February 21, 2023
Food stamp cuts, Postcards to Voters, Presidential Medal of Freedom, and more!
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:
TELL THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE TO STOP THE WILLOW PROJECT
Environmental activists are continuing to rally support against the potential Interior Department approval of ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope, deriding it as a carbon bomb at a time when we need to decarbonize our economy. ConocoPhillips even admits it will only create 300 permanent jobs. We can join 350.org and ask the Biden White House and the Bureau of Land Management to reject this disastrous project before the February 28th deadline here.FIGHT FOOD STAMP CUTS
Amid soaring food prices and the ending in March of the COVID expansion of the food stamp program (now called the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP)), Congressional Republicans are calling for cutting SNAP even further—by creating stricter eligibility requirements and slashing the SNAP budget overall. Let’s tell our Members of Congress that the 41 million Americans who rely on SNAP for food must not be used as a tool in the sudden Republican interest in reducing the federal deficit, and we expect them to oppose anything that would shrink the food stamp program or make it harder for people to qualify for it.
POSTCARDS TO VOTERS FOR CITY COUNCIL RACE IN TAMPA
Right now, Postcards To Voters volunteers are writing postcards for Bill Carlson for Tampa City Council for the March 7 election and his opponent is a significant supporter of DeSantis and Trump: https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2023/02/10/parties-rally-around-candidates-non-partisan-tampa-city-council-race/ If we are already approved with PTV, we can text, email, or Slack message to get addresses. If we are new to PTV, we can start the simple approval process to be ready for the next campaign: https://postcardstovoters.org/ Today is the last day to mail postcards for this campaign.
BLACK HISTORY & THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM
Ruby Bridges, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne and Tessie Prevost were little first graders in 1960 when they famously, in the face of great danger, desegregated their elementary schools in New Orleans. All four have continued working for civil rights and racial justice deep into their womanhood. Let’s sign this petition telling President Biden to award them the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
VOLUNTEER TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID
While President Biden has successfully pushed Republican leadership into committing to protect Social Security and Medicare in the debt ceiling negotiations, senior members of the GOP from Mike Pence to Ron Johnson continue to push for cuts. Moreover, Republicans have not been willing to make the same promises for Medicaid, which would almost certainly need to be targeted to reach their budget goals and currently provides health coverage for 83 million people. Let’s sign up with the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare to help join their nationwide events, make phone calls, and engage on social media to protect these programs.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, WA - VOTING RIGHTS
Democratic voting rights attorney Marc Elias has a message for the 17 states with Democratic trifectas (the governor and both legislative chambers held by Democrats): now is the time to enact legislation expanding voting rights and protecting democracy. If we live in one of these states with Democratic trifectas, CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IL, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, RI, WA, let’s tell our state legislators and governor to enact laws addressing the five issues flagged in Elias’s blog post: https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/five-voting-laws-needed-to-protect-democracy/
Yay! Welcome back!