Welcome to this week’s Call to Action, where you can find some of the latest events and news to help you take part in the issues that matter to our communities. 

If you have a call to action that you would like us to highlight, email us at: [email protected] 

 

ACTION ITEMS

For Thursday, December 8, 2022

  • Thank you!

As we transition from campaign actions back to our regular action item, our first action item is to say, thank you!,  to all of you for canvassing, writing postcards, textbanking and phonebanking with campaigns and—most importantly of all— VOTING!

We did not #FliptheIEBlue … not yet.  But we are building the infrastructure (that is, the connections of volunteers) and engagement so that in 2024 we will not be starting from scratch, but building on the foundations of 2022.

So, take a deep breath, enjoy the holidays, but keep your eyes peeled. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Beginning in 2023, we are going to have to take action to motivate our fellow IE Democrats to believe their votes COUNT and that we need their votes moving forward.

We can only do this, if we do this together.

 

  • And another thank you!

This is to everyone who came out in person to join the Redlands City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, to say, No hate in our city! to the members of the hate groups from outside Redlands who previously targeted our school board and have extended this to attack our City Council.

There is no place in Redlands for homophobia, transphobia, or any other hate actions (including in words and via social media) against any Redlands resident who does not happen to fit within a hate group’s definition of who is “acceptable” and “welcome.”

We have not seen the last of these people. This is a national movement, emboldened by the open embrace of white supremacist and Nazi beliefs by the current leader of the Republican party with very weak pushback (if any) by elected Republican legislators.

Thank you for taking a stand on the 6th. It mattered and it continues to matter.

 

  • Actions for the Lame Duck Session

There are not many days left in the lame-duck session of the House and the Senate. Once the new Congress is sworn in, in January 2023, the House will flip to a narrow Republican majority and the Senate will remain a slim Democrat majority.

1.     The House has passed several bills which are sitting in the Senate. The Senate has finally (and with bipartisan support!) passed mandated federal recognition for same-sex marriage. It went back to the House, which should be voting approval and sending the bill to President Biden’s desk for signature this week. Send a note of appreciation.

Sample Text:

Dear Senator Feinstein/Padilla / Representative Aguilar:

Thank you for ensuring that mandated federal recognition for same-sex marriage has happened in this lame duck session. In the current anti-LGBTQIA+ climate, and with the recent ruling by SCOTUS, this is a vital action that truly needed to have been done.

Once again, thank you.

NAME

ZIP

Senator Dianne Feinstein, 11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 915, Los Angeles, CA 90025 

Senator Alex Padilla, 11845 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 1250W, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Representative Pete Aguilar, https://aguilar.house.gov/email-me/ or 685 E. Carnegie Drive, Suite 100, San Bernardino, CA 92408 - (909) 890-4445

 

2.     The US Supreme Court has no enforceable ethical oversight structure, along with no term limits. Please write to Senators Feinstein and Padilla to ask that they push to bring a bill to the floor and pass it ASAP.

Sample Text:

Dear Senator Feinstein/Padilla:

The Supreme Court’s lack of ethical oversight has become an egregious issue which is undermining their claim to be the top of our judiciary. SCOTUS now answers to no one and there appears to be no self-monitoring or self-regulation taking place (beyond statements of: trust us, we’re the Supreme Court).

 We need to pass legislation (such as that on offer by Senator Elizabeth Warren) as soon as possible establishing separate ethical oversight of SCOTUS into the law.  No branch of government was ever meant to remain free from any check by any other branch. We need to restore that intended balance to further protect our democracy.

 NAME

ZIP

3.     We also need to write to our Senators and President Biden that action must be taken to stop this right wing, ideological activist court which is intent on rolling back decades of settled law. SCOTUS has become a threat to our democracy and civil rights and its ethical issues combined with its plainly political bent are rendering it increasingly illegitimate in the eyes of many. The response so far by these conservative justices has been to reject any criticism of their behavior or actions.

Sample Text:

Dear President Biden / Senator Feinstein/Padilla:

 The current U.S. Supreme Court’s right wing, clearly political advocacy and the repeated overturning of decades of established legal precedent have turned it into an activist arm of our nation’s three branches of government which is continuing to erode civil rights, civil liberties, and even the core belief of one-person, one-vote.

 The number of Justices has not been a constant over the years. At the very least, we should have one Justice per appellate court, meaning, 13 Justices. Or we should examine other options such as term limits and other models, along with robust ethical oversight, as the current system of self-regulation is clearly not working.

 We need to move swiftly on this. We will be losing Democratic control of the House in 2023, and the option to do a number of things legislatively will be curtailed. Therefore, the Senate and the President need to act to reform SCOTUS as soon as possible.

 NAME

ZIP

Here is how you send an electronic message to President Biden:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Here is how you leave a message on the White House switchboard for President Biden:

1-202-456-1111

STICK A PIN IN THIS

 

 

 

  • The January 6th Committee will be releasing its report. Check C-SPAN or PBS for recordings of past hearings, as well as the J6 site itself: https://january6th.house.gov/ The Committee will be publishing its report soon, perhaps even before Christmas.