Monday, April 26, 2021

4-26-21 Newsletter

 

INCO hosted the Global Climate Strike rally in Seaside, September 20, 2019.
SUPPORT SJM 5 FOR CLIMATE
Once again, please urge State Representative Suzanne Weber to support and co-sponsor SJM 5, Oregon's resolution to endorse a proposed climate change bill in Congress, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA). 

The majority of Americans support Congress taking action on climate change. Republicans and Democrats together are working on both EICDA and Oregon's SJM 5.  

Representative Weber wants the vote to be bipartisan and to have the EICDA exempt diesel fuel used in agriculture. So far, so good! Oregon's GOP House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, along with Republican Representatives David Smith and Ron Noble are co-sponsors of this bill. It passed the Senate 23-5 with 6 GOP senators. (State Senator Betsy Johnson was excused from voting.)  

 
Please urge Representative Weber to support and co-sponsor SJM.
She's at 
Rep.SuzanneWeber@oregonlegislature. More contact info is here.
 
Here are suggested talking points:
-The EICDA will put a fee on carbon pollution at its source (the coal mine, oil well, natural gas well, and fuels imported across the US border) and then take that money to give back to American households in monthly dividend checks.

-The EICDA exempts diesel fuel used in agriculture. 

-This policy is revenue neutral.  The fees collected on carbon emissions will be allocated to all Americans to spend any way they choose.  The government will not keep any of the fees collected.


-This is a market based solution that doesn't grow the government or increase regulations.
 
With your help, this important climate measure in Oregon can pass the House.
FUND THE FUTURE
Thanks to the generosity of INCO fans, INCO met its fundraising goal of $500!  We will be getting $500 in matching funds from Indivisible national to use in defending democracy and promoting our progressive ideas and ideals.
THANK YOU, DONORS!

MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR MAY 18 ELECTION

Voters will help decide policy, plans, and budgets for schools, the college, the Port of Astoria, and other districts when we elect board members in the county's May 18 Regular District election. Learn more about the candidates at this terrific web site that includes:  

  • 15 video interviews with candidates across the county
  • The newly-released Voter Pamphlet 
  • Links to the candidate's filing paperwork 
  • The timeline of crucial dates in the election cycle.  

Thanks to the Clatsop County Democrats and its Campaigns and Elections Committee for compiling this crucial information. 

Image from the New York Times
WHY YOUR INDIVISIBLE ACTIVISM MATTERS
"That is the message coming from a Pew Research Center poll released today, which finds that Republicans increasingly oppose measures that would expand access to the ballot — particularly those that former President Donald Trump frequently complained about during the 2020 campaign."
-- Giovanni Russonello, NY Times, April 22, 2021


"Many Republicans are acting like the Capitol insurrection never happened, and much of Washington is fine with it."
-- Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, April 22, 2021. Read her article here.

"Trump’s centrality guarantees that large numbers of resentful, truth-denying, conspiracy-minded, anti-democratic, overwhelmingly white voters will continue to find aid and comfort in the Republican Party .... A key pillar of Trump’s strength is his success in 
turning the Republican Party into the explicit defender of white hegemony."
-- Thomas B. Edsall, 
NY Times, April 21, 2021

"After police shootings of unarmed Black men and women roiled America, Republicans decided that the problem is the protests that follow those shootings, not the killing of unarmed civilians by police. No GOP-controlled legislatures have passed police reform laws, but several have passed laws designed to discourage peaceful protests."
-- Robert Hubbell, 
Today's Edition, April 22, 2021
HAPPENINGS
VIRTUAL 
Tuesday, May 18 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, May 17 for your Zoom link.

Saturday,  May 22 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m - noon. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.

EVERY FRIDAY: The INCO Write to Voters group invites you to a Zoom open house for informal chat and writing to voters in special elections and for ballot issues every Friday from 3-4 pm. Pets and children are welcome. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom invitation from Bebe. 

WRITE TO VOTERS: Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. You can sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org or for general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward.
INSIGHTS
"Once Democracy ceases to exist for a large enough segment of the population, it no longer exists at all.”
- - Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion
Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com
Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org.
Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here.

INCO Weekly Newsletter  April 26, 2021

Monday, April 19, 2021

4-19-21 Newsletter

 

Senator Merkley met with INCO activists after his town hall on May 25, 2019 at the college's Patriot Hall gym. Shown here, back row: David Delk, Carmen Hammersmith, Carolyn Vena, Senator Merkley; front row: Tamra Taylor, Wendela Howie, Laurie Caplan, Mary Beth Cottle, Cheryl Conway.

SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY VIRTUAL TOWN HALL
Clatsop County Town Hall 
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 
4:00 p.m. 

HOW: 
On a computer, smartphone or tablet:
 click here to join the Zoom meeting 
On the phone: Dial: 669-254-5252 
Enter Meeting ID: 161 007 3340# 
Enter Participant ID: # 
Enter Passcode: 30607316#

To learn more about this town hall or any future events, please visit merkley.senate.gov

FUND THE FUTURE
We're more than halfway to our goal! 
INCO fans have donated 
$280 so far!
Your donation of any amount will help INCO raise $500, which will be matched with another $500 from Indivisible national

Please donate here.

Indivisible national is matching donations to INCO for a limited time up to $500, for a total of $1000. With your help, we can continue to defend democracy in these tumultuous, challenging times.  Please donate here.
THANK YOU, DONORS!
Thursday, April 22, 2021  

“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.” 
—Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005), politician and environmentalist

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Voters will help decide policy, plans, and budgets for schools, the college, the Port of Astoria, and other districts when we elect board members in the county's May 18 Regular District election. Learn more about the candidates at this terrific web site that includes:  

  • 15 video interviews with candidates across the county
  • The newly-released Voter Pamphlet 
  • Links to the candidate's filing paperwork 
  • The timeline of crucial dates in the election cycle.  

Thanks to the Clatsop County Democrats and its Campaigns and Elections Committee for compiling this crucial information. 

REPRESENTATIVE WEBER CLIMATE CALL-IN
This is an organized online event concerning HB 2021, HB 2842 and HB 2475. All Bills dealing with Climate Change. 
  • HB 2021- Directs the Public Utility Commission to study laws related to clean energy and provide results to interim committees of the Legislative Assembly no later than September 15, 2022. 
  • HB 2842 - Establishes Healthy Homes Program within the Oregon Health Authority to provide grants to entities to provide financial assistance to low income households and landlords.  Establishes Healthy Homes Repair Fund.Establishes Interagency Task Force on Healthy Homes.
  • HB 2475 - The Oregon House of Representatives passed a historic bill for working families across the state to decrease utility costs for families already struggling in the economic recession by establishing a Low-Income Utility Rate Class. Thank the Legislators for this.
You can call Ian 503-851-5774 to be put on the email list for the meeting. 
Thanks to Pamela Mattson McDonald and the Clatsop County Democrats for the info about this call. No date was provided.

INCO ACTIVISTS FEATURED IN NEW VIDEO

INCO activists and dozens of other Oregon Indivisibles are featured in the new COIN video supporting statehood for Washington, DC., shown in the screenshots above. Watch the video here on Facebook, or here.  It's also posted on INCO's websiteThanks to Carmen, Cheryl, Laurie, and Pat for taking photos for the video.

Unsure why Indivisible supports DC Statehood? DC is a majority-minority population of more than half a million people who deserve representation: Click here for more informationwatch a quick video and go here for a call to action. Or, read the Indivisible book from 2019, page 257.

TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT
COIN and the INCO leadership team continue to review bills proposed in the Oregon legislature. This is a great time to contact our legislators with your preferences. You can contact State Senator Betsy Johnson and State Representative Suzanne Weber here. They won't know what you want if you don't tell them.
WHY YOUR INDIVISIBLE ACTIVISM MATTERS
 "It is clear that the conservative majority is on course to elevate claims of religious freedom to override all other individual rights and societal wellbeing. The conservative majority will slowly enlarge areas of permissible discrimination against disfavored groups in the name of religious freedom." 
-- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition newsletter, April 12, 2021


"Today, news broke that a number of pro-Trump House Republicans, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), are organizing the “America First Caucus,” . . . . The seven-page document outlining their ideas, obtained by Punchbowl News, is a list of the grievances popular in right-wing media. . . . And, with extraordinary clarity, it shows the ideology that underpins these positions, an ideology eerily reminiscent of that of the elite slaveholders of the 1850s American South."
-- Heather Cox Richardson, 
Letters from An American, April 16, 2021
HAPPENINGS
VIRTUAL 
Tuesday, May 18 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, May 17 for your Zoom link.

Saturday,  May 22 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m - noon. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.

EVERY FRIDAY: The INCO Write to Voters group invites you to a Zoom open house for informal chat and writing to voters in special elections and for ballot issues every Friday from 3-4 pm. Pets and children are welcome. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom invitation from Bebe. 

SIGN UP: Special elections and issue campaigns will be starting up again soon. You can sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org or for general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward.
INSIGHTS
“If there was any great lesson in life it was this: No battle was ever won with silence.” 
― Shannon L. Alder
Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com
Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org.
Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here.

INCO Weekly Newsletter  April 19, 2021

Monday, April 12, 2021

4-12-21 Newsletter

 

51 STARS FOR STATEHOOD
INCO and Indivisibles across Oregon are doing a fun, easy action to support DC statehood - sharing photos of a 51-star American flag in iconic places. Here's Cheryl Conway with INCO's 52-star flag along side the Columbia River in Astoria on a gorgeous breezy-windy afternoon.

COIN will go live with our photos on Wednesday, April 14, when the US House of Representatives holds its first hearing, though April 16, which is DC Emancipation day. Click here to read about Emancipation Day. Use the hashtags: #51stars + #DCStatehood. 

Please share our photo on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and all over social media starting this Wednesday through Friday!

Unsure why Indivisible supports DC Statehood? DC is a majority-minority population of more than half a million people who deserve representation: Click here for more informationwatch a quick video and go here for a call to action. Or, read the Indivisible book from 2019, page 257.

FUND THE FUTURE
Thanks to your generosity, INCO has been able to provide $3,755 in stamps, envelopes, postcards, and writing supplies since January, 2020 for writing postcards and letters to voters! Help us continue to support these important ongoing local actions by donating to INCO. Please donate here.
 
Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Indivisible national. 
INCO fans have donated $110 so far!
Your donation of any amount will help INCO meet our goal of $500!

Indivisible national is matching donations to INCO for a limited time up to $500, for a total of $1000. Your donation of any amount will help INCO be prepared for the future. With your help, we can continue to defend democracy in these tumultuous, challenging times.  Please donate here.
THANK YOU, DONORS!
TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT
COIN and the INCO leadership team continue to review bills proposed in the Oregon legislature. This is a great time to contact our legislators with your preferences. You can contact State Senator Betsy Johnson and State Representative Suzanne Weber here. They won't know what you want if you don't tell them.
WHY INDIVISIBLE ACTIVISM MATTERS
"There is a lot of fun political science research that has found voters tend to punish or reward their leaders for things like weather, changes in oil prices, and even grasshopper infestations — events that aren’t actually attributable to politicians’ decisions."
--Max Fisher and Amanda Taub, New York Times, April 9, 2021


"Though we are not in the same bad way today, the proliferation of GOP voter suppression bills is beginning to feel eerily similar to Trump’s “flood the zone” tactic. We must fight GOP voter suppression tactics whenever and wherever they appear. The good news is that we spent the last four years training for this fight. We can win. Don’t let anyone tell you differently."
-- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, April 9, 2021
Indivisibles make the best signs! INCO's Rally for Science, April 14, 2018, in Astoria.
HAPPENINGS
VIRTUAL
Tuesday, April 13 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, April 12 for your Zoom link.

Saturday,  April 17 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m - noon. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.

EVERY FRIDAY: The INCO Write to Voters group invites you to a Zoom open house for informal chat and writing to voters in special elections and for ballot issues every Friday from 3-4 pm. Pets and children are welcome. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom invitation from Bebe. 
INSIGHTS
"In politics, being deceived is no excuse."
-- Leszek Kolakowski