Indivisibles, 

This week you’re going to be hearing a lot about the 1/6 Commission, which
is the independent commission that Democrats in Congress are trying to get
set up to investigate what happened during the attempted coup at the U.S.
Capitol on January 6th. 

Seems like a pretty reasonable thing that should go through with
bipartisan support, no? 

Not exactly. A few weeks ago, House Republican leadership brought a list
of demands to Speaker Pelosi, things that watered down the commission,
which they said were essential to earning Republican support for the bill.
Democrats, taking the Republicans at their word, accepted the amendments
and added them to the bill. 

176 of the 211 Republicans (that’s 83%) still voted against the bill
anyway.

We don’t want to say “we told you so” but this is exactly what we said was
going to happen in the [ [link removed] ]Indivisible Democracy Guide. If you haven’t read
it in a while, here’s the relevant section, from the part where we go over
lessons learned from our 2008 Trifecta: 

Lesson One: Expect the GOP to obstruct, delay, and engage in bad faith BS

What Democrats thought would happen

Democrats thought that if they negotiated with Republicans to pass their
agenda, they could reach a deal and pass bipartisan legislation. They
thought that compromising with Republicans would increase their chance
of success and add legitimacy and permanence to their legislation. They
believed by doing so, they would inoculate themselves against the charge
that they had rammed their agenda through Congress.

What actually happened

Reaching compromise with Republicans turned out to be a sisyphean task.
Democrats spent months going around in circles with Republicans which
slowed down their legislative agenda. Democrats repeatedly sacrificed
key priorities in the process without any Republican support to show for
it. Despite these self-imposed delays by Democrats, Republicans still
accused them of ramming through a radical agenda.

Congressional Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell in the Senate, used
every tool available to delay and obstruct Obama’s agenda. Some of the
common tactics they used included:

* Delay: The GOP engaged in bad-faith negotiations for the sole
purpose of delaying legislation;(← Editor’s note: This is what just
happened in the House!)
* Obstruction: The GOP used procedural tools to obstruct the process.
McConnell was particularly adept at weaponizing the filibuster in
the Senate; (← Editor’s note: This could be about to happen in the
Senate)
* Bogus arguments: The GOP spread misinformation about provisions in
Democratic bills (e.g., “death panels!” and “the deficit!”), and
manipulated the press into giving their claims legitimacy. (←
Editor’s note: this is like when Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) called the
rioting a “normal tourist event” last week.) 

Recalling how Republicans engaged, Speaker Nancy Pelosi put it best:

The Republicans were very clever in what they did. They pretended that
they were interested… It was all an illusion.

-SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI

Lesson for today:

Republicans know that the only way that Democrats will succeed is if
they move quickly, so Republicans will do everything they can to
obstruct and delay. They will try to weaponize President Biden’s
understandable desire for unity to tempt him into wasting time and
political capital on negotiations that aren’t real. Mitch McConnell has
called democracy reforms “socialism” and a “power grab,” and he’s
pledged to be the “Grim Reaper” of all progressive legislation. Instead
of foolishly looking for Republican votes that will never materialize,
Democrats should focus on keeping their caucus together and passing
bills with Democratic votes. (← Editor’s note: This is where we are
right now!) This focus on caucus unity will be especially critical given
the 50/50 split in the Senate, and the need for every single Democrat to
vote with the party in order to accomplish anything on our agenda.

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 Your 5 weekly to-dos 

 1. [ [link removed] ]Call your Senator and tell them to support the For the People Act.
For the People is a must-pass bill that strengthens our democratic
systems and norms, and we’re gearing up for a fight to get it passed.
It’s crucial we make our voices heard now (if you’ve already called,
please call again.) [ [link removed] ]If you’re in West Virginia, use this special
script just for Sen. Manchin. 
 2. Tell your Senator to Abolish the Filibuster. The filibuster gives
Mitch McConnell a cudgel to stop all our legislation in its tracks,
even without a majority behind him. Pick your favorite issue (voting
rights in the [ [link removed] ]For the People Act or [ [link removed] ]Protecting Workers’ Rights
or [ [link removed] ]DC statehood or [ [link removed] ]Unrigging the Supreme Court or the [ [link removed] ]COVID
Recovery Package are all good options!) and call your senator to tell
them you expect them to pass it -- including abolishing the filibuster
to get it done.
 3. [ [link removed] ]Join us on June 3rd at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for our monthly National
Activist Call. The June call will be a special kick-off for the
Deadline for Democracy Recess -- so you'll want to [ [link removed] ]register here
to make sure you can learn how to take action during that recess. Our
National Activist Calls are for Indivisible group leaders, group
members and other activists.
 4. Call your [ [link removed] ]Senators & [ [link removed] ]Members of Congress and tell them to
support a broad and inclusive recovery package. 
 5. [ [link removed] ]Tell your Senator to vote for D.C. statehood. Statehood for
Washington D.C. is a major civil rights issue, and the Senate has the
power to end taxation without representation for nearly 700,000
people. There will likely be some speeches in the Senate about this
tomorrow (Tuesday, time is still TBD), so that would be a great day to
call your Senators and tell them you expect them to stand up for the
residents of D.C.

P.S. We rely on your support to keep call pages up and running, fund ads
to get the word out, and continue all the work we’re doing this year.
[ [link removed] ]If you’re able, click here to donate to help fund our work.



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This Week on the Hill

Beyond the January 6th Commission (which we talked about above), the main
thing we’re watching on the Hill this week is the release of President
Biden’s 2022 budget, which we expect on Friday. There will be lots of good
analysis of the budget and we’ll particularly be watching [ [link removed] ]DefundHate
and [ [link removed] ]People>Pentagon.

Once President Biden releases his budget, it kicks off a months-long
appropriations process (see [ [link removed] ]our resource here), but we’re also
expecting this to be a turning point in the recovery negotiations.
Committees were waiting for Biden’s budget to move forward the budget
resolution they will use to pass recovery reconciliation (you can read
about the full process in [ [link removed] ]our resource here). The big bill that will
eventually pass as part of reconciliation is our chance to get our main
recovery priorities signed into law. As a reminder, we’re working with the
Congressional Progressive Caucus in advocating six main priorities in the
recovery package: 

 1. A Pathway to Citizenship
 2. Dramatically Lower Drug Prices, Using the Savings to Pay for Public
Health Expansion
 3. Investments in Climate
 4. Investments in the Care Economy
 5. Investments in Housing
 6. Increase the Overall Size of Recovery

Read our [ [link removed] ]full resource on the recovery priorities here, then call your
Senators and Member of Congress and tell them to pass a real recovery
bill.  

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National Events

Building Inclusive Groups

[ [link removed] ]Tuesday, June 8th at 8pm ET / 5pm PT 
[ [link removed] ]Thursday, June 10th at 3pm ET / 12pm PT

The January 6 insurrection was more than an attack on our capitol, and our
democracy. It was an opening salvo of increased attacks on Black and Brown
people by the Republican Party. Now more than ever, it is critical that
Indivisible Groups build strong inclusive groups that reflect the mosaic
of our country. In this webinar, we’ll be covering what it means to
organize from an anti-racist perspective; the impact of white privilege
and white supremacy in team dynamics, and how to co-create an inclusive
group.

Unpacking Deep Canvassing Training series w/ Indivisible’s Rural Caucus

[ [link removed] ]Every Wednesday in June starting at 8pm ET / PT

Join us for a training series on the listening, curiosity, conversation,
and practical skills needed to successfully have deep canvassing
conversations to move folks toward progressive values and action in your
community. This is a 4-part series of sessions that build on each other --
please join us for all four if you can, but drop-ins are also welcome!

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 IndivisiWin of the Week

[26]A screenshot of a tweet with a photo of many Indivisible activists
meeting with Senator Schumer

[27]A screenshot of a tweet that includes a photo of protestors with a
sign that says "Chuck the Filibuster" and a caption saying the activists
are outside Schumer's office.

Two tweets for the price of one this week -- [ [link removed] ]Inwood Indivisible in
northern Manhattan and a [ [link removed] ]coalition of groups including Northwest Bronx
Indivisible a few miles away took two different approaches to engaging
with Senator Schumer this month, one on Zoom and one in the streets. We
love seeing how Indivisibles are both working closely with elected
officials like Sen. Schumer, and also continuing to pressure them from the
outside!

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What are you thinking about this week? We always want to hear from you --
feel free to reply to this email or reach out on [ [link removed] ]Facebook,
[ [link removed] ]Twitter, or [ [link removed] ]Instagram!

In solidarity,
Indivisible Team

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