Day 21 Action:

So we’re going into our third week of this administration. 21 days. So let’s see what they’ve been up to. Forgive us if we miss any of their stellar moments, there have been so many:

Congressional Actions:

• Confirmed unqualified (but very gracious GOP donor) Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education.
• Confirmed racist, and previously unqualified for a federal judgeship, Senator Jeff Sessions as Secretary of Agriculture. (read: Boss of the FBI and highest legal authority in the U.S.)
• Introduced H.R. 509 to Terminate the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives)
• Introduced H.R. 899 to Terminate the Department of Education

• Introduced and Passed the House H.R. 7: No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017

• Introduced H.R.634 the Election Assistance Commission Termination Act
  (The Commission that keeps track of voter fraud)

• Introduced H.R. 490 The Heartbeat Protection Act (Banning ALL abortions after 6.5 weeks see Monday’s post for more)
• Introduced S.341 – A bill to provide for congressional oversight of actions to waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation, and for other purposes.

In their defense, some are trying to just get work done: S.346 – A bill to provide for the establishment of the National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System.

Presidential Actions: (These are only what they’ve posted online, they have not been timely in regards to keeping the website updated)

• Executive Order On Core Principals for Regulating the United States Financial System
• Presidential Order On Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
• Executive Order Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees
• Executive Order Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
• Executive Order Border Protection and Immigration Enforcement Improvements
• Executive Order Enhancing Public Security in the Interior of the United States
• Executive Order Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects (Read: DAPL)
• 12 Presidential Memoranda
• 2 Proclamations
• And his feelings (he is an emotional animal to be sure) on Related OMB Material

So what can we do about all of this?

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Action and Organization

Take back the House

Swing Left is an organization created to do just that. They have identified 52 key districts across the country where the candidate won by a narrow margin, 15% or less, and, therefore, are vulnerable to defeat in 2018. Their plan is to bolster the vulnerable Democrats and defeat the vulnerable Republicans.

VISIT Swing Left, put in your zip and find your closest vulnerable Republican and get involved via social media, canvasing, phone banking, donations and events.

FOLLOW them on Twitter too!

JOIN their National Campaign Kickoff Call: Sunday, February 12, 2017 9:00 PM ET

Here is the fun part, even if there isn’t a vulnerable Republican (say it out-loud, it’s fun) near you; you may live miles away and can’t vote to affect the outcome of their race, but you can still get involved in a meaningful way in any race, across the country. Just pick a state you want to get involved in.

We should all actually be very involved in races in other states and counties, because as we have so recently seen- one representative’s vote affects all of our lives. And to change our laws (or to keep them the same, for goodness sake) – it can take just one vote.

To put it another way by paraphrasing a great T.V. character speaking the words of a phenomenal screenwriter…

Because in our time, you can be a Senator in your state but affect the laws and liberty of my ‘state’ – what goes on in your state and campaign for reelection, is very much my business.

Par a local example:

• Florida Senator Marco Rubio wanting more guns in D.C.
• Utah Senator Jason Chaffetz in D.C.’s Business
• Same Utah Senator proposing returning some of D.C. to Maryland
• Same Utah Senator “meddling in D.C. affairs”
• Same Utah Senator on the U.S. not needing the Dept. of Ed.
  (Just so you know where he stands)

FYI for our Non-D.C. Readers of WKTB – The District of Columbia does not have any representation in the Senate. We have one Representative in the House and that’s it. In fact, until 1964, D.C. residents did not even have the ability to vote for President. And, Congress is still in control of this city’s budget.

So don’t be surprised when you see D.C. residents making calls to your senators… if they want to spend YOUR state’s taxpaying time getting involved in my districts affairs, and stand in the way of us having our constitutional right to representation, we may just begin to take up more and more of their time (read: YOUR taxpaying dollars).

So check out Swing Left and let’s work hard at taking back that House!

Photo Credit: Swing Left