December 12, 2023
Child Tax Credit, protect troops from brain injury, learn persuasive storytelling techniques, and more!
*** SUBMITTING YOUR ACTIONS TO ROGAN’S LIST ***
We’ve set up a “tip line” so Rogan’s List subscribers can send in their ideas or submissions for action items at roganslisttips@gmail.com. Please don’t hesitate to email and pass on your suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you!
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:
REINSTATE THE CHILD TAX CREDIT
Food insecurity among American families has risen sharply, but instead of reinstating the child tax credit, which made a significant difference in the year it was in effect, 146 Republican Members of Congress are instead putting their efforts in demanding an end-of-year bill that would allow corporations to write off more expenses and pay fewer taxes. Lets tell our MoCs that our priorities are with hungry families, not with corporations, and we want to see the Child Tax Credit reinstated.
PROTECT US TROOPS FROM BRAIN INJURY
The New York Times reports that, even though the Pentagon is aware that shoulder-fired rockets deliver shock waves that cause brain injuries, the military has done very little to protect troops from blast exposure from these and other weapons, and is in fact requiring troops to train on these weapons. Let’s tell the White House and our Members of Congress that we are concerned about this, and we want to know what they are doing about it.
LEARN TO ADVOCATE MORE EFFECTIVELY USING PERSUASIVE STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES
If we are looking for ways to make our advocacy campaigns stronger, to be more persuasive, to convince more people to act, we can check out what using effective stories can do. Several studies have shown that good political storytelling can increase understanding and empathy, clarify complex systems social issues, and then engage listeners in social and political action. If we’d like to learn more and sharpen our persuasive skills, we can join The Campaign Workshop on Friday, December 15th at 11 A.M. (PT), for a free and informative webinar on using storytelling to strengthen our advocacy campaigns. We can gain valuable insights and techniques to make our campaigns more effective through seamless integration of storytelling. We can register here to elevate our advocacy efforts.
REMOVE BOOK BANNING PROVISION FROM THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT (NDAA)
According to Moms Rising, the Senate’s recently released version of the NDAA still includes Section 589, a provision passed last March on a party-line vote by Republicans in the House opposed by numerous organizations including the National Education Association (NEA) that would allow book bans and make life less safe for LGTBQ students in schools run by the Department of Defense. Final debates on this bill will take place early in the week. Let’s call our Senators now and demand that this provision be removed before the vote.
CEO TO WORKER PAY RATIO OUT OF WHACK
“You know, back in 1965, the CEO to typical worker pay ratio was just 20 to 1. And then in 1989, it was 58 to 1. And some reports now put it around 325 to 1. But we’re also seeing ratios that far exceed that. One of the most extreme examples we pointed out at Fast Company is Live Nation’s ratio is 5,414 to 1.” CEO pay is complicated as it often includes stock options and incentive bonuses which inflate it even more. Worker pay at these companies has not kept up at the same rate, in fact, worker pay is only 18% higher than it was in 1978 while CEO compensation has gone up over 1400%. Legislation has recently been introduced in the House and Senate, the Curtailing Executive Overcompensation (CEO) Act (S. 3176 / H.R.6191), to address this issue by enforcing an “excise tax on corporations whose CEO-to-median-worker pay disparities are 50 to 1 or greater.” The recent worker strikes have brought this discrepancy into even greater focus and workers are not getting a fair shake of the profits. Let’s tell our MoCs that we favor this legislation and that we’d like them to cosponsor it and vote for it.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
FL – ANOTHER ACT OF HOSTILITY TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY
Florida is facing significant challenges, including a crisis in the rising cost of home insurance that is pushing many to give up on getting coverage or even leave the state. Instead of dealing with these matters, Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia is focused on trying to amend Florida’s constitution to ban reparations for descendants of slavery, in yet another act of hostility to our state’s Black community. Let’s contact our state legislators and tell them we want them to oppose SJR-582 and earn their salaries for a change.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
Unfortunately, the link to the page on which to make a comment on the NLEAD was incorrect. It has been corrected below. Thanks to our readers for keeping us honest!
PUBLIC COMMENT FOR A NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY DATABASE
Attorney General Merrick Garland has finally made progress on establishing a National Law Enforcement Accountability Database (NLEAD) to document and store records of instances of officer misconduct - progress Rogan’s List subscribers have long demanded. This is part of President Biden’s executive order “to build and sustain fairness and accountability throughout the criminal justice system and extends to state, tribal, local, and territorial law.” The intent of the database is to “include records of officer misconduct (including convictions, terminations, de-certifications, civil judgments, resignations and retirements while under investigation for serious misconduct, and sustained complaints or records of disciplinary actions for serious misconduct), as well as commendations and awards.” Last week, the DOJ published a notice regarding the long overdue database. It is open for public comment until January 2, 2024. Let’s tell them here we think this is important and will help address the national problem of bad actors in law enforcement.