FOR MONTHS, BIDEN WAS PREPARING FOR CONFRONTATION WITH PUTIN

Daily Action
Written By Barbara Isaacman

Quietly, Biden has been sending arms to Ukraine and organizing allies to respond to Putin with a financial quarantine. 

QUICK READ: The sanctions locked up over $600 billion that Russia had parked in foreign banks, and they have stopped Russia from using the dollar, the Euro, and the SWIFT foreign payment system–all making international sales or purchases challenging. This will likely cause energy prices here to soar. Nevertheless, Biden has brilliantly directed the financial war. 



TAKE ACTION NOW:

BACKGROUND

Joe Biden is a new type of wartime president.

In December, with a growing Russian military buildup on Ukraine’s border, Biden began supporting Ukrainians by sending tools to destroy tanks, shoot down aircraft, and fight an urban war. 

In the weeks leading up to the invasion, he publicly reported Putin's military moves and exposed Putin’s lies about the Ukrainian situation. 

When Putin provoked Biden by raising Russia’s nuclear alert, Biden coolly didn’t escalate. He even postponed a missile test.

In private negotiations, he built a consensus among Western allies to launch a new kind of war, a financial war. 

Their sanctions locked up over $600 billion that Russia had parked in foreign banks, and they’ve stopped Russia from using the dollar, the Euro, and the SWIFT foreign payment system–making international sales and purchases challenging.

Biden and our allies are quarantining the world’s eleventh-largest economy. 

The impact in Russia has been so immediate and severe that Putin, the far-right’s  hero, has declared the sanctions “akin to a declaration of war.” 

While a financial war means soaring prices that will impact elections, Biden knows it’s the right thing to do to protect freedom.

We must stay united in our resistance to Putin’s murdering of freedom. 

ACTION One: Call the Senate.

Script for Oregon Senators

SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753

My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future

SEN. WYDEN:

Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244

(Messages and calls are most effective if they are personal. Scripts are here to help.)

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you tax America’s oligarchs.

Script for Republican Senators

D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future

ACTION TWO: Call the House.

Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)

Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future
  • Tax America’s oligarchs.

Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)

Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

You shamelessly tried to use the tragedy of the Ukrainian people to attack the Biden Administration and to promote the GOP’s profit-driven push to open up our public lands to oil and gas drilling.

Script for Earl Blumenauer (OR-03)

Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future
  • Tax America’s oligarchs.

Script for Peter DeFazio (OR-04)

Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future
  • Tax America’s oligarchs.

Script for Kurt Schrader (OR-05)

Salem office: 503-588-9100 | DC office: 202-225-5711

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].

I support President Biden’s financial war against tyranny, and ask that you push to (pick one):

  • Cut the use of fossil fuels and speed alternative energies to lower Putin’s hold over other countries
  • Fight inflation by cutting drug prices
  • Push again for voting rights bills in the face of citizens of an entire nation begin denied the vote to determine Ukraine’s future
  • Tax America’s oligarchs.

ACTION 3: Join the fight

For Ukraine. Links from historian Timothy Snyder: “Everyone has different values, and so here is a range. Please do something.

For democracy: Below are opportunities to fight for our democracy. As John Lewis said, go make some “good trouble.” 

  • Find out more about Indivisible Oregon here. 

FURTHER READING:

Inside the months of work that allowed the US and its allies to turn Russia into a financial pariah overnight - CNNPolitics

Accurate U.S. intelligence did not stop Putin, but it gave Biden big advantages. - The New York Times

As war loomed, U.S. armed Ukraine to hit Russian aircraft, tanks and prep for urban combat, declassified shipment list shows - The Washington Post

Trump has been on Putin's side in Ukraine's long struggle against Russian aggression - CNNPolitics

Democrats Can’t Be Shy About Rallying for Democracy | The New Republic

What sanctions on Russia over Ukraine mean for the Russian economy and world - Vox

Economic warfare's collateral damage - Axios

Russia says economy taking 'serious blows' as isolation grows - CNN

The west has declared all-out financial war with Russia. What does this mean?

David Edgerton | The Guardian

Efforts to decimate Russian economy threaten to boomerang | TheHill

The world is at financial war - New Statesman

What Sanctions Has the World Put on Russia? - Lawfare

Putin says Western sanctions are akin to declaration of war | Reuters

‘Key to white survival’: how Putin has morphed into a far-right savior | CPAC | The Guardian

Russia's attack on Ukraine is a clear warning to US to become energy independent with renewables | TheHill

Russia Accused of Nuclear ‘Terrorism’ After Attack on Ukraine Power Plant - Bloomberg


Barbara Isaacman
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