Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
Push for the release of the full Epstein files
Fight for a permanent extension to the ACA tax credits—without conditions
Protest the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and the military buildup in the waters off of Venezuela
Sign a petition to demand that Chuck Schumer step down as Minority Leader
Join a new boycott against companies enabling Trump’s illegal power grabs
Maine-specific Action
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Find your State Representative: By name: Here By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
Actions
1) Push for the release of the full Epstein files:
With the House of Representatives back in session, Adelita Grijalva has finally been sworn in and, as she promised, has provided the 218th signature required to force a vote on the bill to compel the release of all the Epstein files. Since those 218 signatures include 4 (if I recall correctly) Republicans, in all likelihood, the bill will pass. Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Wednesday that he will bring HR 4405, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, next week. Despite intense pressure on Republicans by Trump, it looks likely that the bill will pass. Unfortunately, it still will need to be passed by the Senate, where no one is even promising to bring it to a vote, and signed by Trump, who obviously has every reason to obstruct it and is continuing to denounce it as a Democrat hoax and claiming that only “very bad, or stupid” Republicans would fall into an Epstein “trap.”
Contact House Rep Jared Golden to urge him to follow up his signature on the discharge petition with a YES vote on HR 4405.
Contact Senators King and Collins to urge them to support bringing S 2557, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, to a vote once the House version passes, and then to vote YES to release the files. The American people have had enough obfuscation and downright lying. Trump campaigned partly on the promise to release these files, and a lot of MAGA folk want to see this happen. So do we. In the words of Representative Grijalva, “Just this morning, House Democrats released more emails showing that Trump knew more about Epstein’s abuses than he previously acknowledged. It’s about time for Congress to restore its role as a check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people.” Make sure our Senators know how important we think this is.
2) Fight for a permanent extension to the ACA tax credits—without conditions: The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act increased tax credits for ACA plan premiums, making health insurance more affordable for millions. However, these credits are set to expire at the end of 2025, and Republicans refused to extend funding for the credits in their recently-passed budget reconciliation bill. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that 4.2 million people will lose coverage by 2034 if the tax credits are not renewed. In addition, with the loss of those participants in the ACA, health insurance premiums will rise even further for everyone else. A number of Republicans are on the record as being open to discussing extending the ACA tax credits once the shutdown was ended. That has happened. Now Senate Republicans say they’re open to extending a pot of Affordable Care Act funds that will expire at the end of the year — but only if Democrats acquiesce to stricter abortion restrictions on insurance plans. The influential Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America group, whose goal is to ban abortion entirely in the U.S., is pushing hard to condition Republican support for ACA funding on tougher abortion restrictions: They are threatening GOP lawmakers with having their votes “scored, and double-weighted, in each member’s profile on SBA Pro-Life America’s National Pro-Life Scorecard.” (You can read more about it here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republicans-demand-tougher-abortion-restrictions-extend-obamacare-fund-rcna243206) Contact Senators King and Collins and House Rep. Goldento pass a permanent extension of the ACA premium tax credits and block any additional abortion restrictions or attempt to sabotage the ACA. Remind them that the Hyde amendment already prevents federal funds from covering abortions, and that states should be free to shape their own laws about healthcare coverage within their own borders.
3) Protest the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and the military buildup in the waters off of Venezuela: Since late September, draft legislation has been circulated at the White House and on Capitol Hill that would hand Trump sweeping power to wage war against drug cartels he deems to be “terrorists,” as well as against any nation he says has harbored or aided them. In the meantime, over a dozen civilian boats have been struck in international waters, summarily killing all those aboard (nearly 70 people so far) without evidence of legal investigation or any due process. These attacks lack legal authority, are killing people without due process, and highlight this administration’s lawless use of military force. Also, Trump has been moving major military resources into the waters off Venezuela and has ordered covert CIA operations inside Venezuela. Contact Senators King and Collins and House Rep. Golden to object to the Trump administration’s repeated military strikes on civilian boats in international waters and demand that Congress step up to protect its own powers to be a check on presidential overreach. We don’t want to be at war. Trump boasts about being a war ender—he can’t be allowed to get us into a new war just because he wants to distract the US people from his deep unpopularity and the Epstein files, while also continuing to consolidate executive power in his own hands. No kings, no wars. ® A specific note to Susan Collins: Last week the Senate rejected legislation that would have required approval from Congress before Trump could take military action against Venezuela, despite bipartisan misgivings about the administration’s secretive efforts in the region. Just two Republicans broke ranks: Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul. Susan Collins voted with the rest of her GOP colleagues, basically supporting Trump’s claim that he can kill whomever he wants whenever he wants as long as he has declared them an enemy. Let her know that her support of Trump’s lawlessness is unacceptable. If the U.S. ends up in a war in Latin America, the blood of any Mainers who die in that war will be on her hands.
“We Ain’t Buying It” is a cross-coalition action to boycott Home Depot (for cooperating with ICE), Target (for betraying their DEI commitments), and Amazon (for funding the regime). The boycott is set to begin on Black Friday and continue through the end of the month. Learn more here: https://weaintbuyingit.com/
6)Maine-specific action:
We don’t want masked men roaming the streets of Maine claiming without proof that they are law enforcement.
Call Maine Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau and Senate President Mattie Dougherty to ask them to reverse the decision of the Legislative Council and allow LR 2591, a bill to require that ICE and Border Patrol Agents operate unmasked in Maine, to be heard and voted on when the next Maine Legislative session opens this January.
Call your Maine State senators and representatives to ask them to advocate for allowing this bill into the January session.
Call Governor Janet Millsto ask her to support LR 2591. Also urge her again to sign LD 1971: An Act to Protect Workers in This State by Clarifying the Relationship of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies with Federal Immigration Authorities (This act limits the degree to which Maine State and Local Law Enforcement are allowed to cooperate/collude with Federal Immigration agencies.)
Background: When Trump was first elected, Republicans fantasized about alternatives to the Affordable Care Act but have produced nothing in the nine years since. (1) The recent government shutdown, which was fought over the extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidy, has made health care the #1 issue in American politics at least through the 2026 elections, if not beyond. Democrats need to embrace this as their central issue and propose to DO something about it that will make a profound difference for all Americans. That “something” has been clear for some time, which is to incorporate a Medicare option as an amendment to the ACA, a measure supported by the vast majority of Americans according to numerous polls.
Americans balk at mandates, but embrace options, and are especially likely to do so in response to the compelling economics of a Medicare option. Gradual, but probably inevitable, adoption of a Medicare option by most Americans will put us on the path toward a sensible health care policy enjoyed by the rest of the developed nations. Compared to those countries, we bear on average almost twice the cost for health care as well as shorter life expectancies. (2) With a Medicare option open to all, personal bankruptcies due to medical costs (the primary cause of such bankruptcies (3) would become a thing of the past. In addition, companies which currently provide commercial insurance for their employees would be able to lower their costs and/or increase wages. (4)
The primary objection to the Medicare option is purported cost. However, that cost would not be born entirely by the government. People under age 65 (the current age of eligibility) opting to enroll in Medicare would presumably pay premiums, but ACA subsidies would still be available to offset those costs. In addition, the initial cost of the premiums is expected to be considerably lower than currently paid to commercial, profit-driven insurance providers simply due to the lower cost of Medicare administration – about 2 % for Medicare vs. 17% for private insurance. (5)
Putting this proposal on the table NOW by the Democratic Party would send a clear message to the American voters of Democratic intentions once returned to the majority, and provide a stark contrast to the Republicans who, by their actions, obviously could not care less about the well-being of average Americans. It should be a litmus test for Democratic aspirants to elected office and a core tenant of party identity into the future.
The recent budget bill passed with only a “pinkie promise” from Republicans to vote sometime in December whether or not to extend the ACA tax credits. If they are not extended, insurance costs will rise to unaffordable levels for millions of us. (6) Since the Dems are supposedly going to write the terms of the ACA extension bill promised by Republicans, NOW would be a good time to include the Medicare option. It is high time for Democrats to make a few, big, transformative promises like this and commit to sticking with them until victory is achieved, even if it takes decades. Think of it as building a new party identity with a foundation in the party’s past.
Action: Write to your Democratic representatives and all the aspiring Democratic candidates at any level of government, as well as to the party leadership, and urge them to declare publicly that they are in favor of the concept of a Medicare Option Amendment to the Affordable Care Act. Let’s change the focus from the ongoing Trumpocalypse and get something positive going, starting with health care. We’ve had enough of letting Republicans set the terms of debate! Golden could leave office as a champion of the Medicare Option Amendment. King could somewhat restore his badly tattered reputation by doing the same.
National Candidates: For Democratic candidates for office, a simple online search for their campaigns should give you contact info. For Matt Dunlap, see Amy Fried’s article about him here.
Current state legislators and party leaders: The state party chair is Charles Dingman, devon@mainedems.org. You already have your current Democratic state legislators in your files. If you have a Republican legislator, you might want to skip over them. Other Maine state legislators outside of Hancock County to contact could include:
(2) AI says “Healthcare costs and outcomes vary across the developed world, with the United States spending significantly more per capita ($13,432 in 2023) than other high-income nations, while often experiencing worse health outcomes like lower life expectancy and higher infant/maternal mortality rates. For comparison, the average spending in other developed countries was around $7,393 per capita in 2023, with countries like Switzerland ($9,688) and Germany ($8,441) having high costs, but still lower than the U.S.” See also:
(3) AI again: “Medical costs are a primary driver of personal bankruptcies in the United States, with a widely cited 2019 study reporting that 66.5% of people who file for bankruptcy blame medical bills as a key reason. This makes medical debt the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., exceeding credit card debt and mortgage problems.”
(4) Advantages include reduced cost, simplified administration, and improved competitive ability to attract employees by directing the cost savings into higher wages.
ALSO: Subscribe to Emanual Pariser’s almost daily action item emails! emanuelpariser@gmail.com There are enough actions described therein to keep you at work full time, helping to save our democracy.
Contact:
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number.
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible, including: -CURRENT information about the Senate Democrats’ vote to end the shutdown and, of course, the Epstein Files, the Discharge Petition, and H.R. 4405. Read this CNN article (11/12) for background information on this process.
Also, actions from Hancock Country Democrat. Click here for a list of more actions from the HCD, including those concerning ICE and more.
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (11/10) that discusses the privatization of the USPS and the Trump ballroom.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Current News:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
New Action Planned at Home Depot
Home Depot continues to allow ICE to terrorize, intimidate, and abduct people, non-citizens and citizens alike, from their property.
We are planning a regular vigil action on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor across from the entrance to Home Depot on Saturdays and we need more volunteers for planning and participating! Please contact George for more information!
Release the Epstein Files
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was officially sworn into the House on Wednesday, 50 days after she won her special election to take her late father’s seat — the longest time a lawmaker has waited to take the oath of office. (Desert News, 11/12/2025). She then became the 218th person to sign the petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. This petition allows a vote without the blessing of the House leadership. It has been reported (MSNBC 11/12) that President Trump met with Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert (one of only four House Republicans who have signed) to try to get her to remove her name from that petition. However, once that 218th signature was made, the process was triggered and the vote will be held.
Please call your House Representative and ask her or him to vote in favor of H.R. 4405 the Epstein Files Transparency Act. For more on this go here. Just tap the phone numbers to make the call.
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! Your skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings! The next NEWCOMERS MEETING is next Thursday, NOVEMBER 20, so sign up and join soon!
This isn’t about left vs right. This is about fighting back vs losing. The regime’s threats are too real and the stakes are too high to settle for the feckless, loser version of the Democratic Party we saw this week. As we head into the midterms next year, we need a Democratic Party that inspires and instills pride. In this moment when the fascists are on the march, we need a Democratic Party with a spine.
Our primary program will include both the House and Senate. We will work with Indivisible groups to identify key races, provide support on the ground, and tap into movement energy across the country to boost candidates with a spine. One thing we can say for sure: We will not back any Senate primary candidate unless they call for Schumer to step down as Majority Leader.
Tomorrow!! Jordan Wood Is Returning to Bangor! TONIGHT!! November 13
Democratic House Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Paul LePage, and hear about what his plans as your next Congressman: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enacting universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND Next Thursday,November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
National Protest in Washington, D.C. November 20-22, 2025
We the People mean business. Our presence is our power, and this time we’re showing up with firm demands and intend to change history. Remove the Regime is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
This is not a 50-state protest. On November 22, 2025, we will peacefully descend on the seat of power in Washington, DC to demand that this lawless administration come to an END.
We will no longer tolerate inaction or delay from elected officials as Donald Trump commits actual treason. We are calling out their complicity in the sabotage of American democracy unless and until they honor their oath. We are demanding impeachment and removal, and we are demanding it NOW.
We will lobby Congress directly beginning on Thursday, November 20, joined by movement leaders, veterans, artists, pastors, farmers and more. The Dropkick Murphys will headline our main event on Saturday!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
Shopping Boycott
Black Friday Weekend
We Ain’t Buying It
We Ain’t Buying It is an economic action and solidarity campaign designed to defend democracy and reclaim community power. This Thanksgiving, choose freedom over shopping. Family over corporations.
This action is taking direct aim at Target, for caving to this administration’s biased attacks on DEI; Home Depot, for allowing and colluding with ICE to kidnap our neighbors on their properties; and Amazon, for funding this administration to secure their own corporate tax cuts.
(And you don’t have to limit it to these only these three companies on these few days. Many people have added Walmart to this list and have stopped shopping at these places all together- George).
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
Other Ways to Take Action (Courtesy of Indivisible Cumberland County:
Maine’s ICE Watch Hotline Training: Get trained to field, verify, and document potential community ICE sightings and provide trusted, reliable information on ICE activity to immigrant communities.
Action Alert on LD 1917: Contact Governor Mills and tell her to sign into law this bill to protect Maine’s immigrant communities, workforce, public safety, and future!
The Maine Solidarity Fund (MSF) is an initiative of the People’s Coalition for Safety & Justice (PCSJ), a collective of frontline organizations, cultural anchors, and direct service providers with deep ties to Maine’s Black and Brown immigrant, and Trans communities.
This statewide fund is one arm of the coalition’s broader community defense strategy, designed to provide rapid, direct, and equitable support to community members facing increased detention, targeted harassment, policy rollbacks, and systemic discrimination under the new Trump administration.
Rather than scrambling to crowdfund every time a neighbor is detained or faces a medical emergency, our fund pools resources from across communities into a shared fund we can draw from immediately when urgent needs arise.
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
Stop the Military Occupation of American Cities!
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate WERE fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action:
Action Thursday November 13th: For the Heart Thursday + Thank Chellie Pingree for Voting NO on the CR + Ask Pingree and Golden to Vote Yes on Releasing the Epstein Files
Good Morning Folks, it’s a For the Heart Thursday. We do a lot with our heads these days, prognosticating, strategizing, planning, and often not enough with our hearts. Strategy that is not infused with heart can be amazing but lead to much more suffering. Take a moment today to extend compassion to yourself and all that you are trying to do.
Top Action to Take Today:
The House voted yesterday on the budget bill that did not include extending the Tax Credits. Chellie Pingree voted no on this – holding the line and standing up to Trump’s autocratic rule and his dominion over the Republican party. Please call her office to thank her for taking this stand! And, while you are at it ask her to stand with sexual abuse survivors and vote in favor of H.R. 4405 the
Epstein Files Transparency Act. For more on this go here. If you’re in Golden’s district you could ask him to support this bill, I believe he has in the past.
For the Heart
For Your Heart this Eighth Week of Fall: Can we accept the way things are which means including our own annoyance, anger, sadness? When we accept all, a fierce straightforward action can take place.
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as St. Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of
the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking
and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.
Galway Kinnell
More Actions Today if You Have the Bandwidth
Trump and his gang have started an illegal war through extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Although the deal put forward by the Senate and House includes full funding for SNAP benefits, the food emergency will be gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money. If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment. The Winslow Food Cupboard goes all over Kennebec County, If you are able to help, please click here (WCCPantry.com) and then click on the white “Donate Now” button.
ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.”
As always, throw a little sand in their gears! ~~Mid Maine Indivisible
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible, including: -CURRENT information about the Senate Democrats’ vote to end the shutdown and, of course, the Epstein Files, the Discharge Petition, and H.R. 4405. Read this CNN article (11/12) for background information on this process.
Also, actions from Hancock Country Democrat. Click here for a list of more actions from the HCD, including those concerning ICE and more.
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (11/10) that discusses the privatization of the USPS and the Trump ballroom.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Current News:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
New Action Planned at Home Depot
Home Depot continues to allow ICE to terrorize, intimidate, and abduct people, non-citizens and citizens alike, from their property.
We are planning a regular vigil action on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor across from the entrance to Home Depot on Saturdays and we need more volunteers for planning and participating! Please contact George for more information!
Join Indivisible Bangor!
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! Your skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings! The next informational meeting for new members is NOVEMBER 20, so sign up and join soon!
This isn’t about left vs right. This is about fighting back vs losing. The regime’s threats are too real and the stakes are too high to settle for the feckless, loser version of the Democratic Party we saw this week. As we head into the midterms next year, we need a Democratic Party that inspires and instills pride. In this moment when the fascists are on the march, we need a Democratic Party with a spine.
Our primary program will include both the House and Senate. We will work with Indivisible groups to identify key races, provide support on the ground, and tap into movement energy across the country to boost candidates with a spine. One thing we can say for sure: We will not back any Senate primary candidate unless they call for Schumer to step down as Majority Leader.
Tomorrow!! Jordan Wood Is Returning to Bangor! November 13
Democratic Senate Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Susan Collins, and hear about what his plans as your next Senator: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enact universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
National Protest in Washington, D.C. November 20-22, 2025
We the People mean business. Our presence is our power, and this time we’re showing up with firm demands and intend to change history. Remove the Regime is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
This is not a 50-state protest. On November 22, 2025, we will peacefully descend on the seat of power in Washington, DC to demand that this lawless administration come to an END.
We will no longer tolerate inaction or delay from elected officials as Donald Trump commits actual treason. We are calling out their complicity in the sabotage of American democracy unless and until they honor their oath. We are demanding impeachment and removal, and we are demanding it NOW.
We will lobby Congress directly beginning on Thursday, November 20, joined by movement leaders, veterans, artists, pastors, farmers and more. The Dropkick Murphys will headline our main event on Saturday!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
Shopping Boycott
Black Friday Weekend
We Ain’t Buying It
We Ain’t Buying It is an economic action and solidarity campaign designed to defend democracy and reclaim community power. This Thanksgiving, choose freedom over shopping. Family over corporations.
This action is taking direct aim at Target, for caving to this administration’s biased attacks on DEI; Home Depot, for allowing and colluding with ICE to kidnap our neighbors on their properties; and Amazon, for funding this administration to secure their own corporate tax cuts.
(And you don’t have to limit it to these only these three companies on these few days. Many people have added Walmart to this list and have stopped shopping at these places all together- George).
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
Other Ways to Take Action (Courtesy of Indivisible Cumberland County:
Maine’s ICE Watch Hotline Training: Get trained to field, verify, and document potential community ICE sightings and provide trusted, reliable information on ICE activity to immigrant communities.
Action Alert on LD 1917: Contact Governor Mills and tell her to sign into law this bill to protect Maine’s immigrant communities, workforce, public safety, and future!
The Maine Solidarity Fund (MSF) is an initiative of the People’s Coalition for Safety & Justice (PCSJ), a collective of frontline organizations, cultural anchors, and direct service providers with deep ties to Maine’s Black and Brown immigrant, and Trans communities.
This statewide fund is one arm of the coalition’s broader community defense strategy, designed to provide rapid, direct, and equitable support to community members facing increased detention, targeted harassment, policy rollbacks, and systemic discrimination under the new Trump administration.
Rather than scrambling to crowdfund every time a neighbor is detained or faces a medical emergency, our fund pools resources from across communities into a shared fund we can draw from immediately when urgent needs arise.
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
Stop the Military Occupation of American Cities!
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate WERE fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action:
Action Wednesday November 12th: Ask Pingree and Golden to Vote to Release the Epstein Files + to Vote NO on the Continuing Budget Resolution
Good Morning Folks, today we have Snow (in MidMaine anyhow)! And a beautiful sunrise. It seems always possible to find something to appreciate even in the midst of our unfolding political calamities. (Especially appreciating the natural beauty we encounter daily in Maine)
Top Action to Take Today:
The House will be voting today on the Senate’s CR bill that does not include an extension of the ACA tax credits.
This means that the Speaker will have to swear in Adelita Grijalva who is a recently elected Representative from Arizona. She will be the last vote needed to bring a discharge petition to release the Epstein Files to the floor of the House. Ask your Representative, Pingree or Golden, to vote in favor of the Discharge Petition and then to vote in favor of H.R. 4405 the Epstein Files Transparency Act. For more on this go here. Stand with Sexual Abuse Survivors and get closer to the truth on this issue as Trump considers pardoning “apex predator” Ghislaine Maxwell.
More Actions Today if You Have the Bandwidth
As you know the Senate voted last night to re-open the government if you haven’t yet ask Representatives Pingree and Golden to vote NO on the Continuing Resolution as passed in the Senate, and demand the inclusion of the ACA tax credits in any bill to re-open the government. Perhaps the House Dems will have more guts than the Senate Dems.
Trump and his gang have started an illegal war through extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Although the deal put forward by the Senate includes full funding for SNAP benefits, will probably go through, in the meantime, the food emergency will be gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money.
If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment. The Winslow Food Cupboard goes all over Kennebec County, If you are able to help, please click here (WCCPantry.com) and then click on the white “Donate Now” button.
The Maine USDA has The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); this gives out food to organizations which are getting food to hungry people. Could your school, non-profit, church, synagogue qualify for food? Go here to find out.
Arts and Politics!
Fall of Freedom“is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.
This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment.” (from their website) They have a toolkit to help with creating graphics, posters, events to join the Art Resistance. (Thank you Connie for this.)
GOT MORE TIME? HERE ARE SOME MORE ACTIONS (just pick one!)
A lot of us are frustrated with Senator King’s role in caving on the Continuing Resolution: I know of at least two demonstrations to voice this frustration this week – Today, there will be a protest of his surrender in Brunswick from 2-3 at the Joshua Chamberlain Statue and TODAY King will be talking at Colby at 6pm to students and faculty and a few community members, so, MidMaine Indivisible is planning a protest at Elm Plaza on this 3 -4, for details email Elizabeth Leonard, edleonar@colby.edu .
Join the Maine People’s Alliance in bringing your story to our Congresspeople: Are your insurance rates going up? Did you lose SNAP benefits – the MPA wants to hear your story and use it to fight for Mainers in the ongoing shutdown budget battle. Fill out this form and tell your story here.
Ask our Maine Law Makers to Ring the Alarm on Trump’s murder of civilians in the Caribbean: Trump’s orders to blow up boats in the Caribbean because they are carrying drugs is illegal, unconstitutional, and a trial run for what he would like to start doing at home. These killings must be investigated and Trump must be held accountable. Call Pingree, Golden, King and Collins to raise a storm about these killings. Go to 5calls.org for a script.
Call or email our Congressional Representatives to publicly condemn the administration’s use of our Military to create havoc in Blue Cities: It is time to publicly denounce these unconstitutional, king-like actions of our Executive branch. Where is the outrage? Go to 5calls.org for a script on this request.
Call or write Governor Mills and ask her to Sign LD 1971: Go here to make a comment on this on her website.
Call Governor Mills and our Congressional Representatives: Ask Mills to deny any request from the Trump administration to deploy National Guard Troops for local law enforcement; Ask our representatives to sound the alarm about the use of US Military to intimidate and harass peaceful, public protests. Go here for wording on this.
Call or email Governor Mills to ask her to declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY or Call the Legislature into Special Session: This would allow her to release SNAP funds for November while Trump and his Republican allies support making tens of millions of children and their families hungry just in time for Thanksgiving.
New: Call Maine Speaker of the House, Ryan Fecteau and Senate President Mattie Dougherty and ask them to reverse the decision of the Legislative Council, and allow LR 2591, a bill to require that ICE and Border Patrol Agents be UNMASKED in Maine. to be heard and voted on this Maine Legislative session starting in January. Their numbers are below. You can also call your own representative and senator and ask them to ask the leaders to allow this bill in to the session. Do you want masked men roaming your streets claiming to be law enforcement with no way to hold them accountable?
Call/Write Governor Mills to ask her to SIGN LD 1971.
Ask Governor Janet Mills to join other Blue States to call for a redistricting of Maine so that Democratic candidates have the edge in the second district, if and only if other states join Texas in redistricting to the Republican advantage. For talking points on this go here. For a toolkit on this for red and blue states go here.
If you know your Maine Representative or Senator is supportive of making ICE accountable in Maine, ask them to join with Representative Cassie Julia 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.
Check out Graham Platner’s “Un-Shuck The System Tour” \ Wed, Nov 12 @ 6pm Graham Data Volunteer Team Call, New Projects, and Orientation › Wed, Nov 12 @ 7pm Art Volunteer Team Call,Saturday 11/15 Farmington, American Legion Post 28 10 am, Wednesday November 19th Biddeford, Sacred Profane Brewery 6 pm, to sign up for any of these go here or go to Grahamforsenate.com
As always, throw a little sand in their gears! ~~Mid Maine Indivisible
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible, including: -CURRENT information about the Senate Democrats’ vote to end the shutdown.
Also, actions from Hancock Country Democrat. Click here for a list of more actions from the HCD, including those concerning ICE and more.
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (11/10) that discusses the privatization of the USPS and the Trump ballroom.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Current News:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
New Action Planned at Home Depot
Home Depot continues to allow ICE to terrorize, intimidate, and abduct people, non-citizens and citizens alike, from their property.
We are planning a regular vigil action on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor across from the entrance to Home Depot on Saturdays and we need more volunteers for planning and participating! Please contact George for more information!
Join Indivisible Bangor!
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! We have had a huge influx of new members these past few months and to keep up, YOUR skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings! The next informational meeting for new members is NOVEMBER 20, so sign up and join soon!
This isn’t about left vs right. This is about fighting back vs losing. The regime’s threats are too real and the stakes are too high to settle for the feckless, loser version of the Democratic Party we saw this week. As we head into the midterms next year, we need a Democratic Party that inspires and instills pride. In this moment when the fascists are on the march, we need a Democratic Party with a spine.
Our primary program will include both the House and Senate. We will work with Indivisible groups to identify key races, provide support on the ground, and tap into movement energy across the country to boost candidates with a spine. One thing we can say for sure: We will not back any Senate primary candidate unless they call for Schumer to step down as Majority Leader.
Join us TODAY, 11/11, to stand with Vets Say No as we collectively refuse to allow growing fascism to be normalized.
We will be at the usual Tuesday vigil location, the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building & Courthouse, 202 Harlow Street, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. We will have a speaker and please bring signs thanking our veterans as well as donations for food pantries! This will be after the Bangor Veteran’s Day march.
Democratic Senate Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Susan Collins, and hear about what his plans as your next Senator: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enact universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
National Protest in Washington, D.C. November 20-22, 2025
We the People mean business. Our presence is our power, and this time we’re showing up with firm demands and intend to change history. Remove the Regime is the moment we’ve been waiting for.
This is not a 50-state protest. On November 22, 2025, we will peacefully descend on the seat of power in Washington, DC to demand that this lawless administration come to an END.
We will no longer tolerate inaction or delay from elected officials as Donald Trump commits actual treason. We are calling out their complicity in the sabotage of American democracy unless and until they honor their oath. We are demanding impeachment and removal, and we are demanding it NOW.
We will lobby Congress directly beginning on Thursday, November 20, joined by movement leaders, veterans, artists, pastors, farmers and more. The Dropkick Murphys will headline our main event on Saturday!
It is important that we continue the good work we did on No Kings Day on 10/18 in other ways!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
If you get the paper edition of the Bangor Daily News, the first section of the paper on Friday, October 31, has a list of 260 food pantries.
LEAVING MAGA
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
So on Thursday, Leah and I sent a formal letter to Spotify, pointing out their problematic ads and requesting a meeting. If they do not respond by tomorrow, we’re going to launch a campaign to push them from capitulation to active resistance. Stay tuned for more soon, and come to “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday to discuss next steps.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
The Maine ICE Watch Hotline Is LIVE!
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate WERE fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action:
Action Tuesday November 11th: Join Veteran’s For Peace in Portland + Ask Pingree + Golden to Vote AGAINST the Senate CR Bill
Good Morning Folks, today is Veteran’s Day. If you are in the Portland area, or are so moved join the Maine Veteran’s for Peace demonstration at 9:30, with a march at 10:00. For the full description of the event go here.
Top Action to Take Today:
As you know the Senate voted last night to re-open the government. 8 Democrats who are not standing for re-election in 2026 were picked by their caucus to make the deal. To learn more on how this was a group cave-in, read Ezra Levin’s take on it attached below. The House has to agree with this measure – and no Democrats should go along with what the Senate passed. So, topline action is to ask Representatives Pingree and Golden to vote NO on the Continuing Resolution as passed in the Senate, and demand the inclusion of the ACA tax credits in any bill to re-open the government. Perhaps the House Dems will have more guts than the Senate Dems.
More Actions Today if You Have the Bandwidth
One bright side of the capitulation of the Democratic Caucus on the CR is that the House will have to reopen. This means that the Speaker will have to swear in Adelita Grijalva who is a recently elected Representative from Arizona. She will be the last vote needed to bring a discharge petition to release the Epstein Files to the floor of the House. Ask your Representative, Pingree or Golden, to vote in favor of the Discharge Petition and then to vote in favor of H.R. 4405 the
In light of it being Veteran’s Day, Trump and his gang have started an illegal war through extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Although the deal put forward by the Senate includes full funding for SNAP benefits, it may not go through. In the meantime, the food emergency will be gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money.
If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment. The Winslow Food Cupboard goes all over Kennebec County, If you are able to help, please click here (WCCPantry.com) and then click on the white “Donate Now” button.
People are ramping up mutual aid efforts. Here is a valuable resource in these hunger times. The Maine USDA has The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); this gives out food to organizations which are getting food to hungry people. Could your school, non-profit, church, synagogue qualify for food? Go here to find out.
ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.”
Arts and Politics!
Consider boycotting Spotify and canceling your subscription to them: To participate in the boycott of Spotify for their running of ads recruiting for ICE, visit this Indivisible page for more information, and for ready-made materials you can post online and use in other ways to encourage others to cancel their subscriptions, visit this page.
Fall of Freedom“is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.
This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment.” (from their website) They have a toolkit to help with creating graphics, posters, events to join the Art Resistance. (Thank you Connie for this.)
March on DC November 20 – 22 – Remove the Regime! Consider joining this National Event which will combine a march, rally, and congressional lobbying. Go here for more information. This event may involve encounters with Trump’s shock troopers, so please be prepared.
As always, throw a little sand in their gears! ~~Mid Maine Indivisible
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible, including updated information about the Senate Democrats’ vote to end the shutdown.
Also, actions from Hancock Country Democrat. Click here for a list of more actions from the HCD, including those concerning ICE and more.
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (11/10) that discusses the privatization of the USPS and the Trump ballroom.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
New Action Planned at Home Depot
Home Depot continues to allow ICE to terrorize, intimidate, and abduct people, non-citizens and citizens alike, from their property.
We are planning a regular vigil action on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor across from the entrance to Home Depot on Saturdays and we need more volunteers for planning and participating! Please contact George for more information!
Join Indivisible Bangor!
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! We have had a huge influx of new members these past few months and to keep up, YOUR skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings!
Join us Tuesday, 11/11, to stand with Vets Say No as we collectively refuse to allow growing fascism to be normalized.
We will be at the usual Tuesday vigil location, the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building & Courthouse, 202 Harlow Street, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. We will have a speaker and please bring signs thanking our veterans as well as donations for food pantries! This will be after the Bangor Veteran’s Day march.
Food AND Medicine Annual Solidarity Harvest November 13-24
Democratic Senate Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Susan Collins, and hear about what his plans as your next Senator: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enact universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
Other News:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Donate to a Food Bank or Pantry
It is important that we continue the good work we did on No Kings Day on 10/18 in other ways!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
If you get the paper edition of the Bangor Daily News, the first section of the paper on Friday, October 31, has a list of 260 food pantries.
HEATING ASSISTANCE CUTS
Read about how the shutdown is affecting LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) in this NPR article and how it affecting Maine in this Maine Public Radio article from 10/30. This is in addition to the cuts that are already part of H.R. 1, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” that President Trump and the Republicans passed this summer. Read about that in an article from News Center Maine. Also, in this article from Snap Navigator, dated 7/15/2025.
LEAVING MAGA
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
So on Thursday, Leah and I sent a formal letter to Spotify, pointing out their problematic ads and requesting a meeting. If they do not respond by tomorrow, we’re going to launch a campaign to push them from capitulation to active resistance. Stay tuned for more soon, and come to “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday to discuss next steps.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
The Maine ICE Watch Hotline Is LIVE!
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate WERE fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action:
Action Monday November 10th: Call King + Collins to Reverse Their Vote on the 2nd Senate Budget Vote Today + Ask Pingree and Golden to Vote to Release the Epstein Files
Good Morning Folks, yesterday “moderate” Democrats including our Angus King voted to re-open the Government with no deal on Extending Tax Credits. These folks know how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Oh, “moderate” (not) Senator Collins of course voted with the majority. (Take a breath, this was not in our control and we did everything we could to ask our Senators to hold the line. For the full story go here.)
Top Action to Take Today:
The Senate has to vote today again on the Budget Continuing Resolution Bill. Then the Bill goes to the House which has to reopen in order to approve the vote. Let’s keep the pressure on King not to cave on the ACA tax credits, ask him to vote NO this time. We can also ask Pingree and Golden to vote no on the CR when it comes to the House. I know this feels futile but it’s a matter of following through to the final vote and defending democracy against authoritarian overreach by the Executive Branch. For more info go here If you don’t have the stomach for this try an action from below!
More Actions Today if You Have the Bandwidth
One bright side of the capitulation of moderate Democrats on the CR is that the House will have to reopen. This means that the Speaker will have to swear in Adelita Grijalva who is a recently elected Representative from Arizona. She will be the last vote needed to bring a discharge petition to release the Epstein Files to the floor of the House. Ask your Representative, Pingree or Golden, to vote in favor of the Discharge Petition and then to vote in favor of H.R. 4405 the
Although the deal put forward by the Senate includes full funding for SNAP benefits, it may not go through. In the meantime, the food emergency will be gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money.
If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment. The Winslow Food Cupboard goes all over Kennebec County, If you are able to help, please click here (WCCPantry.com) and then click on the white “Donate Now” button.
To follow up politically on the SNAP issue, Mills has released 1.25 million for SNAP food benefits, which is about enough to fund a day and a half of the need in Maine. This is not sufficient. Ask Governor Mills to declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY in relation to the Republican refusal to fund SNAP, orcall the Legislatureinto special session. Either option would result in more funding being released to keep kids and their families from going hungry this November. Call her at 207-287-3531, or go to her website and make a comment. (SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serving almost 170,000 families in Maine) California, Virginia, Louisiana, and Minnesota have all declared states of emergency to keep this program going. Mills may agree that this is a good way to alleviate immediate suffering in Maine.
People are ramping up mutual aid efforts. Here is a valuable resource in these hunger times. The Maine USDA has The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); this gives out food to organizations which are getting food to hungry people. Could your school, non-profit, church, synagogue qualify for food? Go here to find out.
ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.”
Calls to Our Representatives:Calls to Our Representatives:
Release the Epstein Files – Golden and Pingree have been supportive of this – they need to continue to hear from us.
Trump and his gang have started a series of extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Call King and Collins to voice your disappointment that they supported a deal which will result in Mainer’s health insurance going up catastrophically. Ask them to reverse their vote today. Call one friend and ask them to do the same. If everyone on this email did so, it would generate close to 200 calls today!) A family of four in Maine making $130k, is estimated to have a $16,100 ANNUAL increase in costs to their healthcare if these insurance tax credits are not extended. More on this from a NY Times article (gifted) here. (Thanks to Indivisible Bangor for the article!)
March on DC November 20 – 22 – Remove the Regime! Consider joining this National Event which will combine a march, rally, and congressional lobbying. Go here for more information. This event may involve encounters with Trump’s shock troopers, so please be prepared.
As always, throw a little sand in their gears! ~~Mid Maine Indivisible
“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” ~~Harriet Tubman
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!) Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
Time Sensitive: Tell USPS to oppose privatization and protect vote-by-mail
Ending the shutdown
Support Tennessee candidate for the House of Representatives
Sign a petition to demand that companies who have donated to Trump’s ballroom take back their donations
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Find your State Representative: By name: Here By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
This week the US Postal Service is holding its annual open meeting, and this is the one chance for the board members to hear from the public. Today, Monday, November 10th, is the last day for comments from the public.
Speak out to oppose any effort to privatize the USPS.
Show your support for ensuring that mail-in ballots remain an option for voters.
Advocate for the Postal Service to expand banking services around the country. (Postal banking would allow everyone, including low-income families and people who don’t live near banks, to access banking services at their local post office.
Demand more opportunities for the public to weigh in on USPS business.
2) Ending the shutdown: I don’t know about you, but I’m very disappointed in Senator Angus King and the Democrats who voted on this empty shutdown deal. First of all, the GOP has given no cause for anyone to believe their promises of a vote to be held later. Plus, even if it is held, if the Republicans hold the line on not extending the ACA premium tax subsidies, the vote will mean nothing: It will show the people which of their Senators chose to throw their constituents under the bus with the currently skyrocketing costs of health insurance. Silver lining? That should help flip more Senate seats in the midterms. But I think that silver lining would have been there even had the Democrats (and those that caucus with them, like Angus King) stood firm in their resolve. The Republicans were doing a fine job all by themselves in spotlighting their cruelty and disregard for human lives. And speaking of Republican cruelty: As states have tried to move to fill in the SNAP gap caused by the administration’s refusal to release funds to pay for SNAP benefits, the Trump administration has told states that they must told states that they must “immediately undo” any actions to provide full food stamp benefits to low-income families. They are threatening harsh financial penalties on states that do not comply quickly with the new federal orders. Talk about sick! Political games are more important to these…[fill in the blank with whatever nasty wordage you like]…than making sure people don’t go hungry, especially now, right before Thanksgiving. The cruelty is unbelievable. So whatever happens with the shutdown, we need to keep pushing our representatives not to collude with the GOP’s cruel policies and to stand firm for the rights to healthcare for all Americans. Silver lining? Now Mike Johnson will have to call the House back into session, at which point he’ll have to swear in Adelita Grijalva, who will then sign on to demand the release of the Epstein files. It’ll be interesting to watch him dance around that. Contact Angus King and tell him how disappointed you are in his working with the GOP to come to a pathetic compromise to end the shutdown. Sure, the deal voted on will, if made law, help all the federal workers furloughed/fired during the shutdown, but what about all the Mainers who stand to lose their healthcare and access to rural hospitals that will be force to close now (Ellsworth is one of those in danger of closing)? Contact Susan Collins and blast her—again—for voting with her party on a budget that will cause so much harm to her constituents. Contact Jared Golden and tell him to stand firm with House Democrats in demanding an extension of the ACA tax credits. All the Senate Dems were asking, by the end, was an extension of one lousy year, not the permanent solution first demanded. Is that really too much to ask? Tell Golden, too, that Mike Johnson must now swear in Adelita Grijalva and hold the vote to release the Epstein files. And, of course, Golden must vote for the release of those files.
3) Support Tennessee candidate for the House of Representatives: Democrat Aftyn Behn is running for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District House seat on December 2nd. This is an open seat following the retirement of GOP Rep. Mark Green in July. This is a very Republican district, but so far, the race is fairly close. If she loses, the Democrats might lose any advantage they have when it comes to a vote on the release of the Epstein files. Ways you can help her campaign:
Sign up to write postcardsto rally Democrats to vote in this critical special election. Once you sign up, you’ll receive free postcards, a voter list, and instructions with three short message options. Depending on those instructions, you’ll have until November 17th or 21st to mail your postcards (you have to provide the postcard stamps), so NOW is the time to move on this. You can sign up here: https://turnoutpac.org/postcards/ I have to say, though, that the website is not super clear on how to sign up, other than simply joining them or signing up for updates.
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible that includes information on the Trump-ordered extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific and Mike Johnson STILL keeping the House in recess so Adelita Grijalva can’t be sworn in, preventing her from signing a petition to trigger a vote on legislation that would force the release of federal files on Jeffrey Epstein (PBS).
Read Action 179 and CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE!!
Click here for a list of more actions from the HCD, including those concerning ICE and more.
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (10/27)that discusses protecting our public lands, contacting members of congress, and more.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
New Action Planned at Home Depot
Home Depot continues to allow ICE to terrorize, intimidate, and abduct people, non-citizens and citizens alike, from their property.
We are planning a regular vigil action on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor across from the entrance to Home Depot on Saturdays and we need more volunteers for planning and participating! Please contact George for more information!
WE DID IT!
We defeated the MAGA-backed voter suppression effort, Question 1, and passed Question 2, the “red flag” law. Bangor elected three progressives to the Bangor City Council. Read more election results in the Bangor Daily News Election 2025 coverage. Also, the Question 1 issue garnered national headlines, with articles appearing in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Times!
Nationally, California voters approved Proposition 50, which will allow the state to redistrict in a way to add more Democratic seats to the House in an effort to counter the Trump-led redistricting in Texas and other states. Democratic candidates won the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia and the mayoral race in New York City. Read more about this backlash against Donald Trump and his policies nationwide in this gift article from the New York Times, “The Backlash Has Arrived: 6 Takeaways From a Good Night for Democrats.”
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered to help with campaigns, attended a rally, canvassed, wrote letters to the editor, spoke to their friends and families, phone banked, donated money and food, passed out leaflets, posted flyers, and helped the cause in any other way. IT WORKED-RESOUNDINGLY!
We will keep up this momentum of great work in the coming months!!
Upcoming Events:
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Veterans’ Day Rally Tuesday, 11/11
Join us Tuesday, 11/11, to stand with Vets Say No as we collectively refuse to allow growing fascism to be normalized.
We will be at the usual Tuesday vigil location, the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building & Courthouse, 202 Harlow Street, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. We will have a speaker and please bring signs thanking our veterans as well as donations for food pantries! This will be after the Bangor Veteran’s Day march.
Food AND Medicine Annual Solidarity Harvest November 13-24
Democratic Senate Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Susan Collins, and hear about what his plans as your next Senator: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enact universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
Other News:
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Donate to a Food Bank or Pantry
It is important that we continue the good work we did on No Kings Day on 10/18 in other ways!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
If you get the paper edition of the Bangor Daily News, the first section of the paper on Friday, October 31, has a list of 260 food pantries.
HEATING ASSISTANCE CUTS
Read about how the shutdown is affecting LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) in this NPR article and how it affecting Maine in this Maine Public Radio article from 10/30. This is in addition to the cuts that are already part of H.R. 1, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” that President Trump and the Republicans passed this summer. Read about that in an article from News Center Maine. Also, in this article from Snap Navigator, dated 7/15/2025.
LEAVING MAGA
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
So on Thursday, Leah and I sent a formal letter to Spotify, pointing out their problematic ads and requesting a meeting. If they do not respond by tomorrow, we’re going to launch a campaign to push them from capitulation to active resistance. Stay tuned for more soon, and come to “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday to discuss next steps.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
The Maine ICE Watch Hotline Is LIVE!
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
The Hotline project has already trained over 100 community volunteers, both as operators to receive calls and verifiers to confirm or refute reported sightings of immigration enforcement activity.
A project of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalitionand the People’s Coalition for Safety & Justice. Volunteers trained across Maine to respond, verify, and connect families to help.
Background on the 287g agreement on the ICE site (including a list of all 1,034 agencies in the country that participate) and a more accurate take from the Immigrants Legal Resource Center. Wells, Maine, has already entered into an agreement and is the only municipality in Maine to do so.
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate are fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
And see Mid Maine Indivisible’s call to action to learn how you can get a letter hand delivered to Senator Angus King!
Republicans shut down the federal government because they insist on taking away healthcare and giving Trump another blank check to fuel his dangerous and illegal power grab. The Indivisible toolkit has everything you need to know about our next steps, including how to hold Republicans accountable, how to help Democrats hold the line, and how to mobilize locally against blank checks for a wannabe king.
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! We have had a huge influx of new members these past few months and to keep up, YOUR skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action!
Action Friday November 7th: Call King and Collins to Vote Against the CR Today Unless the Health Insurance is Voted on and Passed First!
Good Morning Folks, end of week six of the shutdown. Getting cool out there – good time to plant your garlic for next year.
Top Action to Take Today:
On extension of the ACA credits, it is reported that Majority Leader Thune is planning a vote on the CR today, without including the extension of ACA tax credits. Apparently there are moderate Democrats moving in that direction. Please call King and Collins and ask them to vote against the CR, unless Thune puts the vote for the tax credits up FIRST. If it passes then approve the CR. Otherwise Democrats should hold tight on their demands. Bullies thrive on capitulation. For talking points on this call here.
More Actions if You Have the Bandwidth
The food emergency is gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money.
If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment. The Winslow Food Cupboard goes all over Kennebec County, If you are able to help, please click here (WCCPantry.com) and then click on the white “Donate Now” button.
To follow up politically on the SNAP issue, Mills has released 1.25 million for SNAP food benefits, which is about enough to fund a day and a half of the need in Maine. This is not sufficient. Ask Governor Mills to declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY in relation to the Republican refusal to fund SNAP, orcall the Legislatureinto special session. Either option would result in more funding being released to keep kids and their families from going hungry this November. Call her at 207-287-3531, or go to her website and make a comment. (SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serving almost 170,000 families in Maine) California, Virginia, Louisiana, and Minnesota have all declared states of emergency to keep this program going. Mills may agree that this is a good way to alleviate immediate suffering in Maine.
People are ramping up mutual aid efforts. Here is a valuable resource in these hunger times. The Maine USDA has The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); this gives out food to organizations which are getting food to hungry people. Could your school, non-profit, church, synagogue qualify for food? Go here to find out.
Calls to Our Representatives:
The Trumpublicans are cutting off SNAP benefits even though a judge has told them they need to release the funds TODAY and the USDA has a rainy day surplus of several billion dollars! 42 million people in the US get SNAP benefits. Let King, Collins, Pingree and Golden know that the loss of these benefits affect nearly 170,000 people in Maine (over 12% of the state), and the USDA money needs to be released now so people can eat in November. Thank them for supporting a bipartisan bill to keep SNAP benefits coming during the shutdown, and ask them to help end the shutdown by voting with the Democrats on the CR.
Trump and his gang have started a series of extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Closing our sixth week of House recess, Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the House on recess in order to keep from having to swear in a new member of Congress: Adelita Grijalva won an election in Arizona on September 23’d, and has not been sworn in because of the recess. She is the final vote needed to get the discharge petition passed that will release the Epstein Files. Call Representatives Golden + Pingree to demand that the House be opened so that work can continue on this issue as well as many, many others. See 5calls.org for more on this. They need to be back in session to negotiate the new CR in any case.
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
Background: As you know, before they will end the government shutdown, the congressional Republicans are holding hostage the extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credits. (They need Democratic votes to overcome the filibuster and pass a continuing resolution to fund the government.) Most Democrats are insisting that the extension be approved before they will vote to end the shutdown, because they are sick and tired of “falling for Lucy with the football”(1). If the extension is not approved, health insurance premiums will more than double for 22 million of our fellow citizens. Republicans are hard at work persuading Angus King, Jared Golden (still in office), and a handful of other congressional Democrats (and of course Collins) to capitulate.
Yes, the shutdown is painful. But we should have “learned our lesson” by now. We cannot trust the Republicans to do the right thing. They have the power to simply extend the tax credits first, then end the shutdown. Or, include the tax credits as part of the “continuing resolution”. Republicans have the power to do that, now. The fact that they are not doing it speaks volumes about their lack of trustworthiness, their callous indifference to millions of Americans who need the tax credit to be able to afford health insurance, and their adherence to the Project 2025 playbook (which, in a nutshell, is a blueprint for destroying the social safety net).
Action: Call King, Collins and Golden today. Demand that they NOT CAVE to the demand to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown without including the extension of the ACA tax credits.
Contact:
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number.
IF the capitulation has already happened, call in protest.
Extra Credit:
(1) https://slate.com/culture/2014/10/the-history-of-lucys-pulling-the-football-away-from-charlie-brown-in-peanuts.html AI overview says: “”Falling for Lucy with the football” is a metaphor for repeatedly being deceived by someone or falling for the same trick over and over, despite previous negative experiences. It represents a cycle of dashed hopes and a naive belief in a person who consistently betrays trust, often symbolizing the conflict between optimism and cynicism.” In this instance, Republicans have touted for many years that they will propose a better alternative to the ACA, but they have proposed absolutely nothing. There is no reason to suspect that they will in the future, because the only sensible alternative is “medicare for all”, which is anathema to their privatization agenda.
(2) For more in-depth info, check out this Google document here. Thanks to Emanuel Pariser for this action item.
Thank you to supporters who have been donating to our ActBlue fund!
Welcome to all the new members on our mailing list!
Here is today’s newsletter from Indivisible Bangor, followed by the great list of important actions and information from our friends at Mid Maine Indivisible that includes information on the Trump-ordered extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and Pacific and Mike Johnson STILL keeping the House in recess so Adelita Grijalva can’t be sworn in, preventing her from signing a petition to trigger a vote on legislation that would force the release of federal files on Jeffrey Epstein (PBS).
Also, check out the latest from the Bold Coast Civic Alliance (10/27)that discusses protecting our public lands, contacting members of congress, and more.
A lot of research goes into these additional actions, so be sure to read them!
Weekly Vigils
Weekly vigils are happening here in the Bangor area!
We finish the week with our Visibility Brigade on Fridays. Join us on the Essex Street overpass at the new time of 3:00 p.m. as we hold letters to spell out messages for the drivers on I-95! Learn more here. Tell them you read about it here!
WE DID IT!
We defeated the MAGA-backed voter suppression effort, Question 1, and passed Question 2, the “red flag” law. Bangor elected three progressives to the Bangor City Council. Read more election results in the Bangor Daily News Election 2025 coverage. Also, the Question 1 issue garnered national headlines, with articles appearing in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Times!
Nationally, California voters approved Proposition 50, which will allow the state to redistrict in a way to add more Democratic seats to the House in an effort to counter the Trump-led redistricting in Texas and other states. Democratic candidates won the governors’ races in New Jersey and Virginia and the mayoral race in New York City. Read more about this backlash against Donald Trump and his policies nationwide in this gift article from the New York Times, “The Backlash Has Arrived: 6 Takeaways From a Good Night for Democrats.”
A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who volunteered to help with campaigns, attended a rally, canvassed, wrote letters to the editor, spoke to their friends and families, phone banked, donated money and food, passed out leaflets, posted flyers, and helped the cause in any other way. IT WORKED-RESOUNDINGLY!
We will keep up this momentum of great work in the coming months!!
Upcoming Events:
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Students Rise Up November 7, TOMORROW
Frontline for Freedom is sponsoring student resistance actions, both nationally and at the University of Maine. The immediate focus is on students “rising up” on Friday 11/7, and then a sequence of events leading up to May Day, 2026. While there are no actions planned in Maine this time around, please keep this on your radar for future events!
Please visit Frontline for Freedom for more information and visit this Action Network site to sign up to get more involved here at the University of Maine with Students Rise Up.
Veterans’ Day Rally Tuesday, 11/11
Join us next Tuesday, 11/11, to stand with Vets Say No as we collectively refuse to allow growing fascism to be normalized.
Location to be determined, so stay tuned!
Food AND Medicine Annual Solidarity Harvest November 13-24
Democratic Senate Candidate Jordan Wood is coming to meet you. We’ll be at the Bangor Public Library. Come out to meet Jordan, learn why he’s the strongest candidate to defeat Susan Collins, and hear about what his plans as your next Senator: sweeping campaign finance reform, passing the Ultra-Millionaire Wealth Tax, enact universal childcare and addressing the affordability crisis head on.
Thursday, November 13, 6:00pm-7:30 pm. at the Bangor Public Library.
DIVERSITY, EQUALITY, INCLUSION, AND RELATED DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND POLICIES UNDER ATTACK AT UMAINE AND BEYOND November 20
In 2025, DEI policies at UMaine and beyond are under attack; students, researchers, and others are threatened and live with great fear and uncertainty. This program will explore these current threats and how we can respond, resist, uphold freedom of speech, and create democratic alternatives. Elliot Benjamin has a Ph.D. from the University of Maine and has been deeply committed to Indivisible Maine and Indivisible nationally, especially in 2025. Doug Allen retired after 46 years as a professor of philosophy at UMaine and has served as Coordinator of the Socialist and Marxist Studies Lecture Series since its inception in the mid-1980s.
Thursday, 11/20/2025 12:30-1:45 P.M. Bangor Room, Memorial Union The University of Maine, Orono
Other News:
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Donate to a Food Bank or Pantry
It is important that we continue the good work we did on No Kings Day on 10/18 in other ways!
Please DONATE to a local food pantry- food, personal items, and even cash. Faith Linking in Action maintains a database of all food pantries and free meals– organized by both location and day of the week– in the Bangor area. Check it out here.
Also, ActivateMaine has created a site, SNAP Into Action: “a statewide effort to help those who are affected by the freezing of benefits due to the Government shut down.” If you know of any food drives that are happening, please visit this site to add it to the database!
If you get the paper edition of the Bangor Daily News, the first section of the paper on Friday, October 31, has a list of 260 food pantries.
HEATING ASSISTANCE CUTS
Read about how the shutdown is affecting LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) in this NPR article and how it affecting Maine in this Maine Public Radio article from 10/30. This is in addition to the cuts that are already part of H.R. 1, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” that President Trump and the Republicans passed this summer. Read about that in an article from News Center Maine. Also, in this article from Snap Navigator, dated 7/15/2025.
LEAVING MAGA
Are you someone or do you know someone who wants to leave MAGA? Please visit this site created by a man who was once in MAGA and has since left. Leavingmaga.org
Boycott Spotify
From Ezra and Leah-
Earlier this month, Spotify began running ads to recruit for ICE, making them an active enabler of the hiring spree to build an American secret police force. That’s bad, and if we want there to be consequences for capitulation, we have to be the consequence!
If you’ve joined a weekly “What’s the Plan?” call, you’ve probably heard me and Leah reflect on the lessons from the successful Disney/ABC/Kimmel campaign. The regime bullied, the institution capitulated, the people rebelled, the institution reversed course, and democracy sat up a little straighter the next day.
What worked to influence Disney can work with Spotify! Like Disney, Spotify is a multi-billion dollar corporation that relies on subscriptions. That means we, the paying customers, have real influence.
So on Thursday, Leah and I sent a formal letter to Spotify, pointing out their problematic ads and requesting a meeting. If they do not respond by tomorrow, we’re going to launch a campaign to push them from capitulation to active resistance. Stay tuned for more soon, and come to “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday to discuss next steps.
Note, according to the Huffington Post (10/31) and Rolling Stone (10/15), Pandora is also running ICE recruitment ads. Pandora is a subsidiary of SiriusXM satellite radio. SiriusXM acquired Pandora in 2019 “to form the world’s largest audio entertainment company.”
The Maine ICE Watch Hotline Is LIVE!
The purpose of the hotline is to protect immigrant families by providing accurate, real-time information about ICE and Border Patrol activity and connect Maine families to resources and support services during a time of heightened enforcement and targeting of immigrants and refugees.
The Hotline project has already trained over 100 community volunteers, both as operators to receive calls and verifiers to confirm or refute reported sightings of immigration enforcement activity.
A project of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalitionand the People’s Coalition for Safety & Justice. Volunteers trained across Maine to respond, verify, and connect families to help.
Background on the 287g agreement on the ICE site (including a list of all 1,034 agencies in the country that participate) and a more accurate take from the Immigrants Legal Resource Center. Wells, Maine, has already entered into an agreement and is the only municipality in Maine to do so.
We cannot allow Donald Trump’s continued use of armed federal agents and the military on American soil to intimidate and terrorize civilians to stand. This cannot be the new norm. The sole purpose of these actions is to intimidate and terrorize the local communities into compliance. Please contact your congressional delegation in Washington to let them know this is unacceptable and un-American. This should not be tolerated in our country!
From the article, “Based on the newly posted information, a family of four making $130,000 in Maine would face an increase of $16,100 in annual premiums next year.” Such an increase will result in many Mainers simply not having healthcare insurance any longer.
This is what the Democrats in the Senate are fighting against. Please contact your Maine senators and let them know you would like them to vote with the Democrats on the Continuing Resolution to extend the ACA tax credits!
And see Mid Maine Indivisible’s call to action to learn how you can get a letter hand delivered to Senator Angus King!
Republicans shut down the federal government because they insist on taking away healthcare and giving Trump another blank check to fuel his dangerous and illegal power grab. The Indivisible toolkit has everything you need to know about our next steps, including how to hold Republicans accountable, how to help Democrats hold the line, and how to mobilize locally against blank checks for a wannabe king.
Do you want to become more involved? Would you like to help with the website and communications? How about helping to organize events, such as rallies and overpass actions or be a peacekeeper? Volunteer with Indivisible Bangor! We have had a huge influx of new members these past few months and to keep up, YOUR skills, connections, and input are needed!
Weekly member meetings are on Zoom with in-person meetings on the first Wednesday of the month. Please click the button to sign up and we’ll help you with the process of becoming a member of Indivisible Bangor!
New members, and current members, too, are invited to join one of our monthly Zoom informational meetings!
It’s mentioned a few times in these newsletters about calling your representatives in Washington, D.C. It’s one of the most important things we can do and it’s so easy!
If you are more comfortable with sending emails to our Maine congressional delegation in Washington, click the links/buttons. This is a good option if you have lengthy comments or questions.
We have an easy way to donate to Indivisible Bangor. Drop off your returnable bottles and cans to Ohio Street Redemption in Bangorand tell them to put it on the account of Dave Cox. They’ll add the money to our kitty, mail out a regular check, and the money goes to our bank account to help with our expenses! You can find them here!
****Be sure the attendant writes down “Indivisible Bangor” because several donations have not been credited. Thank you!****
And you can donate here, too! Donations help pay for supplies, website, outreach, and to fund the many upcoming actions in Maine.
And now to the Mid Maine Indivisible morning Call to Action!
Action Thursday November 6th: For the Heart + Start Considering What You Can Do About the Food Emergency
Good Morning Folks, Tuesday proved the power of solidarity – across party lines and ideologies to support common sense efforts. People organized, talked to one another, and showed up to vote. It’s how things work when there are NoKings. Thank you to every one of you who took one or more of those actions.
One other big win – Californians overwhelmingly voted to redistrict with a Democratic slant to offset Texas’s Republican slanted re-districting. Partisan gerrymandering is not a progressive value. However when the circumstances dictate – as my friend Peter used to say: “One must always be able to rise above one’s principles!”
Top Action to Take Today:
The food emergency is gathering force. One approach is to get involved with or start a mutual aid effort if there are no food banks in your area. Here is a resource for starting a mutual aid campaign put together by the No Kings Alliance. If you have a food bank/soup kitchen in your area send them some money.
If you want to find out the food assistance programs nearest you, here is a listing by town. Donating to Good Shepherd or your local food bank is one of the most effective things you could do at this moment.
For the Heart
For Your Heart this Seventh Week of Fall:
What is the situation, our relationship to it, and then what is our correct function relating to the way things are?
A WORD ON STATISTICS~~~Wislawa Szymborska(translated from the Polish by Joanna Trzeciak) Out of every hundred people,those who always know better:fifty-two. Unsure of every step:almost all the rest. Ready to help,if it doesn’t take long:forty-nine. Always good,because they cannot be otherwise:four — well, maybe five. Able to admire without envy:eighteen. Led to error by youth (which passes):sixty, plus or minus. Those not to be messed with:four-and-forty. Living in constant fearof someone or something:seventy-seven. Capable of happiness:twenty-some-odd at most. Harmless alone,turning savage in crowds:more than half, for sure. Cruel when forced by circumstances:it’s better not to know,not even approximately. Wise in hindsight:not many morethan wise in foresight. Getting nothing out of life except things:thirty(though I would like to be wrong). Balled up in painand without a flashlight in the dark:eighty-three, sooner or later. Those who are just:quite a few, thirty-five. But if it takes effort to understand:three. Worthy of empathy:ninety-nine. Mortal:one hundred out of one hundred –a figure that has never varied yet.
More Actions if You Have the Bandwidth
To follow up politically on the SNAP issue, Mills has released 1.25 million for SNAP food benefits, which is about enough to fund a day and a half of the need in Maine. This is not sufficient. Ask Governor Mills to declare a STATE OF EMERGENCY in relation to the Republican refusal to fund SNAP, orcall the Legislatureinto special session. Either option would result in more funding being released to keep kids and their families from going hungry this November. Call her at 207-287-3531, or go to her website and make a comment. (SNAP = Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program serving almost 170,000 families in Maine) California, Virginia, Louisiana, and Minnesota have all declared states of emergency to keep this program going. Mills may agree that this is a good way to alleviate immediate suffering in Maine.
People are ramping up mutual aid efforts. Here is a valuable resource in these hunger times. The Maine USDA has The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP); this gives out food to organizations which are getting food to hungry people. Could your school, non-profit, church, synagogue qualify for food? Go here to find out.
Calls to Our Representatives:
The Trumpublicans are cutting off SNAP benefits even though the USDA has a rainy day surplus of several billion dollars! 42 million people in the US get SNAP benefits. Let King, Collins, Pingree and Golden know that the loss of these benefits affect nearly 170,000 people in Maine (over 12% of the state), and the USDA money needs to be released now so people can eat in November. Thank them for supporting a bipartisan bill to keep SNAP benefits coming during the shutdown, and ask them to help end the shutdown by voting with the Democrats on the CR.
Trump and his gang have started a series of extra-judicial killings in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. A dozen civilian vessels have been blown up and dozens of people killed, with no hearings, no due process. . Trump wants to distract from his problems at home by creating a “war” on drug traffickers in which he can order anyone he wants killed by claiming they are drug dealers. What could go wrong? Congress has done nothing about this. Our lawmakers should be demanding an investigation of these murders NOW. For more information go here.
Closing our sixth week of House recess, Speaker Mike Johnson has kept the House on recess in order to keep from having to swear in a new member of Congress: Adelita Grijalva won an election in Arizona on September 23’d, and has not been sworn in because of the recess. She is the final vote needed to get the discharge petition passed that will release the Epstein Files. Call Representatives Golden + Pingree to demand that the House be opened so that work can continue on this issue as well as many, many others. See 5calls.org for more on this.
Call King and Collins to support extension of the ACA tax credits by voting with the Democrats. (If you have done this already this week, call one friend and ask them to do the same. If everyone on this email did so, it would generate close to 200 calls today!) A family of four in Maine making $130k, is estimated to have a $16,100 ANNUAL increase in costs to their healthcare if these insurance tax credits are not extended. More on this from a NY Times article (gifted) here. (Thanks to Indivisible Bangor for the article!)
Arts and Politics!
Fall of Freedom“is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda.
This Fall, we are activating a nationwide wave of creative resistance. Beginning November 21–22, 2025, galleries, museums, libraries, comedy clubs, theaters, and concert halls across the country will host exhibitions, performances, and public events that channel the urgency of this moment.” (from their website) They have a toolkit to help with creating graphics, posters, events to join the Art Resistance. (Thank you Connie for this.)
March on DC November 20 – 22 – Remove the Regime! Consider joining this National Event which will combine a march, rally, and congressional lobbying. Go here for more information. This event may involve encounters with Trump’s shock troopers, so please be prepared.
It’s a piece of cake to email or call with these links!
The names of our senators and representatives listed below are links that go right to their official congressional contact form pages. The telephone numbers are links that should open your phone app to call that number. It’s that easy!
