"The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a president and senators and congressmen and government officials,

but the voters of this country."

– Franklin D. Roosevelt

The PEG event calendar is provided as a community service to its readers, and is based on information provided by the event sponsors. Inclusion of material does not imply endorsement by PEG.

Monday, January 29. Promote the Vote webinar

Voters Not Politicians (VNP) and the League of Women Voters lawsuit have begun the fight against gerrymandering in Michigan. Now, a new initiative called Promote the Vote (PtV) takes another step forward and deals with the issues of voter suppression--I.D. laws, absentee ballots, military voting, and others. PtV is not affiliated with VNP and is attempting to have an entirely different ballot initiative approved.

Our laws cannot be reflective of our state if the people who are supposed to be represented aren’t part of the process. In Michigan, outdated voting laws and systems are diminishing access to the polls. Promote the Vote has submitted language to place a voting rights initiative on the November 2018 ballot. The initiative includes:

To learn more about the Promote the Vote initiative, click here. Sign up here for Promote the Vote emails. This all starts with us. Register for the Promote the Vote webinar here.

Our collective power in action is an essential tool to shaping our representation, our laws, and our democracy. Together we’ll make sure that every voice counts. Webinar is online, beginning at 7 p.m.

Monday, January 29. Constituent hour with State Rep. Donna Lasinski (District 52)

Saline Senior Center, 7190 N. Maple Road, Saline. 9–10 a.m.

Monday, January 29 and Tuesday, January 30. Join a calling party for the Resistance!

This week's focus: Urge Senators to Support DACA Recipients and the Bipartisan Dream Act Contact [email protected] for more information. For January 29, 6-8 p.m. at 1320 W. Huron, Ann Arbor, call (810) 516-0923; for January 30, 2-4 p.m. at  2743 Seminole Rd, Ann Arbor., click here to sign up.

Wednesday, January 31. Foreign Interference in the 2018 Midterms

This Campaign Legal Center presentation will focus on what we should expect and how to stop it. RSVP by January 30 to receive the call-in number in advance of the call. Click here to register. Noon–1 p.m.

Wednesday, February 7, Harnessing the Market to Drive Down Carbon Emissions

Pricing carbon is viewed as the simplest and most effective way to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon fee and dividend (CFD) and cap and trade policies are currently used, or are planned, in many parts of the world. How do they work? How might they affect the poor, and our economy in general? This panel will explore the challenges and opportunities of market-driven strategies to address the climate crisis. Panelists will be: Dr. Knute Nadelhoffer (moderator), Dr. Barry Rabe and Dr. Sam Stolper of the University of Michigan and Dr. Lisa Del Buono of the Citizens Climate Lobby. Co-sponsored by Ann Arbor District Library, U-M School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), U-M Energy Institute, CCL.AADL- Downtown Multi-Purpose Room, 343 South Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor. 7–8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 7. Erin Byrnes talk on democratic engagement

Erin Byrnes , from the Ginsberg Center of U-M, will discuss her democratic engagement work with focus on voter registration, getting out the vote, the Big 10 voter competition, and helping students find their political voice. Attendees are welcome to stay for the A2D2 general membership meeting after her presentation. Washtenaw Community College, Business Education Bldg., Room 140, 4800 E Huron River Dr, Ann Arbor. 7–9 p.m.

Sunday, February 11. Following The Money In Michigan Politics

Michigan elections are becoming increasingly expensive, and the upcoming 2018 election in Michigan could be one of the priciest in state history. The presentation will detail how the role of money in Michigan politics has changed over the last decade. The cost of campaigns is going up while the source of the money is becoming harder to track. At the same time, the number of people lobbying state government is increasing while the number of journalists and watchdogs is decreasing.

Craig Mauger, the director of The Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that seeks to shine the brightest light possible on the role of money in Michigan politics, will provide information people can use — how does campaign finance work in Michigan; what is dark money; how can a person identify dark money-funded campaign mailers and advertisements; and how can a person find out who's funding a TV ad?

In addition, Roddy Wares, from the League of Women Voters, will answer questions on how to register to vote and how to register others. Zion Lutheran Church, 1501 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor , 3 p.m.

Thursday, February 15. League of Women Voters membership meeting

Learn about LWVAA plans for 2018. The emphasis will be on registering, informing, and motivating voters in a campaign called VOTE 2018 — When You Vote, Democracy Wins.

Volunteer for voter registration, our poster contest for high school seniors, candidate forums, VOTE 411 and more. Hear updates on LWVMI support for the redistricting ballot proposal, the new LWV lawsuit to end gerrymandering, and more. Hathaway's Hideaway, 310 S. Ashley St., Ann Arbor. 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 3. People’s Governor Forum: Transforming Our Future

The forum is sponsored by Michigan United and over 40 organizations who are joining together to demand that candidates for governor address key issues for our communities. The groups believe our state needs a bold agenda that will tackle the root causes of poverty, inequality, and racism head on. Candidates will be asked to outline their plans for criminal justice reform; immigrants rights; affordable health care and elder care; child care; and environmental justice.

Register at http://bit.ly/2018govforum (space is limited). Historic Little Rock Baptist Church, 9000 Woodward Ave., Detroit, 48202. Noon.

Sunday, March 11. Health Outcomes of the Expansion of Medicare in Michigan

PEG will host Dr. John Ayanian, the new director of the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation at U-M and adjunct professor of internal medicine in the U-M Medical School, at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Ann Arbor, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr., Ann Arbor, 3 p.m.

Things to do Now

Michigan, Mississippi, tied in last place

Sharon Dolente, the presenter at this month’s PEG meeting, spoke on the need for “full and fair access to the ballot box” for all. As ACLU’s Voting Rights Strategist and an attorney who’s been involved in presidential campaigns since 2004, Dolente has witnessed the gamut of challenges to voters on election day. Her experience legitimizes her belief that voting is central to our democracy.

According to Dolente, we live in a state with voting regulations which erect avoidable hurdles to voters. Along with Mississippi, Michigan has enacted the least modernizations to the voting process of all the 50 states. These modernizations include registration, which can be completed online, on election day, and made automatic and portable (if a voter moves within the state); pre-registration of 16 and 17-year-olds at the motor Vehicle Bureau; and No-Reason absentee voting.

To enact these accommodations to the voting process, the ACLU via People Power, its platform for grassroots action, will encourage volunteers to demand these changes from resistant legislators. To learn how you can help expedite voting and thus expand our democracy, go to www.map.peoplepower.org where opportunities to volunteer will be posted.

To participate in a new initiative sponsored by ACLU and other groups focusing on voting rights, see the January 29 Promote the Vote webinar listing in this newsletter.

Things to Read, Watch or Listen to

A case for math, not “Gobbledygook”

Judging partisan voting maps: When the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could reshape American politics, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. registered an objection. There was math in the case, he said, and it was complicated. “It may be simply my educational background,” the chief justice said, presumably referring to his Harvard degrees in history and law. He said that statistical evidence said to show that Wisconsin’s voting districts had been warped by political gerrymandering struck him as “sociological gobbledygook.” But, last week, Judge James A. Wynn Jr. came to the defense of math in the decision striking down North Carolina gerrymandering and used one of Justice Roberts’s most prominent opinions to make the point that numbers do have a role to play in judicial decision making. Read more here. -New York Times

Things to do now

Contact your Members of Congress

without delay to request their support for the Dreamers and the refugees.

Read, Watch and Listen

CHIP protected, but not DACA

Washington Post reports that in a bill that reopened the federal government Monday, Senate Democrats have traded one looming problem for another. Lawmakers averted a prolonged shutdown fight on Monday when most Democrats reversed course and approved a short-term spending resolution that will also restore funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which Republicans allowed to expire last year. The deal—they hope—will also compel Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to take up legislation that would protect Dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, from deportation. But in taking the deal, Democrats have drawn the wrath of a fired-up activist base that now feels betrayed. -Mother Jones.

Things to do Now

Stand with Americans who want medical professionals to provide care

Write: Your two senators and one House rep—local office ( look up).

Write: Acting Secretary, Eric Hargan, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, D.C., 20201

Script: I oppose the plan that permits discrimination against women, LGBTQ, and other Americans. The new office designated by the president threatens lives and violates the rights of Americans. Please use your position to further equality, a uniquely American value, instead of permitting discrimination under the guise of religion. A doctor’s job is to put patients, not ideology, first.

Things to Read, Watch and Listen

Civil rights division to protect health-care workers with moral objections

A new civil rights division within the Department of Health and Human Services will protect health-care workers who refuse to provide services that run counter to their moral or religious convictions. This office will consider complaints from doctors, nurses and others who feel they have been pressured by employers to “perform, accommodate or assist with” procedures that violate their beliefs. If a complaint about coercion or retribution is found to be valid, an entity receiving federal dollars could have that funding revoked. The administration’s move marks the resurgence of religious liberty advocates within the federal government and represents its latest effort to elevate “conscience protections” within the health care realm. Conservative groups welcomed the action while critics warned it could lead to discrimination on the basis of sex as well as gender identity and sexual orientation. Read more here. - Washington Post

Things to do Now

Thank Representative Debbie Dingell for supporting hard-working immigrants and a reasoned immigration policy

You can reach her here.

Things to Read, Watch and Listen

You are going to LOVE this article!

A relative of one of our editors is a genealogist who researched the family history of some of the biggest opponents of immigration in government. Read what she found by clicking here. -Politico

ICE arrests Kalamazoo doctor and green-card holder, in U.S. since age 5

Dr. Niec, now 43 and a physician specializing in internal medicine at Bronson Healthcare Group in Kalamazoo, never fathomed that his legal status in the United States would become an issue. With a renewed green card, and nearly 40 years in the country, his Polish nationality was an afterthought for Niec, his sister told The Washington Post. He doesn’t even speak Polish.

But on Tuesday morning, immigration authorities arrested Niec at his home, just after he had sent his 12-year-old stepdaughter off to school. Niec has been detained in a county jail ever since, awaiting a bond hearing and possible deportation. - Washington Post

Distorting statistics to demonize immigrants

The administration's new report on international terrorism is full of misleading numbers and glaring omissions. A report released January 16 by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security represents the Trump administration’s latest effort to conflate immigrants and criminality. The analysis in the New Republic shows how this is wrong. Read more here. - New Republic

DACA protections are central to the shutdown and fundamental equality

Republicans are extorting Trump to deport 800,000 young people. Congress’ inability to agree on the future of DACA, as well as other things, resulted in the shutdown. For an excellent background and analysis of this program and its import, read more here. President Obama introduced DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, in 2012 after Congress failed to pass the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act. DACA-eligible individuals receive a two-year renewable deportation deferral and are permitted to live and work in the United States. The policy reflected Obama’s interpretation of current federal law, which directs the executive branch to establish “national immigration enforcement policies and priorities”—a reasonable grant of power since the government cannot deport everyone at once. With DACA, Obama deprioritized the deportation of one group of immigrants. DACA’s demise was the result of maneuvering between state attorneys general and United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions. How it will be fixed, if at all, is yet unclear. -Slate

Guess who is attending the SOTU address?

When President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union address in less than two weeks, the wife of a deported Michigan man is expected to be in attendance. Jorge Garcia, a 39-year-old father of two in Lincoln Park, was deported to Mexico this week on Martin Luther King Jr. Day after living in the United States for 30 years. His wife, Cindy Garcia, and their children are all U.S. citizens, but Jorge was undocumented and had been fighting for years to try to find a way to stay with his family in the U.S. Their story made national headlines this week. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-District 12, now has invited Cindy Garcia to be her guest at the 2018 State of the Union in Washington, D.C. Trump's speech before Congress is scheduled for January 30.

Good News



C.H.I.P. Lives!

The spending bill that the Senate and House adopted Monday, and that President Trump signed, provides six years of federal money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, a bipartisan creation that furnishes coverage to nearly 9 million children and 375,000 pregnant women. - Washington Post

Things to do Now

Save the Date

On Sunday, March 11, PEG will host Dr. John Ayanian to speak about Health Outcomes of the Expansion of Medicaid in Michigan. Watch the Events section for more details.

Things to Read, Watch or Listen to

Shutdown effects still could hurt healthcare

Fortune Magazine reports, with a link to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website, that the biggest effect of the government shutdown on public health would be a mass of furloughs. “50% of HHS employees would be on furlough, and 50% would be retained,” writes HHS. Organizations that provide a variety of community health services, including suicide prevention, would have only a skeleton staff and would redirect resources to the most pressing objectives, such as funneling patients to other public health resources. Read more here. -Fortune Magazine

Things to Read, Watch, and Listen to

2018 Ann Arbor Women’s March

On Saturday, January 20,over 4,000 women and their supporters gathered on the University of Michigan Diag, one year after the historic 2017 Women’s March. The rally was organized by Progressives at the University of Michigan and other groups, with Washtenaw County Commissioner Michelle Deatrick as co-coordinator.

Many were there to demand equal rights and protections for all people, celebrate diversity and oppose the current administration. The theme for this, and rallies organized all over the country by Women’s March—including the march in Lansing on Sunday with more than 5,000 participants— was “Power to the Polls,” with a focus on the getting out the vote for the 2018 Midterm elections.

Speakers included activist Michelle Elizabeth Brown; poet Zilka Joseph; Rowan Conybeare, of the U-M College Democrats; Lily Buday, of the Progressives at U-M; domestic violence survivor Nicole Beverly; state Rep. Donna Lasinski, D-Scio Township, and others. Their words were moving, inspiring, and energizing.

Read more here , at Michigan Daily . To see photos from the rally, go here .

Michigan House approves millage tax dollars to for-profit charter schools

Charter schools which are private schools [and only some 20% are non-profit] could receive tax moneys raised by communities that are earmarked for public education. Headlining the action as a “share” is disingenuous — the private schools are not sharing anything of theirs. The fact that charter schools generally operate without supervision or accountability makes this even more deplorable. The argument lawmakers raise in passing the bill is that everyone pays taxes and therefore everyone should share in the bounty. This is a philosophy that has been rejected countless times in our democracy: those that choose to opt out of a public program have opted out of their entitlements under that program. The bill has been sent to the State Senate for further action. Read more here. - Detroit Free Press

The GOP's biggest charter school experiment just imploded

How a washed-up lobbyist built a charter school empire and siphoned millions from public schools. Mother Jones

Campaign Legal Center sues Federal Election Commission for delay in addressing illegal private prison contractor contribution

Private prison giant GEO Group made $225,000 in donations to a Trump-aligned super PAC during the 2016 election — a clear violation of the 75-year-old ban on federal contractors making political contributions. The CLC is a nonpartisan organization based in Washington, D.C. and is home to the nation's premier election law experts. - The Campaign Legal Center

Remembering the birth of the super PAC

January 21, 2018, marks eight years since the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission decision—you know, the one that gave rise to super PACs and secret unlimited and unregulated political donations that undermine our democracy. And no one, save perhaps for the crazy-wealthy donors the decision favored, and the politicians who loved them, was breaking out the confetti. - Ben & Jerry’s

Consumer Agency announces plan to let predatory lenders off the hook

The CFPB says it will reconsider an Obama-era rule to protect low-income borrowers. The rule takes aim at predatory practices by payday lenders—companies which give out high-interest loans and disproportionately target low-income borrowers, by requiring them to assess a borrower’s ability to pay back debt—and capping the number of payday loans individuals can obtain. - Mother Jones

Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down state’s congressional map

The court has ruled that the current congressional map illegally benefits the Republicans because they have consistently received a 13-5 advantage in the state’s congressional delegation since 2012. The court, where Democrats have a 5-2 majority, has blocked the use of the current map in the 2018 midterm elections, and ordered state lawmakers to begin to draw a new map.The lawsuit against the congressional map, which only challenged it under Pennsylvania’s state constitution, was one of the most watched voting rights cases in the country.

And More Good News!

Protectors of Equality in Government (PEG) has endorsed 12 organizations. A short description of and a link to each organization can be found on the new PEG Website.

Please check out the list and choose those of interest to you for action. For more information regarding Protectors of Equality in Government, go to

www.equalityingov.org

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