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Alma Adams … goes to Washington

11/17/2014 Nativegrl77

by OnPolitics

Record-setting 100th woman in Congress takes oath today

When Alma Adams takes the oath of office Wednesday, the North Carolina Democrat will set a new record and become the 100th woman to serve in this current Congress. 401 more words

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This Month’s Jobs Numbers

11/17/2014 Nativegrl77

Sunday, July 06, 2014

You might be seeing a lot of news about the economy creating more jobs.

That’s because at the beginning of every month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a report on our country’s general employment situation for the previous month — and this month’s showed good news.

What’s it all mean, and why should you care?

There’s still much more to do to keep moving forward, but we’ve put together a few key points about how our economy is doing generally. Take a look — and if you learn something new, pass it on.

Our country hasn’t seen this kind of job creation since the 1990s — and we’ve been adding more than 200,000 jobs a month for five months straight.

The 1.4 million jobs added in the first half of this year are the most in any half since 1999. What’s more, this is the first time since September 1999-January 2000 that we’ve seen total job growth above 200,000 for five straight months.

Auto sales in June are also the highest they’ve been since mid-2006 — before the financial crisis.

Let’s not forget that the American auto industry is continuing to bounce back — adding 18,000 jobs this past month for a total of 463,000 jobs added since Chrysler and GM came out of bankruptcy in June 2009.

Meanwhile, we’re continuing to produce more oil at home than we’re importing from overseas.

In addition to doubling renewable electricity generation from sources like wind and solar, last October something big happened: For the first time in nearly two decades, we started importing less foreign oil than we were producing at home.

It’s progress — but we’ve still got work to do.

Want a more in-depth look at what the jobs numbers mean, complete with more charts, numbers, and economist-speak?

Take a look at this post from Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.

And if you’re looking for more great charts and infographics related to the economy, visit our Shareables hub.

Black History

make sure the Senate vote on the Keystone XL pipeline is … NO

11/17/2014 Nativegrl77

In the next few days, the U.S. Senate is set to vote on the Keystone XL pipeline, and we need to make sure your senators vote no.

The Keystone XL pipeline is a bad deal for the United States. The pipeline would mean millions of tons of new carbon pollution entering the air, and could also mean dozens of newly polluted waterways and poisoned communities all across the Midwest. The impact on the climate would be catastrophic — the equivalent of seven coal-fired power plants operating continuously for 50 years.

The fight against climate change is the fight of our generation. No elected official can claim to be on the right side of that fight if they vote to approve Keystone XL.

Tell your senators to oppose any bill that would approve the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

Keystone XL will carry more than 800,000 barrels of dangerous tar sands through America’s heartlands. We know the pipeline will endanger our health, climate, and national security, while displacing American families for the benefit of a foreign oil company.

That is the future Big Oil has in mind, but it’s what we’re fighting to prevent. And it’s why you need to ask your senators to vote no.

Tell your senators to reject Keystone XL:

http://action.nextgenclimate.org/no-kxl

Thanks,

Thomas Steyer
NextGen Climate

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a message from Gov.Inslee

11/17/2014 Nativegrl77

The votes are in, and one thing is absolutely clear: I still need your help to build a working Washington. I’m going on offense

All the way up to Election Day, we fought off an incredible onslaught of false attacks by opponents who hoped to erase the progress we’ve made together.

When I emailed you last week, my colleagues and I were still fighting to make sure every vote was counted. Today, we know for certain that we continue to hold a majority in the state House, we re-elected every one of our Democratic members of Congress, we made history by passing legislation to require background checks for gun sales, and we made gains in county elections across the state.

Now it’s time for us to move forward.

Help me prepare to fight off the next round of attacks and continue to build a working Washington. Click here to contribute $5 now.

Now that we’ve seen the election results, the good news is that we held our ground. The bad news is that, with Republicans continuing to hold control of the Senate, we’re going to have to continue fighting just as hard just to maintain the status quo — and even harder to make any progress.

I don’t know about you, but I’m done playing defense and ready to go on offense. I’m going to spend the next two years fighting harder than ever to fully fund our schools, create new jobs, repair our roads and bridges, and build a clean energy future — and I hope you’ll be right there with me.

Click here to contribute $5 and help me continue to move our state forward.

Thanks for standing with me once again.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee

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Pass the #AmericansJOBsACT

11/17/2014 Nativegrl77

What every voter wanted but gave their power up to Republicans #MidTerm2014Mattered

Getting America Working Again

I support the American Jobs Act

To create jobs, the President unveiled the American Jobs Act – nearly all of which is made up of ideas that have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans, and that Congress should pass right away to get the economy moving now.

The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans – without adding a dime to the deficit.