Local, small restaurants are heading towards what an industry coalition calls an “85% extinction event” if they don’t get government help. Oregon’s own Rep. Earl Blumenauer worked with Portland restauranteurs to come up with the RESTAURANT Act. It gives priority to minority- and women-owned restaurants, who make up a much larger share of owners than in any other industry. The House wrapped the bill into the $2.2billion revised HEROES Act. Now 50 Senators, including 11 Republicans are RESTAURANT Act co-sponsors.

Donald Trump has committed crimes that have inflicted great damage on our democracy for his personal benefit.  He and his cronies must be held accountable.  This is not revenge; failure to act would constitute a subversion of justice.

Vaccines are coming. But their benefit won’t soon stop the carnage. Covid has exploded nationwide. After giving trillions to the rich and corporations, help for the rest of America has stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate. Republicans must act for the common good.

We are grateful for the progressive leadership of our Members of Congress; the responsiveness of their staffs; and our dedicated and delightful Indivisible Oregon volunteers and organizers. We ask our IO community to pause this Thanksgiving week and recognize that what we call the state of Oregon rests upon the historic land of numerous diverse tribal communities.

Trump is hanging on by his fingernails, but he is still damaging our trust in elections.  It’s time for Democrats, including our President-elect and our Members of Congress, to defend our democratic institutions forcefully, vocally and through Congressional action including investigation and censure. To stand up and call out this continued attempt at a coup for what it is.

We did an amazing job getting out the vote and electing Biden by widest majority ever. Now, we must ensure Trump’s attempted coup is unsuccessful and Biden can govern.

GOP leaders must condemn death threats against local elections officials for not supporting Trump’s attempts to steal the election and decry his bullying. It’s also time to address the structural racism permeating our electoral system, our responses to COVID and our dysfunctional economy.

We all deserve healthcare, housing, and food- especially in this pandemic. President-Elect Biden has plans to help us. Some can be done via executive order. But others require Congressional legislation. For meaningful legislation, to move this country forward we must update and reform Congressional rules.

Trump’s refusing to concede his irrefutable election loss. Perhaps there’s a political upside for Republicans willing to play along with Trump’s narcissistic fantasy. But for the health, safety, and national security of the American people, there’s a huge downside. Trump’s unprecedented sabotage of the transition process puts us all at risk.

We depend on government to keep us safe. We are especially vulnerable during presidential transitions, and we rely on out-going Administrations to make them as smooth as possible. Trump sabotages the current transition, while his GOP remains silent, complicit.

On November 7th, Biden was declared president-elect. It is time for our members of Congress to demand that GSA Administrator Murphy, A-G Barr, and Secretary of State Pompeo stop encouraging Trump’s attempted coup.

President-elect Biden has a strategy to fight COVID-19 based on science and implemented by scientists and health care professionals. It’s time for Trump and his GOP enablers to end their dangerous and unprecedented obstruction of the peaceful transition of power and get out of his way.

Trump and his GOP are roiling the waters to make us feel insecure about the election results. But they don’t scare us. We the people turned out in record numbers, despite obstacles, to cast our ballots. This wasn’t about one election, but about uncoupling America from racism to make America truly great.