GOOD NEWS 2023

10/9/2023

 1. Following the Supreme Court’s refusal to reinstate a Republican-
designed congressional map in Alabama, a federal court ordered the
state to use a new congressional map that increases the percentage
of Black voters in a district long dominated by white voters. According
to the New York Times, “the order could lead to the election of two
Black representatives for the first time in the state’s history and also
to the pickup by Democrats of another seat in the House.”

2. Governor Newsom appointed former labor leader Laphonza Butler to
fill Senator Feinstein’s seat until the new Congress of January 2025.
Ms. Butler has been an advisor to VP Kamala Harris, served as
president of the SEIU for more than a decade, and since 2021 served
as president of Emily’s List, the fund-raising organization dedicated to
electing female candidates and upholding women’s reproductive
rights.

3. The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Katalin Kariko and Drew
Weissman, whose mRNA breakthrough enabled the speedy
development of Covid vaccines that averted tens of millions of
deaths.

4. President Biden canceled an additional $9 billion in student debt on
Wednesday as repayments started up again this month after a three-
year pause. The move affects 125,000 people who qualify under
existing programs, including public-service workers such as teachers
and firefighters and people on permanent disability. The
announcement represents a workaround offer to provide debt relief
after the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s more ambitious plan
that would have cancelled more than $400 billion in student debt for
about 43 million borrowers.

5. The U.S. labor market continues strong, with employers adding
336,000 jobs in September.

*****

10/2/2023

1.  A federal judge declared Texas’s drag law unconstitutional.

2.  Governor Newsom signed a law to raise taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for school safety.

3.  The Biden administration made important modifications to the foster care system.

4.  Governor Newsom signed a bill to ban book bands and textbook censorship.

5.  Judge ruled that Trump, his two sons, and others were liable for engaging in massive fraud to build his real estate empire and ordered the dissolution of Trump Org. 

6.  Mississippi’s state Supreme Court ruled that appointing circuit court judges violates Mississippi’s constitutional requirements that all judges must be elected.

7.  Montana judge blocked the ban in gender affirming care for trans youth.

8.  SCOTUS refused to reinstate Alabama‘s GOP drawn map, and Alabama has now dropped their appeal. 

*****

9/26/2023

1. The Supreme Court rejects Alabama's attempt to avoid creating a second Black majority congressional district.
 

2. Democrats keep winning elections. In Pennsylvania, Democrats kept control of the House of Representatives after Lindsay Powell (D) won an open seat in a special election in the Pittsburgh area. In New Hampshire, Hal Rafter (D) flipped a swing seat in a special election for the State House. The upset puts Democrats just one seat away from erasing the GOP’s majority in the chamber!
 

3. Joe Biden forgave another $37 million in student loans, created an Office of Gun Violence Prevention to help keep us safe, created an American Climate Corps to create green jobs, and announced he’s joining the UAW picket line in Detroit.

4. A Taylor Swift Instagram post drove record-breaking web traffic to VOTE.ORG this week and helped the site register more than 35,000 new voters!

5. On National Voter Registration Day, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that the state will implement automatic voter registration!

6. After Trump announced he was planning to speak to the striking United Auto Workers members, the union president said, “Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.”

7. Joe Biden’s re-election campaign is deploying California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the second Republican presidential debate next week.

8. Project Veritas, the far right organization best known for using paid actors and then deceptively editing videos to smear liberal candidates and organizations, suspended all operations this week.

 So we citizens of the United States must take over and tell Trump “You’re Fired!”  We love this country, and we must preserve this democracy.  Donald Trump can never be in the White House again.  As Kamala Harris tells us: “Our job is to energize, organize and mobilize.  Remind everyone your vote is your voice.   And your voice is your power.  And never let anyone take your power from you.”  We are not going to throw away our vote! 

POSTCARDS

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According to Progressive Turnout Project writing postcards is the most effective way to help re-elect President Biden and other Democrats from home

Based on their award-winning research, their 2024 postcards will add an estimated 125,000 votes

Keep in mind that President Biden won in 2020 by fewer than 43,000 votes across the states that decided the outcome

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PHONE BANKING

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 Phone banking remains the most effective tool we have to reach actual voters

According to CallHub, volunteer-led phone banks increased voter turnout by 3% and when these same voters were contacted repeatedly, outreach efforts were twice as effective at creating committed voters

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TEXTING

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Texting is the quickest way to reach thousands of voters; 95-98% of all text messages sent are read, and 10% of all text messages sent begin a back and forth conversation

Just an hour of texting can produce hundreds of conversations

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CANVASSING

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Canvassing, in-person voter contact, remains the most effective way to communicate with the electorate

Data shows that door-to-door canvassing can increase voter turnout by 6%

Flipping the House this election goes through our state, and canvassing will be key

We have multiple purple districts that are vulnerable and ripe for flipping

CA-27, CA-47, CA-22, and CA-41

*****

All these efforts individually help a little bit, and collectively they win elections

So, remember every phone call you make, every text message you send, every postcard you mail, and every door you knock matters

If you've been away from us for a while, we need you back

Please sign up for an event

Each and every one of you is needed this election

Let's win it all on November 5th.  

 New to SFV Indivisible

Learn more about us, and make like-minded friends

Been with SFV Indivisible from the beginning?Join us for a morning of conversation, new friends, and democratic engagement

SFV Indivisible has been around since January 2017, and we've done some really great things in our tenure

Helped save the ACA, elect democrats up and down the ballot since 2018, and now in this time of Trump 2.0 we must dig deep to preserve our democracy

This day we'll make signs for upcoming rallies

 Let's have some fun and help our country at the same time

Sunday, May 18

10am-12pm

RSVP Here 

 Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. 

My name is ______.

I understand that the GENIUS Act is coming up for another vote in the next week or so. I want to make sure the Senator votes no this time. This bill will enable Trump’s continuing and horrific corruption and self-dealing; until it is rewritten to prevent that the Senator must not support it. The Senator needs to listen to his constituents.

Also, I absolutely and completely oppose Republicans’ deficit exploding, healthcare-killing, court defanging bill. The Senator should vote no and push his colleagues to as well.

Senator Schiff: 

LA: 310-914-7300

D.C.: 202-224-3841

Senator Padilla:

LA: 310-231-4494

D.C.: 202-224-3553 

  Protest Avelo Airlines

On the last Sunday of every month we will meet at Burbank Airport to protest Avelo Airlines. These protests are in cooperation with larger national groups. We want to make very clear to drivers what is being protested, so please make your signs specific to Avelo Airlines and immigration issues.  

RSVP