Last week, we had a very important meeting with the staff of Speaker Pelosi. As the leader of the House Democratic majority, Speaker Pelosi wields power over the tactics used by MoC’s across the nation to resist the Trump administration and to protect progressive values.
Over the past years, we have urged the Speaker to lead the Democrats in using the Power of the Purse to resist the Trump agenda. Congress has power to allocate funding towards the functions of government, and we believe Democrats should use that power as leverage against the Trump regime. Since we currently have a majority in only one chamber of one branch of government, there are few options for Democrats to limit Trump’s lawlessness—but the Power of the Purse is one. In 2017 and late 2018, Speaker Pelosi led the Democrats to successfully block some of Trump’s worst excesses through the budget process.
Now, the budget is back on the menu. President Trump has already submitted a disastrous proposal that cuts many important social and medical programs. We joined Speaker Pelosi’s staff to discuss our views on the budget, the power of the purse, and our other demands for oversight and progressive change.
We emphasized to Speaker Pelosi’s staff that the climate crisis should be treated as the true national security emergency that it is. Our demands were that the House budget zeroes out the annual $50 billion year subsidies for the fossil fuel industry and eliminates $50 billion allocated for a new generation of nuclear weapons. We argued for repurposing those funds to address the climate emergency by supporting research, subsidizing non-polluting energy sources, mitigating the effects of climate destruction on human habitat, providing economic support to those most affected by the impact of climate change, and funding the measures needed to combat it.
We also raised our concerns about the politicization of the DoJ in recent weeks and explored how the Power of the Purse might be used on Trump and Barr. Speaker Pelosi’s staff pointed out that there are many tactical problems in attempting to restrain Barr, especially considering that Senate Republicans are unlikely to support such an attempt. Additionally, the staff mentioned that appropriations bills restraining Barr are unlikely to be passed before the elections in November and so may be moot. Finally they said that such tactics may need to be assessed in terms of possible precedents they might set regarding Civil Service protections.
The staff also shared with us Speaker Pelosi’s remarks on Trump’s budget and their talking points on the Speaker’s perspective on the issues. You can read the complete report here.
Do you have any thoughts on Speaker Pelosi’s responses to our concerns?
Call Speaker Pelosi, thank her for meeting with the ISF delegation, and tell her staff what you think.
We are committed to holding our representatives accountable and to working with them to build a more just and progressive nation. So we are also happy to cooperate with Speaker Pelosi’s staff on asks that they made of us. Here is what they’d like ISF members to do:
- Pay attention to the upcoming March 10th hearing regarding Russia’s continuing interference in the 2020 Election and to the hearing with Barr coming up at the end of March.
- Spread the word about and help with the Census effort in 2020.
Ramping up our electoral work
Super Tuesday is almost here (did you cast your ballot yet?), and we’re ramping up our operations to boot out Trump’s disgusting corruption machine and to strengthen the progressive agenda.
Last week, our Pints & Postcards event had an incredible influx of people, and we ran out of postcards to write! 200 postcards and a whole bunch of letters were written. All that printing and postage costs a lot of money, and when we have big crowds it puts a bit of a strain on our volunteers’ wallets. (But don’t let that stop you from showing up!)
Please donate to our postcard writing efforts—we are spending that money only on paper, postage, and envelopes!
We’re excited to see you at our next Pints & Postcards—please come, support the wonderful Standard Deviant Brewery, and enjoy some civics n’ beers!
This week, we’re asking you to check out Indivisible National’s Payback Project. This is an effort to flip the states of Republican Senators who turned a blind eye to Trump’s high crimes and misdemeanors. You can get started by signing up online for a text-banking training session – or you can come to an Indivisible SF meeting and get hands-on training from one of our members, who helped build the texting program.
And with GOTV in full swing, check out the phone banks happening this week with our friends at Democracy Action SF. See them in the Upcoming Events section or on our website.
Finally, thank you to all who came to our General Assembly! It was so great to see new faces and reconnect with some of our longtime friends. Join us for our upcoming General Meeting and Pints & Postcards!
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Next Indivisible SF General Meeting: Sunday, Mar 1, 1pm–3pm at the Women’s Building. This event is for both first-timers and regular attendees! RSVP on Eventbrite.
Sunday, Mar 1, 4pm–6pm: Pints & Postcards at Standard Deviant! After our general meeting, we’ll write letters to voters in swing states to help them register to vote in key elections. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Thursday, Feb 27, 11:15am–1pm: Meeting with the staff of Senator Harris at her SF office. Pre-meet at 11:15am at the Illy Caffé at Montgomery and Bush before walking to her office for the noon meeting. We'll bring an agenda of thanks, asks, and questions. Sign-up to attend is now closed, but keep an eye out for our report on the meeting!
Saturday, Feb 29, 1–5pm: Hayes Valley Phone Bank with DemAction SF. Join us for a phone bank in Hayes Valley for Super Tuesday primary races and for the effort to keep our nearby swing districts CA-10 and CA-21, blue. RSVP here.
Saturday, Feb 29, 6–8pm: Who the hell am I voting for? A voter guide event with Courage California at Manny’s. Join the Courage California team and friends for a sneak peek at the comprehensive 2020 Courage California Voter Guide, which covers every district in the state and every candidate on the ballot—including judges! Nothing like this statewide voter guide has ever been done before in California, but this approach has proven to boost turnout by as much as 4% in key races based on data from Washington, Oregon, and Virginia. Tickets cost $20. RSVP on Eventbrite.
Sunday, Mar 1, 1–5pm: Hayes Valley Phone Bank with DemAction SF. Join us for a phone bank in Hayes Valley for Super Tuesday primary races and for the effort to keep our nearby swing districts CA-10 and CA-21, blue. RSVP here.
Monday, Mar 2, 1:30–4pm: West Portal GOTV Phone Bank & Postcards with DemAction SF. Join us for a phone bank and postcards for Super Tuesday primary races to increase participation from underrepresented voters. RSVP here.
Tuesday, Mar 3, 1–4pm: GOTV Phone Bank in the Dogpatch with DemAction SF. Join us for a phone bank for Super Tuesday primary races and for the effort to keep our nearby swing districts, CA-10 and CA-21, blue. RSVP here.
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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