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March 3, 2017
There is a difference between acting presidential and being the President. At a joint session of Congress, Donald Trump read from the teleprompter, followed his speech, and performed a role for 50 minutes. But we, the American people, have learned not to trust the words that Trump says, not after we've seen him compulsively lie over and over again. We measure a President by their decisions and actions, not just their words. Trump’s reckless decisions say much more about the type of President he wants to be than any speech he will ever give. We judge Trump not by comparing him to the low bar he sets for himself, but rather by seeing how small and petty he is in comparison to the great Americans who previously held that office. We know who Trump is, we know he won’t change, we know the American people need to stand up together. The state of the resistance is strong, but only if we work together.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "No one knew health care was so complicated,” Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
RESISTANCE SPOTLIGHT: SISTER DISTRICT
RISE's Executive Director got to spend time this past week with Rita Bosworth, the amazing founder of Sister District, a nonprofit that launched after the 2016 elections. Rita was celebrating this week as Sister District won their first race in Delaware last Saturday for Stephanie Hansen. Together with Flippable, they raised $145,000 for Hansen, half of her original campaign budget. Volunteers who canvassed for Hansen came all the way from New York, and helped Hansen win by 17 points. The candidate in 2014 won by less than 2 points. Sister District is in the process of identifying the remainder of our 2017 races, which will largely be state races in VA, NJ, and WA. Volunteers will be assigned as soon as the Democratic candidate are announced. Rita told us, “Our mission is to increase the number of state legislatures held by the Democrats and flip Congress by 2020. We have 16,000 volunteers with an average of 100 new volunteers signing up every day. We tap into the volunteer and economic resources of people in safe blue districts and provide an infrastructure to channel those resources to competitive races across the country that need a boost.” Learn more.
A TIME TO STRIKE
This week, RISE received information from leaders of the Women’s March providing details for how anyone and everyone can get involved in the Wednesday March 8 General Strike. Here is what they shared with us:
- Women take the day off, from paid or unpaid labor;
- Avoid shopping for one day (with exceptions for small, women- and minority-owned businesses);
- Wear RED in solidarity with A Day Without A Woman
- We ask that our male allies lean into care giving on March 8th, and use the day to call out decision-makers at the workplace and in the government to extend equal pay and adequate paid family leave for women.
More info: www.womensmarch.com/womensday/
WANT TO RUN FOR OFFICE?
One in every 600 Americans is an elected official. That’s insane! There are over 509,000 elected positions in this country. If you are part of the resistance and ready to create progressive change, please consider running for something.
Democracy for America is holding a night class on running for office on March 9 from 8-9pm EST. Register here.
In a similar vein, there is a webinar organized by IGNITE on “Women in Politics: Barriers and Opportunities” on Monday March 6 at730pm EST.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE RESISTANCE?
Watch the founders of RISE Stronger,Women’s March, Black Lives Matter, Sister District and other key groups speak on a panel at last week’s DNC Conference in Atlanta.
Sign up to take part in MoveOn.org's Ready to Resist: Sustaining the Resistance call, Sunday, March 12 at 8pm EST.
Just because Congressional recess is over, doesn't mean it is time to stop showing up. Check the People's Calendar for events in your zip code. We have also launched an auto-population feature. Log in and set up search parameters by event type, zip code, and mileage radius. Have our system pull events and place them in your personalized calendar. Even better, you can set it to sync to your google calendar. Resistance made easy!
SIGN UP TO HOST A HOUSE PARTY
Swing Left Gets Moving. Thousands of us are getting ready to party this weekend with the launch of Swing Left’s house party kick off. There will be an incredible 563 different house parties across the country. Find a house party near you!
LET'S MOVE THE NEEDLE ON A RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
As long as it is necessary, this will be a standing section of the United States of Resistance weekly digest. The pace and complexity of this scandal only continues to grow.
A U.S. Senator once said, "Because of our grave concern for integrity in government we ask for a special counsel... When a high public official is accused of serious wrongdoing and there is a sufficient factual predicate to investigate, it is imperative the investigation be thorough, with dispatch and without partisanship." That Senator was Jeff Sessions. We couldn’t agree more.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions had two conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States during the presidential campaign season last year. When asked at his confirmation hearing, what he would do if "anyone affiliated" with the campaign had been in contact with the Russian government, Sessions answered that he had not had communication with the Russians.
While Sessions has recused himself, we are continuing to ask that you sign this MoveOn petition and amplify the message on social media with Thunderclap. Let's show Congress the full weight of our unified voice and demand that Sessions must go, that a thorough independent investigation must take place, and that we are not backing down until we get to the bottom of the Russian interference with the 2016 election, as well as uncover any and all ties with Russia and the current administration.
In case you are unsure what is happening, Vox put together this visual chart to help us keep track of this complex web of scandals.
Looking for a weekend read? Here is a fantastic story from the New Yorker, "Trump, Putin, and the New Cold War."
THE MEASURE OF A PRESIDENT
RISE's Statement on Trump's Address to a Joint Session of Congress.
"There is a difference between acting presidential and being the President. Last night, Donald Trump read from the tele-prompter, followed his speech, and performed a role for 50 minutes. But we, the American people, have learned not to trust the words that Trump says, not after we've seen him compulsively lie over and over again. We judge Trump not on the words he reads from a teleprompter, but by the reckless decisions he has made since taking office, decisions that say much more about the type of President he wants to be than any speech he will ever give. We judge Trump not by comparing him to the low bar he sets for himself, but rather by seeing how small he is in comparison to the great Americans who previously held that office and showed us that it is the actions and decisions of a President, not just their words, that define their successes and failures. The Trump of today is the same as the Trump of yesterday, and we know exactly what to expect from the Trump of tomorrow. That is why we must continue to hold him, and all of Congress accountable, and not get swept up in applauding a President for simply speaking as a President should."
Washington Post fact check of the speech.
WHAT TO WATCH
Watch this Mexican lawmaker climb the border wall to send a message to Trump. He says, "It's completely unnecessary -- and it's absurd -- to build a wall that costs $15 billion...Look, in these 8 meters, more or less 8, 10 meters, how simple it is to climb."
The next animated Affordable Care Act PSA is out! This is the second animated PSA that RISE helped develop with our amazing partners Our Next 4 Years. It is a real pleasure to work with such talented artists!
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED THIS WEEK?
Cabinet Nominees Confirmed
Ben Carson and Rick Perry were confirmed earlier this week to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Energy, respectively.
The Environment Will Take a Hit under Trump's Budget
According to reports from the Washington Post, The White House has proposed deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget that would reduce the agency’s staff by one-fifth in the first year and eliminate dozens of programs.
House Democrats Force Vote on Trump Tax Returns.
Earlier this week, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. filed a privileged resolution calling on Trump to release his tax returns. The House voted along party lines to kill the resolution.
White House Reverses Obama Directive to Stop Using Private Prisons.
The Bureau of Prisons has 12 privately run facilities, holding 21,366 inmates. They are run by three private-prison operators: Management and Training Corporation, the GEO Group and CoreCivic, which used to be known as Corrections Corporation of America. The private-prison industry generates billions of dollars of revenue each year and gives significant amounts to politicians.
THE IMPACT OF TRUMP'S POLICIES ARE REAL
A father was detained earlier today by ICE after dropping his daughter at school. ICE said in a statement that Avelica was arrested because he has "multiple prior criminal convictions, including a DUI in 2009, as well an outstanding order of removal dating back to 2014." Avelica, a father of four, had lived in the United States for more than 25 years, according to a statement from Emi MacLean, an attorney for National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The statement said Avelica was picked up one block from his daughter's school.
DREAMer, Daniela Vargas, 22, was arrested Wednesday after sharing her family's story -- including her father and brother's arrest last month by ICE officers -- during a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi.
Your health care costs will spike under the leaked Republican Affordable Care Act replacement plan. For individuals, Vox estimates that the Republican proposal would increase the average total cost for an individual covered by the ACA by $1,744 per year. Individuals age 55-64 would be hit particularly hard, with costs increasing by $6,089 annually. For families, the average estimated cost increase is $4,098 with that increase running from $881 per year for families headed by someone age 35-44 to $9,633 for families headed by someone age 55-64. Just take a look at the numbers from Vox.
POLICY FOCUS: INFRASTRUCTURE & URBAN POLICY
Care about issues around infrastructure and urban policy but unsure how to engage? Look no further. Need more information? Read RISE's Infrastructure & Urban Policy Weekly Summary. (From a RISE Stronger policy working group.) Want more policy updates on the environment, trade, and more? We have teams putting out weekly content, including actions to take and questions for your members of Congress. All are available right here.
What to read: More chatter about the infamous "Wall." The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency announced an upcoming solicitation for the design and construction of prototype wall structures for the border. Konstantin Kakaes, a fellow with the New America Foundation and the former Mexico City bureau chief for The Economist, estimates that the cost of building Trump's wall will be nearly $38 billion higher than current estimates.
In a speech to the National Governors Association during their annual winter meeting at the White House, President Trump indicated that his Administration will detail their infrastructure plan on Tuesday. Many expect an array of tax credits for private developers backing new transportation projects.
What to do: Call your representative and tell them that you do not support H.R. 482 and the divestment of funds from HUD policies that are intended to further fair housing in America. What does this mean? {From the Atlantic City Lab} "The legislation seeks to nullify the 2015 Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which gives concrete guidance to entities receiving federal funds on how to proactively dismantle historical patterns of housing segregation—a requirement of the Fair Housing Act of 1968. A similarly titled bill on the House side, spearheaded by Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, goes further: It asks to scrap the accompanying mapping tools that helps local communities identify patterns of racial segregation."
What questions to ask your MOC:
- Will a new tool be created to allow cities and regions to evaluate fair housing in their communities?
- Will you support maintaining the U.S. Treasury's New Markets Tax Credit program?
- How does Congress plan to address the billions of dollars in cost to build President Trump's wall at the U.S. Mexico border?
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