Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Dear Friend,

The New York State Assembly voted 89-44 in favor of the Paid Family Leave Insurance Act!

This legislation, written by A Better Balance, would provide workers in New York State with up to 12 weeks of paid family leave (funded through small employee payroll deductions) to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or address certain needs related to a family member’s military service or deployment. The paid family leave insurance program would be administered through New York’s long-standing Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) program, a state system that is already familiar to businesses in New York.

There is an urgent need for paid family leave in New York and around the country. Many of you have shared your stories with us regarding the struggle to balance work with a new child’s arrival or a family member’s illness. “It is horrible that the U.S. is significantly behind the rest of the WORLD with maternity leave,” Maria wrote to us. “I am a single mom and had complications before and after pregnancy. I used my entire life savings & had to go into my 401(k) to survive. Let’s make it right.” Richard wrote about the challenges of eldercare: “My mom died from cancer in 2010 and I could not keep up with my bills. I took the last month of her life off so I could be with her and I nearly went bankrupt. While I was dealing with grieving her death, I was struggling financially; the stress was horrible.” In addition to motivating our work, these stories have been incredibly helpful to our advocacy efforts; stories are crucial to educating public officials about the need for paid family leave.

Now we must work together to advance paid family leave insurance legislation in the New York State Senate, so that no workers are forced to make the painful sacrifices described above by Maria and Richard.

If you have a few minutes, here is how you can get involved:

Share your story! As we continue the fight for paid family leave, both in New York and in states around the country, your voice remains critically important. If you have a story that you would be willing to share about the importance of paid family leave, please contact us at info@abetterbalance.org.
Help with our business outreach! We are incredibly grateful for the leadership of Tom Nides (Managing Director & Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley) and Cynthia DiBartolo (CEO of Tigress Financial Partners LLC and Chairperson of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce), two business leaders who support a paid family leave insurance program in New York. We are currently organizing in the business community to increase support for paid family leave. If you have suggestions for business owners—large or small—in New York who may be supportive, please send their names and contact information to rsica@abetterbalance.org.
Stay engaged on social media! For our latest updates, follow us on Facebook and Twitter .

As always, thank you for your support.

Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha, & Rachel

Donate now to A Better Balance. Together we can improve the lives of families across the country.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

A New Tool For Fighting Right-Wing Lies

03/06/2014 Nativegrl77

For most of us, conservative misinformation is part of everyday life. A relative worries about Obamacare “death panels.” A coworker is certain that scientists manipulate data to support climate change. A friend posts on Facebook that more guns mean less crime.

Too often, we let lies stick around just because it’s tough to correct the record in mid-conversation. But what if it were easy?

Media Matters is excited to introduce Mythopedia, a new tool for fighting back against right-wing misinformation: http://mythopedia.mediamatters.org/

Mythopedia is the dictionary of conservative lies. It’s a simple factchecker that fits in your pocket and even responds to voice commands. We’ve seeded it with 400 common myths — and we want you to tell us what to add next.

Check out how Mythopedia works in this short video:

With the truth at your fingertips, it’s easy to call out right-wing lies wherever they appear. Try Mythopedia today: http://mythopedia.mediamatters.org/

Best,

Cynthia Padera Campaigns Manager Media Matters for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How veterans are treated by their nation

03/06/2014 Nativegrl77

George Washington once said that, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”

I was reminded of that quote last week after the filibuster of legislation to provide veterans more access to health care and tuition assistance, while restoring the cost of living adjustment for military retirees.
Senator McConnell and his Republican caucus halted the bill because of an increasingly partisan disagreement over diplomacy vs. sanctions in Iran: no sanctions, no increased care for our veterans from their perspective.
I think this is the wrong approach. The same Congress that approved our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has a responsibility to recognize that the costs of those wars continues long after the troops return home.
Join me and over 400,000 veterans, military family members, and VoteVets.org supporters and send your Senators a message that you expect them to pass the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act.
Whether it’s Syria, Iran, or the shocking crisis unfolding in Ukraine, Republicans have developed a horrible habit of reflexively using national security in a completely partisan attempt to score political points.
It’s terribly disappointing, and it’s one of the reasons I am happy to partner with VoteVets.org on this important issue. It seems that all too often, the voices of those who bear the disproportionate burden of keeping our country safe are forgotten once their service is complete.
That’s not right.
Join me and write a letter to your Senators telling them to pass the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay and Restoration Act.
http://action.votevets.org/veteran-benefits
The American Legion believes this legislation should pass cleanly and the American public agrees. Let’s put partisanship aside and provide for the veterans who risk so much for the country we all love.
I’ll be in touch,
Chris Murphy Senator, Connecticut

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

80% of energy is wasted

03/06/2014 Nativegrl77

3:28 PM (10 minutes ago)

to me

Dear Friend,

Every year, we waste more than 60% of the energy we generate in the US. In fact, the amount of energy wasted in the US in 2012 could power the UK for 7 years!

Simply put, we need to become more energy efficient. That’s why the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill is so important. The bipartisan Shaheen-Portman bill would promote energy savings and efficiency upgrades in commercial and industrial buildings, helping to dramatically reduce the amount of energy we waste.

Tell your Senators that you support the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill!

The bill enjoys widespread support from environmental advocates and businesses, alike. It will save energy, reduce costs for businesses and the federal government, and save taxpayer dollars.

It seems like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, the bill has been stalled in Congress for several months. We can’t afford to keep waiting. Energy efficiency is too important—both for our environment and for our economy.

Contact your Senators today! Urge them to support energy efficiency and vote for the Shaheen-Portman bill!

Thanks for your support,

-The Earth Day Network Team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Major vehicles victory!

03/06/2014 Nativegrl77

Cleaner air and healthier communities are on the way.

We Did It!

UCS supporters like you helped push new standards for cleaner gasoline and cleaner cars over the finish line. Share the great news for cleaner air on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Learn More

Take a deep breath of (cleaner) air! Thanks to UCS supporters like you, we can all celebrate a major victory in the fight for cleaner air and healthier communities.

The White House just finalized stronger standards to reduce sulfur from our gasoline and pollution from our tailpipes. Implementing these standards, known as Tier 3 standards, will help prevent thousands of premature deaths and asthma attacks each year by ensuring our gasoline burns cleaner and our tailpipes spew less pollution.

Stronger standards for cleaner fuel and vehicles will also put the United States back on track with global efforts to reduce the sulfur in gasoline. And they will help us all breathe easier—especially the vulnerable communities living near high-traffic roadways or refineries.

We celebrate cleaner air today—despite the oil industry and their allies trying to block progress every step of the way—with the tens of thousands of UCS supporters who sent comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stood up against congressional attempts to derail Tier 3, and wrote letters to their local papers to share their personal stories about the dangers of dirty air.

We want to say thank you for pushing these standards across the finish line with all you do to support UCS.

Along with a coalition of public health, environmental, faith-based, state, labor, and industry groups, we’ll be keeping an eye on Congress and the courts for additional attacks on Tier 3 in the coming months. We’ll also keep you informed on ways to defend these standards and advance other solutions to clean up our transportation fleet—there’s lots of work left to cut oil use, global warming emissions, and air pollution from our cars and trucks.

But today we want to say thanks to UCS supporters like you for your dedication to building a cleaner transportation future that works for all of us.

Learn more about this victory and share the great news on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Sincerely, Rachel Cohen National Field Organizer Clean Vehicles Program Union of Concerned Scientists
P.S. For more on the benefits of this important program, see our Tier 3 webpage.