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The United States of Resistance is a weekly industry newsletter sharing the top news from across the resistance. Please share with others! Sign up | Archived Newsletters
100 DAYS OF PEOPLE POWER
The story isn't 100 days of Trump. The story is 100 days of unprecedented people power. 100 Days of all of you working tirelessly to let your members of Congress know that you are watching. 100 days of making your voices heard. Together we have stopped some terrible actions, slowed down the process on others, and focused a spotlight on the administration's actions.
Tomorrow, on Trump's 100th day in office, let's take a moment to reflect on why we are here, what we are 'resisting', and how we are going to continue forward on a path that makes true change in our country. We have a long road ahead of us - both the day-to-day, as well as the 2018 mid-term elections, the 2020 presidential election, and beyond.
At RISE, we are committed to supporting all of you, as well as the hundreds of other organizations that are doing this work. We will continue to help build a strategic movement of politically engaged communities that demand a responsible and accountable government which serves the interests of the people.
In order to do this, we will:
- Expand our suite of digital tools, including the People's Calendar, a one-stop shop to find all town halls, protests, rallies, and other political events across the country;
- Build out robust networks of policy experts and state chapters that can connect these tools and resources to thousands of local organizations in communities across the country;
- Develop a comprehensive map of all national and local groups that have emerged and identify strengths, fill gaps, reduce redundancies, and foster collaboration.
Our motto since day 1 has been 'No Ego, No Turf' - four words that flow through all of our work, and that we will continue to echo in order to help build a movement that is unified, strategic, and effective. Thank you for your continued support of our work, and for all of the work each of you are doing to demand accountability and transparency at the local, state and national level. It is not going unnoticed.
-The Team at RISE Stronger
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AVERTED. FOR TODAY
Hours before the government was set to shut down, Congress passed a one week stop gap spending measure. The measure continues spending at current FY17 amounts through next Friday, May 5. Continue to demand that your members of Congress work across party lines to pass a "clean" spending bill that keeps the government funded at or near its current levels. Find your Congressional members at WhoIsMyRepresentative.com. For a script and more background information, click here.
BAD POLICIES CONTINUE TO FALTER - HEALTHCARE VOTE DELAYED. AGAIN.
This week, Republicans released the MacArthur amendment, an addition to TrumpCare 1.0. This amendment makes a bad bill, even worse.
The new amendment allows states to exempt themselves from the Affordable Care Act's requirement that those with pre-existing conditions be covered at the same cost as those who are healthy. Translation: under this amendment, states could again charge sick people more for coverage than healthy people.
According to Vox and Republican Congressman Tom MacArthur's staff, members of Congress and their staff would get the guarantee of keeping these Obamacare regulations. In other words, if New Jersey waived out of the ACA pre-existing condition ban, thereby saying they are going to charge sick people more than healthy people, a constituent in New Jersey with a pre-existing condition would be out of luck...but congressman MacArthur and his staff would not be since they would still get the Obamacare protection.
Keep in mind this is just one of many issues with TrumpCare. According to Politico, the vote will be delayed until at least next week. Thanks to the great work of partners like Families USA and Center for American Progress, we've got the latest list of representatives to target. Make sure to share these graphics, call your reps, and demand they protect our care by voting NO.
- Hold these two representatives accountable;
- These 14 representatives opposed TrumpCare 1.0, but have yet to stand up against TrumpCare 2.0;
- These representatives {here, here, and here} supported or remained silent on TrumpCare 1.0 and we need them to do better on TrumpCare 2.0.
HELP SAVE THE EPA - TWO OPPORTUNITIES THIS MONDAY!
Last week, we put out a call urging you to pledge your support to help save the EPA by submitting a comment or attending a public hearing
Hundreds of RISE members have taken the pledge, and tens of thousands of comments have been submitted to date. We urge you to continue pledging your support, submitting comments, and attending the public hearings/call in opportunities to voice your concern. There are two opportunities this Monday, May 1 at 9am and 1pm focused on chemical safety. For more information on these meetings, click here.
We know there are questions around what to comment on and how to frame your concerns. This week's Energy & Environment digest has a lot of great information to get you started.
In addition, if you know what subject you care about, and want to make sure to reference the EPA's corresponding regulation, you can look in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Many environmental regulations are under Title 40 of the CFR. If there is an issue you care about, we recommend going to the CFR at ECFR.gov and searching key words (or simply googling 'Subject + EPA Regulation').
Lastly, NRDC has supplied an example statement, much of which is useful for this and may be modified to fit your particular areas of concern.
"I support common-sense regulations and safeguards that protect our environment, our climate, public health and our nation's clean energy progress. I object to your administration's wholesale effort to arbitrarily find regulations that can be "repealed, replaced, or modified. It's not true that environmental safeguards harm our nation and our economy. To the contrary, they protect our health, conserve resources and save lives - benefits that far exceed the cost of compliance, year after year. For example, the Clean Air Act alone has saved millions of lives and more than $30 trillion in avoided healthcare costs over the course of its implementation. The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act protect drinking water for hundreds of millions of Americans. And the Clean Power Plan is our most important tool for avoiding a climate change catastrophe and is projected to provide billions more in economic benefits than it will cost to implement. Please stop this senseless campaign to turn back the clock on 50 years of environmental gains. The fate of future generations depends on it."
PROPPING UP CORPORATIONS AND THE WEALTHY...AT WHAT COST?
Trump released his tax plan, and guess what it does:
- Cuts the corporate tax rate by more than half, from 35 to 15 percent;
- Cuts the top individual tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent;
- Eliminates a 3.8 percent surtax on investment income for rich people initiated under Obama;
- Abolishes the estate and gift tax;
- Exempts most foreign profits from U.S. taxes (currently, the U.S. taxes corporate income no matter where it's earned).
Conservative analysis say there is not enough information to assess this tax plan's impact on the economy, while the nonpartisan Center for a Responsible Federal Budget says that the plan will likely cost anywhere from $3 trillion to $7 trillion over ten years. {sources: Vox & Bloomberg)
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MARCH FOR CLIMATE, JOBS & JUSTICE - THIS WEEKEND!
On Trump's 100th day, people in DC and all over the country will join together in the March for Climate. Make sure to find a march in your community to help advance solutions to the climate crisis
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GET INVOLVED
Interested in getting more involved with RISE Stronger? We have plenty of volunteer roles to fill, including policy working groups that could use your expertise, as well as specific marketing, development, and partnership opportunities to help propel RISE and the Resistance forward. Email [email protected], subject line: "Get Involved" and let us know what you're interested in.
INVITE A FRIEND
Share this email with a friend. Forward it or send them to our newsletter archives. Have them sign up to receive weekly digests at www.risestronger.org/sign_up.
Did we miss something? Know of a story or development worth sharing with the Resistance? Send us a note at [email protected].
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