Category: Resistance Letters

Resistance Letter #38

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

OUR MISSION: Rebuild and maintain a progressive majority in every level of government – federal, state and local.

 

December 17, 2017
Day 330 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 Taxscam Close to Approval

Republicans exist to lower taxes and transfer wealth to the already rich. It’s their thing. If there were any shred of Lincolnian philosophy left in that party, it’s difficult to discern. Lacking an Act of God, some deus ex machina, both houses will vote on a reconciled taxscam sometime this upcoming week. All the opposition (even Senator Corker!) has folded and numbers seem to be there for the approval. Thad Cochran could stay recuperating in Mississippi, and John McCain could rest a little more in Bethesda Hospital, and then we need just one more ‘no’ vote! Rand Paul, McCain, Corker and Flake are still remote possibilities of possessing common decency, so our Calls to Action include them this final week of the congressional session. After the taxscam vote and after addressing the budget and national debt issues, Congress will break for the holidays, leaving Trump alone in Washington to do whatever he is going to do!

 

OR1 District-wide Training

 All OR-1Activist Indivisibilities are invited to a training session to be held Saturday January 6, 2018. Here is the event Info URL https://www.facebook.com/events/1311382142304990 or https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1603da7f4316adc6

Saturday Jan 6, 1-5pm

Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ
5150 SW Watson Ave
Beaverton, OR 97005

 

Taxscam Protest

Anticipating passing of the bill, local progressives, led by Indivisible, will met at the corner of NW Murray and NW Cornell on Monday between 4 and 5 PM. Bring your signs and warm clothing!!

 

Trump v Mueller

Rumors and speculation abound about the possibility of Trump daring to fire Mueller and shut down the investigation. Certainly, the Republicans, including especially Senator Cornyn of TX, have been at pains to trash the integrity of Mueller, his associates, the FBI and the investigation. Some observers feel that Trump will act as soon as the Congress all go home for the break. He might.

But take heart from the obvious fact that Mueller is not stupid, and he will be ready for any eventuality that occurs. He and the investigation are not defenseless, and Trump and his mustachioed lawyer, Ty Cobb, have to look on him as a dangerous individual to attack.

Christmas is pardon time, though! If Trump preemptively pardons people like Cushner and his boys, you may look for an immediate challenge in the Supreme Court .

Should Trump attempt to dismiss/fire Mueller, ICM has a protest planned. If the news of firing reaches us prior to 2PM local time, we will assemble at 5:00PM that day. If the incident occurs after 2PM local time, the protest starts at noon the next day. In either case, assemble at NW Murray and NW Cornell to make a lot of outrage and noise about this.

 

A Reckless Con Man as President

Read today’s LA Times op-ed piece on Trump. The writer maintains Trump is not the most important issue today, although he is horrible enough. But, what is in the American psyche that allowed 68 million people to cast votes for this con man, knowing that he was an ignorant, crude and immoral bully?

‘A reckless con man as president’: LA Times burns Trump to the ground in brutal editorial

 

CALLS TO ACTION

Call Senators Merkley and Wyden and Representative Suzanne Bonamici to urge them to put a premium on solving the DACA situation.

Senator Ron Wyden – 202-224-5244
Senator Jeff Merkley – 202-224-3753
Representative Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855

These four senators remain a distant possibility of a ‘no’ vote, very distant!

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521
Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235
Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344
Senator Rand Paul – 202 -224-4343

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, January 8, at 1750 NW 131st, 97229. Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments, both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks.  

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #37A

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

December 12, 2017
Day 325 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

We Ain’t Dead Yet, Redux.

We are still breathing.

Doug Jones’ victory in Alabama tonight will cause some soul searching and political recalculation in the Senate. Let us continue to make those calls to Flake, Collins, McCain and Moran, and any other senators on your personal radar. Jones’s triumph is a body-blow to Trumpism , and may have taken the wind out of some senatorial sails.

We’ll only stop opposing this taxscam when the last nail is in the coffin, and both houses have passed this monstrous legislation. No Surrender here!

Losing this taxscam battle, after losing Alabama, would be crippling to the Republican cause.

 

DACA Likely To Be Deferred

Schumer and Pelosi have both indicated that DACA negotiations will not be a bargaining chip in debt and budget negotiations. The Democrats don’t want to take the blame for any resulting government shut-down, and it is unlikely that anything could be done with DACA unless it is coupled with some border security funding. Remember too, that any DACA solution still needs Trump’s signature on it. There is no way you can bet on a veto-proof vote in both houses.

Alabama chooses: Pedophile or Democrat?

They appear to have chosen a Democrat! Mirabile dictu!

 

OR1 District-wide Training

All OR-1Activist Indivisiblovians are invited to a training session to be held Saturday January 6, 2018. Here is the event Info URL https://www.facebook.com/events/1311382142304990 or https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1603da7f4316adc6
Saturday Jan 6, 1-5pm
Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ
5150 SW Watson Ave
Beaverton, OR 97005

 

CALLS TO ACTION

Call Senators Merkley and Wyden and Representative Suzanne Bonamici to urge them to put a premium on solving the DACA situation.

Senator Ron Wyden – 202-224-5244
Senator Jeff Merkley – 202-224-3753
Representative Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855

This senator stayed true to his word on deficits. A call of thanks would be in order, because this vote will come up again.

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

These two senators need to be reminded of their core principles regarding deficits and doing what is ‘good for America,’ not the Republican Party. They both should be reminded that both McConnell and Trump are not men of their word and cannot be trusted.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521
Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

These senators think they have made a deal about elimination of the ACA mandates with a promise of future legislation to be passed and signed prior to taxscam vote. That legislation is very unlikely to be passed and signed prior to the taxscam vote. Tell them not to be fooled; eliminating the mandate will cripple health care.

Senator Jerry Moran (KS) – 202-224-6521
Senator Susan Collins (ME) – 202-224-2523

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, January 8, at 1750 NW 131st, 97229. Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM. Refreshments, both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #37

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

December 10, 2017
Day 323 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 

 We Ain’t Dead Yet

The Senate and House versions of the taxscam are now in a reconciliation committee with members chosen by both parties in the House. It is the job of that committee to produce a bill merging the different versions passed in the separate legislatures. They cannot add anything to the original bills, but they can delete and modify as they wish. The finished bill out of that committee goes to both the House and the Senate for a final vote, and both houses must approve the bill. The Republicans hope that they can bring this to the floor quickly by December 18 or 19, 2017. To do this, they have actually forgone their recess due to start December 15.

The final reconciled bill will not be out of committee very long before the Republicans rush it to a vote. It is unclear if the Democrats will stall the vote using parliamentary tactics. Let us hope they do so, that the finished bill can be read closely. The more time we have, the better.

Senator Corker is the sole Republican ‘no’ vote at this time. Senator Collins and Moran have struck a deal that they will approve taxscam if a compensating legislation re the mandate elimination can be passed and signed before the taxscam vote. Obviously this is not going to happen, so their votes may be up for grabs.

Senator Flake has voted for the bill, but may still be a candidate for a negative vote. He recently sent a donation to Democrat Doug Jones of Alabama for the ‘good of America.’ Perhaps he can see finally that this taxscam with its huge deficit load is also not ‘good for America.’ He is on the record opposing deficit spending, so maybe he just needs a good reason to reconsider things. Senator McCain should also be reminded of what’s ‘good for America;’ he may yet be a no vote, depending on what comes out of committee.

See the Calls to Action for suggestions and telephone numbers.

 

DACA May Be in Play

The Democrats may possibly attempt to tie a deal on The Dreamers to raising the national debt and other fiscal matters. Surprisingly, the House passed the latest Continuing Resolution(CR) to finance the government without any Democratic support; they may not be able to do that again with the fractious Freedom Caucus objecting to spending priorities. That spending stopgap ends on December 22, so there will be pressure to get that done and get home for Christmas break. They may try to pass a budget, but more likely will try for another CR. Call Senators Merkley and Wyden and Representative Bonamici to insist that any spending bill be held hostage to dealing with DACA.

 

Women’s March 2018

Nation-wide marches are being planned for January 20, 2018. Portland has yet to file a plan and get permits, but this will probably happen. Most major cities have something going. Something will happen in DC, but no firm announcements have been made. See this URL for current information: https://qz.com/1139150/womens-march-2018-when-and-where-it-starts-in-new-york-los-angeles-chicago-philadelphia-san-francisco-and-more/

 

Alabama chooses: Pedophile or Democrat?

It really does appear to be up in the air! Recent polls show a closing race with that sexual predator Roy Moore drawing closer to Democrat Doug Jones. Oh, Alabama, have you no decency yet?

Most races depend largely on voter turnout, on voter motivation. Special elections tend to have low voter participation. Black voters in Alabama do not seem to be too invested in this race so far. Many organizations and civil rights icons are in there trying to rally Alabama  black voters, but active voters in Alabama favor the whites by a three to one ratio – about 2.5 million whites to 850 thousand blacks. Indivisible National has set up a website where you can help the situation easily from the relative comfort of your home, and increase the voter turnout for both black and whites. Go to http://www.indivisible.org/gotv-alabama/  to get started.

 

OR1 District-wide Training

All OR-1 Activist Indivisibilinarians are invited to a training session to be held Saturday January 6, 2018. Here is the event Info URL https://www.facebook.com/events/1311382142304990 or https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/1603da7f4316adc6

Saturday Jan 6, 1-5pm

Bethel Congregational United Church of Christ
5150 SW Watson Ave
Beaverton, OR 97005

 

CALLS TO ACTION

Call Senators Merkley and Wyden and Representative Suzanne Bonamici to urge them to include a DACA solution when dealing with Republicans on budgets and deficits. The Democrats would definitely be in the catbird seat if a budget is to be passed. They may be in a position to make a deal if a Continuing Resolution is needed.

Senator Ron Wyden – 202-224-5244
Senator Jeff Merkley – 202-224-3753
Representative Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855

This senator stayed true to his word on deficits. A call of thanks would be in order, just in case this vote comes up again.

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

These two senators need to be reminded of their core principles regarding deficits and doing what is ‘good for America,’ not the Republican Party. They both should be reminded that both McConnell and Trump are not men of their word and cannot be trusted.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521
Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

These senators think they have made a deal about elimination of the ACA mandates with a promise of future legislation to be passed and signed prior to taxscam vote. That legislation is very unlikely to be passed and signed prior to the taxscam vote. Tell them not to be fooled; eliminating the mandate will cripple health care.

Senator Jerry Moran (KS) – 202-224-6521
Senator Susan Collins (ME) – 202-224-2523

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, December 11, at 1750 NW 131st, 97229. Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. Ethan Krow of yesforhealth will explain tactics to support R101 and our opportunities to participate. Assemblyman Mitch Greenlick will be at the meeting to talk to us about the legislature’s healthcare concerns, and why R101 should be approved, and the consequences if it is not.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #35A

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

 

Resistance Letter #35A
November 29, 2017
Day 312 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 

NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL

Today’s NYT has a strong editorial condemning the taxscam and its huge transfer of wealth to the already wealthy. They have urged their readers to call all the senators we have been working on plus Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. Let’s follow their advice and make the phone calls below!

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/29/new-york-times-editorial-gop-tax-bill-268475

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Schumer, asking him to hold the Democratic coalition together. Call the other two senators, asking them to not break ranks on the taxscam. They have all been a bit wobbly. Use the deficit, elimination of SALT and corporate give away as reason to stay the course!

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

Senator Joe Manchin(WV) 202-224-3954

Senator Heidi Heitkamp(ND) – 202-224-2043

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $150 billion dollars a year for the next ten years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These three senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit. They are previously, on the record, as openly opposed to increasing deficits.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

The Senate version of taxscam calls for elimination of the mandate for ACA participation. Tell these senators that you and they are concerned with driving the needy out of medical care through ACA’s increased rates if the mandate is removed.

Senator Jerry Moran (KS) – 202-224-6521

Senator Susan Collins (ME) – 202-224-2523

Senator James Lankford (OK)  — 202-224-5754

Lisa Murkowski is an independent sort of character and she is not afraid of opposing the big powers in the establishment in Washington. She has indicated that she is not offended by the elimination of the mandate.  But she does have an eye out for her constituents, many of whom depend on Medicaid for health care. Tell her that the $1.5T deficit will assure the minimization of health care in coming years.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) – 202-224–2665

No surrender!

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #35

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

 

Resistance Letter #35
November 26, 2017
Day 309 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 

TAXSCAM SENATE OPPOSITION AND CALENDAR

All our opposition to taxscam is focused on the Senate. There is an excellent chance, increasing daily, of killing this bill before it gets to the Senate floor. McConnell needs 50 votes to pass it; he has a majority of only two senators. The loss of three senators will doom the bill.

Senator Ron Johnson (WI) still opposes the bill as written, and has vowed to not vote for it. Time will tell if his fellow senators will try to buy him off with more favorable pass-through rates for small businesses. They probably will try to buy him in, but they have to keep their eyes on the magic $1.5T maximum on the deficit. More breaks for small business means less money to pass to the top.

Senators Corker (TN), McCain (AZ) and Flake (AZ) have voiced opposition to the enormous deficit that taxscam carries. None of these senators has any concern about being reelected, and none will hesitate to oppose Trump if their principles are being violated.

Senator Lisa Murkowski has indicated that she is not offended by the elimination of mandates for ACA. She has still not said that she will vote for the bill, so we’ll keep her in the mix.

Senators Jerry Moran (KS) and Susan Collins (ME)  are against the elimination of the mandate, so we will call them with that in mind.

Senator Strange of AL will age out of his seat, and be replaced by the victor in the Moore/Jones election somewhere in the last part of December. At this point, it looks like Doug Jones, a Democrat, will take that seat – maybe. The Alabama election is set for December 12, but will not be certified for up to two weeks.

The senate returns from its Thanksgiving recess this next Tuesday. They are scheduled for Christmas recess to run from Dec 15 through the end of the year. That calendar leaves all of 12 working days at the Senate’s leisurely work schedule. In that time, they have to raise the national debt limit; the Democrats have plenty of leverage here, and there is talk of trading agreement on a three-month CBR for action on DACA. Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has to be squeezed in there somewhere too, as states will run out of money by year end. This might be accomplished through including funding in the aforesaid CBR.

And then, McConnell has to get the taxscam measure passed. Right now, they need to have a vote called a ”Motion to Proceed.” This allows the proposed taxscam legislation to proceed to the Senate floor for debate. We don’t want that to happen, so maximum pressure by all hands is demanded of us this week.

You can see that McConnell has his hands full, and, in my opinion, will not even come close to getting this bill, in any finished form, to Trump before Christmas.

Make those calls and don’t be distracted by the rest of the carnival going on in DC. Our mission is to defeat Trump and Trumpism.  Period.  Exclamation point!

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Schumer, asking him to hold the Democratic coalition together. Call the other two senators, asking them to not break ranks on the taxscam. They have all been a bit wobbly. Use the deficit, elimination of SALT and corporate give away as reason to stay the course!

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

Senator Joe Manchin(WV) 202-224-3954

Senator Heidi Heitkamp(ND) – 202-224-2043

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $150 billion dollars a year for the next ten years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These three senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit. They are previously, on the record, as openly opposed to increasing deficits.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

The Senate version of taxscam calls for elimination of the mandate for ACA participation. Tell these senators that you and they are concerned with driving the needy out of medical care through ACA’s increased rates if the mandate is removed.

Senator Jerry Moran (KS) – 202-224-6521

Senator Susan Collins (ME) – 202-224-2523

Lisa Murkowski is an independent sort of character and she is not afraid of opposing the big powers in the establishment in Washington. She has indicated that she is not offended by the elimination of the mandate.  But she does have an eye out for her constituents, many of whom depend on Medicaid for health care. Tell her that the $1.5T deficit will assure the minimization of health care in coming years.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) – 202-224–2665

 

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

Monday next, the 27th November, is a national day of action by Indivisible. Sit-ins and protests of various kinds will be held across the nation in the home offices of congress members. We in OR1 have dependable congressional representation, so we are taking to the street vs the office. Join us at the corner of NW Murray and NW Cornell for an hour of protest on Monday from noon to 1:00PM.

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, December 11, at (email indivisiblecedarmill@gmail.com for location). Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. Ethan Krow of yesforhealth will explain tactics to support R101 and our opportunities to participate. Assemblyman Mitch Greenlick will be at the meeting to talk to us about the legislature’s healthcare concerns, and why R101 should be approved, and the consequences if it is not.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #34

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

 

Resistance Letter #34
November 19, 2017
Day 302 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 PLEASE SEND THIS LETTER ON TO FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

This letter is sent to about 200 recipients, all associated with Indivisible Cedar Mill (ICM) in some fashion. You can easily multiply that number by two or three, simple by posting it on to friends and relatives, particularly to those who live in red or purple states whose senators are not solidly Democratic. In turn, those recipients can send it to a few interested friends who are likely to take the Calls to Action as just that. Don’t be afraid to offend. Dare to disturb the universe!

 

TAX CUT AND JOBS ACT AKA TAXSCAM # 3

The House has wrapped up its charade of hearings on the House version of taxscam and has passed it with a majority of 20 votes or so. This was no surprise; opposing it in the House would have been a waste of energy and resources. It was gonna happen! It now languishes waiting for the Senate to pass their version – and then on to committee to reconcile differences between the two versions.

 

THE SENATE VERSION OF TAXSCAM OUT OF COMMITTEE

Chaired by Orrin Hatch, the Senate hearings on taxscam were just a carnival of obfuscation. They took only a week to force things through the committee, and to refer it to the Senate as a whole. The minority members of the committee were, once again, not allowed to call their own witnesses and things were run on the party line railroad.

The committee-approved version of the senate bill does many of the same things mentioned last week; in particular, it keeps the astounding $1.5T deficit intact. In addition, it disallows state and local taxes (SALT) as deductions from income. It also has a provision, requested by Trumpolino himself, to repeal the mandate for participation in the ACA. Repeal of this mandate will strip the insurance pool of the young and relatively healthy, leaving only the sick and aged, thus raising premiums for all. This attack continues despite record breaking enrollments in ACA this year. The senate bill does not call for elimination of the estate tax, but doubles the threshold for taxation.  Once again, the corporate rate is to be set at 20%, thus basically eliminating any corporate tax at all, given the multitude of loopholes that have not been touched. In both the House and Senate bills, the corporate tax rates are permanent, the individual tax benefits, such as they are, are to be terminated in 2025. This last allows for the fiction of staying below the $1.5T deficit.

 

SENATE OPPOSITION AND CALENDAR

All our opposition to taxscam will be focused on the Senate. There is an excellent chance, increasing daily, of killing this bill before it gets out of the Senate. McConnell needs 50 votes to pass it; he has a majority of only two senators. The loss of three senators will doom the bill.

Senator Ron Johnson of WI opposes the bill as written. He may be bought off in time, or he may be looking at Virginia and  other Democratic victories to see how far he can move away from Trump. He won his last election with 50.2% of the vote. He said that corporations are favored too much more than small businesses. Watch for other senators, chastened by progressive, victories to out some dictance between themselves and Trump.

Senators Paul, McCain and Flake have voiced opposition to the enormous deficit that taxscam carries. None of these senators has any concern about being reelected, and none will hesitate to oppose Trump if their principles are being violated.

Senators Collins and Murkowski are sure to be aghast at eliminating the ACA mandate, thus     trying to destroy the ACA and its health benefits for low-income ACA beneficiaries.

Senator Strange of AL will age out of his seat, and be replaced by the victor in the Moore/Jones election somewhere in the last part of December. At this point, it looks like Doug Jones, a Democrat, will take that seat – maybe. The Alabama election is set for December 12th.

The senate is now in recess until they regroup on the 28th November. After that, the calendar allows only  twelve days to get this bill through, before they recess for Christmas from December 15th through the end of the year. Somewhere in there, they also have to negotiate to raise the national debt which is due to come up December 12th.

You can see that McConnell has his hands full, and, in my opinion, will not even come close to getting this bill, in any form, to Trump before Christmas.

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Schumer, asking him to hold the Democratic coalition together. Call the other two senators, asking them to not break ranks on the taxscam. They have all been a bit wobbly. Use the deficit, elimination of SALT and corporate give away as reason to stay the course!

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

Senator Joe Manchin(WV) 202-224-3954

Senator Heidi Heitkamp(ND) – 202-224-2043

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $150 billion dollars a year for the next ten years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These three senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit. They are previously, on the record, as openly opposed to increasing deficits.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

The Senate version of taxscam calls for elimination of the mandate for ACA participation. Tell these senators that you and they are concerned with driving the needy out of medical care through ACA’s increased rates if the mandate is removed.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK) – 202-224–2665

Senator Susan Collins (ME) – 202-224-2523

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, December 11, at (email indivisiblecedarmill@gmail.com for location). Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. Ethan Krow of yesforhealth will explain tactics to support  R101 and our opportunities to participate. Assemblyman Mitch Greenlick will be at the meeting to talk to us about the legislature’s healthcare concerns, and why R101 should be approved, and the consequences if it is not.

 

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

 

Resistance Letter #33

Posted on by Karyn Servin

November 12, 2017
Day 295 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 PLEASE SEND THIS LETTER ON TO FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

This letters is sent to about 200 recipients, all associated with Indivisible Cedar Mill (ICM) in some fashion. You can easily multiply that number by two or three, simple by posting it on to friends and relatives, particularly to those who live in red or purple states whose senators are not solidly Democratic. In turn, those recipients can send it to a few interested friends who are likely to take the Calls to Action as just that. Don’t be afraid to offend. Dare to disturb the universe!

 

TAX CUT AND JOBS ACT AKA TAXSCAM # 2

The House taxscam bill has gone though committee hearings, if you can call them hearings. True to recent fashion, it was rushed though without giving the minority Democrats any opportunity to call witnesses at all, not one!  The hearings were a show, a charade, kabuki theater. The approved house tax bill now returns to the House for final approval. From there, it will go to a reconciliation conference to reconcile differences with whatever the Senate under Orrin Hatch passes through committee.

1.-Creating an acknowledged $1.4975 trillion ($1,497,500,000.00) deficit over ten years

2.-Capping all state and local taxes as deductions, so the income is taxed twice

3.-Eliminating child deduction credits, allegedly offset by increasing the personal deduction

4.-Decreasing and finally, by 2024, completely eliminating, the estate tax

5.-Reducing the 35% corporate tax rate, which is now really an effective 18-20% tax rate

 

THE SENATE VERSION OF TAXSCAM

The Senate released its own version of the monster last Thursday, and now it heads to committee under the gavel of Orrin Hatch. This committee under Orrin Hatch may be a duplicate of the House dumb show; we’ll see. Here are some major agreements and differences with the house bill:

1.- The deficit magically agrees on both bills – $1,4975 trillion dollars over ten years.

2.-Home mortgage interest is allowed up to $1,000,000 principal v House $500,000

3.-Does not kill estate tax, but doubles estate value for the taxation, from 5.5M to 11.1 for individuals.

4.-Raises pass through rates to an effective 30% v the House 17%

5.-Totally eliminates sales and local tax (SALT) deductions.

6.-Reduces corporate tax rate to 20%, but it does not become effective until 2019.

Under the Budget Reconciliation Act, the deficit cannot exceed a total of $1.25 trillion dollars and must not extend beyond ten years. The Senate version is critically close to violating these restrictions right now, and any further tinkering with tax deductions will only increase it beyond $1.5T.

 

THE FICTION OF DYNAMIC SCORING

How do the Republicans justify these large, rally large, deficits? They use the fiction of dynamic scoring. Dynamic scoring fantasizes that these tax cuts, given to corporations and wealthy individuals, will result in more corporate activity creating jobs and raising wages.  There is a bit of cognitive dissonance here since the plan overall is to basically eliminate all corporate taxes, old or new! This ruse was used to pass both the 1981 and the 2001 tax giveaways, and in both events failed to generate any of that fictional economic activity. The extra profits simply went to the bank, to stock repurchases or to increased dividends. In both 1981 and 2001, the deficit increased wildly. Still, that’s the hogwash that is being peddled to make those annual $150B deficits disappear.

Those deficits, when they occur, will be offset by decreased services. There are only three potential targets for cuts this size: Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. The huge military budget is secure from cuts.

This proposed deficit is another way of eliminating health care for Americans. Be aware of this!

 

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE WAS AN ELECTION

The violent drubbing that the Republicans received in Virginia will cause every Republican representative and senator to recalculate things, to review the situation. The dilemma they all face is trying to figure out how far they can distance themselves from Trump, and still not lose Trump supporters.  This ought to make things a little easier for us in opposing the senate version of taxscam. A decreasing number of them will want to fall on their sword for Donald J Trump.

 

CORPORATE TAX RATES AND SALES/TAX DEDUCTIONS

American corporations have a statutory tax rate of 35%. This number is frequently cited as being the highest tax rate in the developing countries, and as hamstring American corporations, Both of these claims are blatantly false; they are simply prescribed talking points. All of us have heard of corporations paying no tax at all, and the majority of American corporations pay an effective rate of 18-20% after all deductions and loopholes. Simple arithmetic will tell you that with a statutory tax rate of 20%, most businesses will escape taxes completely. And that money will likely go to stock buybacks and increased dividends, not to enlarging the economy. Corporations have plenty of money on hand now to invest in American manufacturing should they want to. They don’t.

The complete elimination of SALT will hurt residents of all states, but those states with higher taxes will be disproportionately affected by it.  California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, Iowa and DC are all high tax states, and you can note quickly that most of them are pretty blue and have Democratic senators. This is a calculated move by the Republicans, of course, but it will have to be reconciled in the committee, since this proposal alone will likely cause it to fail in the House. These six states alone have 110 seats in the House, and they will not accept complete elimination of SALT.

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Schumer, asking him to hold the Democratic coalition together. Call the other two senators, asking them to not break ranks on the taxscam. They have all been a bit wobbly. Use the deficit and elimination of SALT as your main arguments!

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

Senator Joe Manchin(WV) 202-224-3954

Senator Heidi Heitkamp(ND) – 202-224-2043

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $150 billion dollars a year for the next ten years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These three senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit. They are previously, on the record, openly opposed to increasing deficits.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

In following weeks we will attack taxscam using Senators Paul, Collins, Murkowski, Lee, Cruz and Cotton on their particular issues with the legislation.

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, November 13, at (email indivisiblecedarmill@gmail.com for location). Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. The speakers for this meeting are Ryan Deckert and Kathryn Harrington, both running for Washington County Chair. This is an important local position being vacated by Andy Dyck, current Washington County Commissioner. His replacement should be of great concern to all progressives in the county. Progressives occupying down ballot positions give us local control of things and provide a handy experienced bench for higher positions.

No Surrender.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

Resistance Letter #32

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

 

Resistance Letter #32
November 4, 2017
Day 287 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 FORCE MULTIPLIER AVAILABLE TO US

This letters is sent to about 200 recipients, all associated with Indivisible Cedar Mill (ICM) in some fashion. You can easily multiply that number by two or three, simple by posting it on to friends and relatives, particularly to those who live in red or purple states whose senators are not solidly Democratic. In turn, those recipients can send it to a few interested friends who are likely to take the Calls to Action as just that. Don’t be afraid to offend. Dare to disturb the universe!

 

TAX CUT AND JOBS ACT AKA TAXSCAM

 Yes, that is what those mendacious congressional Republicans have christened a bill that will, most certainly, neither cut taxes for the masses nor create any new jobs. Taxscam is a huge transfer of wealth, as always with these Trumpian Republicans, from the poor and middle class to the enormously rich and to high-profit corporations. There are five main areas of taxscam legislation, along with a slew of individual crimes, which we will ignore for the moment:

1.-Creating an acknowledged $1.4975 trillion ($1,497,500,000.00) deficit over ten years

2.-Eliminating all state and local taxes as deductions, so the income is taxed twice

3.-Eliminating child deduction credits, allegedly offset by increasing the personal deduction

4.-Decreasing and finally, by 2024, completely eliminating, the estate tax

5.-Reducing the 35% corporate tax rate, which is now really an effective 18-20% tax rate

 

WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW

Both the House and the Senate have passed and agreed upon a budget resolution for 2018, which allows for a ‘Budget Reconciliation Agreement’ (BRA) process. This clause allows the senate to pass the taxscam package with only 50 votes, but it also puts some restraints (really!!!) on the Senate. The maximum deficit allowed is $1.5T over 10 years, conveniently enough just slightly above the current phony deficit projections. The BRA also forbids legislative changes, only fiscal transfers.  Finally, the BRA specifies that any deficit must not extend beyond ten years — that is to say, by 2028 that deficit has to just magically disappear. It won’t.

The House has narrowly passed the taxscam legislation, with a large number (over 20) Republicans dissenting for a variety of reasons. It goes to committee hearings and markups next Monday, and the Republicans hope to pass the House version by Thanksgiving. You may be sure that lobbyists and special interests will voice loud concerns, forcing some changes. But, as noted those changes cannot push that projected deficit over the magic one point five trillion dollar mark. For our part, we are leaving the House largely alone, excepting vocal support for our representative who will vote, and has voted against it.

The Senate is working to produce its own version of taxscam, and they have a very narrow ledge to walk. They can afford right now, to lose only three votes, if the Democrats stand fast against it, and there is little or no incentive for any Democrat to do that. Senators who have already expressed opposition to various elements of the plan (and this is before they are all inundated with special interest money and lobbying) are: Corker, McCain, Flake, Collins, Murkowski, Paul, Lee, Cotton and Cruz. These senators are opposed to parts of the bill for a world of contrary reasons, all of which we will try to take advantage. The Senate has laid out no timetable; Trump has said Christmas at latest.

The necessity of increasing the national debt comes up starting December 8. This will greatly complicate things for the taxscam proponents. Failure to come to an agreement on this will shut the government down. The Democrats have leverage here.

 

WE CAN BEAT TAXSCAM IN THE SENATE

Trump and the Republicans have put all their bets on pulling off this taxscam. The Republicans themselves are very divided on this legislation. We can trounce them, forcing them to either drastically reduce this so taxscam becomes either simple reduced tax relief, or nothing at all. It’s in our power!

 

WHY WE ALL SHOULD BE FISCAL CONSERVATIVES

Trump’s top legislative priority is overhauling the tax system. The GOP plan echoes the tax cut experiment implemented by Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback in 2012. According to Brownback, the so-called Kansas experiment was supposed to be a “shot of adrenaline” to the state’s economy by dramatically cutting income taxes and eliminating “pass-through” small business taxes. In reality, it bled the state dry, creating billions in deficits, cutting state services drastically, and even forcing the schools to reduced daily hours and only four days a week. In 2017, Brownback was out (he now works as a religious ambassador in the State Department!) and the Kansas legislature reversed the Brownback/Trump tax cuts and reinstated the majority of those taxes that Brownback scorned.

The Republican intent of incurring such large annual deficits is to give them opportunity to cut programs to cover the annual deficit. The only programs, apart from the military which is sacrosanct, that can support cuts of this size are Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. You can be sure that these annual deficit won’t be covered by annual tax increases. This deficit is intended to accomplish fiscally what the Republicans failed to do in the healthcare fight.

Thus, therefore, and ergo, we will attack first on the proposed deficit.  The next letter will deal with eliminating the corporate tax and the deduction for state and local taxes. After that comes discussion of the estate tax and elimination of personal deductions.

Sufficient for the day is the evil of planned deficits. See below for Calls to Action.

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Wyden, Merkley and Schumer: the message being to oppose taxscam, this wealth transfer. The Republicans will probably need a few Democratic votes to get this things passed. We do not want any Democrats to break rank; tell Schumer that.

Senator Ron Wyden(OR)—202-224-5244

Senator Jeff Merkley(OR) – 202-224-3753

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

 

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $150 billion dollars a year for the next ten years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These three senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit. They are previously, on the record, openly opposed to increasing deficits.

Senator Jeff Flake (AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

Senator John McCain (AZ) – 202-224-2235

 

The next priority is to tell Susan Bonamici, our ‘district one’ representative, that we thank her for her opposition to taxscam. Use that word!

Representative Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855

In following weeks we will attack taxscam using Senators Paul, Collins, Murkowski, Lee, Cruz and Cotton on their particular issues with the legislation.

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, November 13, at (email indivisiblecedarmill@gmail.com for location). Doors open at 6:30PM and the meeting starts promptly at 7:30 PM.  Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. Speakers will be announced in a week or so. The speakers for this meeting are Ryan Deckert and Kathryn Harrington, both running for Washington County Chair. This is an important local position being vacated by Andy Dyck, current Washington County Commissioner. His replacement should be of great concern to all progressives in the county.

No Surrender.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resistance Letter #31

Posted on by Karyn Servin

INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON

Facebook: INDIVISIBLE CEDAR MILL OREGON      WWW.INDIVISIBLECM.ORG

 

Resistance Letter #31
October 27, 2017
Day 281 of 1461 days

Dear Co-defendants –

 ONCE MORE, DEAR FRIENDS,…

 …to the breach. We are entering into a replay of the health care fight with taxscam ready to be taken up by congress. (Please refrain from ever using the word ‘reform’ in relation to this process; ‘reform’ implies improvement. This is an outright scam!!!) It will take the same dedication and persistence (yes, we will persist!) that characterized our stalemating and ultimately defeating  healthcare ala Trump. The budget resolution process will be used by McConnell to ram this atrocity through, so that means we need to convince three Republican senators to vote against the taxscam, and to hold all the Democrats firm.  This should be achievable; Trump has slighted or directly insulted a full 20% of Republican senators and has turned three into outright enemies.

The Republicans will put all they have into this fight. Senator Lindsay Graham said that failure in this legislation will mean the end of the Republican party. Let us hope so, and let us do all we personally can to help them along the way to their self-destruction. They deserve to change or go; their choice.

Thomas Paine said that, ”those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” We will all be fatigued before this taxscam has been defeated, but defeated it will certainly be. The taxscam proposals are scheduled to be revealed this upcoming week, but many of them can be inferred from the adopted budget. Of most immediate concern are huge Medicaid and Medicare cuts which will accomplish in taxscam what they were not able to do in the healthcare fight. In addition, food stamps, SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance), federal pensions, CHIP (Children’s Health Program), and EITC (Earned Income Tax Credits) will all be severely curtailed to make funds available to shift to the wealthy. There are discussions about removing state income and sales taxes from itemized deductions, and restricting or eliminating the alternative income tax. Of course, they plan to abolish the estate tax to directly benefit the wealthy and, in particular, Donald J Trump. All in all, the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) estimates a 677 billion dollar ($677,000,000,000.00) annual deficit between 2018 and 2022.

There are enough oxen being gored to furnish us with multiple lines of attack. See Calls to Action for specific targets this week. Next week there will be more and varied.

 

THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND

Senators Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and John McCain all took on Trump very directly this week. Most of the criticism stressed his unfitness for the office due to mental instability, and character and moral defects. Both Corker and Flake essentially called him a nuclear danger and a serial liar; McCain ridiculed this president’s five deferments from Vietnam service due to bone spurs, pointing out that American wars are being increasingly fought by the nation’s poor, because the wealthy can buy their way out. All of these senators deserve a call thanking them for their open opposition to Trump. See Calls to Action.

 

A VALIANT EFFORT WILL COME UP SHORT

The Senate HELP (Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions) committee has produced a bi-partisan bill to fund key insurance subsidy programs which support Obamacare through 2019. These subsidies were discontinued by Trump a few weeks ago in an obvious attempt to cripple ACA (aka Obamacare). Chair Alexander Lamar (TN) and co-chair Patty Murray(WA) have signed up 24 Republican and Democratic senators as co-sponsors. While we should applaud this attempt at bipartisanship, it is unlikely to ever see the light of the Senate legislative day; McConnell will decide if it ever comes to a vote, and you can easily figure the odds of that happening – close to zero. Even should it improbably get by the Senate, it would face quick and certain defeat in the House and, even after that, a quick veto from Trump. Still, a try is a try, and Murray and Alexander should be lauded for their efforts. See Calls To Action.

 

AS IF WE DIDN’T KNOW

Read this WAPO article to see how we defeat Trump. Indeed, this is the only way open to us to put him in a box, and all our efforts are in this direction.  We started with WA and VA for the legislative elections this year; we will continue to aid other districts next year, and to flip the House in 2018. That will put us in the cat-bird seat!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/judgment-day-for-trump-may-come-sooner-than-you-think/2017/10/27/99fc3960-ba95-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html

 

CALLS TO ACTION

The highest priority calls now and in the future are aimed at defeating taxscam. Start off with calling Wyden, Merkley and Schumer: the message being to oppose this wealth transfer. The Republicans will probably need a few Democratic votes to get this things passed. We do not want any Democrats to break rank; tell Schumer that.

Senator Ron Wyden(OR)—202-224-5244

Senator Jeff Merkley(OR) – 202-224-3753

Senator Charles Schumer(NY) – 202-224-6542

 

The taxscam promises to increase the deficit and the national debt by $677 billion dollars a year for the next four years. Budget hawks should be encouraged to oppose this huge increase in debt. These two senators need to be reminded what the taxscam would do to the budget and the deficit.

Senator Rand Paul(KY) – 202-224-4343

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

 

The next priority is to tell these senators that we approve of their open opposition to Trump, and hope that more of their confreres will follow their courageous outspoken opposition.

Senator John McCain(AZ) – 202-224-2235

Senator Jeff Flake(AZ) – 202-224-4521

Senator Bob Corker(TN) – 202-224-3344

 

Finally, these senators deserve a supporting shout-out for trying to cover the insurance subsidies so cruelly deleted by Trump in a continued attempt to cripple medical care.

Senator Lamar Alexander(TN) – 202-224-4944

Senator Patty Murray(WA) – 202-224-2621

 

MONTHLY MEETING

The meeting is set for Monday, November 13 (email for address: indivisiblecedarmill[at]gmail.com). Doors open at 6:30PM, the meeting starts at 7:30 PM and ends promptly at 8:30 PM. Refreshments,  both adult and juvenile will be provided along with a few tasty snacks. The speakers for this meeting are Ryan Eckert and Kathryn Harrington, both running for Washington County Chair. This is an important local position being vacated by Andy Dyck, current Washington County Commissioner. His replacement should be of great concern to all progressives in the county.

 

No Surrender.

L’audace, encore l’audace, et toujours l’audace!

Thank you.

John Fox