Posted 2/10/2012
Unemployment Insurance As We Know It Is On The Chopping Block
Tea Party Republicans are leading the charge to reduce coverage and throw up barriers to benefits like GED requirements. And they’re even threatening to force people who are jobless—through no fault of their own—to endure humiliating drug tests just to get survival aid.
Tell Congress: It’s time to pass a clean, yearlong extension of unemployment aid now.
It’s great news that the economy added jobs last month. But for working America, the economy still is in the gutter. We’re climbing out of a deep, deep hole. Unemployment remains sky high, and it’s projected to stay there through the next year and beyond.
MORE HERE |
POSTED 2/3/2012
From Bill Crandell:
TAKE ACTION --
BILLS THAT WILL VIOLATE OUR RIGHT TO COLLECTIVELY BARGAIN
 The Republicans in Lansing are now attacking our very right to assemble. Below are a list of the bills that will violate our right to collectively bargain and provide for our families. Contact your Representatives now and tell them to vote no on this union busting legislation, we have the right to stand up for ourselves.
If you send an email and you are an MEA member please remember to BCC Steve Cook at sbc@mea.org Thank you.
HB 5023 - fines striking public employees one day's pay and their union $5,000 for each day of the strike, expanding the penalties beyond the current rules that only apply to public school employees.
HB 5024 - sets fines and restrictions on members and their unions for mass picketing..
HB 5025 - requires an employee's annual written authorization to have their union dues deducted from their paycheck by employers.
HB 5026 - eliminates the prohibition against employers advertising for strike breakers.
The most draconian of these bills, HB 5025, even drew opposition from the Michigan Association of School  Boards. MASB lobbyist Peter Spadafore testified against that bill, saying that payroll deductions are bargained in contracts, and requiring an annual check-off goes around the process that is already in place.
With these bills now headed to the full state House for consideration, members need to contact their state representative immediately. Tell them to stop attacking the rights of union members and start focusing on putting more people back to work. These bills are an attempt to legislate problems that don't really exist and impose stricter punishment when there already are significant consequences for an action. It's just another round of attacks on unions and the middle class families we represent.
Rep. Sharon Tyler
888 373 0078
Rep. Matt Lori
877 262 5959
Speaker Jase Bolger
877 bolger 1 |
From the Daily KOS posted at request of mike - Posted 2/3/2012
Susan G. Komen declares war on women
Email the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to tell them they destroyed their reputation by caving to right-wing extremists. (email content can be edited)
Send Susan Komen a message:
Susan G. Komen Foundation, you just destroyed your reputation by defunding Planned Parenthood.
Cancer screening and prevention comprises 17 percent of Planned Parenthood's services. For many low-income women, Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care. By going along with anti-choice extremists who are determined to put Planned Parenthood out of business, you are essentially saying it doesn't matter if low-income women get breast cancer.
Pretty amazing, and truly disgusting.
CLICK HERE |
From Common Cause - Posted 2/3/2012
You already know that the Citizens United decision has opened the floodgates to unlimited election spending by special interests and left our political system in shambles.
But to add insult to injury, the Federal Election Commission – the agency in charge of enforcing campaign finance laws – is a dysfunctional mess. Three of the six commissioners staunchly refuse to enforce the law, and five of the six are serving despite expired terms!
We are calling on President Obama to nominate new FEC commissioners now so that candidates and parties can be held accountable in 2012.
Please sign the petition on the "We the People" section of the White House's website.
The White House says it will issue an official response to any petition that receives 25,000 or more signatures within 30 days. Let's make sure this issue makes it to the President's desk!
Signing the petition is a 3-step process:
1. If you've never signed a petition on the WhiteHouse.gov site before, click "Create Account" and complete the pop-up form.
2. Check your email. You must click on a link in the message from WhiteHouse.gov to verify your new account.
3. Click on the green "Sign this petition" button. That's it!
Please sign today and help us reach our goal of 25,000 signatures by February 10!
Thanks for all you do to help clean up politics.
Sincerely,
Bob Edgar
and the rest of the team at Common Cause |
| From the Sierra Club - Posted 1/30/2012
Thank President Obama for Rejecting the Keystone XL Pipeline
The Obama administration announced that it would deny a federal permit for the  Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, which would run 1,700 miles across six U.S. states and bring toxic, highly corrosive tar sands crude from Alberta, Canada, to refineries and ports in Texas.
The president stood up to Big Oil, backed by the voices of hundreds of thousands of activists just like you, who have built the movement to stop this dirty, dangerous oil project.
Click Here |
Posted at the request of several people including MIKE - 1/22/12
Repeal the Supreme Court's 5-4 Citizens United decision
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's 5-4 Citizens United decision. This ruling opened the floodgates, allowing big corporations and special interests to contaminate our elections with unlimited, anonymous cash.
Over the past two years, we've seen the results of Citizens United. Super PACs like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and the Koch Brother's Americans for Prosperity have run attack ad after attack ad, further polarizing our political process and fueling the gridlock in Washington.
Citizens United has been a boon to deep-pocketed special interests, but the unlimited, anonymous cash it has unleashed on our political process is undermining the foundations of our Democracy.
I am determined to stand up and work to reverse the damage done by the Citizens United ruling. I hope you will join me in this fight.
Please sign the petition and join the fight to end the unlimited, anonymous, special interest money that the Citizens United decision let in to our political process.
Click here to sign the petition.
Thank you for your support!
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
P.S. We are trying to get 20,000 people to sign the petition this weekend. Please take a moment to sign it and share with a friend!
Paid for by Stabenow for U.S. Senate |
Posted 1/19/2012
Dear South County Dem:
One person, one vote is the foundation of our democracy. But two years ago, the Supreme Court decided to test the integrity of that foundation with dynamite – the Citizens United ruling.
The result? A massive flood of shadowy, unregulated corporate money polluting our elections. Led by Karl Rove and his American Crossroads groups, the right wing is using this ruling to spend millions on disgusting attacks against candidates like Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren. If successful, they will take the White House and Senate, meaning complete Republican control of government.
But a group of Democratic senators has introduced an amendment to reverse Citizens United. It would repeal the effects of this terrible ruling and revoke the ability of corporations and Karl Rove to skew the 2012 elections with unregulated cash.
We need 100,000 Citizen Cosponsors for the Reverse Citizens United Amendment by January 21. That’s the second anniversary of the ruling, a day we’ll commemorate by trying to wipe its existence off the books.
Click here to sign on as a Citizen Cosponsor of the Reverse Citizens United Amendment. It’s time to close the floodgates on corporate cash in elections!
Become a Citizen Cosponsor of the Reverse Citizens United Amendment. Let’s return political power to where it belongs – the people.
Sincerely,
Guy Cecil
Executive Director, DSCC |
Posted 1/8/2012
Stop Vote Suppression!
Now that they control a majority of statehouses across the nation, Republicans are attempting a bold power grab to disenfranchise voters and repeat the Florida election debacle of 2000.
Right now, states with Republican governors or new GOP majorities are ramming through bills designed to make it harder for people to vote.
They'll stop at nothing to steal the Presidency.
We have to act now to stop these bills from becoming law. The Democratic Governors Association is the only organization devoted solely to electing Democratic governors who will veto any and all attempts to limit voter rights. Use the form at the right to stand with the DGA and demand that Republicans stop their politically-motivated attempts to suppress votes.
Click Here |
From Common Cause - Posted 1/8/2012
The Electoral College needs fixing
Your action now can make the difference because the Michigan Legislature will soon be considering a plan to reform the Electoral College.
Under the National Popular Vote bill, the presidential candidate who gets the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC will become President.
The current system has elected a second-place candidate in four of 56 presidential elections. Under the current system, a shift of a few thousand votes in one or two states would have resulted in the election of the second-place candidate in four of the 13 elections. A shift of only 60,000 votes in Ohio would have elected John Kerry, even though George Bush received over three million more votes nationwide.
The states have the constitutional authority to change the method of awarding electoral votes and thereby establish a national popular vote for President. Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives the states exclusive control over the manner of awarding their electoral votes: "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors...." The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly characterized the authority of the state legislatures over the manner of awarding their electoral votes as "plenary" and "exclusive."
The National Popular Vote bill has already been enacted into law by New Jersey, Maryland, Vermont, Illinois, Washington state, California, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and Hawaii. The bill has also been approved by at least one legislative house in an additional 12 states.
If you believe that the candidate who receives the most popular votes in the entire country should become President, please take a moment to visit our friends at NationalPopularVote.com to send an email to your Michigan state legislators to tell them to support the National Popular Vote bill.
The National Popular Vote bill is endorsed by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, FairVote, Sierra Club, the Brennan Center for Justice, NAACP, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, ACLU, the National Latino Congreso, Asian American Action Fund, DEMOS, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG, and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.
The bill has been endorsed by newspapers such as the Hartford Courant, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, Sacramento Bee and many more.
As the Sarasota Herald Tribune said: "The most compelling and practical alternative is promoted by a bipartisan group called National Popular Vote. The NPV proposal calls for legislatures to pass bills committing their state's electoral votes to the candidate who receives the most popular votes nationwide; the bill would take effect only when enacted by states that together have enough electoral votes to elect a president."
Under a national popular vote, every voter in every state would matter in every presidential election.
Learn more at www.NationalPopularVote.com.
Like National Popular Vote:
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Bob Edgar
and the rest of the team at Common Cause |
Posted 1/1/12
We must send a message loud and clear:
THESE CUTS ARE UNACCEPTABLE!
Please join us as we fight to protect our schools and our children from proposed cuts that will jeopardize their future and our state’s economic recovery. If we don’t act now, certain lawmakers in Lansing will continue to raid school funding and hurt our schools’ ability to give our kids the education they deserve. Take action now and join the fight – it’s a fight we can’t afford to lose.
Click here to go to Fight School Cuts web site and petition. |
Posted 1/1/12
From the Nation Magazine and People for the American Way
Dear Progressive Ally, 
Efforts to hold Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accountable for ethics violations have jumped to the next level, with a group of House Democrats led by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) now pushing for a Justice Department investigation into Justice Thomas' possible serious violations.
Please sign our petition supporting the call for an investigation now.
Various reports have raised concerns about Justice Clarence Thomas' seemingly flagrant disregard for important disclosure requirements under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. Justice Thomas failed to disclose his wife's earnings on judicial financial disclosure forms on which he was required to do so. And there are questions about his acceptance of gifts from interests with significant stake in several Supreme Court cases.
The Supreme Court's very legitimacy and the public's trust in the institution are under threat if Justices do not strictly adhere to ethical standards. It's incredibly important that Justice Thomas' violations are not ignored and that he be held accountable.
Hold Justice Clarence Thomas accountable -- take action to support a DOJ investigation now!
After you sign, please help spread the word and recruit more Americans to this cause.
Thank you for stand up for fair and just courts -- the American Way.
Sincerely,
Michael Keegan, President |
Posted 12/21/11
Tell GOP to Pass the Payroll Tax Cut Bill
Unbelievable. Last week, the Democratic Senate overwhelmingly passed a payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance extension. Now, extremist Tea Party Republicans are refusing to pass it. They are holding the middle class hostage only days before a tax hike will hit millions.
How urgent is this? In just ten days, the average middle class family will see its taxes jump by $1,000 a year. And 2.2 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits. That’s money families won’t have to spend on food, clothes and rent. That’s money that won’t be spent in our communities. Our entire economy will suffer. Happy New Year, America.
This cannot stand. Demand the House GOP pass this bill. I need your help to reach 100,000 signatures  by midnight tomorrow.
Click here to sign our petition. Demand that House Republicans pass the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance extension. Now.
People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake here. $1,000 might not be a lot of money to Republican members of Congress, but when you’re living paycheck to paycheck – or are scraping by on unemployment insurance – this is a huge deal.
Click here, sign, and pass this petition on to your friends.
Even Scrooge wasn’t this vindictive. It’s way past time for Republicans to put politics aside and pass this payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance extension. Middle class families are counting on it. For once, Republicans should put them first.
Guy Cecil
DSCC Executive Director |
Posted 12/21/11
Thank you, President Obama, for setting strong standards to limit mercury and other toxic air pollution.
Click Here
Friend – I just left Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., where I watched EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson make one of the most important public health announcements in the history of EPA.
The Obama administration has set the first-ever national standards for mercury and other toxic air pollution for power plants. These historic new health standards will save lives, prevent illnesses like asthma and bronchitis, avoid hospitalizations and missed days at work, and create jobs in pollution control technology.
Our children have waited long enough to breathe clean air without the threat of inhaling toxic air pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Obama administration’s new standards will help protect us from many airborne toxins, including mercury, arsenic, lead, dioxins, acid gases and other harmful pollutants.
Click here to send a message to President Obama thanking him for setting the first-ever limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants.
LCV members submitted more than 50,000 public comments, attended public hearings and rallied in support of these new standards when they were first proposed earlier this year. In fact, more than 900,000 Americans submitted comments to the EPA – the most comments ever received on an EPA rule. And the overwhelmingly majority of those comments were in support of the rule. This massive display grassroots support demonstrates that together we can affect meaningful change.
The significance of these new standards cannot be understated. The negative health impacts of toxic air pollution are well-known and documented – and the EPA is estimating that these new standards will save thousands of lives, prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma and avert 11,000 cases of acute childhood bronchitis every year starting in 2015.
Click here to send a message to President Obama thanking him for setting the first-ever limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants.
With the support of LCV members like you, we will continue working with the Obama administration in the new year to take meaningful steps to reduce harmful air pollution, protect our waterways and advance cleaner energy sources.
Thank you for fighting for a safer, healthier environment.
Sincerely,
Gene Karpinski
President
League of Conservation Voters |
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