Good morning, Activists!
We hope you had a wonderful weekend. We know this is not our regular newsletter day, but but there’s been a development in the For the People Act negotiations that we need to react to. Our regular newsletter will come out this Wednesday.
A couple of days ago Indivisible’s policy team heard from multiple sources that Delaware's two senators, Tom Carper and Chris Coons, are both holding out on eliminating or even reforming the filibuster, effectively stalling passage of the For the People Act (S. 1).
We’ve known for a while that they were both reluctant to upset the status quo even for important legislation – they’ve been telling Indivisible groups that for a while – but this is the clearest confirmation we’ve heard that they’re willing to put arcane Senate rules over the legislation the American people elected Democrats to pass.
Having them standing in the way also provides cover for Sens. Manchin (WV) and Sinema (AZ), who can now pretend they aren’t the ones blocking progress. If you’re not part of the solution, Senators, you’re part of the problem.
What do we do?
1. If you know someone who lives in Delaware, ask them to call Senators Coons and Carper at 1-877-684-7760 and tell the senator they’ve heard information that the senator is wavering and it's time to pick a side – Democracy or the filibuster. Remind them we are paying attention. (They can even fill out their information here and Indivisible will call them with a script and patch them through to the senator’s office directly.)
2. If you know someone who lives in West Virginia or Arizona, ask them to call Senators Manchin or Sinema and tell them they insist the senator stop defending the Jim Crow Filibuster and pass S. 1. Your friend should not let them off the hook with a wishy-washy answer. They can click here to call Manchin or here to call Sinema.
3. For those of us in Pennsylvania, we need to call Senator Casey and ask him to turn up the heat on Coons, Carper, Manchin, and Sinema.Tell him you’re proud to have heard he’s taking a stand against the filibuster and for our democracy, and ask him to pressure his colleagues to do the same. Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324 email link
4. And for Toomey – Not as much use in calling him, but call and tell him you want him to vote to end the filibuster and pass S.1. And importantly, also ask your PA friends to call Casey with the message above. Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; email link
AND TOMORROW - RALLY IN SUPPORT OF S.1
Noon to 1:00 pm, 2nd and Chestnut Streets (Sen. Toomey’s office)
Join us as we partner with Tuesdays With(out) Toomey and the Declaration For American Democracy Coalition to rally at Senator Toomey’s office. There will be great speakers and lots of signs for you,. plus T-shirts and other swag! So come out for an hour and show our senators that we are not going anywhere and we demand they pass the For the People Act and stand up for democracy. This is what democracy looks like – keeping up the pressure!
The For the People Act is incredibly popular, and passing it is crucial to ensuring we have a democracy that works for everyone. These are common sense measures – things like getting dark money out of elections and preventing politicians from getting to choose their own voters (i.e., gerrymandering.) Sens. Coons, Carper, Manchin, and Sinema are handing Mitch McConnell, whose party lost, control over the future of American democracy. It’s unacceptable.
See you there!