January 10, 2023
No corporate cash, Brazilian insurrection, labor rights, and more!
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:
- TELL OUR REPS TO SWEAR OFF CORPORATE CASH:
While major campaign finance reform remains stalled, there are signs that we’ve made real progress. 73 members of the 118th Congress, almost all of them Democrats, have sworn they will not accept campaign donations from corporate PACS. Let’s keep the momentum going and reach out to our members of Congress through their campaign websites to ask them to take the no-corporate-PAC-money pledge for their next re-election effort.
- BRAZILLIAN INSURRECTION:Outgoing President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed the Brazilian Congress over the weekend in an attack mimicking last year’s January 6th storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters. Bolsonaro, who has refused to participate in a peaceful transfer of power, has sought refuge in Florida of all places, since he “may also face legal risks from remaining in Brazil as his presidential immunity expires when Lula takes office.” https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-bolsonaro-says-no-justification-attempted-terrorist-act-capital-2022-12-30/. Let’s ask our MoC to speak out against his presence in the United States, and that we agree with President Biden that our priority is working closely with incoming, democratically elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
- LABOR RIGHTS: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed a new rule that would ban employers from establishing non-compete clauses. While there will likely be legal challenges over whether the FTC has the power to prohibit such practices, states have already begun passing legislation to either ban or restrict non-compete agreements, and there is a bipartisan bill, S. 2375, in Congress that would limit the use of these clauses. The FTC has compiled a fact sheet detailing the ways in which non-compete clauses harm employees and restrict competition. Let’s read through the fact sheet while we wait for the public comment period to open up, then let’s contact our federal and state representatives and ask them to support legislation to ban non-compete clauses.
- BAR TRUMP FROM RUNNING UNDER 14th AMENDMENT:40 Democratic members of the House of Representatives have introduced legislation to bar Trump from federal office under the provisions of the 14th Amendment, which explicitly states that anyone who has engaged in insurrection is no longer eligible to participate in government. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3777492-house-democrats-introduce-legislation-to-bar-trump-from-office-under-14th-amendment/. With the evidence from the January 6th Committee casting no doubt on Trump’s role in the insurrection, let’s put pressure on our House Reps. to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Even with McCarthy and the right wing in charge, it’s important that we let Congress know we will not accept their inappropriate pandering to the twice-impeached former president.
NEW POSTAGE RATES: On January 22, 2023, postcard stamps will increase from 44 cents to 48 cents, and stamps for letters will increase from 60 cents to 63 cents. As we replenish our supplies to mail letters and postcards to voters in 2023, let’s consider buying Forever stamps now, before prices go up.