Action: Keep Focused.

Monday January 9th.

Friends, it is important to keep our focus and not get distracted.   Last night's Golden Globes were fun and Meryl made it gooey and chewy for our side.   Nice.  But there are huge events taking place this week and we need to stay disciplined.  Don't give the media what it wants which is a pissing war over celebrities.    We can't scratch that itch.   And by the way I drove right into the Golden Globes yesterday heading west on Santa Monica Blvd.  And I'm still not scratching the itch.

Instead here's where we need our focus.

Tuesday in Virginia is the special election for three progressive democrats.  So we need to help right now!

Can you PLEASE make phone calls today or tomorrow?   Every phone call you do from your home is a phone call the Virginia Teams do not have to do and they can focus on canvassing and arranging pick ups and drop offs for voters.     Also can you shoot $10 or $20 to each candidate?  That will help!    You can do both by going to their links.

Cheryl Turpin 

Ryant Washington 

Jennifer McClellan



Jeff Sessions is going before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday & Wednesday.  
Please call and voice your concern about this insane appointee.

To learn your script go HERE and sign up.
Also Indivisible Nation   has some push back help on Rex Tillerson for Secy of State.   And just the insanity of January 11 where they are trying to cram in too many appointees and Trump has his first Press Conference booked.

Per Indivisible Nation:  Bug the Bobs! Between 12:30 and 2 PM on Tuesday, call Sen. Bob Corker and Sen. Bob Menendez on the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer if you're a New Yorker. Your own Senator if you are in a different state.  A blitz effort with the script below shows that there is an organized effort to block Tillerson's nomination - and that makes our representatives pay attention.

Script: Hi, my name is ___________. I'm a (constituent/concerned citizen) and I strongly oppose the nomination of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State because he...(pick one or more!):
--has close ties with Russia and Putin
--has called for an end to sanctions against Russia...while Exxon lost $1 billion due to those very sanctions
--has zero diplomacy experience
--has refused to submit his tax returns to the Judiciary committee for review. What is he hiding? 

I also believe that January 11th is far too chaotic a day for a serious hearing on his appointment, because there are several other hearings that day as well as the Senate “Vote-A-Rama” -- please work to postpone this hearing.

Here is a helpful link on who and what to say as well.


Going forward for the rest of the week.   I am copying the email from Michele at Small Deeds Done.  You should sign up for their emails.   But here is the low down for this week committee appointees.   Lord it is starting to feel like villains gathering in a James Bond film.

• Homeland security committee:
  • Ron Johnson Chair.
  • Claire McCaskill is the ranking Dem.
  • General John Kelly (Dep't of Homeland Security) hearing is at  Tuesday at 3:30 EST.
  • He has not completed his ethics review.

• Armed Services Committee:
  • John McCain Chair
  • Claire McCaskill is a member
  • The Committee has set the hearing for General Mattis for Thursday at 9:30 EST.  But on Tuesday they will have a hearing about civilian control of the armed services; after Mattis's Thursday hearing they will consider legislation that would waive the requirement that a nominee have been retired from active service for 7 years. Because of the Tuesday pre-hearing hearing, I have it scheduled for your Tuesday attention.
  • Tuesday's panelists are Eliot Cohen and Dr. Kathleen Hicks.
  • Cohen wrote a book about US military strategy called The Big Stick. He’s been quite critical of the Trump transition and administration.
  • Hicks has worked in both D and R administrations and was most recently appointed by Obama to be Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Department of Defense.

Wednesday:

• Health, Labor, Education & Pensions
  • Alexander Lamar Chairman: (202)224 5375
  • The Committee has set the hearing for Betsy DeVos for Wednesday at 10:00.
  • DeVos has not completed her questionnaire.

• Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Senator Corker Chair: (202) 224-4651
  • Rex Tillerson (Department of State) at 9:15 AM Wednesday.
  • I cannot count the number of reasons why his appointment would be terrible. I wrote about him previously here.

• Commerce, Science and Transportation
  • The Committee has set the hearing for Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation for Wednesday at 10:15.
  • John Thune, Chairman
  • Roy Blunt is a member.

Thursday:

• Banking, Housing and Urban Development
  • Mike Crapo (ID) Chair: (202) 224-7391
  • The Committee has set the hearing for Ben Carson for HUD for Thursday at 10:00.

• Commerce, Science and Transportation:  202-224-1251
  • John Thune (SD), Chair: 202-224-1251
  • Roy Blunt is a member
  • Wilbur Ross for Commerce set for Thursday at 10:00.

SUPPORT SENATE BILL 27: CALL FOR A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION INTO RUSSIAN HACKING

As you probably know by now, the declassified version of the Intelligence Community Assessment regarding Russian interference in our election has been released. You can read it here. Now it's time to do something about the information we've learned.

Senate Bill 27 (which you can read here) would establish a bipartisan commission on Russian hacking. It has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee. Guess who’s the chairman of that committee? Roy Blunt. Call his office(s) to let him know you’re looking forward to hearing about what he's planning to do about Russian hacking. (202) 224-5721 (D.C.) and (314) 727-3548 (St. Louis). (Psst: here we are working to get him to let the bill out of the rules committee and onto the floor for a vote, or really to take any action on it and not let it die. You can ask whether he's going to have a hearing on it so that you can look for that, or ask other questions about plans for the bill. The point is, you want to make sure that he and his staff understand that you're watching him.)

MISSOURI GENERAL ASSEMBLY - RIGHT TO WORK

This week, both the Missouri House and Senate will have hearings on Right to Work bills. On Tuesday, the House will have a hearing at 2:00 pm in House Basement Hearing Room 3 to discuss HBs 42, 91, 131, 256 and 314 (all "Right to Work" bills).
There will also be a hearing in the Senate on Wednesday at noon for another Right to Work bill. Time to call your Missouri State Representative and Senator (find them here) to let them know that Right to Work is Wrong for Missouri.

If you need a refresher on Right to Work, you can see what I wrote previously about it here.

Do you see why we don't have time to get worked up about Meryl and Trump?  

Please tick some of these items off your To-Do list.