Going on offense against the GOP Medicaid blockade

Will you read, share, and like the new op-ed by MoveOn's executive director, so that it moves up on the Huffington Post and more political candidates, donors, pundits, and other decision-makers get the message that it's time to go on offense against the GOP's Medicaid blockade? Share the Story

Dear MoveOn member,

We just released new polling that reveals an Achilles' heel in Republicans' plan to win big in the fall elections: Voters in key states are ready to vote out Republicans who are participating in the GOP Medicaid blockade by standing between 5 million Americans and the health care they need.¹ 

The polling, funded by MoveOn members like you, has earned more than 30 media hits—TV, radio, and print—and is making waves where it matters—in the states.

This could be a turning point—if we make it one. Republicans think that bashing Obamacare is their golden ticket to winning even more seats in the House and taking over the Senate this fall. And too many Democrats have shied away from fighting back. It's weak, and it could cost us the election.

That's why MoveOn's executive director, Anna Galland, just published an op-ed in the Huffington Post making the case for progressives and Democrats to go on offense on health care—starting by calling out the GOP Medicaid blockade loud and clear.

Will you read Anna's op-ed that just went up on the Huffington Post, and then like it, share it, email it, or tweet it?

Yes, take me to the story!

On the Huffington Post site, just click on one of these buttons you'll see at the top of the page:

The Huffington Post is the fourth-ranked news website—more people visit HuffPo than visit The New York Times, The Washington Post, or Weather.com online.² We want to get this piece in front of every political candidate, every campaign manager, every donor, every pundit, every voter—everyone who's making decisions about what issues get discussed in election campaigns. If lots of people share and like the story on the Huffington Post—that will move up its placement on the site and ensure that more people see and read it.

Writing about MoveOn's campaign, The Washington Post's Katrina vanden Heuvel posed the question, "What if Democrats organized a clear, concerted effort to demonstrate how Republicans are denying millions of Americans access to health insurance?"³

That's the kind of message we need more people repeating. Can you help this message take hold by liking or sharing MoveOn's new op-ed on the Huffington Post?

Click here to read, share, and like the story of how Democrats can and should go on offense on health care to break the GOP Medicaid blockade and win elections.

Thanks for all you do.

–Victoria, Jessica, Stephen, Alejandro, and the rest of the team

P.S. More than 125,000 MoveOn members added their names to the banner that Louisiana members unveiled last week at the courthouse where a federal judge heard arguments in the lawsuit that the state of Louisiana brought against MoveOn Civic Action. They wanted us to take down the billboard we put up criticizing Governor Bobby Jindal's decision to deny health care to 242,000 of his own constituents.

The good news is the judge ruled in our favor and we're not only keeping the billboard up, we're extending our buy so that it stays up for months longer than we'd first planned—thanks to the donations of MoveOn members like you. Here's a photo you might enjoy of MoveOn members carrying the banner outside the courthouse. On the right (next to MoveOn's director, Anna Galland) is Robby Reed, who suffered a serious illness while in law school and living without health insurance because Gov. Jindal denied him—and 242,000 other Louisianans—Medicaid. Can you help move the campaign to break the GOP Medicaid blockade forward by sharing Anna's brand new-column in the Huffington Post?

Sources:

1. "New Polling: GOP Medicaid Blockade Could Cost Republicans in November," MoveOn.org Political Action, April 8, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297880&id=94340-10220574-l_rotJx&t=7

2. "Top Sites in: All Categories > News," Alexa, accessed April 10, 2014
http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category/Top/News

3. "Voters should know who's holding up their health care," The Washington Post, March 25, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297881&id=94340-10220574-l_rotJx&t=8

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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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 eddie alfaro on April 10, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

"I guess MoveOn doesn't believe in math"

Dear MoveOn member,

This week the U.S. Senate will be debating whether or not to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. But according to recent reports, a number of Senators are considering a compromise that would still leave millions of American workers stuck with poverty wage jobs.¹ 

The truth is, if we really want to grow our economy and actually lift workers out of poverty, then we should really be talking about raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and not even debating anything lower than $10.10.

Last week, MoveOn members in Republican congressional districts across the country rallied outside of their members of Congress' offices demanding they support an increase in the minimum wage. 

But here's how one Republican Representative responded: "I guess MoveOn doesn't believe in math."² 

We're actually big believers in math here at MoveOn. So we thought we'd have former Labor Secretary Robert Reich explain it for them in 7 easy steps. Click here to watch.

It's shameful that some Senators seem to have no problem with millions of American workers earning poverty wages. So if after watching this video, you agree that Congress shouldn't even debate a minimum wage lower than $10.10 an hour, please take a minute today to call and let them know, then click here to report the call. 

Here are your senators' phone numbers:

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Phone: (202) 224-4451

Senator Charles Schumer
Phone: (202) 224-6542

With the Senate expected to vote on raising the minimum wage soon, it's important that every Senator hears from MoveOn members like you right away. If we can generate enough calls to Senate offices this week, we can help stop Democrats from caving to big business demands for a lower minimum wage and instead push for a real increase that could lift millions of Americans out of poverty. 

Thanks for all you do.

–Garlin, Anna, Matt B., Corinne, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Minimum wage deal emerging?," The Hill, April 1, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297807&id=94243-10220574-kss%3DWgx&t=4

2. "Protesters urge increase in minimum wage," The Oakland Press, April 1, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297808&id=94243-10220574-kss%3DWgx&t=5

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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This email was sent to eddie alfaro on April 8, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

We won!

Dear MoveOn member,

We won! A federal judge just ruled that we can keep up our billboard criticizing tea party Governor Bobby Jindal for standing between 242,000 Louisianans and Medicaid.

(Quick recap: Republican governors and legislators are blocking a shocking 5 million Americans from accessing health care by refusing to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid. When we put up billboards in nine states calling out Republicans for standing in the way of health care, the state of Louisiana sued us, demanding we take down one of the billboards. But today, the judge issued a preliminary decision that allows our billboard to stay up and paves the way for the whole lawsuit to end with a victory).

But here's the funny part: When we first put up the billboard, we reserved the space for only a month—and had no idea we'd be facing a lawsuit. Now, even though our billboard can legally stay up, financially it will have to come down soon—unless we extend our buy.

Chip in to help us ensure our winning billboard will stay up.

Here's the deal: It costs about $4.50 an hour to keep the billboard up. If 15,000 MoveOn members chip in just $4.50, that's enough to keep the billboard up through the rest of Gov. Jindal's term. And of course, the more money each of us chips in, the fewer people it'll take. If you chip in $108, you'll have single-handedly helped keep the billboard up an extra day.

What do you say? Can you help make sure we're able to keep up the billboard we fought so hard to protect?

Yes, count me in. I'll chip in $4.50—enough to help keep the billboard up an extra hour.

I'll chip in $54—enough to keep the billboard up for 12 hours.

Actually, I'll chip in $108—enough to keep the billboard up for a whole day.

I'll contribute at a different level.

Here's an image of the billboard you'll help us keep up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana after our legal victory—showing that we don't back down:

In her decision, the judge wrote: "In this Court's view, the Lieutenant Governor underestimates the intelligence and reasonableness of people viewing the billboard."

But this case was never about a billboard, it was about health care for millions of Americans. Thanks for helping to keep the issue front and center.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Matt P., Stefanie, Alejandro, and the rest of the team

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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This email was sent to eddie alfaro on April 7, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Stand with me against fracked natural gas exports

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, and I started a petition along with the organization Food & Water Watch to the United States Congress, which says:

The oil and gas industry is using the crisis in Ukraine as an excuse to pressure Congress to rubber-stamp approval of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. 

But gas exports won't help the situation in Eastern Europe. It's just a ploy by the oil and gas industry to increase fracking and export U.S. fracked gas to the highest bidder abroad, while causing irreparable damage to our climate and to water, air and health here at home. Protect our communities and climate—not big oil and gas industry profits.

The oil and gas industry has created a massive PR campaign to convince the public that fracking will create American energy independence, while working behind closed doors to open up export facilities to ship gas abroad. This would drive up gas prices for U.S. consumers and create huge oil and gas profits, all at the expense of U.S. communities. 

And now, the industry is trying to use the recent crisis in Ukraine as leverage to get Congress to rubber stamp approvals for new export facilities, even though the gas would be sold to 158 World Trade Organization (WTO) countries on the open market. Bills to allow these exports have been introduced in the House (H.R. 6) by Cory Gardner (R-CO) and in the Senate (S. 2083) by Mark Udall (D-CO). However, the ploy is a complete sham by the oil and gas industry to take advantage of a foreign crisis. 

Tell Congress not to fast-track fracked natural gas exports!

Exporting natural gas spells disaster at all points. First, it requires more fracking—a process that is poisoning American's—water, air, and health while dramatically increasing methane emissions into the atmosphere. Second, it entails enormous, multiple, football-field-sized facilities along our coasts, facilities which pose grave threats if they explode as they have in the past. Third, the liquefied gas must be shipped overseas in huge tanker ships, re-gasified, compressed, transported and ultimately burned. The climate implications of the entire process are extreme. 

It is irresponsible to push for more fracking and an extremely dangerous export process that is contributing to climate change, leading to more global instability and, in the long run, undermining any national security goals that proponents claim will be achieved. The real solution is to transition off of fossil fuels through proven clean-energy solutions. 

Tell Congress: Don't fast-track fracked natural gas exports!

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Mark Ruffalo

This petition was created on MoveOn's online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. Food & Water Watch didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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This email was sent to eddie alfaro on April 7, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Citizens United 2.0

Dear MoveOn member,

We usually send you emails telling you about some urgent thing happening in Congress and that if we do X, Y, Z we can get something done right away. This is not one of those emails.

You probably heard that the U.S. Supreme Court just struck down a law that's been on the books since Watergate and limited the total amount of money that super-rich donors can spread around to politicians around the country. Now, instead of being limited to giving about $50,000 per election, people like the Koch brothers can give millions.¹

Sounds bad, right? Well, it's actually a lot worse than it sounds, because in the opinion, the 5-4 majority explicitly said that the only kind of campaign finance rules they'd allow are those dealing with explicit bribery.² So unless it's a wad of cash in a paper bag that you can prove beyond a reasonable doubt was given in exchange for a vote, the Supreme Court says it's constitutionally protected free speech.

That means it's just a matter of time before Scalia, Thomas, and the rest throw out all of our campaign finance laws. We're talking about the Wild West—a system where rich people can give an unlimited amount of money to any politician, anywhere, anytime, and as long as they're not caught saying out loud that it's a bribe, it's 100% legal.

I'm not sure how to explain how dangerous and totally unprecedented this is. How can democracy possibly work under a system like that?

But you know what scares me even more? A lot of local newspapers buried the news about this decision on page A3. Our country is being sold to the highest bidder, and the media is barely talking about it.

It won't be easy to fix the damage they've done, but it's possible if we throw everything we have at it. Push legislation to blunt the impact of this decision. Work to elect a president who will replace the far-right majority on the Supreme Court with mainstream justices. Fight to pass a constitutional amendment saying that corporations aren't people and money is not speech.

This is a battle we need to fight on all fronts. Can you chip in $3 to help take our democracy back?

Yes, I'll donate $3 to help take back our democracy.

So here's the plan: First, we need to draw as much attention as possible to the decision. People know Washington is broken—but very few of them understand how the Supreme Court is making it worse.

We teamed up with our allies at Public Citizen to organize rapid-response protests around the country, and over the coming weeks we're planning a series of top-secret actions that will grab the media's attention and build support for legislation to blunt the impact and a constitutional amendment to state once and for all that money isn't speech.

Then, this fall, we'll fight tooth and nail to make sure Republicans don't take control of the Senate, so that President Obama can get a decent judge confirmed when the time comes. Since this was 5-4, we need to flip only one vote to fix this decision, and two of the judges in the majority are nearly 80 years old.

After Citizens United, it seemed like the Supreme Court couldn't go any further to drown our democracy in money. Now we know they were just getting started.

The system they're creating is so blatantly corrupt, so imbalanced to the super-rich, that we might not have much time to save our democracy from being completely flushed, and the longer we live under this new era of unlimited money in politics, the harder it'll be to overturn. So we need to get started now. Can you chip in $3?

Yes, I'll donate $3 to help take back our democracy.

Thanks for all you do,

–Ilya, David, Justin, Maria, and the rest of the team 

Sources:

1. "What McCutcheon Means—in 1 infographic," The Washington Post, April 2, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297804&id=94160-10220574-AgIAZMx&t=4

2. "Originalists Making It Up Again: McCutcheon and 'Corruption'," The Daily Beast, April 2, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297805&id=94160-10220574-AgIAZMx&t=5

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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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 eddie alfaro on April 6, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Heading into court now

Dear MoveOn member,    It's really happening: I'm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and I'm heading over to the courthouse in just a few minutes. Our legal team is doing one final huddle over stale coffee and donuts—preparing to go before a federal judge to defend our billboard criticizing Bobby Jindal for blocking health care for 242,000 Louisianans.    I still find it baffling and outrageous that we're even here. We just celebrated the milestone of 7 million people enrolling in Obamacare! Why are we still forced to relitigate whether people need access to health care in this country? It's obscene. And I hated leaving my young girls at home for this urgent trip (thank goodness for my husband and mom stepping in).  But I'm feeling fired up right now. In the cab on the way from the airport, my driver—a 70-something-year-old man with deep creases in his face—looked in the mirror and said, "I've seen that billboard. Bobby Jindal doesn't care about people like me. Thank you for fighting for us."  He was talking to me, but really he was speaking to all of us. MoveOn members have risen to the challenge of this moment—to raise a collective cry that in America, everyone deserves health care, and no craven politician can stop us, or bully us, or silence us.  I'm about to walk over there now. I'd love to be able to tell the reporters gathering on the courthouse steps that 1,000 MoveOn members around the country have just chipped in to support our ongoing work to secure health care for all Americans—to send a clear signal that, whatever the outcome, we're not backing down.  As I head into this showdown, will you chip in to support our work?  Yes, I can contribute $3. I'm determined, regardless of the outcome. We are in this together, and—now or later—we will win.  Thanks for all you do. –Anna

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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This email was sent to eddie alfaro on April 2, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

TODAY: Emergency protests against horrible Supreme Court decision

The Supreme Court just ruled on Citizens United 2.0—once again siding with big money over the voice of everyday Americans. MoveOn members are joining allies at more than 150 Rapid Response Rallies today across the country to respond to the decision—and there's one near Inwood. Can you join? Yes, I'll Attend!

Dear MoveOn member,

BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court just opened the door for super-rich donors like the Koch brothers to flood even more elections with their money by abolishing aggregate contribution limits for individual political donors—and MoveOn members and allies are responding at more than 150 rallies across the country.¹

This case—McCutcheon vs FEC—is 2014's Citizens United. It's another nail in the coffin of free elections and of government by the people.

Shaun McCutcheon is an Alabama coal tycoon who was fighting for his right to give as much money to as many politicians as he pleased—and he won in a rigged game.

We can't vote Supreme Court justices out of office—but we can definitely make sure that they—and the media and politicians watching—know the people's opinion in this case. That's why MoveOn members are showing up TODAY with other progressives and allies at more than a 150 Rapid Response Rallies nationwide in reaction to the Supreme Court's flawed decision.

Can you join in at an event near Inwood?

Yes, I can make it to a rapid response event today!

The more of us that show up today, the stronger the message we'll send to the media, politicians, and opinion-makers that in the court of public opinion, money can't buy votes.

Shaun McCutcheon spent $300,000 in the 2012 election cycle.² But that wasn't enough for him—he wanted to max out his contributions to more politicians. So he took his plea to legally buy more of our Congress all the way to the Supreme Court—and he got support from none other than Sen. Mitch McConnell's own legal team.³

What's important right now is that we send a clear message: if the Supreme Court is going to become a conservative activist, then the rest of us are only going to get louder. The media, politicians, and the Supreme Court can't ignore more than a 150 events happening within hours of their soured decision—especially not if MoveOn members join allies and show up in mass.

Click here if you can join the thousands of people gathering today around the nation to protest this decision.

It's clear that the fight to get big money out of politics just got a little bit harder—that it'll take a little bit longer. But we've been making progress in state after state with resolutions against Citizens United, financial disclosure bills, and even campaign public financing. We've faced bigger set backs before.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mark, Jessica, Matt P., Matt B., and the rest of the team

P.S. Our friends at Public Citizen have been a driving force behind this and news outlets like the Washington Post have already picked up on the events.⁴ Click here to find an event near you.

Sources:

1. "Live blog of opinions," SCOTUSBlog, April 2, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297782&id=93949-10220574-CGvTWkx&t=5

2. "McCutcheon Super PAC Already Busts Limits | Rules of the Game," Roll Call, October 7, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=296937&id=93949-10220574-CGvTWkx&t=6

3. "McCutcheon v. FEC: Big Money Fights Back at the Supreme Court," The Daily Beast, October 9, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=297783&id=93949-10220574-CGvTWkx&t=7

4. "How the next Citizens United could bring more corruption—but less gridlock," Washington Post, February 21, 2014
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=297784&id=93949-10220574-CGvTWkx&t=8

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

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This email was sent to eddie alfaro on April 2, 2014. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.