Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Trump shutdown is about to become the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.

Robert Reich<moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
To  
Dear MoveOn member,
The Trump shutdown is about to become the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
FDA food safety inspections have been canceled.1 The FAA has stopped checking to make sure that airplanes are safe.2On Friday, hundreds of thousands of federal employees will not get a paycheck. And soon after, funding for food stamps will begin to run out.3
Donald Trump's solution? Go on television and lie. Then, the next day, storm out of a meeting with Democratic leaders when they don't give in to his childish demands to fund a wall that he promised Mexico would pay for.4 And all the while, threaten to declare a sham "national emergency" to seize expanded executive powers.
Here's the reality: This shutdown WILL NOT END until Republicans stand up to Trump and say "enough." A few have started to crack, which is how I know there's an opportunity to break this wide open and end the stalemate.
That's why MoveOn is focusing on Republicans in Congress—especially those facing tough re-elections in 2020. Will you chip in $3 to help turn up the heat on Republicans to end Trump's shutdown?
It's clear that there's no point in trying to reason with Trump. He's completely off the rails, listening to no one but Ann Coulter and Sean Hannity.
But Congress doesn't need Trump to end this shutdown. Congress has the power to override a presidential veto and open the government tomorrow. All they have to do is pass the Mitch McConnell-authored appropriations bill that the Senate passed unanimously in December, which mirrors the bill the Democratic House already passed last week.
And Republicans are facing enormous pressure to do just that, because the American people are feeling very real pain—and it's about to get much, much worse.
That's where MoveOn comes in: MoveOn will take that pressure and crank it up even higher. Here's what MoveOn has planned:
  • Commission polling to show vulnerable Republican senators who are up for re-election in 2020 that their constituents don't want a shutdown, don't want a wall, but do want their senators to stand up to Trump and reopen the government.
  • Flood the Senate with calls demanding senators vote to reopen the government. Only hours before Trump decided to shut down the government, the Senate voted unanimously to fund the government without building the wall, but now Mitch McConnell refuses to stand up to Trump and put the same bill up for a vote. MoveOn members have already made thousands calls to their senators, and MoveOn will continue to drive even more calls to make sure that these elected officials know that there will be consequences unless they take action.
  • Support Senate Democrats who are blocking every single bill that comes to the floor until the government is open. Even with Democrats in the minority in the Senate, they have major power to stop McConnell's agenda by blocking any bill that comes to the floor that is not about reopening the government. To keep the pressure on, it is critical that Democrats remain strong and committed to this strategy, even as Trump continues to shift the blame.
  • Produce videos and digital ads detailing the real impacts of the shutdown. Over 800,000 workers are not getting paychecks, TSA agents forced to work without pay are calling in sick, and thousands of low-income workers who work for government contractors will very likely never receive back pay for the work they have done during the shutdown.5 Highlighting these stories of the real impact of Trump's shutdown will help to focus the conversation and remind people across the country who is truly to blame for this mess.
  • Prepare to launch MoveOn's Crisis Response Network if Trump declares a state of emergency. If Trump takes this extraordinary step, it may also allow him to enact other brazen anti-democratic policies, which is why hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members are ready to mobilize in protest if Trump tries to seize broad new authorities by declaring a state of emergency to build his wall.
It's time to end this shutdown, and with enough pressure, we can force Republicans in Congress to do it. Will you chip in $3?
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "See How the Effects of the Government Shutdown Are Piling Up," The New York Times, January 10, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61922?t=4&akid=224307%2E38417624%2EuNKQ7a
2. "Air travel may be less safe during the government shutdown, federal inspectors warn," The Miami Herald, January 4, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61923?t=6&akid=224307%2E38417624%2EuNKQ7a
3. "Food stamps covered through February, but no promises for March if shutdown goes on," NBC News, January 8, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61924?t=8&akid=224307%2E38417624%2EuNKQ7a
4. "Trump Storms Out of White House Meeting With Democrats on Shutdown," The New York Times, January 9, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61925?t=10&akid=224307%2E38417624%2EuNKQ7a
5. "Amid shutdown, more TSA agents are calling in sick. Here's what you need to know," CNBC, January 5, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/61920?t=12&akid=224307%2E38417624%2EuNKQ7a
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
This email was sent to Alfred Johnson on January 11th, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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