Daily Yopp! 1.6.17

Wow! After a two-week drought of Yopp-able issues, now that Congress is back in session, there's a flood of current issues that we need to call about.

Top burning issues include the REINS Act, confirmation hearings for cabinet appointments, and the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"). I'm going to zero in on the REINS Act because (1) lots of people are already calling about the confirmation hearings and ACA and (2) the REINS Act is a wolf in sheep's clothing that is much more dangerous than it appears on the surface. Hearing from constituents on legislation like this should put our representatives on notice that we are paying attention to EVERYTHING this time around.

So here's the Yopp!

Step 1 - Decide how much time you have today to spend on this. If your schedule is open, then go to Step 2. If you only have a little bit of time, go straight to Step 3.

Step 2 - Educate yourself about the REINS Act. It's...complicated. Also important to know that it's already passed in the House, so your 1/6 efforts should focus on the Senate. I'm going to publish this Yopp! and then update this section with some links in a little bit.

Text of HR 26 and proposed amendments

Code Blue's Analysis of REINS and Midnight Rules - Reasons to vote NO

Freedom Works analysis of HR 26 - Reasons to vote YES


Step 3 - Call your senators first and then your representative. Here's the scripts.

SENATORS - "Hi, I am a constituent of Senator ________ and I'm calling to ask him/her to oppose the REINS Act. It endangers the public and the environment, threatens the separation of powers, and corrupts and politicizes the regulatory process. Thank you. Please make a record of my call and pass my sentiment on to the Senator.

REPRESENTATIVE - "Hi, I'm a constituent of Representative _____. I understand that the House passed the REINS Act (HR 26) yesterday. I'm curious as to how Representative ____ voted. Do you know?

If the vote was "No" say, "I'm glad to hear that. Please thank Representative ____ for me, and have her/him pass my concerns on to our state's senators."

If the vote was "Yes" say, "I'm disappointed to hear that. Please let Representative _____ know that his/her constituents are unhappy with that vote. We'll be sure to pay closer attention to what she/he is doing as the year goes on."

If the staff does not know, ask them to find out while you hold. Try to find out yourself while they scramble and then follow up with the Yes/No responses. If neither of you can find the answer, as the staffer to follow up with you when they know so you can "pass the word on to your folks."

As always, share this post far and wide. And please let me know if anything I've suggested is misinformed. I know a lot of people are following my Yopps!, but I'm really just an average Jo like the rest of you and need your help to crowdsource this information.

Yours in Solidarity!!