Take Action: According to Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda, tackle one issue at a time. The more trouble it takes you to contact your politicians, the more they pay attention. So when you can manage the time and effort, put your body out there. Face-to-face meeting, town hall or protest march > calling > faxing if you can’t get through on regular phone > writing letters (because they may arrive too late) > personal email > petition or group email.
But we are in this for the long haul, so pace yourselves. Do whatever level you can do. We will be here about once a week with the latest.
To see if your legislator is having a Town Hall meeting: Congress critters theoretically travel home to meet with constituents regularly. Check out the Town Hall Project’s list of Town Hall Meetings so that you can meet them face to face if you wish. Don’t be surprised if they are too chicken to meet everyone.
If your legislators will not have a Town Hall, have one and invite them: Indivisible Guide: Missing Members of Congress Action Plan: Hold a Constituents' Town Hall
To write your letter then fax it for free: FaxZero: Create and send faxes for free to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada (up to five free faxes per day) or GotFreeFax: Send free fax online to the U.S. and Canada (a bit easier to use, but only up to two free faxes per day).
Easy resource to find your politicians’ phone, email, etc: The AARP has an action site, Advocacy - Legislative Action Center - AARP. I know AARP isn’t perfect, but it has a nifty feature for everyone: Look down to the right, where it says “find your state legislators”. Put in your zip code. It returns federal, state AND local politicians, NOT just legislators. If you need more than phone numbers and email addresses, it has clickable links to their web pages,which should have up-to-date contact information including fax numbers, street addresses, appearance schedule, how to schedule appointments, and constituent services.
Personal stories often weigh heavily: BoldProgressives: How We'll Fight Trump's Immoral Budget Cuts - Share Your Story! Links to the survey at PCCC. I checked it out, they ask but don’t require a contribution for you to tell your story, and they’ve only emailed me once. Bold Progressives are still collecting stories. You can also tell your story here in Comments if you’d like.
Please feel free to share and/or reprint this diary in whole or in part with attribution far and wide, other websites or newspapers, I give it freely. Our aim is for millions to take action.
Each week: The week’s cartoon will post after press time at the TeePublic elenacarlena store if you’d like to pick up a shirt, mug, or other items with any cartoon in the series, to help spread the word and support these efforts. If you want it and don’t see it, just Kosmail me to ask!
Literal Hat Tip to Jan4Insight for the moss-green pussycat hat!
Thank you for taking action!
References:
United for Peace and Justice: This Memorial Day, Join Veterans on the March!
Politico: Trump's Budget Plan Lands with a Thud in Middle America
If federal dollars are lost, it's not apparent that states and municipalities could pick up the slack….
Rural America in particular — where Trump got more than 60 percent of the vote — is struggling with high unemployment, slow economic growth and tepid home price appreciation….
Some had manufacturing or mining economies upended by economic shifts. Their tax base has been eroded and their workers don’t have the skills that modern employers want.
“People bought into Trump, particularly in these hardest-hit areas, on the idea that he’s going to create jobs,” said Chris Estes, president of the National Housing Conference. “This is not a budget for them.”
USA Today: Mick Mulvaney Defends Trump Budget to Democrats Calling It Immoral
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told Mulvaney that cuts to food stamps, payments to the disabled, and other programs are "astonishing and frankly immoral."
"This budget starts by taking away health care, then food, then housing, then education, then job opportunities," Jayapal said.
- snip -
Food stamp cuts would drive millions from the program, while a wave of Medicaid cuts — on top of more than $800 billion in the House-passed health care bill — could deny nursing home care to millions of elderly poor people. It would also force some people on Social Security's disability program back into the workforce.
Breaking Pawlitics: Begin Battling the Budget Edition — includes details of the Trump family’s wasteful spending since he has been in office, and what we could buy instead.
Please consider this an open thread. Add links, share stories, discuss!
A couple community lynx:
Kossack ramara in Need - Mold in bathroom walls - Remove mold and restore bathroom I hope you all are aware that household mold can trigger allergies or worse, can be deadly!
The Village Resistance Coffee Shop Thursday 06/01/2017 — If you’re not a Hillary fan, skip down to the comments and their own Lynx. Lots of Kossacks in dire need, if you have some spare change to make their lives easier!
Thenkyew!