Trust me: it’s no fun being the bearer of bad news.

I recently told you that since the recession officially ended, women’s unemployment rates have actually increased. But that’s not the only grim reality: today the Census Bureau released new data, and NWLC’s analysis finds that record numbers of women are living in poverty — and extreme poverty.

WWW.NWLC.ORG

With two-thirds of women in the role of head of their household or a contributor to their family’s income, it’s more important than ever to make sure that unemployed women have a chance to get back to work. That’s why President Obama’s plan for job creation, submitted to Congress this week, has come at such a critical time for women and their families. Congress needs to act quickly on these proposals to address the immediate deficit facing this country — the jobs deficit. The numbers released today by the Census Bureau underscore the urgency.

Urge your Members of Congress to act on job creation NOW!

www.nwlc.org

Here are just a few important findings from the new data:

The rise in women living in poverty: Over 17 million women lived in poverty in 2010, including more than 7.5 million in extreme poverty, with an income below half of the federal poverty line — both all-time highs. The poverty rate among women rose to 14.5 percent in 2010 from 13.9 percent in 2009, the highest rate in 17 years. The poverty rate among single mothers climbed to 40.7 percent in 2010; more than half of all poor children lived with single mothers.
The wage gap: The wage gap for women remained as wide as in 2009. Women working full-time year-round were paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts.
Uninsured women: The rate of women without health insurance rose to 19.7 percent in 2010 from 19.2 percent in 2009 — the highest rate in more than a decade. A total of 19 million women were uninsured in 2010 — an increase of more than 0.5 million women from the previous year.

You can get more details from our press release and check back later this week for our further analysis of what these new numbers mean for women and their families.

WWW.NWLC.ORG

Tell your Members of Congress to take action on the President’s proposals to create jobs, grow the economy, and alleviate hardship for women and families. And tell them not undercut job-creation measures by cutting funding for vital public services, which would destroy jobs and make it harder for struggling families to make ends meet.The President issued the call to action and submitted his plan to Congress. Now it’s up to Congress to act!Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. You can read about the important provisions for women in the President’s jobs plan here.

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Sen.Dick Durbin …

09/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Republicans won back the House by campaigning on jobs, jobs, jobs. Now, President Obama puts forward a real jobs plan, and what do we hear from them? First silence. Then complaints.

Truth is, many of them don’t want to boost the economy. That might interfere with their anti-Obama agenda and winning back the Senate. It’s cynical politics at its worst.

Scary thing is, if we don’t respond, their strategy could work. The Tea Party is engaged, Republicans are more determined than ever, and if we’re not challenging every attack, they will gain momentum. We saw in 2010 what GOP momentum looks like.

Fortunately, we have half a million grassroots donors and a strong plan to hold the Senate. You know that if we miss the goals to raise critical resources, we might lose seats we otherwise could have won. That’s why I know you’ll join me in helping the DSCC meet its crucial September goal.

It won’t be easy – it’s going to take all of us working together to hold the Senate. Karl Rove has teamed up with Haley Barbour and doubled his original Crossroads fundraising goal to more than $240 million. And we’ll also be fighting against laws passed by Republican governors – including Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Florida’s Rick Scott – that will keep people from voting.

But if Republicans think we’re going to sit by and let them get away with it, they have another thing coming.
Democrats are investigating these undemocratic laws. And Rove’s Big Oil friends can’t hold a candle to our grassroots supporters. By meeting its fundraising goals, the DSCC can surpass its 2010 effort, knocking on 2 million doors, calling 5.5 million swing voters and running TV ads in nearly a dozen states. Every dollar you give helps make it happen.

You know how high the stakes are. If we lose four seats, our Democratic firewall is gone. Rick Perry, Eric Cantor and Jim DeMint would end Medicare, turn Social Security over to Wall Street, gut the EPA, slash education and defund Planned Parenthood. We’re not about to let them.

Can you give $5 or $10 today? The DSCC still needs $743,000 by its Sept. 30 deadline to protect our Democratic firewall and stop the Tea Party trio of Perry, Cantor and DeMint.

Republicans think they’ve got a winning plan. But here’s a newsflash: We’ve only begun to fight. Thanks so much for standing up for the Democratic values we both believe in.

Sincerely,

Sen. Dick Durbin

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Marriage Equality Achieved? Not So Fast! …Michael Keegan, PFAW Foundation

09/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Equality is THE LAW in NY State

This year the State of New York made the decision to recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. It’s now the law, and public officials must abide by it regardless of their personal prejudices.

WWW.PFAW.ORG

This weekend we demanded that the Town Clerk of Ledyard, New York, Rose Marie Belforti, sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples looking to marry — as the law dictates she must do — or resign.

Belforti had previously stated that she would not sign licenses for same-sex couples and refused to do so for one couple on August 30. Even after numerous residents voiced their objections to the clerk’s position at a town meeting just last night, it was clear that Ms. Belforti is sticking to her refusal to issue licenses and has no intention of resigning.

PFAW Foundation is stepping up the pressure with a petition to Town Clerk Belforti that will help us focus more attention on this issue. Please add your name to it right now! www.pfaw.org

Marriage equality is THE LAW in New York State, and couples like Katie Carmichael and Deirdre DiBiaggio, whom Belforti refused a marriage license, have the RIGHT to wed.

Public officials can’t pick and choose what laws they want to follow. And Ms. Belforti has no place putting her personal prejudices over the hard-won legal rights of New York’s same-sex couples. We’ll pursue all necessary legal action to make sure those rights are protected and are working with the global law firm Proskauer Rose, LLP to achieve a swift remedy. We’ve also brought the issue the attention of New York’s attorney general.

This year the State of New York made the decision to recognize the fundamental rights of gay and lesbian New Yorkers by finally allowing all couples to have equal access to the protections only marriage provides. We must be able to trust in our elected officials to uphold the people’s laws.

Please join us in this fight. Sign the petition to Ledyard Town Clerk Belforti now telling her to do her job, follow the law and sign ALL legal marriage licenses, or else resign. www.pfaw.org

After you take action, it’s critical that you help spread the word. We can’t let elected officials at any level get away with illegally denying Americans’ their rights because of their own personal prejudices.

Thank you for standing for Equality — the American Way.

Sincerely,

Michael Keegan

P.S. Please notify us if you or someone you know has experienced the same problem in New York State. Email legal@pfaw.org.

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$53 Billion For Iraq, $0 For America …Judd Legum, ThinkProgress

09/14/2011 Nativegrl77

For the past decade, Congress has had no problem spending over $120 billion to rebuild schools, roads, bridges and other essential infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, America‘s infrastructure is crumbling and millions of people are out of work. Contact your member of Congress and tell them it’s time to rebuild America.

It just takes a second using our form: http://www2.americanprogress.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=163

All the Republican leaders in Congress voted to approve massive amounts of funding to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan without a penny in offsets. But now they are opposing President Obama’s proposal to rebuild America even though it’s fully paid for.

Contact your member today and demand we invest at least as much in our own communities as we did in Iraq and Afghanistan. And let us know what you hear back from your representatives.

Best,

Judd

Judd Legum
judd@thinkprogress.org
202-682-1611

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Lost, Abused And Neglected For A Profit …”Axel Caballero from Cuéntame”

09/14/2011 Nativegrl77

Lost, Abused And Neglected For A Profit

Guillermo Gomez-Sanchez is a 50 year old legal resident with a mental disability. In 2004 Gomez was detained because of a dispute at a grocery store over a bag of tomatoes.

Guillermo spent two years at a private CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) detention facility – the corporation neglected to report his medical condition.

Watch our video and take a stand with Cuéntame’s Immigrant For Sale documentary campaign today.

CCA profited close to $90,000 off of Gomez’ incarceration, and ensured greater profit by failing to disclose his mental disability effectively leaving Guillermo trapped for 2 years. In 2010 CCA CEO Damon T. Hininger received $3,266,387 in total compensation.

It’s time to put an end to the private prison racket. How many more are suffering lost in a system that values profit over justice? Join the discussion on Facebook today!

Yours,
Axel Caballero and the Cuéntame team.

I invite you to join Cuéntame on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.