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a message from Mrs. Michelle Obama


I am thrilled to make sure you are the first to hear some very exciting news. Charlotte, North Carolina, will host the 46th Democratic National Convention in 2012.

Charlotte is a city marked by its southern charm, warm hospitality, and an “up by the bootstraps” mentality that has propelled the city forward as one of the fastest-growing in the South. Vibrant, diverse, and full of opportunity, the Queen City is home to innovative, hardworking folks with big hearts and open minds. And of course, great barbecue.

Barack and I spent a lot of time in North Carolina during the campaign — from the Atlantic Coast to the Research Triangle to the Smoky Mountains and everywhere in between. Barack enjoyed Asheville so much when he spent several days preparing for the second Presidential debate that our family vacationed there in 2009.

And my very first trip outside of Washington as First Lady was to Fort Bragg, where I started my effort to do all we can to help our heroic military families.

All the contending cities were places that Barack and I have grown to know and love, so it was a hard choice. But we are thrilled to be bringing the convention to Charlotte.

We hope many of you can join us in Charlotte the week of September 3rd, 2012. But if you can’t, we intend to bring the spirit of the convention — as well as actual, related events to your community and even your own backyard.

More than anything else, we want this to be a grassroots convention for the people. We will finance this convention differently than it’s been done in the past, and we will make sure everyone feels closely tied in to what is happening in Charlotte. This will be a different convention, for a different time.

To help us make sure this is a grassroots convention — The People’s Convention — we need to hear from you. We want to know what you’d like to see at next year’s convention, how and where you plan on watching it — and the very best way we can engage your friends and neighbors.

http://my.barackobama.com/PeoplesConvention1?keycode=

how can we make The People’s Convention belong to you and your community?

I can’t believe it has been more than two years since my brother Craig introduced me at the 2008 Convention in Denver. It truly feels like it was yesterday.

As I looked out at a sea of thousands of supporters that night, I spoke about my husband — the man whom this country would go on to elect as the 44th President of the United States. I spoke about his fundamental belief — a conviction at the very core of his life’s work — that each of us has something to contribute to the spirit of our nation.

That’s also the belief at the core of The People’s Convention. That the table we sit at together ought to be big enough for everyone. That the thread that binds us — a belief in the promise of this country — is strong enough to sustain us through good times and bad.

Barack talked at the State of the Union of his vision for how America can win the future. That must be the focus now, and I know so many of you will help talk about our plans with your neighbors — that through innovation, education, reform, and responsibility we can make sure America realizes this vision.

But, conventions take time to plan, so please help us make sure that your thoughts and your ideas will ring all the way to Charlotte. Get started now:

http://my.barackobama.com/PeoplesConvention1?keycode=

Looking forward to sharing this together,

Michelle

Predicamen​t Facing Progressiv​e Media | Advertiser Boycott Against Beck WORKED | At&T-T-Mob​ile Merger Bad for Ethnic Communitie​s


from :AlterNet

Sorry GOP, My Cancer Screenings Are More Important Than Your Religious Beliefs

 By Andrea Grimes, RH Reality Check

 An anti-choice Texas Representative bent on defunding Planned Parenthood scoffed when I told him that I have high risk HPV and rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings.

 READ MORE » http://act.alternet.org/go/6266?akid=6847.231355.YkSLPx&t=22

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Media Warn AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Could Hurt Ethnic Communities

 Low-income populations could be confronted by reduced service access and higher costs.

 READ MORE  http://act.alternet.org/go/6479?akid=6846.231355.7u_8T_&t=9

 Jehangir Khattak / New America Media

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10 Industries That Pay Women the Least

Major companies like AIG, Citigroup, First American Corp and GAMC all have zero female officers, underscoring their reps as male-dominated businesses.

 READ MORE http://act.alternet.org/go/6475?akid=6845.231355.lQF251&t=31

By Charles B. Stockdale, Douglas A. McIntyre / 24/7 Wall St.

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House Passes Paul Ryan’s Disastrous Medicare Plan

http://act.alternet.org/go/6476?akid=6845.231355.lQF251&t=33

By Joshua Holland | AlterNet

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Prosser, David Walker’s Enabler on Wisconsin Supreme Court, Wins Close Race

http://act.alternet.org/go/6477?akid=6845.231355.lQF251&t=34

By Staff | AlterNet

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Progressive Media Suffer Losses In the Fight Against the Right-Wing Media Machine

 Major progressive media stars have recently lost their platforms, while the Huffington Post eschews progressivism — both worrying developments in the media war with the right.

READ MORE  http://act.alternet.org/go/6345?akid=6846.231355.7u_8T_&t=3

 Don Hazen / AlterNet

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How an Advertiser Boycott Campaign Helped Push Glenn Beck Off the Air

 How much sooner would Fox have been forced to drop Beck if the media had done its job and forced News Corp to explain why it was propping up someone who’s bad for business?

 READ MORE http://act.alternet.org/go/6406?akid=6846.231355.7u_8T_&t=6

 James Rucker / Color of Change

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Oliver Stone: Don’t Betray Us, Barack — End the Empire

By Oliver Stone, Peter Kuznick, The New Statesman

Let’s face facts: The US can no longer dictate to the rest of the world. READ MORE »

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  “They Are Afraid Their House Could Blow Up”: Meet the Families Whose Lives Have Been Ruined by Gas Drilling [Photos By Award-Winning Photographer Nina Berman]By Nina Berman, AlterNet”We’re not asking for a lot and now they’re taking it all away. In a million years, I never would have thought that people could do this and get away with it.” READ MORE »

As One Budget Battle Ends, Another Begins …from -Joan Entmacher and Judy Waxman, National Women’s Law Center


Thank you for all you have done to help protect women and their families. We are counting on you in the struggles to come to fight these efforts to destroy programs that millions of Americans need every day.

from …

Joan Entmacher

Vice President, Family Economic Security

National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman

Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

National Women’s Law Center

As you’ve probably heard, Congress has approved and the President signed a spending bill for the remainder of the federal government’s current fiscal year. And thanks to your support, we were able to safeguard (and even increase) funding for some vital programs.

Under this plan, which funds programs through the end of September, the budget for Head Start will increase, allowing 60,000 low-income children to continue receiving a valuable jumpstart to their education. Plus, we put the brakes on the effort to take away funding for Planned Parenthood and other critical family planning services across the country. If anti-choice politicians had prevailed, many women would have had nowhere to turn for contraception and preventive health screenings.

Unfortunately, however, these actions came at a high price: the 2011 budget agreement forbids the District of Columbia from using its own local tax dollars to give low-income women access to abortion services they need, putting an already vulnerable population at increased risk. And the agreement includes cuts to health, education and human services programs that will be detrimental to women and their families.

But the fight we had over this year’s budget is dwarfed by what we’re facing farther down the road. The House Republican majority just voted today for a budget for 2012 and beyond that would give more tax breaks to millionaires and corporations while eviscerating Medicaid, Medicare and other programs vital to women.

In supporting Representative Paul Ryan’s budget proposal, the House voted to:Cut, then cap, Medicaid, which would cause millions of vulnerable women to lose their health coverage. End Medicare as we know it, replacing the current guaranteed insurance system with a voucher program that would stick seniors with higher health care costs.

Cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations, permanently extending the Bush-era tax cuts, capping the top personal income tax, extending the December 2010 reduction in the estate tax for multi-million dollar estates, and lowering corporations’ tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent.

Put Social Security cuts on a fast-track in Congress, placing millions of women and others who rely on Social Security benefits at risk.

Other provisions in the bill would slash funding for domestic programs such as child care, Head Start, K-12 education, Pell grants, family planning and other women’s health services, job training, housing and energy assistance, and services for the elderly.

The list goes on, but here’s the bottom line: this budget would unravel the fragile safety net for millions of Americans even as it puts TRILLIONS of dollars in the pockets of corporations and the wealthy. This isn’t a fiscal plan — it’s an attack on the very idea that our society should protect its most vulnerable members and on public structures that give ALL Americans a chance at a better life.

Thank you for all you have done to help protect women and their families. We are counting on you in the struggles to come to fight these efforts to destroy programs that millions of Americans need every day.

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher

Vice President, Family Economic Security

National Women’s Law Center

Judy Waxman

Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights

National Women’s Law Center

The greenest way to support UCS -Kevin Knobloch,President


Your support of the Union of Concerned Scientists has helped advance innovative, practical solutions to the problems of global warming, food safety, abuse of government science, and more.

Do you want your support of UCS to go even further? Join the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Partners for the Earth monthly giving program.

www.ucsusa.org

The Partners for the Earth program helps UCS reduce fundraising costs and paper use. It’s the greenest way to give—plus, it’s easy and convenient for you!

This is an easy and effective way for you to ensure UCS has the funds needed to advance science-based solutions to curb global warming, reduce the threat of nuclear weapons, generate clean energy, produce more fuel-efficient cars—and much more—every day of the year.

Become a Partners for the Earth member today. Simply select an amount that is comfortable for you and it is automatically debited each month from your credit card.

www.ucsusa.org

In the coming months, UCS will continue to:

•Expose and challenge corporations, front groups, and policy makers who mislead the public and misrepresent science while highlighting corporations acting responsibly;

•Press the Environmental Protection Agency to continue to work to reduce global warming emissions from cars, trucks, power plants, and large industrial polluters;

•Work to phase out coal as one of the dirtiest sources of electricity by exposing its true costs; and

•Watchdog the nuclear power industry, ensure that U.S. reactors are operated as safely as possible, and provide timely analysis of the situation at the stricken facilities in Japan.

We’ve got ambitious goals—and we need your regular support to accomplish them. Click here to join the Partners for the Earth program today.

www.ucsusa.org

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Kevin Knobloch

President

P.S. As a Partners for the Earth member, you are in control. You decide the amount of your monthly gift, and you can change or cancel your pledge at any time. Please join today.

There’s nothing courageous about it


For days, I’ve been reading in the press about the “courage” of a Republican budget proposal that abolishes Medicare to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and slashes investments in energy, education, and infrastructure.

On Wednesday, I heard President Obama say exactly what I’ve been thinking: There’s nothing courageous about it.

The Republicans are pledging to cut investments to clean energy by 70 percent, education by 25 percent, and transportation by 30 percent. Their plan would see as many as 50 million people lose their health insurance in order to reduce the deficit. Instead of creating jobs, they want to create $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy.

That’s not a brave vision for the future. It’s a rejection of the idea that there are brighter days ahead.

Today, the House of Representatives will meet to vote on the GOP budget proposal, and if they insist on pushing this plan forward — if they can’t come together with the President to find common ground — we’ll make sure their constituents know about it. If they choose to try to privatize Medicare, we will put ads on the air and organizers on the ground, and we’ll talk about this vote over and over again. We’ll make this stick.

But we need your help to do it.

www.democrats.com

This week, President Obama offered a path forward that I believe in: $4 trillion in deficit reduction; responsible investments to improve our schools, fix crumbling roads, and develop clean energy; and a total rejection of the notion that spending cuts must come on the backs of seniors and poor children.

He laid out a vision where we all make sacrifices, but none of us is left to bear the burden alone. And he offered a forceful, unapologetic response to those who don’t believe in the responsibility we all share to move our country forward together.

This isn’t just about this week’s vote or the latest shiny object to capture the attention of Washington for a news cycle or two. This is about the very future of this country and the direction we take.

We know that because the Republican plan hasn’t just been adopted by a few ideologues in Congress — it’s been embraced by the candidates who want to take President Obama’s job.

If we want to win this fight about the direction our country takes, then we must start now — as Congress considers the GOP proposal.

Can you chip in?

http://my.democrats.org/Medicare

Thanks,

Patrick

Patrick Gaspard

Executive Director

Democratic National Committee