As Americans living abroad, our voices are more critical than ever. This week, we're focusing on the immediate impact of recent legislative decisions and how we can continue to make our collective power felt.

ACTION ALERT: The Fallout from Trump's Budget Bill Contact Your Members of Congress!

The recent passage of Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" (critics are calling it the "Big, Ugly Bill") is set to have far-reaching and devastating consequences for millions of Americans. While we live abroad, the ripple effects of these policies can still impact us and our loved ones back home.

This bill includes:

• Massive cuts to vital safety net programs: Significant reductions to Medicaid, potentially kicking millions off healthcare, and the largest-ever cuts to food assistance benefits (SNAP).
• Increased costs: Higher housing and energy costs for many.
• Anti-immigrant provisions: Supercharged crackdown on immigrants, including a new 1% tax on remittances sent abroad, and increased funding for deportations and detention facilities.
• Tax breaks for the wealthy: All while delivering substantial tax benefits for the wealthiest individuals and corporations, and projected to add trillions to the national deficit.

It's crucial that our elected representatives hear from us! We need to hold them accountable and understand their plans to mitigate the fallout from these cuts and protect their constituents, including Americans abroad.

What to do:

• Contact your Members of Congress TODAY! Call, email, or use their online contact forms. Here are email templates you can use to write to your GOP MOCs and to your DEM MOCs.  Need info on how to avoid expensive international rates from mobile phone operators to call your legislators back in the States? Check out alternatives here: Calling US Landlines from Abroad - Democrats Abroad
• Demand answers: Ask them how they plan to protect their constituents from the negative impacts of these budget cuts, especially regarding healthcare, food assistance, and the new tax on remittances.
• Share your personal stories: Explain how these cuts could affect you or your family back in the U.S.

Good Trouble Lives On: Show Your Solidarity!

In the spirit of the late, great John Lewis, "Good Trouble" is about making a difference through peaceful protest and civic engagement. Even from across the ocean, we can make our voices heard!

Participate in our "Good Trouble Lives On" virtual protest:

• Create a protest sign at home! Let your creativity flow and express your concerns, hopes, and demands for a better America.
• Take a photo or short video with your sign.
• Upload your footage to our shared drive by July 14th. 
• We will compile all submissions into a powerful montage that will be shared across our social media channels on Thursday, July 17th.

Let's show the world that "Good Trouble Lives On" with Democrats Abroad Italy!

Support Our Get Out The Vote Efforts: Attend the Annual Gala Dinner!

Our work to ensure every American living in Italy can vote in U.S. elections is more important than ever as we prepare for the midterms next year. Get Out The Vote (GOTV) initiatives require significant resources, and your support makes a direct impact.

We invite you to our Annual Gala Dinner Fundraiser on Sunday, September 21^st. Be sure to mark your calendars!

Your attendance and generosity will help us register voters, provide essential voting information, and ensure our voices are heard in every election. Mark your calendars, and look out for your official invitation with ticketing information coming soon!

Thank you for your continued dedication and activism. Together, we can make a difference.

With Gratitude,

Leyani Redditi

As always I welcome suggestions for future editions of What to do Wednesday. Please email me at [email protected]

Ps. Are you a voter in NJ, VA, AZ, PA, or TX?  You have important elections coming up. Make sure you have requested your overseas ballot at https://votefromabroad.org.  Need help? Write to us at [email protected]

DA Italy
https://www.democratsabroad.org/