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Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture
Watch Our New Video: Will You Get the Life-Saving Care You Need?
Do you think our nation’s leaders would allow a hospital to refuse to perform an emergency abortion on a woman — even if it means she would die? Unfortunately, if some leaders have their way, the answer would be yes. The House of Representatives actually passed a bill that would allow hospitals to turn away women needing emergency abortion care. This bill is just one example of the recent onslaught of attacks at both the federal and state level that aim to deny women’s access to reproductive health care.
Getting the emergency care a woman needs should not depend on the hospital to which she is taken.
From this bill and others on the spring agenda of the U.S. House of Representatives, to state bills that would mandate transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortion care or that would shut down provider clinics, anti-choice lawmakers continue to take aim at women’s health care at every level. We can’t stand by and wait to see what their next attack brings — watch our new video and tell your leaders to stop the attacks on women’s reproductive health care by saying: My Health is NOT Up for Debate™!
Thank you for continuing to stand up for women’s health.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center
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1872!? … Elijah Zarlin, CREDO Action
Tell Congress: Update the Mining Law of 1872!
Chicago Peak is located in Western Montana‘s Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area, and is a holy place for the Salish and Kootenai native tribes.
In other words: It’s a terrible location for a massive proposed copper and silver mine.1
But under the shockingly antiquated General Mining Law of 1872, the National Forest Service says it has no choice but to approve the mine. Even worse, this relic of a law will hand nearly $20 billion dollars worth of publicly owned minerals to Canadian company Revett Minerals, totally for free.2 We get nothing.
This mine is only one example. Overall, Congress’s failure to update our 140-year-old mining law is one of the most egregious, expensive and destructive failures in federal land management.
Tell Congress: It is long past time to update the General Mining Law of 1872!
The General Mining Law of 1872 is literally an artifact of another era. In 1872, Women could not vote in America. There were only 37 States in the Union. And our government sought to settle the vast Western territories by handing out mining rights to fortune-seeking settlers.
Yet today, this relic continues to govern hard rock mining of metals like copper, uranium, silver and gold. The result is a massive giveaway to giant mining companies that rips off taxpayers to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Under the law:3
• Mining leases can be purchased at 1872 prices of $2.50 – $5 an acre.
• Companies can mine publicly owned mineral resources without paying any royalties. We just give it away!
• Federal land managers must prioritize mining over all other land uses.
• The law contains NO environmental protections — which has led to the pollution of more than 40% of Western U.S. watershed, and left us holding the bill for an estimated more than $30 billion in mine cleanup and reclamation.
Tell Congress: Update the Mining Law of 1872!
Tell Congress: Update the Mining Law of 1872! Click here to automatically sign the petition.
In today’s world of giant, international mining conglomerates using massive pieces of equipment and polluting huge volumes of water to rip up the earth — as opposed to Wild West times of risk-taking prospectors and their pack mules seeking fortune – this law should be a page in history books, not our actual law books!
Congress has twice tried and failed to reform the law. But it’s long past time for an updated mining law that allows land managers to protect unique public lands from mining, implements strong environmental standards for mines, collects funds for mining reclamation, and puts a fair royalty on the extraction of these publicly owned resources.4
It is crazy that our mining law pre-dates the invention of the telephone and the light bulb. Tell Congress to update this massive giveaway, the General Mining Law of 1872.
1. “Big Mine. Bigger Trouble,” Rock Creek Aliance
2. “A Sacred Peak With Rich Ore Deposits,” New York Times, April 9, 2012
3. “General Mining Law of 1872,” Earthworks
4. “1872 Mining Law Reform Requirements,” Earthworks
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a Budget to Benefit the 1%
The GOP Budget In One Chart
By ThinkProgress War Room on Apr 13, 2012 at 4:38 pm
A Budget to Benefit the 1 Percent
Tax Day is coming up on April 17, so it’s worth remember who will pay more in taxes under the Ryan-Romney Republican budget — the poorest Americans — and whose taxes will be cut in dramatic fashion — the very wealthiest Americans.
If the percentages aren’t shocking enough, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports that the Ryan-Romney budget would give each millionaire a $265,000 tax cut on top of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which it of course also extends.
It should also be noted that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has promised to close trillions in unspecified tax loopholes, which would likely result in tax increases for millions more middle class Americans than are depicted in this chart. We can’t say for sure, however, because Ryan refuses to name a single one of the loopholes he’d close.
IN ONE SENTENCE: Instead of ending Medicare in order to slash taxes on millionaires, it’s time to pass the Buffett Rule so millionaire start paying their fair share.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
Gallup finds overwhelming public support for the Buffett Rule.
General election in a nutshell: President Obama wants to increase his own taxes, Mitt Romney wants to lower his own.
Ron Paul may finally get a chance to defeat the Federal Reserve after all.
For the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, “religious liberty” means being able to discriminate against gay people.
American taxpayers are subsidizing dirty coal development to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.
One result of the tough economy is more job diversity on television.
Bank of America proves how heartless they are. Again.
Why the Buffett Rule is more than just a gimmick.
A city the size of Chicago that doesn’t have a sewer system.
Other recent Progress Reports
Apr 12, 2012: Mitt Romney’s Pledge to the 1%
Why is Mitt Romney Making Pledges to a Washington Lobbyist? We’ve previously told you about the 1% Pledge — a pledge run by Washington superlobbyist Grover Norquist that the vast majority of Congressional Republicans have taken. Instead of merely pledging to uphold the oath they take to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” these […]
Apr 11, 2012: GOP War on Women, Mitt Romney Edition
Equal Pay for Equal Work? Romney Will Have to Get Back to You Even as top party leaders, including Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, continue to denounce the GOP’s very real war on women as a “fiction” “manufactured” by Democrats and the media, Republicans continue to add more fuel to the fire. The Romney […]
Apr 10, 2012: Rick Santorum’s TOP TEN Attacks on Mitt Romney
The Primary Is Over, But These Attacks Will Live On Late this afternoon, Rick Santorum announced that he was suspending his campaign, effectively handing the Republican nomination over to Mitt Romney. A top aide to the former Pennsylvania senator told reporters that Santorum and Romney agreed to meet in the near future, and Romney sent out […]
Apr 9, 2012: NEW VIDEO: President Reagan Backs the Buffett Rule
Even the Gipper Wanted Millionaires to Pay Their Fair Share Last fall, when President Obama debuted the Buffett Rule — the simple idea that millionaires and billionaires should pay at least the same tax rate as middle class workers — we climbed into the wayback machine and found a video of President Ronald Reagan decrying “crazy” […]
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20 ways, 20 days, 20% less carbon… Union of Concerned Scientists
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Save money. Improve your health. And help save the planet while you’re at it.Sound like a get-rich quick scheme? It’s actually our practical guide to reducing global warming-causing carbon emissions—and your ticket to a cooler, smarter lifestyle.
Backed by two years of research and analysis, we’ve determined the best ways that anyone can combat global warming in their daily lives, from carbon-cutting newbies to experts. Just answer a handful of questions about you, your home, how you get around, and what you eat and buy. Our scientists have done the rest for you. Then we’ll send you a FREE sticker to broadcast how cool and smart you are so more people can join you in making their own changes. You may be surprised how quickly a few easy changes can add up. Here’s just one tidbit: if everyone in the United States simply switched from incandescent lightbulbs to CFLs or LEDs, it’d be the equivalent of closing 12 coal-fired power plants for good. Learn more and geek out on the data with our infographic of a cooler smarter United States. What have you got to lose? CARBON, of course! Thanks for doing your part to create a low-carbon country. Sincerely, Suzanne Shaw |
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