5 Things You Can Do This Week

Tips for making phone calls to your Electeds

Remember to use the 5Calls App. Go to wherever you get your apps, find 5Calls, and download it. Here’s more info about 5Calls:

• Sometimes the materials listed in the calls section of IGGR’s weekly report will be the same or similar to what 5Calls suggests. Sometimes it will be other issues that also seem important.

• The 5Calls App gives a well summarized outline about the issue in question and a script you can use when calling senators and representatives.

• Best of all, the App provides a link to your senators’ and representative’s phone numbers so you don’t have to dial them.

• You can make multiple calls about the issues that concern you or you can summarize your concerns and list them in your call. Representative Scholten’s staff has expressed a preference for one call listing multiple issues.

• Whichever way you decide to call, always give your name and street address so the staff will know you are a constituent. Unfortunately, senators and representatives only want to hear from constituents, which seems counter intuitive when the issues in question are national but they want to get reelected, so they only want to hear from constituents.

Reliable and trustworthy sources of information can be found by visiting the websites for the Library of Congress, Congress.gov, and Senate.gov. The Bridge is an online newspaper about Michigan issues which is also a good source.

1) Call Your Senators

Senator Gary Peters: (202) 224-6221 

Senator Elyse Slotkin: (202) 224-4822 

(see Resources for more contact info)

• • Thank you for voting YES to limit Trump’s war powers regarding the war against Iran

  • Thank you for voting YES on HR 6644 Housing for the 21st Century Act.This bipartisan legislation is designed to improve housing affordability and availability through deregulation, expanding old programs, and banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, with few exceptions. Senate passes bipartisan housing bill targeting large investors and easing regulations. (A slightly different version of the bill passed the House in February. The Senate bill will likely need to go to conference to be negotiated between the two chambers. The bill could run into trouble when it reaches Trump’s desk, who has said he won’t sign any legislation until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. However, a bill passed by both chambers can still become law if the president takes no action and 10 days pass with Congress in session.)

  • Thank you for voting NO to funding the DHS. Senate rejects DHS funding bill as shutdown nears one-month mark

  • Do not vote to increase military funding to pay for the Iran war. Voters understand that funding the war means supporting the war. Democratic lawmakers who do so will incur the same wrath as Republicans who have enabled this unconstitutional and unnecessary war. The Pentagon reports that the first week of the war cost $11.3 billion. First Week of Iran War Cost More Than 11 Billion

  • Publicly demand that Secretary of Defense Hegseth step down or be impeached because he and the Defense Department abandoned a Pentagon plan to curtail civilian war casualties and hit an elementary school, killing 175 people, a majority of whom were children. US strike likely hit a school in Iran due to outdated intelligence

  • Oppose the confirmations of the following Trump nominees:

    • Markwayne Mullins for Secretary of Department of Homeland Security because of his hardline policy plans regarding immigration and disaster relief.

    • Casey Means for Surgeon General because of her anti vaccination and anti science ideals.

    • Steve Pearce for Bureau of Land Management Director because he is an advocate for selling and privatizing federal lands.

  • Publicly criticize the White House for using memes from movies and internet games on social media to distract from the carnage the US is inflicting on Iran, projecting a “kick ass,” attitude, ignoring the violation of international law and humanitarian harm inflicted by the US attacks. The Trump Administration Goes to War By Any Memes Necessary: A Series of White House Social-Media Videos Turn Carnage Into Gleeful Entertainment

  • Investigate conditions at North Lake Correctional Facility Baldwin.

2) Call Your Representative

Be sure to give them your home address so they know you are a constituent. Scholten’s staff has indicated that one call succinctly listing the multiple issues that concern you is preferable to multiple calls addressing one issue for each call.

Representative Scholten: (202) 225-3831

Representative Moolenaar (202) 225-3561

• • 1. Publicly demand that Secretary of Defense Hegseth step down or be impeached because he and the Defense Department abandoned a Pentagon plan to curtail civilian war casualties and hit an elementary school, killing 175 people, a majority of whom were children. US strike likely hit a school in Iran due to outdated intelligence

    2. Publicly criticize the White House for using memes from movies and internet games on social media to distract from the carnage the US is inflicting on Iran, ignoring the violation of international law and humanitarian harm inflicted by the US attacks. The Trump Administration Goes to War By Any Memes Necessary: A Series of White House Social-Media Videos Turn Carnage Into Gleeful Entertainment

3) Call Your State of Michigan Electeds (contact information here)

• Thank your Senator for voting YES on Senate Bills:

  1. SB 449 and 450, requiring hospitals to implement and clearly publish information regarding financial assistance for medical debt; a hospital’s failure to comply could result in the hospital being charged fines and fees and also on

  2. SB 451, which would prohibit consumer reporting agencies from including medical debt in credit reports.

  3. SB 701 and 702, which strengthen the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, providing enhanced protection against garnishment, excessive late fees and interest, foreclosures and arrest by collection agencies. Michigan Senate Debt Plan to Cap Interest, Limit Collections

• Tell your State Representative to support and vote YES on the Senate Bills 449, 450, 451, 701, and 702

• Read the IGGR deep dive about SNAP benefits and then call your state representative and senator requesting that they make sure the state budget includes adequate funding for food resources, including meals at schools and food banks.

4) Sign these petitions

• Make sure to sign Michiganders for Money Out of Politics (MMOP) and Invest in MI Kids petitions this March! There will be circulators at No Kings, but folks can drop into Books & Mortar (966 Cherry St. SE, GR) anytime to sign! All of their staff have been trained to collect signatures and the petitions are set up by the counter. If you signed MMOP before No Kings in October, you need to re-sign to be counted. If you signed Invest in MI Kids before October 1, you need to re-sign to be counted. If folks don’t know when/if they signed, we have a system in place to catch duplicates before our final submission so it’s safest to sign again! If you can collect signatures - even just a sheet or two among your neighbors and friends - reach out to Duncan Donahue (ddonahue@cleanwater.org) to get a quick training and petition sheets!

5) Donate to IGGR for No Kings Protest Event

• Donate to IGGR to help us with our No Kings 3 Protest Sing Along event at Calder Plaza on March 28 from 11 am - 12:30 pm. We are happy to announce that we can now take donations from folks who prefer to write a check instead of using their credit card. Here are the guidelines for donating by check.

  1. Checks must be made out to “The Indivisible Project.” Please note that contributions to Indivisible Project are not tax deductible as charitable contributions or as business expenses under IRC Section 162(e).

  2. Write “IGGR” in the memo line.

  3. Checks must be $50.00 or more

• Thank you for considering a donation. Every donation helps.

Extra Credit: 

• Read Pro Publica article Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1500 of His Appointees. An example of the conflicts of interest on the part of Trump and his appointees, including Todd Blanch, the second highest official in the Department of Justice (DOJ). He owned $159,000 in crypto assets when he ordered the shut down of a DOJ investigation of crypto currency companies.

• Stop buying NIKE products. Most manufacturers of clothing and shoes have their products produced outside the U.S. NIKE is no exception. Their shoes are produced in Indonesia. NIKE claims they pay their workers a ‘living wage’ for the location of their production. Surprisingly wages vary in different regions of Indonesia. In Jakarta, a common area for production, the monthly wage is approximately $300.00 per month. Nike has moved much of its production sites near Jakarta to regions further away from Jakarta to locations where the monthly wages are approximately $164.00 per month. Pro Publica reports that the cost of living in the more remote locations is not lower than the cost of living in Jakarta. NIKE is being disingenuous about their policy of paying a ‘living wage.’ NIKE Is Moving Jobs to Low wage Regions of Indonesia