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~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Will your Members of Congress stand with the women of Wal-Mart?


National Women's Law Center - Stop Discounting Women
Tell Your Members of Congress to Stand with the Women of Wal-Mart
Betty Dukes with Senator Franken, lead Senate sponsor of the bill
                Co-sponsor the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012.
Take Action

One year ago today, we told you devastating news: the Supreme Court had ruled against Betty Dukes and the courageous women of Wal-Mart.
In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Wal-Mart women could not band together as a single class to challenge discrimination in pay and promotions.
But that’s not the end of the story.
For the last year, the National Women’s Law Center and advocates across the country have pushed Congress for a solution. Today, Congress offered one!
Tell your Members of Congress to stand by the women of Wal-Mart by co-sponsoring the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012.
Getting co-sponsors on this bill will help it to gain momentum — and we need you to help us move forward!
So what would this bill do?
The Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012 would remove the obstacles the Supreme Court placed in the way of ordinary Americans seeking their day in court. It offers a clear path for women workers to come together as a group to challenge discrimination. And it would make sure that no employer is too big to be held accountable.
Individual workers — many of whom live paycheck to paycheck — should not be required to stand alone against some of the largest corporations in the world to end discrimination. This bill recognizes the reality of workers’ lives and offers an alternative.
Please tell your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012. Act now for Betty Dukes, the women of Wal-Mart, and all women workers who suffer from discrimination in pay, in hiring, and in promotions.
Thank you for all that you do.
Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. For more information, check out NWLC’s new fact sheets on the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012 and the extreme wage gap for retail workers.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Please Contribute to Support Charlie Rangel and Alan Grayson



The Rockets’ Red Glare, the Bombs Bursting In Air.

Congressman Charlie Rangel often says that the last bad day he had was way back in 1950.  Let me explain what he means by that.

Rangel joined the US Army at 18.  He was assigned to the segregated, all-African-American 503rd Field Artillery Battalion.  His nickname was “Sarge,” which was funny, because Rangel actually was a private first class, not a sergeant.

On November 27, 1950, Rangel’s commander, General Douglas MacArthur, learned that the Chinese Army was about to surround America’s Eighth Army.  MacArthur ordered the Eighth Army to retreat.  But that could happen only if American units held off the Chinese forces on the Eighth Army’s right flank.  Charlie Rangel’s unit was given that suicide mission, in what became known as the Battle of Kunu-Ri.

The Chinese Army quickly surrounded Rangel’s unit.  His unit kept fighting.

Sundown brought less shooting, but also bitter cold.  The temperature dropped below zero.  Even at night, the Chinese Army’s bugle orders rang out, and the night sky was lit by Chinese flares.  Rangel called it a “waking nightmare.”  He kept fighting.

Having the high ground, the Chinese Army pounded Rangel’s unit with artillery fire.  On the third day, an explosion sent shrapnel into Rangel’s back.  The shrapnel hit him so hard that he was tossed into a ditch.  He kept fighting.

Rangel and his unit could hear American soldiers screaming and moaning.  They could hear American soldiers being taken prisoner.  Rangel said, “We couldn’t see any possible way out of the situation.”  They could have surrendered.  But they didn’t.

Rangel and his unit were trapped behind enemy lines for three days of heavy fighting.  After three terrible days, under cover of darkness, Charlie Rangel, sleepless, wounded, bleeding and freezing, led 40 American soldiers to safety.

Half of Rangel’s battalion died in the fighting.  Rangel spent a long time in the hospital, recuperating.  For his courage and leadership, he was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, two Presidential Unit Citations, and three battle stars.

And Charlie Rangel was awarded a certain perspective on life itself. As Charlie always says, “Since Kunu-ri, I have never, never had a bad day.”

One week from Tuesday, Congressman Charles Rangel faces the voters in the New York Democratic Primary.  National Public Radio calls it Rangel’s “toughest reelection challenge” since he won the seat in 1970.

Win or lose, it won’t be a bad day for him.  Not after what he went through at Kunu-ri.  But I want it to be a good day for him.  That’s why I’m helping him, and why you should, too.  Click here.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

HCAN


Helen Dally at Supreme Court

Health care reform is saving lives and protecting families – including young adults trying to start new lives in a challenging economy. So far, 6.6 million young adults have gained health insurance under their parents‘ health care plans as a result of the Affordable Care Act, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The new figures far outstrip earlier estimates.

That’s 6.6 million young people who will have more flexibility to pursue careers of their choosing, who won’t face the added stress of going without health care as they begin their careers and who can know that they’ll be covered if something bad happens. Helen Dally is one of them. In March when the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on Obamacare, this young woman came to the steps of the court to explain to reporters how the law enabled her to join a health plan sponsored by her parents’ small business.

Please click here to share with your friends and family how this part of the ACA is helping young people.

The dependent coverage provision, one of Obamacare’s most popular elements, allows young adults to enroll in a parent’s health plan as long as they have not reached their 26th birthday and their employer does not offer a qualified health plan. The provision is a godsend for recent college graduates struggling to find work and pay off expensive student loans. Many young adults have been forced to return to their parents’ homes while they look for employment, and the ACA lends these individuals a helping hand while giving parents peace of mind.

This is just one of the many ways that the health care law is working.

Thanks,

Will O’Neill Health Care for America Now

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Politics Blowing UP the Transportation Bill ?


URGENT TO CONGRESS: JOBS AT STAKE
June 30 is the deadline for Congress to act on the surface transportation bill. This bill would protect and create good jobs in the United States and begin to fix our crumbling infrastructure, but it’s being held up because of political antics from extreme Republicans.

Tell your members of Congress it’s time to stop playing politics and pass the surface transportation bill.

I’m writing to you because this is urgent. Jobs are at stake.

Here’s the deal. Both the U.S. Senate and House have passed versions of the surface transportation bill—the Senate version of the bill would create or sustain nearly 3 million jobs—and a conference committee of key House and Senate leaders is negotiating final details of the bill right now. But some Republicans in the House want to make it their way or the highway. They want to starve funding for badly needed infrastructure projects and hold hostage family-sustaining jobs.

In the past two and a half years, Congress has settled for nine short-term extensions instead of coming up with a long-term solution to fix our crumbling infrastructure and get ironworkers, crane operators, cement masons and other construction workers—14 percent of whom are currently unemployed—back on the job.

Without a long-term fix, jobs will be lost and our roads, bridges and transportation system will fall into further decay. Click here now to e-mail your members of Congress to tell them we can’t wait. We need to pass the surface transportation bill now.

This is a chance for our leaders to come together and do their part to create good jobs in the United States and invest in our future. For too long, we have watched while politicians pushed policies that have sent jobs overseas while kicking the can down the road on investing in infrastructure projects that would create jobs here.

Tell your elected leaders in Washington to pass the surface transportation bill before the June 30 deadline.

We’re at a critical point in the legislative process. The conference committee reportedly has narrowed the gap between the bills passed in the House and Senate. But, without pressure from working people like you, a few extreme Republicans—intent on slowly starving funding for the transportation system—may get their way. We can stop this from happening.

E-mail your lawmakers to tell them that now is the time for Congress to set differences aside and come together to pass a surface transportation bill that creates and saves family-sustaining jobs, fixes our crumbling bridges, roads and transportation system and keeps in place Buy America and Davis-Bacon prevailing wage protections for projects financed by the bill.

Thank you for your support.

In Solidarity,

Andy Richards
Digital Strategies, AFL-CIO

P.S. Actions and events are being organized across the country to call for elected leaders to stop helping companies outsource jobs and instead support the patriotic companies that create jobs here. Click here to find an event near you.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

WhiteHouse Expert answers questions on REFINANCING


Jun 19, 2012 by

James Parrott, Senior Advisor for the National Economic Council, answers your questions on President Obama’s  around the country to refinance their mortgages and save hundreds of dollars each month. It will cut through the red tape will be good for families, good for communities, and good for the country at large