TRUMP WANTS A RETURN TO “NORMAL.” THAT’S A MISTAKE.
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 am worried gaps in our response will prolong our pandemic. We need:
- A national strategy, for consistency across states, so the good work done by one state isn’t undone by its neighbor,
- A boost in testing and contact tracing,
- A focus on hotspots including: meat packing factories, nursing homes, prisons and poor neighborhoods – which are all suffering and seeding new outbreaks.
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…
I am worried that gaps in our response will prolong our pandemic. We need:
- A national strategy, for consistency across states, so the good work done by one state isn’t undone by its neighbor,
- A boost in testing and contact tracing,
- A focus on hotspots including: meat packing factories, nursing homes, prisons and poor neighborhoods – which are all suffering and seeding new outbreaks.
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: ORGANIZING FOR THE 2020 ELECTION IS GOING VIRTUAL!
- We’re hosting virtual letter writing events every Saturday and every fourth Tuesday – sign up at https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write letters to voters from home, whenever it’s convenient for you. Register with Vote Forward to get started at votefwd.org.
- Host your own virtual letter-writing party! Get started here: http://swingleft.org/p/virtual-letter-writing-party
Stay tuned — more activities to come!
BACKGROUND:
Essential workers are risking their lives to get America back to normal. But the virus has exposed that “normal” is wretched for millions of people.
To end this pandemic, we need to fill gaps in the current public health response with:
- A trusted leader – Someone who obviously values science and all humans.
- A national strategy – States were forced to create a patchwork of responses but good measures can be overwhelmed by a neighbor’s folly.
- Testing and contact tracing – 10 states have the minimum level of testing needed, and no state is ready for contact tracing.
All of these shortcomings, plus armed protesters, will undoubtedly lengthen the outbreak, perhaps by a year or two.
Further, we should focus on hotspots including:
- Nursing homes
- Prisons and jails
- Meat packing factories
- Impoverished neighborhoods.
People in these incubation sites need special protections, including PPE, or they will continue to suffer and seed additional waves of infections.
Stopping the virus demands a recognition that the health of all of usdepends on the health of our most vulnerable.
Defeating the pandemic requires an America that values science and each other. Start working for that future by calling your Members of Congress.
SOURCES:
PBS NewsHour, May 4, 2020: “Grim Outlook” https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/grim-new-projections-forecast-explosive-growth-in-covid-19-cases-deaths
Wired, May 2, 2020: “Covid-19 Is Killing Black People Unequally—Don’t Be Surprised
The coronavirus pandemic is further exposing a gulf in the health statistics of white and black Americans that has existed for decades.” https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-coronavirus-racial-disparities/?bxid=5cc9dff9fc942d13eb1e6a84&cndid=54804944&esrc=AUTO_PRINT&source=EDT_WIR_NEWSLETTER_0_DAILY_ZZ&utm_brand=wired&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_mailing=WIR_Daily_050320&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl&utm_term=list1_p3
New York Times, May 4, 2020: “As Trump Pushes to Reopen, Government Sees Virus Toll Nearly Doubling” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-death-toll.html
Washington Post, May 5, 2020: “Trump cheers on governors even as they ignore White House coronavirus guidelines in race to reopen” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-cheers-on-governors-as-they-ignore-white-house-coronovirus-guidelines-in-race-to-reopen/2020/05/04/bedc6116-8e18-11ea-a0bc-4e9ad4866d21_story.html
Newsweek, May 3, 2020: “New York Gov. Cuomo Tells Reopen Protestors ‘You Have No Right to Jeopardize My Health’’ https://www.newsweek.com/cuomo-slams-protesters-not-wearing-masks-1501647
National Geographic, May 4, 2020: “Fauci: No scientific evidence the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab” https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/05/anthony-fauci-no-scientific-evidence-the-coronavirus-was-made-in-a-chinese-lab-cvd/?utm_source=reddit.com
MSNBC, May 2, 2020: “Rev. Barber: ‘The people in power right now are too comfortable with other people’s deaths’ ” https://www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/watch/rev-barber-the-people-in-power-right-now-are-too-comfortable-with-other-people-s-deaths-82944069563
New York Times, May3, 2020: “The Coronavirus Becomes a Battle Cry for U.S. Extremists” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/coronavirus-extremists.html
Politico, April 23, 2020: “Study: Elderly Trump voters dying of coronavirus could cost him in November” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/23/how-coronavirus-could-upend-2020-battlegrounds-204708
