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:
HARVARD, SHMARVARD
The Supreme Court’s gutting of racial justice admissions policies in higher education is a terrible blow, and could cause serious declines in Black and Hispanic enrollment at elite colleges and universities. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen. But it’s also important to remember that these elite schools educate only around 5% of all students attending college. According to the Pew Research Center, “The great majority of schools, where most Americans get their postsecondary education, admit most of the people who apply to them.” More than three-quarters of undergraduate students attend public college or university. Yet funding for public colleges and universities has been falling. In short, if we’re serious about equal opportunity for all, the pursuit of increasing minority admissions to very elite schools, while important, is a very limited vision, because only a handful of people benefit from that. Let’s:
See how much our state spends on public higher education per student.
Tell our state and federal legislators (1) that one way to start correcting for the damage of the Supreme Court’s decision is by enriching our public institutions of higher learning, (2) that we want more funding for public higher education through taxation of high-income and high-wealth households, raising capital gains taxes, and increasing estate and inheritance taxes, and (3) that we want significant increases in need-based aid.
HELP FLORIDA PUT AN ABORTION PROTECTION REFERENDUM ON THE BALLOT
Florida Rising, a state-wide organization that has been fighting back against the slew of anti-human rights legislation passed by Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature is working, along with many other groups, on gathering signatures to put abortion protections on the state ballot. If we know people in Florida, let’s be sure to send this link to keeping our reproductive rights to our friends and family. The group has put together a document that outlines key legislation and its effects on citizens. No matter where we live let’s all make sure to review the document and then let’s ask our state legislators to vote against any similar bills in our state and to introduce legislation that further protects the rights that are being threatened.
NO TRUMPED-UP IMPEACHMENT CHARGES
With employment up and inflation, border crossings and murder rates down, congressional Republicans are increasingly focused on trumped-up impeachment proceedings, with Speaker McCarthy publicly expressing openness to impeaching Attorney General Garland over the Hunter Biden investigation. Let’s make sure we reach out to our members of Congress, especially if we’re represented by Republicans, and tell them we’re sick of these stunts and their abuse of power, and we want them to knock it off and focus on doing something that actually helps the American people. Let’s also consider signing up to volunteer with Field Team Six and register the voters we will need to hold these folks accountable next November.
PROVIDE QUICK ADVICE FOR FIRST-TIME CANDIDATES AS A “RUN FOR SOMETHING” MENTOR
Run for Something (RFS) recruits diverse young progressives to run for office and help build up a much-needed, strong national Democratic power base. Starting in 2017, their candidates have won over 1000 elections and have expanded Medicaid, defended gay and trans rights, expanded poll access, fought book bans and pushed back Nebraska abortion ban. Now RFS is looking for mentors to help out their latest first time candidates. If we are experienced in messaging, technology, fundraising, or organizing, we can help get more progressive leaders elected. If interested, we can join their Mentor Directory. Then, when candidates have questions that match our expertise, RFS will connect us for a brief consultation. We can find out more about becoming a Run For Something Mentor here and then, if we like, sign up for the program. Let’s build up our Democratic power and get our country moving in the right direction!
GET INTERNET
"As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, President Biden and Vice President Harris worked with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents to create the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible households $30 per month off their internet bills. ACP-eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers." We can find out if we are eligible and how to apply, here.
Additionally, we need to expand the sphere of influence and start getting Supreme Court justices who come from outside the couple of elitist few law schools that currently dominates. The outsized domination of the elitist schools in general speaks to a good old boys network peddling power and influence and privilege more than their academic superiority. In fact half their students come from legacy and donor groups. For every single one of the less qualified legacy or donor applicants that is accepted, thousands of candidates from middle and working class backgrounds are turned away! These working and middle class students represent a far greater brilliance, intelligence and talent for they must achieve despite having no extraordinary advantages! The whole elite school dominance in the areas of business and government smacks of discrimination against poor and working class students. It is an expression of class discrimination by the super rich against the rest of us. They want to claim they are better and smarter and work harder- they are so special that they deserve all the advantages. They are in fact sheltered and pampered and therefore not as qualified as those who achieve under far less forgiving circumstances. The world these people have created is terrible. Blinded by greed and selfishness, the top dogs in our system are creating poverty, destruction of commonly held goods like infrastructure, clean air and water and our natural environment. Significant movement towards global peace and disarmament has not happened either. All because we are dominated by selfish, greedy overprivileged people (who are predominantly white men by the way.) All this must change. This class of extreme privilege and advantage has become a cancer on society. They are a parasite killing off its host. It is time for massive class actions against this system which has been rigged to favor the whims of the selfish super-rich. We must go beyond the status quo because they have stacked our judiciary and gerrymandered voting districts and made it hard to vote. We can’t kid ourselves that we can vote our way out of this. The right wing power brokers know this and no longer try to hide their extremist far-right aims. They are laughing because they feel they are bulletproof against any way of correcting this situation. It’s time to think outside the box and come together to brainstorm ways of shutting down this dangerous game and restoring democracy. We have far greater numbers of more intelligent and more moral and ethical people. They need us to work and to buy in order to hoard their millions. We can stop this. We are turning into an oligarchy with fascist elements.
Nice summaries