In This Issue –

Events:

• Phone Banking Training
• Women’s Caucus - Legalize Equality
• Young Dems Movie Night
• Cleve Jones Webinar
• Pride Event – Drag Queen Bingo

Issues & Actions:

• DAA Video! Why I'll Vote in November
• New Asian American/Pacific Islander Caucus
• Rapid Response – Save the USPS
• 2020 DA Platform
• Are you on Instagram?
• Gearing up for 2020 –
  • Breaking the Bubble
  • Phone Banking
  • Volunteers Needed 

Reviews:

• Pub Quiz
• Quarantini
• The CARES Act - What’s In It?

Our Executive Committee meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month. The next meeting will be held online on: Wednesday, May 13, 2020, at 7 p.m. Members are welcome to join us at the meetings. Please contact Jennifer at chair@democratsabroad.at for the link. 

DAA is making a strong effort to include in our monthly newsletter all the information you need to stay up to date in order to avoid the flood of emails that occurs in an election year. By sending you fewer emails, we hope you will read those you receive. Thanks for reading!

Follow us on:

D O N A T E 

Events:

Phone Bank Training

May 18. 6:30 p.m.

Legalize Equality - Film Screening & Discussion

May 26, 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m. 

Young Dems Movie Night

May 28, 7 p.m.-9 p.m.

Sol Sun & The LGBTI Caucus Host Cleve Jones 

Sunday, May 31, 5 p.m. CEST/11 a.m. EST 

Pride Event – Drag Queen Bingo

June 13, TBA 

Issues & Actions:

Why I'll Vote in November

DA Austria members got together after our last Solidarity Sundays meeting to create some social media content for our 2020 get out the vote effort. Take a look at the video! Would you like to participate or have an idea for our next video? Contact Tanya Lolonis at solidaritysundays@democratsabroad.at. 

New Democrats Abroad Caucus

An Asian American/Pacific Islander Caucus is being formed at the DA Global level. Please email Jennifer at chair@democratsabroad.at if you are interested in helping with the AAPI global caucus from Austria. All are welcome.

To find out more about Democrats Abroad Global Caucuses and to join, please see here.

Help Save the US Postal Service 

Rapid Response Needed: Destroy the Post Office, and you destroy democracy. We must take action to save the USPS, here, and to learn how to use ResistBot at the same time. “Simply put, if you hate the Post Office then you hate America.... We need to all lean on our members of Congress — regardless of party — to lean on the White House to save our Post Office before September.”

2020 Democrats Abroad Platform

The working draft of the 2020 Democrats Abroad Platform is now available (click here to download and open the PDF file): Draft - 2020 Platform. The platform expresses DA’s political values and policy goals, and is the result of over 10,000 comments submitted over the past six months. Please provide YOUR comment here: Platform Feedback Form. Please respond by May 15, ideally earlier, as electors will vote on the platform during the DA Regional Conventions (May 16) and Global Convention (June 6).

Are You on Instagram? 

Follow us on Instagram @demsaustria for easy reminders and updates all in one place: from events to electoral news and information on how to vote from abroad!

Gearing Up for 2020 –

Breaking the Bubble Lots of Americans living abroad don’t know they have a legal right to vote or that they must re-register in every calendar year. We phone bank to remind people to register and request their ballot because this is the most effective way to reach our members (see below).

But what about all those other Americans overseas who are embarrassed to say they are from the US, horrified by the president’s actions and statements, and don’t realize they have the power to enact change?

We want to break the information bubble. Help us reach out to American voters by telling your friends and family, colleagues and acquaintances, heck, even the American in line next to you at the market, to go to votefromabroad.org and register to vote. It’s non-partisan, takes 5 minutes, and there is a chat box to answer any questions. 

Why? Because voting is a civic duty. 

Phone Banking We’ve got a new country campaign up to reach all our members before summer and remind them to register and request their ballot. Will you join our team of phone banking volunteers and get out the vote in 2020?

You know how important a huge Democratic turnout will be in November’s election - the need for change is so painfully clear - and under our current circumstances, the best way to reach overseas voters is by phone banking. Our call may be the only contact members get about voting. Voting from abroad is complex and they appreciate the reminders and support that we offer. 

Become a DA Austria phone banker! Join our phone banking training on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. and we’ll help you get set up and calling in no time. 

Raise Your Hand and Volunteer with DA Austria! The only way we can dump Trump, keep Congress, and flip the Senate is by getting all Americans in Austria to register, request, and return their ballot for the November election. It’s all hands on board and we need your help! We have lots of interesting opportunities for you to work on wherever you may be located in Austria. Below are a few wishes our teams have:

Phone Banking: Making calls to potential voters abroad is one of the most important volunteer jobs you can do! Most Americans abroad aren't called in an election even once (those back home are called hundreds of times). This is the job for you if you have a good internet connection and are looking for a way to hold onto the House, flip the Senate, and take back the White House. We know this election is going to be a challenge — calling our members is the most effective way of getting out the vote!

Time commitment: no minimum required. You set your own hours to call.

READ MORE

Reviews:

Pub Quiz 

A pandemic that is far less dangerous than the one we are experiencing right now, is the global craze for trivia nights. The Young Dems hosted their very first Virtual Pub Quiz on April 16. Questions revolved around democratic candidates and presidents of the past and future, accompanied by the newest Buttijams and Grammy Winners who just so happen to also have been presidents. Our virtual pub is the next best thing to a real one; a great spot to meet other Young Dems and enjoy some trivia!

– Laura Farmwald, Youth Caucus Co-Coordinator

Quarantini 

Despite lockdown, April was a busy month for Democrats Abroad Austria! On April 18, the Communications Committee invited DAA members for its first-ever Happy Hour, though the meeting might have been in cyberspace, the alcohol was real! Topics ranged from how to effectively conduct voter registration in the time of COVID-19, to our favorite quarantine baking recipes and pets. Stay tuned for our next Happy Hour (hopefully in person): a great opportunity to catch up and get to know other DAA members over your favorite drink! 

– Sophie Spiegelberger, Communications Chair

Solidarity Sundays #31: 

A $2.3 Trillion Stimulus Package, What’s in it for Me?

From our homes in Vienna, Solidarity Sundays activists conducted an online oversight hearing on the US government’s response to the COVID-19 unemployment crisis. At $2.3 trillion, the CARES Act is the largest economic stimulus bill in modern history. DA Vice Chair Juan Cerda showed us where the money is going. 

READ MORE

– Tanya Lolonis, Member-at-Large

Thanks for reading.

See you in June for our next issue!

A $2.3 Trillion Stimulus Package, What’s in it for Me?

From our homes in Vienna, Solidarity Sundays activists conducted an online oversight hearing on the US government’s response to the COVID-19 unemployment crisis. At $2.3 trillion, the CARES Act is the largest economic stimulus bill in modern history. DA Vice Chair Juan Cerda showed us where the money is going.

30%:  Individuals and Families are receiving $1,200 tax rebates from the IRS. Individuals require a Social Security number, couples filing jointly both need Social Security numbers. Families receive an additional $500 for each child under 18. The rebate is reduced for high-income earners. The federal government is topping up state unemployment payments by $600 per week, and gig workers and freelancers are included.

25%:  Large corporations taking federal loans are barred from engaging in stock buybacks (but may offset COVID losses against past profits to increase their payouts). The largest group benefiting from the stimulus:  commercial and cargo airlines, and their contractors.

19%:  The loan pool for small businesses to keep employees on the payroll, all $350 bn of it, ran out in 13 days. An additional stimulus bill was passed with $310 bn. Banks disperse the loans, so businesses without bank relationships — Mom and Pop stores, neighborhood cafés — are locked out. The biggest portion went to companies with large market capitalization.

17%:  At the insistence of Sen. McConnell, state & local government grants are restricted to COVID-19 expenditures and cannot cover budget deficits. States project revenue losses of $500 bn for the next two years.

9%:  Public service grants are earmarked for healthcare providers, Medicare payments to virus patients, the Strategic National Stockpile, the CDC, and food security programs.

Juan ended by highlighting who is left out of the stimulus:  the undocumented and nonresidents who make up our most vulnerable — that is, essential — workers during the pandemic. Also excluded are DACA recipients, small business owners, Indian reservations, and those unable to file unemployment claims due to system overload.

After our oversight hearing, Sunday’s attendees recorded messages for a short video. Why? Tanya Lolonis explained that social media is where the war for November is being fought, and the GOP has a huge structural advantage:  they spent 40 years hating the media and building their own news ecosystem. Republican groups are adept at creating content and pushing it onto Facebook. Democrats are outgunned by Fox, Breitbart, and 1,000 outlets you have never heard of.

So we looked at how everyone can amplify our progressive message on social media. Text, photos, sounds, and videos (like ours!) are pieces of content. Using the supercomputer in our pockets, we can share that content with dozens or hundreds of our contacts. Want your content to be engaging so your friends will share it with their friends? Emotions drive engagement, and nothing is speedier than rage. Awe and wonder, emotions increasing desire for emotional connection, come a close second. This is why posting your personal story moves faster and further on social media.

Here are two things you can do from quarantine to help Democrats in November. One, we need phone bankers. We need a lot of people to each make a few calls. We need you now. Email solidaritysundays@democratsabroad.at and we’ll show you how easy it is to do from home. And two, use that pocket supercomputer of yours to share content and amplify our progressive message. Create content, and visit Democrats Abroad Austria on social media and share ours:  find us on Twitter (@DemsAustria), Facebook (Democrats Abroad Austria) and Instagram (demsaustria).

– Tanya Lolonis