Daily Archives: 10/14/2010

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Is the Chamber of Commerce using foreign money to buy elections?


Change.org

Don’t let the Chamber of Commerce undermine our democracy. 

Sign the Petition

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the poster child for corporate corruption of our electoral system.

This year alone the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pledged to spend an unprecedented $75 million on ads attacking candidates who don’t bow to corporate interests.

However, an explosive new report by the Center for American Progress reveals that some of that corporate cash might actually be coming from foreign entities, which would be a federal crime.

There is already too much corporate cash spent to influence our elections. It’s unacceptable that our democracy would be further undermined by illegal donations from foreign interests.

Election Day is just around the corner, and time is running out. Please join the movement of people demanding that Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department investigate the U.S. Chamber of Commerce immediately.

Tell the DOJ: Investigate the U.S. Chamber of Commerce immediately.

The Chamber of Commerce denies that it uses foreign money in any way that’s illegal, but the Center for American Progress has documented how the Chamber aggressively raises money outside the United States from foreign entities – including state-run companies in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, India and Russia – and deposits that money into the same general fund used to fund the Chamber’s political program.

Because of the Chamber’s tax status as a trade organization, it can shield most of its financial information from the public. So without a government investigation, all we have to go on is the Chamber’s word.

Given the stakes of this election, we cannot just take the Chamber’s word for it. And we cannot wait for this issue to drag through a partisan Federal Elections Commission – the election is days away and there’s too much at stake this November.

Add your name to the chorus of people around the country calling on the Department of Justice to immediately move to investigate this explosive charge.

Tell the DOJ: Investigate the U.S. Chamber of Commerce immediately.

Thank you for taking action,

– The Change.org Team

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Seattle vs. the extremists


Human Rights Campaign


Election Day is only
19 days away.

We need 26 donations from Seattle in the next week to fight back against Mormon Church leaders, NOM, and radical candidates.

Donate

A hateful sermon to millions by a top Mormon apostle has driven home a simple point: words matter.

When extremism goes unchallenged, we see the results in blatant discrimination, in bullying and harassment in our schools, and in violent hate crimes – like the horrific anti-gay kidnapping and torture by nine men in the Bronx last week.

We need to fight back. That’s why I traveled to Utah this week to hand-deliver 150,000 letters to that same Mormon leader (watch the video here). It’s why we launched NOM Exposed to spread the truth about the so-called National Organization for Marriage.

And it’s why, as we face a make-or-break election, we’re warning voters about radical candidates who would spread this poison from the halls of Congress and make bigotry seem legitimate.

We need to raise $250,000 in the next seven days to support these efforts – to put more staff on the ground, expose extremist candidates, ratchet up efforts against NOM and Mormon Church leaders, and get hundreds of thousands of pro-equality voters to the polls.

It will take 26 donations from Seattle –

Last week, nine men kidnapped and tortured two teenagers and a 30-year-old man in the Bronx and subjected them to hours of horrific torture because they were gay. Just days later, New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino gave a speech saying he didn’t want children “brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid or successful option.”

When will this cycle of bullying, incitement, and violence end?

At a time when every day seems to bring new stories of hate, I’m outraged that church leaders are spreading a message of intolerance – from the Mormon apostle who gave that sermon to the anti-gay DVD the Catholic Church mailed to every single parishioner in Minnesota – but I’m sickened by the thought of that intolerance coming from members of the United States Senate.

One candidate for Senate has crusaded to ‘cure’ gays through prayer. Another is so radical she won’t even accept donations from companies that are too pro-equality. A third is so far to the right that uber-extremist Rick Santorum himself called him “too conservative.”

Many voters are just starting to pay attention to their local races. And when they do, we’ve got to be there – in the media and at thousands of front doors, explaining extreme candidates’ fringe positions and radical beliefs.

We’ve got to go on offense against NOM and its cronies. We’ve got to get fair-minded voters to the polls. And we must increase the pace of our work in schools to fight bullying and in our innovative programs to work with communities of faith to promote equality.

Thank you for all that you do.

Sincerely,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

P.S. Please accept my deepest gratitude if you’ve already put a check in the mail or given to HRC by some other means. If you haven’t yet contributed, I hope you’ll join us today.

Donate

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Rainforest Action Network


 

Rainforest Action Network
Tell Utah to keep its tar sands in the ground!
Utah Canyonlands
Take Action
tar sands

The now infamous Alberta tar sands wreak havoc not only on Canada’s land, people and wildlife, but the global climate at large.

The United States is next on the list of tar sands victims. Utah’s Division of Oil, Gas & Mining has approved the first ever tar sands mine in the U.S. directly adjacent to Canyonlands National Park.

Let’s nip this nightmare in the bud.

Demand Utah’s director of Oil, Gas and Mining John Baza protect our national parks from the dirtiest oil extraction method on Earth.

Canada’s Earth Energy Resources, the company that is trying to mine tar sands in Utah, expects to produce 2,000 barrels of crude bitumen per day from this horrific mining project. If Earth Energy Resources gets its way the tar sands min project would occupy 213 acres within the Colorado River watershed.

We can’t allow the precedent of tar sands extraction to be set in America. These stakes are simply too high to live with.

Email John Baza today and tell him to keep tar sands mining out of Utah.

Thank you for helping to prevent the tar sands industry from getting a toehold in the United States.

Brant Olson

Thank you for acting to protect our National Parks,
Brant Olson
Freedom From Oil Campaign
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S. 2919, Small Business Lending Enhancement Act of 2010


CBO’s Web site:

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A Mammogram Never Felt So Good


 

 
Who would have thought that a mammogram could ever be made a little more pleasant?

Thanks to some of the provisions of the new health care law that took effect last month, now, when you enroll in a new health plan, you no longer have co-pays for certain preventive health care services, including mammograms.

Keeping your family, friends, and co-workers healthy can be as easy as a click of a button. Share our e-card in honor of National Mammography Day, and remind those you are close to about the importance of getting their annual mammograms.

And check out our latest fact sheets to find out more about what there is to like for women in the new health care law.

Sincerely,
Judy Waxman Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. We thank you for all the ways you have helped us achieve so much, and we need your continued support to continue to make gains for women and their families. Please donate today.