democracyfyi - Tumblr blog

[democracyfyi]

So I guess precedent no longer matters. Rights upheld by the Supreme Court can be easily taken away by new judges that disagree for no reason other than the fact they want to.

This sucks for the US this sucks for the rights of the vulnerable people within in. No doubt. And I hate it.

But there is a post going around on Tumblr to never use a weapon that you don't want used against you. So maybe the Right should take that to heart.

2008

District of Columbia vs. Heller

That's the ruling that said the second amendment applied to individuals. Before that the common conception of the second amendment was that it only applied to state militias.

But if precedent no longer applies. If rights granted by the Supreme Court are no longer fixed...

Well. Perhaps it's time for some gun reform. Real strict gun reform. Because if the precedent of Roe v. Wade does not matter, no Supreme Court precedent matters. Including District of Columbia v. Heller, and including this decision they just handed down.

[democracyfyi]

I just deleted a reblog of a series of Tweets by Sen. Bob Casey. In it he talked about problems in the GOP Healthcare Bill. The Tumblr OP that screen shotted the Tweets was one of the Russian Trolls, in which they said they wanted to give Sen. Bob Casey a microphone.

While I still stand firmly behind my belief in making sure that All American have access to health-care that doesn’t drive them into debt over a broken arm. I do NOT want to be an unwitting spokes piece for an alterer agenda.

Maybe the tumblr OP just wanted to build cred for later derisive posts, maybe there is a derisive reason that they wanted to single out those tweets, maybe there is some third reason I can’t think of.

I don’t know. And I don’t have the information to guess.

But what I do know is that you, my followers, deserve better.

And you, and I,  deserve to get information without an unknown third party trying to influence our decisions. 

I’ve checked the rest of this blog and my main. Fortunately that post was the only one I reblogged that I found (using the search functions and the IRA list) on either this blog or my main.

[democracyfyi]

Facts About Trumpcare

Here’s what you should know today about the ACA repeal bill:

- Spending cuts made to Medicaid and other programs go toward a tax cut for the health industry and the rich. The people hurt the most are low and middle income Americans.

- A vote is planned next week.

- The bill contains nothing to incentivize healthy people to get insurance. In order to subsidize payments to sick people insurance relies on healthy people buying insurance. Without that Premiums rise!

- The mandate for large employers to offer health benefits is eliminated.

- Fewer people will receive tax credits to help with the cost of insurance, and those who do receive credits will receive less, hurting middle-income Americans who purchase their own insurance.

- Insurers will be able to charge older Americans 5 TIMES more for insurance.

- Medicaid is funded by block grants. When the grant is used up, the states have to pay. If they can’t afford to pay, fewer and fewer people will have access to Medicaid.

- States are allowed to change what is considered and essential health benefit.

- Planned Parenthood will not receive Medicaid reimbursements for women’s well-care, effectively defunding Planned Parenthood.

[democracyfyi]

https://www.indivisibleguide.com/resource/impact-of-trumpcare-by-state/

(For additional resources pluse a list of who to call by state.)

It may seem like Trumpcare can’t pass. We have many “moderate” Republicans furrowing their brows and saying they are troubled by the process, but as we’ve seen time and again, they will fall in line and vote for the bill if we don’t fight like hell to stop them.

If you have a Democratic senator, this link can help you figure out what to say to them when asking them to fight against the bill. If you have a Republican senator (especially if you are in MAINE, ALASKA, NEVADA or WEST VIRGINIA), call and tell them to VOTE NO on the Senate healthcare bill.

This bill isn’t getting a lot of coverage in mainstream news outlets, but that’s why it’s being drafted in secret. It’s tough to cover a bill that no one has any information about, but what we do know is that it is equally cruel as the House version. Please pick up the phone and make two calls today.

[democracyfyi]

Dear republicans, you cannot complain about content warnings in college (which allow vulnerable students to prepare for difficult lessons so that they can get the most out of a class while not affecting the learning of the other students in the classroom) while doing this, which is nothing more than shutting down any scientifically proven results that only make you uncomfortable so that no one can learn.

In Idaho, lawmakers removed references to climate change from the state’s science standards. In Alabama and Indiana, they passed resolutions urging support for educators who teach “diverse” views on climate change, evolution and human cloning. And in Florida, the legislature on Friday adopted one bill that would give educators and students more freedom to express religious beliefs in school, and a second that would give residents new power to oppose classroom materials they dislike — including science textbooks.

[democracyfyi]

Your numbers for the national debt, while true, are used to draw disingenuous conclusions.

Remember National Debt under George W. Bush also nearly doubled from 5.73 Trillion to 10.63 Trillion. But that number by itself is not enough to get any reasonable conclusion. The total GDP also has to be taken into account as the economy in 1776 was no where near as big as it is today.

I can show  you Change in Debt as a percentage of GDP for post war presidents.

You can read the research here

http://politicsthatwork.com/graphs/debt-gdp-president

An interesting part

President Obama is the only Democratic President during whose time in office the debt has risen relative to GDP.  The data extends to the end of FY2014 (September 2014).  President Obama's bar will almost certainly drop by the end of his presidency, as GDP growth is relatively high and the deficit is relatively low.  2/5ths of the increase during President Obama's presidency occurred during the first year while the country was still in the midst of the Great Recession.

I mean sure Obama’s number is still high, but it’s not an obscene outlier. This is because the GDP of the US Grew despite the increase of Debt. You can see it here compared to international GDP Growth. (We did better than the rest of the world under Obama.)

http://politicsthatwork.com/blog/which-party-is-better-for-the-economy.php

But really, if National Debt was the big issue for you, I’m sorry to say that Hillary Clinton didn’t win.

http://politicsthatwork.com/graphs/clinton-trump-tax-plans-debt

And No, Trump’s plan won’t raise the GDP like Obama’s did to help compensate for the increased Debt. [1][2][3]

[democracyfyi]

My Question for Johnny Isakson

I grew up in Savannah, Georgia because my father, a Gulf War veteran, was stationed at Fort Stewart for four years and then Hunter Army Airfield. Now I live in Atlanta as a graduate student at Georgia Tech.

Every year I have to go through conflict-of-interest disclosures that include any holdings, earnings, or businesses that I, or my family, have. Anything that could be construed as giving a potential conflict of interest for my research. If I don’t do this, I could lose funding and my place in the program.

I don’t mind because my father taught me the importance of integrity, of using my work to increase the greater good for everybody not just increase the money in my own pocket.

So my question to you, Senator, is how are you, as head of the Senate Ethics Committee, going to hold the president of the United States to the same level of disclosure that is expected of Georgia’s grad students?

[democracyfyi]

Senator Johnny Isakson just had a telephone town hall, where the only thing that he did was offer platitudes. He didn’t answer questions, and he never took responsibility to protect the health care that Georgians need, nor protect clean air and water, nor hold the president responsible for his conflict of interests or potential Russian ties.

Senator, my father is a Veteran of the Gulf War. He taught me that saying nice words means absolutely nothing without the will to back them up.

[democracyfyi]

This is sold as a poster, and there is a small part of me that wants to raise the funds to buy/send that poster to the offices of various Senators and Congressmen who use the “the earth’s temperature has changed before”

XKCD’s excellent presentation on historical global temperature and anthropogenic global warming. 

[After setting your car on fire] “Listen, your car’s temperature has changed before.”

[democracyfyi]

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“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” -Fred Rogers Donate to the ACLU

[democracyfyi]

Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience. Now is a good time to do so. Here are twenty lessons from the twentieth century, adapted to the circumstances of today:

1. Do not obey in advance.

Much of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then start to do it without being asked. You’ve already done this, haven’t you? Stop. Anticipatory obedience teaches authorities what is possible and accelerates unfreedom.

2. Defend an institution.

Defend an institution. Follow the courts or the media, or a court or a newspaper. Do not speak of “our institutions” unless you are making them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions don’t protect themselves. They go down like dominoes unless each is defended from the beginning.

3. Recall professional ethics.

When the leaders of state set a negative example, professional commitments to just practice become much more important. It is hard to break a rule-of-law state without lawyers, and it is hard to have show trials without judges.

4. When listening to politicians, distinguish certain words.

Look out for the expansive use of “terrorism” and “extremism.” Be alive to the fatal notions of “exception” and “emergency.” Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.

5. Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

When the terrorist attack comes, remember that all authoritarians at all times either await or plan such events in order to consolidate power. Think of the Reichstag fire. The sudden disaster that requires the end of the balance of power, the end of opposition parties, and so on, is the oldest trick in the Hitlerian book. Don’t fall for it.

6. Be kind to our language.

Avoid pronouncing the phrases everyone else does. Think up your own way of speaking, even if only to convey that thing you think everyone is saying. (Don’t use the internet before bed. Charge your gadgets away from your bedroom, and read.) What to read? Perhaps The Power of the Powerless by Václav Havel, 1984 by George Orwell, The Captive Mind by Czesław Milosz, The Rebel by Albert Camus, The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, or Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev.

7. Stand out.

Someone has to. It is easy, in words and deeds, to follow along. It can feel strange to do or say something different. But without that unease, there is no freedom. And the moment you set an example, the spell of the status quo is broken, and others will follow.

8. Believe in truth.

To abandon facts is to abandon freedom. If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so. If nothing is true, then all is spectacle. The biggest wallet pays for the most blinding lights.

9. Investigate.

Figure things out for yourself. Spend more time with long articles. Subsidize investigative journalism by subscribing to print media. Realize that some of what is on your screen is there to harm you. Bookmark PropOrNot or other sites that investigate foreign propaganda pushes.

10. Practice corporeal politics.

Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with them.

11. Make eye contact and small talk.

This is not just polite. It is a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down unnecessary social barriers, and come to understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

12. Take responsibility for the face of the world.

Notice the swastikas and the other signs of hate. Do not look away and do not get used to them. Remove them yourself and set an example for others to do so.

13. Hinder the one-party state.

The parties that took over states were once something else. They exploited a historical moment to make political life impossible for their rivals. Vote in local and state elections while you can.

14. Give regularly to good causes, if you can.

Pick a charity and set up autopay. Then you will know that you have made a free choice that is supporting civil society helping others doing something good.

15. Establish a private life.

Nastier rulers will use what they know about you to push you around. Scrub your computer of malware. Remember that email is skywriting. Consider using alternative forms of the internet, or simply using it less. Have personal exchanges in person. For the same reason, resolve any legal trouble. Authoritarianism works as a blackmail state, looking for the hook on which to hang you. Try not to have too many hooks.

16. Learn from others in other countries.

Keep up your friendships abroad, or make new friends abroad. The present difficulties here are an element of a general trend. And no country is going to find a solution by itself. Make sure you and your family have passports.

17. Watch out for the paramilitaries.

When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching around with torches and pictures of a Leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-Leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the game is over.

18. Be reflective if you must be armed.

If you carry a weapon in public service, God bless you and keep you. But know that evils of the past involved policemen and soldiers finding themselves, one day, doing irregular things. Be ready to say no. (If you do not know what this means, contact the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and ask about training in professional ethics.)

19. Be as courageous as you can.

If none of us is prepared to die for freedom, then all of us will die in unfreedom.

20. Be a patriot.

The incoming president is not. Set a good example of what America means for the generations to come. They will need it.

[democracyfyi]

Week Two of Senate Confirmation Hearings

Tuesday, January 17

10am: Ryan Zinke (Interior) 5pm: Betsy Devos (Education)

Wednesday, January 18

10am: Nikki Haley (US Ambassador to UN)  10am: Wilbur Ross (Commerce) 10am: Scott Pruitt (EPA) 10am: Tom Price (Health and Human Services)

Thursday, January 19

10am: Rick Perry (Energy) 10am: Steven Mnuchin (Treasury Secretary) 

1.) Find out who your senator is

2.) Call them and say:

(general script for all appointees)

“I’m a concerned citizen from [your state] and I ask Senator [senator’s last name] to please oppose the confirmation hearing of Trump Cabinet nominees this week, particularly Betsy Devos, Scott Pruitt and Tom Price.”

Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education

Prominent donor to anti-gay marriage lobby that promotes gay conversion therapy

Will likely weaken anti-discrimination policies in schools

No public education experience and training

Wants to gut and privatize public schools with a voucher program

would push to further erode the bargaining power of the teachers unions

Pro-charter schools run by for-profit organizations and no regulation

Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency

currently suing EPA

wants to dismantle EPA

climate change skeptic

regularly conspired with the fossil fuel industry to attack EPA protections

pro-fracking

Tom Price, Secretary of Health and Human Services

Wants to repeal Obamacare and voted several times to repeal obamacare

Voted against extending Children’s Health Insurance Program

Wants to privatize Medicare; turn Medicare into voucher program

His healthcare policy to replace ACA would once again allow insurers to deny those with pre-existing conditions

health consultant Seema Verma altered Medicaid in Indiana to make even the poorest residents pay part of their care

Anti-LGBT, wants to legalize discrimination on LGBT people on the grounds of religion

Keep reading

[democracyfyi]

I am so proud that Congressman John Lewis is my representative.

[democracyfyi]

SIGNAL BOOST THIS, PLEASE

[democracyfyi]

Happy New Year! The Fight For America officially begins! 

“Never stop believing that fighting for what is right is worth it.” - Hillary Clinton

JANUARY Important Dates:

Jan 3 (Mon) - 115th Congress convenes

Jan 6 (Fri) - Congress to accept/reject Electoral College Vote

Jan 10 (Tues) - VIRGINIA SPECIAL ELECTIONS

Virginia State Senate District 9

Virginia State Senate District 22

Virginia House of Delegates District 85

Phone Bank for Democratic Candidates for Virginia Special Elections on Jan 10 

Jan 14 (Sat) - We shall not be moved March

Jan 15 (Sun) - Senate Democrats Day of Action to Save HealthCare

Jan 16 (Mon) - Martin Luther King Day of Service (SIGN UP)

Jan 20 (Fri) - Inauguration Day Protest at Freedom Plaza; #NotMyPresident Protest & online 

Jan 21 (Sat) - Women’s March

Jan 31 (Tues) - ALABAMA SPECIAL ELECTIONS

Alabama House of Representatives District 67

2017 - 2018 Elections:

Several States, Districts, Municipalities and Counties are having elections this year, from governorship down to the school boards, especially Virgina, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Find out if there’s an upcoming election you can vote in:

Upcoming 2017 Elections in your District and State 1 | 2

2017 Municipal Elections by State

Is your representative and/or governor up for releection in 2018?

REGISTER TO VOTE

Protect your Voting Rights

Support Tom Perez for DNC Chair

Support Adam Parkhomenko for DNC Vice-Chair

Answer DNC Survey on what direction you want the Party to go

Contact Reps/Agencies on Urgent Issues:

Immigration

CALL on Republican leaders to also give their support to #SaveDACA and let Democratic Senators know you are in support of their efforts to #SaveDACA 

Contact Reps in support of refugees coming into the United States

Contact your mayors and governors to pledge to protect undocumented immigrants and not tear families apart in their cities and states.

Contact your Representatives to speak out against Muslim Registry

Investigate Trump

EMAIL support Elizabeth Warren’s call for an audit of Trump’s finances 

CALL Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Chair of House Oversight Committee

CALL your own Senator to support Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) resolution for Trump Blind Trust

CALL your representative to support House Bill 6340: Presidential Accountability Act 

EMAIL/CALL Agencies 1 2 3

Trump Appointments

Oppose Confirmation of Cabinet Appointees 1

Block Exxon CEO from becoming Secretary of State (PETITION)

Tell Your Senators to Oppose Scott Pruitt’s Nomination to Head the EPA (PETITION)

Healthcare

Save ACA 1 2 3

Volunteer/ Donate:

Sign up for MLK Day of Service

What can I do to help Syria?

Syria’s White Helmets | ICRC | International Rescue Committee

Flint Water Fund

A List of Pro-Women, Pro-Immigrant, Pro-Earth, Anti-Bigotry Organizations That Need Your Support

10 SOCIAL JUSTICE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ROCKED 2016 — AND NEED YOU IN 2017

Charities and Organizations to Avoid

How to help when you don’t have any money to give

Things you can do to help aside from calling or making donations

Websites to bookmark:

Find Govt Officials at all levels - https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

The latest on Political Activism - http://www.tellallyourfriends.org/

Track Bills in Congress - https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/

“We’re His Problem Now” Calling Sheet (scripts, contact info, when & who to call)

Resources:

Fight for America - Four year action plan 

The Resistance Tools and Guidelines

Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda

A Yale history professor’s powerful, 20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency

Trump Syllabus 2.0

How to support the Black Lives Matter movement as a white ally

Immigrants: Know Your Rights

Find Your Rep

Contact Elected Officials from County to Federal levels

Contact info for U.S. Senators

Contact info for U.S. Representatives

Find out your representative’s contact info

Find your Representative by zip code

Ballotpedia: 2016 election results by state

How to call Reps

Calling your reps for people who hate the phone

How to call your reps if you have social anxiety

Advice on contacting your reps from a former Congressional staffer

Call the Halls: Contacting Your Representatives the Smart Way

How to call your member of Congress

Wondering what a call to Congress actually sounds like?

Sharon Wong helps phone-averse folks call their elected officials

Kelsey explains what happens when you call a Congressperson

How to contact Administrative Agencies

How to call your Congressional Representative

How Best To Harass Your Local Civil Servant

Tips on how to effectively contact elected officials

[democracyfyi]

Fight for America: Summary of Political Activism Action Items (11/9-11/20)

Issues:

Respond to Paul Ryan’s Obamacare survey

Send Paul Ryan Letters to inform him of ongoing post-election hate crimes

Demand your representatives to retain ACA’s pre-existing condition insurance coverage requirement

run-off Senate election on Dec 10th in Louisiana -help Foster Campbell win

Get ready for 2018 - Register to Vote

Trump Admin:

#StopBannon - Create as much noise to force Trump to rescind Steve Bannon’s appointment as his Chief Strategist, same with his other confirmed appointees so far: Jeff Sessions (Atty. Gen), Reince Priebus (Chief of Staff), Mike Flynn (NSA), Mike Pompeo (CIA)

Track Trump’s Cabinet

Respond to Trump’s First 100 Days Action Plan Survey

Call Congress:

Call Oversight Committee to audit the vote and to investigate Trump family corruption and conflict of interest

Call Mitch McConnell - let him know where you stand on a whole lists of issues: immigration, racism, climate change, national security, healthcare, trump corruption and nepotism

Call Paul Ryan -  let him know where you stand on a whole lists of issues:  immigration, climate change, national security, healthcare, trump corruption and nepotism

contact officials on challenging the Electoral College

Online Petitions/Volunteer/Donate:

Civil Rights Organizations to Support

7 Things You Can Do to Help Planned Parenthood and the Communities We Serve

10 Productive Things Clinton Supporters Can Do With Their Trump-fueled Anxieties

Support NARAL

John Oliver: Keep reminding yourself - this is not normal (includes lists of organizations to support)

Sign Petition to protect Roe V Wade

Resources/Training:

How to contact Administrative Agencies

How to call your Congressional Representative

How Best To Harass Your Local Civil Servant

Listen to podcasts by minority voices to make sense of the present

Tips on how to effectively contact elected officials

Find out your representative’s contact info

Is your representative and/or governor up for releection in 2018?

Fight for America - Four year action plan

If you haven’t had the chance to do some of the action items, you can still do so! If you already have, make the follow up phone calls! You can also send them letters.

GOP wants Congress to be on break by Dec. 9. They want to pass the Congressional Review Act by then to overturn Obama’s regulations in his last 60 days, like the overtime protection program, or anything he might do to minimize Trump admin ability to gut his policies. More specifically, they want to use CRA to get rid of the filibuster, so they can do anything they want without Democratic obstruction. 

The time to act is now!

[democracyfyi]

ok tumblr, you seem interested in political activism, so we’re going to have a little lesson in administrative law and how you can force the Trump administration to listen to you for the next four years. 

To condense a semester-long law school course into a blog post: Congress delegates significant quasi-legislative power to administrative agencies, e.g. the EPA. These agencies have a great deal of power to shape your everyday life, but our system of civics education is so abysmal that, chances are, you have no idea what kind of power you hold to shape their decisions.

Administrative agencies have to navigate a maze of laws and procedures in order for the rules they make to be effective and binding. These laws and procedures mean that there plenty of ways the agencies can mess up, and when they do, opponents of a rule can bring legal challenges and invalidate it. (This is frustrating for agencies, but delightfully fun for antagonistic nerds like me.)

When an agency wants to create an informal rule, it has to go through a process called “notice and comment.” Basically, the agency announces a proposed rule and permits the public to submit comments on it. The public includes you. 

When the comment period is over, the agency has to take the comments into account and justify its ultimate decision on the proposed rule in light of the comments. If you submit substantive, meaningful comments that challenge the policy or evidence behind a rule, and the agency fails to acknowledge them and explain its reasoning for its final decision, the rule can be challenged and invalidated.

So how do you comment on proposed rules? This lovely little site called regulations.gov. Really, it’s that easy! You can search for topics that interest you and submit your comments online. And you can do it anonymously! 

So please, check the website frequently and comment when it matters to you, so that your voice can be heard and Trump’s agencies have to acknowledge your perspective. If they fail to take your comments into consideration and disregard the American people, they’ll have to answer for it in court.

Keep calling your representatives and senators about Bannon and the policy issues that concern you, but remember this little lesson in admin law when he takes office.