Background:
Sen. Wyden (D-OR) is the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and the key to stopping Fast Track in the Senate. A new poll shows that 73% of Oregon voters oppose Fast Track (and 62% of OR voters oppose the TPP), but that isn’t enough to stop Wyden from being a ‘free-traitor’. We must send him a strong message that the people expect him to oppose Fast Track. He says that transparency is important, but fast track is the opposite of transparency. It will allow the TPP and other agreements that are negotiated in secret to pass through Congress without much review.
The Toast in:
Tuesday March 3 through Thursday March 5, 11AM-5PM, we will sit in Wyden’s office with plates of toast, signs that look like toast, toast memes, a giant piece of toast, a toaster in the office, and more! We are just developing these ideas so let us know if you have other thoughts. Ideally we will have two or more people in his office at all times for these three days, making our presence felt. It is his D.C. office at 221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
If you can participate please email info@popularresistance.org with the dates and times that you are available and what you prefer (how much time, which days, etc) your preferred email and your phone number, and any comments or concerns. If you can’t join us in person, call his office during the Toast-In and encourage others to do the same.
Forward this message widely so we can fill up his office!
Here is a toast meme we made this week about Wyden’s career if he votes for Fast Track.
DAY 1 OF THE TOAST-IN
CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE TPP ACTION PLEDGE AND RECEIVE UPDATES.
Report from last week’s occupation of Wyden’s office:
This was a good week! We staged a “drop in and hang out” occupation of Wyden’s office from Tuesday–Thursday, flooded his office with phone calls, got lots of good memes to go viral, made TPP guerrilla projections, and had an hour long meeting with Wyden’s Chief of Staff. With mounting pressure in D.C., at his home in New York, and his state of Oregon, Wyden decided not to move forward with Orrin Hatch’s dirty deal and called off the Finance Committee Hearing where the bill was expected to be announced. The same day, eight senators spoke out against corporate trade deals like the TPP and TTIP and the anti-democratic Fast Track process that will push them forward.
However, Wyden is still wavering. He has not come out against Fast Track or corporate trade deals like some other Democrats. Nor has he demanded transparency–for the text on these deals to be made public. Rather, his Chief of Staff told us that Wyden still wants to reach a deal with Hatch who is pushing to get a deal before the congressional recess in two weeks. As ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Wyden’s decision will impact numerous Democrats in the Senate. He can either support Hatch’s corporate Fast Track agenda and get huge backlash from this movement of movements OR he can stand firm against Fast Track Trade Promotion Authority and let Republicans take the fall. We need to make sure he knows we are watching so that he chooses the latter!