January 12, 2021

Open Letter to Assemblyman James Gallagher

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Dear Assemblyman Gallagher,

 

You have been invited to participate in a three-day "Free and the Brave" conference scheduled for January 15-17 in Live Oak.

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We have grave concern regarding the gathering of people during the unprecedented rise of COVID-19 positive cases and deaths in California. We are reaching out to find common ground so we can slow the spread and open our economy.

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As you know, our communities have been severely impacted by the health crisis - physically, emotionally, and economically. Today, California is experiencing a spike in cases attributed the holidays, with an average of 45,000 new cases and 500 deaths each day in the last week. It is incumbent upon all of us to address the crisis so we can return to our normal lives and our livelihoods.

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Although most people do not die and generally recover from the virus within a few weeks, the Centers for Disease Control is still uncertain about the range of short and long-term health effects associated with the coronavirus. As the pandemic unfolds, we are learning that many organs besides the lungs are affected and there are many ways the infection can affect someone’s health. Even people who are not hospitalized and who have mild illness can experience persistent or late symptoms (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects.html). The long-term effects of the illness may not be understood for many years.

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The social isolation resulting from the health measures is taking a toll on all of us, but especially on our children. The loss of socialization during their formative years calls into question the emotional development of an entire generation of Americans. Our children need to return to school as quickly and safely as possible. As the science tells us, children do not seem to be as acutely affected by the virus, but their teachers and substitute teachers are. The result of the continuing spread is a severe shortage of teachers and substitutes to educate our children.

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The economic toll on our communities will be felt for years to come. The only effective way to re-open and re-build a prosperous economy is to contain the spread of the virus, which is to avoid large gatherings that can easily become sources of mass spread. Many local businesses have already been lost and we wish to prevent further damage by slowing the spread and re-opening economy.

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In order to unify our efforts in fighting this pandemic, we must find common ground. We request your timely response to the following questions:

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1. Do you subscribe to the science behind the CDC recommendations? If not, what scientific measures do you use?

2. Do you agree that basic health measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing are the most effective ways to address the skyrocketing rates of infection and deaths in California? If not, what safety measures do you subscribe to?

3. Do you agree that to protect the health of your constituents, return our children to school, and restore our economy, we must get this pandemic under control? If not, please provide your strategy to returning the North State to a society where people can thrive?
    

For the sake of addressing the pandemic, we urge you to decline the invitation to the "Free and the Brave" conference, and we seek your help in preventing this gathering until it is safe. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

 

On behalf of all concerned North State residents,

James Aram

Butte County Democratic Central Committee, Interim Chairperson

 

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January 11, 2021

What Can Be Done About LaMalfa?

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Over the last several days, our party has gotten a flood of communication demanding that we do something about the fact that our CD1 representative, Doug LaMalfa, was one of those who voted against the certification of legitimate ballots in the presidential election and, by doing so, helped to incite the insurrection we saw play out in the Capitol on January 6th. We have taken some actions and will take more in the days to come. It is important to understand the realities of this (we operate in a reality-based world, unlike the other party).

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1. There is NO provision for recall of a federal elected official. California’s recall process is for state and local officers only.

2. The sole authorities to discipline or expel a member of Congress resides in each house – the Senate and the House of Representatives. No recall process and no court action can do it.

3. A vote of the House to expel a member requires a 2/3 vote. Democrats have a very narrow majority in the House, so it would take the votes of about 77 Republicans to vote to expel a member. In this case, a majority of Republicans are guilty of the same crime as LaMalfa, so we can safely say that vote is not possible.

4. For us as local voters, our power to remove LaMalfa is at the ballot box. In the last election, we had the best candidate we’ve ever had, with tremendous volunteer energy and ample financial support, and still fell short. It would be nice to think that many of our Republican neighbors would have changed their minds after January 6th, but today’s Republicans live in such a reality-free world that very few of them have.
    

Does that mean nothing can be done? NO,  it does not. Our best immediate course of action is to weaken LaMalfa and make it less likely he wins re-election next year. When lots of individual citizens voice their outrage, politicians listen. So the most effective thing you can do is to take action yourself and persuade your friends to do the same.

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Here’s how:

House member Cori Bush from Missouri has introduced House Resolution 25, which calls for the expulsion of any member who supported the insurrection for violating Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.  You can read more about it here:  https://thehill.com/homenews/house/532990-cori-bush-introduces-legislation-to-sanction-remove-all-house-members-who

Contact Nancy Pelosi and ask her to help move it forward: 

Write letters to the editor. In Chico, email to letters@chicoer.com

Limit to 250 words and put your name and phone number at the bottom.

Contact the House Ethics Committee. Ask them to investigate Representative LaMalfa for support of the insurrection. Email:  http://ethics.comments@mail.house.gov/
Phone: 202-225-7103
Mail: 1015 LHOB, Washington, DC, 20515

Contact LaMalfa’s office directly and tell him what you think of his actions.  https://lamalfa.house.gov/contact/offices

Cut his financial support. An unprecedented number of contributors have said they are withdrawing support from seditious Republicans. That comes from citizen pressure. LaMalfa is already raising money for his next election. One of the best ways to weaken him is to discourage donors – and especially PACs - from giving him money. A list of his contributors is here:  https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&committee_id=C00509422&two_year_transaction_period=2020&min_date=01%2F01%2F2019&max_date=12%2F31%2F2020

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Do you see a company you patronize? Click on the contributor name for more info and contact them. Tell them to stop supporting congress members who betray their country.  Organize a group of your friends and split up the list. A tip: Many companies and organizations give money to all the safe incumbents. They aren’t contributing because they agree with that member. They contribute so that, when they want to talk to that member, the member sees them on a contributor list. Citizen pressure really can change their behavior.

The Party is doing what it can, but it is is much more powerful if you join us in direct action.

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