March 24, 2025 - 8 Days to Wisconsin
Billionaire and henchman threaten to shut down Social Security, building towards Hands Off, Trump ❤️ Brad Schimel, and more
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: Congress.gov
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
If you have questions, comments, and especially submissions for actions, please email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com!
THEY THINK THEY CAN TAKE AWAY SOCIAL SECURITY WITHOUT US CARING
Our unelected billionaire co-president is making no secret that his agenda is cutting Social Security, both by firing the people and closing the offices that make sure everyone gets their checks and by slashing benefits directly. But last week he and his henchmen took it to a new level. After a federal judge blocked Musk’s “DOGE” minions from access to our personal data at the Social Security Administration, his pet SSA administrator responded with an extortion threat – saying he’d shutter the entire agency over the ruling against Musk. He had to be backed off by the courts. On top of this, Commerce Secretary and Wall Street billionaire Howard Lutnick suggested stopping Social Security checks for a month would be a good way to root out fraud, saying only “fraudsters” would complain – and none of the 7 million Americans 65 and over who receive at least 90% of their income from benefits checks. They genuinely seem to be talking themselves into believing they can steal away the benefits we earned and that so many Americans depend on without us caring. We’re going to make them face the facts.
Let’s reach out to our members of Congress to make sure they know we see what’s going on and they need to get Trump and Elon’s hands off our Social Security. We can find scripts and language to use here or send this Resistbot petition by texting SIGN PZRNBN to 50409.
Let’s also help warn our communities and our networks! All we need to do is take an hour or two with a hand-made sign near our local Social Security office (locator here), make sure we get a photo and share it online with a message letting folks know what’s going on! Check out Chuck taking the lead (and be sure to join him in sharing photos with us after it’s done! Tag us @roganslist.bsky.social on Bluesky, drop us a reply in the comments, or email us at roganslisttips@gmail.com.)
HOUSE MUST ACT TO STOP FIREFIGHTER, TEACHER CUTS IN DC
The House is back from recess, and their agenda for the week is out. It does not include the standalone bill that would reverse the devastating budget cuts the continuing resolution includes for Washington, D.C. As it currently stands, D.C. would have to revert to last year’s budget in the middle of the fiscal year, effectively costing the city a billion dollars in teachers, emergency services and support for public transportation. Trump has endorsed the fix, but Speaker Mike Johnson is clearly not eager to get the job done. We will need to speak out. Let’s reach out to our representatives, especially if they’re Republicans, and tell them they need support stopping the cuts for DC – and demand the legislation be taken up as soon as possible.
HUGE VICTORY FOR RIGHT WING CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIGHER ED
The far right has long sought to crush and coopt higher education, seeing it as a power base for the left. Under Trump, they are making generational strides in this effort, devastating research and using threats to pull federal funding to force policy changes that crush academic freedom and freedom of speech, silence progressive ideas, hurt trans people and promote their desegregation agenda.
They scored a huge victory last week, with Columbia University making massive concessions to Trump’s demands on protests, security practices and even how to run an academic department. There is no guarantee their funding will be restored – the administration said meeting their demands was a precondition for formal negotiations, and Trump may well take this surrender as a sign that he can push for even more. Columbia’s compliance risks setting a dangerous precedent, with many other schools already being targeted and right-wing activists on a long-term mission to take control.
Our institutions need to stand strong, and they need to know there are folks who will stand with them if they do. Let’s contact our legislators and the leadership of our state’s public universities and tell them we want to see state schools put their students and their principles first and refuse to bow to pressure from Trump. And let’s do the same for decisionmakers at private universities we’re connected with as alums, teachers, employees, donors or community members. Lastly, let’s check out the Coalition for Action in Higher Ed’s planned day of action for higher education on April 17th and see if there’s an event near us we can support.
GETTING READY FOR THE BIG DAY ON APRIL 5TH
We’re building towards a huge mobilization on the Hands Off National Day of Action April 5th, and we all can do our part to make sure these protests are a success. Here’s four actions we can take today:
While we know anti-Trump protesters have been out in force, mainstream media coverage hasn’t always reflected our strength. The 50501 Movement is calling on folks to write and postcard key news outlets to demand coverage of Hands Off. We can find addresses and instructions here – they’re asking for folks to get them in the mail today!
The MAGA hecklers know we’re out here, and we may see counter-protesters and provocateurs on the 5th. We want to help keep everyone safe. MoveOn is hosting a virtual training on how to de-escalate potential confrontations on Wednesday, April 2nd. We can sign up to join in and learn what we can do to help here.
We’re trying to make each event as big as possible. The Hands Off coalition is asking folks to record short videos about why we’re going out to protest on April 5th to post on social media, using the hashtags #HandsOff or #WhyApril5. Let’s make one of our own, post them on our profiles and share them with the coalition at bit.ly/April5socials.
Finally, the most effective asks are face-to-face with people we know. Let’s each make sure to ask ONE person we think might not otherwise attend to come to a 4/5 protest near us!
PHONEBANK TO FREE MAHMOUD KHALIL
Mahmoud Khalil put it plainly in his letter from immigration detention in Louisiana last week: “I am a political prisoner.” Khalil is a legal permanent resident of the United States of Palestinian origin who is married to an eight-months-pregnant American citizen (check out her CBS interview here), and is currently detained and threatened with deportation for organizing peaceful protests the current administration doesn’t like. He is scheduled to return to court next month. In the meantime, we need to continue to speak up for free speech, the right to protest and due process and against the Trump regime propaganda that has smeared him as a supporter of terrorists. MoveOn is hosting a phonebank TONIGHT at 6PM Eastern to encourage folks to urge their members of Congress to demand Mahmoud’s release – we can sign up to join here. We can also reach out to our own elected officials using this script from 5Calls.
TRUMP AND MUSK ARE WITH SCHIMEL, THE PEOPLE ARE WITH SUSAN CRAWFORD
Donald Trump made it official over the weekend: former Republican state attorney general Brad Schimel is MAGA’s candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. His endorsement and Elon Musk’s money ensure that the outcome of the April 1st race for a swing seat on the court will reverberate throughout national politics. And it’s anyone’s election, with recent polling indicating a dead heat between Schimel and Democratic judge Susan Crawford and turnout crucial to victory. Let’s step up and do whatever we can to help Crawford win this – for reproductive rights, collective bargaining, fair districts and the future of our democracy.
The Wisconsin Democrats have phonebanks scheduled tonight and tomorrow to voters and tomorrow for volunteer recruitment we can join, and Swing Blue Alliance is doing daily social media storms at 9AM Eastern starting this morning and running through Election Day we can help out with here.
We can find many more ways to help on the phones, texts, the doors and social media here.
KEEPING AN EYE ON…
Target Fast boycott in effect through April 17th, Latino Freeze boycotts on resegregation supporters continuing
Continue to push leaders to fight on Trump’s defiance of the courts
Join the federal workers #SaveOurServices rapid response network here
Thanks so much as always.
You give me purpose. Thank you! texted resistant and posted link on facebook