Congress still hasn’t passed a Veteran’s Health Bill …


VoteVets.org

Last month, after 100,000-plus veterans, military family members, and VoteVets supporters acted, the United States Senate passed Bernie Sanders’ Restoring Veterans’ Trust Act by a vote of 93-3.

The bill promises to increase the number of doctors and nurses at VA facilities while authorizing spending to lease twenty-seven additional clinics. These are important steps Congress should take right now in order to improve short and long-term care for our nation’s veterans.

So, why hasn’t it gotten to President Obama’s desk yet?

The short answer is that several Tea Partiers in the House and Mitch McConnell’s Senate Caucus are trying to gum up the works and stall until Congress goes on their five week recess this Friday.

Can you imagine? Veterans are dying, and some Members of Congress are counting down the clock to their extended vacation.

Tell Congress: Pass the Sanders legislation to improve the veterans’ health care system before you adjourn for a five-week “August Recess.”

The good news is, a bipartisan deal between House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairmen was announced just yesterday.

Leave it to Congress to wait until the last minute, but it looks like this bill could get to President Obama by week’s end.

But in Washington, D.C. you never know, so let’s make sure they hear from us before skipping town.

http://action.votevets.org/va_reform

If no action is taken by Thursday morning, we’ll deliver signatures from every veteran, military family member and VoteVets supporter who has signed on in support of Senator Sanders’ bill.

This is important,

Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets.org

Some Senators won’t like this ad


Sign Now

Her ex pounds furiously on the door. A child screams inside. She frantically dials 911. In less than a minute, she’ll be dead from a gunshot.

That’s the scene depicted in the new television ad we’re airing across the country today to raise awareness of the crisis of gun violence against women.

In an average month in the United States, 48 women will die in scenes like this — shot dead by an intimate partner.

The ad is going to attract plenty of attention, but we need your help to make sure enough people see it to dial up the pressure on the Senate. We need our senators to make the right call on an important bill that’ll help keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and stalkers.

Can you chip in $15 right now to make sure our hard-hitting ad makes it into as many homes as possible through the end of this week?

Here are some of the shocking facts you need to know about guns and domestic violence:

  • On average, women in the U.S. are 11 times more likely to be murdered with guns than women in other high-income countries.
  • More than half of women killed by guns in this country are killed by their intimate partners.
  • The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed.

With our brand new TV ad, we’re going straight to the public — everyday supporters like you — to encourage our senators to pass laws that’ll reduce these numbers and save women’s lives.

Every dollar helps expand the TV ad buy and reach more people, increasing the effectiveness of our message. Please pitch in now with a donation of $15 or more:

https://donate.everytown.org/donate/domestic-violence-ad1

Thanks for helping us get this important message out there,

Brina Milikowsky
Director of Strategy & Partnerships
Everytown for Gun Safety

July 30th is a big day for millions of working families in New York City!


Dear Friend,
July 30th is a big day for millions of working families in New York City!  Today, workers are eligible to start using the sick time they have accrued under the NYC Earned Sick Time Act, if they have been with their employer since the law went into effect on April 1, 2014.  A Better Balance worked closely with legislative officials to draft and strengthen this new law.  It covers nearly 1.2 million workers who previously had no sick time and ensures that 3.4 million workers in the private sector now have a legal right to sick time.  That means that employers cannot deny workers sick time they have earned or retaliate against workers for taking that time to care for themselves or family members.
Now we have to make these new rights a reality on the ground!  Could you take a moment today to spread the news by forwarding this to your networks or telling workers you know who may be in need of the law’s new protections?  Please tell workers to call ABB’s legal hotline at 212-430-5982 if they have questions about the law or problems related to the need for sick time.  ABB can provide confidential advice and free legal representation and can take calls in English and Spanish.
And when you spread the word, please tell workers that the Earned Sick Time Act gives them the right to take up to 40 hours of sick time per year to care for their own health or the health needs of a child or other family member.  Most employers will have to pay workers for the time, and all covered workers are protected against retaliation. Please see ABB’s one-page flyer (also available in Spanish) and webpage for workers on the law.
We’d also be grateful if you or anyone you know could distribute our materials on the law to organizations, community centers, etc. in your own community.  To find out how you can get involved, or if you have any questions, please call ABB at 212-430-5982 or email sicktime@abetterbalance.org.  
As always, thank you for all your support,
Sherry, Dina, Phoebe, Jared, Elizabeth, Liz, Risha, Rachel & Morenike

Expelled …


Amazon Watch
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Expelled from Ecuador:
One Solar Visionary’s Story

Last year, Ecuador’s government paid over $1 million for the rights to use the Beatles song “All you need is love” for its new slogan to promote the country worldwide. Branding itself as a welcome, inviting place of adventure, biodiversity, and rich cultural heritage, “All you need is Ecuador” (#AllyouneedisEcuador) ads have run throughout the US, on prime spots during the recent World Cup, and on social media, targeting tourists, retirees, and volunteers. However, Ecuador’s recent treatment of one U.S. citizen particularly calls into question the country’s professed welcome policy to the world.

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