Dear Friend,
[ [link removed] ]Business Must Act
Blink. “Did that really just happen?” “Are people now supposed to risk
their lives during a pandemic to stand in crowded lines to vote?”
Last week, voters in Wisconsin had to risk their lives to go out and cast
a ballot in person, which was not okay! [1] The COVID-19 pandemic and the
2020 election make it clear that now more than ever we need to be able to
mail in our ballots. But rather than help make that possible,
horrifyingly, the Trump Administration is refusing to fund the U.S. Postal
Service (USPS) as it too struggles to weather the impacts of the pandemic
-- and the USPS is now in danger of going under right when we need it
most. [ [link removed] ] This is a giant blow to our democracy, businesses, economy, and
communities.
There’s no time to waste! Your voice, power, help, and hope is needed.
[2]*Join us in calling on Congress and the White House to save our
democracy and our health by: Saving the U.S. Postal Service; advancing a
national vote-by-mail option; guaranteeing online/same-day voter
registration; expanding early voting; and providing additional voting
facilities.
We’re in this together, and together we will defend our democracy and
rebuild our communities to be better.
We know President Trump’s failure to protect our postal system and our
ability to vote during a pandemic is part of a broader pattern of massive
failures to address the threat of the coronavirus. Below are just a few
examples from Trump’s long list of failures during this pandemic:
* Shut Down White House Pandemics Office: In 2018, President Trump shut
down the White House pandemics office even though concern was raised
from experts about doing so. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Act Quickly = Lives Lost: Despite warnings from public
health and policy experts in his own administration, as well as
reports from the National Security Council in early January, President
Trump took over six weeks after the first COVID-19 death in the U.S.
to take major action to stem the tide of the pandemic. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Test: The lack of early and current testing has caused, and
is causing, lives to be lost and our economy to be hurt because the
absence of testing allowed COVID-19 to spread like wildfire. [ [link removed] ] To
make matters worse, Trump and Pence repeatedly misinformed the public
that testing was widely available when it was not. [ [link removed] ]
* Medical Supplies Crisis: The Trump administration’s failure to act
quickly to amp up the federal response to get medical supplies like
ventilators and protective gear has caused a deadly delay in getting
sufficient supplies out to healthcare workers and patients. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Delegate to Experts: By first appointing Vice President
Mike Pence to run the White House Coronavirus Task Force, a person who
doesn’t have a history of strong success in public health crises; [ [link removed] ]
and later bringing in his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has no public
health experience, to leadership, [ [link removed] ] President Trump compounded the
impact of his initial delays to take action by refusing to listen to
scientists and public health experts, misleading the public, and
erratically pushing forward policy.
* Weakened Healthcare: Unbelievably, during this crisis the Trump
administration continues a lawsuit to roll back the Affordable Care
Act and has also declined to open up a special healthcare enrollment
period. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Support Essential Workers: Healthcare, grocery, childcare,
delivery, farm, first responders, domestic, and other essential
workers have been putting their lives on the line to save our
communities while Trump has been undermining their value. For
instance, it’s been reported that the Trump administration is working
on policies to reduce farm workers' wages during the pandemic [ [link removed] ];
and the Trump administration also just passed a dangerous rule that
pushes frontline workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 to not
quarantine and keep working until they have symptoms. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Protect Vulnerable Populations, Including People Who Are
Incarcerated: It is impossible to follow CDC COVID-19 guidelines in
prisons, jails, and detention centers. Trump has failed to protect the
most vulnerable including elderly, pregnant, and health-compromised
men, women, and children. [ [link removed] ]
* Misleading the Public: Despite consistent fact checking, President
Trump has misled the public and shared harmful misinformation, as well
as medical half-truths, in his regular briefings. [ [link removed] ]
* Failure to Support Governors: President Trump not only flat out
rejected taking the responsibility that his office holds, saying “I
don't take any responsibility at all” in terms of the pandemic, he’s
also been telling governors to “try getting it for yourselves” in
relation to key medical supplies, like ventilators, that the federal
government normally coordinates. [ [link removed] ]
Why this list? We need to remember Trump's failures so we know exactly who
put our families and economy at risk. The U.S. is currently the country
hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic in no small part because of this
list of failures. [ [link removed] ] This could have been prevented if we had a leader
who put the health and well-being of our families first, instead of petty
politics and denial.
We also need to remember these failures so they aren’t repeated in the
future.
→ Help make sure that a failure to protect our postal service and our
ability to vote in November aren’t on the next list of President Trump’s
failures.
[3]*Join us in calling on Congress and the White House to save our
democracy and our health by: Saving the U.S. Postal Service; advancing a
national vote-by-mail option; guaranteeing online/same-day voter
registration; expanding early voting; and providing additional voting
facilities.
The answer to the question of “Did that really just happen?” is too often
a sad “Yes” these days, but together we can be present and powerful in
this moment as we also work to build a better tomorrow.
→ So please take a moment, after you take action, to share this link on
Twitter, on Facebook, on Instagram, and via email so others can take
action too. Here’s that action link again so you can share it with
others: [4][link removed]
Sending virtual hugs to you all, wishes for good health to you and your
families -- and enormous gratitude for all you are doing to help protect
our communities!
- Kristin, Tina, Monifa, Ruth, Karen, Donna, Elyssa, Gloria, Felicia, and
the entire MomsRising/MamásConPoder Team
[1] [5]The New York Times
[2] [6]The Washington Post
[3] [7]The Washington Post
[4] [8]The New York Times
[5] [9]The New York Times
[6] [10]The New York Times
[7] [11]The New York Times
[8] [12]CNN
[9] [13]The Guardian
[10] [14]Forbes
[11] [15]The Hill
[12] [16]Politico
[13] [ [link removed] ]The Washington Post
[14] [ [link removed] ]CNN
[15] [ [link removed] ]Vox and [ [link removed] ]The New York Times
[16] [ [link removed] ]NPR
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