No Surrender to Republican Blackmail! Fund Democratic Priorities!
Because Republicans have blocked passage of every single one of the twelve federal appropriations bills—which were supposed to have been passed no later than October 1 of last year—we once again face a possible government shutdown on February 19. When you cut through Republican obfuscation and outright lies, the truth is that they are determined to destroy the Biden presidency, prevent funding of Democratic priorities or programs, and ram through their ultra-conservative, extreme far-right agenda regardless of the will of the voters.
This is blackmail and economic terrorism, pure and simple. History teaches us that giving in to terrorists and paying off blackmailers inevitably leads to more terrorism and more blackmail.
While secret congressional negotiations continue on an Omnibus Appropriations Bill that combines all twelve bills into a single humongous piece of legislation that none of our MoCs will be able to read, debate, or amend, yet another Continuing Resolution (CR) was passed by the House yesterday evening. It will fund the government for another three weeks through March 11 if the Senate also passes it. (It is subject to the filibuster.)
While a CR will keep the government open, it means continuing the spending priorities and allocations that were enacted during the last year of the Trump regime—which, for the most part, Republicans are happy to continue unchanged.
Senators Manchin and Sinema refuse to eliminate or reform the filibuster. And they also refuse to support any reconciliation bill that contains climate-emergency provisions opposed by their big fossil-fuel industry donors or that includes repeal of any of Trump tax cuts for mega-corporations or the obscenely wealthy. So our only remaining leverage is the three appropriation bills that Republicans do want to pass—Defense, Homeland Security, and Agriculture subsidies.
Tell your Members of Congress: Do not allow Republicans to separate out and pass the three appropriations bills they support without passing the other nine. Reduce total defense spending and redirect those funds to defending us from the real threat of climate change.
Balance Our Supreme Court: Pass the Judiciary Act
Democrats haven’t prioritized making the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) a campaign issue, perhaps because Republicans have spent decades trying to destroy Americans’ faith in good government and they don’t want to contribute to that sentiment. In the meantime, Republicans have taken full advantage of that hesitation. While sheltered Washington bureaucrats and pundits were publicly pretending SCOTUS was a neutral arbiter of our Constitution, Republicans have consistently campaigned on pushing the Court to the right, using anti-abortion crusaders to fuel that goal and millions in dark money to fund it. Some Democratic consultants scoffed at those efforts, assuring us that Republicans would never want to lose overturning Roe v Wade as a valuable campaign issue.
But here we are. Senator McConnell ruthlessly politicized SCOTUS nominations when he was in charge of the Senate. Now we have a Court that is six–three Federalist Society vs. We The People. He took an already five–four conservative court, which had opened the floodgates to unlimited spending in elections via Citizens United v FEC in 2010 and gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 with Shelby v Holder, and confirmed three more Federalist Society Justices to give it a six–three right-wing majority. This Court went on to undermine unions, allow partisan gerrymandering to go unchallenged, and contest OSHA’s right to mandate worker safety, and it continues to chip away at reproductive justice. This illegitimate Supreme Court may destroy the ability of federal agencies to make regulations entirely.
We the People deserve equal representation on SCOTUS. Adding seats to the Court is straightforward, constitutional, and grounded in history. The framers left it to Congress to decide how many justices sit on the Court, and Congress has changed the number of justices six times throughout history. All it takes is a bill passed by Congress. Expanding the Court is far less radical than McConnell’s rampage to destroy its balance in the past five years has been. Besides, there are thirteen federal circuit courts, and given the volume of important matters the Supreme Court should be considering, it’s appropriate for it to have thirteen justices. The Judiciary Act has passed the House and been introduced in the Senate Judiciary Committee as S. 1141.
Tell your senators: pass the Judiciary Act ASAP.
FINAL WEEK! Vote NOW in the SF municipal election!
The deadline is this coming Tuesday. If you haven’t voted yet, time’s running out! See our detailed step-by-step for more information.
You should already have your ballot—it looks like this:
If you’re registered to vote but haven’t gotten it yet, check on that. You can either request a resend through the Voter Portal or go vote in person.
Got your ballot already? BEFORE YOU SEAL THE RETURN ENVELOPE:
- Did you mark your choices on your ballot? (Remember that there are races on both sides!)
- Did you put the ballot in the return envelope?
- Did you sign and date the return envelope, and write your name and address (where you are registered to vote) on it?
You can return your ballot by mail or by using any official drop box, going to City Hall, or (on the very last day) going to any polling place in the City.
Need more details? We’ve got step-by-step instructions on how to vote in this election on our blog.
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If you’re interested in participating in activities like drafting letters to our Members of Congress and developing our strategy for influencing them, the Indivisible SF Federal Working Group is where it happens. Join us at our next meeting on Thursday, February 10. Details on how to register below.
ISF Federal Working Group meeting: Thursday, February 10, 7:30–9 PM. Register here to join our regular Zoom meeting, where we work together to develop strategies for influencing our Members of Congress and the Biden administration to support a progressive agenda. All are welcome to participate and contribute, even if you’ve never attended an ISF meeting before.
About this week’s photo
If you’ve seen our newsletter posts on Twitter and Facebook, you might have noticed that we include a photo or graphic with each issue.
Today’s image is a photo of the US Supreme Court Building taken by Carol M. Highsmith (from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive at the Library of Congress).
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Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team
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