Chop Wood, Carry Water 9/26

We've got this.

Hi, all, and happy Thursday,

First, a word to my readers in Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia—please stay safe as Hurricane Helene approaches. Sounds like it’s going to be quite a vicious storm. I’m sending prayers that it doesn’t get too destructive.

Helene’s size and severity is yet another reminder of the indescribably high stakes of this election. When it comes to climate action there’s only one alternative: we must elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, hold the Senate, and flip the House. We must also flip as many state legislatures as possible. Republicans, as many are pointing out on social media, want to get rid of the National Weather Service and the NOAA, cut FEMA, and gut federal flood insurance. With storms like Helene becoming more frequent, this is suicidal. Once again, it’s up to us to make sure voters understand that climate action, a livable future, and basic science are on the ballot in November.

In more uplifting news, the DSCC just announced a "multi-million dollar" investment in TV ads in the Texas and Florida Senate races — aimed at boosting Colin Allred and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell! They are clearly seeing some encouraging polling; I am beyond excited to see that these states’ Senate races are in play!

And just in the nick of time, Vote Forward has announced letter writing campaigns into those two states, as well as into Missouri! Excellent! More info below.

There’s so much to do, and the news environment is unbelievably noisy. As for the polls? They’re every bit as frenetic, confusing, and mutually contradictory as we expected them to be. IGNORE THEM! Keep doing the work, and make sure you’re taking care of yourself, getting plenty of sleep, and eating well. We’ve got 39 days to go. We can do this. We have to!

There is no one in this world I’d rather be with in this fight than you. Never forget it.

P.S. — Will you all take this quick, one-question poll to let me know whether or not you’re using the CWCW audio? It does delay the publication of the newsletter somewhat, so I just want to make sure we’re not recording it for no reason. Thanks!

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

I understand that Senator Patty Murray introduced a resolution yesterday—which 40 Democrats co-sponsored—that simply acknowledged "that every person has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care." That was literally all it did—simply express that every patient has the basic right to emergency health care, including abortion care, regardless of where they live. And Republicans blocked it. I’m furious. Abortion access is a top priority for me. I will not be supporting politicians in November who think women’s lives are expendable. Thanks.

Get Smart! 📚

On Tuesday, October 1, at 7:30 PM ET, Sister District Co-founder Gaby Goldstein and other guests will join Red Wine & Blue for a panel discussion on the importance of voting down the ballot. 

We will hear from state legislators who won their races by fewer than 1,000 votes and how failure to vote the entire ballot disproportionately affects Democrats. 

In elections, every vote counts, and nowhere is this more evident than in races decided by just a handful of votes. So, with just weeks left in this election, join us to learn how you can have an outsized impact on the outcome of critical state legislative races. 

RSVP now. 

Spread the Word! 📣

The Harris-Walz campaign has released an economic policy booklet in which all of her economic policies are spelled out clearly and thoroughly. It’s a really good resource for those who want to know more about her plans. Please share it!

DemCast also made a great toolkit with lots of graphics like the one below that are easy to share. Find it here!

Give 💰!

Sister District is blitzing to raise $3,000 for Woodson Bradley (NC SD 42) by  Friday! YOU GUYS! We can do this, can’t we? $3,000 is nothing!

That is 72 hours to raise enough money to help Woodson:

• Hire a field organizer to work all the way until election day; or

• Develop digital ads; or

• Send campaign mailers; or

• Host campaign events to meet with voters and more!

I’ll give. Will you?

Win Races—Write Letters to Florida, Missouri, and Texas!

Vote Forward just launched their last round of letter writing campaigns for The Big Send: you can now write letters to voters in Florida, Missouri, and Texas!

This November, Florida and Missouri voters will have the opportunity to vote on ballot measures which will determine the future of reproductive freedom in each state. These statewide Social letter writing campaigns will encourage young women voters to understand what’s included in their state’s ballot measure, and to get out to vote on or before November 5.

The Texas letter writing campaigns are an expansion of their voter turnout campaigns. These Social and Political letters will encourage Texans to participate in our democracy this year by making their voices heard at the ballot box.

You can write letters for one or all of these campaigns now!

Win Races—Make calls! 🗳

Courtesy of Women for Harris-Walz here’s a list of upcoming phonebanks. Which one will you do?

National Women for Harris-Walz: Phone Banks - Sundays 4:30 ET and Wednesdays 6 ET

Arizona Virtual Phone Bank

Florida Statewide Phonebank

Call Georgia Voters - Virtual Phonebank 

The Great Rust Belt Voter Registration Chase - Team Michigan

Women To Women Nevada Virtual Phone Bank 

Women Working Wednesdays Phonebank for North Carolina

The Great Rust Belt Voter Registration Chase - Pennsylvania

The Great Rust Belt Voter Registration Chase - Wisconsin

Broadway for Harris National Phone Bank With Cast Members From Multiple Shows

Latinos Con Kamala Phone Bank 

Climate Voters Phone Bank

Win Races—Write a Letter to the Editor!

Join Women for Harris-Walz for a webinar on how to write a letter to the editor about policies you care about. Saturday September 28, 2PM ET.

Sign up for the Zoom here.

They also have an informative LTE toolkit, which is also available in Spanish!

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all 3 reps] [H/T] [Text SIGN PKKWCJ to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]

Our tax system is fundamentally broken, perpetuating economic injustice and widening the racial wealth gap. It's a system that allows the ultra-wealthy to pay lower tax rates than hard-working Americans, that permits billionaires to avoid taxes for years while their fortunes grow, and that disproportionately harms communities of color. This cannot continue.

We need comprehensive reform to create a tax code that works for all Americans, not just the privileged few. This means ending the tax-rate discount on investment returns compared to those on wages and salaries so that all forms of income are treated equally. It means implementing an annual tax on the wealth gains of the ultra-rich, preventing the accumulation of vast untaxed fortunes.

We must also recalibrate our deductions to benefit those who truly need support. Currently, deductions for mortgage interest, college savings, and retirement accounts primarily advantage those who already have the means to buy homes and save for the future. These should be targeted to help lower- and middle-income families build wealth and financial security.

The charitable contributions deduction needs adjustment to benefit more Americans, either as a credit for households under a certain income threshold or as an addition to the standard deduction. And it's time to let the pass-through income deduction, which mainly benefits large businesses, expire in favor of support for small business owners and entrepreneurs in underserved communities.

Finally, we need a tax on billionaires’ wealth gains, like the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax or the Billionaires Income Tax, to ensure that the wealthiest among us start paying their fair share. These reforms could generate hundreds of billions of dollars in new revenue―money desperately needed for investments in education, healthcare, affordable housing, and infrastructure in communities that have been historically marginalized.

Every day we delay, the wealth gap grows wider. Every day we wait, more working families struggle while billionaires and corporations exploit loopholes to amass even greater fortunes and higher profits. It's time for action.

I urge you to champion these reforms and fight for a tax system that reflects our values of fairness and opportunity for all. The American people are counting on you to build an economy that works not just for the wealthy few, but for everyone.

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OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess