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You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. ― Lauren Oliver




ACTIVISTS

It’s the first day of spring recess! From March 24 to April 9, your members of Congress (MoCs) will be home. This is your opportunity to hold them accountable and build momentum going into election season. You can find everything you’ll need, including resources and town hall questions, at recess.indivisible.org.
For two weeks, you’ll have the opportunity to meet with your MoCs face-to-face (at office visits or Town Halls) and ask them the hard questions. And there are several different ways you can take action around recess.
Here’s how we hold them accountable:
  1. Show Up. Before you fight back, you need an event to attend. Find an event near you here or organize your own district office visit with your Indivisible group! Or, see if your member of Congress has the guts to face their constituents and show up with your questions ready.
  1. #NeverAgain. Hold them accountable to their inaction around gun violence. You showed up to support students during walkouts. You’re showing up today for the #MarchForOurLives. But where are our MoCs? Like so many other issues, our MoCs need to feel pressure in order to act. At the federal, state, and local level, you can have an impact to prevent gun violence. Check out our guide and tell your MoCs enough is enough.
  1. Stay ready. We have the ultimate resource for all the questions you could possibly have for your MoCs. Given recent bad votes (and what’s ahead on the Congressional agenda) they need to hear from you when they’re home during recess. Make sure to discuss with your MoCs the things that matter most to you. Whether it’s the banking bill, the tax scam or net neutrality -- we’ve got you covered.
Remember, recess is just one way we let our MoCs know that we haven’t forgotten the votes they’ve cast in the past year (good and bad). If they voted against their constituents in the past year, we’re ready to VOTE. THEM. OUT. Take your energy and bring it with you to every event these next two weeks. We’ve already seen your work in action, now we just need to keep the momentum going.

On deck for Capitol Hill

Congress is about to go on its longest recess so far this year. They left town after passing an “omnibus” government funding bill that will go through the end of September 2018, and failing to rein in Trump’s illegal war in Yemen (though having a vote to rein in Trump’s war authority at all was a positive development).
Here are some things you keep your eyes open for after they return:
  1. Trump’s cabinet nominees Gina Haspel (CIA Director) and Mike Pompeo (Secretary of State) will come up for confirmation votes in the Senate. Haspel is a war criminal who personally helped torture detainees in a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand during the Bush administration. Pompeo is a Trump clone who’s displayed anti-Muslim bigotry, spouted dangerous warmongering, opposed diplomacy with Iran, and denied climate change. We are all less safe if Pompeo and Haspel are confirmed. Tell your Senators to reject them.

  2. The #BankLobbyistAct continues making its way through Congress. House Republicans, led by ultra-conservative Jeb Hensarling (TX-5), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, think the bill doesn’t go far enough to deregulate big banks. They have at least 40 additional pieces of legislation they want added to the Senate bill before the House takes it up. We’ll know just how bad the new bill has gotten -- along with at least 40 new reasons for your Democratic Senator to oppose it -- after recess.

This week’s #TrumpThreatLevel:

  • Trump named John Bolton his new National Security Advisor. This drives the Trump Threat Level higher than it has ever been. Bolton is a warmonger and conspiracy theorist who helped the Iraq War happen and, in recent months, has advocated bombing North Korea and Iran next.
  • The Mueller investigation is at risk. John Dowd, the lead lawyer for Trump’s legal team, quit on March 22 as Trump ratcheted up his attacks on the Mueller investigation. It seems Trump is more worried about congratulating Putin on his recent re-election (against the explicit, all-capital letters advice of his advisors) than he is about protecting our democracy.
  • A Saudi prince bragged about having Jared Kushner “in his pocket.” Kushner reportedly shared information from the President’s Daily Brief -- the most classified rundown of intelligence in Washington -- with Mohammed bin Salman as the Saudi prince was violently consolidating power in 2017. Despite not even having a security clearance, Kushner is mismanaging classified information by sharing it with a foreign leader -- the same one bombing civilians in Yemen and carrying out human rights abuses in his own country.

Tax Day is coming.

Recess is a crucial time to keep your MoCs on their toes and remind them exactly who they work for. They work for YOU, not corporations. For months, we’ve been driving the message to them that when they voted for the tax scam, they voted against the people.
✔️You held retirement parties for Republicans who voted for the tax scam.
✔️You thanked Democrats who held the line.
✔️You showed up at rallies with big checks to show the GOP that they turned their backs on their constituents.
Now, let’s keep that momentum going. Not only can we push this message during recess, but we have another chance coming up with Tax Day around the corner. Check out Tax March events in your area leading up to Tax Day and keep holding them accountable all the way up to election day.  
In solidarity,

The Indivisible Team {March 24, 2018]




MIKE PENCE
U.S. Vice President    






EDUCATION





CLIMATE CHANGE

“We are experiencing the effects of climate change now — it’s not something off in the future.”

That’s what one NRDC All In activist told officials during a public meeting in San Francisco last month opposing the repeal of the landmark Clean Power Plan.

He was one of hundreds of NRDC All In activists like you and other concerned citizens who turned out at official government meetings in San Francisco, CA, Kansas City, MO, and Charleston, WV to rally to save the Clean Power Plan, defend our climate, and protect people, not polluters.

The Clean Power Plan is our very best chance at reversing climate change by cutting carbon pollution from power plants and accelerating the clean energy revolution that is already underway. Over three million Americans already work in wind, solar, and energy efficiency, and that total is growing fast.

Let me be clear: NRDC activists like you are the main reason these hearings happened in the first place. When the EPA scheduled only one public meeting on the Clean Power Plan in West Virginia — in the heart of coal country — thousands of you mobilized a massive public outcry, calling for more meetings in other communities. And in response, the agency added meetings in San Francisco, CA, Kansas City, MO, and Gillette, WY.
Supporters of the Clean Power Plan rally outside city hall in San Francisco
Photo: Ian Tuttle
Hundreds more activists rallied at listening sessions in support of the Clean Power Plan in New York City, Annapolis, MD, and Wilmington, DE.

In addition to those who testified at the public meetings, over 110,000 NRDC supporters so far submitted public comments to the Trump administration in support of the Clean Power Plan.

Whether you showed up and spoke out at a public meeting or voiced your support for this historic climate-saving plan online, thank you for taking action.

Now, we need to keep up this momentum — and we’re depending on dedicated NRDC activists like you to help us lead the charge. Join NRDC All In and fight for climate action. Here’s how:

We’ll be in touch soon with more opportunities to fight for our climate future. Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

 The NRDC All In Team [March 23, 2018]



PAUL RYAN
Speaker of the House






"Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) declared passage of the omnibus package was vital for 'rebuilding' the Pentagon, which Republicans and President Donald Trump claim was neglected during the Obama era. Ryan has been pushing the military funding issue hard throughout the budget fight." [POLITICO's Morning Defense, March 23, 2018]



DONALD TRUMP




Good Sunday morning. AN EARLY MORNING FOR THE PRESIDENT ... at 7:40 a.m.: "Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case...don't believe the Fake News narrative that it is hard to find a lawyer who wants to take this on. Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new......" ...

... at 7:49 a.m.: "lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country - and I am very happy with my existing team. Besides, there was NO COLLUSION with Russia, except by Crooked Hillary and the Dems!" [POLITICO Playbook, March 25, 2018]



PETTIFOGGING MOUTHPIECES   

SHAKEUP ON TRUMP'S LEGAL TEAM -- NYT's MIKE SCHMIDT and MAGGIE HABERMAN SCOOP: "John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Special Counsel Inquiry": "The president's lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation, John Dowd, resigned on Thursday, according to two people briefed on the matter, days after the president called for an end to the inquiry.
"Mr. Dowd, who took over the president's legal team last summer, had considered leaving several times in recent months and ultimately concluded that Mr. Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice, one of the people said. Mr. Trump has insisted he should sit for an interview with the special counsel's office, even though Mr. Dowd believed it was a bad idea." http://nyti.ms/2FUfPpY
-- @stevenportnoy: "JUST IN: Asked by @jeffzeleny whether he would still talk to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Trump says, 'Yes. I would like to. I would like to.'"

-- FLASHBACK: @realDonaldTrump on March 11 at 9:41 a.m.: "The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and....." [Playbook Power Briefing, March 22, 2018]








U.S. AGRICULTURE

199A FIX MAKES IT INTO THE OMNIBUS: Large swaths of the agriculture sector are breathing a sigh of relief after lawmakers included a 199A fix in the omnibus spending bill, which Congress must pass by the end of the week to avoid a government shutdown.
The language aims to remedy one of the unintended consequences of the Republican tax law, which gave farmers lucrative incentives to sell their products to agricultural cooperatives over other types of businesses.
Various sectors affected: While the problem had been dubbed the "grain glitch," it also threatened to disrupt other markets like dairy, livestock and biofuels. POLITICO first reported Wednesday that the fix was going to be included in the sweeping spending bill.
Getting the language into the omnibus was among a host of sticking points that congressional leaders had to work out in the final hours of negotiations after Democrats demanded a compromise that would boost the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit in exchange. (Pros can read the full, 2,232-page text of the bill here.)
Cole Staudt, spokesman for Rep. David Young, told MA that the Iowa Republican also organized a coalition of at least 20 House Republicans on the floor early this week to push leadership to include the Section 199A fix in the omnibus, and dozens more signed onto a letter addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Brush up on how it went down here.

A critic of the fix: The many industry groups and lawmakers who have backed the proposed fix to Section 199A say it would restore balance in the marketplace. But the National Farmers Union on Wednesday urged Congress to reject the proposal, arguing that it would tip the scale in favor of corporations that already had their tax rate slashed from 35 to 21 percent. [POLITICO's Morning Agriculture, March 22, 2018]



SCREEN







REPUBLICAN PARTY





ODNI











MARIJUANA




READ








WOMEN’S RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS   






WOMEN






NOTE: The news sources here vary.  Not all sources have the same credibility, but in an effort to share some different perspectives, they are included here.  This compendium itself cannot claim to be unbiased.  Please take into consideration where these different perspectives originate in assessing their value.  Thank you

NOTE: I have no official connection to any organization from which information is shared.. Occasionally, I post informational material and/or an opportunity to donate or join as  a "community service" announcement.  These again are shared for their varying perspectives.

Any books listed are random or topic-related to something else in the post.  Think of these as a "library bookshelf" to browse.  They are shared for informational or entertainment value only, not as being recommended
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