Entries from March 2017 ↓

With the Republicans\’ horrendous health care plan finally exposed to the light of day – including a CBO estimation of 24 million people losing their insurance, putting the nation\’s uninsured rate significantly higher than it even was before the ACA – I would like to highlight the extent to which even the existing system remains insufficient.  So this is going to be a bit of an unusual week, as I don\’t have one particular fundraiser in mind…

Last Week: American Immigration Council

I didn\’t get any matching receipts last week, but then, I didn\’t do a great job of reminding people either.  I\’m making a default donation of $25.

This Week: Individual Fundraisers for Medical Expenses

Even with the Affordable Care Act driving down the percentage of uninsured people to historic lows, there are still many people who remain uninsured or underinsured for a variety of reasons.  In many cases, it\’s due to some individual states\’ choices to refuse to expand Medicaid as allowed under the ACA; this Kaiser Family Foundation report looks at some of the details, including the fact that 91% of the 2.5 million people that remain uninsured specifically as a result of their states\’ failure to expand Medicaid live in the South.

As a result of this gap in health care coverage, many people still have to rely on the generosity of family, friends, and strangers to avoid being bankrupted and/or made homeless by the costs of their medical care.  This week, I\’m going to be matching donations to individual fundraisers on GoFundMe, IndieGoGo, and elsewhere as needed.

I\’ll match up to $500 in donations this week – forward your donation receipts to matching@pyrlogos.com as normal, and I\’ll include every fundraiser in this post so others can contribute as well.  (If you don\’t want your first name and last initial included alongside the fundraiser, just let me know in the forwarded email.)  If the donations to be matched exceed $500, I\’ll make sure to donate some amount to every fundraiser, so don\’t worry if you\’re not one of the first few to forward your receipt.

Finally, for this week in particular, I will match donations made prior to this post.  Normally, part of the point of a matching program is to encourage others to donate when they might not have otherwise – but this week you\’re encouraging me to donate instead.

Call to Action

This is especially important if your senators or representative is Republican: call your congresspeople and let them know how much of a disaster their plan to make 24 million people lose their health insurance would be.  Some Republicans are already starting to question the political wisdom of following through with the ACA repeal, and we have to keep the pressure on.

So, Muslim Ban 2: Electric Boogaloo happened.  Which means we get to start this fight all over again.  Let\’s get to it.

Last Week: Lambda Legal

Thanks to Jeff P. and Rachel H., last week we raised $225 for Lambda Legal!  Thank you!

This Week: American Immigration Council

The American Immigration Council is another organization that has been involved in litigation against Trump\’s first, disastrous executive order on immigration.  They\’re also involved in public advocacy against Trump\’s proposed border wall and the abuses of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Donate to the American Immigration Council and forward your donation receipt to matching@pyrlogos.com, and we\’ll match the first $100 in donations.  Plus, all donors will be entered in the monthly art giveaway!

Call to Action

Keep up the pressure on your congresspeople to repudiate the Trump administration.  Whether it\’s calling for investigations into the Russia connections, opposing the new attempt at a Muslim ban, or fighting for healthcare accessibility, your senators and representatives are our best defense against Trump\’s agenda - if we can get them to act.

It\’s still hard for me to keep up with everything, but one thing I will say after last night\’s speech and the media\’s bizarre takes on it: Please do not believe that Trump\’s ability to give one speech in which he sounded vaguely coherent for most of it means he\’s somehow turned a corner on his presidency.  His policy positions are still immature and nonsensical in the best case, and still literally evil in the worst.

Last week: The Trevor Project

Thanks to Elizabeth B., Andrea F., James S., Elisheba J., Wing M., and Maria E., last week we raised a total of $230 for The Trevor Project!  Thank you, everyone.

Also, congratulations to Elizabeth B, winner of February\’s art giveaway!  I\’ll be in touch shortly to discuss details.  (And my apologies to Christine H., as I haven\’t finished her art for January yet.  I hope to have that out to you soon…)

This week: Lambda Legal

Continuing in the same vein of standing up for LGBTQ rights, this week\’s charity is Lambda Legal:

Founded in 1973, Lambda Legal is the oldest and largest national legal organization whose mission is to achieve full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, we do not charge our clients for legal representation or advocacy, and we receive no government funding. We depend on contributions from supporters around the country.

Donate to Lambda Legal and forward your donation receipt to matching@pyrlogos.com, or donate through the Facebook post, and we\’ll match the first $100 in donations.  Plus, each donor will be entered into March\’s art giveaway!

Call to Action

It\’s been a while since I\’ve mentioned the \”We\’re His Problem Now\” spreadsheet.  Now they\’ve built it out into a new website, thesixtyfive.org – standing for the 65 million Americans who voted against Trump.  This week, they\’re asking Americans to call their representatives and senators to investigate Russian interference in the presidential election.  They also have an Issues List with several scripts for different issues that you might want to call your congresspeople about.  We know from multiple sources that public pressure on members of Congress is working – keep it up!