~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

#ImmigrationReform ~~~ is personal


The White House, Washington

As a kid, I dreamed of graduating from college, and hugging my parents with my diploma in hand.

There was just one problem: I found out that I am not a citizen. My parents brought me to America when I was just four years old.

This country is the only place I’ve ever called home. It means everything to me. And when I learned that I was undocumented, it shattered my life.

President Obama’s action on immigration offered me the chance to give back — to do right by the law, and contribute to this country that has given me so much. And his actions last week will give that opportunity to so many people who are Americans in their hearts, but not on paper.

I know this is an issue President Obama cares deeply about and that’s why I was so moved by what he had to say about it. Watch for yourself here.

This is about bringing undocumented immigrants like me out of the shadows, so that we can do right by the law and play by the rules. That’s why President Obama is taking these steps — but as he said on Friday, Congress needs to pass a comprehensive solution to fully solve this problem.

Because my brother is a citizen, my parents will have a chance to stay here and keep our family together. So for me, this is personal. But I’m not the only one: So many families will benefit.

See what the President announced last week, and please share this message with your friends and family:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/immigration-action

Thank you,

Astrid Silva

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Not done yet


On November 4, we took the biggest — and toughest — step forward, yet.

When Washington State said Yes to 594, we showed reformers across the nation that they can not only fight — but also beat — the gun lobby at the ballot box and bring commonsense reforms to our gun laws.

The truth is that we couldn’t have done it without your support, which kept us going through the attacks and a tough campaign.

But we’re not done yet. There’s so much left to do to reduce gun violence here in Washington.

Moving forward, we here at The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility will be working closely with the Center for Gun Responsibility to continue educating the public and helping pass commonsense gun laws that will make us all safer.

And now, it’s time for our lawmakers to do their job and stand up for commonsense gun laws.

What can you do in this new phase? We want to know what you believe we should focus on during Washington’s next legislative session.

Take our quick one-question survey, and let us know what you think our top legislative priorities should be for reducing gun violence and making our communities safer.

The people of Washington have done their part to reduce gun violence at the ballot box, and now it’s our legislators’ turn to do theirs.

Thanks for your help,

Zach Silk
Campaign Manager
Yes on 594

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Why Hasn’t Congress Acted?


By

Republicans Complaining About President Obama’s Immigration Action Have It Backwards

We wrote last night about why President Obama’s announcement on immigration is such an important move. The only way to fix our broken immigration system once and for all is for Congress to work together to pass bipartisan legislation. But until then, the president is right to take whatever steps he can within his legal authority to begin solving this problem. The president’s actions prioritize our enforcement, putting the focus on felons, not families. These measures will strengthen our national security, our public safety, and our economy. And they are supported by two-thirds of Americans.

Again, this is not a permanent solution. Only Congress can do that. But, House Republicans don’t seem like they want to act – even though the Senate passed a bipartisan bill more than 500 days ago. Instead they want to play politics and accuse the President of overreach, despite the fact that he is just doing his job and the actions he took are consistent with previous presidents, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. Both Boehner and income Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have warned that the President’s actions “poison the well” for comprehensive reform. Here are some other instances of conservative fear-mongering:

However, all of these allegations of Obama ruining good-faith efforts to compromise would be more credible if they were not part of the exact same playbook his opponents have used numerous times before:

  • Both Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) said that Obama “poisoned the well” by issuing his 2012 action on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
  • Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) warned that if Obama took any credit for the Senate’s bipartisan immigration reform principles, “it certainly would poison the well with a lot of Republicans.”
  • Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested last year that President Obama’s support for overwhelmingly popular gun safety policies “poisoned the well” with the GOP to get anything done on the issue.
  • An anonymous Republican leadership aide said that the shutdown fight “poisoned the well” for working together on any issue, including comprehensive immigration reform.

Really, it’s Republicans who have poisoned the well. Rather than running on a real agenda for the future of America, their entire message was being against Obama. Before and after the election, they swore up and down how they would refuse to compromise with the President. Before the 2014 campaign was even over, McConnell promised prominent Republican donors that he would “thwart the Obama agenda” as majority leader. Meanwhile, hours after the 2014 election ended, Sen. Ted Cruz repeated his vow to repeal the Affordable Care Act, moments after claiming he was ready to compromise with the President.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP can try and repeat the same tired criticism that President Obama’s latest move has “poisoned the well,” but they have it backwards. President Obama took necessary executive action on immigration because House Republicans refused to pass a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration bill – and because the GOP has refused to compromise at every step of his presidency.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Turn up the heat on McDonald’s


 {UCS
Let’s take to Twitter and tell McDonald’s there’s no excuse to continue buying palm oil that pollutes our atmosphere and drives forest destruction.

Turn Up the Heat on McDonald’s

Add your voice to publicly call out McDonald’s and tell them that—for the sake of our atmosphere, tropical forests, and endangered species—the time to act on deforestation-free palm oil is now.

ACTION ALERT
Tell McDonald’s: It’s Time to Go Deforestation-Free!

 

Today, on National Fast Food Day, we need your help to turn up the heat on McDonald’s. Let’s take to Twitter to publicly call McDonald’s out.

As our report Donuts, Deodorant, Deforestation: Scoring America’s Top Brands on Their Palm Oil Commitments documented, a new standard for responsible palm oil—one that protects tropical forests and our climate—has emerged. As tropical forests are cleared to make way for plantations for palm oil production, carbon is released into the atmosphere, driving global warming and shrinking habitats for endangered species. Tropical deforestation currently accounts for about 10 percent of the world’s heat-trapping emissions.

More than 28,000 UCS supporters like you told six of America’s top brands that there’s no excuse to continue buying palm oil that pollutes our atmosphere and drives forest destruction.

And five out of six listened! Thanks to your letters, Dunkin’ Brands (owner of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins), Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, and PepsiCo released or strengthened their palm oil policies. Everyone, that is, except McDonald’s.

National Fast Food Day

McDonald’s continues to use palm oil that could be wreaking havoc on our environment. As the largest fast food company in the world, McDonald’s should set the bar high and make a firm commitment to use only deforestation-free palm oil. Instead, they continue to stall.

Join our mass mobilization by tweeting our graphic telling McDonald’s that—for the sake of our atmosphere, tropical forests, and endangered species—the time to act is now. If you’re not on Twitter, you can still get involved.

Together, we are holding corporations accountable and transforming the palm oil industry.

Sincerely,
Miriam Swaffer
Miriam Swaffer
Outreach Coordinator
Tropical Forest & Climate Initiative
Union of Concerned Scientists

P.S. McDonald’s isn’t the only fast food laggard who continues to use palm oil that could be wreaking havoc on our environment. Join nearly 50,000 UCS supporters in telling the largest global fast food chains—including McDonald’s, Burger King, Yum! Brands, Wendy’s, Subway, CKE Restaurants (Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., La Salsa, and Green Burrito), Starbucks, Dairy Queen, and Domino’s—that for the sake of our atmosphere, tropical forests, and endangered species, now is the time to adopt strong deforestation-free and peat-free palm oil policies!

politics,pollution,petitions,pop culture & purses