Important Dates:
- February 5 – last day to register to vote in the primary
- Register in person at these tax offices
- February 20 to March 2 – Early voting
- March 6 – Election Day!
Who’s on the Texas primary ballots in 2018? >>
Read how your voices are making a difference! >>
PS: Don’t give in to Trump Fatigue >>
Actions
We still have no legislation to protect Dreamers and the government is about to shut down again
In other words: Just another week in the Trump administration. Here are a couple of angles you can take when calling your reps.
- About 2,000 Texas school teachers have DACA status. Let’s say they teach 30 kids on average (which is probably a low estimate). That’s 60,000 Texas children whose teachers are at risk of deportation. Will politicians like Ted Cruz, who oppose any path to citizenship for Dreamers, be the ones to tell these children? The Statesman profiled some of the DACA teachers in Austin.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that Sens. John McCain and Chris Coons (D-Delaware) plan to introduce a bill that would provide legal status and a path to citizenship to Dreamers and orders a study to determine what border-security measures are needed—with no border-wall funding. There is a nearly identical bill in the House (H.R. 4796), which also has bipartisan support. This kind of narrow legislation, while not a clean Dream Act, is worth keeping an eye on.
Tell Your MoCs to Denounce the Nunes Memo and Protect the Mueller Investigation
The substance of Nunes memo is not even worth debating. Facts don’t seem to matter anymore; instead Trump and most of the GOP are waging a propaganda war to see what they can get Americans to believe. This is dangerous and threatens our Democracy.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett is the lone voice among our Austin-area reps who sees the danger for what it is, cautioning that Trump has taken “another big step in the march to authoritarianism.”
Our other representatives in Congress? Not so much. Here’s the rundown as of Feb. 4:
- Sen. John Cornyn: Calls for ethics investigation of DOJ and FBI.
- Sen. Ted Cruz: No statement
- Rep. Michael McCaul: Supports release of memo
- Rep. Bill Flores: Supports release of memo
- Rep. Lamar Smith: Supports, calls the memo’s implications “devastating to Democracy” (his statement in particular needs to be read in full)
- Rep. Roger Williams: Supports, tweeting “I am glad the memo has been released”
- Rep. John Carter: No statement
When you call your reps, there are three basic asks:
- Denounce the substance-free memo for the justice-obstructing political stunt that it is
- Release the Democratic rebuttal into the public record
- Sponsor legislation (H.R. 3771/S. 1735 or S. 1741) to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller
More on the Nunes memo from Indivisible Project >>
More on protecting Mueller from Indivisible Project >>
Ask your MoC whether we still have co-equal branches of government
Last Monday was the deadline to impose sanctions on Russia for their interference in the 2016 elections. Congress voted nearly unanimously to pass these sanctions, creating a supposedly veto-proof bill. All of our reps voted in favor, yet the Trump administration let the deadline pass with zero consequences.
This is about more than Russian election interference. This is about the co-equal branches of government in our Democracy. Ask your senators and House representatives why they are allowing the executive branch to override Congress.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, once again, seems to be the lone voice in the wilderness, tweeting:
“More interested in holding hands with his pal Putin than holding him accountable, Trump refuses to implement bipartisan sanctions legislation approved overwhelmingly by Congress. His weakness threatens the state of our Union.”
Where are the missing spines of our other representatives?
Thank Rep. Lloyd Doggett for demanding information on ICE raids in Austin
While you’re thanking Rep. Doggett, check out this article on last year’s ICE raids in Austin. It seems that ICE underreported—by a lot—the number of immigrants they rounded up, and Rep. Doggett is on the case.
Events
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Monday, February 5
***Last day to register to vote in the March 6 primaries! Register in person at these tax offices.***
6:30 p.m. Far Northwest Progressives HD-47 Candidate Forum, Serranos at Lakeline (11100 Pecan Park) All are welcome. Come meet the Democratic candidates running to unseat Paul Workman.
7 p.m. Indivisible TX25 East Weekly Meeting, Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Dr.
Tuesday, February 6
Various times: Monthly Deputy Volunteer Registrar Training, Travis County Tax Office – Main, 5501 Airport Blvd. Trainings are at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.
12 p.m. Lunchtime Discussion: How to Build an Autocracy, St. Edward’s University, 3001 South Congress Avenue, Fleck Hall, Room 305. The Center for Ethics and Leadership invites current students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and guests to a lunchtime discussion of How to Build an Autocracy. Recommended reading: David Frum’s essay in the Atlantic by the same name.
3:30 p.m. Speak out against offshore drilling, 5901 N Interstate 35. Organizers will meet for a rally and press conference in the parking lot. If you can’t make it to the rally, you can still go into the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) meeting and tell officials your thoughts.
6:30 p.m. Austin Justice Coalition General Body Meeting, Carver Branch, Austin Public Library, 1161 Angelina St. Meetings are open to the public. Meet and greet starts at 6, meeting starts promptly at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 7
7 p.m. TX25 CAG/West Austin/Eanes joint meeting, Ce-Bar Fire Station, 353 Commons Ford Road.
Saturday, February 10
10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteer Training Opportunity: Workers Defense Project seeks volunteers to support local low-wage workers in and around the Austin community, who have experienced wage theft and other abuses on the job. Learn to assist workers by collecting information for their cases, and helping complete paperwork required to file a legal claim. To RSVP or for more information, please email Leslie at leslie@workersdefense.org or via (512) 289-7634 for more information.
5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Happy Hour for Paid Sick Days: Let’s come together before the City Council votes on Paid Sick Days on Feb 15th! We’ll be writing letters to our council members and preparing for those last days. Look out for updates! We may have some exciting guests joining us!
Sunday, February 11
3:30 p.m. TX17 US Congressional Candidates’ Forum, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Dr. Join us to learn more about & ask questions of the candidates running to represent us in Congress in Texas’ 17th Congressional District. Please bring one or more cans of food to donate for our host location to help our neighbors in need.
Monday, February 12
7 p.m. Indivisible TX25 East Weekly Meeting, Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Dr.
Feb 12th – Feb 17th, various times and location, Black Unity Week
Upcoming:
Thursday, February 15
6 p.m. Final vote and rally for Paid Sick Days!, Austin City Hall, 301 W 2nd St.
Saturday, February 17
7 p.m. “Black Art Matters” Art Show/Fundraiser, Pio Rita 1203 Chicon, Austin, Texas 78702
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