Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

a message from Senator Patty Murray

03/29/2012 Nativegrl77

You know what keeps me awake at night?

The GOP‘s war on women.

We’ve got so many things we need to focus on right now in the Senate — jobs, boosting the economy, and rebuilding our nation’s roads and bridges.

But the Republicans don’t care about any of that. They’re focused solely on turning back the clock to the 1950s when it comes to women’s rights. And it needs to stop.

We’ve held the line for now — but there’s surely more to come. Please contribute $5 to help me fight even harder in the months to come.

Despite our successes stopping the Blunt amendment and a number of other harsh political attacks directed at women, we’re already looking at difficult fights ahead:

We need to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act
The House GOP’s budget includes radical changes to Medicare that will disproportionately harm women
The version of the draconian Blunt amendment in the House which has over 200 sponsors may return to the Senate
Every day we’re seeing more and more reprehensible attacks on women’s health in states across the country

We shouldn’t have to focus on these kinds of assaults on our basic rights — but they’re giving us no choice.

And, with your support, I’m going to keep fighting tooth-and-nail to stop them from gutting decades of progress on women’s health.

Please contribute $5 now to help me do just that.

I can’t wait until this is over and we can get back to creating jobs and boosting the economy — but I’m glad that you’re right there with me.

Thanks again,

Patty Murray
U.S. Senator

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

leading GOP candidates … new low

03/29/2012 Nativegrl77

Friend —

One of the leading GOP candidates put out a vicious attack ad this week that hits a new low as far as campaign ads go — and if you blink, you may just miss it.

About 40 seconds in, we see an image of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, then the words “Sworn American Enemy” are spoken, and the image flips to a picture of … our President.

Watch it here, then fight back against this slick GOP attack with $3 or more today:

If this is what the candidates are doing before one of them even becomes the nominee, you can expect Karl Rove and the Republican Super PACs to be even more out of line in the general election.

So if you’re as fed up with this fear mongering as I am, fight it, and give to the party that’ll hit back every time:

https://my.democrats.org/Fight-Back

Thanks,

Debbie

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair
Democratic National Committee

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell the GOP: Trayvon Martin was racially profiled

03/29/2012 Nativegrl77

Last Friday, President Obama reminded the country how personal Trayvon Martin’s death feels to any parent of a Black child. He said, “You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”¹

There is no doubt that Trayvon — a 17-year-old boy armed only with Skittles and iced tea — was considered “suspicious” and subsequently killed because of the color of his skin. But many on the right — including presidential candidates Rick Santorum² and Newt Gingrich³ — want to avoid acknowledging the clear role that race and stereotypes played in this case.Instead, they’re attacking the President for telling the truth, and they’re trying to push race out of the picture.

We have reached a critical moment. Americans of all walks of life are talking openly and honestly about racial profiling, targeting and the dehumanization of Black boys and men. We can’t stand by while politicians who claim to want to lead all Americans play dumb and deny the racial realities surrounding Trayvon’s death.

Please join us in calling on the Republican National Committee — which leads the party and coordinates the GOP’s election strategy — to withhold its support from any candidate who uses Trayvon Martin’s killing to divide Americans and distort honest conversations about race for political gain. If the RNC refuses, it will send a clear message about the GOP’s willingness to lead on the most critical issues facing all Americans. Click here to take action, and please ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/trayvon_gop

Trayvon’s death had everything to do with what he looked like. But some conservatives are determined to deny the reality of racial prejudice in America and the mortal threat it poses.

It’s no great surprise that right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh responded to President Obama’s comments last week by saying, “It is the least important thing, what the kid looks like.”⁴But Americans have reason to expect better from the GOP’s presidential candidates, men who claim to be able to represent all of us.

Rick Santorum accused the President of trying to “drive a wedge in America.”⁵ Newt Gingrich lashed out with: “What the president said, in a sense, is disgraceful. It’s not a question of who that young man looked like.”⁶

The Republican National Committee, chaired by Reince Priebus, has the power to reign in cynical, dishonest comments like these. The RNC develops and promotes the Republican political platform and coordinates its fundraising and election strategy.

Please join us in calling on the RNC to withhold its support from any GOP candidate who responds to Trayvon Martin’s killing by sweeping its race-related realities under the rug.If the RNC refuses, it will send a clear message about the party’s willingness to lead on the most critical issues facing Americans. And when you sign, please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/trayvon_gop

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
March 29th, 2012

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

http://www.colorofchange.org/donate

References

1. “Obama Speaks Out on Trayvon Martin Killing,” The New York Times, 03-23-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1253?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=7

2. “Plouffe calls out GOP candidates over Obama reaction,” CNN.com, 03-25-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1248?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=9

3. “Newt Gingrich: Obama’s Trayvon Martin Statement ‘Disgraceful’,” Huffington Post, 03-23-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1249?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=11

4. “Rush Limbaugh hits Obama: Trayvon Martin not a race case,” Politico, 03-26-12
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/1250?akid=2397.1174326.IMRSDR&t=13

5. See reference 2

6. See reference 3

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Joby Shimomura,Campaign Manager for JayInslee.com

03/29/2012 Nativegrl77


	I need to be direct with you. Republican Rob McKenna has been sharpening his rhetoric in recent weeks, and we think it’s because he’s getting nervous — for good reason. This race is neck-in-neck, and McKenna knows it. At midnight Saturday, we close the books on March. We’ll send the numbers off for the press, pundits, and our opponents to measure our momentum. We still have $30,000 to go to hit our numbers. Right now, we need you to step up and help us reach our $30,000 fundraising goal before the deadline. Will you contribute $3 before the end-of-quarter fundraising deadline on Saturday? We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last few months. Jay rolled out his jobs plan to build an economy where good-paying jobs are created and middle class workers know their hard work once again really matters. We worked hard to expose Rob McKenna’s empty education promises — with the help of thousands of members of the JayInslee.com community. And now Jay is giving everything he has to focusing on this campaign and talking to people about how to grow Washington‘s economy. We’ve gotten this far because of supporters like you. I’m proud of our success, but there’s a long way to go and a lot more to do. Will you contribute $3 before the end-of-quarter fundraising deadline on Saturday? In a campaign this competitive, we can’t let any opportunity slip by. Every month when we report our fundraising numbers, it’s another chance to show our strength. It’s another chance for us to show the grassroots momentum behind the campaign. In short, it’s another chance to show that we’re on the road to victory — but unless supporters like you stand with us now, the story could just as easily go the other way. Will you contribute $3 before the end-of-quarter fundraising deadline on Saturday? On a campaign, you never know what might come next. But with your help, we can be prepared for whatever comes our way. Thank you, Joby Shimomura Campaign Manager Jay Inslee for Washington

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Say NO to Ryan’s Devastating Budget …Joan Entmacher and Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center

03/28/2012 Nativegrl77

National Women's Law Center - Don't Discount Women: Demand Fair Change Not Spare Change


	Take Action: Tell Your Representative to Vote NO on Paul Ryan’s Budget



	Don’t slash programs for women & families to pay for tax cuts for millionaires and corporations!

	WWW.NWLC.ORG

You’ve heard of slash and burn, but how about slash and burden?

On Thursday, the House is expected to vote on a budget for Fiscal Year 2013 introduced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). The Ryan budget would devastate vital services for women and their families while giving trillions in new tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and large corporations — on top of extending provisions of the Bush-era tax cuts that benefit only the very wealthy.

Let’s make it clear that we will not stand for a budget that slashes programs for women and families and puts the burden of paying for tax breaks for millionaires and corporations on middle- and low-income Americans.

Tell your Representative to oppose the Ryan Budget. As your Members of Congress start budget negotiations, they need to know that their constituents expect them to protect programs for women and families — and to require the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

What’s wrong with Rep. Paul Ryan’s Budget? For starters, it would:

Repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Insurance companies could continue to charge women higher premiums than men, deny coverage to women due to preexisting condition, and refuse to cover maternity care.
Slash and block grant Medicaid. Millions of vulnerable women would lose their health coverage, and elderly women and women with disabilities would lose long-term care services.
Raise the Medicare eligibility age and replace the Medicare guarantee with a voucher. A “premium support” voucher that wouldn’t keep pace with health care costs would dramatically increase health care costs for seniors, especially burdening women who already have to pay higher out-of-pocket costs from lower incomes.
Cut Food Stamps (SNAP) and other core safety net programs that are especially important to women and children who face higher rates of poverty.
Slash funding for other critical programs like child care, Head Start, education, Pell Grants, women’s preventive health care, domestic violence prevention and much, much more.
Put cuts to Social Security on the fast track and reject proposals that would strengthen Social Security by raising revenues form the highest earners.
Give trillions of dollars in new tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations by cutting tax rates for millionaires and corporations on top of permanently extending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest.