82 DAYS TO THE ELECTION
TRUMP KINDLES OUTBREAK IN SCHOOLS
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…
Trump is hobbling the Post Office to suppress the vote in November. He’ll do anything to “win” the election. We need hearings about this, but meanwhile, please encourage the public to help get people ballots and have them counted.
Also, given Trump’s push to open schools, I encourage you to say publicly that premature reopening of schools can go as badly as Trump’s “liberation” of state economies – which resulted in spreading the virus. School districts should reopen only when community spread is below 5%, and use of masks should be strongly encouraged for everyone on school property.
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…
Everyone but Walden: Trump is hobbling the Post Office to suppress the vote in November. He’ll do anything to “win” the election. We need hearings about this, but meanwhile, please encourage the public to help get people ballots and have them counted.
Also, given Trump’s push to open schools, I encourage you to speak out that premature reopening of schools can go as badly as Trump’s “liberation” of state economies – which resulted in spreading the virus. School districts should reopen only when community spread is below 5%, and use of masks should be strongly encouraged for everyone on school property.
Walden: Republicans who care more about power than our country have enabled Trump’s war on democracy. I call on you to fight to preserve the sanctity of the vote. At the very least, would you fight Trump’s hobbling of the Post Office? It’s simply massive voter suppression. Fight for the Constitution, as thousands before you have done.
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:
Oregonians are joining with activists across the country to power a Landslide Democratic victory in November 2020, from the state houses to the Senate to the White House. Here’s how you can get involved:
- Call Arizona voters on Thursdays – training at 5pm, calling begins at 5:30 https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write letters to voters with Swing Left and Vote Forward. Saturdays 12-2pm https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write postcards to Voters of Color with Reclaim Our Vote. Sundays 3-5pm https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpcumhqD4tGtGRU0wtVcsurcoIe50m_7EP
BACKGROUND:
In his mad scramble to revive an economy he wrecked, Trump is strong-arming schools to reopen. His goal is simply to have parents return to work.
As happened after leading the fight to “liberate” state economies, the premature opening of schools will likely result in more illness and death.
Now he’s lying about the threat to school kids by saying: “If you look at children, children are almost — and I would almost say definitely — but almost immune from this disease.”
That statement even forced a Twitter ban because it violated “Twitter rules on COVID-19 misinformation . . .”
Israel, which has similarities to the US outbreak, may provide the most useful lesson.
Israel reopened its schools without restrictions and ten days later, a large outbreak occurred in a high school sparking a significant wave of infections in the general population. The government shut down parts of the economy again.
New York offers the best guidance to reopen schools. The key is that new infections in the community must be below 5% averaged over a two-week period.
Trump is putting his political fortunes ahead of his duty to fight the pandemic. The result will again be to prolong suffering.
SOURCES:
NPR, August 11, 2020: 97,000 Kids Tested Positive For Coronavirus In Last 2 Weeks Of July : Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR
FOX News, August 6, 2020: Facebook removes Trump post over coronavirus misinformation rules; Twitter also clamps down | Fox News
Washington Post/Bloomberg, August 11, 2020: Here’s What We Know About Kids and Covid-19 – The Washington Post
ABC News, July 13, 2020: US debates school reopening, WHO warns ‘no return to normal’ – ABC News
NY Times, August 7, 2020: N.Y.C. Schools Can Reopen, Cuomo Says, Making It One of Few Big Cities With In-Person Classes – The New York Times
NBC News, August 11, 2020: Coronavirus cases lead over 800 to quarantine in Georgia school district where masks not required
CNBC, July 13, 2020: WHO warns against using school reopenings as ‘political football’ in coronavirus debate
New York State Governor’s Office, July 13, 2020: Governor Cuomo Announces New Data-Driven Guidance for Reopening Schools | Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Kaiser Family Foundation, July 29m 2020: What Do We Know About Children and Coronavirus Transmission? | KFF
