Category Archives: ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The Senate will meet on the following dates and times for pro-forma sessions
only with no business conducted:

– Friday, August 5^th at 10:00am,

– Tuesday, August 9^th at 11:00am,

– Friday, August 12^th at 12:00pm,

– Tuesday, August 16^th at 11:00am,

– Friday, August 19^th at 10:00am,

– Tuesday, August 23^rd at 2:30pm,

– Friday, August 26^th at 11:15am,

– Tuesday, August 30^th at 10:00am,

– Friday, September 2^nd at 10:00am;

When the Senate convenes at 10:00am on Friday, September 2^nd, it
will adjourn until 2:00pm on September 6, 2011. Following any Leader remarks,
the Senate will be in morning business until 5:00pm with Senators permitted to
speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Following morning business, the Senate will be in Executive Session to
consider Calendar #109, Bernice Bouie Donald, of Tennessee, to be United States
Circuit Judge for the 6^th Circuit with 30 minutes of debate equally
divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley.

The next roll call votes will be at 5:30pm on Tuesday, September
6^th. The first roll call vote will be on confirmation of the Donald
nomination. The 2^nd will be a cloture vote on the motion to proceed
to H.R.1249, the Patent Reform bill.

########################################################

CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS
LEGISLATIVE DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
112TH CONGRESS – FIRST SESSION

10:03 A.M. – The Speaker announced that the House do now adjourn pursuant to sections 3 and 4 ofH. Res. 375. The next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on September 6, 2011.

10:02 A.M. – DISPENSING WITH LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS – Pursuant to section 4 ofH. Res. 375, the Chair announced that no legislative business would be conducted on this day.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

10:01 A.M. – APPROVAL OF THE JOURNAL – Pursuant to section 5 ofH. Res. 375, the Chair announced that the Journal of the last days’ proceedings was approved.

10:00 A.M. – Today’s prayer was offered by Reverend Patrick Riffle, St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Washington, DC.The Speaker designated the Honorable Michael G. Fitzpatrick to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.

The House convened, starting a new legislative day.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Manny Herrmann, AFL – CIO

09/01/2011 Nativegrl77

From the transit workers who get us where we need to go to the firefighters, teachers and caregivers whose work is so much more than a job—Labor Day season is when we say “thanks.”There are two ways you can say “thanks” to workers this weekend:

Tell us who you heart. I ❤ Wisconsin workers. Who do you ❤? It takes about 15 seconds to let us know who you heart and share it with the world.
Find an event near you. Events are taking place this weekend and beyond. See what’s happening in your area, or add your own event.

America’s working families have had a tough year. But we’ve also shown unprecedented solidarity. Let’s keep that solidarity going this weekend and beyond.

In solidarity,

Manny Herrmann
Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

FYI—if you see a weird symbol in this message, like a box, it’s supposed to be a heart symbol, but for a very small percentage of users, it appears as something else. Click here to take action and find out what our campaign is all about.

To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at www.aflcio.org.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

AG McKenna: Oppose the unfair robo-signing settlement

09/01/2011 Nativegrl77

Dear Washington MoveOn member,

Reports are circulating that a settlement of the robo-signing case between the big Wall Street banks and the 50 state attorneys general will be announced as soon as next week. Early indications are that the settlement will amount to yet another unconscionable giveaway to the banks.

The settlement will provide too little money to homeowners, require only trivial financial penalties for the banks, distributehuge amounts of money to individuals who were NOT fraudulently foreclosed upon, and will not have sufficient enforcementmechanisms to ensure that the money banks are supposed to pay actually gets paid—all while falling far short ofcompensating actual victims for the losses they wrongfully sustained. Worst of all, early reports indicate that the settlementgrants civil and criminal immunity to the Wall Street banks and their executives.

That’s why I created a petition to Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna on SignOn.org, which says:

Oppose any settlement of the robo-signing case that provides civil or criminal immunity to banks or their executives. Instead,create a program that helps Washington state homeowners damaged by fraudulent bank processes to sue banks for full recoveryof damages and punitive awards.

Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name, and then pass it along to your friends:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=267289&id=32771-17809870-OUgF%3Dvx&t=2

Thanks!

–Linda Brewster

The text above was written by Linda Brewster, not by MoveOn staff, and MoveOn is not responsible for the content. Thisemail was sent through MoveOn’s secure system, and your information has been kept private.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Big bad Banks

09/01/2011 Nativegrl77

The banks behind the mortgage crisis are looking for a way out, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wants to hand them one.¹

Three years after the housing collapse that crashed the world economy, not a single Wall Street executive has faced real punishment for the fraud, corruption, and greed that caused it. And those same big banks continue handing out massive bonuses and dividends while homeowners struggle.²

Now there’s a deal in the works that would let Wall Street banks get away scot-free, giving them immunity from investigation and prosecution of crimes like falsifying documents, encouraging bad loans, and lying to investors. In return they’d pay $20 billion—a fraction of what they could truly owe—and regulators would lose their leverage to help homeowners.³

This deal only works if it stays behind the scenes. If we can get enough people behind this petition, we can embarrass Geithner and the Obama administration into backing down. So we’re joining with MoveOn.org to send a strong message that can’t be ignored.

Tell Treasury Secretary Geithner, “No more sweetheart deals for Wall Street. Let states investigate and prosecute the crimes that crashed our economy.”

The world economy lost $7.7 trillion thanks to the big banks pushing bad loans and risky investments as sound financial planning. And millions of Americans lost houses and jobs. But Wall Street banks got nearly $2 trillion in loans to rebuild, while Main Street Americans are still working to get back on their feet.⁴

If we want to save the American Dream we need to show that big banks will be held accountable for these crimes, and a few state attorneys general are doing just that. Eric Schneiderman and Beau Biden, the attorneys general of New York and Delaware, have said they won’t settle with the banks without doing a real investigation into the fraud and corruption.⁵

Standing with homeowners against bullying by big banks is part of what the American Dream Movement is about. We can stand up and stand behind the state attorneys general who are fighting to expose the crimes that caused the collapse.

Tell Treasury Secretary Geithner, “No more sweetheart deals for Wall Street. Let states investigate and prosecute the crimes that crashed our economy.”

Toward an America that works for all,

–Natalie, Van, Ian, Billy, and the rest of the Rebuild the Dream team

Sources:

1. “New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe,” The Huffington Post, August 23, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263396&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=4

2. “Biggest Fish Face Little Risk of Being Caught,” The New York Times, February 25, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263413&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=5
“Banks Poised to Pay Dividends After 3-Year Gap,” The New York Times, January 13, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/business/14dividend.html

3. “Obama Goes All Out For Dirty Banker Deal,” Rolling Stone, August 24, 20110
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263395&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=6

4. “U.S. Subprime Crisis Costs World $7.7 Trillion Dollars,” The Huffington Post, February 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263403&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=7
“Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion in Secret Loans,” Bloomberg News, August 22, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263394&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=8

5. “New York Attorney General Kicked Off Government Group Leading Foreclosure Probe,” The Huffington Post, August 23, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=263396&id=30464-17809870-86VbHcx&t=9

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Not-so-happy meal …Michael Whitney, Change.org

09/01/2011 Nativegrl77

McDonald’s wants you to “see what we’re made of.” Brace yourself.

The pork in your Egg McMuffin or McRib comes from pigs, of course. What you may not know is that those pigs are birthed by female “breeding” pigs who lead miserable lives, to put it mildly. They live in impossibly small enclosures called “gestation crates,” in which the pigs can barely move. These dirty, restrictive enclosures frequently cause pigs to become covered in sores, open wounds, and infections.

It doesn’t have to be that way: Burger King and Wendy’s have completely phased out gestation crates from their pork supply. Now it’s up to McDonald’s to do the same.

McDonald’s has the power to push its pork suppliers to eliminate gestation crates and improve the lives of female breeding pigs. Please add your name to the petition asking McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to ensure McDonald’s pork suppliers stop using gestation crates.

McDonald’s has paid lip service to freeing pigs from gestation crates; in 2007, the company even said moving away from these unnecessary enclosures was “at the top of its agenda.” Five years later, pigs at Smithfield Foods, where McDonald’s buys its pork, are still in gestation grates.

McDonald’s is the biggest customer of Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the world. While Smithfield initially pledged to eliminate gestation crates entirely by 2017, the pork processing corporation went back on its promise in 2009.

Smithfield Foods initially blamed the poor economy for indefinitely sticking its pigs in cramped quarters. Yet now Smithfield is posting record profits, meaning the company can recommit to phasing out gestation crates by 2017.

Meredith Slater started a petition on Change.org asking McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to pressure Smithfield to renew its promise and completely phase out gestation crates by 2017. Click here to sign Meredith’s petition to bring McDonald’s in line with the rest of the fast food industry:

http://www.change.org/petitions/mcdonalds-stop-using-pork-from-abused-pigs

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Michael and the Change.org team