IEB NEWSLETTER 5/14/20

Doorbells and sleigh bells and doctors with scruples, these are a few of our favorite things … as for un-favorites, folks who want things their way and want everybody else to pay. Straight out of the Bully-in-Chief’s playbook, Tesla’s Elon Musk called Alameda County’s public health officer names on Twitter and threatened to take his marbles to another state if he wasn’t allowed to reopen. He got his way and is telling workers that sure, if they don’t feel safe coming back, they can choose to stay home on unpaid leave, but oh yeah, forget that unemployment check. Also, never mind that normal suckers gotta pay the rent, Starbucks is demanding rent concessions from its landlords for at least the next year. This is why we need a strong recovery package that protects workers and small businesses. Hey, that’s what this week’s action calls for — go to it!

Pandemic relief: It’s about survival

Deadline: NOW – Lindsey Graham says the new House pandemic relief bill will be “dead in the water” when it gets to the Senate. Mitch McConnell says “this is not a time for aspirational legislation.” We say, horsepuckey! This bill isn’t pie in the sky: it provides for things Americans have needed and not had for way too long, like $$ for state, local, territorial and tribal governments to pay frontline workers; testing, tracing, and treatment for the virus; worker safety and payroll protection; health coverage, housing assistance, and food security; funding for small businesses; and more. And it still isn’t enough — it doesn’t protect part-time and self-employed workers, for example. But it’s better than the GOP’s priorities, that’s for sure. Time to tell our Members of Congress to tell Mitch to … well. Just tell them we need this bill and we’re counting on them.

What to say:
My name is , my zip code is , and I’m a member of Indivisible East Bay. The pandemic relief bill needs to include what we need to survive. Please fight hard to protect us from losing our jobs, homes, and health care at least until the end of the year. Above all we need widespread testing and tracing so economic reopening won’t put us into an endless loop of infection and suffering. This must all be in the stimulus package.

Indivisible we stand! Please join our sister Indivisible SF’s excellent action urging Congress to convene remotely to provide immediate oversight against the Unmasked-Power-Grabber-in-Chief’s abuses. NOTE: ISF’s action gives contact info for their SF-area representatives, Nancy Pelosi & Jackie Speier — you’ll direct your emails and calls to your East Bay Representatives, names & contact info in our action item just above.

See ya at May 31 AMM!Mark your calendar for the Sunday May 31 All Members Meeting! We’ll gather via our new fave resistance tool, Zoom, for presentations & breakouts. First time using Zoom? We’ll open at 12:30 PM for troubleshooting; the meeting is 1 to 2:30 PM. RSVP here; we’ll email you the Zoom link + our IEB FAQ. Got questions? Ask info@indivisibleeb.org

What We’ve Been Doing

Zooming is the new Resisting! Been wondering how phone & text banking, and writing letters or postcards works while you’re on Zoom? The answer is “surprisingly great!” This is how we’re safely resisting in place, and we urge you to join us! Imagine you’re in a comfy home (your own) chatting with friends (us) and saving democracy (together). Come to our online events with postcarders Alice & Matt, Kristen, Patsy, and Pat; learn how to text bank virtually with Ted; and join Charlotte & Amelia, our virtual phone bank team. See our list of Voter Outreach Events below, and email andrea@indivisibleeb.org with questions!

Your donations to IEB support our actions against the Evil Empire but do not go to candidate-related events.

Activities & Events!

2020 Voter Outreach Events

No in-person events for now. Please fill out this form, we’ll let you know about all of our virtual & remote options. And see our article for a list of great groups we partner with, they’ve got many more! 

Phone &Text Bank/Postcard & Letter:

• Phone Bank to AZ 5/16
• Postcard Hangout w/ Matt & Alice 5/16
• Text Bank to Win in 2020 5/17
• Postcard Hangout w/ Patsy & Fiona 5/18
• Postcard Hangout w/ Pat 5/22
• Phone Bank to AZ 5/23
• Postcard Hangout w/ Kristen 5/26
• Phone Bank to AZ 5/30
• Text Bank to Win in 2020 5/30
• Postcard Hangout w/ Matt & Alice 5/30
• Can you help reach out to Spanish-speaking voters in AZ & beyond? If so, please add your name to our list.
• Want to write postcards from home? Email us for complete instructions, scripts & addresses.