Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Don’t Get Fooled Again


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Jeb Bush Is Poised to Follow In His Brother’s Foreign Policy Footsteps

In case you had forgotten that expected presidential candidate Jeb Bush would promote many of the same failed policies that his brother George W. Bush did, Jeb did a good job of reminded us of that this week. In an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly on Monday night, Jeb said he would have authorized the Iraq War knowing what we know now.

Soon after the interview, Bush tried to walk back the comment to Kelly saying he had misinterpreted the question, “I thought we were talking about ‘given what people knew then, would you have done it?’.” The next day, he dodged the question again on Sean Hannity’s radio show, blaming faulty intelligence and praising his brother’s leadership. Just today, he said hypothetical questions about the Iraq war are a “disservice” to troops. (Actually, if there had been more questions leading into the Iraq War, we may have been able to save thousands of lives.)

However, the issue is not solely whether Jeb Bush misunderstood the question. The oft-forgotten fact is that the Iraq War was not dictated by intelligence. Rather, as ThinkProgress Editor-in-Chief Judd Legum writes, “the [Bush] administration cherry-picked, manipulated and ignored intelligence to support their predetermined outcome.” A bipartisan report of the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded as much.

Later in his interview with Megyn Kelly, Jeb Bush said, “News flash to the world, if they’re trying to find places where there’s big space between me and my brother, this might not be one of those.” That shouldn’t be too much of a news flash for anyone who has been paying attention to Jeb’s position on foreign policy. Here are a few facts to prove there is little to no space between the Bush brothers:

  • Of Jeb’s campaign’s 21 foreign policy advisors, 17 came from George W.’s administration. His circle of foreign policy advisers has been drawn almost entirely from his brother’s team.
  • Jeb called the 2007 Iraq troop surge “hugely successful.” In the first major foreign policy speech of his campaign, Jeb praised the 2007 troop surge saying, “It was one of the most heroic acts of courage politically that any president’s done because there was no support for this. It was hugely successful and it created a stability that when a new president came in, he could’ve built on.”


BOTTOM LINE: Despite the fact that Jeb Bush has tried to distance himself from his name, he seems poised to stumble along in his brother’s foreign policy footsteps. So the next time you hear his rhetoric leading you in a different direction, don’t get fooled again.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

We’re Getting Superbugs Out of School Lunches – Update on “School Lunch Program: Remove Risk of SuperBugs from Children’s Lunches”


We’re Getting Superbugs Out of School Lunches

Jennifer Amdur Spitz just posted an update on the petition you signed, School Lunch Program: Remove Risk of SuperBugs from Children’s Lunches.

 About 18 months ago you signed our petition on Change.org to get the risk of Superbugs out of the school lunch program. That petition is featured in an award winning documentary… Read more

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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Test your Knowledge – Take the FAST Hero Quiz


~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Overdue for Overtime


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Millions of Americans Would Benefit From Expanding Overtime Pay

Americans are working harder and earning less. But finally, progress is being made on an often-overlooked policy that has a substantial effect on this trend: overtime pay. Last week, the Obama administration came one step closer to fulfilling an executive order to reform overtime rules. We don’t know the details of the proposed rule yet, but if President Obama restored federal overtime standards to its inflation adjusted 1975 level, workers earning up to $51,168 would qualify to earn overtime pay. That would mean up to 47 percent of the salaried workforce—6.1 million people—would have more money in their pockets or more time to spend with their friends and family.

The administration’s full proposal to expand the population eligible for overtime pay is now under review by to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). But there are still a few steps left in the process before the rule can become final. After the rule is reviewed by OMB, it will be published and then there will be a period during which interested parties can submit comments on the rule.

Americans are overdue for an overtime update. In 1975, more than 65 percent of salaried workers earned time-and-a-half pay for every hour worked over 40 hours. Today, only 11 percent do. The threshold for overtime pay has fallen so much that current overtime law, by definition, no longer covers the middle class. Only workers earning less than $23,660 a year—below the poverty line for a family of four—qualify for overtime pay.

Increasing eligibility for overtime pay makes sense, and Americans know it. Support for increasing the threshold for overtime pay is incredibly high, according to a new poll released today:

  • 73 percent of voters support some substantial increase in the overtime pay threshold.
  • 65 percent of voters think workers making up to $75,000 a year should receive overtime when working more than 40 hours a week, regardless of job classification.
  • 64 percent of all voters—and 54 percent of Republicans—said they are more likely to vote for leaders who support increasing the overtime threshold.

BOTTOM LINE: Americans deserve to be fairly compensated for their hard work. But instead, they are working harder and longer to stretch their earnings just to keep up with the cost of living. Our current overtime law is long overdue for an update and the Obama administration’s executive order would help millions of Americans get more money in their pockets or more time to spend with their friends and family.