Every month, Democrats Abroad France brings you need-to-know news, events, and information.
In this edition:
- Project 2025
- News That Didn’t Make the Headlines: IRS and taxes
- Paris: Meet House Rep. Candidate Derek Marshall
- Tarascon: Meet Congresswoman Dina Titus
- Register & Request Your Ballot
- Volunteer with Us
- Turning out the Vote: Our Dollars Will Make the Difference
Educate Yourself About Project 2025
If the unimaginable happened, what team would be calling the shots in a second Orange Guy administration while he spent his time on the golf course? How much more damage could he possibly do this time around? The answer is: a lot. And Project 2025 spells it out in graphic and gory detail (check it out for yourself here).
With Project 2025, a 900-page Handmaid’s Tale-esque document authored by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation plus former Trump staffers, Trump would enter office with a play-by-play guidebook to authoritarianism.
The plan is to concentrate as much power as possible within the executive branch by reclassifying (and then replacing with Trump loyalists) over 50,000 civil service workers as political appointees. With this undermining of the separation of powers in place, Republicans could essentially do as they please, especially once they eliminate the independence of the DOJ, the FBI, and countless other government agencies. Can’t legally ban abortion nationwide? No problem: Just have the FDA and CDC retract the approvals on abortion and morning-after pills. Or better yet, cut off access to medical equipment used in surgical abortions to create a de facto ban. And who’s going to do this? The newly renamed “Department of Life,” replacing the Department of Health and Human Services. 1984 is calling, and it wants its dystopia back.
But going after reproductive rights is just one cruel part of this scheme. Project 2025 plans on bringing Christian Nationalism into the executive, abolishing environmental protection agencies, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Education, and then creating a three-fifths vote threshold to make sure following administrations will be gridlocked in their attempts to change legislation. Medicare and Medicaid: gone. Free school meals: gone. Any mention of gender, diversity, equity, sexual orientation, or affirmative action in legislation: gone.
We are voting to prevent the planned creation of an American autocracy. So no matter what one thinks of the speed at which Biden talks (and see what Politics Girl and Heather Cox Richardson say about that), there is a much bigger fish to fry, and that fish… is Donald Trump.
News that Didn't Make the Headlines
With more resources (thanks to Democrats and Biden-Harris), the IRS has cleared its backlog. Before the Inflation Reduction Act, audits disproportionately targeted the poor and working class, whose situations were simpler and access to professional help limited. Now, the agency has shifted focus to the wealthy, closing tax shelters used by the ultrarich. The IRS is now targeting the 25,000 households with annual revenue above $1 million who didn’t bother filing a tax return. By going after the wealthiest, most lawless tax cheats, the IRS is bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars without raising taxes, only by restoring fairness to the enforcement system.
The Biden-Harris Administration is working to end this collective action tax problem through international cooperation. In 2021, the administration, working with the G20, brokered a global deal on corporate taxation, creating a minimum rate for the first time. Tax cheats like Amazon can no longer get away without paying taxes. To learn more about this, go here to read our monthly blog, News That Didn’t Make the Headlines.
Welcoming Derek Marshall, July 11th in Paris
On Thursday, July 11th at 7pm in Paris, please join us in welcoming Derek Marshall, candidate for the House of Representatives in California’s 23rd district (CA23).
Derek Marshall is an organizer and community activist running to fight for justice, equality, and progress. He helped found a global research initiative with the UN and gained insights into effective social programs while working internationally. After seeing the contrast between European social safety nets and American austerity economics, Derek felt compelled to return to the US and fight for living wages, LGBTQ+ rights, universal healthcare, and more.
We’ll have the chance to hear from Derek how he’ll use what he’s learned to push for progress in the House of Representatives. Join us for an informal discussion over an apéro in a Parisian brasserie. The $15 entrance fee covers two glasses of wine plus cheese/charcuterie. You can either pay online or pay in cash at the event.
Welcoming Congresswoman Dina Titus, July 15th, Tarascon
Join Democrats Abroad France for a very special event with Congresswoman Dina Titus, in Tarascon (near Arles), on July 15th!
Congresswoman Titus is the Chair of the Americans Abroad Congressional Caucus and has long been a champion for those of us living overseas. A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a former professor, Congresswoman Titus fights for persons with disabilities and is an advocate for renewable energy.
Join us in this rare opportunity to meet Congresswoman Dina Titus and DA International Chair Martha McDevitt Pugh, and exchange with them informally as we enjoy a lovely apéro prepared by our host, a professional chef. This event is in Tarascon, north of Arles and the specific address will be sent with the RSVP.
Register and request your ballot!
Don’t forget: It’s time to register and request your ballot for the 2024 elections by going to VoteFromAbroad.org! Do it now, and remind all your friends and family to do it too! Need ballot assistance? Our trained voter assistance volunteers are standing by! Write to us at [email protected], call or text us at 07-555-FRDEM (07 55 53 73 36), or drop in to one of our online voter assistance sessions.
Volunteer with Democrats Abroad France!
Want to take things a step further and help us get out the vote this year? Help with our voter assistance tabling events this fall (no training required). We can give or send you business cards and bookmarks with voter assistance information for you to give out to American family, friends, and colleagues. You can send postcards to our members to remind them to vote, or get trained in voter assistance and help out by answering emails. There are many ways to lend a hand! Help Americans abroad vote to keep The Former Guy out of office, protect democracy, and retake the House so we can accomplish even more of the progressive Biden-Harris agenda! Fill out this form, and we’ll contact you to let you know all the ways you can help.
We're in high gear across France: Our voter registration efforts are in full swing, and we're reaching out to students and American groups to remind them how OUR votes from abroad in 2020 swung the election for President Biden in Georgia and Arizona. We have even more Americans here in France than we did back then, and the stakes couldn't be higher.
Contraception is at risk. (We know: It's surreal.)
Authoritarianism is rising.
Democracy is under threat in towns and cities.
We're spending money on everything we can think of to get the attention of Americans living here: advertising on social and traditional media, phonebanking, and printing VoteFromAbroad.org cards to hand out.
We need funds to support our volunteers. We need to register voters now, build our volunteer base, and find Americans. We need your money all year long, but money NOW is more valuable than money in October.
When the votes are tallied in November, and everyone sees how OUR votes made the difference, our influence grows, and our priorities get addressed.
To donate to DA France, please click here. Please consider giving as a monthly sustaining donor: These investments, big or small, help us immensely as they allow us to budget for the rest of the year.
Join Us In Person and Online!
Don't forget to check out our upcoming events HERE.
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