1-31-2022 Newsletter

 

Sign up for the Zoom link and submit your questions for Nick Kristof here.  Information about Kristof is here.

Sign up for the Zoom link and submit your questions for Tina Kotek here. Information about Kotek is here.

CONNECT WITH STATE SENATOR RACHEL ARMITAGE Sen.RachelArmitage@oregonlegislature.gov  503-986-1716 FB: State Senator Rachel Armitage Instagram: @senrachelarmitage Senator Armitage is our interim state senator and will serve through this year. Voters will elect a new state senator in November. Armitage is a Democrat from Warren. Her senate committee assignments are: Veterans & Emergency Preparedness, Finance & Revenue, and Joint Information Management and Technology (which she will co-chair).  She wants to hear from you and asks that you let her know about local meetings you'd like her to attend.

SIGN 3 PROGRESSIVE BALLOT INITIATIVES AT HOME  Three Oregon ballot initiatives, supported by progressive organizations, have started collecting signatures to place the initiatives on the November, 2022 ballot. You can print, sign and mail those petitions to each campaign office from the comfort of your home. Those initiatives are: 1.  IP 6, titled the OR People's Rebate, which would increase the corporate activities tax by 2% on profit over $25 million dollars and then rebate all that increased revenue to Or residents of the year before.  Expectation is that each qualified individual would receive an annual rebate of $750; $3000 for a family of four, thus moving revenue from the largest national and international corporations to the people. Visit the OR People’s Rebate website for full details and text of measures.  Print the single signature sheet here.                                                                                                                         The next two petitions were written and the signature drives have been organized by Lift Every Voice Oregon, a coalition of Oregon faith leaders to end gun violence in Oregon. 2.  IP 17 -  The Reduction of Gun Violence Act states “All firearm purchasers will need a permit to buy a firearm. Before issuance, the permit applicant must successfully complete a background check (regardless of how long it takes),as well as pass both a firearm safety training class and a live-fire training session.”  Read the full summery here. 3.  IP 18 – The Reduction From Harm from Weapons Act states “The manufacture, import, possession, use, purchase and otherwise transferring of semiautomatic assault firearms, as defined in the initiative petition, are banned.”  Read the full summary here.                                Visit the Lift Every Voice Oregon website for full details and text of measures IP 17 and 18. Print the single signature sheet for IP 17 here and for IP 18 here.   If you want to gather signatures, that information is on the Lift Every Voice website and the OR People’s Rebate website.  -- David Delk, INCO activist and chair, Oregon Progressive Party

WHO SAID THAT? I've enjoyed sharing quotes in the newsletter's INCO INSIGHTS. I've compiled them in Word documents, so you can be inspired and share their wisdom, inspiration, and humor. If you'd like to have a copy of these quotes, contact me at incoregon@gmail.com. -- Laurie Caplan

"BE A HERO" "That's the beauty of democracy, that together we can be more than our individual selves."  -- Activist Ady Barkan, featured in "Not Going Quietly," a documentary about his activism while living with ALS. The film is on PBS through 3/25/22.

REASONS TO WRITE FOR JAMIE  Strengthen the Democratic majority in Congress   Be part of a statewide effort to support Jamie McLeod-Skinner for Congress, Oregon's District 5. Jamie’s priorities are to address the climate crisis, support working families and economic recovery, and protect our democracy. If you'd like to write postcards to Oregon voters for her campaign, please contact incoregon@gmail.com.

WHO SHOULD GET YOUR TIME AND MONEY? "The States Project is dedicated to flipping control at the state level in legislatures and governorships. The model of The States Project is for volunteers to form a circle of friends who join together to support specific races in “target” states. Strategic investments of small amounts of money can yield tremendous swings in political power at the state level. For example, if Democrats can flip just two seats each in the Arizona Senate and House in 2022, they will gain control of state government in a critical swing state going into 2024. The amount of money necessary to swing a state election is a fraction of the amount of money necessary to flip a U.S. Senate seat or competitive House seat. "If you are looking for a way to get involved and make a big difference with individual donations, The States Project is for you. Check out this podcast about the critical role of state legislatures." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, January 23, 2022

SHOULD YOU BE A COUNTY COMMISSIONER? Three Clatsop County Commissioner positions are on the May 17 ballot, for Districts 1, 3, and 5. District maps are here. Filing deadline for the May 17 primary is March 8. Get more information from Clatsop County Elections Department here or at 503-325-8605.   If you don't run, who will?

HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, February 8 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, February 7 for your Zoom link. Saturday, February 12- INCO Warrenton Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 am. Contact incoregon@gmail.com by February 11 for more information. Saturday, February 19 - INCO Astoria - North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11am - noon. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com by February 18 to get the Zoom link.  Every Friday - INCO Write to Voters (WTV) via Zoom, 3-4 pm. Informal chat while we write letters and postcards to voters. If you are new to this event, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.  Write To Voters - Elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote letter campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies, stamps, or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com.

INSIGHTS  "I don't believe in crying over my bridge until I've eaten it." -- Noel Coward, "Private Lives"

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. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter   January 31, 2022

1-24-2022 Newsletter

 

WHO WILL SPEND YOUR TAX DOLLARS? Three Clatsop County Commissioner positions are on the May 17 ballot, for Districts 1, 3, and 5. District maps are here. Commissioners make budget and policy decisions that affect everyone in Clatsop County. It's a big job that includes meeting with commissioners from other counties, with city and state officials, and, of course, with constituents. Filing deadline for the May 17 primary is March 8. Get more information from Clatsop County Elections Department here or at 503-325-8605.   If you don't run, who will?

COIN VOLUNTEERS CHECK OUT LEGISLATION The COIN State Legislative Team is already reviewing possible legislation for the 5-week Oregon legislative session starting in February. COIN's other teams are Advocacy, Oregon Democracy Project, Social Media Team, Voter Outreach, and #WeCare. Thanks to INCO activists Cheryl Conway, Mary Beth Cottle, and Kathleen Macdonald for being our liaisons to COIN. To sign up for a team or for some short-term jobs to assist these volunteers, please sign-up here.

INCO EN ESPANOL INCO activist Cheryl Conway is working with members of the area's Spanish-speaking community to translate INCO info into Spanish! Check out this new feature on INCO's webpage. Thanks to everyone who's helping INCO reach out to more of our neighbors. Apologies for the missing tilde ˜ in the headline. Bienvenidos vecinos

Sign up for the Zoom link and submit your questions for Nick Kristof here.

MORE ABOUT MELISSA Kudos to Melissa Busch for her thoughtful, informed answers at INCO's Zoom meeting with her on January 22.  She is the only Democrat who's filed for Senate District 16. The only Republican candidate so far is Suzanne Weber, our current state representative, who opposes most progressive positions and values that INCO stands for and that Melissa supported on Saturday. If you'd like to contact Melissa, she's at melissa@melissafororegon.com and 503-312-7152. More information about Melissa is here.

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? We progressives have lots to be proud of! • President Biden's accomplishments • Congratulating our interim state senator, Rachel Armitage • Democrats work to guarantee voting rights in all states; Republicans oppose those bills. Share your values and opinions in a Letter to the Editor. Readers love short letters, so you can write 2 sentences or a paragraph, or even up to 250 words if you're so inspired. Send to editor@dailyastorian.com, with your contact info.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW STATE SENATOR The five county commissions in Senate District 16 chose Rachel Armitage to be the interim state senator on January 14. Armitage is not running for the office in the May primary and has endorsed Melissa Busch to be elected as state senator.

WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? We progressives have lots to be proud of! • President Biden's accomplishments • Congratulating our interim state senator, Rachel Armitage • Democrats work to guarantee voting rights in all states; Republicans oppose those bills. Share your values and opinions in a Letter to the Editor. Readers love short letters, so you can write 2 sentences or a paragraph, or even up to 250 words if you're so inspired. Send to editor@dailyastorian.com, with your contact info.

CLATSOP COMMUNITY SURVEY DUE WEDNESDAY  Please take part in this online community survey seeking input about the county as a place to live, work and play. The survey is here, on the Clatsop County website. All responses are anonymous, although participants are invited to enter their email addresses in order to receive future communications and surveys from the county. This new survey will be available to residents through January 26.

MESSAGING WEBINAR IS THURSDAY The Progressive Turnout Project invites you  to hear the winning messages that we can all use to rally Democrats to vote, including our family and friends, between now and the midterm elections! Sign up now for this Zoom event on Thursday, Jan. 27 at 5 pm Pacific Time. Leading messaging expert Anat Shenker-Osorio will present the best research-proven messages. Her team provided invaluable messaging advice to COIN's Oregon Democracy Project.

REASONS TO WRITE FOR JAMIE  Coastal Oregonians should care who gets elected to the US House from District 5 "While Jamie was leading the wildfire disaster recovery effort in Talent, Oregon, securing housing and obtaining millions of dollars in aid, (incumbent Kurt ) Schrader was voting against stimulus checks, voting against raising the minimum wage, and voting against extending housing assistance during the pandemic." -- Mary Chaffin, Oregon Indivisible from Sisters You can be part of a statewide effort to support Jamie McLeod-Skinner for Congress, District 5. If you'd like to write postcards to voters for her campaign, please contact incoregon@gmail.com.

HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, February 8 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, February 7 for your Zoom link. Saturday, February 12- INCO Warrenton Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m.  Contact incoregon@gmail.com by February 11 for more information. Saturday, February 19 - INCO Astoria - North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11am - noon. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com by February 18 to get the Zoom link.  Every Friday - INCO Write to Voters (WTV) via Zoom, 3-4 pm. Informal chat while we write letters and postcards to voters. If you are new to this event, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link.  Write To Voters - Elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote letter campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies, stamps, or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com.

INSIGHTS  “Don’t live your life as though it’s your last day,  but treat others as though it’s their last day.” — Anonymous , New York Times Reader Comment

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. Look for the INCO column in Hipfish Monthly. We're on Facebook, too. INCO Weekly Newsletter   January 24, 2022