INCO Weekly Update

Onward with INDIVISIBLE

ASTORIA-EAST COUNTY COMMUNITY GROUP KICK-OFF- MARCH 4

You and your like-minded friends from the Astoria area are invited to the kick-off meeting and postcard party for the Astoria/East County Community Group (CG)! Talk with others who share your concerns about healthcare, politics, public schools, free speech, and more.  Help design the activities and actions you want this CG to take on. Be part of the vital political conversations and actions in Clatsop County!

Saturday, March 4, 1:30 pm, Fort George Lovell Showroom, 14th and Duane, Astoria

POSTCARD PARTY OPEN HOUSE FOR THE WHITE HOUSE -MARCH 8

What do you REALLY want to say to 45 and his administration? Postcards, stamps, music, and refreshments at this drop-in event.

Wednesday, March 8, 6-8 pm; Clatsop Community College, Columbia Hall 219, 16th & Lexington, Astoria; accessible parking in back.

OTHER IMPORTANT DATES

  -  Friday, March 3, Town Hall with US Representative Derek Kilmer, 5:30 pm, 7th Street Theater, Hoquiam, WA

  - Other INCO Community Groups are meeting regularly. If you’re not getting that info, send your zip code to incoregon@gmail.com, and we’ll sign you up for your CG.

INCO in High Schools?

A high school student plans to start an INCO Community Group at Astoria High School.  Are students at the college or at other area high schools interested in their own Indivisible Community Group? Please let us know, and we’ll help you get started!  Contact incoregon@gmail.com.

Make Your Voice Heard with an Easy App: https://5calls.org/

Make 5 calls in 5 minutes to your Member of Congress (MoC). This app provides phone numbers and scripts so calling is quick and easy. It uses your location to find your local representatives so your calls have more impact.

More info and a way to sign up for INCO is at http://indivisiblenorthcoastor.blogspot.com/

WYDEN TOWN HALL

“Speak out, push back, seek out alternatives.”


Photo credit Patterson Celata

Senator Ron Wyden encouraged everyone at his Clatsop County Town Hall on February 24  to stay active and engaged with politics to defeat harmful, anti-democratic policies of 45’s administration. His call to action was echoed earlier as some two dozen people rallied with INCO on Marine Drive, determined to outlast the rain and 45.

This was one of the best, most energized Town Halls we’ve seen in Clatsop County. Astoria Senior High School students and other audience members in the school’s auditorium asked focused, informed questions about pressing issues, including the involvement of Russia in the presidential election and policies and its apparent connection to Trump family finances; Medicare, climate change, student loan debt, and government transparency and accountability. Questioners were picked by a lottery of tickets given audience members as they arrived. Many in the audience waved their green “I Agree” and red “I Disagree” cards provided by Indivisible Oregon-District 1.  

“Grassroots Juggernaut”

What’s the best way for Americans to be heard by their Members of Congress (MoC)?  Wyden said people should attend and speak up at public meetings, like Town Halls. Next most effective – and visible - are marches, then phone calls. He urged the audience to mobilize people they know in other states to contact their own MoCs, especially regarding close votes on important issues. He reminded us that political change is rarely top down, but begins from the bottom-up.

Hot Topics

He referred several times to doing things “the Oregon way” to emphasize inclusiveness and creativity in policy and policy-making. Pointing out that high school students probably don’t worry about Medicare, he said that Medicare’s costs are eating into other programs that students care about now, such as college loans and transportation. Wyden said one-fifth of jobs in Oregon depend on international trade. He and other MoCs will be the “watchdog” protecting the Environmental Protection Agency. He denounced “thinly veiled religious tests” and urged reform of our ”dysfunctional immigration system” because “we are a nation of immigrants . . . . this is fundamental to who we are.” Trump is the first president in forty years to not release his tax returns; “releasing tax returns is the lowest ethical bar” that allows voters to see real and possible conflicts of interest.

If you’re new to political activism, you’re not alone: About half the audience hadn’t attended a Town Hall before. As you’ve probably seen and heard, more people than ever aregetting involved. Eight hundred people attended Wyden’s recent Town Hall in Sisters, a town of 2000. Wyden encouraged the audience to stay vigilant and to find ways to make a difference in your community. Most of all, he urged us to stay in touch with him and your other Members of Congress.


Thanks to Laura Rochelois for her photo of the rally.