Indivisibles, 

It’s difficult to fully comprehend the extent to which our democracy has
been under attack these last four years, but this week’s impeachment trial
has highlighted some of our darkest moments. As we’re re-watching the
videos of the right-wing, white-supremacist violent mob that overtook the
Capitol on Jan. 6, we have to remind ourselves that defeating Donald Trump
isn’t the end, but the beginning of a long road ahead. 

 

“White nationalist thugs feel empowered in American society for much the
same reason that passing comprehensive climate policy feels like an
endless uphill battle: Our electoral system was never meant to govern a
majoritarian, multiracial democracy.” -- Kate Aronoff, The New Republic^1

 

It’s time for a national reckoning: Trump and the GOP have spent years
cultivating their fringe base with propaganda and lies, pushing
anti-democratic policies and bills, and grabbing power by any means
necessary. If we want to truly achieve all the progressive policies we’ve
been striving toward, we must address what's holding us back. Prioritizing
democracy reform is the first step to passing progressive legislation and
making this a country that serves us all. Everything we want to achieve
must happen in the next two years while we still have the chance. 

To make actual, lasting progress, we can start with bills like the [ [link removed] ]For
the People Act, S. 1, and the D.C. statehood bill, S. 51. These bills are
key to ensuring that a corrupt, far-right extremist like Trump is never
elected again, that our democracy is more just and representative of the
people, and that we’re able to achieve the long-term, progressive goals
that we’ve been fighting for. 

Call your members of Congress and demand they support D.C. statehood and
the For the People Act, and then move swiftly in their respective chambers
to pass these bills. Make calls now, and then keep reading for more
details on S. 1, S. 51, and the issues we care about.

[ [link removed] ]Call your senators now

 

Why democracy reform is critical to the issues we care about 

If you’ve had the chance to read our [ [link removed] ]new guide, you know that we can’t
achieve any of our major policy goals -- economic, health care, climate,
immigration, racial justice, etc. -- without changing the rigged system
that overwhelmingly benefits the white, male, conservative, rich, and
elite. Our democracy was designed to give tremendous power to the
minority, and Republicans have spent decades exploiting that power to
entrench their rule. These tactics include voter suppression,
gerrymandering, buying elections, packing the courts with right-wing
extremists, attacking the press, and suppressing unions, protests, and
civil society. 

Even after Democrats earn millions more votes in election after election,
our government is still at the mercy of anti-democratic thugs like Mitch
McConnell. Yes, Trump was beaten, but make no mistake: Republicans can
still kill our democracy for good. Under the current system, our progress
will always be short-term, our aspirations will always be limited, and the
gap between our promises and our ability to deliver meaningful change will
continue to undermine faith in government (and likely cause us to lose
elections).

Last year, we handed Democrats a mandate to stop it and finally enact an
agenda for the people. With the Senate majority and the White House, we’ve
given them the ability to enact bold, progressive legislation. But to make
any of that a reality, they need to get real about what stands in the way.
That’s why our first priority is fixing our democracy and ensuring that
structural reform rebalances power for the people -- before it’s too
late. 

Luckily, Democrats have been passing democracy reforms in the House since
they took the majority in 2018, and they’ve signaled these structural
reforms are a top priority in 2021. With their House majority in the last
Congress (116th), Democrats passed the D.C. Statehood bill (H.R. 51), and
the For the People Act (H.R. 1), and now we have a real chance of passing
these bills not only in the House, but in the Senate too as S. 51 and S.
1. These two bills, once passed and signed into law, would help fix the
very cracks in our democracy that the Trump presidency intensified.  

 

“This is a moment of both historic imperative and, with unified Democratic
control of the White House and Congress, historic opportunity.” -- Stacey
Abrams, the Washington Post^2

 

Here are three things you can do now: [ [link removed] ]Use our new peoples' whip count
to see where your members of Congress land on these key bills. Then make
sure to [ [link removed] ]call your senators and demand they support S. 1 and S. 51, work
swiftly to hold hearings on both bills, and send them to the floor for a
vote -- without letting the filibuster stand in the way of passage. Then
follow up by [ [link removed] ]calling your representative too. 

In solidarity, 
Indivisible Team

 

[1. [ [link removed] ]How to Fight Climate Change and Fascists at the Same Time
2. [ [link removed] ]Stacey Abrams: Our democracy faced a near-death experience. Here’s
how to revive it.]

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