~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Important vote

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

Congress is about to vote on important legislation to create and protect jobs. If the House fails to act now, states will be forced to cut even more services — as well as hundreds of thousands of public employees.

The Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes bill includes additional help for unemployed Americans who still can’t find work in this economy — and would result in $26 billion in badly needed funding for state and local governments, known as FMAP. Without this assistance, states will slash hundreds of thousands of jobs and gut education, health care and public safety services even more.

Click here to call your Congress member. Tell your Representative to vote YES on the Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes bill.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Repower America

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

With at least 4 million gallons of oil already poisoning the Gulf Coast and no end in sight for this environmental catastrophe, the alarm bell to end America’s dependence on fossil fuels is ringing and has reached a deafening volume.

We need a strong bill to transition our nation to clean energy — and we need it now.

Yesterday, we reached an important milestone in this fight when Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman released a draft version of their climate and clean energy proposal.

This is the starting gun for the Senate to craft and pass the strongest possible climate and clean energy legislation.

This week’s proposal is not the only language on the table. Over the last year, a number of other Senators, including Senators Susan Collins and Maria Cantwell, have put forward several proposals that also help end our addiction to fossil fuels. The addition of the Kerry-Lieberman draft proposal is important because it is the final piece of the puzzle — and now it’s time for the Senate leadership to craft the strongest bill possible, drawing out the best from all of the ideas that have been put forth.

The bill language that is finally selected for consideration by the Senate and the priority that it receives in the Senate calendar is driven by the Senate leadership. And how hard they push for this bill, and how strong it will be, will be determined by how much pressure Senators are feeling from us.

Send an email to your Senators telling them that America deserves a strong, uncompromised climate and clean energy bill.

This week’s draft proposal from Senators Kerry and Lieberman is not perfect — it does not by itself solve the climate crisis, and there are too many provisions within it that support our continued dependence on fossil fuels, including too few restrictions on offshore drilling. Critically, the proposal does commit the United States to reducing carbon emissions 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 from 2005 levels — meeting the commitments President Obama made to the rest of the world at Copenhagen’s climate negotiations last year.

On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the Senator is waiting to hear the public reaction to this draft legislation before he decides if climate and clean energy legislation will be a top legislative priority this year.

So we have to make sure our Senators hear from all of us. We cannot afford to wait any longer for climate and clean energy legislation, and we cannot afford weak legislation that won’t get the job done.

Please send an email to your Senators asking them to do everything in their power to ensure that a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill makes it to the floor of the Senate this year, and that this bill is the strongest bill possible.

http://cpaf.repoweramerica.org/senateactionnow

Congress’s failure to lead on climate and clean energy has cost us far too much already. But the first step to a better future is simple: “Bill, Baby, Bill!”

Thanks for making your voice heard at this critical time,

Dave Boundy
Campaign Manager
The Climate Protection Action Fund’s Repower America Campaign

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tuesday News tips …

05/18/2010 Nativegrl77

Democrats… true Democratic Candidates need We the People. It’s Super Tuesday, Primary day and as we all wait for the votes to come in it is important for all Democrats to GOTV for all the right Candidates who will continue with the great efforts to get our financial system, health care, climate change, immigration reformed, inplace and adjusted as needed. The focus should be progressives and or candidates willing to get us into the 21st Century and back in saddle again, or as the number one in the Nation.

The oil dump off the Gulf Coast has gotten to a point where everyone is now questioning what was said by the 3 stooges.. =BP/Halliburton/TransOcean from the beginning; did they start spinning from the beginning; why didn’t have equipment siphoning off oil right away. The conflicts between them was sad and offensive and when the final truth is that the equipment actually malfunctioned, that they were trying to draw oil from a blown well and mud, blow out switch or, top hat, junk shot and now siphoning, which probably should have been started sooner by people dressed in protective gear including masks.

immigration is still important and seems to be getting shoved under the rug; the polls have stated that people of America are sort of inclined to side on Gov Jan Brewer’s law… well, the poll question is what i question … the law is not stating that we need a comprehensive immigration reform … it states that the police will have the right to questions … by reasonable suspicsion…what is that? what does an illegal look like/what does an American look like? it means if you look like an undocumented or as most put it … if you look like an illegal then you are up for being stopped, questioned based on your accent, shoes and whatever will get you to show your papers. We all have to question what happens next? will police be paid at a higher rate because they are doing the job of a immigrant agent? and people need to know that police do commit errors, they do racially profile and in Seattle it was shown on camera … by a citizen…with audio and it def was racial profiling and racial slurs … the polls and how they are worded are the question

Other News …

**Pfizer to cut 6,000 jobs/closing more plants

**The Dow bounces back

**Republican Mark souder resigns after being caught having an affair with a staff aide

C-SPAN …

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN179665920100517

White House Press Briefing 5/17

Commerce Small Business Summit 5/17

Panelists Take Snapshot of Current Supreme Court Amid Changes

Coinciding with the recent release of “The Supreme Court: A C‑SPAN Book Featuring the Justices In Their Own Words,” C‑SPAN and the Library of Congress sponsor a discussion on the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court reporters Joan Biskupic and Lyle Denniston, and former law clerk Maureen Mahoney take a look at the current make-up and issues facing the Court.

S.C. Panel Discussion

Primary Day Arrives in Oregon too!! Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Arkansas

Three state primaries being held today may shape the Congressional elections in November. In Pennsylvania, Incumbent Sen. Specter (D-PA) defends his seat from challenger U.S. Representative Joe Sestak (D). Also, Mark Critz (D) and Tim Burns (R) are in a special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. John Murtha (D). Kentucky holds a primary for the GOP U.S. Senate race with Trey Grayson, Rand Paul, Gurley L. Martin, John Stephenson and Jon J. Scribner. Lastly, incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln is up against challenger Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the Arkansas U.S. Senate Democratic Primary.

Election Coverage: Tonight on C-SPAN Networks

New START Treaty Submitted To Congress

In April, Pres. Obama and Russian Pres. Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that will limit long-range nuclear weapons. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Sec. Robert Gates and Jt. Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen discuss the treaty at a Senate Foreign Relations Cmte hearing. This would replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and the 2002 Moscow Treaty.

Senate Hearing: LIVE on c-span.org
START Signing Ceremony (4/8)

Lawmakers Examine Long Term Impact of Oil Spill

Congress continues its investigation into the Gulf oil spill, hearing from Obama Administration officials and executives from BP and Transocean. The Senate Commerce Cmte. will highlight the personal responsibility of BP and Transocean, while the heads of the Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration list short and long-term impact of the spill. Also, the Senate Environment Committee hears from EPA Admin. Lisa Jackson and Interior Sec. Ken Salazar on federal assistance in the Gulf Coast.

Commerce Cmte: c-span.org, 2:30pm ET
Environment Cmte: C-SPAN3 at 2:30pm ET