Volume I, Issue 25 The Newsletter of Minuteman Indivisible Lexington September 7, 2017
Muster (verb) – assemble, especially for inspection or preparation for battle
MI HAPPENINGS
Fundraiser for Mikie Sherrill this Saturday!
The MI Elections Team is co-hosting "Bagels with Mikie" this Saturday. Mikie is one of the elections team's selected candidates and she is in town this weekend. Come meet her, her team, and hear how the congressional race in the NJ 11 is shaping up. (NJ 11 is outside New York in north central NJ.) To learn more about Mikie's campaign and why we are supporting her, see our writeup on our webpage.
If you would like to attend the event, please register here. The suggested donation amount is $45 (You know, in honor of the bigly guy... $45 to rid ourselves of #45.) Please donate online before or bring a check to the event. We are also encouraging people to bring a non-perishible good for the Arlington Food Pantry.
If you can't make it on Saturday but would still like to contribute to her campaign please do so using our form so she knows where you are coming from! Presidential Tax Transparency - S.365 Hearing
We've been wanting those presidential taxes since January and on September 6th, we had a chance to voice that opinion loud and clear. MA Senate bill S.365 would require candidates for POTUS to disclose their tax returns in order to appear on a Massachusetts primary or general election ballot. It is time to make the release of tax returns a requirement versus a voluntary action. We headed to the State House along with other Indivisible groups to provide testimony on why this should be the law in MA and submitted letters signed by members of Indivisible groups from across Massachusetts. Other supporters of the bill that testified included Secretary of State William Galvin (in photos below), Ben Clements (Gov Deval Patrick's chief legal counsel), and Pam Wilmot (Executive Director of Common Cause of Massachusetts).
Minuteman Indivisible Potluck
Thank you to all of the members who joined us on a lovely summer evening to share good food and conversation, celebrate the many accomplishments we've achieved over the past six months, and help plan our future actions.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Fundraiser for Mikie Sherrell, NJ-11 House Rep Candidate
Saturday, September 9, 2017 10AM - 11:30AM
Arlington (email for details)
The MI elections team is focusing on flipping the US House and has selected its first set of US Congressional candidates to support. Mikie Sherrell, running in the NJ 11th district, is one of our selections. She is a Seth Moulton endorsed federal prosecutor and former navy pilot and is now running for Congress against Rodney Frelinghuysen. If you are interested in attending our "Bagels with Mikie" fundraiser and meeting Ms. Sherrill for yourself, please register here.
Training to Collect Signatures for Ballot Questions
Monday, September 11, 2017 7:00PM, Large Meeting Room Cary Memorial Library, Lexington
The Raise Up Massachusetts coalition is working to place questions on the November 2018 statewide ballot to raise the minimum wage to $15 and to establish a program of universal insurance for paid family and medical leave. Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts (PDM) is holding a training session open to all to discuss these issues and explain the signature-gathering process. There are plans to begin collecting signatures weekly in Lexington Center starting on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 16 and 17 and also at the Farmers’ Market and other locations.
Pence-Kobach Commission Hearing & Protest
Tuesday, September 12, 2017 8:00AM New Hampshire Institute of Politics / Saint Anselm College
100 Saint Anselm Drive, Manchester, NH
The Pence-Kobach Commission on “Election Integrity” is holding a field hearing in New Hampshire and the ACLU-NH and the NH Campaign for Voting Rights are coordinating a protest. Here are two actions you can take around challenging the Pence-Kobach Commission:
1) Join the protest that morning outside the hearing. The protest begins at 8AM. More information here. 2) RSVP to attend the hearing. To reserve a spot at the Committee hearing, email the Election Integrity Staff at ElectionIntegrityStaff@ovp.eop.gov. If you receive a ticket let Christina Gibson (gibson@aclu-nh.org) know.
Improved Medicare for All MA
Tuesday, September 12, 2017 7:00PM 1 Main Street, Ayer, MA 01432
Come learn about a better health care system: Improved Medicare for All Panel Discussion with Senator Jamie Eldridge, Representative Jen Benson & the MASS-Care Coalition. Improved Medicare for All bills have been sponsored in MA by Senator Eldridge and Rep. Benson to create a cost-effective medical care system that covers all medically necessary privately delivered care for everyone, without premiums or co-pays or pre-existing condition exclusions, tax-funded and financially managed by a state agency. Event is free but requires registration.
DACA Support Rally Friday, September 16, 2017
1:00PM, Boston Common
The Boston May Day Coalition is organizing a rally to defend DACA. Join the coalition to resist deportations and defend DACA. For more information see the Facebook event.
Minuteman Indivisible at We the People Massachusetts
Thursday, September 21, 2017 7:00PM Democracy Center, Harvard University
45 Mt. Auburn St, Cambridge, MA
We the People is an organization dedicated to overturning Citizens United. MI has been invited to come to this We The People meeting to give a 20 minute talk about the origins of the Indivisible movement and some specifics of Minuteman Indivisible. Come learn more about MI and We the People.
ACLU Freedom Agenda Lobby Day
Wednesday, September 27, 2017 9:30am-2pm 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA
Here in Massachusetts, the ACLU and allies recently won a landmark victory in Commonwealth v. Lunn, when the highest state court ruled that state and local law enforcement have no authority to warrantlessly detain people on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Unfortunately, Governor Baker moved aggressively and immediately to undo that progress, filing legislation that would again authorize local police to detain people at the mere request of the federal government — without a judicial warrant. Join ACLU to fight back by attending the Lobby Day. Register in advance so that a box lunch will be available for you.
Daytime Meeting October
Date / Time / Place TBD
Join us at this new daytime group that will meet during school hours. If you are interested in being part of this group, please fill out this form with your preference for days, as well as mornings vs afternoons, so that we can start planning.
Regional Indivisible Conference
Sunday, Nov 12th 9:00AM-5:00PM TBD
UPCOMING MI MEETINGS
Elections Team Meeting Tuesday, September 12th 7:15-9PM Lexington Community Center
Come strategize for the congressional races the team selected to focus on at our August meeting! If you would like to volunteer for a district race or for a specific campaign action please fill out our Elections Form.
MI Book Club Meeting Tuesday, September 19th 7:15-9PM Lexington Community Center, Room 230/232
Join us as we discuss Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff. There’s no need to have read the book in advance. We’ll provide a brief summary to get the discussion started and focus on how it applies to our Minuteman Indivisible activities. Click here if you hope to join us or have a book that you would like to suggest as a candidate for a future meeting.
Healthcare Team Meeting Wednesday, September 20th 7:15-9:00PM
Lexington Community Center, Room 243
Please join us for the next Healthcare meeting. Now that the House and Senate repeal and replace healthcare dramas are over, sabotage of the ACA has gone underground. We will be kicking off our healthcare advocacy efforts for the Fall and look forward to welcoming new members, or welcome back old members. At this meeting we will break into focus areas such as defending the ACA against sabotage, bi-partisan efforts to improve the ACA, single payer, or whatever other topics are of interest to the group.
MORNING COFFEE ACTIONS
(Actions you can do while enjoying your morning cup!)
Defend DACAmented Youth
Trump has announced that he plans to eliminate the DACA program and yank the American Dream from 800,000 young immigrants who are living in the U.S. lawfully. Congress can prevent this. Ask your representative and senators to co-sponsor S.1615 in the Senate and H.R. 3591 in the House to permanently protect these young Americans, and take their future out of Trump’s hands. Also request that they insist that the DREAM Act be included in the Hurricane Harvey relief package. More info and sample call scripts here.
Mueller teams up with New York Attorney General in Manafort Probe
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, according to several people familiar with the matter. The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes. Here is the full article from Politico.
Follow us on Instagram
We are thrilled to announce that we are now on Instagram (our handle is "minuteman_indivisible")! We are setting up an easy way for members to submit photos that can be shared on Instagram so stay tuned...
GET INVOLVED
Learn More about MI Teams
Are you new to Minuteman Indivisible? While it is not required, one of the best ways to get involved is to join one or more of our teams! (See our website for more information on the teams.) If you'd like to contact one of our team leaders, their contact emails are below. (Although many teams have more than one team leader, for simplicity's sake, we list just one contact point.)
We the peopleof Minuteman Indivisible unite to uphold the rights and dignity of all people. Our mission is to exercise and defend our Constitutional rights and democratic institutions. Our principles are informed by our humanitarian values and respect for well-established scientific knowledge and governance expertise.
