scottpeters.com

The House is in session five days a week 20 percent of the time. One member wants to change that.

April 6, 2015

During the impressively unimpressive 113th Congress, we looked at the regularity which with Congress was in session. Only about 40 percent of weekdays since 1975, we found, were the House or Senate in session, the sort of work product that might get you fired as a 16-year-old lifeguard, though not as a federal legislator. One response to that article was that Congress does work when it’s not in session, like holding town halls and so on in their districts. Which is largely true, but is also very convenient.

For Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), who recently started his second term in the House, the excuse apparently doesn’t hold much water. Last week, he introduced a proposal to #FixCongressNow (apparently including the hashtag for some reason). First on the list? “Institute 5-Day Congressional work weeks.”

“Average Americans work five days a week so there is no reason Congress should not be required to as well,” Peters’ proposal reads. “A five-day work week would increase the time members of Congress are able to spend together working on substantive legislation and would help foster bipartisan working relationships.”

How rare is a House five-day-work week? Pretty rare, in fact. Here’s every time the House has been in session five weekdays in a row since 1975.

To put a fine point on it, they are in session for five weekdays in a row 20 percent of the time. (At least that’s consistent; it hasn’t been any lower over the last decade.)

Two more details about Peters’ proposal. First, it also would increase the number of weeks Congress is in session to 39. (This year, they’re slotted for 34.) And, second, it will never pass, any more than if a colleague asked for your vote to extend your workday by two hours. That’s a tough majority to put together.

That there hasn’t been any movement on the bill yet isn’t a surprise. Congress has been on recess for Easter for a week. They’re off this week, too.

SIGN YOUR NAME — Demand Congress work five-day work weeks >>

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tuition- Free Community College

05/08/2015 Nativegrl77

In this week’s address, the Vice President laid out his and the President’s plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students.Access to higher education has a tangible impact on a student’s success: Those with an associate’s degree earn 25% more than folks who graduated high school, and those with a four-year degree make 70% more. Not only that, but a better educated citizenry is necessary to ensure that the United States continues to out-compete the rest of the world.

Making two years of community college free is good for workers, good for companies, and good for our economy. And this proposal is part of the President’s broader vision for middle-class economics: that everybody who works hard deserves their fair shot and the chance to get ahead.

Watch the Vice President’s Weekly Address here.

First Americans were Black Aborigines

05/08/2015 Nativegrl77

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Racism Is Real- Real Story Behind Baltimore

05/08/2015 Nativegrl77

To be a person of color in 2015 comes with shocking racial bias and discrimination in many aspects of your everyday life. Study after study has proved this through facts on hiring, criminal justice and more*.How to take those facts and reach an audience that would rather have a root canal than read a study was the task at hand for us at Brave New Films.And so we created, Racism is Real- the #BaltimoreUprising is a symptom of a much larger problem.

From understanding that reality, change can happen.

Screen_Shot_2015-05-01_at_2.18.05_PM.png

This video has already reached over 29 million people on Facebook and YouTube! Major press outlets like the Washington Post, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, and BuzzFeed have featured it. And now we need you to share it with even more people!

Join us. Fight back against racism.

Robert Greenwald, President
BRAVE NEW FILMS

P.S. Our next video will take police brutality head on! We are racing to raise the money to get the short film done. Donate what you can today to help us make this film!

*Read more about the studies used in this piece here.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How Many Studies Will It Take?

05/08/2015 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Evidence Abounds, Yet GOP Lawmakers Refuse To Admit The Affordable Care Act Is Working

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. The Affordable Care Act is working. Today, a new study released by the RAND Corporation found that nearly 17 million people gained health insurance during the first 18 months after the opening of the healthcare marketplaces created under the ACA. Here are a few of the study’s most interesting findings:

11.2 million people are enrolled through state and federal marketplaces. And more than 4 million of those enrolled in the marketplaces are newly insured.

6.5 million people who were previously uninsured are now covered under Medicaid. More than half of the 12.6 million new Medicaid enrollees were previously uninsured.

9.6 million people are newly enrolled in employer sponsored plans. Employer sponsored plans added 8 million people to their rolls due to overall job growth.

RAND’s report is just the latest in a string of studies showing the law’s success. In March, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report also showing that over 16 million people gained insurance under the law. In April, a Gallup poll found that nearly nine in ten Americans are now insured. Then there’s this study showing people are satisfied with their coverage. This one showing that hardly any plans were canceled this year. And this one, from the New York Times, showing all the ways the law has been successful.

Despite the overwhelming evidence that the law is working, GOP lawmakers at the state and federal level continue to try to dismantle the law for their own political gain. Earlier this week, Republican Senators adopted a budget that would repeal the law altogether. Meanwhile, Florida, Texas, and Kansas have refused to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid on the one hand, and on the other hand are now filing a lawsuit against the federal government for not renewing its funding for a different health program (that the states knew would expire). The law is also in the middle of yet another test in front of the Supreme Court in the ideologically charged case King v. Burwell. And Arizona just became the ninth state to pass a law banning the creation of a state exchange yet another attempt by states to cripple the law and eliminate the possibility of a state solution if the Supreme Court rules against the law.

BOTTOM LINE: It’s time for GOP lawmakers to face the facts. Another new study has found that 17 million Americans have gained health coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act is working, and the irresponsible attempts to dismantle the law threaten the health and security of millions of Americans and must stop.