Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/21 ☀️
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
I don’t typically celebrate when Trump gets hit with more legal troubles, but you would have to be made of stone to not feel at least a slight thrill at seeing a strong, brilliant Black woman bringing a hammer down on the Trump empire in New York State. It’s a great way to start the day.
We often talk about how Republicans “flood the zone with s—t,” (to use Steve Bannon’s phrase), but I think our side is doing an excellent job of flooding the zone with justice, and I’m here for it. Everywhere MAGAs turn they’re being sued, arrested, or indicted. Not because we’re vindictive, mind you, but because they deserve it.
Our job? Simply to continue to act like good citizens—to flood the zone with our positive actions, as it were. We can flood our reps’ phones with demands for good legislation, flood leadership’s inboxes with demands that they play hardball, and flood great candidates’ websites with offers of help.
They’ll flood the zone with darkness. WE’LL flood it with light.
I need hardly tell you which is more powerful.
So let’s get to our “flooding” one more time. ☀️
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I want the Senator to support the Afghan Adjustment Act (S.4787), which would make changes to our overly onerous immigration process for Afghan refugees and help facilitate their resettlement by providing a legal pathway to apply for green cards. I understand that it has bipartisan support in both chambers, but we're still shy of the votes needed to ensure its passage. Is the Senator a co-sponsor?
Also, please ask the Senator to vote yes on the DISCLOSE Act when it comes up for a vote! Thanks!
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I want the Congressmember to support the Afghan Adjustment Act (H.R.8685), which would make changes to our overly onerous immigration process for Afghan refugees and help facilitate their resettlement by providing a legal pathway to apply for green cards. I understand that it has bipartisan support in both chambers, but we're still shy of the votes needed to ensure its passage. Is the Congressmember a co-sponsor? [H/T]
Extra Credit ✅
Call Chuck Schumer at (212) 486-4430 or (518) 431-4070 or (202) 224-6542 and say:
My name is _____ and I’m calling from _____. I’m calling the Senator in his capacity as Senate Majority leader to tell him I was really disappointed to hear he was delaying a vote on the Respect For Marriage Act until after the Midterms. I know he’s saying this is because he needs more time to negotiate with Republicans. That’s silly. Don’t negotiate with them! Hold the vote! We need to see where Republicans stand on the issue BEFORE the election, not afterward. [Feel free to insert personal reason for caring about marriage equality here]. Thanks.
Give💰and Get Smart! 📚!
Oooh. This sounds great:
Join Flip the Vote for their special event “Gen-Z: The Future of Democracy” tomorrow, September 22 at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET. Register HERE!
More info:
Young people are shaking up how we think about organizing to build electoral power. Three dynamic young organizers from our grassroots partners Advance Carolina (NC), Detroit Action (MI), and LUCHA (AZ) are going to give the Flip the Vote community an inside look into the issues that energize young voters and the momentum that is driving them to the polls.
We’re thrilled to announce a $25k match for this event! Thanks to a generous member of our FtV community, every dollar raised towards our Gen-Z-focused event will be DOUBLED! You can donate before the event here.
Win Races—WRITE LETTERS! 🗳
Y’all, Vote Forward still has over SIX MILLION letters left to be adopted. 6,000,000!!! That’s a lot of letters for an election we MUST win. I adopted another 40 this week. Can you adopt 5? 10? This is so important. Remember, these letters increase turnout—there are studies to back it up!
Sign up here. If you’re not sure how to write these letters here’s a short explainer. It’s SO EASY. This is an easy way to help from home. It’s all hands on deck!
Win Races—MAKE CALLS (with the Fettermans!) 📲
Join TurnPABlue and NOPE on the phones for WOMEN TO WOMEN WEDNESDAYS. This week they'll be joined by special guests Gisele and John Fetterman.
Make deep canvassing calls to persuadable women voters across PA. NOPE began participating in these calls in August and has found them both meaningful and encouraging. Sign up here.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.)
[to President Biden] [H/T] [quick send text SIGN PFAXLT to 50409]
Five years after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona landed on the island, leaving residents without power during an extreme weather emergency that saw torrential rain and flooding.
More than 3 million people have lost electricity due to Hurricane Fiona. Despite Hurricane Fiona making landfall as a Category 1 storm, none of this comes as a surprise. Power outages have become an everyday occasion even when extreme weather events aren’t present.
When Maria hit, the government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority owned and operated the power network. PREPA has been extensively criticized for inadequate investments, poor management, and corruption. In response to Maria, Congress earmarked $10 billion through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to rebuild Puerto Rico’s devastated power grid. Those projects were contracted out to the private Canadian-American consortium LUMA Energy for overseas transmission and distribution for an annual fee of $115 million.
Since then, residents have seen the situation worsen, with blackouts and brownouts occurring more frequently and for prolonged periods of time. The company also faces widespread labor abuse accusations and appears to have no interest in investing in renewable energy.
LUMA Energy has raised energy prices seven times, and Puerto Ricans (43% of whom live below the poverty line) pay more than double the average rate for electricity than the rest of the U.S.
Last summer, organizations in Puerto Rico and the Diaspora called on President Biden to take action. Along with an investigation into the LUMA Energy contract, the groups also called for your administration to ensure that federal funds are used in accordance with federal and local policies that promote moving away from fossil fuels, advancing the use of renewable energy, protecting workers’ rights, and improving the health of people and the environment.
Puerto Rico has the right to a resilient, citizen-based and environmentally sound electricity system. President Biden, please take action to address Puerto Rico's power grid failures. This cannot continue. The people of Puerto Rico deserve better.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess
I ♥️NY
Thank you for your positive outlook!