December 13, 2023
Support funding for Ukraine, connecting young people to get registered and vote, Trump tax cuts, 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:
DO NOT COMPROMISE ON ASYLUM LAWS FOR AID TO THE UKRAINE
Despite Zelensky’s personal plea for more U.S. aid to the Ukraine, which most Democrats and many Republicans agree is necessary for national security, Republicans are still refusing to consider the issue without adding what historian Heather Cox Richardson called a “poison pill” that would make major changes in asylum law. These changes include making it harder to pass the “credible fear” interview, automatic denial of asylum to migrants who pass through a “safe” third country, and establishing a fast-track expedited removal of asylum-seekers, potentially compromising due process. Let’s remind our MoCs that these proposed changes put poor and vulnerable families with children at more risk and that seeking asylum is a human right that should not be compromised. We must consider aid to the Ukraine separately from immigration issues.
INCREASE ACCESS AT THE POLLS BY SUPPORTING VOTERIDERS
VoteRiders.org assists prospective voters across the U.S. by providing information about their states’ ID laws and helping them secure Voter ID. Now is the time for us to make sure that everyone who is eligible can vote in the 2024 election, so that there are no last minute surprises for people when they go to the polls. Let’s donate to VoteRiders or sign up for virtual volunteer opportunities.
TRUMP TAX CUTS EXPIRE IN NEXT CONGRESS
In December 2025, the Trump tax cuts will expire. They have only made the rich richer and the lack of taxes paid has negatively affected what we could have been doing. These cuts are also responsible for the outrageous deficit we’ve all had to endure. 2025 will be the time to do something different. “[Since these] tax cuts, primarily those of presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, . . . have been the primary drivers of the budget deficit, so it would seem logical to end them, especially since they have never boosted the economy as promised. And yet, rather than ending them, the Republicans are eager to extend them. They embrace the idea that the best course for the nation is to slash taxes and services and to concentrate wealth at the top of the economy." We need to win the Senate and the House to let these tax cuts expire successfully. Let’s remember this point when we are working to elect fellow thinkers to work for us in Washington, D.C. Let’s ask all candidates for House and Senate where they stand on letting these tax cuts quietly die.
NO STARBUCKS GIFT CARDS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
This fall and winter, we’ve seen crucial victories for worker organizing at Starbucks. Thousands of partners walked off the job at 150 locations on November 16th on one of the company’s busiest days of the year in the second annual Red Cup Rebellion, and just days later corporate agreed to a long-standing Starbucks Workers Union demand to let workers pause mobile orders during especially busy rushes. Let’s keep the momentum going! Unionized baristas are asking us to help them send a message by not buying Starbucks gift cards this year. Let’s follow their lead, drop Starbucks cards from our shopping lists, and take the #NoContractNoCoffee pledge to act in solidarity with Starbucks Workers United.
CONNECTING YOUNG PEOPLE TO VOTE
"NextGen America is the nation’s largest youth voting organization, using innovative digital and field strategies to turn out young voters in key states. We’re empowering the largest and most diverse generation in American history through voter education, registration, and mobilization." And they are not afraid to use unusual methods, like connecting with young people through dating apps. Right now, they're looking for volunteers in the runup to 2024. There are many different opportunities to participate. Let’s Check out their homepage and fill out their Volunteer Interest Form.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
CT – RAISE THE TIPPED MINIMUM WAGE
The tipped minimum wage in Connecticut has been $6.38 for almost seven years – not something anyone could conceivably be expected to live on. State Senator Julie Kushner, co-chair of the Labor Committee, has pledged to reintroduce a bill to raise that minimum to $15 an hour. Last year a similar measure died without a vote in the House or Senate. Let’s contact our own state legislators, along with House Speaker Matthew Ritter, House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, to urge them to support this effort to ensure everyone makes a fair wage.