Actions

Members of Congress

Updated Oct 15, 2018

🔷 We had an amazing turnout for our Postcards, Textbanking and Pizza event yesterday at the Redmond Library. ____ postcards were completed for Beto O’Rourke and Adrienne Bell of Texas as well as Second Chances Amendment 4 in Florida.  _____ people were trained on textbanking.

🔷 We are gauging interest in an Election Night Viewing Party in Bellevue. If you are interested, please complete the Election Night Viewing Party form. Thanks.

Here are your 3 actions for this week. Be sure to check out the Calendar section at the bottom for other opportunities to engage.

✊ Action 1 – [DHS] Stop Trump’s Cruel Attacks Against Immigrant Families

From Protecting Immigrant Families

The Trump administration will make it much more difficult for immigrants to come to the United States or remain in the country if they use or are likely to use housing vouchers, food subsidies, and other “non-cash” forms of public assistance, under a new proposal announced in September by the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. immigration laws have long contained provisions limiting foreigners who are likely to be dependent on financial aid and therefore a “public charge.” But the proposed changes amount to a broad expansion of the government’s ability to deny visas or residency to immigrants if they or members of their household benefit from subsidies like Medicaid programs, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or Section 8 housing vouchers.

It’s time to join together across racial differences to fight back against the Trump administration’s proposed “public charge” regulation.  The regulation would make immigrant families afraid to seek access to healthy food, health care, and housing. This fear would extend far beyond people who may be subject to the “public charge” test. It would harm entire communities as well as the infrastructure that serves all of us. The proposal could prevent immigrants from using the programs their tax dollars help support, preventing access to healthy, nutritious food and secure housing. Because one in four American children have at least one immigrant parent, this could impact millions. It would make us a sicker, poorer, and hungrier nation.

Use this form and comment on the Public Charge regulation. Be sure to modify the script and put in YOUR reasons for opposing the regulation.

OR

Go directly to the Federal Register “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds” and click on Submit a Formal Comment.

✊ Action 2 – [FRIENDS] Spread the word – Check your Voter Registration

Reports of more and more voters being purged from state registration rolls are causing alarm. Please encourage friends and family to do a quick check of their registration. They can text ‘vote’ to 50409 and Resistbot will walk them through questions to determine if their registration is active.

☎ Sample Script:

Dear [NAME]

With the important midterm election coming up, I checked to make sure my voter registration was still active. I encourage you to do the same. Use the handy phone-based tool Resistbot by texting ‘vote’ to 50409. Or, use your computer by going to www.vote.org to check that your registration is ready to go for the election. Don’t let your vote be suppressed!

Thanks for being a voter.

✊ Action 3 – [FRIENDS] Help Others Understand the Importance of Voting in a Blue State

Do you know a millennial? Niece, nephew, neighbor? A startling statistic reveals that only 16% of voters aged 18-26 voted in the 2014 mid-term. The reasons are many, from believing their vote doesn’t matter, to believing they don’t have enough knowledge to make an informed decision.  You can probably remember a time in your life when you felt that way. What would have motivated you to change your beliefs?

We can do our part to give millennials concrete reasons to vote. Here in Washington State, especially in safe blue districts, taking the time to vote for a candidate you don’t have time to research who is going to win regardless may feel like a waste of time. But what about initiatives? Initiatives are state-wide, so every single vote is important.  

☎ Sample Script:

Dear [NAME],

It was so great to hear about [latest cool thing they did]. You may know I’ve been busy working to Get Out The Vote in Washington State for the midterm election Nov 6th. Along with important candidate races, I’m rooting for three important initiatives that are on the ballot. I-940 concerns police accountability, I-1631 concerns the environment, and I-1639 concerns gun safety. There’s a fourth one that I’m definitely not rooting for: I-1634, brought to us by soft-drink companies trying to limit local government’s ability to tax sodas. I’m voting YES to the first three and NO to the soda initiative.

Are you planning on voting? A New York Times article said that in 2014 only 16% of people your age voted in that mid-term election. 16%!  I remember when I was your age, I was so engaged in my career I didn’t feel I had the time to dig into the positions of each candidate so I could make an informed decision. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to vote. If you feel that way, I hope you’ll find 20 minutes to read through some of The Progressive Voters Guide to learn more about what and who is on the ballot.

Even if you don’t usually pay attention to your mail, keep an eye out for your ballot, which is being mailed Oct 17th. Last summer Washington switched to postage-paid ballots. Simply fill out your ballot, sign, and put it in the mail. I didn’t know until recently that my voting record (which elections I vote in, not HOW I vote) is a matter of public record. Once the state has received your ballot, phone calls from campaigns “chasing ballots” will stop.

I’ll just leave you with this video, from my generation to yours. Be a voter!

[Some nice closing sentences]

Calendar of In-Person Events:

• Tue, Oct 16, 1:45 – 1:30 Resist Trump Tuesday – Rally and Senate Staff meeting – Seattle
• Wed, Oct 17, 7 – 9 pm – Postcards to Voters Oct 17 – Kirkland – waitlist available
• Sat, Oct 20, 10am – 2 pm FlipThe8th Canvass – Issaquah – email Canvass@indivisibleEastside.com to connect with us.
• Mon, Oct 22 7-9 pm MyVoteMyVoice – Seattle
• Thu, Oct 25, 4:15 – 5:30pm – Alphabet Resistance – Bellevue – email Alphabet@indivisibleeastside.com to participate
• Sat, Oct 27, noon – 4 pm FlipThe8th Canvass – Snoqualmie – email Canvass@indivisibleEastside.com to connect with us.
• Mon, Oct 29, 10 am, Rally for the Trial of the Century (for climate action) – Seattle

… and More:

• Join Code Blue Washington on Facebook then check out their GOTV opportunities
• Volunteer with YesOn1631 – Do Something About Climate Change
• Volunteer with YesOn1639 – Fight the NRA
• Voter Registration opportunities with Indivisible CD8/Fuse
• Donate to Indivisible Eastside on our Website
• Check out the Indivisible Eastside logowear store at www.cafepress.com/IndivisibleEastside. NOTE Sizes run SMALL so order up 2 sizes.
• Read synopsis of Tuesday meeting with the Senators’ Staffers
• Sign up for the Take Action Network to organize and track your Activism.
• Check out the Stranger’s Resistance Calendar – a great resource!
• Forward this email to a friend!

Crowd Sourced Actions:

Do you have an idea for future Weekly Actions? (We could use all the help we can get folks!) Email group-action@indivisibleeastside.com  to submit your idea. Your input is greatly appreciated, and please understand that depending on current events, we can’t guarantee yours will be picked. To submit an idea, please:

Submit proposals for the Weekly Actions by Thursday midnight for an action the following week!

• Include the action to be taken (who to contact – HOUSE, SENATE, LEGISLATURE, AGENCY),
• Include details about the bill (e.g. bill numbers) or regulation, when the action will no longer be effective
• Include how it Resists the Trump agenda, or forwards progressive candidates
• Link to news article

Previous Actions