Democracy Happy Hour - April 16, 2025

Fix Democracy First hosts a weekly Democracy Happy Hour on Wednesdays @ 5-6:30pm PT. Grab a drink and join us and learn about the latest democracy efforts, challenges, solutions, as well upcoming events and actions.

This is a recurring event. You only have to register once. Register here.

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More Like Us: How to Reduce Political Divides at Scale  

With James Corn

• Speaker View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/wcOad3CQ8zlel5bxFnpJjGa5G8BDX-mAd5hvKJ35zErKpnqNnDZpXTNaLZi_KYyzDajq1sikL4XXWRvl.1HyKU38FgJ2wRehJ
• Gallery View Recording:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/5nIn8Y93Q8Nwp31XKLvdtRsm7j8kKy2EuOGBoUknk9zn5osHdCJtQ8KU6MKagdDmNC0DOvLW9Cj2zrR9.YSrSfoFkkDX1TTb1
• Chat file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/aDYq845t4cXheR5PCywQHJdGRnBw8CN7cMsh9DRrvL7wufS0S5zqJHoWoczNT_pif90WXlhnqhDtrrvD.2a6kQlI0hH9LN9eu
• Closed Caption file (will download directly to your computer):  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/gAmEWKvejvhgRnD9slnlK4TOQyGVq2ESwdt789wD5x5Ek87KZTPB2LL-3pxrgaMFrN2fh5tarj0pXBMy.6zw3P-Z37NJLMUC7

Meeting resources

More Like US - https://www.morelikeus.org

• About - https://www.morelikeus.org/about
• Donate - https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/giving-to-more-like-us
• Resources - https://www.morelikeus.org/resources
• Similarity Hub - https://www.allsides.com/similarity
• Slides from the presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hZmp2qCVkUb4zeC-BNyC7BNdv_3Mwz_c/edit#slide=id.g2f09cc7e969_0_112

FDF Links

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/
• Donate to Fix Democracy First here: https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule

• Apr 23 - Election Methods Used for Proportional Representation with Chris Mason
• Apr 30 - Stories Change Power: The Nine Rights Framework with Piper Hendricks
• May 7 - Healthy Democracy Ecosystem Map with Carolyn Lukensmeyer
• May 14 - CANCELED - No Democracy Happy Hour this week (Cindy will be in Phoenix for the American Democracy Summit).
• May 21 - Increasing Civic Youth Engagement with Jeannemarie Halleck

Actions and events

Actions

• 5 Calls - https://5calls.org/
• 50501 - https://www.fiftyfifty.one – Next National Day of Action, April 19^th!
• Free to Speak Bill of Rights - https://www.freetospeakforall.org/
• How You Can Protect Democracy - 29 concrete actions you can take right now to protect democracy - https://protectdemocracy.org/how-to-protect-democracy
• Join a local Indivisible group - https://indivisible.org/groups
• Join Braver Angels - https://braverangels.org/get-involved/#become-member
• May Day Nation Day of Action – May 1^st = https://maydaystrong.org/
• Paths to Understanding - The Potluck Project – https://pathstounderstanding.org/get-involved/potluck
• Protect Public Media Funding - https://protectmypublicmedia.org/
• Seattle Democracy Voucher Program Levy Renewal
  • Join People Powered Elections Seattle for Governance Committee Vote on April 10th @ 2 pm - https://secure.everyaction.com/RYSCP7UpTkCw8QdzGyLYMA2
  • Join People Powered Elections Seattle for Council Vote on April 22nd @ 2 pm - https://secure.everyaction.com/f4h8tRpWz0SABcol7DqGrA2
  • Tell the Seattle City Council: Let Voters Decide on Democracy Vouchers! - https://secure.everyaction.com/2XR0Ijpa30-GVxtlTUFIKw2
• Share Your Democracy Story, Declaration for American Democracy  -  https://dfadcoalition.org/story
• Stop the SAVE Act (emails) -  https://win.newmode.net/declarationforamericandemocracycoalition/stopthesaveact
• Tell your Senators to oppose the SAVE Act - https://www.lwv.org/take-action/tell-your-members-congress-oppose-save-act
• The Freedom Writers Collaborative - https://freedomwriterscollaborative.org/
• The People's Hub for Grassroots Democracy Organzing - https://www.usgrassroots.org

Events

• 50501 - https://www.fiftyfifty.one – Next National Day of Action, April 19^th!
• DFAD Democracy Movement Call – Apr 22^nd @ 4 pm PT/7 pm ET -https://www.mobilize.us/dfadcoalition/event/775116/
• Live from the Frontlines: The Fight for Our Democracy – Apr 29^th @ 4 pm PT/7 pm ET - https://www.circle.org/events/live-from-the-frontlines
• We’re Worth Fighting & Other Events with Election Response Center - https://www.mobilize.us/electionresponsecenter/?utm_source=fixdemocracyfirst

Democracy in the News

Resources

• All of the Trump Administration’s Major Moves in the First xx Days - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/us/trump-agenda-2025.html
• Democracy 2025 – Democracy 2025 is the strategic hub to protect people and their rights should the Trump-Vance administration seek to unlawfully strip away freedoms and prosperity. -  https://www.democracy2025.org/
• The People's Hub For Grassroots Democracy Organizing  - https://www.usgrassroots.org/
• Trump Administration Highlights - https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/18/us/trump-president-news
• What has Trump done today? - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/trump-administration-actions

April 2025

April 07

• New Mexico opens major-party primary elections to growing ranks of unaffiliated voters - https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-open-primaries-87d4d04bf0de858f2287f1d36b360b4e

April 08

• Massive Protests Against Trump Are Just the Beginning - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-musk-protests-democracy-hands-off-indivisible-1235312482/

April 10

• • House Votes to Require Proof of Citizenship in Federal Elections - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/house-citizenship-elections-save-act.html
  • Judge allows requirement that everyone in the US illegally must register to move forward - https://apnews.com/article/illegal-immigration-immigrant-registry-trump-homeland-security-329d9b1523792aaf5940f72948d8b48b
  • Poll: WA voters say Trump is negatively impacting their lives - https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/04/poll-wa-voters-say-trump-negatively-impacting-their-lives
  • Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs - https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34
  • Social Security Lists Thousands of Migrants as Dead to Prompt Them to ‘Self-Deport’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/us/politics/migrants-deport-social-security-doge.html
  • Supreme Court says Trump officials must ‘facilitate’ return of wrongly deported man - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/10/supreme-court-kilmar-abrego-garcia-deportation-el-salvador
  • Trump directs Justice Dept. to probe officials who opposed him in first term - https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/04/10/trump-probe-chris-krebs-miles-taylor/
  • Washington among top states for women in local office - https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2025/04/10/washington-women-local-office-leadership
  • Will Pennsylvania's 1.4 Million Independent Voters Be Next to Gain Equal Voting Rights? - https://ivn.us/posts/will-pennsylvanias-14-million-independent-voters-be-next-gain-equal-voting-rights-2025-04-10
  • With many career lawyers gone, Justice Dept. hires Trump loyalists for court - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/04/10/justice-trump-political-hires-lawyers-court

April 11

• Bill requiring stricter voter photo ID clears West Virginia Senate - https://westvirginiawatch.com/briefs/bill-requiring-stricter-voter-photo-id-clears-west-virginia-senate/
• DOGE takes over federal grants website, wresting control of billions - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/11/doge-controls-federal-grant-postings
• How DOGE may have improperly used Social Security data to push voter fraud narratives - https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/nx-s1-5352470/doge-musk-social-security-voting
• Law students say they want to work for the firms standing up to Trump - https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/law-firms-trump-law-student-recruiting-00007900?utm
• Mississippi orders deletion of race and gender databases in state libraries - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/mississippi-libraries-race-gender-databases
• Ohio Republican senators propose eliminating drop boxes, requiring proof of citizenship for voting - https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/04/11/ohio-republican-senators-propose-eliminating-drop-boxes-requiring-proof-of-citizenship-for-voting/
• State tells employees to report on one another for ‘anti-Christian bias’ - https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/state-report-anti-christian-bias-033535
• Thousands of Voters Must Verify Information in Contested Election, N.C. Supreme Court Rules - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/north-carolina-griffin-riggs-election-votes.html
• Trump is trying to quietly wrest control of a top federal civil rights board - https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/11/trump-civil-rights-commission-00286049
• Why Delaware lawmakers are pushing to protect expanded voting rights in state constitution -https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/11/delaware-voting-rights-early-voting-absentee-state-constitution-amendments/83028817007/

April 12

• Trump administration overrode Social Security staff to list immigrants as dead - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/12/trump-immigrants-dead-social-security

April 13

• Trump is pursuing a radical agenda. Does he have a strategy, or is he winging it? - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/13/trump-policies-tariffs-doge
• Trump goes with his gut and the world goes along for the ride - https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-presidential-power-instinct-decision-making-3d1215e5675ef534bbebe8dfe8f136a5
• Trump’s order seeks to force states to buy costly new voting machines - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/13/trump-elections-voting-machines-ballots

April 14

• Both the US and El Salvador refuse to return wrongly deported man to the US - https://apnews.com/live/donald-trump-news-updates-4-14-2025
• Despite a court order, White House bars AP from Oval Office event - https://apnews.com/article/trump-ap-press-freedom-court-gulf-caffd32aa8ec6b04a50b8c5277d7c9cb
• North Carolina judges consider GOP law shifting election board picks from governor to auditor - https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/north-carolina-judges-gop-law-shifting-election-board-120806075
• Trump threatens CBS with ‘substantial punishment’ over latest 60 Minutes broadcast - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-cbs-news-60-minutes-license-b2732828.html

April 15

• Alabama Senate votes to ease voting rights restoration for those convicted of felonies - https://alabamareflector.com/2025/04/15/alabama-senate-votes-to-ease-voting-rights-restoration-for-those-convicted-of-felonies/
• DOGE is collecting federal data to remove immigrants from housing, jobs - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/15/doge-ssa-immigration-trump-housing
• Harvard Steels Itself for Fallout After Trump Pauses $2.2 Billion in Funding - https://www.thecrimson.com/thread/2025/4/15/harvard-will-fight-demands-live/
• In Showdowns With the Courts, Trump Is Increasingly Combative - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/us/politics/trump-defy-courts.html
• Inside Trump’s Plan to Halt Hundreds of Regulations - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/us/politics/trump-doge-regulations.html
• Investors dodge U.S. dollar and Treasurys, scared by Trump’s trade war - https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/15/dollar-investors-treasuries-safety
• Microsoft leads lobbying blitz to fend off WA wealth tax - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/microsoft-leads-lobbying-blitz-to-fend-off-wa-wealth-tax
• Panel passes bill putting restrictions on Oklahoma voters ability to get measures on the ballot - https://oklahomavoice.com/2025/04/15/panel-passes-bill-putting-restrictions-on-oklahoma-voters-ability-to-get-measures-on-the-ballot/
• Plans to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary were underway. Then came the federal funding cuts - https://apnews.com/article/federal-cuts-humanities-america250-anniversary-doge-572cf095773c66856a1da94030ffd5a9
• Poll: WA voters more politically engaged following 2024 election - https://www.cascadepbs.org/politics/2025/04/poll-wa-voters-more-politically-engaged-following-2024-election
• Trump administration will ask Congress to cut funding for NPR and PBS - https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/04/15/npr-pbs-funding-trump-administration
• Trump calls for deporting some citizens to El Salvador, testing US law - https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-wants-deport-some-us-citizens-el-salvador-2025-04-14/
• What the SAVE Act could mean for millions of voters, according to a Brennan Center expert - https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5361192/house-elections-save-act-voting-rights

April 16

• Harvard’s challenge to Trump administration could test limits of government power - https://apnews.com/article/harvard-trump-administration-federal-cuts-037c3f5b259a7577358c5979e701c7c7
• In latest media crackdown, White House limits newswire access to Trump - https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/latest-media-crackdown-white-house-limits-newswire-access-trump-2025-04-16/
• Judge finds cause to hold Trump administration in criminal contempt for violating deportation order -https://apnews.com/article/trump-deportees-el-salvador-contempt-boasberg-da282511ac6f5c8dd19af620995ca440
• Swing State to Partner With DHS to Remove Names From Voter Rolls - https://www.newsweek.com/arizona-partner-dhs-remove-names-voter-rolls-2059210
• Trump has put Christian nationalists in key roles – say a prayer for free speech - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/16/christian-nationalists-trump-administration
• Trump officials could face criminal contempt over deportations, judge says - https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-finds-trump-administration-disregarded-order-venezuelan-deportations-2025-04-16/

Good News Websites

• ABC Good News - https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/good-news
• Daily Good - https://www.dailygood.org/
• Democracy's Good News - https://www.democracygroup.org/topics/democracys-good-news
• Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
• Politics & Government Good News - https://www.goodgoodgood.co/impact/democracy
• Sunny Skyz - https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news
• The Happy News - https://thehappynewspaper.com/

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