Welcome to the end of 2020, you beautiful bunch...

We begin with excerpts from a message from our CEO:

Dear Countable friends,

Stop. Take a moment. Breathe. You’ve reached the end of 2020. You impacted 2020. You'll tell stories of this year for all the years to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic. Black Lives Matter protests. The impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Murder hornets. The passing of RBG. One of the most contentious presidential elections in modern history. The COVID-19 vaccine. 2020 will be remembered as a flashpoint - and turning point - in American history. 

And I want to thank you for spending this historical year with us.

Truly.

Thank you for your opinions, your questions, your comments, your activism. Thank you for making the effort to stay informed, which is not always easy in our increasingly polarized political environment. Thank you for listening to new perspectives—and for weighing in with the openness and civility our democracy desperately needs. 

And thank you for staying as active as ever as we transitioned from Countable to Causes.

That is why, as we say goodbye to 2020, I needed to thank you for what you've done—and reassure you that Causes will be here in 2021 for all that’s left to do. 

Happy new year—I can’t wait to see what you’ll accomplish in 2021,

—Bart Myers - Publisher & CEO, Causes

Read Bart's full letter here, then tell him how you'd rate 2020:

Larger Stimulus Payments Snagged

An effort to increase the size of economic impact payments to Americans from $600 to $2,000 is snagged in the Senate, as senators face a time crunch caused by the conclusion of the 116th Congress on Saturday night.

After the House voted on Monday to override President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2021, the Senate began considering the measure on Tuesday and if the effort succeeds, it would be the first successful override of a Trump veto. The NDAA is a measure that’s been enacted annually for 59 consecutive years to authorize defense policy and spending levels.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted to schedule the Senate’s override vote for Wednesday, but Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) objected and denied unanimous consent, which put the override vote on a track that will require the chamber to overcome a series of time-consuming procedural hurdles before it can occur. 

President Trump has called for Congress to increase the size of economic impact payments and urged lawmakers to not only approve larger stimulus checks but also reform liability protections for social media platforms under Section 230 and investigate voter fraud.

Should the Senate vote to increase the size of stimulus payments?

Hawley Golightly

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) on Wednesday became the first senator to announce that they will object to the Electoral College’s certification of the presidential election results during the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021. 

Hawley explained why he is joining the last-ditch effort to thwart the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in a statement, which read in part:

Do you support objections to the certification of Biden’s victory in the Electoral College?

And, in the End…

You know that thing you've been putting off all of 2020? It's time.

Congrats on surviving 2020,

—Josh Herman

Talk to us via email at editorial [at] causes.com. And don’t forget to keep in touch @Causes.