Dear ones,
There’s no holiday lull this year. Instead, each day is jam-packed with madness. It’s time to turn our attention back to Georgia, where Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner (sister of the indefatigable Stacey Abrams) ordered two counties to reverse a purge of thousands of voters in advance of the runoff elections for the state’s two Senate seats. The races are very tight and there is a tremendous amount of money being raised and spent by all four candidates. The outcome of this election, in which a record-breaking 2.3 million GA voters have already cast their ballots, hinges on the ground game.
Contribute to the New Georgia Project Action Fund, and the Black Voters Matter Fund. Join Poder Latinx for bilingual phone-banking. GOTV!
Yesterday, Mitch McConnell executed one of his two moves — blocking legislation and ramming conservative judges through the Senate. The legislation in this case is the stand-alone bill to raise Covid-relief checks to $2000 from the $600 in the giant bill that the president reluctantly signed on Sunday. My grasp of Senate rules is admittedly weak. It appears that Bernie Sanders has blocked the vote on the Defense Authorization Act (to overturn the veto) until McConnell holds a vote on the stand-alone bill. Democratic Senators from NY are on board with the larger checks, but McConnell is trying to bundle the larger checks with legislation they cannot support, so there’s not much for us to do here but watch the circus.
Yesterday, Romell Broom died, most likely of Covid-19. Broom was on death row and was one of several people who survived the first attempt to execute him. Tens of thousands of people incarcerated in NY state have tested positive for Covid-19, but our governor has given compassionate release to only 3000 people, most of whom are near the end of their terms.
Call on Governor Cuomo to use his power to grant clemency to people who are ready to be returning citizens. Here’s a ready-made action that you can copy.
The average virus positivity rate in the city was 7.42% on December 26. We can help release bail-eligible New Yorkers from Rikers Island, which has the highest infection rate of any location in the city.
Help bail out those who cannot afford bail today.
Of course, the one lull that many people are experiencing is a delay in much-needed aid.
Support the Food Bank for New York City.
Have a good day!
with love,
L