5-29-23 Newsletter

 

Heather Cox Richardson remembers Beau Bryant, a young man who served our country. "Some things are made harder by expecting them to be easy."  It's whack-a-mole time as Republican extremists and reactionary judges dismantle long-established social safety nets, environmental regulations, and voting and reproductive rights; undermine the rule of law, and ignore the values and wishes of most Americans.    You can help make things better. •  Write to voters, support pro-democracy organizations, and speak up for your neighbors and community. •  Read Timothy Snyder's ON TYRANNY, TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY for a primer on resisting and defeating authoritarianism. •  Watch Bryan Cranston in the film, TRUMBO, and George Clooney in GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK about real people who resisted America's embrace of tyranny in the 1950s.  •  Don't wait for someone else to step up for you.   "There is important work to do; we are just the ones to do it." SENATOR WEBER CONTINUES TO DEFY HER OATH OF OFFICE Now we know what she really thinks about democracy "Oregon Senate Republicans on Tuesday declared they're willing to return to the floor to pass bipartisan legislation and budget bills on June 25, the final day of the session." -- The Astorian and Oregon Capital Chronicle, May 25, 2023 "Republicans plan to challenge the constitutional amendment in court that voters approved last year to prevent walkouts from halting legislative work" -- Oregon Capital Chronicle, May 25, 2023   Contact Senator Suzanne Weber at 503-986-1716 or at  Sen​.SuzanneWeber@oregonlegislature.gov REPUBLICANS MANUFACTURED THE DEBT CRISIS    President Biden looks like a winner with the tentative budget and debt limit bill agreed on over the weekend. How did he manage it? Will it pass Congress's Wednesday vote? Jay Kuo provides some answers. * * * * * * * * * * *  "Republicans in Congress have turned their backs on the American people; they are shamelessly holding the country hostage by refusing to raise the debt ceiling without deeply slashing programs that provide support to millions of vulnerable Americans. "The Republicans are blaming this crisis on so-called "reckless spending," when in fact, they are causing it with their political theater. Plus, it's astounding to see them label important programs like SNAP food assistance, education, veterans benefits, and affordable housing assistance as "reckless." "Let's be clear: Republicans didn't complain about raising the debt limit when Donald Trump was in the White House – they did it three times without conditions. "In fact, Donald Trump and his massive tax cuts added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase." -- Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, newsletter, May 25, 2023 --Jessica Craven; Chop Wood, Carry Water, May 23, 2023 TIME TO TARGET TARGET "Citing concern for staff safety, Target has yielded to the loudest voices and will be removing some LGBTQIA+ Pride items from their shelves.   "Let’s remind Target that when they give in to the worst impulses in society, those impulses will grow; we expect them to stand firmly with the LGBTQIA+ community or cease their rainbow-washing completely.  We can write to Target at Corporate.Responsibility@target.com." -- Jessica Craven; Chop Wood, Carry Water, May 26, 2023 We've learned that haters will seek new people and groups to attack. It might not be you this time, but it could be you next. Please tell Target their decision is not acceptable, at Corporate.Responsibility@target.com. DEMOCRACY DOCKET "Democracy Docket hit an important milestone! Our comprehensive case database now contains over 600 voting rights, elections and redistricting lawsuits. Find summaries, filings and updates for the cases we're tracking on our site." -- Democracy Docket newsletter, May 25, 2023 -- 'Andrea Mitchell Reports' on MSNBC HAPPENINGS Thursday, June 8 - INCO Community Meeting, via Zoom. Social time at 6 pm; meeting is 6:30-7:30 pm. All INCO members are invited to attend. We meet the 2nd Thursday of each month. Link to join Zoom meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87835618044  Meeting ID: 878 3561 8044 One tap mobile +12532050468,,87835618044# US +12532158782,,87835618044# US (Tacoma) INSIGHTS    “The very force of his personality both created and crippled.  How much more could he have accomplished had he been kinder?  But then, dynamism and kindness often didn’t go together, though when they did they were unstoppable.” -- Louise Penny, BURY YOUR DEAD Indivisible defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. 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      May 29, 2023 Website Email Twitter Copyright © 2023 INDIVISIBLE North Coast Oregon, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or signed up at a community group meeting. Our mailing address is: *|766 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103:HTML|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

5-22-23 Newsletter

 

GET BACK TO WORK RALLY Tuesday, May 23 at 5 - 6 pm Corner of First and Highway 101, Tillamook Organizations working together to stop the Republican state senators’ obstructionism are planning rallies in three parts of Oregon, including in Senate District 16. This is our senate district, represented by our senator, Suzanne Weber, a Republican from Tillamook.  These 13 senators are blocking policies they don’t like by walking off the job and preventing the legislature from functioning. By this action, they are subverting democracy and betraying their oath of office. Our policies and budgets can’t pass until all the lawmakers who are skipping work show up! What do you think about Senator Weber's actions? INCO urges you to contact her ASAP.    State Senator Suzanne Weber Capitol Phone: 503-986-1716  District Phone: 503-300-4493 Email: Sen​.SuzanneWeber@oregonlegislature.gov EMBRACING COMMON NEEDS "At the same time the right wing seems to be losing its humanity millions on our side are digging deeper into theirs, embracing common needs, leveraging love, growing community. It’s deeply heartening." -- Jessica Craven; Chop Wood, Carry Water, May 19, 2023   "Millions of Americans have risen to help redeem democracy and restore the rule of law. That is hard work. But it is the shared work of millions. Bless you for all you do! But recognize that it is not all on your shoulders. We are here for one another in times of victory, defeat, sorrow, and joy." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, May 20, 2023 STATE BUDGET INVESTS IN OREGON         •  $9.9 billion, K-12 education $3.9 billion, other school-related costs $10.7 billion, human services (includes the Oregon State Hospital, behavioral health and raises for home health care workers) $3 billion, public safety (includes corrections, state police, district attorney's offices, child support, and the Oregon Military Department) These are the largest items in Oregon's budget. Find out more in State Rep. David Gomberg's weekly newsletter. He represents House District 10, which is Tillamook County and points south and east. This issue also describes the impact of the walkout by Oregon's Republican Senators. Read more and sign up for his weekly newsletter here.  HAPPENINGS Thursday, June 8 - INCO Community Meeting, via Zoom. Social time at 6 pm; meeting is 6:30-7:30 pm. All INCO members are invited to attend. We meet the 2nd Thursday of each month. Link to join Zoom meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87835618044  Meeting ID: 878 3561 8044 One tap mobile +12532050468,,87835618044# US +12532158782,,87835618044# US (Tacoma) INSIGHTS   “The rule of law is precisely as robust as our willingness to fight for it. And to fight for it is not quite the same thing as to ask, ‘Isn’t there a law?’”   -- Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Indivisible defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. 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      May 22, 2023 Website Email Twitter Copyright © 2023 INDIVISIBLE North Coast Oregon, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or signed up at a community group meeting. Our mailing address is: *|766 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103:HTML|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

5-15-23 Newsletter

 

REPUBLICAN WALKOUTS INCO joins thousands of Oregonians outraged that Republican legislators refuse to do their jobs. Here is INCO'S letter to the editor to regional newspapers and to our state senator, Suzanne Weber. We urge you to write her, to sen.suzanneweber@oregonlegislature.gov - - - - - - - - - -     Most of us want our elected leaders to work together for the common good. We were excited to see that our state legislators were addressing pressing issues facing Oregonians and real solutions seemed likely. So, how devastating that all this came to a screeching halt because Republican legislators walked out, breaking their oath of office. Even though 94% of the bills seeing action this session have bipartisan support, these important bills are frozen. These bills deal with healthcare, constitutional rights, broadband funding, domestic terrorism, wildfire risk reduction, workforce education, and more. We are discouraged that our state senator, Suzanne Weber, chose to walk out of the legislature with her GOP colleagues rather than stay and do the people’s business – work they are paid to do by the taxpayers. These walkouts are performative childish tantrums designed to undermine the democratic process. Oregonians deserve better and voted last year to limit these obstructive walkouts. That ballot initiative, Measure 113, passed with the support of a majority in every state senate district. How appalling that the Republican legislators show such contempt for their constituents. We hope that by the time this letter is printed, the Republicans are back at work and committed to fulfilling their duties.  Contact Senator Weber at sen.suzanneweber@oregonlegislature.gov to let her know that you expect her to show up and do her job. BALLOTS DUE OR POSTMARKED BY MAY 16 If you haven't received your ballot or Voters' Pamphlet or need to replace your ballot, contact Clatsop County Elections ASAP, at 503-325-8605, or go to the office at 820 Exchange, Suite 200, Astoria. Ballots are due or must be postmarked by May 16. Your vote can make the difference. Several recent elections in Clatsop County were won - or lost - by only a handful of votes.  BE A VOTER! INCO is not affiliated with any political party. Because INCO shares many values with Clatsop County Democrats, we think you might want to see their endorsements for the May 16 election. THERE'S MORE TO WIN "The future is bigger than our imaginations. It’s unimaginable, and then it comes anyway. To meet it we need to keep going, to walk past what we can imagine. We need to be unstoppable. And here’s what it takes: you don’t stop walking to congratulate yourself; you don’t stop walking to wallow in despair; you don’t stop because your own life got too comfortable or too rough; you don’t stop because you won; you don’t stop because you lost. There’s more to win, more to lose, others who need you. "You don’t stop walking because there is no way forward. Of course there is no way. You walk the path into being, you make the way, and if you do it well, others can follow the route. You look backward to grasp the long history you’re moving forward from, the paths others have made, the road you came in on. You look forward to possibility.  That’s what we mean by hope, and you look past it into the impossible and that doesn’t stop you either. But mostly you just walk, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot. That’s what makes you unstoppable." -- Rebecca Solnit, "What Comes After Hope," 2013 HAPPENINGS Thursday, June 8 - INCO Community Meeting, via Zoom. Social time at 6 pm; meeting is 6:30-7:30 pm. All INCO members are invited to attend. We meet the 2nd Thursday of each month. Link to join Zoom meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87835618044  Meeting ID: 878 3561 8044 One tap mobile +12532050468,,87835618044# US +12532158782,,87835618044# US (Tacoma) INSIGHTS   "There is no empathy without curiosity, no respect without knowledge, no other way to learn what Jews first taught the world: love your neighbor." -- Dara Horn, The Atlantic, May 2023 Indivisible defends democracy by opposing authoritarianism, bigotry, and corruption. 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      May 15, 2023 Website Email Twitter Copyright © 2023 INDIVISIBLE North Coast Oregon, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website or signed up at a community group meeting. Our mailing address is: *|766 Lexington Avenue, Astoria, OR 97103:HTML|* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.