Hi, all, and happy Thursday!
I’m about to hop onto a meeting with Senator Feinstein’s office, so I’ll have to make this quick.
Did you know that you, too, can meet with a staffer from YOUR Senator’s office? All you need to do is ask! And you should! It’s like calling your representatives…but on rocket fuel.
I’ve been attending these meetings with both Feinstein’s and Padilla’s (and before that Harris’s) staffers with a group of local Indivisble leaders since early 2017. It’s both helpful and extremely fruitful. We come in with an agenda and list of questions, but also make sure to ask how we can help them. Over the years these back and forths have yielded all kinds of results.
Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. You and I are simply working to be the squeakiest wheels possible. We may not have millions of dollars to spread around, but, because of the noise we make, these leaders know that we must not be ignored.
So let’s make more noise right now.
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
First, I want the Senator to co-sponsor and support S.1975, the Women’s Health Protection Act. Reproductive freedom should be universal; we need federal legislation to ensure that it’s not subject to a patchwork of state laws. I expect the Senator to explore all options for passing this, including reforming the filibuster to ensure the rights of women to make decisions for themselves and their families.
I also want [him/her] to immediately cosponsor and support S 1141 – the Judiciary Act of 2021. We need to re-balance this Supreme Court now—they have become hopelessly partisan and have lost the public trust. 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 H.R. 3755 the Women’s Health Protection Act. Reproductive freedom should be universal; we need federal legislation to ensure that it’s not subject to a patchwork of state laws.
I also want [him/her] to immediately cosponsor and support H.R. 2584 – the Judiciary Act of 2021. We need to re-balance this Supreme Court now—they have become hopelessly partisan; they’ve lost the public trust. Thanks.
Write to Win! ✍🏼
Ya’ll, the VA elections have STARTED! Early voting is happening now! We need postcarders, like, a lot of them, and we need them soon. If you have postcards and are ready to do some writing please go to postcards for VA and request some addresses. They have a lot to give out, and these races are so, so important. Thanks!
Write to TEXAS!
[Thanks to Indivisible Ventura for this great action.]
UltraViolet created a great list of Texas-based companies with national profiles, many of which have donated to the Texas politicians who sponsored SB8! You can write Ultraviolet’s silent CEOs full-on letters, or stay short and sweet with a postcard-sized demand to know what actions they’ve taken to protect the bodily autonomy of the women in their state.
Here are a couple of sample scripts (below), probably the maximum anyone can cram on a postcard. However, it’s always better if it sounds like you. (Oh and here’s a template for an RBG postcard if you don’t have cards already).
It can be really short –
“We know [what you did/that you’ve done nothing] so far in regards to SB8. What you are going to do to support the women of Texas?”
“Citizens’ United said corporations were people. I’m waiting to see if you act like one and stand up for Texas women.”
If you can work in how their actions now will affect your future choice of their company’s product or service, that’s great.
Extra Credit
Today is the #communitiesnotcages day of action. As part of it, let’s:
1) Call the Department of Homeland Security at 202-282-8495 and leave a recorded message on their comment line
“Hello, I am calling Secretary Mayorkas to say that I am deeply disappointed to see that rather than ending the use of for-profit prisons and reducing reliance on immigration detention, as promised by the Biden administration, you are moving in the exact opposite direction. The number of people in detention has increased at an alarming rate, nearly doubling in mid-July. Please restore humanity to our immigration system by releasing people and allowing them to navigate their immigration cases with their families and in community -- not behind bars in immigration detention. Thanks.”
2) Please sign this petition asking Congress and the administration not to let states use ARP money to build new prisons.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to your Democratic reps]
I’m frustrated to hear that corporate lobbyists—who have entirely too much power on Capitol Hill—are steamrolling lawmakers towards an inadequate infrastructure bill. We need the Build Back Better Act. All of it. Physical infrastructure will do us no good if the human infrastucture isn’t there. And none of it will help if we don’t address our climate crisis.
This is make or break time. Please listen to your constituents. We need ALL of the climate provisions, all of the healthcare provisions, all of the childcare and eldercare, the paid family leave, and the child tax credits. America needs to catch up with the rest of the developed world and care for its own.
Don’t give in. Don’t let corporations decide the future of our country. They don’t care about your constituents; you should. In fact, it’s your job.
Both bills must pass together. Thanks.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk tomorrow.
Jess