Tuesday, March 31, 2020

BREAKING: A federal court just upheld three total bans on abortion

Moments ago, the 5th Circuit court upheld Texas's abortion ban, and since the 5th circuit covers the states of Louisiana and Mississippi as well, it is expected that their bans will be able to go into effect immediately as well. 

Dear MoveOn member,

In a shameful attempt to use the coronavirus crisis to push their own radical agendas, the governors and attorneys general of Ohio, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Alabama have demanded the closure of their states' abortion clinics, calling abortions "non-essential" medical procedures.1

Moments ago, the federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Texas's abortion ban, and since the 5th Circuit covers the states of Louisiana and Mississippi as well, it is expected that their bans will be able to go into effect immediately as well.2 

Let's be very clear: Abortions are essential, time-sensitive medical procedures, and using a global pandemic to further restrict access to abortion is despicable.

In just the first day after the news was announced, Whole Women's Health—one of the last remaining abortion providers in Texas—was forced to cancel 150 appointments, and thus far Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas locations have had to cancel 200 more.3 For many, especially low-income people and people of color, the cost of traveling to another state—on top of the added risk of exposure to the coronavirus—will mean that they have lost access to abortion altogether.

This is unacceptable. To fight back, MoveOn is launching emergency campaigns in these six states to demand that abortion clinics be reopened immediately and that these blatantly illegal measures be rescinded. Mar, will you chip in $3 now?

The governors in these states are claiming that canceling abortion procedures is necessary to free up space in hospital beds. But abortion procedures are typically carried out in medical facilities that do not take care of people with respiratory illnesses.4 This means that patients receiving abortion care are not taking up needed hospital beds. These radical governors are also claiming that clinic closures are a way to provide additional personal protective equipment, or PPE, for the medical professionals treating coronavirus patients—but that is simply a lie.

If these states wanted to save PPE, they could lift restrictions on telemedicine for abortion providers and allow doctors to prescribe abortion medication that can be taken safely at home. Not one of these states has done so.

Instead, these states—four of which attempted to pass near-total abortion bans last year alone—are using the crisis to try to sneak full abortion bans onto the books under the radar. We won't let them get away with it.

MoveOn has already begun supporting local efforts in each of these states and sounding the alarm about the attack on access to abortion taking place during this pandemic. We're stretched thin as we tackle so many fights during this time of crisis, which is why we need member support to add more capacity to these fights. With your support, we'll build on the work we're already doing to ...

  • Work directly with grassroots organizations in these states—to provide support and understand the needs on the ground.
  • Flood the governors' offices and attorneys general offices with phone calls—demanding that these illegal, backdoor abortion bans be lifted immediately.
  • Share petitions with MoveOn members, run digital ads, and much, much more.

MoveOn is working on all fronts to protect communities being hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn, and our resources are spread thin. Can you help close the gap and chip in $3 to make sure we can fight to stop these abortion bans as well?

We are all living through extremely tumultuous times, and while so many of us are looking for ways to come together and help, these bans make it clear that many people in power saw this crisis as an opportunity to cause even more harm. Just this past year, we've seen attacks on abortion access and rights spike, and MoveOn members have stepped up where we can—donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to abortion funds in Alabama, in Missouri, and to Planned Parenthood.

With access to abortion already under so much threat nationwide, we cannot allow the radical right to gain another foothold by ruthlessly capitalizing on a pandemic.

Please, Mar, chip in $3 now.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mary, Erica, Michael, Thad, and the rest of the team

Sources: 

1. "Pandemic sparks new front in abortion wars," Politico, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119307?t=5&akid=260616%2E10220574%2EDTWx-P

2. Tweet from Allison Miranda Ollstein, March 31, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119317?t=7&akid=260616%2E10220574%2EDTWx-P

3. "Providers Report Anger And Despair Among Patients After Texas Officials Ban Abortions," KUT 90.5, March 27, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119308?t=9&akid=260616%2E10220574%2EDTWx-P

4. "The coronavirus threat to public health is no time to restrict abortion access," The Washington Post, March 26, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119310?t=11&akid=260616%2E10220574%2EDTWx-P

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.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 31, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Protect Incarcerated Loved Ones from COVID-19

Add your name to show your support.

Dear MoveOn Member,

I'm Monifa of MomsRising.org and I started a petition to Governors, Department of Homeland Security, ICE, mayors, sheriffs, which says:

◦  Using all available powers, including the powers of clemency, furlough, parole and compassionate release, dramatically reduce the prison and/or jail populations. Release everyone who isn't a risk to public safety.

◦ Working with local officials, advocate the maximum reduction in jail admissions.

◦  Working with local officials, advocate that local officials release the vast majority of individuals who are currently incarcerated in jails.

◦  For those individuals who are released on probation and parole, modify supervision practices so as to support family bonds and health-related exigencies.

◦  For those individuals who remain incarcerated, ensure proper hygiene and access to medical care.

◦ For those individuals who remain incarcerated, facilitate communications home.

◦ For everyone who has incurred debt and/or debt-related penalties, end the financial hardship associated with these debts and penalties.

◦  For immigrants in detention, we urge the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to take immediate action to suspend ALL immigration enforcement activities and operations --DHS must suspend deportations, immigration arrests, mass raids, detentions and enforcement in sensitive locations, provide Free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and services for ALL, regardless of immigration status, and guarantee safe conditions and provide healthcare, testing and support to protect those in detention and prisons.

◦  Commit to end the use of private prisons. No companies should profit from the pain and suffering of incarcerated people, especially in the face of the coronavirus.

Add your QUICK SIGNATURE! Tell governors, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, mayors, and sheriffs not to leave anyone behind and take immediate COVID-19 action at prisons, jails, and immigrant detention centers.

We are in a crisis on multiple fronts right now -- and we need you, and your voice, now more than ever. One such crisis that's now at a breaking point with COVID-19 is our mass incarceration rate — the highest in the world -- and crowded detention facilities in which we have totally inadequate health protections. This puts moms, dads, families, children, communities, and workers at undue risk.

This is no small crisis. Every year in America, millions of children experience the trauma of being separated from their parents due to mass incarceration, which has 2.3 million people behind bars. In fact, on any given day, 600,000 people are held pretrial in jails mostly because they don't have enough money to be home with their families. This criminalization of poverty further hurts families economically, emotionally, and physically. Moreover, 38,000 people are currently being held in ICE detention centers.

The spread of COVID-19 is a national emergency that threatens potentially millions of lives. While everyone is at risk, we have a moral obligation to ensure that our most vulnerable—the elderly, the sick, those without medical care, and those unable to protect themselves from the virus—get the help that they need.

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

Thanks!

—Monifa

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

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 MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 31, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Ending live daily coverage of Trump's COVID-19 briefings

Sign this petition demanding that media outlets end live coverage of Trump's coronavirus press briefings where he spreads misinformation and campaigns for re-election. 

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

Donald Trump is using the daily COVID-19 coronavirus press briefings for his own personal and political gain. Instead of focusing on showing leadership in this time of crisis and providing key information on how the federal government is stepping in to take care of the American people, Trump is using the press briefings as a way to spread misinformation, campaign for re-election, and bully reporters who challenge him. 

Instead of enabling this behavior, major news media outlets need to stop airing these press briefings live, unedited on television. Trump and his administration do not deserve a platform to make a case for re-election in a global pandemic, and news media organizations need to intervene and make sure that they are not allowing the general public to fall prey to misinformation from the sitting president as we all deal with the effects of the coronavirus. 

Sign this petition demanding that media outlets end live daily coverage of Trumps's COVID-19 coronavirus press briefings.

Sign this petition demanding that media outlets end live coverage of Trump's coronavirus press briefings where he spreads misinformation and campaigns for re-election. 

President Trump is blatantly using CNN and other news organizations' extensive live coverage to freely campaign for a second term. It is wrong and dangerous to provide so much unfettered airtime to someone who is shamelessly spreading damaging misinformation that is already costing fellow Americans their lives. He's boasting about the ratings and using the daily press conferences to drive news cycles with his latest outlandish comments, deceptions, denials, and false information. Media can cover these conferences as news after the fact if Trump says anything newsworthy. 

Please tell CNN and other news organizations to monitor and then broadcast valid, accurate information from medical experts, rather than feelings and diatribes from the president that only serve his own electoral interests.

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

Thanks for all you do. 

—Julie Rochman

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

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 ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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 Mar Alfaro on March 30, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

This is a long email, but we hope you'll read it

Where are the coronavirus tests? Where are the masks? Where are the ventilators? Where is the direct support to Americans who can't go to work and whose rent and bills are due in days?

Dear MoveOn member,

Where are the coronavirus tests? Where are the masks? Where are the ventilators? Where is the direct support to Americans who can't go to work and whose rent and bills are due in days?

They are tied up in the severe dysfunctions of an administration that has ineptly confronted this crisis, and lost in the Republican leadership's obsession with prioritizing corporate bailouts over investment in and relief for the rest of us.

We are facing an unprecedented moment. Health care providers are asked to make miracles happen while being denied basic equipment. Parents are being asked to school their children at home while they don't know if they'll have money for rent that's due. Grocery store workers are being told that they are essential—and truly, they are heroes—while being denied the basic ability to stay safe at work, the time to care for themselves or their families in case of infection, or the confidence that there will be hospital beds left for them.

So forgive us for a moment if bailing out Boeing or reopening Mar-a-Lago isn't our top priority.

MoveOn members are campaigning for masks and protective equipment for health care providers, for immediate and significant financial support for all Americans, and for community safety measures to stop the spread of the virus—and we're doing this while campaigning in ways we never have before ... at home and physically separated from each other and from our members of Congress.

It's a huge problem requiring huge campaigns—and huge innovation to meet the moment. MoveOn was built to lead in this moment, but we need your help: Can you pitch in $5 a month to help us sustain the fight—for as long as it takes—for masks, ventilators, and cash subsidies, and against the spread of the coronavirus and trillion-dollar corporate power grabs?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly to help keep the pressure on our government to rise to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

We're in a critical moment to push our government to use its extraordinary power to put people first, focus on our individual and public health and our financial security, and help all of our communities weather this pandemic and emerge resilient.

Here's some of what we need right now:

1. We need to care for the folks who are infected and the heroes who are caring for them. That means tests that are fast, accessible, and free; protective equipment, including masks, for all health care staff; more ventilators and hospital beds than we currently have; and assurances that this pandemic won't bankrupt a generation with medical bills.

What we don't need are excuses, attempts to downplay the crisis, delays in providing equipment, or deference to companies that don't want to produce and distribute masks quickly and affordably.

2. We need to stop the spread—with solid public health recommendations based on science, not wishful thinking, with language that connects to people all across the country, and with measures that can actually work for working people. We need folks to stay home if they are able, and we need to care for and support those whose jobs and financial situations don't allow them to stay home. We also need to be responsive to the people for whom staying home is a danger, including those living with domestic violence.

What we don't need is to be urged to pack pews by Easter, or the idea that sacrificing only the older generation would be a good idea (which isn't even how the pandemic is playing out).

3. We need to care for Americans whose lives have been turned upside down. We need freezes on rent, mortgage payments, and other bills, and we also need to move money directly to people who are impacted, so they can care for themselves, their families, and their communities. Support needs to be immediate, significant, and ongoing.

What we don't need is a one-time $1,200 check, or GOP senators worrying that unemployment insurance will incentivize people to stay home.

Those are big needs. And that's just the starting place, as we'll also need to secure and strengthen our elections, build a broader safety net, stand with the communities that are most under attack in this moment—such as Asian Americans, who are facing a surge of hate speech and attacks—and imagine and invest in the society that comes after this pandemic is over.

That's why we're running a big program to meet this moment—but we can only do it with your sustained help. Will you chip in $5 a month to help MoveOn keep up the fight on all fronts during this crisis?

Yes, I'll chip in monthly.

Can't make a monthly donation? Click here, because MoveOn still needs your help.

Here's some of what we're doing:

  • To produce masks and ventilators, we're pushing the Trump administration to overcome the objections of corporate moguls and actually use the federal power known as the Defense Production Act to direct industries to produce masks, ventilators, and other critical supplies as soon as possible. We're also working to support innovative groups that are not only matching folks who have masks with those who need them but are even empowering individuals to produce masks to support our health care workers.
  • To confront the spread of the virus, we're moving public education and advocacy campaigns to urge all who can to stay home, to push local and state governments to listen to public health officials—and not Donald Trump's Twitter feed—about when to reopen businesses and schools, and to support those who can't stay home with measures that help their health and financial well-being.
  • To provide immediate relief, we're pushing for a stimulus that puts people first—with direct payments, rent freezes, expanded housing, paid sick and family leave, access to health care, and more. And since the federal government seems unwilling to do all that's needed, we're running campaigns with partners to push state governments and corporations to do what must be done.

Over the past few weeks, this work resulted in tens of thousands of phone calls, millions of petition signatures, digital homepage takeovers of key newspapers, hard-hitting videos that focus on stories of folks impacted by the pandemic, and more. And we need to keep all of that going—and do even more.

At the same time, it has not included rallies, office visits, or other tactics that MoveOn is known for—meaning we're now campaigning on new ground.

And so we'll do what MoveOn always does: We'll innovate. Virtual rallies, Facebook Lives, crowdsourced social media campaigns, peer-to peer outreach, relational organizing through friends and family. We're investing in all of these possibilities in order to channel the power of millions of MoveOn members in new and impactful ways.

That takes work, experimentation, analysis, data, tech, and, of course, staff time—while our staff are also all juggling caring for family members that are home from school, or missing paychecks, or concerned about their health. But we're giving our all, even while we're in uncertain times.

And we have to continue. The stakes are too high to do anything else. So we will campaign on multiple fronts, raise many voices, put all that we can out there.

As Rahna Epting, MoveOn's executive director, said to us today, "Now is not the time to tighten our belts. Now is not the time to cut off our nose to spite our face. This is the time to put it all out there, to meet this unprecedented, high-stakes moment with everything we can. Let's do everything our members are ready to do."

Are you ready to support this work across many fronts, many channels, and many uncertainties?

Yes, I'll support MoveOn's work by chipping in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Jayne, Ankur, Isbah, and the rest of the team

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 ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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 Mar Alfaro on March 28, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Friday, March 27, 2020

SURVEY: coronavirus crisis

Will you take a few minutes to answer a few questions about the challenges you're facing?

Dear MoveOn member, 

Many of us are feeling the impact on our lives from the coronavirus pandemic, and from the lack of an adequate response to it from our federal government. The crisis is exposing ineptitude, corruption, and abysmal failures in the Trump administration, and the extreme fragility of our social safety net and economy.

We want to learn more about how the coronavirus crisis is impacting you, and where the scale of this crisis and the Trump administration's failures to adequately address the pandemic are creating challenges in your life, whether personally, in your family, or in your community.

Will you take five minutes to complete our survey and tell us about how the coronavirus crisis is affecting you?

Across the U.S., we are experiencing the impact of the coronavirus crisis in our communities, families, politics, elections, jobs, and more. The pandemic is exposing the underlying problems in our country and creating hardship for so many of us. 

But, right now, many members of Congress are listening to corporate lobbyists who are pushing for no-strings-attached relief funding from the government. And if they only hear from lobbyists and don't hear from the people on the frontlines of this pandemic, they're likely to repeat the mistakes of the last financial crisis—with bailouts from Congress for corporations and the wealthy that never trickle down to working people and families. And if Donald Trump isn't held accountable for his ineptitude, mismanagement, and corruption, our country will be unprepared when the next crisis hits.

We want to hear how the coronavirus crisis is impacting you, and how we can work together to hold Trump and the GOP accountable for their failure to adequately protect us during this pandemic.

Will you take a few minutes to answer our questions about the challenges you're facing?

Thanks for all you do.

Jenn, Mohammad, Nita, Sana, and the rest of the team

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 ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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 Mar Alfaro on March 27, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

The catastrophic failure of Trump's response to the coronavirus

Too many Americans simply don't know about the catastrophic failure of Trump's response—and unless we hold him accountable, he will continue to dither, and the human and economic toll will be immense.

Dear MoveOn member,

How can we end the nightmare of this pandemic as fast as possible? Epidemiologists are clear:

If we had "a true national pause—a cessation of all nonessential activities" and everyone participated, "the whole epidemic would sputter to a halt."1,2

That's because the virus "would die out on every contaminated surface and, because almost everyone shows symptoms within two weeks, it would be evident who was infected. If we had enough tests for every American, even the completely asymptomatic cases could be found and isolated. The crisis would be over."3

It would be over.

But Mike Pence said on Tuesday that the White House Coronavirus Task Force has "at no point" considered a national stay-at-home order.4

Instead, Donald Trump wants to ease social distancing measures as soon as next week and "have the country opened up" and just "raring to go by Easter."5 That's April 12.

Epidemiological models show that easing social distancing measures could cost many lives and overwhelm our health care system.6

But a new Gallup poll released on Tuesday shows Trump's approval rating tied for its highest point in his presidency, at 49%.7 The poll also found that 60% of Americans approve of Trump's response to the coronavirus crisis.

Too many Americans simply don't know about the catastrophic failure of Trump's response—and unless we hold him accountable, he will continue to dither, and the human and economic toll will be immense.

That's why MoveOn is launching an emergency campaign to hold Donald Trump accountable for his reckless and inept response to the coronavirus pandemic. We need to act fast. Will you rush a donation of $3 now to help out?

The World Health Organization now warns that the "very large acceleration" in new cases could soon make the United States the new epicenter for the global pandemic.8

Two prominent scientists explain what that could mean for the U.S.: "More people could die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, in just a few months than have died in every single war this country has fought since its inception. Such devastation would shut down our hospitals and the entire health-care system. Tens of thousands of doctors and nurses and other health-care professionals would likely get sick. The ripple effects on finances, and on human lives, would be massive and uncontrolled."9

But Trump says, "One day it's like a miracle—it will disappear."10

And, "I don't take any responsibility at all."11

Together, we need to hold Trump accountable and put enormous pressure on him and his administration.

We know the only thing that Trump cares about is his re-election, so we're launching hard-hitting ads in battleground states, texting hundreds of thousands of voters in those states, and organizing a drumbeat of celebrities, influential leaders, and health professionals to push Trump to take responsibility for this crisis.

Will you rush a $3 donation now?

Already, there's evidence that social distancing is slowing the spread of coronavirus in New York. Estimates from Sunday showed that coronavirus hospitalizations were doubling every two days in New York. But on Monday, hospitalizations were doubling every 3.4 days, and on Tuesday, hospitalizations were doubling every 4.7 days.12

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo explained, "That is almost too good to be true. But the theory is given the density that we're dealing with, it spreads very quickly, but if you reduce the density you can reduce the spread very quickly."13

A staggering 3.3 million U.S. workers filed unemployment claims last week.14 With each passing day that Trump fails to treat this situation with the seriousness it deserves, he is prolonging and exacerbating this crisis—at an enormous cost to human life and our livelihoods.

Please, join with us to hold Donald Trump accountable and force him to take responsibility for this crisis.

Thanks for all you do.

–Emily, Oscar, Justin, Eric, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Don't Halt Social Distancing. Instead, Do It Right." The Atlantic, March 23, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119003?t=5&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

2. "The Virus Can Be Stopped, but Only With Harsh Steps, Experts Say," The New York Times, March 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119004?t=7&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

3. Ibid.

4. "Remarks by Vice President Pence in a Fox News Virtual Town Hall," The White House, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119005?t=9&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

5. "Trump Wants U.S. 'Opened Up' by Easter, Despite Health Officials' Warnings," The New York Times, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119006?t=11&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

6. "Coronavirus will radically alter the U.S.," The Washington Post, March 19, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119007?t=13&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

7. "President Trump's Job Approval Rating Up to 49%," Gallup, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119008?t=15&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

8. "WHO says a third of the newest coronavirus cases worldwide are in the US," Vox, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119009?t=17&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

9. "Don't Halt Social Distancing. Instead, Do It Right." The Atlantic, March 23, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119003?t=19&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

10. "All the President's Lies About the Coronavirus," The Atlantic, March 24, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119010?t=21&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

11. "Trump: 'I Don't Take Responsibility at All,'" New York, March 13, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119160?t=23&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

12. "New York Gov. Cuomo says social distancing efforts are working to slow coronavirus," CNN, March 25, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119012?t=25&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

13. Ibid.

14. "A record 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits as the coronavirus slams economy," The Washington Post, March 26, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/119013?t=27&akid=260226%2E10220574%2Ed2q8I8

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.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 27, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Sign this petition re: Whole Foods & paid sick leave

Jeff Bezos, as the wealthiest man in the world, must provide paid sick leave to Whole Foods employees immediately.

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey want their workers to pay for their colleagues' sick leave during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Their solution to how employees should take time off if they're not well is for other employees to "donate" their "paid time off" days to their colleagues.1

As the richest man in the world with a net worth of $105 billion, Jeff Bezos has the means to provide proper support for his employees in this stressful time. Yet his solution to providing care for his employees, who are dealing with this pandemic on the front lines, is to have Whole Foods workers donate their PTO to one another. 

Bezos needs to step up and provide proper paid sick leave and family leave for his employees at Whole Foods immediately. This is an unprecedented global pandemic, and donating sick time is not a solution for those who are on the front lines and providing essential goods to the American public. 

Sign this petition demanding that Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods CEO Jeff Mackey provide paid sick leave to their employees during the time of the coronavirus.

Jeff Bezos, as the wealthiest man in the world, must provide paid sick leave to Whole Foods employees immediately.

The burden of coping with this pandemic should not fall on those who are least able to pay for it—especially when Amazon and Whole Foods receive huge tax breaks from the government.

Bezos can afford to pay for frontline workers from his own personal wealth without breaking the bank. It is obscene that he is trying to foist this responsibility onto his hourly workers.

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

Thanks for all you do.

—R. Karpinski

Source:

1. "Whole Foods Suggests That Workers Share Paid Time Off During Coronavirus," Vice, March 13, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/118797?t=10&akid=260170%2E10220574%2ELv_caG

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

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 MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 26, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Cash assistance to workers impacted by the coronavirus crisis

Restaurant workers, service workers, and gig workers do critical, essential jobs that allow the rest of our nation to cook, eat, and get around. In this moment of crisis, we cannot allow them to fall through the cracks.

Dear MoveOn member,

As more and more cities and states close businesses and ask residents to remain home to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, millions of us have suddenly found ourselves out of work, with little to no savings or ability to pay our bills.

These quarantine efforts to "flatten the curve" of the outbreak are urgently needed to save lives, but so many Americans are now in need of some extra help. Congress is passing some measures, but it still isn't enough. And for workers whose jobs are the most vulnerable, we need to take extra steps to help our communities.

Some of the workers hardest hit by these quarantine measures are restaurant workers, gig workers (including Uber and Lyft drivers), and other tipped service workers, most of whom are paid below minimum wage and rely on tips from customers to make ends meet.

One Fair Wage has set up an emergency fund to provide no-strings-attached cash assistance to tipped restaurant workers, delivery drivers, personal service workers, and others affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the economic downturn. Mar, can you make a tax-deductible donation of $3 to the emergency fund now? One-hundred percent of your donation will go directly to One Fair Wage.

One Fair Wage is a nonprofit organization that was established after September 11, 2001, to provide relief for the thousands of New York City restaurant workers who lost their jobs after the tragedy, and over the last 20 years, it has grown to be a powerful voice for restaurant workers across the country.

More recently, One Fair Wage has been fighting to end laws in America that allow employers to pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 an hour in federal minimum wage. You read that right: Workers in most states that receive tips can be legally paid just $2.13 an hour, because of the assumption that tips will make up the difference. But often that isn't the case.

And now many of these and other service workers—the largest workforce in our nation and the largest workforce of women of color—have lost their jobs, while some have become frontline workers delivering food and supplies, putting them at risk to contract the coronavirus.

Restaurant workers, service workers, and gig workers do critical, essential jobs that allow the rest of our nation to cook, eat, and get around. In this moment of crisis, we cannot allow them to fall through the cracks.

Mar, please join MoveOn and make a tax-deductible donation of $3 now to One Fair Wage's emergency fund to provide cash assistance to tipped restaurant workers, delivery drivers, personal service workers, and others affected by the coronavirus crisis. One-hundred percent of your donation will go directly to One Fair Wage.

As we all grapple with the new reality we are living in because of this crisis, it's easy to wish that things would go back to normal.

But rather than hoping for that old normal, it is up to us to take lessons from this crisis and build a better world as we move into the future.

We now know just how essential the workers who stock shelves and bag groceries are to our ability to survive.

We know how brave the workers are who continue to make and deliver food, even though they know doing so puts them at risk.

And we know that all of these workers deserve not just short-term protections, but a fair, living wage to allow them to care for their families and thrive as we move forward.

MoveOn will continue to fight for that future, and we know that you will be standing with us.

Join us in this moment to make a tax-deductible donation of $3 to support the workers hardest hit in this crisis.

Thanks for all you do.

–Emma, Erik, Pulin, Oscar, and the rest of the team

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 25, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

COVID-19 (sign the petition)

Sign on to the Poor People's Campaign's demands in response to COVID-19. 

Dear MoveOn member,

We're Reverend Dr. William Barber II and Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis, the co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. 

So much of this country is in economic free fall in response to COVID-19, while many Americans were already at rock bottom before the virus hit. 

We need to ensure that the resources going to address this pandemic meet our needs for universal health care, living wages and work protections, and adequate income and anti-poverty programs—and do not just go to cover the rich. Even the current legislation still isn't enough to address the extent of this crisis. 

We need your voice: Sign the petition calling on Congress for a moral response to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us into an unprecedented national emergency. This emergency, however, results from a deeper and much longer-term crisis—that of poverty and inequality and of a society that ignores the needs of 140 million people who are poor or who are a $400 emergency away from being poor.

These millions of people are in dire need of critical attention immediately. We call on you to fulfill your moral and constitutional responsibilities—expand the COVID-19 emergency provisions to care for us all and enact our Moral Agenda immediately.

This pandemic will hit poor and impacted people hardest—those of us who don't have access to health care, housing, water, decent wages, legal status, stable work, or child care. Folks who are still working on the frontlines to provide health care and other needs will be severely impacted, too. And this moment is awakening all of us to the immoral reality that has long been buried under the surface: before COVID-19, nearly 700 people died every day because of poverty and inequality.

We cannot return to normal. Addressing the depth of the crises that have been revealed in this pandemic means enacting universal health care, expanding social welfare programs, ensuring access to water and sanitation, providing cash assistance to poor and low-income families, ensuring good jobs and living wages, establishing an annual income, and protecting our democracy.

It means ensuring that our abundant national resources are used for the general welfare, instead of wars, walls, and the wealthy—not just in times of crisis but at all times.

Sign on to the Poor People's Campaign's demands in response to COVID-19.

Forward together, 
 
–Rev. Dr. William Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, co-chairs of the Poor People's Campaign

P.S. Last Thursday, we joined MoveOn for a Facebook Live to talk about the connection between poverty and this pandemic, and what a moral response to COVID-19 must look like. You can watch that conversation here.

No time for despair

MoveOn members start and sign petitions every day. Learn more about how these people-powered petitions make an impact and and how to start your own campaign.

Dear MoveOn member,

Our Constitution and our democracy are at stake this year. 

Senate Republicans and Mitch McConnell have entirely shirked their constitutional responsibilities by enabling an authoritarian and dangerous president. Ever since the impeachment trial, Donald J. Trump has gone on a lawless spree, giving pardons to those who do not deserve them and intervening in the sentencing of his close friend and adviser, Roger Stone. He is behaving as though he is above the law. 

American democracy is at stake in this election, and we cannot wait for anyone to save us. 2020 is the year that we take our country back. 

So let's start now. Will you start a petition today on an issue that matters to you?

Defeating Trump in November will be difficult. In fact, the polling experts at The New York Times are saying that "Despite low national approval ratings and the specter of impeachment, President Trump remains highly competitive in the battleground states likeliest to decide his re-election."1

These data points should not lead to despair. We have to move ahead in 2020 with clear eyes and an awareness of what we're up against. That said, if we are going to defeat Donald Trump and other Republicans who have abandoned our Constitution and our democracy, we must fight, organize, and believe firmly in people power. 

We must fight for the issues that matter to us in our communities, whether it's universal health care, increasing taxes on the wealthy, or advocating for a $15 minimum wage. If we believe in the policies and values espoused by people across the country, we will win. And MoveOn's free petition tool is a powerful way to get started. 

Will you start a petition today and fight for the issues that matter to you ahead of the 2020 election? We have to set the agenda for issues and values that matter to us. Join us by starting a petition.

MoveOn is uniquely equipped to lift up the issues and voices that will matter in this 2020 election, as we set a progressive agenda and defeat Donald Trump and Republicans in November. We are in for the fight of our lives, but we have to fight. Our Constitution and the future of our democracy are on the line.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

Source:

1. "One Year From Election, Trump Trails Biden but Leads Warren in Battleground States," The New York Times, November 4, 2019.
https://act.moveon.org/go/113142?t=17&akid=260008%2E10220574%2Ee9i_3w

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 ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?

Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.

No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.


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 Mar Alfaro on March 25, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Sign the petition re: nurses and health care workers

Add your name to show your support for health care workers. If we run out of equipment, nurses like me will die.

Sign the petition telling the Trump administration to provide the equipment health care professionals need to save lives.

Dear MoveOn member,

My name is Donna. I'm a nurse in Alaska. Nurses and other health care professionals are on the front lines of fighting the COVID-19 outbreak and caring for our patients, but we're running out of personal protective equipment (PPE) in states across the nation.

We don't have the right kind of N95 respirator masks to keep us and you safe. We don't have enough ventilators to keep the very sickest patients alive. We don't have the ear or the attention of the president, who make promises and then walks away and does nothing.

This is scary. Our job is to treat and care for people, and we will not leave our patients behind. If we run out of equipment, health care providers and the patients we care for will die.

Help us by telling the Trump administration that we need its immediate action to use its authority under the Defense Production Act to save lives.

Health care workers have shown their commitment to patients and the public. We need the same level of commitment from the Trump administration, and we need it now. We urge you to honor the bravery of health care workers by implementing the recommendations listed below. The nation's health and our lives literally depend on it.

Let's be clear: If we get sick and if people die, it's because policies that start all the way at the top have failed us. We should have been producing the needed respirators, masks, and ventilators long before this. The Trump administration should have taken the outbreak seriously when it started three months ago.

And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keep lowering the guidelines for health care workers to be safe; the CDC just said that we can use bandanas as masks. The CDC is putting my life and the lives of other nurses at risk by telling us to use scarves rather than producing enough masks that will keep us safe. And it's not just respirators, masks, and ventilators we're running low on. Hospitals are reporting shortages of gowns, gloves, and other PPE that we need to keep ourselves safe as we care for the sick.

Add your name to demand proper protection and resources for health care workers.

Here's what we need right now:

  • The administration must make the production of N95 respirators and other PPE a top priority.

  • The President must use the Defense Production Act to direct industry to make ventilators for patients.

  • The federal government has a stockpile of personal protective equipment, but has released less than 10 percent of the stockpile. We're still running low. The federal government must release more of it immediately to keep us safe.

  • All healthcare workers should have immediate, free access to being tested to ensure that we are safe and not endangering non-infected patients.

  • The federal government needs to stop watering down guidelines that keep us safe. The minimum standard should be N95 respirators. Telling us to use bandanas puts our lives at risk.

Trump has said he'll use the Defense Production Act to make masks and tests, after weeks of us pressuring him, but he has not said he'll use it to ensure there are enough ventilators to keep patients from dying. And he's still not releasing the stockpile of PPE that he has, which could fill the gap until enough N95 masks are made.

Help us by telling the administration that we need this now.

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

Thank you.

–Donna Phillips and American Federation of Teachers

You're receiving this petition because we thought it might interest you. It was created on MoveOn.org, where anyone can start their own online petitions. You can start your own petition here.

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 MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 24, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Disgraceful

I am so furious that I need to shout from the rooftops. But we're in lockdown, so I'm emailing you:

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

I am so furious that I need to shout from the rooftops. But we're in lockdown, so I'm emailing you: No industry—not airlines, not hotel chains, not cruise ships—should be bailed out.

Congress is feverishly negotiating a sweeping economic stabilization bill that is expected to pass as early as tomorrow. The details of it are changing rapidly, but Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts for the airline industry and other industries that recklessly mismanaged their budgets by fattening the pockets of their CEOs. And now, these wealthy executives are begging Republicans for a taxpayer handout.

But guess how much the lowest-earning Americans would have gotten from McConnell's initial proposal? As little as $600.1 It's disgraceful.

Mar, breaking news indicates that House is drafting its own bill, that Democrats aren't ready to rubber-stamp the Republican corporate bailout proposal, and this legislation is not yet a done deal.2 But we have only a couple of days to pressure lawmakers to rise to the challenge of this unprecedented moment and make sure that our government bails out the American people, not corporations. That's why I'm writing to you now.

Think about all of the people across America who are constantly checking their local newspapers' websites to learn the latest about how the pandemic is affecting their communities; that's what I'm doing, and you might be, too. But what if, in addition to showing the much-needed news updates, the newspapers' websites showed ads pressuring Congress to give a lifeline to people, not corporations, in the economic stimulus bill? These ads will make lawmakers, who I can assure you care about what's said in their local papers, take serious notice.

This powerful ad campaign is exactly what MoveOn plans to implement, but only if they can raise $250,000.

Will you join me in rushing a donation of $3 to MoveOn right now?

As former secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, I can tell you that there is no justification whatsoever to bailing out corporations right now. The airline industry certainly doesn't deserve a bailout: The biggest U.S. airlines spent 96% of their cash flow over the past decade to buy back shares of their own stock in order to boost executive bonuses and please wealthy investors. American Airlines alone repurchased more than $12.5 billion of its shares over the past 10 years.

But McConnell expects us to bail them out to the tune of $50 billion?

The airlines can stay in business by borrowing at rock-bottom rates, using their assets as collateral. Regular Americans living paycheck to paycheck don't have that same option.

Mar, we need to come together right now to demand Congress put people first and pass an economic stimulus bill to support Americans in need, not provide bailouts for big businesses.

Will you rush a donation of $3 to MoveOn right now, so they can launch high-profile ads on the webpages of local newspapers, pressuring key senators to do the right thing and bail out people, not corporations?

Just three weeks ago, Trump claimed that the coronavirus was "going to disappear. One day—it's like a miracle—it will disappear."3

And on that same day, Republican Senator Richard Burr warned wealthy constituents in a private meeting of the dire consequences that would arise from the crisis. He advised the well-connected group to prepare to alter their travel plans, warned that schools will probably close, and predicted that the military may be mobilized to combat the outbreak.4 When addressing the general public, however, he followed Trump's lead and minimized the severity of the crisis.

And then, Burr sold $1.5 million of his stock holdings, right before the market nosedived.

This is outrageous, and yet another example of Republicans serving their own interests and those of the wealthy over the needs of the American people. Unless we hold GOP lawmakers' feet to the fire, the economic stimulus bill won't help everyday Americans who urgently need help the most.

Seemingly overnight, so many people in every community in America have lost their jobs or are facing a severe cutback in hours due to the pandemic.

Congress has to do the right thing in this unprecedented moment: It must put people first, small businesses second, and big business last.

Please, chip in $3 to MoveOn right now to hold GOP lawmakers accountable and to make Congress pass the stimulus bill to help the American people in this unprecedented moment.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

P.S. My new book, out this Tuesday, March 24, explores the power dynamics that left us with a system that puts corporations before people and leaves so many behind, especially in times of crises. Please order a copy today to understand how we got into this mess, and how we get out.

Sources:

1. "Senate Republicans' cash assistance plan is far too limited, Vox, March 20, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117551?t=6&akid=259949%2E10220574%2EbdxWqE

2. "POLITICO Playbook: A $1.6 trillion game of chicken," Politico, March 23, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/118636?t=8&akid=259949%2E10220574%2EbdxWqE

3. "A Complete List of Trump's Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus," The New York Times, March 15, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117540?t=10&akid=259949%2E10220574%2EbdxWqE

4. "Weeks Before Virus Panic, Intelligence Chairman Privately Raised Alarm, Sold Stocks," NPR, March 19, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117516?t=12&akid=259949%2E10220574%2EbdxWqE

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, MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 23, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Urgent: Stop Senate Republicans from exploiting the coronavirus crisis to give billions to billionaires

We need to weigh in now, before GOP senators give a handout to their big donors.

Dear MoveOn member,

Donald Trump and Republicans in the Senate are exploiting the coronavirus crisis—holding hostage desperately needed emergency relief for our communities in an attempt to secure a $500 billion slush fund for corporate and billionaire giveaways. 

Calls from constituents are needed right now, because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to move the bill quickly. Probably because he knows that in this moment of extreme peril, when people are looking for leaders to work for our common interests, he'll lose a public debate about giving billions to billionaires while the rest of us suffer. 

Call Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand now to tell them to put #PeopleOverProfits and stop the Senate Republicans' plan to give to unrestricted funds to big corporations. We must focus on getting aid to those who need it the most. Please tell them to support the decision by House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to refuse to allow this slush fund, and demand the Senate pass legislation without it.

Here's where to call: 

  • Sen. Schumer - (202) 224-6542
  • Sen. Gillibrand - (202) 224-4451

Then click here to tell us how the call went.

We need relief as soon as possible, but we must ensure the relief goes to the workers, small businesses, communities, and those most vulnerable, not the wealthy. Congress made a big mistake in 2008 by prioritizing aid for big businesses, who rebuilt and then gave all of the benefits to their executives and stockholders, while workers, homeowners, and communities continued to suffer. 

Congress must address the serious problems that people are facing across the country, not throw money at corporations without any constraints on its use. 

Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand have the power to influence these high-stakes legislative negotiations. But they need to hear from you today. Call now to say "Give the economic relief to those who need it the most. Any industry support must have safeguards that protect workers and direct the funds to those who need it the most." 

Here's where to call: 

  • Sen. Schumer - (202) 224-6542
  • Sen. Gillibrand - (202) 224-4451

After you call, click here to tell us how it went.

Democrats in the Senate need to hear that we've got their back, because while the need and pressure for fast relief are huge, we need real solutions.

If the money doesn't actually provide relief to the people who need it, it shouldn't go in a relief package. We need to act to ensure aid goes to those in need, not to a coronavirus slush fund for corporations and the wealthy.

Call Sens. Schumer and Gillibrand now, before negotiations finish, to ensure Democrats in the Senate stand firm against a corporate bailout.

Thanks for all you do.

–Emma, Jayne, Pulin, Allison, and the rest of the team

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 MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 23, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Sunday, March 22, 2020

You'll want to read this. Every word.

I am so furious that I need to shout from the rooftops. But we're in lockdown, so I'm emailing you:

Dear fellow MoveOn member,

I am so furious that I need to shout from the rooftops. But we're in lockdown, so I'm emailing you: No industry—not airlines, not hotel chains, not cruise ships—should be bailed out.

Congress is feverishly negotiating a sweeping economic stabilization bill that is expected to pass as early as tomorrow. The details of it are changing rapidly, but Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell are proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts for the airline industry and other industries that recklessly mismanaged their budgets by fattening the pockets of their CEOs. And now, these wealthy executives are begging Republicans for a taxpayer handout.

But guess how much the lowest-earning Americans would have gotten from McConnell's initial proposal? As little as $600.1 It's disgraceful.

Mar, breaking news indicates that House is drafting its own bill, that Democrats aren't ready to rubber-stamp the Republican corporate bailout proposal, and this legislation is not yet a done deal.2 But we have only a couple of days to pressure lawmakers to rise to the challenge of this unprecedented moment and make sure that our government bails out the American people, not corporations. That's why I'm writing to you now.

Think about all of the people across America who are constantly checking their local newspapers' websites to learn the latest about how the pandemic is affecting their communities; that's what I'm doing, and you might be, too. But what if, in addition to showing the much-needed news updates, the newspapers' websites showed ads pressuring Congress to give a lifeline to people, not corporations, in the economic stimulus bill? These ads will make lawmakers, who I can assure you care about what's said in their local papers, take serious notice.

This powerful ad campaign is exactly what MoveOn plans to implement, but only if they can raise $250,000 by Monday.

Will you join me in rushing a donation of $3 to MoveOn right now?

As former secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, I can tell you that there is no justification whatsoever to bailing out corporations right now. The airline industry certainly doesn't deserve a bailout: The biggest U.S. airlines spent 96% of their cash flow over the past decade to buy back shares of their own stock in order to boost executive bonuses and please wealthy investors. American Airlines alone repurchased more than $12.5 billion of its shares over the past 10 years.

But McConnell expects us to bail them out to the tune of $50 billion?

The airlines can stay in business by borrowing at rock-bottom rates, using their assets as collateral. Regular Americans living paycheck to paycheck don't have that same option.

Mar, we need to come together right now to demand Congress put people first and pass an economic stimulus bill to support Americans in need, not provide bailouts for big businesses.

Will you rush a donation of $3 to MoveOn right now, so they can launch high-profile ads on the webpages of local newspapers, pressuring key senators to do the right thing and bail out people, not corporations?

Just three weeks ago, Trump claimed that the coronavirus was "going to disappear. One day—it's like a miracle—it will disappear."3

And on that same day, Republican Senator Richard Burr warned wealthy constituents in a private meeting of the dire consequences that would arise from the crisis. He advised the well-connected group to prepare to alter their travel plans, warned that schools will probably close, and predicted that the military may be mobilized to combat the outbreak.4 When addressing the general public, however, he followed Trump's lead and minimized the severity of the crisis.

And then, Burr sold $1.5 million of his stock holdings, right before the market nosedived.

This is outrageous, and yet another example of Republicans serving their own interests and those of the wealthy over the needs of the American people. Unless we hold GOP lawmakers' feet to the fire, the economic stimulus bill won't help everyday Americans who urgently need help the most.

Seemingly overnight, so many people in every community in America have lost their jobs or are facing a severe cutback in hours due to the pandemic.

Congress has to do the right thing in this unprecedented moment: It must put people first, small businesses second, and big business last.

Please, chip in $3 to MoveOn right now to hold GOP lawmakers accountable and to make Congress pass the stimulus bill to help the American people in this unprecedented moment.

Thanks for all you do.

–Robert Reich

P.S. My new book, out this Tuesday, March 24, explores the power dynamics that left us with a system that puts corporations before people and leaves so many behind, especially in times of crises. Please order a copy today to understand how we got into this mess, and how we get out.

Sources:

1. "Senate Republicans' cash assistance plan is far too limited, Vox, March 20, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117551?t=6&akid=259893%2E10220574%2EyKx9RF

2. "No deal: McConnell delays initial coronavirus stimulus vote," The Hill, March 22, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117567?t=8&akid=259893%2E10220574%2EyKx9RF

3. "A Complete List of Trump's Attempts to Play Down Coronavirus," The New York Times, March 15, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117540?t=10&akid=259893%2E10220574%2EyKx9RF

4. "Weeks Before Virus Panic, Intelligence Chairman Privately Raised Alarm, Sold Stocks," NPR, March 19, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/117516?t=12&akid=259893%2E10220574%2EyKx9RF

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, MoveOn needs your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?

Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.

Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to Mar Alfaro on March 22, 2020. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. If you'd like to receive less frequent emails from MoveOn, you can click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.