From our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible:
Hi Folks,
Good morning everyone, if you didn’t manage to do this yesterday, call our Senators TODAY and ask them to oppose Trump’s request H.R. 4 to cut already awarded funds to PBS, clean technology, foreign aid, global health, international peace keeping etc. through a process called Rescission. (A vote on this is likely today or tomorrow in the Senate.)
Make a space on your calendar for July 17th “Good Trouble” actions.
TODAY’S ACTION (s)
- Prepare to join “Good Trouble” Actions throughout Maine on Thursday, July 17th: Activate Maine has 18 events listed for that day!
- (We here at Indivisible Bangor have organized an action on Stillwater Ave between Chic-Fil-A and Washville on July 17th. Go here for more info and to sign up for the Bangor action! – Dave)
- Contact our Senators to ask them to OPPOSE H.R. 4, a Rescission Package to cut funding that Congress has already awarded: This request will defund PBS, Foreign Aid, Global Health, International Peacekeeping, etc. For more detail go to 5calls.org and/or read Abbie Mcmillen’s post attached below. The Senate has until midnight on Friday to bring the rescissions bill up for consideration or else it loses its privileged status under a 1974 budget law and would be subject to normal filibuster rules.
- Indivisible has a number of trainings you can sign up for: Strategies for demasking ICE locally, bringing friends into the resistance, fighting authoritarianism – join their one million rising trainings, and more – see details in attachment below. Sign up for them here.
- From Last Week
- Contact our Congressional Delegation and State Representatives to support required identification for ICE agents: Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) has introduced the No Masks for ICE Act to bring “basic transparency and accountability to immigration enforcement” and combat the climate of fear, chaos, and confusion caused by anonymous perpetrators. Go to 5calls.org for more information on this effort. Go to Indivisible’s Blue State Defiance Toolkit to take action.
- Contact our Congress People to Oppose HR 875: The National Immigration Law Center suggests these talking points to oppose the bill. This bill would allow ICE to go through all arrests for DUI nationally and deport immigrants for previous violations. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that seeking punishment above treatment doesn’t work. The science and morality say this bill is wrong on the face of it; another way to terrorize immigrant communities in Maine and throughout our country.
- If you live in Mid Maine contact the Somerset County Commissioners: Ask them not to oppose LD 1971. For talking points go to the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project. Contact the current board chair, Robert Sezak, who is a Democrat and reachable at: robert.sezak@somersetcounty-me.org; if you live in Somerset County find your Commissioner here and contact them. For the full article on this in Friday’s Morning Sentinel go here.
- Build the Resistance: Make a list of friends you think have not engaged yet. Pick one to talk with. Let them know how important public resistance is to dictatorship. Invite them to join you in whatever way they can. Indivisible Attachment Below has a toolkit for this.
Statewide Actions This Week:
- Get in touch with your Maine Representative and Senator and ask them to put in a bill to ensure proper identification of ICE agents acting in Maine. Lawmakers in California have introduced legislation requiring the identity and affiliation of ICE agents to be displayed while interacting with the public.
- Indivisible Actions – Register Here
- Prepare for a “Good Trouble” Action in Augusta on July 17th! See Local Actions below for details. Go to Mobilize to find Good Trouble Actions near you! Activate Maine has 18 events listed for that day!
- (We here at Indivisible Bangor have organized an action on Stillwater Ave between Chic-Fil-A and Washville on July 17th. Go here for more info and to sign up for the Bangor action! – Dave)
- Be prepared for an August session of the legislature to deal with a predicted 190 million dollar shortfall in the Budget. This could also be a time to push Mills to sign LD 1971.
- Buy some American Flags for your next Demo (Reny’s in Bangor has a good selection of American-made flags at affordable prices – Dave).
Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find Your State Senator: Here
Find your State Representative: Here – (by name), By District: Here,
LOCAL ACTIONS: Join Mid Maine Indivisible (Kennebec and Somerset Counties) Please join us if you are in the Mid Maine area. To sign up: go here.
Are you interested in helping New Mainers learn/improve their English? To sign up for English tutoring or any of our other volunteer opportunities, please visit: Capital Area New Mainers Project (CANMP) to fill out a volunteer interest survey.
Tuesday, July 15th: 12:00-1:00 (and every Tuesday) Stand against Tesla/Musk and the Federal Budget Bill in Waterville around the Tesla Charging Station Elm Plaza on Main Street, Waterville.
Wednesday, July 16th: (and every Wednesday) 12:00-1:00 Waterville, Maine. Corner of Main and Chaplin St. Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights, GRR! demonstrates every Wednesday across from Resolve, the local anti-abortion center. Please join us in assuring all Mainers have access to safe, legal, shame-free reproductive health care including abortions and contraceptive care. For more info please contact Elayne Richard at recordconnection@gmail.com.
Thursday, July 17th: 4 – 5 pm, Fairfield/Benton Bridge, Stop the Coup + Save Democracy.
Thursday, July 17th National Good Trouble Demonstration: 12 – 1:30, Augusta; We are going to encircle the State House on the streets around it. Sign up for this event at Mobilize.
On July 17, Indivisible Mid Maine, Capitol Area Indivisible, and other partners, in honor of John Lewis, will have a SILENT/Quiet sign rally on the sidewalks around the Maine State House building and property in Augusta. Participants will–to the extent possible based on how many people join us–line the perimeter, beginning on the State Street side and extending around the corner to Sewall Street, and down Sewall as far as Capitol Street, left on Capitol, and then left through the State House Parking Lot back to State Street.
Dress with some blue in your clothing.
Saturday, July 19th: at 2:30 pm (and every Saturday)-Somerset Stands Up Rallies-Margaret Chase Smith Bridge, downtown Skowhegan. Bring your signs, American flags, your voice, your friends, families and neighbors for this peaceful gathering of concerned residents of Somerset County.
Sunday, July 20th: at 1:00 (and every Sunday): Stand with us against Trump/Stephen Miller; For Peace in the Middle East, For Ukraine, Stop the War in Iran, etc. on the Bridge by CVS in Waterville.
MORE ACTIONS
*If you haven’t yet, write your letter to Governor Mills thanking her for her stand against Trump, and asking her to run against Collins. SHE IS STILL THINKING ABOUT THIS! Hand written if possible. Mail to: State House Station 1, Augusta, Maine, 04333.
*If you would like to join Maine People’s Alliance Federal Lobby Group, please contact Jim Parakilas at jamesparakilas@gmail.com. We meet Mondays at 2 pm. Consider joining the MPA for trainings in June and July on resistance strategy, lobbying, and other areas. Contact Jim on this.
With great appreciation for all the engagement everywhere!
As always, throw a little sand in their gears!
-Mid Maine Indivisible
We have come a long way in America because of Martin Luther King, Jr. He led a disciplined, nonviolent revolution under the rule of law, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a distance to go before all of our citizens embrace the idea of a truly interracial democracy, what I like to call the Beloved Community, a nation at peace with itself. John Lewis
