Hello Ventura Indivisians,
Some important changes for this month:
1) We will not be having a postcard party this month – take a rest and we’ll see everyone in the New Year!
In related news, we are looking for a new space to hold our postcard parties. Please email us at indivisibleventura@gmail.com with ideas about a restaurant/event space that might host us.
2) Due to the holidays, our Citizenship Fair will be moved up one week to December 19. Same time, same place, same channel!
After your calls to action – more events and resources!
Your Calls to Action:
Senate: Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act Now! (more info)
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Senator [___] for supporting S.1975 – Women’s Health Protection Act and to ask that [he/she] drop the filibuster to protect the 65 million women who will immediately lose access to complete reproductive health care if Roe v. Wade falls. I also want the senator to demand that the Senate Judiciary Committee look into the omission of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to recuse herself from Dobbs v. Jackson on the basis of her own 1998 law review article where she stated that she’d be unable to rule objectively on death penalty or abortion cases due to her religious convictions and fellow Catholic Kavanaugh’s apparent rescinding of his commitment to precedent from his confirmation hearing.
- Senator Feinstein: email, DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430
- and Senator Padilla: email, DC (202) 224-3553, LA (310) 231-4494, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 981-9369, SD (619) 239-3884
Send a message from Ventura County on gun violence (more info)
Action #1: Share this important message from Susan Schmidt-Orfanos
“Most of you don’t know me. Our son Telemachus Orfanos, was murdered in the Borderline mass shooting on Nov. 7, 2018. Our lives were and continue to be shattered. The pain, the anguish and the rage are often uncontrollable. My family continues to work with a number of gun safety organizations to find ways to finally end gun violence. So that no more families experience this horror.
We need your help. On December 2, devastated by the school shooting in Michigan, Manuel Oliver, who lost his son Joaquin at the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida flew to Washington D.C. to demand a meeting with President Biden in order to urge him to prioritize gun violence reduction.
Manny is not leaving. Then-candidate Biden promised all gun violence survivors he would use all his powers to mitigate gun violence. We are all still waiting.”
Contact the White House: 202-456-1111 || 202-456-1414.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code][state] to ask President Biden to meet with Manuel Oliver, whose son, Joaquin, was killed in the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland Florida. He’s flown to Washington D.C. to personally ask the president to pledge that he’ll announce a plan of action for reducing gun violence at his State of the Union address.
Contact your senators: Senator Feinstein: (202) 224-3841 AND Senator Padilla: (202) 224-3553
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Senator [___] to urge President Biden to meet with Manuel Oliver, whose son, Joaquin, was killed in the 2018 mass shooting in Parkland Florida. He’s flown to Washington D.C. to personally ask the president to pledge that he’ll announce a plan of action for reducing gun violence at his State of the Union address.
Furthermore, in the names of those who’ve died from gun violence, including those from the Borderline mass shooting in our county, I ask that you expedite the passage of S.529, the “Background Check Expansion Act,” which has already been passed by the House, as well as S.591, the “Background Check Completion Act, and S.281 – the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act.
Show your support on social media: Please show your support at #meetwithmanny. Make this finally enough death. Enough injuries. End gun violence. Our families and yours deserve a country that is safe to live in. Thank you all
Trump left behind a ticking health care bomb that will allow Wall Street to destroy Medicare. Most legislators have no idea this is coming (more info)
During the final days of the Trump Administration, while our president was handing out get-out-of-jail-free cards to Medicare fraudsters, officials at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) launched a dangerous and insidious pilot program known as Medicare Direct Contracting. Click here to see how insidious this plan is.
In May of 2021, four members of the U.S. House of Representatives (Reps. Mark Pocan, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Lloyd Doggett, and Katie Porter) sent a letter to Dept. of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra expressing concern about Medicare Direct Contracting, and calling for an immediate freeze of the program.
Action #1: Sign a petition to HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra and ask him to exercise his power to end this dangerous program.
Thousands of doctors and other advocates have already signed a petition demanding that Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra halt the DC program, provide real oversight of CMS’ Innovation Center, and protect Medicare for future generations.
Sign the petition here: https://pnhp.salsalabs.org/dcepetitionseptember2021/index.html
Action #2: Call your representative and ask them to immediately sign on to a letter they received from Rep. Pramila Jayapal and to also support H.R.3. – the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.
A delegation of PNHP physicians (Physicians for a National Healthcare Program) were shocked to learn that most legislators had little or no knowledge about the DC program. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (lead sponsor of H.R. 1976, the Medicare for All Act) just sent a sign-on letter to every member of Congress. This letter is addressed to HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra, asking him to immediately end the Medicare Direct Contracting pilot program.
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code) and as a person [who is on Medicare now/who hopes a robust program is still there when I need it], I want Representative [___] to sign on to a letter that their office just received from Rep. Pramila Jayapal. This letter is addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, asking him to immediately end the Medicare Direct Contracting program, which opens the door to venture capitalists and other for-profit entities to privatize Medicare, destroying a program that Americans from both sides of the aisle have depended on for generations. Please tell Representative [___] that I also expect [him/her] to support and push through H.R.3 – Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which would protect Medicare enrollee from excessive costs and unfair prices.
(Who’s already a cosponsor here. Brownley has NOT signed, Carbajal has.)
- Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): email, DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779
- or Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): email. DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348
- Share with family and friends – find their Rep:https://whoismyrepresentative.com
Action #3: Change starts at home – In the meantime, we need to move forward with AB1400, Medicare for All in California.
AB1400 MUST pass out of the Health Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and the floor by the end of January, or the bill DIES for yet another legislative session! There are many ways in which we can all help health care for all become a reality in California!
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember [___] to know that AB1400 is important for my own health and that of my family and I will be watching for [his/her] vote.
- State Assemblymember Steve Bennett: (CA-37): email, SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700
- or State Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin: (CA-44): email, SAC (916) 319-2044, CAM (805) 482-1904, OX (805) 483-4488
- Share with family and friends – find their Rep::findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.
Events (if you are going and interested in carpooling, email us and we’ll do our best to hook you up):
EVENTS ARE HAPPENING CRAZY FAST!!! – Our most up-to-date “calendar” has temporarily been moved to HERE.
Ongoing – Ventura County Covid-19 Testing and Vaccine Updates – California Vaccine Sites and Availability
Dec 9 – Online: PASS The Freedom to Vote Act: Arizona Phone Bank!
Dec 9 – Online: NAACP – COVID Know More Virtual Town Hall
Dec 9 – Online: Join the Stop Disinformation Team for Social Media Monitoring (more dates available)
Dec 10 – Online: Post Cards to High Potential Native Voters (more dates available)
Dec 11 – Online: END CITIZEN’S UNITED – Joan’s Democracy Cafe Phone Banks for voting rights (more dates available)
Dec 11 – OXNARD: Independent Artists Concert Series Fundraiser
Dec 12 – Online: Winning Justice: Ending Christian Dominancy. How will ending Christian Dominance advance Racial Justice, Indigenous Solidarity, Reproductive Rights and Climate Justice?
Dec 14 – Online: Summit for Democracy: Building a Diverse Coalition for Democracy
Dec 14 – Online: END CITIZEN’S UNITED – Joan’s Democracy Cafe Phone Banks for voting rights (more dates available)
Dec 14 – Online: Join the Stop Disinformation Team for Social Media Monitoring (more dates available)
Dec 15 – Online: The Health Effects of Oil and Gas Extraction: From Science to Policy
Dec 15 – Online: Mindfulness as a Support for Healing Conversations and Actions Toward Social Justice and Equity
Dec 16 – Online: Patch Through to Manchin: Freedom To Vote Act Phone Bank & Training
Dec 16 – CANCELLED THIS MONTH – WE’LL START UP AGAIN IN THE NEW YEAR Third Thursday Postcard and Pizza Party (you can stay and write if you are vaxxed, masked, and comfortable – or you may pick up a packet, stamps, and a slice or two to write from home) Can’t make it? Help fund this event
Dec 17 – Online: Post Cards to High Potential Native Voters (more dates available)
Dec 18 – VENTURA: Memorial for Our Homeless Neighbors, Plaza Park, 651 E. Thompson Blvd, 3:30 PM
Dec 19 (New Date Due to Holidays) – Free IMMIGRATION LEGAL AID Fair – Volunteers Needed! Every last Sunday of the month we assist residents, alongside immigration lawyers, in filling out paperwork for citizenship, DACA, and green card renewals. Can’t make it? Help fund this event
Dec 19 – OXNARD: Memorial for Our Homeless Neighbors, Plaza Park, 500 S C Street, 3:30 PM
Dec 19 – Online: Identifying Potential Slavery-Related Records by Thinking About Slavery as a Business
Dec 21 – Online: END CITIZEN’S UNITED – Joan’s Democracy Cafe Phone Banks for voting rights (more dates available)
Dec 28 – Online: END CITIZEN’S UNITED – Joan’s Democracy Cafe Phone Banks for voting rights (more dates available)
Jan 6 – Online: Patch Through to Manchin: Freedom To Vote Act Phone Bank & Training
Jan 9 – Online: Adopt-a-Traitor Phone Bank – CA-25! Let’s Flip CA-25 Blue!
You can now DONATE to the cause!
Indivisible Ventura is completely volunteer run and your donation will support the direct costs of organizing in Ventura — things like meeting room rental, posters, art supplies, stamps, transportation, and more! Now that we’ve defeated Trump and taken back the Senate, we have to act urgently to save our democracy and enact other desperately needed reforms. Getting it done depends on all of us. Let’s stand together, indivisible. Indivisible Ventura is one of 6,000 grassroots Indivisible groups across the country.
Contribute today to Indivisible Ventura. Together, we will win.
Resources:
Indivisible Ventura: Tips for Calling Congress For People who hate to Call Anybody, Let Alone Congress, or If You’re New to This Calling Thing…
Resource: Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers …and other people who care about facts
Indivisible Ventura: How to make your calls faster
Indivisible Ventura: Why do I need to call? My representatives are all Democrats
Indivisible Ventura: Are You a Policy Wonk? Here’s How to Track a Bill
Floor Procedure In The U.S. House Of Representatives
What Good Does it do to Write Letters to the Editor?: With contact information, podcast tutorial, and guidelines
Trump left behind a ticking health care bomb that will allow Wall Street to destroy Medicare. Most legislators have no idea this is coming.
Senate: Pass the Women’s Health Protection Act Now!
