Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ 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

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Help Close the Pregnancy Loophole …Emily J. Martin, National Women’s Law Center


National Women's Law Center
 
 
     
                  Help Close the Pregnancy Loophole  
     
 

 
     
                  Tell your Representative to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.  
     
  Call (202) 224-3121 today!  
     

Yes it’s true: In 2012, getting pregnant can still cost you your job.
Thanks to a gap opened between discrimination laws and disability laws by court decisions, some employers are refusing to accommodate even simple requests that help workers maintain a healthy pregnancy.
Here are three startling examples of women who, thanks to the pregnancy loophole, were fired for doing what was best for their pregnancies:

  • A retail sales associate in Salina, Kansas was fired for drinking water while working because it violated store policy.
  • A nursing home activities director in Valparaiso, Indiana lost her job because she could no longer lift heavy tables, an activity that took up less than 10 minutes of her workday and with which her coworkers routinely volunteered to assist.
  • A pregnant truck driver in Tennessee was instructed by her obstetrician not to lift more than 20 pounds and sought light duty work. Her employer terminated her, as it made such modifications only to those injured on the job.

Sounds crazy, right? Unfortunately, thousands of pregnant women are forced to choose between losing their jobs (or taking unpaid leave) and endangering their pregnancies, when just a few small workplace accommodations are usually all that’s needed.
To close this egregious pregnancy loophole, Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was introduced today in the House of Representatives by Reps. Nadler (D-NY) and a number of his colleagues. To give this bill a solid start, we need as many Representatives to co-sponsor this bill as possible.
Will you take 3 minutes to call your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act? Calling is easy to do.

  1. Call (202) 224-3121.
  2. Tell the operator who answers the phone the name of your Representative. (Not sure? Look it up here.)
  3. Once you are connected to the office of your Representative, tell the staff person who answers:
    • Your name, that you are a constituent from (city, state).
    • I am calling to ask you to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. It’s time to close the pregnancy loophole and ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.
    • Thank you.
  4. Hang up and ask your friends or co-workers to make a call as well.

Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
 
Emily J. Martin   Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center     

P.S. Want to learn more? Read the Op-Ed in The New York Times that inspired this bill. And check out a fact sheet on the bill from the National Women’s Law Center.
~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

good Information caught on tape


2012 by

The White House Office of Public Engagement honors 11 individuals from Head Start programs across the country who have demonstrated a commitment to delivering on the promise of Head Start in their local communities. Over 45 years after its inception, Head Start continues to serve as a national laboratory for how we think about educating and caring for our youngest, most vulnerable children. June 18, 2012.

Jun 18, 2012 by

Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting, previews President Obama’s trip to Mexico for the 2012 G20 Summit.