Hello, fellow Missourians!

Thank you to everyone who visited Blunt's office last week to ask him to Do Something Already. Your persistence is the backbone of the Resistance!

Did you see the news?

In Missouri, the headline news is that Governor Greitens is alleged to have threatened a woman with revenge porn during an extramarital affair (see our Missouri news roundup for more details), but we can't let his unconscionable private actions distract us from the terrible policies he advocated in the State of the State address. In his Wednesday speech, the governor joined calls from Republican legislators to cut Missouri income taxes, without providing a plan to stabilize state revenue (which is already down due to previous tax cuts). Missouri's schools and roads can't afford any more reckless funding cuts! For more on the State of the State, check out our blog.

In national news, Kris Kobach's now-defunct Advisory Commission on Election Integrity just keeps looking worse. Despite Kobach's claims to the contrary, the White House announced that the commission had not uncovered any preliminary findings of voter fraud. Not only that, it would be destroying the data that had been collected. And, despite Kobach's claims to the contrary (we're noticing a theme!), the Department of Homeland Security said that Kobach would not be advising the agency in matters of voter fraud going forward. So after finding no evidence of voter fraud, producing no results, and not being asked to stay, Kobach will go home and focus on his mission to run the state of Kansas.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report this week regarding the costs of CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program), and it's all good news for advocates of the program that offers health insurance for low- and middle-income children. First, the estimated costs of a five-year extension were significantly less than previously expected. Second, extending the program for ten years rather than five would actually save the government $6 billion dollars.

Trump rejected a bipartisan deal (CW: language) on immigration reform, which included action for DACA recipients, additional funding for border security, and changes to family sponsorship rules. While the vulgar language the president used to reject the deal has created a firestorm in itself, the heart of the issue is that the President stated, in a discussion of federal policy, that he believes people from poor countries, people of color, are intrinsically less worthy. This cannot stand in America. This is not who we are as a people or as a nation.

What's going on this week?

The fight to protect our Dreamers is getting more and more urgent. Call your Members of Congress and urge them to support and pass a clean DREAM Act - no useless, expensive wall, just legal protection for some of the hardest working young people in America. Click here for phone numbers and additional information.

Call your Members of Congress and tell them there's no excuse for them to not vote for a ten-year reauthorization of the CHIP program. Click here for more details and phone numbers to call.

From our friends:

Indivisible Missouri is sharing two great actions with us this week! For Missouri Mondays, let's ask our state legislators to condemn the governor's actions relating to his affair and alleged blackmail. Then on Wednesday, let's let our legislators see our faces in Jefferson City, not just the lobbyists'! If you can't make it this week, other Jefferson City Lobby Days are coming up on January 31st and Feb 13th.

Our friends at Jobs With Justice have been invited to collect signatures for Clean Missouri and Raise Up Missouri at the Teamsters Union Meeting on Thursday, Jan 18th 12:30pm-3pm at the Independence American Legion. This is a big, supportive group and we expect to gather a lot of signatures, so we need lots of volunteers! Email Anderson at anderson@mojwj.org and let him know you're coming!

Martin Luther King Jr Day is this week, and we have an amazing opportunity to celebrate him and renew his legacy with our friends in the United We Stand coalition. We are joining in the nationwide effort to revive the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival to challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality.  Join us on Saturday, Jan 20th (a big day for activism!) for a special afternoon of dramatic interpretations of Dr. King's final speeches. Experience firsthand, the radical vision at the end of his life. Bring a dessert and stay for coffee and conversation about Dr. King's call to action and the new PPC being organized in KC and across America now!

The League of Women Voters does amazing work in registering and educating voters, something we know a lot if our members are interested in. We really want to see more IKC folks out at their events! Join us in the morning on Saturday, the 20th to listen to plans for 2018, give feedback and contribute ideas!

The next phase of the Women's March movement is Power to the Polls: channeling the energy and activism of the Women's March into tangible strategies and concrete wins in 2018. We love it! The closest local marches this week are in Lawrence on Saturday the 20th and Topeka on Sunday the 21st.

As always, we're so glad to be in this fight with you as we renew, resist, persist.

In Solidarity -

Indivisible KC