No tradeoff for debt ceiling, subpoena Thomas, book bans, 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:
- RESIST GOP ATTACKS ON THE POOR Apparently, one of the main sticking points in the debt ceiling negotiations is the Republican insistence that those eligible for food assistance or financial help or health-insurance aid seek work or enroll in an education program–or lose their government assistance; they want, among other things, to raise the maximum age for existing work requirements in poverty programs from 49 to 55 and to limit the ability of states to offer exemptions to this requirement. NPR recently ran a podcast detailing the ways in which private companies have made millions “administering” these work requirement programs at the state level. We must encourage Pres. Biden and our Democratic lawmakers to refuse this effort by the Republicans to tie raising the debt ceiling to further immiserating the poor.
- ASK DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO SUBPOENA CLARENCE THOMASNow that Senator Dianne Feinstein has returned to the Senate, the Democrats have a majority on the Judiciary Committee, and it’s time for them to investigate the continually growing ethics lapses around Justice Thomas’s inappropriate dealings with conservative mega-donor Harlan Crow. Let’s contact the Senate Judiciary Committee at 202-224-7703 and ask that Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) begin the process of issuing a subpoena to Justice Thomas, Chief Justice Roberts, and any other Justice suspect of ethical violations. Those of us living in CA, IL, RI, MN, DE, CT, HI, NJ, GA, and VT have Senators on the Judiciary Committee whom we can contact directly. We can find them here.
- SUPPORT THE FIGHT AGAINST BOOK BANS
The battle against the book banners is heating up in Florida, where PEN America, Penguin Random House, authors, parents and students have banded together to file a federal lawsuit in Escambia County challenging removals and restrictions of books from school libraries on free speech and equal protection grounds. This is a ground-breaking challenge to unlawful censorship. Let’s sign this petition to show our support for the suit and connect with PEN America about future efforts against book bans.
- THE WEALTHY SHOULD PAY THEIR FAIR SHAREMAGA Republicans have introduced legislation that would repeal the estate tax, thereby providing a $1.8 trillion tax giveaway to the top one-tenth of one percent of Americans. In contrast, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Representative Jimmy Gomez have introduced The For the 99.5 Percent Act. It would tax estates worth $3.5 million at 45% and estates worth over $1 billion at 65%, generating up to $1 trillion in additional estate tax revenues. Let’s tell our US Senators to co-sponsor S.1178 and our US Reps to co-sponsor H.R.2676.
- LEARN TO LEAD VOTER REGISTRATION PHONE BANKSWhile voter suppression is in full swing, there is something we still can do to fight against it: register more Democratic voters! Field Team 6, a well-established powerhouse of voter registration, is looking for people to lead their phone banks and have fun while doing it. We can click here to find out more and to sign up for Field Team 6’s Virtual Training for Phone Bank Leaders this Saturday, May 20 from 4-5pm PDT.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- OH: SIGN PETITION TO GET REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS ON THE BALLOTCitizens in Ohio are collecting signatures in hopes to gain enough to get a reproductive rights initiative on the ballot in November 2023 similar to what five other states did in 2022. At the present time they need to get signatures from 5% of citizens in 44 counties, but there is a special election in August that would require 5% in all 88 counties of Ohio. Let’s join Red Wine and Blue and find a place to sign the petition.
CORRECTIONS AND UPDATES
The date in the email version of Rogan’s List was incorrect. The date should have been May 18, not March 18. It was corrected on the Substack site. Thanks to our readers for keeping us honest!