Tell Mitch McConnell: Stop blocking gun control

 In El Paso, Texas. Nine were killed and 27 were injured

The petition to Mitch McConnell reads: "Our country's gun violence epidemic demands action. Call the Senate back from recess to vote on H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act." Add your name:

Our country's epidemic of gun violence demands action, but Republican politicians only offer their thoughts and prayers.This weekend, a white supremacist killed twenty people and injured dozens in El Paso, Texas. Nine were killed and 27 were injured in Dayton, Ohio. Three were killed and 40 were injured in Chicago, Illinois. Thoughts and prayers won't stop the next mass shooting or do anything meaningful to address the gun violence epidemic. Congress needs to act. In February, the House of Representatives passed two bills to close major loopholes in gun purchase background checks,1 but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won't bring them to the floor of the Senate for a vote. It's time to put massive pressure on him to act. Tell Sen. McConnell: Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Call the Senate back into session for a vote on gun control now. Click here to sign the petition. Tragic mass shootings have become all too common – and they're getting deadlier. Since the fall of 2017, we have had four of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history.2 And while these mass shootings receive more media attention, we cannot forget the gun violence that strikes people, families and communities across the country on a daily basis, killing almost 8,800 and injuring almost 17,500 so far this year.3 Earlier this year in New Zealand, after a gunman shot and killed 50 people at two mosques, it took lawmakers just three days to pass legislation banning assault weapons and high capacity magazines. We need that legislation too, and Democrats in the House of Representatives should take the lead and pass it, but we can't let the Senate off the hook. The House has already passed two good bills that would help keep guns out of the hands of people who would be a danger to themselves or others. They deserve an up-or-down vote in the Senate but won't get one unless we put massive grassroots pressure on McConnell and his fellow Republicans and start breaking the NRA's chokehold on Congress. Senate Democrats are demanding that McConnell bring the Senate back into session to vote on H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112.4 Can you help amplify their call? Tell Sen. McConnell: Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Call the Senate back into session for a vote on gun control now. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Background_Check_Senate_Vote?t=9&akid=33470%2E3130208%2EEHsFYV - Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Brakkton Booker and Martin Kaste, "House Passes Second Gun Background Check Bill In As Many Days," Feb. 28, 2019. Dave Lawler and Orion Rummler, "The deadliest mass shootings in modern U.S. history," Axios, Aug. 4, 2019. "Gun Violence Archive 2019," accessed Aug. 4, 2019. Rebecca Klar, "Democrats call for Senate to return to vote on gun reform after two deadly mass shootings," The Hill, Aug. 4, 2019. More Information:  This is the gun control legislation Mitch McConnell won't allow senators to vote on - USA TODAY, August. 4, 2019

Tell the Senate: Support the "Save the Internet Act" to restore net neutrality.

The petition to the Senate reads: "Support the Save the Internet Act." Add your name:

Net neutrality prevents corporations from deciding what we see or do online. It is vital to our movements for equity and civil rights in the digital age. Imagine if you weren't able to receive this very email or take action on issues you care about because your internet service provider deemed this information unworthy of being online.Just one year ago, the Trump administration gutted vital net neutrality protections.Now, Big Telecom is trying to censor us, slow down our service, and impose unfair and high fees. You can do something about this today by telling the Senate to support the Save the Internet Act and restore the free and open internet. Every day that passes without Congress acting to reinstate net neutrality, the Internet gets more controlled by corporate interests. Democrats in the House of Representatives just fought back by passing the Save the Internet Act. Now, we need to turn up the pressure on the Senate to follow their lead. Tell the Senate: Support the Save the Internet Act. Click here to sign the petition. Every issue, from racial justice to climate justice, needs net neutrality.1 But net neutrality gets in the way of Big Telecom's greed, and it's lobbying hard to make sure net neutrality doesn't come back. That's why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring the Save the Internet Act up for a vote in the Senate – he wants less equality and more profits for his corporate backers.2 The majority of Americans support net neutrality, and it shows.3 We signed petitions, sent letters, called, and even showed up at our lawmakers' offices to tell them to save the internet.4 Our pressure is working. Just last year, the Senate did the right thing and voted to undo the net neutrality repeal, though their vote was blocked by the Republican-controlled House.5 This year, we pushed Democrats in the House of Representatives to recognize net neutrality as a core issue and pass the Save the Internet Act.6 If we can get the Senate to support the Save the Internet Act, we can win our free and open internet back.This won't be easy. The loss of the open internet was huge and harmful to all of our communities, but champions for civil rights never back down when facing hurdles. This current fight for net neutrality is no different. The Senate has supported net neutrality before. We must push it to support it again and keep the pressure on all members of Congress until they give us back our free and open internet. Tell the Senate: Support the Save the Internet Act and restore net neutrality. - Jelani Drew, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Timothy Karr, " FCC Chairman's Anti-Net Neutrality Plan Will Harm People of Color " Voices for Internet Freedom, April 26, 2017. Jordain Carney, "McConnell: Net neutrality bill 'dead on arrival' in Senate"The Hill, April 9, 2019. Emily Birnbaum, "4 in 5 Americans say they support net neutrality: poll"The Hill, March 20, 2019. Emily Birnbaum, "Over 100 activist groups urge McConnell to take up net neutrality bill in the Senate" The Hill, June 10, 2019. John Hendel, "Senate Democrats score net neutrality win in bid for midterm momentum" Politico, May 16, 2018. Makena Kelley, "House approves Save the Internet Act that would reinstate net neutrality" The Verge, April 10, 2019.

Urge Senators to support International Climate Accountability Act

Since last Friday, 45 senators and counting have cosponsored the International Climate Accountability Act
(S. 1743), a critical bill that would force President Trump to meet the U.S.'s Paris climate agreement commitments. This bill would block federal spending on Trump's plan to withdraw from the Paris agreement, and legally require him to make a plan to cut emissions and meet our nation's Paris agreement commitments.

Last month the House of Representatives passed H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act, thanks to grassroots pressure. Now, the fight moves to the Senate — last week, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen introduced the International Climate Accountability Act ... but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already vowed to kill it. With the Senate majority still controlled by allies of Trump and the fossil fuel industry, getting this and other crucial climate legislation passed will be an uphill battle.

Our best chance to force real climate action is to make every single senator realize that if they won't step up to fight climate change, we'll vote them out of office.The single best thing you can do right now to help win climate action is to make your voice heard at your senators' offices right away.

Even if your senators already support this landmark legislation, they must hear from constituents like you so they know that urgent climate action is a vitally important issue for voters in Arizona.

Tell your senators to take real steps to fight the climate crisis and support the International Climate Accountability Act!

- Aliya Haq, Climate and Clean Energy, NRDC Action Fund

Sign the Petition: Tell Mitch McConnell to put the Anti-corruption bill up for a vote in the Senate

With the help of activists like you, we were able to get a strong H.R. 1 passed through the House of Representatives last month -- a resolution that can reform our political system through elections, campaign finances, and transparency measures.

Now we need you again. H.R. 1 should be voted on in the Senate next, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to bring it up for a vote. Can you help us put the pressure on McConnell to do what’s right and allow the Senate to vote on this vital resolution?

Sign the petition: Mitch McConnell needs to put H.R. 1 up for a vote in the Senate.

H.R. 1 proposes a massive overhaul of political corruption including money-in-politics, voting rights, and ethics laws -- all to make our democracy fair and more inclusive, which is exactly what we need.(1)

We need a democracy where voters are protected from discrimination and can make themselves heard at the ballot box. A democracy where electoral districts are drawn fairly. A democracy where ordinary Americans -- including women, people of color, and working-class Americans -- can run for office without relying on special interest and corporate money, or worse, competing against corrupt politicians that sell out.

H.R. 1 provides solutions to these problems, and the next step to get it passed is a vote in the Senate. Mitch McConnell cannot continue to hold us back from getting the democracy we all deserve.

Ask Mitch McConnell to put a resolution to reform our political system up for a Senate vote.

- the Courage team


Footnote:
1. https://www.vox.com/2019/3/8/18253609/hr-1-pelosi-house-democrats-anti-corruption-mcconnell

Calls needed: Demand that Mitch McConnell stop holding the government hostage

Call now to demand that Mitch McConnell call a vote on the DHS continuing resolution that the House of Representatives just passed. Click below for a sample script and the number to call:

President Trump is desperate for border wall funding. Last week he hijacked prime time to spread anti-immigrant hysteria and  keeps threatening to use emergency powers to get funding. We need to turn up the pressure on Mitch McConnell to end this shutdown before things get worse. Call now to demand that he call a vote on the DHS continuing resolution and re-open the government now. The same bill passed in the Senate unanimously in December and is likely to pass in the Senate again.1 Calls needed: Demand that Mitch McConnell stop holding the government hostage. Click here to start your call. More than 800,000 federal workers have been on unpaid leave or working without pay for more than two weeks. Many are struggling to make ends meet.2 Yet, McConnell doesn't seem to care. He is willing to keep the government closed to try to force Democrats to compromise with his party's fragile leader. Democrats have made clear that they want to end the shutdown and will refuse to cave to Trump's hostage taking. Now the ball is in McConnell's court. His refusal to act is unacceptable. The Democratic plan to end the government shutdown includes two components: one bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security until February to allow time for further negotiation and another to fund other federal agencies through October. Both bills easily passed in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support and would very likely pass the Senate again. In fact, at least three Senate Republicans recently called on Congress to stop playing games and end the shutdown.3 The next step is for the Senate to pass legislation and send a bill to Trump. That can't happen until McConnell gets the message and allows a vote. Calls needed: Demand that Mitch McConnell stop holding the government hostage. Click the link below to start your call: https://act.credoaction.com/call/calls_mcconnell_end_shutdown/?t=7&akid=31204%2E3130208%2Ehe7df5 -Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action  Click below for a sample script and the number to call: References: Matt Fuller, "Democrats Pass Bill To Reopen Government; Shutdown Continues," HuffPost, Jan. 3, 2019. Stephanie Ebbs, "Faces of the shutdown: In second week, more people impacted by closed agencies," ABC News, Jan. 4, 2019. Alexander Bolton, "Cracks beginning to show in GOP shutdown resolve," The Hill, Jan. 3, 2019.

The Senate must have all of Kavanaugh’s records before holding hearings

Tell the Senate: "Release and review all documents, emails and paperwork associated with Brett Kavanaugh before proceeding with his Supreme Court confirmation process."

Mitch McConnell wants to fast-track Brett Kavanaugh's nomination before October. That is an outrageous timeline. If McConnell gets his way, there will be no time to review the more than 1 million pages of documents from Kavanaugh's career, including important records from his time as White House staff secretary under George W. Bush. It is common practice to release these kinds of documents. The Senate reviewed all of Justice Elena Kagan's documents from her time in Bill Clinton's White House before confirming her. But Republicans are so committed to steamrolling this process and handing Trump the Supreme Court that they are opposing the release of Kavanaugh's records.1

Tell the Senate: Don't fast-track hearings on Brett Kavanaugh. Release and review his records before holding confirmation hearings. Click here to sign the petition.

Republicans don't want to release the records, so they are trying to downplay Kavanaugh's five and a half years as staff secretary in the George W. Bush White House. In that key role, he gave final approval to Bush's controversial "signing statements" that Bush used to circumvent laws passed by Congress, including laws about torture and national security.2 There is even a question of whether Kavanaugh lied under oath about his involvement in deciding Bush's torture policy during his confirmation hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2006.3

Kavanaugh has the longest paper trail of any nominee in history. It's one of the reasons Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to discourage Trump from nominating Kavanaugh.4 It will take significant time to thoroughly review Kavanaugh's papers, and more controversy about his record is likely to emerge.

Earlier this month, two Republicans joined Democrats to block Circuit court nominee Ryan Bounds over his racist writings from college.5 If a judicial nominee's college writing matters, then Kavanaugh's career writing and his time as a key adviser to Bush absolutely must be examined before he is given a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. We have to pile on pressure to make sure that every member of the Senate – starting with the Senate Judiciary Committee – reviews all of Kavanaugh’s documents, emails and paperwork before the confirmation process continues.

Tell the Senate: Don't fast-track hearings on Brett Kavanaugh. Release and review his records before holding confirmation hearings. Click the link below to sign the petition.

https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Kavanaugh_records?t=7&akid=29455%2E3130208%2EQacDFP

- Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action


References:

1. Ali Rogin, "Senate Republicans clash with Democrats over access to Kavanaugh's White House records," ABC News, July 25, 2018.
2. Laurie Kellman, "Kavanaugh denies role in detainee policies," The Boston Globe, May 2, 2006.
3. Michael Kranish, "Kavanaugh’s role in Bush-era detainee debate now an issue in his Supreme Court nomination," The Washington Post, July 18, 2018.
4. Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin, "McConnell Tries to Nudge Trump Toward Two Supreme Court Options," The New York Times, July 7,2018.
5. John Bowden, "White House formally withdraws Bounds nomination after McConnell cancels vote," The Hill, July 24, 2018.

Tell Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop covering for Trump

Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Stop blocking a vote on the bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation." Add your name:

Donald Trump has crossed a line that even Republicans can't ignore. After Trump sided with Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced to say, "The Russians are not our friends… I have complete confidence in our intelligence community and the findings that they have announced."1 But for months, McConnell has been trying to kill the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the bipartisan bill that would stop Trump from sabotaging Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's Russia ties. On Wednesday, just a day after Trump tried to mitigate the damage of his disastrous Putin presser, he once again sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence.2 It's completely unacceptable, and Republicans must defend our democracy by passing legislation to protect the Mueller investigation. Tell Mitch McConnell: Bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click here to sign the petition. McConnell says he will not allow a Senate vote on this bipartisan legislation because he doesn’t think Trump will try to fire Mueller.3 But Trump already tried fire to Mueller last summer and only backed down when White House staff threatened to quit.4 Since then, Mueller’s investigation has yielded multiple indictments of high-level Trump associates.5 It has produced five guilty pleas. Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort is sitting in jail awaiting trial.6 Last Friday, the DOJ released new indictments accusing 12 Russians of hacking the DNC in July of 2016.7 The vast majority of Americans think Mueller should conduct his investigation without White House interference.8 That fact isn’t lost on the many GOP senators, who’ve said they agree with the American people that Trump would be crossing a red line by disrupting the investigation now. A vote on this bill would send a strong message to Trump that the Senate will no longer be complicit in his attempts to undermine the investigation, especially after his disastrous Putin press-conference. With an illegitimate autocrat occupying the White House, our system of laws needs the strongest possible defense – no White House is above the law. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Senate must put a check on Trump and protect the integrity of the Mueller investigation. Tell Mitch McConnell: Bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/McConnell_Mueller?t=7&akid=29329%2E3130208%2EzkmXSu - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Nicholas Fandos and Thomas Kaplan, "Republicans Rebuke Trump for Siding With Putin as Democrats Demand Action," The New York Times, July 16, 2018. John Wagner and Felicia Sonmez, "White House attempts to clarify Trump’s response to whether Russia is still targeting U.S. elections ," The Washington Post, July 18, 2018. Lauren Gambino, "McConnell says he will not allow vote on bill protecting Mueller from firing," The Guardian, April 17, 2018. Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit," The New York Times, Jan. 25, 2018. Carl Hulse, "Push for Special Counsel Bill Shows G.O.P.’s Rising Fear Mueller Will Be Fired," The Washington Post, April 19, 2018. Chris Megerian, "Pivotal moments in Mueller’s Trump investigation: 5 guilty pleas, 17 indictments and more," Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2018. Mark Mazzetti and Katie Benner, "12 Russian Agents Indicted in Mueller Investigation," The New York Times, July 13, 2018. Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, "Post-ABC poll: Majority of Americans support Mueller’s probe of Russia, Trump campaign," The Washington Post, April 13, 2018.

Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote

Tell Senate Republicans: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking a vote on the bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. It’s time to put country over party and publicly call on him to hold a fair up-or-down vote for the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act." Add your name:

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has yielded multiple indictments of high-level Trump associates.1 But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues his dangerous agenda of putting his party over democracy. He is trying to kill the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the bipartisan bill that would stop Trump from sabotaging Mueller. Trump has constantly threatened to fire Mueller – and many have speculated that Trump has come very close to firing Mueller's supervisor Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.2,3 McConnell will continue to be complicit in Trump’s lawlessness unless he lets Congress do its job and protect Mueller’s investigation into Trump. There are enough votes to pass this bill in the Senate – but only if McConnell allows it come to the floor.  Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click here to sign the petition. McConnell says he will not allow a Senate vote on the bipartisan legislation because he doesn’t think the president will try to fire Mueller.4 But Trump already tried fire to Mueller back in June and only backed down when White House staff threatened to quit.5 Trump is doing everything he can to undermine Mueller's investigation. On Sunday, he tweeted that the FBI had placed a "spy" on his campaign – an attempt to weaken public confidence in the Department of Justice – and demanded that the DOJ open an investigation. 6 On Monday, he met with Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. After the meeting, Rosenstein announced that the DOJ would turn over highly classified information from Mueller's investigation to congressional Republicans. This is an unprecedented breach of protocol and capitulation to partisan politics and Trump lapdog Devin Nunes, who has been making that demand for months in his role as House Intelligence Committee Chair.7 The vast majority of Americans think Mueller should conduct his investigation without presidential interference.8 That fact isn’t lost on the many GOP senators who’ve said they agree with the American people that Trump would be crossing a red line by disrupting the investigation now. A vote on this bill would send a strong message to Trump that the Senate will no longer be complicit in his attempts to undermine the investigation. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on the executive branch. With an illegitimate autocrat occupying the White House, our system of laws needs the strongest possible defense – no White House is above the law. Congress must step up now to make sure we have a truly independent investigation of Trump. Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/mcconnell_covering_for_Trump?t=7&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0 - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action Add your name: Carl Hulse "Push for Special Counsel Bill Shows G.O.P.’s Rising Fear Mueller Will Be Fired," The New York Times, April 19, 2018. Chris Cillizza, "Donald Trump has never been more likely to fire Robert Mueller than he is right now," CNN, April 10, 2018. Cristiano Lima, "Trump on whether he'll fire Mueller: 'We'll see what happens,'" POLITICO, April 9, 2018. Lauren Gambino, "McConnell says he will not allow vote on bill protecting Mueller from firing," The Guardian, April 17, 2018. Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit," New York Times, Jan. 25, 2018. Adam Edelman, "DOJ seeks probe of FBI conduct in 2016 campaign after Trump 'spy' claim," NBC News, May 21, 2018. Justin Sink, "Rosenstein Will Let Congress See ‘Highly Classified’ Information, White House Says," Bloomberg, May 21, 2018. Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, "https://act.credoaction.com/go/22537?t=18&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0," The Washington Post, April 13, 2018.

GOP Tax Conference starts next week, but Conservative groups are already lobbying tax conferees. Time for a counter attack!

Somehow I got on a conservative e-mail list. I got an e-mail entitled our "Our Spending Problem." What they are referring to is our social safety net, Obamacare, the EPA, and tax deductions for medical expenses and student loan interest.  Essentially anything that might cost multi-billion dollar corporations any profit. I am posting it here so you will know what we are up against in fighting the GOP tax plan.

Included is a link to the letter that the Club for Growth president wrote to the tax conferees that Speaker Ryan and Majority Mitch McConnell appointed. I think we should write our own letters in response. 

The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, 230 United States Capital, Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Paul Ryan, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, H-232, The Capital, Washington, D.C. 2015

We can also call or e-mail the tax conferees listed below. This is all out war. We are fighting for the America we love - against greedy corporations and billionaires who have a stranglehold on our government. #GOPtaxscam

Jana Segal

Club for Growth e-mail about :

This week in Washington, Congress passed a stopgap measure to fund the government for another two weeks.  This is another way of saying that once again, Congress has chosen to kick the can down the road setting themselves up for a series of last-minute funding battles right before Christmas. 

Delaying tough decisions never bodes well for taxpayers who have to pay for all the spending.  Club for Growth will continue to do what we do best on this front and that is to fight to curb wasteful spending and seek to implement spending caps, not to mention spending cuts.

What the most recent tax reform discussions have reminded us is that Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem, it’s got a spending problem.

The Latest on Tax Reform

On the topic of tax reform, here’s the latest from this week.  On Monday, Speaker Ryan named the Republican House members who will serve as tax conferees.  This list includes: Kevin Brady (TX), Devin Nunes (CA), Peter Roskam (IL), Diane Black (TN), Kristi Noem (SD), Rob Bishop (UT), Greg Walden (OR), John Shimkus (IL), and Don Young (AK).

On Wednesday, Leader Mitch McConnell announced the Senate Republicans who would comprise the tax conference.  Those members include: Orrin Hatch (UT), Mike Enzi (WY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), John Cornyn (TX), John Thune (SD), Pat Toomey (PA), Tim Scott (SC), and Rob Portman (OH).
 
While the first conference meetings are not expected until next week at the earliest, Club for Growth was ready to weigh in on what factors the conferees should be (or not be) considering. 

Club for Growth led the pack in urging conferees to further cut individual rates and keep the corporate tax rate at 20 percent. 

Below is an excerpt of the letter Club for Growth President David McIntosh penned.

“As conference discussions begin, Club for Growth wants to ensure that the most significant pro-growth provisions in the House and Senate legislation are preserved and not lost in an effort to appease special interests pleading to retain their particular tax benefit.  In other words, we want to make sure that what comes out of the conference committee is more pro-growth and not less than what went into it.”

- David McIntosh

The letter went on to draw a line in the sand on a few policy areas.  As Club for Growth President David McIntosh noted, “Club for Growth urges the conferees not to increase any marginal tax rates.

• Stand firm and keep the corporate rate at 20 percent.
• Adopt at least the Senate’s top individual marginal tax rate and reject the House’s proposal.  Further reductions in the top individual rate would create even more economic growth.
• Include the Senate’s repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate.”

In his conclusion, McIntosh explained that “Conference meetings inevitably require tradeoffs to rectify the differences between the legislative texts.  In making those tradeoffs, Club for Growth strongly urges conferees to stand strong and fight for the most pro-growth policies that benefit all Americans and not diminish them by giving in to class warfare or social engineering arguments.”

You can read the letter in its entirety here.

On Friday, Club for Growth joined with over twenty other conservative groups calling for the corporate rate to remain at the 20 percent rate.  As the letter explained,

“The U.S. House of Representatives passed a tax cut bill with this exact rate cut. The U.S. Senate passed a tax cut bill with this exact rate cut. We strongly urge the conference committee to report a tax cut bill with this exact rate cut.”

We remain hopeful that the conference committee will do what is in the best interest of American taxpayers and companies.  Club for Growth will continue to keep you posted on all the latest tax updates in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned!

More information:

Business Week Article: The conference committee has barely started, and the GOP tax bill already has some big problems

CNN Politics Article: Where Congress stands on GOP tax plan, shutdown

Be sure to watch the video (on the page from the link above) about Section 520l of the tax plan that will roll back campaign finance laws by rolling back the Johnson amendment. It will allow corporations to write off their bribes to politicians.

Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Take a stand now against Roy Moore

Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: "Take an immediate clear stand against Roy Moore. Publicly commit that you will not seat him in the Senate Republican caucus if he is elected." Add your name: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans were quick to say that Moore should step aside “if the allegations are true.” But coming from the Party that helped put a sexual predator in the White House, those are empty words.2The Washington Post just published a blockbuster investigative piece alleging that Roy Moore, the bigoted, right-wing extremist Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama, sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl while he was in his 30s and preyed on at least three other teenagers.1 When tape leaked of Donald Trump boasting about how easy it was for him to sexually assault women, Senate Republicans denounced him – but then pulled a 180 after the election. That’s why we must demand that they reject another alleged sexual predator in their ranks and commit to repudiate Roy Moore if he is elected next month. Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Use your authority to take a public stand against Roy Moore. Click here to sign the petition. Moore’s entire political career has been based on intolerance and religious-based right-wing extremism. He promoted the birther conspiracy that President Obama was not born in the United States, has said that Muslims should not be able to hold office and believes that fertilized eggs should have personhood rights.3 He was twice suspended from the Alabama Supreme Court for failing to follow court orders – once for refusing to remove a statue of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse and later for using his authority to block marriage equality.4 If that were not enough to prove his extreme homophobia, while on the Alabama Supreme Court, he denied a woman custody of her children because she was in a same-sex relationship – claiming that her “lifestyle” was just as bad for the children as facing physical abuse from their father.5 Not surprisingly, Moore doubled down in the face of the Post’s reporting. He followed Trump’s lead saying the report is “the very definition fake news” – the same line Trump used to defend himself against numerous allegations of sexual assault.6,7 If Sen. McConnell wants to back up his words with action, he needs to make it clear that he will not welcome Moore into the Republican caucus even if he manages to win the election. If McConnell fails to lead, he will be doubling down, just like toxic candidate Roy Moore. He will be confirming that when it comes to standing with women or advancing his party’s dangerous agenda, he chooses party every time. Tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Use your authority to take a public stand against Roy Moore. Click here to sign the petition. Moore has rejected the calls for him to step aside by saying he has a “duty to stand up and fight back against the forces of evil waging an all-out war on our conservative values.”8Republican leaders in Alabama have Moore’s back. They are rallying to Moore’s defense, framing the story as a “he said, she said” situation and downplaying the seriousness of sexual assault on a 14-year-old who legally could not consent to any sexual activity and recalled that she just “wanted it to be over.”9,10,11 State Auditor Jim Zeigler compared it to Mary and Joseph parenting Jesus saying, “There’s just nothing immoral or illegal here.” A Republican Party county chairman even defended Moore staying in the race saying: “Other than being with an underage person – he didn’t really force himself... If he withdraws, it’s five weeks to the election... that would concede it to the Democrat.”12 Clearly partisan politics and their extreme right-wing agenda matters more to Moore and his lackeys than the damage he’s caused as a sexual predator, but Moore’s commitment to staying in the race puts the spotlight back on Republican leaders like McConnell.13 If McConnell really cared about interrupting an entrenched culture of misogyny that lets men get away with demeaning, harassing, objectifying and assaulting women, he would announce now that he will not ever welcome Moore as a member of his caucus. Can you help keep the pressure on him to act and help us expose his spineless political game playing if he fails? Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/Moore_Republicans?t=8&akid=25945%2E3130208%2ENVIHM9 - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: Stephanie McCrummen, Beth Reinhard and Alice Crites, "Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32,” The Washington Post, Nov. 9, 2017. Michael Scherer, “Trump, McConnell call on Roy Moore to exit Alabama Senate race ‘if these allegations are true',” The Washington Post, Nov. 10, 2017. Robin Marty, “All the Ways Roy Moore Will Be Awful for Anyone Who's Not a Straight White Christian Man,” Cosmopolitan, Nov. 7, 2017. Ibid. Rebekah Entralgo, “This is what Roy Moore has said about child abuse and sexual assault,” ThinkProgress, Nov. 9, 2017. Mallory Shelbourne, "Moore campaign: Washington Post story 'garbage' that defines 'fake news'," The Hill, Nov. 9, 2017. Glenn Kessler,"Donald Trump says sexual harassment claims are 'fake news' — but this is what corroborators say,” Independent, Oct. 29, 2017. Ben Kamisar, “Moore after sexual allegations: 'I refuse to stand down',” The Hill, Nov. 9, 2017. Daniel Dale, “Alabama Republicans defend Roy Moore over allegations he had sexual contact with 14-year-old,” The Toronto Star, Nov, 9. 2017. Julie Alderman, “Breitbart runs defense after women say Roy Moore made sexual advances while they were teenagers,” Media Matters, Nov, 9. 2017. McCrummen et al., "Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32." Dale, “Alabama Republicans defend Roy Moore over allegations he had sexual contact with 14-year-old.” Addy Baird, “Alabama Republicans are making outlandish excuses for Roy Moore’s alleged sexual abuse,” ThinkProgress, Nov. 9. 2017.