Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Attacking the EPA is Not Fiscally Responsible

Lately, there has been a lot of talk in Washington, DC, about fiscal responsibility. Under the guise of cutting government spending, some lawmakers are taking a hatchet to many of the landmark laws that protect our health and the environment—such as the Clean Air Act. But attacking the Clean Air Act is both fiscally irresponsible and terribly short-sighted.

This legislation has a 40-year track record of cutting dangerous pollution and, in 2010 alone, helped prevent an estimated 160,000 premature deaths and 1.7 million asthma attacks. On August 2, the total value of the net benefits provided to Americans by the Clean Air Act since its inception reached a staggering $50 trillion.

Yet despite the massive benefits that this landmark piece of legislation provides to the American people, certain members of Congress continue to try to undermine the Clean Air Act by working to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from reducing dangerous global warming emissions and other harmful pollutants. This has grave implications for our health, our children’s health, and the health of Americans for generations to come.

While the House of Representatives is currently on recess, they will return to Washington to continue debate on H.R. 2584, a spending bill that outlines the budget for the Department of the Interior and the EPA. The bill is an all-out attack on our air, water, lands, and wildlife, and includes nearly 40 anti-health, anti-environment amendments—including an amendment that would prevent the EPA from reducing global warming emissions under the Clean Air Act. Protecting our health and the environment is the fiscally responsible thing to do.

Please write today and urge your representative to vote against this anti-health, anti-environment bill.

Take Action Now

Sincerely,

Chrissy Elles

Outreach Associate

UCS Climate & Energy Program

P.S. With the Congressional Recess starting this week, your representative is home in your state until early September. Many representatives will host town halls or be at public events. I encourage you to attend these events and ask your representative, in person, to protect our health and environment and oppose H.R. 2584.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Michael Langenmayr, Democracy for America

08/08/2011 Nativegrl77

All the work we’ve done in Wisconsin comes down to these next few days. Either we Get Out The Vote and take back the State Senate or we lose and right-wing Republicans continue their war on working families.

www.democracyforamerica.com

Republicans will do anything to win these recall elections. In May, they passed a new voter suppression law that makes drastic changes in photo ID and residency requirements to vote in Wisconsin elections, including these recalls.

In June, Republicans forced fake Democratic candidates onto the ballot, forcing primaries against real Democrats and pushing the recall elections further into the summer. Their fake candidates lost each and every primary.

Last month, Republican group Americans for Prosperity began mailing absentee ballots to Democratic voters with instructions to mail the ballots back after the election date.

Now, they’re blanketing Wisconsin with millions of dollars in last-minute TV ads and we need your help to fight back and Get Out The Vote. http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/1012?akid=1188.1480546.qR2id1&t=1

Wisconsin isn’t the only state where Republicans are launching all-out war on working families. But it is our first chance to fight back. A win here will send a message to Republicans across the country — attack the middle class and you lose. Please join us today.

Thank you for all that you do.

– Michael

Michael Langenmayr, Deputy Political Director
Democracy for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Re: Highest honors, no respect …Rashad Robinson, ColorOfChange.org

08/05/2011 Nativegrl77

Since last Thursday, more than 50,000 ColorOfChange members have called on the McGehee school district in Arkansas to name Kymberly Wimberly as her high school’s sole valedictorian. Kymberly was forced to share the title after school officials decided that a Black valedictorian would caused a “big mess” and then appointed a White student with a lower GPA to be co-valedictorian. And they’ve refused to make the situation right.

Our goal is to reach 75,000 signers before we deliver the petitions to the district’s superintendent and school board. Can you help us get there by adding your voice by clicking the link below? It takes just a moment. And when you do, please invite your friends and family to do the same.

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

To learn more about the situation at McGehee High School, you can read the email we sent you last week (attached below).

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfchange.org team
August 4th, 2011

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

An Arkansas school district just sent a disturbing message to Black students everywhere.

This graduating senior earned the highest GPA in her class. Fearing a “big mess,” a principal named a White student with a lower GPA “co-valedictorian.” Demand school officials correct this injustice:

18-year-old Kymberly Wimberly did everything right. She challenged herself with honors and Advanced Placement courses, leading the pack as the highest achieving student in this year’s graduating class at McGehee High School.

But when her principal agreed with other school staff that Kymberly’s status as valedictorian would cause a “big mess,” he demanded that a White student with a lower GPA be appointed co-valedictorian.1

Please join us in telling the McGehee district’s superintendent and school board to acknowledge Kymberly as her class’s sole valedictorian and explain what they intend to do to ensure all students have equal opportunities at McGehee High School. When you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

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

What’s unfolding in McGehee is an outrage, and it sends the wrong message to Black students everywhere. The implication is clear: “No matter how hard you work, we won’t give you full credit for your achievements.” School leaders in this small Arkansas town have denied a student an honor she deserves because of their own racial prejudice and narrow-minded ideas about who is worthy of success and praise.

Arkansas is ground zero in the history of efforts to desegregate our nation’s schools. It’s where nine Black students faced down state troopers, angry mobs, and a governor intent on keeping them from integrating Little Rock Central High School more than 50 years ago.

Today, in nearby McGehee, Kymberly’s situation has exposed another brand of racial segregation. Principal Darrell Thompson’s decision to appoint a co-valedictorian this year is just the latest example of an ongoing pattern to undermine and derail the academic efforts of Black students. According to the equal protection lawsuit Kymberly’s family has filed, administrators and teachers routinely discouraged Black students — who made up nearly half of the high school’s enrollment this year — from taking honors and AP classes.2 They would use school-wide assemblies to make the course work sound daunting, then pull individual White students aside to encourage them to sign up for the more rigorous classes. As a result, Kymberly was the only Black student in her AP literature class and one of two in her calculus class.3

A problem nationwide

McGehee and other school districts around the country should be encouraging all prepared students to challenge themselves academically. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. Last year, Black students made up 15% of graduating seniors, but accounted for just 9% of students taking AP exams.4 Black students trail far behind White, Asian and Latino students in terms of participation in AP classes, and educators have a responsibility to provide equal access to and preparation for college-level coursework.

Kymberly is the rare example of the student whose family believed she could excel in high-level classes, despite what some adults at school told her and students who look like her. Her case reveals why the school establishment consistently counsels half the student body into a lower academic track. It appears that they fear the eventual success of Black students and choose to limit Black students’ ability to compete in the classroom and, by extension, in life.

Hiding the truth

The district should be celebrating Kymberly’s story, and holding her up as an example of what’s possible. She is a young mother whose report cards throughout high school were filled with straight As until her junior year, when she had her baby and received a B in a class. Determined to hold onto her position at the top of the class, Kymberly took as many honors and AP classes as she could her senior year. Her plan worked, and in early May the high school counselor approached Kymberly’s mother, who worked at the high school, with news that Kymberly had the top GPA. But district officials soon started backtracking. The school’s principal told Kymberly’s mother that he had decided to appoint a co-valedictorian. The district sent out a press release amending a public announcement the counselor had already released. The superintendent even kept Kymberly’s mother from appealing the decision to the school board by claiming she had filled out the wrong participation form.5 District officials don’t deny Kymberly had the highest GPA but have explained their actions by saying that the co-valedictorian had half a credit more6,7— a balancing act Kymberly and her family say would never have been considered necessary had the top student been White.

Please join us in demanding that Kymberly’s superintendent and school board publicly acknowledge that she is her class’s sole valedictorian and explain how they plan to make sure that students have equal opportunities at McGehee High School. When you do, please ask your friends and family to do the same:

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

Thanks and Peace,

— Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 28th, 2011

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://act.colorofchange.org/go/205?akid=2090.1174326.1J5ftX&t=7

1. “Valedictorian sues school: Was she snubbed because of race?” CNN, 7-26-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/916?akid=2090.1174326.1J5ftX&t=9

2. “Kymberly L. Wimberly v. McGehee School District,” Complaint, 7-21-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/917?akid=2090.1174326.1J5ftX&t=11

3. See reference 1

4. “Seventh Annual AP Report to the Nation,” College Board, 2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/918?akid=2090.1174326.1J5ftX&t=13

5. See reference 2

6. See reference 1

7. “High school student alleges racial bias in valedictorian choice,” Reuters, 7-27-11
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/919?akid=2090.1174326.1J5ftX&t=15

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Hot, hot, hot …Robby Mook

08/05/2011 Nativegrl77

Dems launch ‘Accountability August’
– CNN

House Democrats Attack GOP Members Over Medicare
– Wall Street Journal

Democrats Hit Back in GOP Districts
– New York Times

No matter what the National Weather Service is forecasting for August, I promise it is going to be extremely hot for House Republicans headed back to their home districts.

Today, we’re kicking off an aggressive campaign to hold Republicans accountable for repeatedly choosing Millionaires over seniors’ Medicare. We’re calling it “Accountability August.”

Thanks to your incredible grassroots support, we beat our $500,000 rapid response goal for July’s critical Federal Election Commission deadline, raising $671,658. Your dollars are being put to work immediately to take the fight to Republicans with targeted advertising, grassroots organizing, and our “Millionaires over Medicare” action center so grassroots Democrats like you have the tools to fight back. Click on the link for more info … http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63c982/1b9dd8ab/4d0c4293/4e0cec36/1302624222/VEsH/

We’re on offense and forcing Republicans to defend the indefensible: A reckless agenda that would use Medicare as a piggybank in order to fund tax breaks for millionaires and protect subsidies for Big Oil. This is an insult to every hardworking American who has paid into Medicare over a lifetime of hard work.

I can’t thank you enough for your tremendous grassroots support and for standing strong against the Republicans’ reckless agenda to hurt seniors and instead protect millionaires and Big Oil.

When we’re done with them, Republicans are going to want to book a flight right back out of their districts faster than you can say “Millionaires over Medicare.”

Stay tuned,

Robby Mook
DCCC Executive Director

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

TGIF &some News

08/05/2011 Nativegrl77

just another rant …

The latest events or filibusters by Republicans in both Chambers of Congress have made me wonder if or when will the Democratic Party push back or beat back the ideology that is taking over up on the Hill. I do think a line in the sand may have been drawn when our big 3 programs came under fire and while you can see vids of Republican leaders say they got 98% of what they wanted in the debt deal, it’s obvious they change Republicans want was worth pushing possibly over the cliff. To those people who hated the deal, remember they will have to defend it, which will be interesting, especially if forced to this debt deal give full disclosure. I have to say the Debt deal and the FAA debacle proved to be a moment when we saw the Democratic Party unite against the ideology of Republicans who want to take down the entire system, as we know it. The assault on the middleclass by the Republican members of Congress is obviously very offensive and will continue until we the people get out the vote and put Democrats back in control. So, when Congress gets back from their five-week break let’s hold Republicans accountable and demand that Democrats not only stand up more but do it as a united Political Party because it makes you want to jump in and say just exactly what they are thinking but too cautious to say.

It’s time for the Democratic members of Congress the President and We the People to get on the same page and take back our Democracy.

The temporary Band-Aid that Congress has put on the debt, deficit as well as the things filibustered, or sitting on some table in a back room somewhere in the Senate will rear its ugly head again. Republicans are planning to bring back the Paul Ryan Budget. It is and ideological plan that should open the eyes of most if not all Republican constituents, well maybe… hey, I definitely an optimist. We all were scared about Sarah Palin becoming one person closer to being President of the US of A and thank goodness, saner minds prevailed. In a time when millions are unemployed, more layoffs coming and Corporate America is still outsourcing and holding middle class jobs hostage. The Republican Party continues to cut slash and burn American Workers in Republican controlled states. The party of No, which used to be just a conservative pro-life scary group, is now so extreme that the slogan “taking their country back”, is no longer code but an overt statement from Republican Tea Party members. Obviously, it is about not wanting “his kind” in the White House or as other as Sarah Palin and cohorts have spewed on various occasions. I don’t know about you but the BS about President Obama being too “other” from anyone outside of Congress is offensive but when those who took an oath to serve and protect the lives of all Americans not a select few or those who you signed that Grover Norquist pledge admit to putting ideology and pledges before the People.

We are all Freedom Fighters on some level every day

CSPAN …