Happy Tuesday, Activists!
You may know that Speaker Pelosi is still in the midst of a showdown with a group of 10 Centrist Democrats (Rep. Stephanie Murphy joined the group yesterday). The press has made the assumption that these 10 Democrats are rebelling because the Biden agenda is politically perilous in their districts. This is hard to believe, because Biden won 9 of these 10 districts — in some cases by large margins. Nonetheless, it has real consequences for the Biden agenda in the coming weeks. If you want to geek out on one political operative’s view of why this move by the 10 centrists is performative and not substantive go here.
So we need to call our Representatives and urge them to put pressure on these 10 recalcitrant centrists and to show publicly they stand with Pelosi on her plan to get the Biden agenda passed.
CALLS TO ACTION See more details on all of these at this link.
Make calls now on recovery. Progressives have led the House Democratic Caucus in insisting that we need a bold recovery package before we pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework. Nancy Pelosi agrees with their strategy, but again, some House moderates are threatening our success. Here’s a longer explainer.
Call your Representative and urge them to put pressure on these 10 recalcitrant centrists and to show publicly they stand strongly with Pelosi on her plan to get the Biden agenda passed.
Rep. Evans – D.C. office 202-225-4001; Phila. office 215-276-0340; email link
Rep. Boyle – D.C. office 202-225-6111; Phila. office 215-335-3355; email link
The For the People Act (S.1) – Keep up the pressure!
Call Senator Casey and ask him to turn up the heat on Coons, Carper, Manchin, and Sinema. Tell him you’re proud that he’s taking a stand against the filibuster and for our democracy and ask him to pressure his colleagues to do the same.
AND ask him to make a public statement calling on President Biden to get in the fight.
Phila. office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324; email link
Read more details in our last newsletter at this link.
California Recall – Help Our California Friends
Californians helped us win Pennsylvania for Biden last year when they wrote thousands upon thousands of postcards with us. Now it’s time for us to help California keep a Democrat in the governor’s seat. On September 14, California is holding its recall election on Gov. Gavin Newsom. It’s a critically important election for the whole country, not just California. You can read all about why it’s so important at this link and at this link.
So let’s make some calls to help keep Newsom in office.
Here’s how this insane system works: The ballot has only two questions: (#1) Do you want to recall Newsom – Yes or No. (#2) Who do you want to replace him?
If Newsom gets less than 50% of the “NO” vote on Question #1, he loses his seat. Then, whoever wins on Question #2 becomes governor. There are 46 candidates on the ballot for Question #2!! It is literally the case that Newsom could get 49% of the vote and still lose to a Republican who got 20% of the vote.
And the leading contender is Larry Elder, a conspiracy-loving, Big Lie-believing MAGA guy. This has ramifications for the whole country as covered in this article.
Pick from the list of phone banking opportunities at this link.
Saturday’s D.C. March On for Voting Rights
On the 58th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, democracy advocates across the country are joining the historic March On for Voting Rights. On Saturday, activists will march in cities across the country and demand that Congress act by passing federal voting rights legislation. Click here to learn more and join the marches online or in person.
You can ride on the organized bus (not organized by Indivisible Philadelphia) –
Bus leaving Progress Plaza – 1501 North Broad Street
Departure time 6:00 am
Return time 6:00 pm
Cost of the bus ride – $45.00 per person
For additional information contact: (215) 769-1513
Click this link for other transportation options and a map of the march.
Truth Brigade
Want to fight disinformation? Indivisible has an easy but effective way to do it. Join the Truth Brigade! You’ll send out pre-formatted tweets or Facebook posts that effectively defuse the disinformation appearing on social media. Find out all about it at this link and at this link.
Redistricting Update
Is the redistricting process confusing? Yes. Yes it is.
Here are some resources for you to get involved and make your views heard.
From Fair Districts PA – Commissions, Committees and Confusion, oh my!
General information about the hearings at this link.
You can see the schedule for upcoming hearings at this link, and watch video of the two past hearings at this link.
Help for Afghan Refugees
Experts from organizations focused on resettlement and Middle East issues have provided specific calls to action: Win Without War offers strong progressive foreign policy messaging and analysis about the next steps for Afghanistan. The Women's Refugee Commission is doing important work to support evacuating targeted Afghans, and IRAP, HIAS and LIRS (among many other worthy orgs) support people once they're evacuated. And you can always look for the helpers – the people and organizations in our community who support refugees from any and all conflicts.
To donate closer to home go to https://hiaspa.org and make a donation to help the Pennsylvania effort to resettle Afghan refugees.
Voter Registration
Registering voters is critically important to turning out the vote so let’s get it done! For the farmers markets below we are in partnership with the Food Trust, which operates farmers markets around the city. The Germantown Farmers Market is now operated by Philly Forest. Sign up for a two-hour shift!
This Thursday, August 26, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Philly AIDS Thrift –
Saturday, September 4, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm – All shifts are filled!
Saturday, September 11, 10 am to 2:00 pm
Saturday, September 18, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Saturday, September 25, Noon to 4:00 pm
35 Doors Project
Join this project to be a Neighborhood Leader interacting with voters at 35 addresses in your neighborhood. It involves going to doors a few times per year and using the information we’ll provide about upcoming elections. You’ll be ready to be the local election expert after our training session and the information and handouts we’ll provide. We’ll also provide the addresses in coordination with the Neighborhood Leader’s input, plus door hangers, election information – everything you’ll need!
If you want more info or to sign up email us at this link!
Postcards
You can see all the details on this project at this link. We are writing postcards to persuade infrequent voters to get out and vote next year to secure Democratic victories for the open U.S. Senate seat and the open PA Governor’s seat.
Plus, this week – Cards & Cocktails!
When: Thursday, August , 6:30-8:30 pm (NOTE NEW TIME)
Where: On Zoom
Here’s how it works –
We will distribute the postcards to you or you can pick them up at a Center City location. The hand-written script is only two sentences and you’ll also write the address. Please order your postcards in multiples of 50.
Here’s how to sign up –
1. Email us at this link to tell us how many postcards you want.
2. Purchase your 36-cent postcard stamps online at this link or at your local post office.
3. Donate $7.00 per set of 50 postcards at this link.
Good news that flew below the radar last week
ICYMI, last week the Biden Administration made a big change to how it operates under a law that allows student loan forgiveness for those who are fully and permanently disabled. Previously, the borrower had to apply for the forgiveness and many did not know they were entitled to this benefit or weren’t able to fill out the paperwork. Now, under the changes the administration just made, the debt forgiveness is automatic! The effect is to help over 320,000 people and forgives $5.8 billion in student debt!
Voting Matters. Elections Have Consequences!
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