn’t have the votes to pass it. He really is awful at his job. Still, it’s no time to celebrate. Johnson hasn’t given up on his determination to pass a six-month CR along with the vote-suppressing SAVE Act. He claims he pulled the bill only so that Rep. Emmer can go “whip” votes for it. But Emmer, according to Punchbowl, won’t be able to whip those votes, because the Republican caucus, as usual, is divided and fractious.
So…Johnson is claiming publicly he is committed to passing a six-month Continuing Resolution tied to the SAVE Act, and acting accordingly—but there is no chance this will succeed. So honestly no one knows exactly what his real plan is—least of all him, it seems.
We have 19 days until the government shuts down, and the Speaker of the House is essentially conducting business in a legislative fantasy world. Guess why? Because he’s afraid of losing his Speakership if he allows a clean CR to pass, and, more importantly, because Donald Trump won’t let him pass it. Trump wants the SAVE Act. He insists upon it. He’s fine with a government shutdown if that’s what it takes to get it. Johnson can’t survive politically without Trump. So here we are.
It’s all so bonkers.
To be clear, again, the SAVE Act stands no chance of ultimate passage. Even if Johnson could get it through the House—which he can’t—it will die in the Senate. Failing that, Biden will veto it. So Johnson is wasting time, government resources, and political capital for a bill that is DOA. Yet if he stops doing so he will lose his Speakership at the end of the year.
Johnson is, as Punchbowl put it this morning, in “an extraordinarily unenviable position.” I love that for him.
But I don’t love it for us. So let’s let our representatives know how we feel about this mess, and then work to vote Republicans out everywhere.
P.S. — Hope some of you can come to the Swing Left webinar I’m co-hosting tonight if you’re interested in learning how to raise strategic dollars for the November elections! It’s gonna be good!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m extremely frustrated with Congress’s failure to pass a clean Continuing Resolution through December. We are running out of time to get this done! Speaker Johnson’s fantasy that he can pass a six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached to it is just that—a fantasy. Congress needs to come together to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to get us through December. And no SAVE Act, now or ever. It’s a voter suppression bill and I oppose it. We want the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act instead. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m extremely frustrated with the House’s failure to pass a clean Continuing Resolution through December. We are running out of time to get this done! Speaker Johnson’s fantasy that he can pass a six-month CR with the SAVE Act attached to it is just that—a fantasy. Americans will be furious if there is a government shutdown, and we will squarely blame Republicans. The House needs to pass a clean Continuing Resolution now, please, and then work together to get a real spending package done, making sure that all of our valued programs and policies are fully funded. Also, get rid of the SAVE Act. It’s a voter suppression bill pure and simple and we want nothing to do with it. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Post this on your social media please—we’ve got to get the word out about Neighbor to Neighbor!
Want to help defeat Trump and elect Kamala Harris in November? I have a SUPER impactful way you can help!
Indivisible’s amazing and effective relational organizing tool Neighbor2Neighbor is accepting signups statewide in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. It is also currently available in these House districts: CA-13, CA-22, CA-27, CA-40, CA-41, CA-45, ME-02, NE-02, NJ-07, NM-02, OR-05, VA-02, WA-03, and WA-08. (Not sure what House district you live in? Look it up!)
If you or someone you know lives in one of these places PLEASE ask them to sign up for Neighbor2Neighbor! They’ll simply be talking to ten of their registered Democratic neighbors and making sure they vote! It’s easy, and boy does it work!
Sign up at https://www.majorityovermaga.org/neighbor2neighbor
Get Smart! 📚
Please join the amazing folks at Working America on September 26th at 7 pm EST for an important conversation with Matt Morrison, their Executive Director. He'll discuss the roadmap to victory in 2024 and how we can connect with voters on the issues that matter most to them.
Reserve your spot now by RSVPing here!
(And in the meantime, don't forget to sign up for your batch of personalized letters to Working America members. See below!)
Spread the Word! 📣
Galvanize made this ad to appeal to White, middle-class, non-college-educated female voters, (who are still split pretty much evenly between Trump and Harris). It’s so good, and apparently it’s tested really well.
White women are still split between Harris and Trump (I know. Agh!) So please watch, and more importantly please share—especially if you know a lot of women who answer to the above description!
Give 💰!
Come to “ABORTION CARE IN NORTH CAROLINA: WHERE WE ARE NOW AND HOW TO SHAPE THE FUTURE.”
Sunday, September 15, 4-5:30 pm EST
Join the Durham and North Carolina Democratic Parties (and me!) for an online event to hear from physicians and NC legislators about the impact of current abortion laws on patient health in NC and WHAT WE CAN DO about it.
Joe Biden lost NC by only 74,483 votes out of 5.5 million cast, a margin of 1.3%. Your donations will fund paid Democratic GOTV organizers on the ground in Durham and throughout North Carolina.
You can also help fund NC4ABORTION to assist those unable to afford care, including those traveling to NC from states with even more extreme abortion bans.
Win Races—Write Working America Letters ✍🏼
This year Working America has a goal of 1 million letters to be sent to our members. We have been making incredible strides, recruiting over 1 million members this year across five key states-Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. This momentum positions us to make a significant impact in communities often overlooked by other progressive organizations. However, we must continue engaging members on the issues that matter most, and that's where personalized letters come in. These letters, focused on shared experiences with the healthcare system, help us stay connected. Our goal is to send 1 million letters this year to ensure a victory for working people. Can we count you in?
Win Races—textbank! 💻
[H/T subscriber HH]
If you want to textbank, here are some options:
👉DCCC - sign up here.
👉Go to www.mobilize.us and select "textbanks" in the filters.
👉 Sign up to do a 1 hr training session with Movement Labs and then drop into their Slack channel anytime to text.
👉 Sign up to train on Field Team 6's BYOP texting (sounds hard but it's not) and do it anytime.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PVGYJU to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
As Congress returns from recess, I am writing with concern about election funding levels. Congress appropriated just $1 million per state this year in perhaps the most important election in our lifetimes. In other years, Congress has appropriated nothing.
When states and local governments are left with the funding burden, our election administration is uneven. We are meant to be not only the world’s oldest modern democracy but the world’s most advanced democracy. We undercut the power of our example when we underfund elections and have disparate outcomes and access.
It’s essential we prioritize election funding in the FY ‘25 budget. Congress must appropriate no less than $75 million for election funding this year, the amount approved unanimously (27-0) by the bipartisan Senate appropriations committee. In future years, it should send more. Thank you for your time and effort.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Is now the right time to call for the Senate to confirm Val Demings and William Zollars to fill the final two slots on the board of governors of the USPS?
I love the portrait! She captured you.