Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
MAKE MUSK AND BEZOS PAY THEIR SHARE FOR LAUNCH COSTS
Private space companies are subsidized by the rest of us in ways both big and small. One example that has recently been in the spotlight: every time their rockets are launched, air traffic controllers make sure their airspace is clear and no commercial airplanes are nearby. Air traffic control jobs are financed through the Federal Aviation Administration, and while regular airlines are taxed to pay for their work, corporations like SpaceX and Blue Origin aren’t. President Biden has called on Congress to raise taxes on for-profit space companies and their ultrawealthy owners to cover the government services they receive and compensate us for their use of public airspace. Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and tell them we agree that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos shouldn’t be able to use the public’s airspace for free and commercial space companies should not be exempted from aviation excise taxes. We can do so directly or with this tool from DemandProgress. (We can also text SIGN PKVISI to 50409 or use this Resistbot petition to encourage our elected officials to end the federal government’s reliance on Elon Musk in general.)HOW TO TALK TO VOTERS
Messaging has long been an issue for Democrats. George Lakoff has been telling us that for years. In order to help us with messaging, the Bay Area Coalition (BAC) has developed a theme-based project called How To Talk to Voters. It uses the 3V framework: values, villains and vision. Let’s check out these messages and start using them. (h/t Chop Wood Carry Water)
DOWN-BALLOT ROLL-OFF
Sister District has been studying the phenomenon of “ballot roll-off”: the tendency of voters to vote the top of their ballots (say, for president and members of Congress), but to leave their ballots unmarked for state legislative and other down-ballot offices. Given that state representatives and senators pass laws that govern our states; that most state legislatures draw (and can gerrymander) the district maps that ultimately determine which party controls the US House of Representatives; and that Democratic candidates experience roll-off at much higher rates than Republican candidates, down-ballot roll-off likely seriously undermines the advancement of progressive policies in the United States. Sister District has found that “Democrats would have gained control of 14 more [state legislative] chambers in 9 states in 2020 if they had only been able to increase their down-ballot votes by 2% or less. And those votes could have come from people who were already voting for Democrats at the top of the ticket.” Let’s take a look at Sister District’s latest research on down-ballot roll-off, and let’s educate ourselves so we are ready and able to vote in all races up and down our ballots.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
AZ – WINNING THE FIGHT FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM
We had a breakthrough this week in the State House, as our pressure pushed three House Republicans to join every Democrat in passing a repeal of the near-total ban on abortion upheld by our state Supreme Court. With two Republicans joining all Democrats in a test vote in favor of repeal in the state senate last week, we could see a final vote on HB2677 to roll back the ban in the upper house as early as Wednesday. This would be promptly signed into law by Governor Hobbs if passed. This would be a huge step forward, but even once this task is done, a 15-week ban would remain on the books, and we have seen even in the face of extraordinary public anger that a huge majority of Republicans continue to support a full ban, keeping it on the table if they win a trifecta in the future. There’s plenty of work ahead to hold those who attacked abortion rights in the legislature and the courts accountable and to secure reproductive freedom in our state for good. Here’s some actions we can take:· Contact our state reps to let them know we closely watched how they voted on repeal and will be working to reelect or defeat them accordingly
· Contact our state senators to demand they pass the repeal bill as soon as possible
· Consider joining pro-choice advocates at a rally for reproductive freedom at the State Capitol TOMMOROW from 9AM-11AM
· Join Progress Arizona’s new campaign to vote out two of the state supreme court justices who upheld the ban in November here
· Sign up for volunteer training for the Arizona for Abortion Access ballot initiative to guarantee abortion rights in our state constitution here