We were beyond saddened last week when a Las Vegas man fired on concertgoers through his hotel window, killing 58 and injuring almost 500 others. The man used a device called a “bump stock,” which makes a semiautomatic weapon fire more rapidly.

Unbelievably, John Cornyn and the NRA are blaming the Obama Administration for the legality of bump stocks. It is true that, during the Obama administration, the ATF determined that they could not regulate bump stocks.

It’s also true that if John Cornyn and other senators had voted for the post-Sandy Hook assault weapons ban, bump stocks would be illegal now. (Watch this video of John Cornyn learning about the risk of bump stocks in 2013.)

Pick up the phone and call John Cornyn, and let him know what you think. Call Ted Cruz and your House representative and demand common-sense gun regulations now.

The Senate is in recess this week. Watch for Cornyn and Cruz to announce last-minute public appearances — and be ready to mobilize.

Calls to make this week

Call John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, and your GOP House Member and Demand a Bipartisan Process to Improve the Affordable Care Act

The fight to save the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is far from over. The Trump administration engages in new efforts to sabotage the ACA daily and the possibility of another repeal attempt is always looming.

In fact, we anticipate an executive order this week designed to create instability in the individual market (i.e. it will help Obamacare implode).

Simultaneously, the Trump budget gives tax breaks to millionaires by slashing Medicaid. And Congress STILL hasn’t reauthorized CHIP, a key health insurance program for kids across the country, including Texas.

There are two health care calls to make this week:

Ask Congress to stop the administration’s game-playing and sabotage, and instead to act on bipartisan fixes to stabilize the individual markets by permanently funding cost-sharing reductions that help people who purchase ACA Marketplace plans afford their out-of-pocket costs.
Demand a clean 5-year CHIP reauthorization, with no strings to Puerto Rico aid, or cuts to Medicare or Medicaid. Congress is playing games with the health care of 400,000 Texas kids.

Call John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, and Your House Representative and Tell Them: Texans Do Not Want a Border Wall. Pass the DREAM Act Now.

We still don’t have a DREAM Act, which means millions of Americans continue to live in fear of deportation to a country they have never known. This could have huge repercussions on our state. To give just one example: If DACA expires, 2,000 Texas Teachers could lose their jobs.

TXLEGE Indivisible has a great writeup (and a script!) about what real Texans think of border walls, and what you can do to save DACA.

Call John Cornyn and Ted Cruz and Tell Them to Withdraw Support for Jeff Mateer

Jeff Mateer, a top lawyer in the Texas Attorney General’s office, was nominated last month for a lifelong appointment to the federal court. Mateer, a proponent of gay “conversion therapy,” has described transgender children as part of “Satan’s plan” and warned that same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy and bestiality. Both Ted Cruz and John Cornyn recommended Mateer to the bench, but Cornyn may be having second thoughts. Both Senators need to hear that homophobic and anti-trans bigotry has no place in our court system.

Call John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, and your GOP House Member to Protest Trump’s Narrowing of the Contraception Coverage Mandate

MEN: You need to make this call too.

Last Friday, effective immediately, Trump rolled back the requirement created by the Affordable Care Act that required employers and insurers to include birth control in their health insurance plans. The ACLU and other groups are suing, but your electeds absolutely deserve an earful about this.

Trump’s actions could have immediate economic damage: the rules he attacked helped women save $1.4B in 2013 on birth control pills alone. Before the ACA was implemented, more than one-third of women reported that they had trouble paying for their birth control.

Any elected who doesn’t speak out against this latest attack on women’s health is complicit in Trump’s decision to let bosses dictate their employees’ personal lives and health care decisions.

A government that fails to support basic healthcare needs for women — this was also a week in which the House voted to advance a 20-week abortion ban — while simultaneously failing to pay women equally or to support paid maternity leave, is a government declaring war on half its population. We need to get loud on this issue.

Call Rep. Lloyd Doggett’s Office and THANK Him for Demanding Trump’s Taxes…Again

For the fifth time, Rep. Lloyd Doggett has filed an amendment demanding Trump’s tax returns. Call his office at 512-916-5921 and say thanks. And it’s worth watching the whole video of Doggett introducing his amendment on the House floor.

Events

Oct. 9-12 (various times)

Screening of Dolores, the documentary about legendary labor and immigrant rights activist Dolores Huerta, at Austin Film Society.

Monday, October 9

6 to 9 p.m. 1st Official Indigenous People’s Day Austin celebration
6 to 7:30 p.m. Black Lives Matter Austin October General Body Meeting, 1705 E 11th St
7 to 8 p.m. ATX 25 East Weekly Meeting, Memorial United Methodist Church, 6100 Berkman Dr.

Tuesday, October 10

Last day to register for November 2017 elections

Wednesday, October 11

9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Meet & Confer Police Contract Negotiations Public Meeting I (see the upcoming events section for subsequent meetings). Activist DeRay McKesson has called the Austin Police union contract “one of the most inequitable in the country.” SHOW UP and SIT IN as the City of Austin and the Austin Police Association near the end of contract negotiations. Austin Police Monitor’s Office, 1520 Rutherford Ln. View Austin Justice Coalition’s Facebook Event to learn more. Please spread information about the unjust contract on as many platforms and in as many organizations as possible.

Thursday, October 12

6:30 to 9 p.m. 32nd Annual Dia de la Raza Celebration, Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St.

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