Chop Wood, Carry New York 2/25
February 25, 2025: Will you join in our crusade?
Greetings Fellow Empire State Rabble Rousers and Good-Trouble-Makers!
The title comes from the “Epilogue Finale” from Les Miserables and a mix of “One Day More” at the White House Governors Ball. I got chills from listening. If you haven’t listened, please do watch it a few times.
2025 Governors Ball - US Army - "Do You Hear the People Sing" Dunning Kruger Self Own by Trump
As of writing, the House is convening to vote on a budget. This bill is full of tax breaks for the rich and cuts of services for the poor. By the time you read this, we probably will have an answer to the budget. Regardless what happens, we will do our best to hold together and deal with it.
On that note, let’s get to actions.
State-Wide Actions:
Thank Tish James
New York Attorney General Letitia James a
nd her team are standing up for democracy and using the power of her office to safeguard our rights and protect New Yorkers. Click here to watch and see leadership in action protecting New Yorkers. Let’s take a moment to say thank you. Their work is making a real difference in keeping us safe, and it’s important they know we see and appreciate them.
SAVE Act
The SAVE Act should really be called the “prevent people from voting” Act. Please contact your member of Congress and tell them to VOTE NO ON THE SAVE ACT! If it's Ritchie Torres, you can also thank him for voting against it in the last legislative session. George Latimer spoke to us about the importance of advocating against this bill at our last meeting. Call him to let him know you support his position. To learn more about this bill and take further action, please check out this toolkit of resources.
NY HIPA
We thank Gov. Hochul for actively protecting abortion providers. Now we NEED her to protect pregnant people by signing the New York Health Information Privacy Act (NY HIPA).
Commercial health data—such as search engine queries for abortion services, location data at reproductive health care clinics, or online purchase of pregnancy tests—is NOT protected by the federal HIPAA. Companies can extract health insights from online searches, app usage, and purchase histories to create detailed individual profiles, and then sell or give away your information. Without this critical piece of legislation, New Yorkers and anyone who accesses health care in NY will be left vulnerable to data brokers and law enforcement agencies in anti-abortion states looking to surveil and prosecute people for exercising their reproductive freedom.
In fact, reporting has already shown that a data broker tool purchased by U.S. law enforcement agencies, LocateX, can track smartphone locations around the world, including when an individual is visiting an abortion clinic, without needing a warrant.
Urge Governor Hochul to move swiftly to ensure that your privacy is not left up to chance, whether you are pregnant or not. Your health and safety depend on you taking action today!
TELL HOCHUL TO SIGN THE NY HIPA
State-Wide Events:
Wednesday, February 26: You’re invited to come and get a behind-the-scenes look on what’s going on in Congress with the Republican extremist plan to cut healthcare to give even more money to the richest people on the planet. We’ll hear stories of how this will negatively impact New Yorkers if Republicans get their way, and how we are going to organize together to fight back.
Join fellow activists, organizers, advocates and labor leaders from across NY for this must-attend event with Senator Chuck Schumer. Register here for our Wednesday, February 26th at 8pm call. This call will not be recorded.
Thursday, February 27: Join Ezra and Leah for"What’s the Plan? A Weekly Discussion with Indivisible’s Co-Founders". This week, February 27, at 3pm. Register here.
Friday, February 28: There is a nationwide call for an Economic Boycott Day. Consumers are being asked to not shop at all major retailers, including Amazon, and especially those who have retreated from their support of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion principles. Another option is to proactively support businesses who have made D.E.I. a priority.
New York City Region
The very important NYC Dem primary is coming up in June. Downtown Nasty Women is hosting a series of Zooms to meet candidates running for these municipal elections. Downtown Nasty Women does not endorse in primaries, but we want NYers to be educated about their choices for their ranked-choice ballots.
Tuesday, Feb 24, 10am: Vanessa Aronson, candidate NYC Council NY 4
Tuesday, March 4, 10am: Whitney Tilson, Candidate for NYC Mayor
Friday, March 7, 10am: Zellnor Myrie, Candidate for NYC Mayor
Tuesday, March 11, 11am: Alvin Bragg, Manhattan DA reelection
Friday, March 14, 11am: Brad Lander, Candidate for NYC Mayor
Friday, Feb 28, 4-5:30pm: Civil Rights in NY: What's at Risk and How to fight back!
Hosting: NY State Senator, Brad Hoylman-Sigal
In-person event with NYCLU, Lambda Legal, Planned Parenthood NY and more. At West Side YMCA, 5 West 63rd street. A discussion to learn about the Trump Administration's agenda and what you can do to help protect civil rights in New York. RSVP We are adding more candidates all the time.
Westchester County
NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT to keep NYS elections verifiable. Please call and email:
The Westchester Senate delegation have all voted for VIVA NY, S6169C (passed in 2023). (All but Andrea also co-sponsored similar bill S2385). Ask each to insert VIVA NY as is into their Budget Resolution.
Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, 518-455-2585 or 914-423-2031, scousins@nysenate.gov
Elections Committee Member Shelley Mayer, 518-455-2031 or 914-934-5250, smayer@nysenate.gov.
Finance Committee Member Jamaal Bailey, 518-455-2061 or 718-547-8854, senatorjbailey@nysenate.gov
Rules Committee Member Pete Harckham, 518-455-2340 or 914-241-4600, harckham@nysenate.gov
Rules Committee Member Nathalia Fernandez, 518-455-3595 or 718-822-2049, fernandez@nysenate.gov (represents 34th S.D. - New Rochelle, Pelham, Pelham Bay Park to Throggs Neck). VOTED FOR VIVA NY TWICE. DISTRICT IS NEAR SPEAKER HEASTIE’S. PLEASE CALL EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T LIVE IN HER DISTRICT.
Also call: Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger, 518-455-2297 or 212-490-9535, lkrueger@nysenate.gov (Voted for VIVA NY, S6169C, cosponsored and voted for similar bill S2385, both bills consistent with budget proposal.)
Assembly Ways and Means Chair Gary Pretlow, 518-455-5291 or 914-667-0127, pretlowj@nyassembly.gov
Tell them to include the amendment to NYS Election Law proposed by CVINY and NYCD16/15-Indivisible in this year’s Budget Resolution and PPGG Budget Bill, S3005A/A3005A – or to insert VIVA NY, already passed by the Senate majority and co-sponsored by many Assembly Democrats.
Talking points:
· I am concerned that many New York counties are planning to increase the cost of holding elections by over 70% - just when Trump and Musk are crashing the economy by expelling essential workers and slashing the safety net.
· Some counties – Monroe, Suffolk, Orange - are already committing funds for election computers that will render our ballots and our elections unverifiable. (Fyi: lawsuit against unverifiable ballots filed by Common Cause/The Black Institute.)
· State legislators must hold the line when local legislators can’t. Protect taxpayers across the state against hard-to-resist pressure by vendors to buy exorbitantly priced, unreliable voting computers that have at least twice miscounted other states’ elections. (FYI: Details here and here)
· Keep our gold-standard elections verifiable. Do not allow touchscreen to be substituted for pens in polling places. Unverifiable ballots anywhere in the state will render all statewide races unverifiable. Defend our right to vote on hand-marked paper ballots.
· The Trump administration is shuttering the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force and last week cut more than 100 positions at the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Trump is making it easier for foreign adversaries to attack our elections and our democracy. New York must step up to protect every step of our election process, including strong audits of voter-marked, voter-verifiable paper ballots. I expect you to stand strong against powerful lobbyists to defend verifiable elections, the bedrock of our remaining resources to defend our democracy.
· Insert VIVA NY in the PPGG budget, or the proposed the CVINY/NYCD16-Indivisible amendment of NYS election law to protect hand-marked paper ballots.
The Election Integrity Committee is currently meeting every two weeks, Sunday evenings at 7pm by Zoom, or right after Indivisible meetings whether by Zoom or in person. Please join us. Contact Chair Julie Weiner, jwvoting@gmail.com.
Hudson Valley Region
March Against Monarchy- Tuesday March 4. 5pm
Organized by Indivisible Ulster
Co-sponsored by Hudson Valley Strong - Indivisible
Extra Credit:
Review the slides and recording from the NYS Privacy Matters Webinar by Kim Snyder on 2/13, (or just want to revisit anything we covered), I am including resources and follow ups.
We talked about our next action being advocating for the New York Health Information Privacy Act (NYHIPA) which was fast-tracked through the NYS Assembly and Senate right at the start of this session. The urgency is likely due to the current political climate we're in and the need to protect the privacy of health-related data for all New Yorkers Here’s a template letter you can use to reach out to Governor Hochul. FYI - here's a link to the bill (S929).
I’ll be following up soon with more details about the New York Privacy Act, a comprehensive privacy act. In the meantime, if you want to see where things stand on privacy legislation in New York, you can check out this tracking spreadsheet.
Your work is amazing, empowering, and uplifting! Thank you for inspiring me to action! It helps to alleviate my dark despair and helplessness!
NUTS!
I’m not sure this is a great idea, may not be the best way to open a letter to the editor? But I had to do something! After I sobered up around November 9th, I spent the next three months alternating between comatose depression and homicidal rage. You see I’m a 75 year old white male living on Social Security. I get help with my housing, receive food stamps and aid with my winter heating bills. If Elon Musk has his way, and cuts these programs, by this time next year, I will be in serious trouble! It’s not inconceivable that I could join the ranks of the homeless!
I give what I can to support candidates and calling my representatives is moot since they are all Democrats. I felt powerless and terrified and hopeless. Then I chanced upon a 1/24/2025 article by Heather Cox Richardson. I encourage you to find it and read it. The article described the final German counteroffensive of WWll commonly know as the Battle of the Bulge. It recounts when the town of Bastogne in Belgium, containing 14,000 American troops and 3,000 civilians, was surrounded by 54,000 German soldiers, artillery and tanks. On December 22, 1944 the German Commander sent a two page letter to General Anthony McAuliffe demanding the American Army’s immediate surrender otherwise the Germans would destroy the town and everyone in it. After some deliberation General McAuliffe replied with a single word; NUTS! As I read this account and Professor Richardson’s commentary I began to think about what it means to be an American and how much my father and the men and women of his generation gave to defend the World from Fascism. The audacity and courage of General McAuliffe reminded me that Americans don’t give up, give in or lay down. We fight, we resist and even against hopeless odds we persevere.
I am on the internet. I would often waste my time trying to argue with people who are obviously brainwashed and unable to agree to the most basic of facts. After reading the Richardson article, if I found myself in a fruitless conversation, I would simply reply NUTS! I highly recommend this technique; it saves a lot of time and is very satisfying. It’s kind of an inside joke, a poke in the eye of the fascists and a restatement of what our brave soldiers fought and died for over 80 years ago.
Now the crazy idea. I went to a little shop in the Ithaca Mall and ordered some T-shirts with the word NUTS! In bold letters on the front. I got the addresses of our representatives in the Congress and Senate and sent them a copy of the Richardson’s Article, a letter introducing myself, and a T-shirt. I sent these T-shirts with the hope that perhaps NUTS! Might become to the American Resistance what MAGA is to the Fascists. I realize that what I am trying to do may seem at best silly to some and at worst futile to others. But regardless I feel better. Whatever happens at least I’m trying to do something! And I think that is the point. It doesn’t matter, as Americans, if we fail a thousand times. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died for the institutions and freedoms that seem to be taken away more and more each day. Hate feeling helpless? I encourage you to get a T-shirt or a baseball cap with NUTS! On it. If anyone asks for an explanation you can just wink or reference the Richardson article. I plan on wearing my T-shirt around town and I’m going to price some caps on Tuesday. This may catch on or not but I no longer feel helpless, NUTS! Is my middle finger to Musk and his henchman. Perhaps it will be yours as well?