Hi All! This week, I’m going to hit the ground running with three time-sensitive actions. The first is from Food & Water Watch, to support the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act (A4696). This is legislation to force polluters to clean up their messes in our state. Part of our charter is to dethrone corporate giants who make free with our health and environment, then move on blithely to the bank.
This is a link to the description of A4696: https://thirdact.org/new-jersey/2025/10/17/lets-pass-the-nj-climate-superfund-act/
Action: Here’s the number to call (Calling? Oh, no!) Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D, LD19): 1-888-834-3668. Please urge Assembly Speaker Coughlin to co-sponsor the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act (A4696), and schedule it for a hearing and vote before the end of the year.
Suggested script:
“Hi, Speaker Coughlin! I’m [your name], from [your town] calling to urge you to cosponsor the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act (A4696), schedule this bill for a hearing, and bring it to the floor for a vote. It would be great to pass this bill before the end of the year! Thanks!”
Of course, say this whatever way is good for you. Please do this asap. If you have a hard time calling—as I do—make believe you’re in a movie and see how much easier it is!
*Goal: Getting Aftyn Behn elected on 12/2/25
Action: Once you get your feet wet calling Craig Coughlin, sign up to make calls for Aftyn Behn, TN-07, running in a 12/2/25 special election. Winning this seat is a priority goal for us. There’s a signup link below in a list of actions for People Power United. Do whatever you can to get her name-recognition and attention.
*Goal: Public protest
Action: Attend this pop-up protest on 11/22, Johnson Park, in Hackensack, an action from a Bergen County Indivisible group.
https://mailchi.mp/a345320a817e/no-kings-day-is-october-8340691?e=b92a4e484d
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I want to say a word about what we’re up against. Maga has had boots on the ground with big teeth to bite us for decades. We have a lot of catch-up to do. But, the insanity of this administration supports our work—and the cracks in the maga veneer are getting larger. We’re the wedge that will break them apart. We don’t have any time to lose in building the public pressure against maga and these Republican senators who’ve violated their oaths of office. The Jan. 6 participant, Ed Durfee, who won a seat on the Northern Valley Regional HS school board on 11/4, is a cautionary tale for us. Maga won’t give up easily, and we can’t allow them to take over our country and our values. Something I do to keep my sanity is not pay attention to the day-by-day shenanigans. Too upsetting and distracting. Illegitimi non carborundum!
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*Goal: Growing one area at a time. One thing that strikes me is that as we go west in Bergen County, it gets redder.
Action: If you know people in that area who’d be interested in joining the resistance fight, please share this email with them.
*Goal: Think of ways to bring others in. For example, do you know a political science student, or any student/young person, who has enthusiasm and ideas? Do they need a project or a subject for a term paper? Bring them to our table. Jayapal Introduces Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United
Action: Undetermined as yet. Check out where this effort is and what we can do. Share, and I’ll make sure the information gets out there.
*Goal: Be a regular on our social media page, closterpatriots.bsky.social. There are training videos there for you. Training sessions, usually an hour, give a good overview of where the movement stands and what’s next. Share them. They’re uplifting, something we all need. We can also engage interactively with more members there than via emails. There, we can form groups to work on different projects.
*Goal: Form a group of your own—without leaving us—with people in your life who want change.
Action: Consider forming a Courage Collective, a new idea from Indivisible.
https://indivisible.org/campaign/courage-collectives?akid=122138.504431,.3wiyLD&rd=1&source=email_20251116&t=7
A Courage Collective might look like a band of alumni pushing their alma mater to reject Trump’s anti-democratic funding deals… Or a faith congregation urging its leaders to speak out against the MAGA agenda… Or a team of musicians and podcasters demanding that Spotify stop playing ICE propaganda.
The possibilities are truly endless, and we’re encouraging everyday folks to form as many collectives as we can. Here are just a few of the Courage Collectives that Indivisibles like you have organized already:
- United in Faith: a coalition of progressive churches and people of faith in Snohomish County, WA, fighting back against Trump’s misuse of religion to spread authoritarianism
- Cornell Courage: a Cornell alumni network pushing the university to reject Trump’s attacks on free speech, academic freedom, and campus DEI initiatives
- Educators Resist: a team of teachers, faculty, and school administrators in Sacramento, CA organizing local educators to organize against authoritarian education policies
- United Veteran-Civilian Response: veterans and civilians in Seattle, WA collectively pushing back against threats of a Trump military takeover in their city
Your weekly to-dos from People Power United
- If you have a Republican representative, send them an email to demand full release of the Epstein Files. If you have friends/relatives who have a Republican representative, tell them to do this. The House is readying a vote to obtain the FULL Epstein Files this Tuesday, and although it looks likely to pass, the threat of a Trump veto is real. To notch a veto-proof majority and max out our chance of uncovering the truth, we need mass defections by Republicans — and that starts by turning up the heat.
- If you have a Democratic senator, demand that they call for Chuck Schumer to step down as minority leader. Last week’s total surrender shows, once again, that Chuck Schumer is not the right leader for this moment. Senate Dems need bold new leadership to effectively fight the Trump regime, and that starts by convincing Schumer to step aside.
- Cancel your Spotify Premium subscription until Spotify stops running ICE ads. Spotify is running ads recruiting more ICE agents to infringe our rights and terrorize our communities, so we’re calling on users to stop paying for or using the app until Spotify stops streaming fascism. Don’t use Spotify? Support the campaign by spreading the word on social media.
- Sign up to call voters and get out the vote for Aftyn Behn — a former Indivisible running to flip a red congressional seat! Our next chance to stomp the regime at the ballot box is in Tennessee, where Aftyn Behn can flip a district Trump won by double-digits if we turn enough voters out. You can call voters from anywhere. All you need is a phone and computer, and we offer live training before the shift!
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Some things to think about:
- Sponsor a Democracy Table at a school fair or church event
- Get involved in registering voters at your library or senior center
- Think of ways to involve young voters in our community. New Year’s Eve rave for democracy? Something outdoors? Bonfire? A suburban, Times Square-ish event? Maybe a voter registration event for first-time voters?
- Keep an eye out to find good candidates that have some fight in them. We need strong Democrats! If you feel so moved, run for a Board of Education seat and keep the right-wingers at bay.
- Postcards to Swing States has a new campaign, starting in January, to help combat disinformation and make sure voters in Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, and North Carolina learn how harmful the Trump/GOP agenda is for them. All five states have key elections in 2026.
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Just for fun: Watch James Carville on YouTube. A lifelong Democratic political strategist, he shares so much experience and information in the most old-codger way possible. Fun fact: He married a conservative, Republican political strategist, Mary Matalin. Together now for decades.
Only imagine: This poster says he has built a searchable database for all 26k of Epstein file releases:
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Regarding the actions to mail snaps and bandaids to Republican senators, I’ve made a list of the 53 Republican senators, but getting their emails and faxes is tricky, if you’re not a constituent. I have 19 fax numbers, if you want to fax them the actions’ messages, a free way to engage. Let me know, and I’ll send you the fax numbers I have. There are 34 more fax numbers needed. If 11 people agree to call three Republican senators’ offices to get their fax and/or email, it would be great.
There’s a lot of info to take in in last week’s letter, as in this one, but don’t feel overwhelmed. No one has to take every action, but you should do as many as you can, specifically, the time-sensitive ones. Most of these actions can be taken over the course of a few weeks. But, please, never think that your one voice has no sway. Together, we create a chorus of voices that cannot be ignored. Calling, canvassing, signing petitions, joining in actions, and reaching out to grow our community are all necessary in a world that feels like a spinning dryer of destruction.
Individuals together make waves from ripples, and tsunamis from waves. Your participation is needed. I’d like you to feel your power, to know you have the right stuff to step up and make a difference, because you probably do. There is no hierarchy in this group, and no toes to step on, so don’t be shy. None of us realizes what we’re capable of, how strong and creative we are, until we’re called to act. As Nelson Mandela said in his inauguration speech: “You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.” Wear yourself proudly and help us get out of this mess!
We have 3 immutable, short-term goals: Electing strong Democrats, Safeguarding the ’26 election process, and Winning the ’26 elections.
Do not forget that you are fighting for the future you want!
Bonnie