Let’s pay attention to hot issues that need our attention. Let’s take actions online and in other ways.
Here are some recent “action alerts” from non-profit organizations I respect and trust. For some of them you can simply add your own name and contact information and click to send. For others, you’ll need to remove my name and contact information before you add your own.
While there are many ways we can organize for issues we care about, these “clictivist” activist opportunities are quick and easy. Topics are listed in random order here with one or more “ACTION ALERT” opportunity listed below each topic heading:
Here are some of the very recent opportunities. I will post other opportunities from time to time.
HEALTH CARE:
Sign the petition urging Congress to take historic steps to expand health care. While I strongly support Universal Single-Payer (“Medicare for All”), some people are urging Congress to AT LEAST improve Obama’s “Affordable Care Act” (ACA) in several important ways. The petition linked below urges these ways to improve the ACA:
- Permanently expand the Obamacare health subsidies for middle class families in the American Rescue Plan that expire next year;
- Extend health coverage for up to 4 million low income families locked out of care in states that rejected Medicaid expansion;
- Expand Medicare to 55-year-olds, which Obama tried to do back in 2009;
- Lower prescription drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies; and
- Improve SSI (Supplemental Security Income) so that marginalized disabled people are no longer forced to subsist on a sub-poverty benefit;
Here is the petition you can sign: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-the-petition-congress-must-take-historic-steps-to-expand-health-care?source=direct_link&referrer=group-consumers-united-for-fairness&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=5f19a042-d0fc-4a3e-a529-54375feb9ee1
CLIMATE:
The climate crisis is one of the VERY FEW MOST SERIOUS EXISTENTIAL CRISES facing the world. But mainstream media — especially TV networks — GROSSLY FAIL TO REPORT ON IT. A new report of TV network coverage of the climate crisis DECLINED TO ONLY 4/10 of 1% in 2020. Sign this petition urging them to report much more about the climate crisis: Tell ABC, CBS and NBC it’s time to put the spotlight on climate change. Sign our petition now.
Reverse Trump’s decision to STOP calculating “the social cost of carbon.” This used to be part of the U.S.’s climate efforts, but Trump prevented it from continuing. Urge the Biden Administration to START AGAIN. The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is defined as “an estimate of the economic damages associated with a small increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, conventionally one metric ton, in a given year.” Developed by the EPA in 2010, this metric has since been used as a tool to help form policies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. It applies to everything from vehicle emissions standards, to mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants, to efficiency standards for household appliances. URGE the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to start calculating the Social Cost of Carbon: Take Action, Sign a Petition | The Hunger Site, a GreaterGood project
Militarism makes the climate crisis much worse! The Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, our statewide coalition Washington Against Nuclear Weapons, the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), other local chapters of the FOR, and many, many, many other organizations have signed on to a letter that the national level of Veterans for Peace (VFP) wrote to John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for the climate. The letter explicitly calls for the U.S. government to recognize that militarism is a major cause of the climate crisis. See VFP’s news release here: https://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2021/04/15/release-veterans-deliver-letter-special-climate-envoy-john-k?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c79b83cf-2005-4d90-bfca-a4c01620b7c1 SIGN THE PETITION TO CLIMATE ENVOY JOHN KERRY HERE: https://veteransforpeace.salsalabs.org/climatekerry/index.html?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c79b83cf-2005-4d90-bfca-a4c01620b7c1
POLICING:
Trump said many racist statements and used his presidential powers to impose racism upon many aspects of American society. Biden was elected partly in order to support racial justice. However — as we know — local police officers are still routinely abusing and killing Black people. This is NOT merely “a few bad apples.” The patterns of police abuse are so long-standing and so common nowadays that our nation needs to thoroughly investigate the problems and generate and implement real solutions. A new movement is arising to urge President Biden and his Department of Justice to really protect the public — and people of all races — by investigating police departments nationwide. SIGN THIS PETITION to call on the Biden DOJ to immediately investigate police departments across the country and demand safety for Black people.
Sign the petition to all U.S. mayors: Defund the police, invest in our communities: https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/petitions/sign-the-petition-to-all-us-mayors-defund-the-police-invest-in-our-communities?detail=emailLL&link_id=15&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-concrete-cowboy-fighting-to-preserve-black-culture-and-history-in-a-white-supremacist-landscape-2&email_referrer=email_1149773___subject_1530479&email_subject=hundreds-gather-to-protest-13-year-olds-killing-following-release-of-body-cam-footage
The ACLU says we must move beyond the verdict that one Minnesota police officer murdered George Floyd — and STOP ALL KINDS OF UNNECESSARY POLICE VIOLENCE — and EXPLORE NEW WAYS TO ACHIEVE PUBLIC SAFETY and reduce police powers, funding, etc. Click to sign the ACLU’s message to the Biden Administration: You can take action on this issue right now by urging the Biden administration to support and issue guidance on common-sense, community-based, and civilian-led solutions nationwide.
The NAACP calls for significant reforms in policing, including an end to “qualified immunity,” which prevents us from holding cruel police officers accountable for their abuses. CLICK AND SIGN THIS: An end to the horrors of police brutality and a criminal justice system that fails to properly hold law enforcement officials accountable is long overdue.
OTHER NATIONS (peace, human rights, economics, environment, etc.:
For several years the U.S. has been ACTIVELY SUPPORTING Saudi Arabia’s GENOCIDE against people in Yemen. International experts say this is currently THE WORLD’S WORST HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS. The U.S. has been arming Saudi Arabia and helping it COMMIT GENOCIDE. Just a few days ago President Biden APPROVED Trump’s sale of highly sophisticated U.S. jet fighter planes to help the United Arab Emirates help Saudi Arabia commit genocide. The U.S. — under BOTH TRUMP AND BIDEN — has been SUPPORTING THE BLOCKADE that prevents Yemen from getting necessary food, medicines, etc. Biden’s Special Envoy to Yemen, Tim Lenderking, testified to Congress a few days ago. SEND HIM AND THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION THIS MESSAGE urging them to START OFFICIALLY OPPOSING Saudi Arabia’s brutal blockade on Yemen. Send an email to: lenderkingta@state.gov
Here’s a sample message you can send:
Dear Mr. Lenderking,
I am extremely concerned about the situation in Yemen, the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. While 24 million people are in need of immediate food and medicine, the blockade is preventing food from reaching thousands of children who will die of famine. As the U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen, I am asking you to condemn the blockade of Yemen and stop Saudi Arabia’s use of the blockade as a brutal negotiating tactic. It is unacceptable that a child dies every 75 seconds in Yemen, while we have more than enough food to provide. We must take famine off the negotiating table and end the war in Yemen.
Oppose this proposal for a provocative new nuclear weapon! Cruise missiles are extremely provocative. They fly low in order to avoid being detected by radar. Worse would be a cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. Putting them on submarines offshore from another nation would be even more provocative. The other nation would have very few minutes to decide whether to retaliate immediately against the U.S. They would feel the pressure to launch their missiles before the U.S.’s nuclear-tipped cruise missile destroys the other nation’s missiles while still in their silos. Years ago, Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles (SLCMs) were proposed, but wise people in the U.S. prevented the plans from moving forward. Then Trump came along and revived plans for SLCMs. WE MUST STOP THAT PLAN before it gets any more funding and before plans are locked into place. Our statewide coalition, Washington Against Nuclear Weapons (WANW, www.wanwcoalition.org) strongly opposes SLCMs. So does our local Olympia Coalition to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Please urge Congress to PREVENT ANY FUNDING or approvals for this incredibly reckless, provocative scheme. SEE BOTH OF THESE DOCUMENTS: DirectLetterSens.Reps.Ban N-SLCM Act 4.17.21 N-SLCM Ban Act Letter to Ask Others to Write Sens.Reps
COURTS:
Trump appointed 200 right-wing extremists to federal courts nationwide. Most of those are young, so they will perpetuate Trumpism for many decades into the future. Trump appointed three right-wing extremists to the U.S. Supreme Court, and George W. Bush had appointed others during his 8 years in office. Now MOST OF THE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WERE APPOINTED BY PRESIDENTS WHO HAD LOST THE POPULAR VOTE. The Supreme court is horribly unbalanced and not representative of the entire nation. Very often they put the Republican Party’s selfish partisan interests ahead of the nation’s well-being. They have trashed our basic constitutional rights and allowed right-wing religious extremists to trample on other people’s rights. They have allowed “big money” and racial bias to corrupt our elections. The list goes on and on! WE MUST RESTORE BALANCE TO THE SUPREME COURT by adding 4 seats to the Supreme Court. Sign the petition to balance the Supreme Court so that it can get back to defending the people!
Several progressive House and Senate members (Mondaire Jones, Ed Markey, Jerry Nadler, and Hank Johnson) introduced a bill to add 4 positions to the Supreme Court. This would immediately reverse right-wing Republicans’ domination of the Court by making it 13 Justices instead of 9. If you agree that we must unpack and restore balance to the Court, add your name to our petition.
HUMAN RIGHTS:
Trump’s cruelty to Muslims was horrible. Biden promised to solve the problems, but Biden is continuing some of Trump’s horrible policies. His remedy is SLOW and BUREAUCRATICALLY CUMBERSOME. CLICK BOTH OF THESE and give the Biden Administration better advice abuot what to do instead of their current policy: Tens of thousands of Diversity Visa recipients as well as Muslim and African families torn apart by Trump’s bans are being asked to re-apply, pay fees, and wait years to be considered again to be with their loved ones.
Biden is continuing Trump’s horrible use of Title 42 to EXPEL from the U.S. people who are seeking asylum in the U.S. When Biden was campaigning for President, he had PROMISED to end this abuse, but now he is continuing this Trumpist abuse. That’s why compassionate Americans like you must demand that President Biden move without delay to reopen U.S. borders to asylum seekers, especially survivors of torture.
Protect our privacy! Prevent “facial recognition technology” from violating our privacy at public events. A big business (LiveNation) is a company that owns the vast majority of event ticketing in the United States. They were researching how to use facial recognition as a ticketing method. Many people organized opposition and stopped them. But the danger has arisen again that greedy surveillance vendors are once again pushing invasive, biased technology that doesn’t even work. There is no reason for these venues and events to use surveillance like facial recognition to gobble up fans’ private data in the name of COVID safety or any other reason. Tell event promoters and ticket companies to put privacy first and to commit to not using facial recognition!
TAXES:
Make big businesses pay their fair share of federal taxes! In December 2017 Trump and congressional Republicans rammed through a regressive tax law that overwhelmingly benefited billionaires and Big Business. It caused horrible damage by slashing revenue that our government needs for funding crucial services that our nation needs. Economists have PROVEN that big, rich businesses got even more rich and NOTHING TRICKLED DOWN. Now President Biden and Congress’s Democrats want to pass an infrastructure plan that our nation needs — AND THEY NEED A WAY TO PAY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE AND JOBS. However, Biden wants to increase business taxes FAR LESS than what we need! Biden wants to bring the corporate tax rate to only 28%, even though it had been 35% before Trump slashed it. I remember when I was a kid — and we had Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson — and great prosperity — and rich people’s tax rate was 91%. CLICK TO TELL PRESIDENT BIDEN
If we’re going to raise funds to pay for infrastructure, then super-profitable corporations should — and can afford to — pay their fair share. After all, Corporate America relies on roads and bridges, electricity grids and water/sewage systems, communications and IT networks, the public education system, fire and police services, the public health system, and other essential infrastructure to do business. Do not settle for a 25% corporate tax rate.
Trump and Congress’s Republicans slashed the IRS’s efforts to audit and collect from rich people and big businesses. On April 13, 2021, Biden’s IRS commissioner Charles Rettig told Congress that the Internal Revenue Service is losing about $1 trillion per year in taxes that are owed but not paid. And the real winners are corporations and the wealthy who get away with the most tax evasion. In the past decade, Republican austerity cuts forced the IRS to make drastic layoffs. Since 2010, the IRS has lost 30 percent of full-time enforcement staff, or 17,000 agents. The most dramatic result is that high-income taxpayers and corporations get audited much less frequently. Because it is cheaper to send out audit letters to regular taxpayers than to go up against the wealthy and their lawyers, the IRS now audits millionaires at close to the same rate as low-income taxpayers who claim the earned income tax credit. As former IRS Commissioners Fred Goldberg and Charles Rossotti wrote recently: “If you live in the Mississippi Delta and your income is $25,000, you are more likely to be audited by the IRS than if you live on New York’s Park Avenue and make millions.” We know that corporations and the wealthy need to pay higher taxes, but we also need to make sure that they are paying the taxes that they already owe. CLICK AND SIGN: Sign and send the petition to members of Congress: We need adequate enforcement at the IRS, so the rich and corporations pay the taxes they currently owe.
