Monday October 16, 2017
10/16/17 http://roganslist.blogspot.com/
Special Announcement
Rogan’s List is thrilled to announce a new partnership with RISE Stronger whose “mission is to build a dynamic, strategic movement of politically engaged communities that demand a responsible and accountable government which serves the interests of the people. RISE Stronger is made up of passionate people from all walks of life who are committed to protecting and advancing freedom, equality, and justice, and ensuring a transparent, responsible and accountable government for all.” Just like us.
Stay tuned in the days and weeks to come for some tweaks and changes, but Rogan’s List will continue to be the quality source of daily calls-to-action you rely on, but as part of the RISE Stronger organization. In the meantime, if you are not already a member of RISE Stronger, sign up here and join this wonderful organization: https://risestronger.org/sign_up
Contact Federal Government Officials
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1. This week in Congress. The House is on recess this week (2017 House calendar pdf). On Monday, Oct. 16, the Senate will convene at 4pm to vote on Callista L. Gingrich to be Ambassador to the Holy See. Per this article at The Intercept. "The Intercept was met with mixed reactions when approaching members of Congress on Thursday for their thoughts on Ambassador Gingrich. “Oh, my Lord,” was all Rep. Raul Grijalva, a Catholic Democrat from Arizona, could muster. “My Lord,” he added." Gingrich is expected to be confirmed easily. We can make some last-minute opposition calls to our Senators anyway.
2. As the news of Trump’s Executive Order about health care is settling in and the impact is becoming clearer, some Republicans are starting to recognize what their party will own as the impacts are felt. Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota (who used to work in insurance) said, "When this fails, and it will fail, this is going to impact the lives of real people, and I think we should be doing everything we can to find an alternative so real people don't get hurt”: http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/355408-trump-hands-republicans-a-new-obamacare-problem?amp Not surprisingly, it is some states that went for Trump on election day that will be most impacted:https://www.apnews.com/cd3fb39ebc2d47a8a3c636283eeae4fc/Pro-Trump-states-most-affected-by-his-health-care-decision Let’s let our MoC know that we expect them to restore the CSR’s (cost-sharing reductions).
3. Although Trump hopes we think things are going great in Puerto Rico, there is much left to be done as, for example, people are drawing water from a hazardous-waste SuperFund site site:http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/355489-puerto-ricans-pump-drinking-water-from-hazardous-waste-report Let’s let our MoC know that we will not be distracted away from Puerto Rico and the needs of our fellow Americans there.
4. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed new rules to monitor the social media of all immigrants to the U.S. Under the new rules, DHS will include "social media handles and aliases, associated identifiable information and search results" in the department's immigrant files. In other words, DHS wants to collect social media information on all immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens. This rule will go into effect October 18 after a public comment period. You can submit a comment by clicking here. Tell DHS that this rule should not go into effect.
5. Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D, CA) has introduced HR 4030, to codify the Title IX protections for sexual violence survivors that were withdrawn by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “The bill is supported by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), American Association of University Women (AAUW), Know Your IX, Futures Without Violence, Girls Inc., End Rape on Campus (EROC).” https://speier.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congresswoman-speier-dwwg-introduce-bill-defend-title-ix Let’s check to see if our MoC is co-sponsoring HR 4030: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4030 Then let’s contact our MoC to offer either our gratitude for co-sponsoring HR 4030, or our urgent recommendation that our Congressperson sign on as a cosponsor of HR 4030.
6. Following Trump's tweet attacking freedom of the press by threatening NBC's license, only the Democratic members of the FCC have spoken up, while Republican members and FCC Chair Ajit Pai have remained silent http://bit.ly/2yfLZVB While it does not actually issue licenses to broadcast networks, just individual stations, the FCC still has a responsibility to defend freedom of the press, and we need to know that the head of the FCC will do this. Even, and especially, when the attack is coming from the president. Let's contact Pai and ask that he speak out against Trump's attacks. E-mail: Ajit.Pai@fcc.govTwitter: https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC FCC phone number: 1-888-225-5322 Address: Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, SW Washington, DC 20554 We can also send the form letter from the Free Press Action Fund: http://act.freepress.net/sign/journ_fcc_press_attack
7. Trump signed an executive order, restricting the ACA's birth control mandate
http://bit.ly/2ypferg For those of us who believe that our employers will choose to no longer provide contraception coverage, the National Women's Law Center has created a hotline that we can call or e-mail to help us determine what steps we can take to get the coverage we need http://bit.ly/2yieT7I We can call them at 1-866-745-5487 or send an e-mail to CoverHer@nwlc.org or check out the information available here:
https://nwlc.org/having-trouble-getting-birth-control/
8. As the media reports on Trump's attendance at the Value Voters Summit, much of the language is being watered down, as they are referring to presenters and attendees as "Christian conservatives," and "evangelicals," NPR:
http://n.pr/2ym0ysQPolitico: http://politi.co/2z589Jt Yet the organization that hosted the event, Family Research Council, is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and many of the speakers for the Summit are members of hate groups themselves, including ACT for America, Liberty Counsel, and the Center for Security Policy. Let's share the SPLC's informative guide on the Value Voters Summit with our friends and family, and across social media https://www.splcenter.org/values-voter-summit-whose-values We may also want to send it to news organizations to remind them that their words matter and we need to report on hate speech and refer to hate groups accurately.
9. Trump's nominee to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is Accuweather CEO and non-scientist Barry Myers. Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist at Oregon State University, was NOAA administrator from 2009 to 2013. She hopes Myers will pledge to continue providing peer-reviewed research, without a political filter, to the public. "Not only is that the right thing to do," she says, "but NOAA is required by legal mandate from Congress to forecast, record, report, monitor, and distribute meteorological, hydrological, and climate data." ..The elephant in the room for Myers will be climate change...Myers has rarely said much about global warming, and AccuWeather, unlike its rival The Weather Company, has not taken up the cause of climate change." “I fear that he’ll do irreparable harm to an agency whose primary mission is to save lives,” said Daniel Sobien, the president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, which strongly opposes Myers’ nomination. “There seems to be a huge conflict of interest considering his business background and belief system.”Let's read the full articles at 1) Science magazine and 2) Politico. Let's tell our Senators that we oppose Myers for NOAA.
10. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved Trump’s 7th Circuit judicial nominee Amy Coney Barrett for a full Senate vote, in spite of her questions about the legitimacy of a woman’s right to choose and her ties to ultra-conservative groups like the Federalist Society https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/us/amy-coney-barrett-nominee-religion.htmlThis is a lifetime appointment, and we can’t let it go to such an extremist without a fight. Let us contact our senators and let them know we expect them to oppose Barrett.
State Actions
1. MULTIPLE: If we live in Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, or Washington we will need to use a passport, a permanent resident card/green card or a military ID to board a plane (domestic or international) starting in 2018 because our state driver’s licenses will no longer meet the federal criteria for ID. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lealane/2017/09/30/new-rule-residents-in-nine-states-will-need-passports-for-domestic-flights-in-2018/#65b133736e59 If we live in these states, we best contact our state legislators and tell them to get on track to getting our state IDs in compliance with the Real ID Act.
2. ALL: State attorneys general have been on the frontline of the fight against the Trump agenda, and we need them to step up again to block the latest version of the Muslim ban. AGs from California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington have already filed for a temporary restraining order against it http://www.khq.com/story/36581208/washington-attorney-general-challenges-trumps-3rd-travel-banLet’s show them we have their backs. If we live in these states, let’s contact our AGs and thank them for their continued efforts against bigotry. If we do not, let’s reach out to our own state attorneys general and ask them to join the suit. We can use this script from Wall-of-us here: https://www.wallofus.org/posts/203/ask-your-attorney-general-to-fight-muslim-ban-30
Other Actions
1. From one of our own: With all of Trump's work to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA), it's time for us to stop calling it "Obamacare." Whatever happens now, Trump and his regime own it. Let's make a point of letting them know that by calling the healthcare that is available to us as "Trumpcare" from now on. The limited sign-up coming up is obviously a Trumpcare feature. Obamacare had a longer time-frame and better advertising. Rhetoric is important. Let's make this change.
2. Arnold Schwarzenegger, yes, the Arnold Schwarzenegger, has come out strongly against gerrymandering and has set up a matching fund to help support Common Cause pay the legal costs to fight this issue: https://www.crowdpac.com/campaigns/207023/this-is-our-chance-to-make-gerrymandering-unconstitutional Let’s consider a donation.
3. There is now a Postcards for America website up-and-running to complement the Postcards for America Facebook group. The website has all the PC2As listed by topic.There are also state Postcard groups we can join. If we don’t find our state group here, we might be just the person to start one: http://www.postcardsforamerica.com/states.html
4. In a state where the Confederate flag is still incorporated into the state flag, the school district in Biloxi, Mississippi is removing To Kill a Mockingbird from the 8th grade curriculum because the language in it makes some people uncomfortable:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/14/to-kill-a-mockingbird-harper-lee-mississippi-school-reading-list Let’s let Superintendent Arthur McMillan know that now is not the time to be stepping away from Mockingbird: https://www.biloxischools.net/domain/73
5. Host a Postcard Party! Whether you use actions from Postcards for America, Postcards to Voters, or your very own variations, here’s how to set up a party that combines social with activism: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OaSFBk-VZhiraoCQGIno0yoPRtefSdv7aYgq1lKdFqY/edit
6. Last Thursday, Newsweek ran an interview of J Daniel Hasert, former Speaker of the House and convicted child molester, about Washington, DC gridlock. The article makes only a passing reference to Hasert’s conviction, and this appears several paragraphs into the piece, in which Hastert goes so far as to boast of his “good” reputation in light of sexual scandals involving, for instance, Congressional pages and Congressmen. http://www.newsweek.com/congress-gingrich-hastert-681653 Newsweek’s decision to downplay the sexual assault of children by a former Speaker of the House is particularly concerning given the current administration’s laissez-faire attitude towards sexual assault in general (from Trump’s remarks regarding things he might grab and the Secretary of Education’s decisions regarding guidelines on college campuses). Let’s contact Newsweek asking them not to normalize sexual assault: Newsweek LLC, 7 Hanover Square, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10004.
7. The University of Wisconsin has passed a policy to punish student protest potentially restricting free speech. Per Newsweek: "Wisconsin students who protest speakers on university campuses will now be punished, university officials decided last week in a move that is being praised by conservatives after several right-wing personalities had their scheduled speeches shut down by students on campuses around the nation." Let's contact the University of Wisconsin to express our concern over this attack on campus free speech: 1) President Ray Cross, Office of the President, 1220 Linden Dr, 1700 Van Hise Hall Madison WI 53706 or email rcross@uwsa.edu or call 608-262-2321 and 2) UW Board of Regents, 1860 Van Hise Hall, 1220 Linden Dr, Madison WI 53706 or email: board@uwsa.eduor call 608-262-2324. If we are Wisconsin alumni, let's indicate that our future contributions may ride on the University's commitment to first amendment rights.
8. To help raise awareness of sexual assault. on Sunday, actress and activist Alyssa Milano asked women to reply to her tweet with "Me too" if they had ever been sexually harassed or assaulted. We can reply to her on Twitter or update our own social media status using the words “Me too”. The story is gaining attention; so many people still have no idea how widespread this problem is. Let them know here: https://twitter.com/Alyssa_Milano/status/919659438700670976
9. Postcards to Voters' Campaign 21 is for Kimberly Anne Tucker in Virginia, House of Delegates district 81. We have two (2) easy ways to request voter addresses and clear talking points: 1) If we're new, email: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org 2) If we've written with Postcards to Voters before, text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 and Abby the Address Bot will help us immediately including an automatic email of the instructions and voter addresses. Let's help flip Virginia blue!
10. By now many of us have seen the Atlantic article “What Facebook Did to American Democracy” (https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/542502/), which details how we were collectively bamboozled by those who exploited the social media platform’s potential to manipulate and deceive before we grasped how much things had changed. However, the piece doesn’t address one of the most important aspects of Facebook’s threat to democracy: the appetite for fake news that drives/enables disinformation campaigns. We ignore this problem at our peril (https://www.ft.com/content/d0e22d4a-acda-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130), so instead let’s share some of the many available tools for spotting fake news (e.g. https://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/fakenews.html) as widely as possible with our friends, family, schools, coworkers, etc.
11. In the entire 2015-16 election cycle, 920 women contacted Emily’s List to express interest in running for office. Since President Trump was inaugurated in January, nearly 19,000 have reached out to the organization, which distributed $90 million to candidates in the last election cycle. For literally 32 years, we’ve mostly had to go out and recruit candidates,” Schriock said. “Literally sit at their kitchen table and encourage — some might say beg — women to run for office. One of the women stepping up is Whitmer, who is running for Michigan governor next year. As she campaigns, she can explain firsthand how the paucity of female officeholders can affect legislation by speaking authentically. Whitmer stood before the Senate and told her colleagues about how she had been raped 20 years earlier. As a legislator, a lawyer, a woman and the mother of two girls, I think the fact that rape insurance is even being discussed by this body is repulsive, let alone the way it has been orchestrated and now shoved through the Legislature,” she said. Despite her impassioned plea, the measure passed. She hopes that with more women running for office, that type of legislation will be rarer: http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/More-women-running-for-office-and-sharing-their-12278578.php We can join Emily's List here or make a donation to support women running for office. The way to change government is from the inside. Let's get in that circle to make change. Donate here: https://secure.emilyslist.org/page/contribute/donate-to-emily
12. Tired of women being harassed shamed and silenced on Twitter and elsewhere? Support a woman's right to speak, by tweeting this "Woman Who Roar" tweetsheet with images and quotes from Malala, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Angela Davis and others. Instructions are on the top of the sheet. No time constraints. You can tweet as many as you want, whenever you can. Spread the message: we're here, loud and proud. Tweetsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qnzZua54PDZMsZZ91EaCRBXlYG-VzcMJ58Oj4qxmG94/htmlview
13. In effort to dismantle the ACA, the Trump administration has shortened this year’s enrollment period for the ACA, cut back dollars for advertising about the signup and helping those who want to sign up, and “HHS’s regional directors were told not to participate in enrollment events in their states.” http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/354215-former-hhs-regional-directors-participation-in-obamacare-enrollment-is-key Fortunately, the ACA Signup Project has a new website: https://www.acasignupproject.comthat can help us. Let’s visit and learn how we can help spread the word so people can sign up for health care coverage.
Petitions
1. The Trump administration is moving to facilitate oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s iconic Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Let’s join the League of Conservation Voters in telling Congress to protect the refuge and not allow drilling: http://p2a.co/rvyEmj7
2. Since they can afford it, let’s sign this petition to eliminate subsidies from members of Congress: https://www.change.org/p/remove-health-care-subsidies-for-members-of-congress-and-their-families
Marches/events/teleconferences/Twitterstorms to attend/organize
1. The Movement for Black Lives is launching the Electoral Justice Project (EJP), which "seeks to build on a long legacy of Black movements employing electoral strategy as a tool to attain victory. We know that voting alone will not change the conditions of Black communities, but we believe that Black people deserve a loving and strategic political home to seek transformational political change." There will be a national launch call today, Monday, October 16th, at 7pm ET We can register here http://bit.ly/2wXNUwM and sign up for mobile updates about the Electoral Justice Project by texting "EJP" to 90975.
2. The Silent Sentinels spent over two years in silent protest until the 19th Amendment was passed to give women the right to vote. It is time to do the same for the Equal Rights Amendment. To that end, Equal Means Equal is partnering with Catharsis on the Mallto honor the Silent Sentinels by holding a 4-month at the feet of R-Evolution which will be placed in front of the Washington Monument and facing the White House and the Capitol Building. We can take part in this historic demonstration to fight for the ERA by signing up to be one of the Silent Sentinels. More info here: https://equalmeansequal.org/blog/equal-means-equal-partners-catharsis-mall-honor-silent-sentinels/
3. Wednesday, November 8, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby is highlighting a Call Congress to Act on Climate Day. Here is a link to their Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/765125133668436/ and here for details:
https://citizensclimatelobby.org/call-congress-to-act-on-climate/#/38/
4. On Wednesday, October 18th—to coincide with the Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s latest Muslin ban—#NoMuslimBanEver is sponsoring a national mobilization in Washington, DC., with sister marches around the country. Even if we can’t all be in DC, let’s make our presence known at these local events: https://www.nomuslimbanever.com
5. To honor the original Conference on Women in 1977, the University of Houston is offering a two-day conference, November 6-7, bringing together former participants and dynamic scholars. For more information and to register for this free conference, let’s click here: http://www.uh.edu/class/mcgovern/national-women-conference/
Reading/Watching
1. Experts in authoritarianism advise us to keep a list of things subtly changing around us, so we’ll remember. Amy Siskind is keeping that list for us. Amy writes, "This week, starting with ominous statements by Sen. Corker, numerous accounts by Trump aides and Republican insiders leaked to the media describing a WH in peril. Increasingly, Trump seems isolated, erratic, unmoored and unfit for office. The humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico worsened with the inadequate response by the federal government. Amid criticism, Trump threatened to pull out, but later backed off. Although the death count officially stands at 45, reporting revealed possibly hundreds more preventable deaths related to the Hurricane Maria." Let's review Amy Siskind's list week 48.
2. In case it is not clear what those “fine people” in the alt-right are up to, leader Richard Spencer is not sure women should have the right to vote:http://www.newsweek.com/alt-right-leader-richard-spencer-isnt-sure-if-women-should-be-allowed-vote-685048
3. On October 5th, Joseph Bernstein published a much-read expose in BuzzFeed entitled “Here’s How Breitbart and Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas into the Mainstream”: https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism As Trump maintains his plausible deniability, leaving it to Bannon to fan the flames of the alt-right, we need to understand the tactics at work on the “hard” right.
4. Here is the where, how, and the costs for our MoCs to get their prescribed drugs, a benefit they have while Trump chips away our insurance benefits while they do nothing.