Dear MoveOn member,
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops called the Republican tax bill "unconscionable."1 In emails to MoveOn members, Senator Bernie Sanders called it "an immoral disaster," and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich called it "a moral atrocity."
And me? Well, I agree them—and with Nancy Pelosi. She called it "the worst bill in the history of Congress."2
Eddie, we have just days left to stop this train wreck. In the next 72 hours, we need to raise $225,000 to pay for urgent campaign expenses. Which is why we need you right now.
There are several ways that we could defeat this bill. To maximize our chances of success, we need to:
Make sure that Roy Moore loses in Alabama. If he does, there's a good chance that it will send Republicans reeling and make them lose momentum. Also, if he loses, we need only one more vote in the Senate, and Susan Collins is already on the fence.
Pressure House Republicans in blue states. States like California, New York, and New Jersey will get hit particularly hard by the bill—and many of the most vulnerable House Republicans are in these states. That means that there is a path to defeating this bill by flipping enough swing Republicans who are worried about losing their jobs.
Keep the pressure on key Senate Republicans. Susan Collins, Jeff Flake, and other Republicans voiced concerns before voting for the Senate bill.3 It's likely their concerns will not be addressed by the final bill, so we're keeping pressure on them now.
Publicize how toxic this bill is. This bill is the most unpopular since Trumpcare—and look what happened to that.4 As more Americans are revolted by the contents of the bill and the corrupt process that's pushing it through, more savvy Republicans may back away from this increasingly toxic plan.
It won't be easy to win—none of these paths to victory are guaranteed. But we definitely can win.
And although doing all of these things at once isn't cheap, our "all-of-the-above" strategy maximizes our chances of success—which is why we're asking for your help.
The grassroots resistance is really fired up. By some measures, we're seeing even more grassroots energy than we saw in the fight to stop Trumpcare.
For example, our peer-to-peer text team—which texts hundreds of thousands of progressives to flood Congress with calls—is seeing our highest response rates EVER. And 1,600 people recently packed an auditorium in Reading, PA, neighboring multiple swing congressional districts, to hear from Bernie Sanders, when he went on the road with MoveOn and allies to defeat this moral atrocity. These MoveOn-member-funded rallies were featured on the Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow shows, and were all over the news.
But grassroots energy alone isn't enough to win. We need to raise $225,000 in the next 72 hours for our final expenses, including ads, rallies, and our groundbreaking telephone program that's helping keep phone lines jammed on Capitol Hill—all day, every day.
Your support will make it possible for us to:
- Continue to support Doug Jones in Alabama. MoveOn members in Alabama are working their tails off to support Jones—giving money, time, and running innovative get-out-the-vote video ads and SMS outreach as well.
- Make tens of thousands of calls to key members of Congress. As our analyst Amy White says, "Using some data and a whole lot of math, we identify progressive-leaning voters in key districts with members of Congress who most need to hear from their constituents. Then, we make huge numbers of calls to alert those voters to what's happening and encourage them to get involved!" These calls cost money, but they're highly effective. And we need to scale them up.
- Organize constituents to drop by congressional offices and join rallies. We'll keep rallying in districts and Washington, D.C., for as long as it takes, until the final vote is cast.
- Run ads on social media hammering vulnerable Republicans for hiking middle-class taxes to fund a corporate payday.
- Solicit and promote videos telling personal stories about just how much Republicans will hurt their constituents with this tax bill—especially in the key swing districts where Republican members of Congress are already feeling vulnerable in next year's elections.
- Produce breakthrough videos—like a new series with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream co-founder Ben Cohen—to publicize the real costs and stakes of this fight.
A vote could come as early as Monday—which is why we need to lock in our final budget in the next 72 hours. Will you chip in $3?
Thanks for all you do.
–Anna, Anne, Michael, Robert, and the rest of the team
P.S. Remember how we successfully helped block the GOP from repealing the Affordable Care Act—even though they tried several times?
Then, MoveOn members stepped up and chipped in hundreds of thousands of dollars to get us over the finish line. And we need you again now. Because all those health care fights cost far more than we'd originally budgeted for.
We're also campaigning to win a clean Dream Act, stop the Muslim ban, and defend Robert Mueller's independent and critical investigation into Donald Trump's corrupt ties to Russia. And we're gearing up to end GOP control of the House in 2018, while defending progressive champions in the Senate.
Sources:
1. "House Tax Reform Bill 'Unacceptable' as Written, Say U.S. Bishops Chairmen," United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 9, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/26665?t=7&akid=194913%2E10220574%2EfkrYUj
2. "Pelosi: GOP tax proposal 'the worst bill in the history' of Congress," The Hill, December 4, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/26666?t=9&akid=194913%2E10220574%2EfkrYUj
3. "House Republicans Already Shooting Down Tax Bill's Promises," The Daily Beast, December 4, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/26674?t=11&akid=194913%2E10220574%2EfkrYUj
4. "Quinnipiac: Only 29% of Americans approve of GOP tax plan," CNN, December 5, 2017
http://act.moveon.org/go/26675?t=13&akid=194913%2E10220574%2EfkrYUj
Want to support our 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 us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on December 7th, 2017. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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