This is an update from INDIVISIBLE about what RepubliKKKans in the House are up to this week

House Republicans plan to force a vote on their horrific “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023,” as early as Wednesday this week.

The aptly-named legislation will limit our ability to address climate change, save corporations from paying their fair share of taxes, and grow the pockets of big oil and special interests as it strips away benefits from hard-working Americans.

Extremist Republicans know that this bill will never pass in the Senate or be signed by President Biden. Their goal is not for it to pass. This is a power play from the most extreme members of the Republican party to exert their control over Kevin McCarthy and the rest of their caucus, committing all of them to a suite of toxic policies and a scheme to blow up the economy through the MAGA Default Crisis. 

This bill would:

• Create mountains of arbitrary paperwork that would strip life saving Medicaid and Food Stamps from millions of seniors, families, and children
• Make it easier for big corporations and the ultra wealthy to cheat on their taxes by revoking IRS funding 
• Saddle millions of working people with student debt 
• And make huge cuts to climate, public health, and infrastructure funding just to name a few.  

Currently, no Democrats have expressed any intention of voting for this bill, and it is so extreme that even a few Republicans have come out against it (as always, we’ll believe them when we see them vote). Republicans know full-well that passing this bill would harm their constituents -- it’s just that they think they can get away with it. They are posturing to bolster their position in the in the MAGA Default Crisis fight. 

We need Democrats to stand united during this vote and make it clear they oppose the Republican plan to cause a MAGA Default Crisis. The vast majority of House Dems have already committed to no cuts for Social Security and Medicare, check this list to see if your Rep is one of the handful who has not. 

As for House Republicans, with a few claiming that they will vote against this bill, we want to turn up the pressure on all Republicans to oppose it. We don’t know if any Republicans will stick to their word, but that can’t stop us from working to chip away at their ranks. If you have a Republican representative, call them and demand they oppose Kevin McCarthy’s disastrous default bill.

Now is the time to stand united against MAGA legislation. We send people to Washington to help the American people, not line the pockets of their friends and donors. This extreme bill is just one small volley in this ongoing fight to prevent the MAGA default. Make sure your Rep knows where you stand. 

DO YOUR PART!

Use the links in this post to tell your Congresswoman or Congressman you vehemently oppose their actions!

How?  You may ask.  The answer is simple – ballot measures – but the execution takes careful planning, hard work and financing.

According to Wikipedia: The Fairness Project is a United States 501(c)(4) charitable organization created in October 2015. They promote general economic and social justice throughout the US by the use of ballot measures to circumvent deadlocks in law changes by the legislative and executive branches of government. They act as a national body by supporting state organizations and campaigns with targeted funding rather than by direct campaigning. They support the gathering of signatures to meet the variable requirements to trigger ballots in states and then aid the campaigns with early financial backing, strategic advice, and various campaign tools.

The Project seeks to raise state minimum wages, both through stepped annual increases and through elimination of the tip credit exemption. It has expanded Medicaid coverage and provided funding in the most expensive ballot campaigns ever fought. Usually alongside their other campaigns, the Fairness Project has supported improving paid sick leave coverage. Following Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the Project has also supported legalizing abortion via statewide ballot initiatives. The Project has supported 17 proposals in total, of which 16 have passed. Concerns have arisen about the lack of transparency of non-state organizations like the Fairness Project influencing local decisions.

The following is the March 6, 2023, media release from The Fairness Project, proudly explaining who they are and what they do.

Fairness Project Featured on NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’

Washington, DC — On Friday, the Fairness Project was featured on NPR’s flagship news show, All Things Considered, which highlighted the nonpartisan nonprofit’s record of winning ballot measure campaigns on progressive issues in red and purple states. Since its founding in 2016, the Fairness Project has won over 30 ballot measure campaigns to advance economic and social justice in 17 states, including passing Medicaid expansion in seven states and raising the minimum wage in nine.

LISTEN: This group gets left-leaning policies passed in red states. How? Ballot measures

“The Fairness Project is the brainchild of a large health care workers’ union in California. It helps fund ballot measures for traditionally left-of-center issues and it provides extensive research into what messages will sway the largest number of voters. [Executive Director Kelly] Hall says, for example, to make a Trump voter feel good about expanding Medicaid coverage: ‘Folks who can separate this issue from their partisan identity are the people who get us over the finish line in these conservative states.’

“And they’ve won a lot. With the Fairness Project’s support, campaigns to raise the minimum wage and expand Medicaid have won not just in Missouri, but in nine red or purple states. Now they’re taking on abortion rights .The group also worked on a ballot measure in Michigan last year which codified access to reproductive health care, including abortion. They’re exploring more of these measures for 2024.”

Last year, the Fairness Project won eight ballot measure campaigns: defending reproductive rights in Michigan and Vermont; raising the minimum wage to $15 in Nebraska; expanding Medicaid to 40,000 low-income South Dakotans; reining in predatory medical debt collectors in Arizona; increasing civilian oversight of the Los Angeles County Sheriff; and defending direct democracy in Arkansas and South Dakota. Since 2016 the Fairness Project has won a total of 31 campaigns in 17 states across the country.

Continue reading and listening on NPR here.

 

IS YOUR STATE NEXT FOR THIS IMPORTANT WORK?

 

EDITORS NOTE:  See the Resource Library on womensvoicesmedia.org.  It provides information and help on this and many other issues, concerns, and interests by, for and about women.