Daily Archives: 08/06/2010

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Nelson and Lincoln vote to extend Bush Tax Cuts …ThinkProgress.org


UNDER THE RADAR

ECONOMY — NELSON AND LINCOLN VOTE TO PERMANENTLY EXTEND BUSH TAX CUTS, MASSIVELY INCREASE DEFICIT: Last month, as the Senate was gridlocked by a Republican filibuster of a bill to extend much-needed unemployment benefits to millions of out-of-work Americans, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) stood with the GOP against the extension. Nelson claimed that his concerns about the deficit overrode his support for the extension; he voted against the bill that finally passed 60-40. Later that week, Nelson came out in support of an extension — “for now” — of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which adds many billions more to the deficit than the unemployment insurance extension. In fact, extending the Bush tax cuts for one year alone would add $115 billion to the deficit, compared to the “relatively tiny budgetary cost of $33 billion” for the extension of unemployment extension benefits. Yesterday, Nelson provided further evidence that he is a deficit peacock — someone who claims to be concerned about the deficit but isn’t actually interested in taking serious steps toward a balanced budget. Before the final vote on the states’ aid bill that passed yesterday, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered two amendments that would “massively add to the deficit” by “freezing in place” the current tax rates on individuals and businesses, which, in effect, would permanently extend the Bush tax cuts. On both votes, only Nelson and Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) “crossed the aisle to vote with all Republicans,” with the exception of “noted deficit hawk” Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH). Nelson and Lincoln (who also claims to be concerned about deficits) apparently don’t mind spending $3.1 trillion over the next 10 years to pursue ineffective tax cuts for the wealthy. DeMint, “one of the most fiscally conservative members of Congress,” is not so concerned when it comes to paying for his extraordinarily expensive amendments. Both came “with instructions to offset as necessary through spending reduction,” Senate-speak for “we’ll worry about the cost later.”

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Big news …from firedoglake.com


Click here to say Just Say Now!

The war on marijuana is a complete failure.

Billions of dollars are wasted every year. Police officers’ lives put at risk daily. Out-of-control Mexican drug cartels have ravaged our borders, killing thousands of people every year. It’s so bad, even Mexico’s President called for a debate on legalizing marijuana this week

Our government needs a reality check – it’s time to end the war on marijuana.

So we’re launching a massive campaign to fight for legalizing marijuana that we’re calling “Just Say Now.” With the support of the grassroots group Students for Sensible Drug Policy, we’ll organize thousands of people to support legalization at the ballot box.

To kick off our campaign, we’re bringing attention to the unjust, unpopular, and racist reality that is the war on marijuana. It’s a war that must end now.

Ask President Obama to help end the war on marijuana. Click here to sign our petition.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/endthewaronmarijuana

We’re organizing our Just Say Now campaign to put a stop to the federal government’s war on marijuana. To do that, we’ll organize activists to identify and turn out supporters in states to vote for marijuana in the 2010 and 2012 elections.

This campaign will be a game-changer. Our partners at Students for Sensible Drug Policy have already organized 150 campuses and thousands of student activists. We’re poised to make a huge impact to legalize marijuana.

This November, California will vote to legalize marijuana, and 3 other states will vote on medical marijuana regulations. Thirteen states and DC have already legalized medical marijuana. Poll after poll shows huge majorities in states and the country support legalizing marijuana.

Despite this popular support, the federal government’s war on marijuana continues. Just last month, federal agents raided several completely legal medical marijuana farms and dispensaries.

Join us in calling on President Obama to help end this war. He should join the debate to legalize marijuana.

Click here to add your name to our petition to President Obama to end the war on marijuana:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/endthewaronmarijuana

We’re excited to Just Say Now to legalizing marijuana. Thanks for all you do.

Best,

Jane Hamsher                        Aaron Houston
Founder, Firedoglake              Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy

P.S. We have an online store with great items using our Just Say Now logo – t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and more. All proceeds will go towards our campaign to legalize marijuana. Check out our store!

http://firedoglake.com/justsaynow/store/


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TGIF …&some News …


The Elena Kagan confirmation did not get the airplay I thought it would, certainly not even half of what Sonia Sotomeyer received and that is somewhat puzzling because the big thing was how we now have 3 women on the Supreme Court. It is not lost on me and is extremely important that all women interested in going in to the field of law consider moving toward Judgeship work and then the Supreme Court …Yes We Can

The BP disaster will not be forgotten though the Media is saying we the people will like all things out of sight out of mind but the BP disaster  made an impact on the entire Gulf Coast economy and even though the well might be plugged up we still know nothing about the fish, shrimp or oyster beds and the Wetlands. The Wildlife will continue to be important and in the News as long as we have organizations like Greenpeace watching the Gulf Coast. It’s obvious this disaster has also made  more people actually consider our future ,consider solutions that do not include fossil fuels but about moving toward Solar, Wind Biofuel, smart grid, batteries and more likely to create green jobs.

The fight for the rights of people who look “reasonably suspicious”  or “illegal” will continue on      …Immigration is getting more airplay and thankfully, We the People are starting to hear what the true intent of SB1070 really is. The racist comments and loud noise and the nonsense coming out of the mouths of people on the right has gotten my familial blood boiling more than ever as Republicans turn up the stupid on a daily basis. It was not apparent back when Brewer held her press conference after meeting with the President that SB1070 had much more in it than “reasonable suspicion” and how she wanted to use it as a weapon to make the undocumented leave Arizona… legally? It was obvious or she appeared as if she was nervous and uncomfortable but tried to seem like she got the best of the President. Maybe she thinks that the written word will stop police officers who now have the additional duty of acting like ICE agents from negative behavior; that the written word will keep their emotions in check  but it won’t; racial profiling is used on a daily basis by the police  and while against the law, it’s accepted behavior … It is a side of human nature most of us know is bad but it’s there and this Governor just doesn’t get it … the video of a Seattle Police Officer was definitely an example of how some police officers can and do act … not all police officers will cross that line but it’s 2010 and this guy yelled shouted and called the so-called perp a racial slur… he must have felt safe that he would not be caught on tape …21st Century technology kept him in check…the written word of a law is only as good as the officer who takes the words written into law seriously.  Just ask people of colour who drive great cars and get pulled over; who visit parks and get questioned because they looked reasonably suspicious but there was no probable cause …this law seems  unconstitutional, will alienate minorities and drive undocumented people back into the shadows which is bad for the overall good of the state of Arizona. It is not that surprising that SB1070 was written with small bombs attached much like the Bush’s WMD. It now seems as if Gov Brewer  conveniently avoided talking about certain aspects of SB1070 that they were trying to push to become law that would tear apart families. The notion that Gov Brewer, Sheriff Arpaio, and now more and more Republicans want to repeal the 14th Amendment they want to use it to crush families that do not meet their standards or what they call purity test and that in itself is truly offensive. It is now clear that the 14th Amendment is being used as another tool to crush families by taking away citizenship away from children of immigrant families. This is not only ridiculous it goes against what America was built on and those folks that have the idea that we need to go back in time when women and people of colour were treated poorly should be chastised and told to shut up that is not happening we will move into the 21st Century thank you very much.

Other News …

**Macy’s in Tacoma want to change the way workers earn money make less and work harder while they profit from those changes;don’t shop there until they start fair hiring practices

**The Blue Angels are in Seattle for seafair

C-SPAN …

Senate Approves Kagan: to visit White House today

By a vote of 63-37 the Senate approved U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan as the 112th Justice of the Supreme Court on Thursday. With the confirmation process complete,

Kagan is expected to go to the Supreme Court tomorrow to take the Constitutional Oath and the Judicial Oath, both administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. This afternoon, the President will host a reception for Kagan at the White House.

Nebraska Democratic Senator Ben Nelson was the only member of his party who opposed Kagan in the final vote. Five Republican Senators joined the Democratic majority to support the nominee: Susan Collins (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), Richard Lugar (IN), Olympia Snowe (ME) and Judd Gregg (NH).

Kagan will replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens and become the fourth female Justice in the Supreme Court’s history. For the first time in its history, he nine-member court will now have three sitting female justices.

Officials Debate Impact of the New Health Care Law

This morning, C‑SPAN’s Washington Journal wraps up its week-long series on the new health care law with two state Attorneys General who share their views on how the law affects their state.
Also, panelists at the American Enterprise Institute are reacting to yesterday’s report on Medicare and Social Security released by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The report, an annual update on the fiscal condition of the two programs, cited an improved outlook for Medicare and a slightly less positive picture for Social Security.