TRUMP IS SHREDDING OUR PROTECTIONS
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
I’m very worried about the widespread rollback of regulations being done in order to give “relief” to industry. Regulations are protections that need to be maintained or strengthened. I have two requests:
- I ask that the Senator to vote no on Scalia’s nomination and push all Senate nominees to recuse themselves from working with their former businesses.
- Also, the current, massive regulation rollback is an assault on our health and safety. It is being driven by Trump and it will continue as long as he continues to escape accountability for his words and actions. So, I ask that you publicly urge the House to begin an impeachment inquiry with a focus on destruction of regulations a part of that inquiry.
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For Blumenauer and Bonamici: because I’m very worried about the widespread removal of regulations. It’s being done in order to give “relief” to industry. But regulations are protections that need to be maintained or strengthened. I have two requests:
- I ask that the Representative demand all cabinet officials to recuse themselves from working with their former businesses. And I ask that you use the Labor Secretary nomination as an opportunity to shine a light on Trump’s undoing of government regulations.
- This attack on regulation is driven by Trump and it will continue as long as he continues to escape accountability for his words and actions. I am grateful for your support for an impeachment process, but I urge you to be more vocal about the need for accountability, including a focus on destruction of regulations as part of an impeachment inquiry.
For DeFazio and Schrader: because I’m very worried about the widespread removal of regulations. It’s being done in order to give “relief” to industry. But regulations are protections that need to be maintained or strengthened. I have two requests:
- I ask that the Representative demand all cabinet officials to recuse themselves from working with their former businesses. And I ask that you use the Labor Secretary nomination as an opportunity to shine a light on Trump’s undoing of government regulations.
- This attack on regulation is driven by Trump and it will continue as long as he continues to escape accountability for his words and actions. I urge you to be more vocal about the need for accountability, including a focus on the impact of removal of regulations.
For Walden: because I’m very worried about the widespread removal of regulations. It’s being done in order to give “relief” to industry. But regulations are protections that need to be maintained or strengthened. I have two requests:
- I ask that the Representative to protect the regulations that protect us. Please demand all cabinet officials to recuse themselves from working with their former businesses.
- This attack on regulation is driven by Trump and it will continue as long as he continues to escape accountability for his words and actions. I urge you to be more vocal about the need for accountability, including a focus on the impact of removal of regulations.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE: HELP REGISTER VOTERS
Indivisible Oregon is organizing letter-writing parties using Swing Left tools to contact voters whose voter registration data may need updating.
Find a letter writing party near you or organize one yourself:https://swingleft.org/events.
Portlanders, join a party on the fourth Tuesday of every month:https://swingleft.org/event/register/action_network:e05c67b8-34ab-40b2-abfc-ab9c92bc44ba?source=%2Fevents&s=u.
BACKGROUND:
Before Secretary of Labor Acosta resigned last week, he was on shaky ground. He had lost allies in the White House because he was not working fast enough to strike the labor regulations that business wanted killed.
Regulations are safety and fairness protections. Trump’s daily horror show diverts attention from his objective: the massive shredding of regulations or, as conservatives refer to it, “deconstructing the administrative state.”
He’s done it by appointing cabinet secretaries/agency leads who have long been committed to government’s deconstruction. Case in point, Trump’s pick to replace Acosta is Eugene Scalia, an attorney with a long record of being a foe of labor unions and workplace safety.
The high turnover rate of Trump officials obscures the fact that Secretaries change but the destruction continues.
In a less chaotic era, it would be headline news that the EPA has already or is currently rolling back 83 rules involving climate, clean air and other protections. The other targets of ongoing deconstruction include agriculture, education, housing, health and the financial system.
This must stop. We need to urge our MoCs to use the upcoming focus on Scalia’s nomination as an opportunity to highlight the rubble of the Executive Branch.
SOURCES:
New York Times, July 18, 2019: “Trump to Nominate Eugene Scalia for Labor Secretary Job” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/18/us/politics/eugene-scalia-labor-secretary.html?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
Politico, June 17, 2019: “Number of workplace safety inspectors fall under Trump” https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/17/number-of-workplace-safety-inspectors-fall-under-trump-1531659?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
New York Times, June 7, 2019: “83 Environmental Rules Being Rolled Back Under Trump” https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html
Washington Post, July 15, 2019: “‘His own fiefdom’: Mulvaney builds ‘an empire for the right wing’ as Trump’s chief of staff” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/his-own-fiefdom-mulvaney-builds-an-empire-for-the-right-wing-as-trumps-chief-of-staff/2019/07/14/85c5ebdc-942b-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html?utm_term=.8291dc4643f7&wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1
RealClear Policy, June 29,2017: “Deconstructing the Administrative State” https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2017/06/29/deconstructing_the_administrative_state_110284.html
Brookings Institution’s Deregulation Tracker: https://www.brookings.edu/interactives/tracking-deregulation-in-the-trump-era/
