~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

982,967 …Jim Messina, BarackObama.com


Remember that deadline we kept emailing you about a couple weeks ago?

Here’s what you should know about what we’ll report to the FEC tomorrow:

— In the third fundraising quarter of this year, 606,027 people donated to this campaign — even more than gave in the record-breaking previous quarter.
— Those people gave more than 766,000 total donations — 98 percent of them $250 or less, at an average amount of $56. That’s more than twice as many donations than we had at this point in the historic 2008 campaign.
— We are focused on building infrastructure that will help us win in 2012. And each quarter we set a combined goal for the campaign and our allies at the Democratic National Committee. We far exceeded our goal of $55 million this quarter between the two organizations. Great work.
— Together, Obama for America and the DNC raised more than $70 million. And it all happened during a summer when the President was focused on doing the job he was elected to do — a summer when we had to cancel a series of fundraising events and ask everyone to dig a little deeper.

If I could sum up this last quarter in a few words: You came through. Thank you.

Here’s even bigger news: Right now, 982,967 people have donated to this campaign. We’re within striking distance of 1 million donors.

You’re one of those first million already, so it’s up to you to inspire someone else to give for the first time. Make a promise to match someone’s first donation to the campaign now — you pick the amount, and we’ll match you with a grassroots supporter who hasn’t given to the campaign yet. You can even leave them a note (and you might get one back).

——————————————————————————-

Part of the reason we send you all these emails is that we don’t accept any money from special-interest groups or Washington lobbyists.

So getting to a million grassroots donors isn’t just a huge accomplishment this early in the campaign. It’s our answer to our opponents, the press, and anyone who wants to know whether the President’s supporters have his back.

The reality is that on top of the hundreds of thousands of supporters from 2008 who decided to make another donation, 257,635 people made their first donation ever to the Obama organization — continuing the record pace you all set in the previous quarter.

That support translates directly to what we can do on the ground. In the past three months we’ve grown our organizing staff by 50 percent, and opened up three new field offices every week. Thousands of volunteers and organizers made 3 million phone calls and in-person visits to voters.

That’s all because you decided to be part of this.

And the continued pace of that growth is up to you — we will open more offices, train more organizers, and knock on more doors at the pace you make possible.

When Republicans think it helps their political fortunes to block the progress that the President is advocating for, we have to speak up and mobilize.

You know why it’s important to engage right now. We’re up against a Republican Party and special interest-funded groups that will spend hundreds of millions of dollars spreading any message that they believe will defeat the President and roll back our efforts to build a fairer economy that rewards hard work and responsibility, not large corporations.

But we’ve also got to build for the long term. That’s what all the fundraising and deadlines are about: building the organization now that will put us in a position to win in 2012.

Thanks for all you did to get us here. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I hope you’ll take part in the push to 1 million grassroots donors today.

Make a pledge and double your impact by inspiring someone to donate for the first time today:

Thanks,

Messina

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Health Care for America Now … Melinda Gibson – Find an Occupy Together event


It began on Wall Street
and now has spread to hundreds of cities around the country. The Occupy Wall Street movement gives voice to the anger of families and small  businesses struggling to make ends meet while the richest 1% cut corners, cut jobs and raise prices. Health care activists know that the health insurers are some of Wall Street’s greediest players.

HCAN‘s Ethan Rome has a new piece on the Huffington Post on the nationwide “Occupy” protests and the role of the health insurance companies in sabotaging
our economy:

“America’s families and small businesses are barely hanging on while
the Wall Street-run health insurance profit machines have been jacking
up rates and providing less care. That’s why it makes sense for Occupy
Wall Street protesters to occupy them as well.

Much has been said about the banks and credit card companies that are
headquartered on Wall Street. The health insurance companies’ relentless
pursuit of profit and callous disregard for people offers another
window into how big corporations have abused people and twisted the
economy to serve their own interests.

Health
insurance companies make excessive profits, hoard massive amounts of
cash, overcharge their customers and give their top executives obscene
paychecks.“

We’re
working to spread the word about Occupy Wall Street to fellow health
care activists. Act now and share Ethan’s piece with anyone who you
think needs to read more about health care and this important movement.

Our slogan from the health care reform fight is as true today as it was in 2009: “If the insurance companies win, we lose.”

Now is the time to spread the word.

In Solidarity,

Melinda Gibson

Health Care for America Now

P.S. You can read Ethan’s full post here.

P.P.S. Click here to find an Occupy Together event near you.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Coming to a store near you…rain​forest destructio​n? Rolf Skar, Greenpeace


                     

Tell major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Kmart not to sell rainforest destruction by avoiding APP tissue products.

Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has brought their Indonesian rainforest destruction to American shelves with their line of disposable paper products.

Take action and tell stores like Walmart and Kmart not to sell rainforest destuction by avoiding APP’s “Paseo” tissue products.

Walk into major U.S. retail stores and you may find a secret hiding on the shelves: rainforest destruction.

It could be there in plain sight, but Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) hopes you’ll never notice. The company — which is responsible for driving massive rainforest destruction in Indonesia — has begun stocking the shelves of U.S. stores with their own line of toilet paper and tissue products marketed under the brand name ‘Paseo’.

But these products aren’t like the others. Paseo products have no recycled content — they’re made of 100% virgin tree fiber. Worse, those trees come from pulpwood plantations that are eating into Indonesia’s rainforests and destroying the last Sumatran tiger habitat.

They’re wiping away rainforests for  throw-away tissue.

APP has shown no signs of stopping. They’ll only change if they learn that rainforest destruction is bad for business. That is why Walmart, Kmart and other major retailers need to say “no” to selling Paseo tissue products until APP cleans up its act.

If 40,000 of us speak out in the next 72 hours we can really get their attention. Take action and tell major U.S. retailers like Walmart and Kmart: “Don’t sell rainforest destruction — don’t sell Paseo tissue products!”

APP says its Paseo products are ‘fully sustainable’ and ‘made in the USA.’ But what their packaging and advertising won’t tell you is that Paseo tissue products are made from wood fiber shipped from overseas linked to widespread rainforest destruction.

We need to put a stop to it, and fast.

With your help, we know it’s possible. Just last week, we announced that Mattel, the world’s largest toy maker, had agreed to drop business with forest destroyers like APP. Many other companies have done the same. Why? Because companies have heard from people like you that they can’t afford to look the other way when it comes to rainforest destruction.

Send a message right now to these retailers urging them to avoid business with notorious rainforest destroyer APP.

Asia Pulp & Paper needs the U.S. market to expand their business. So far they have shown no signs of stopping their destructive ways. But together we can change that.

For the forests,

Rolf Skar
Greenpeace Senior Forest Campaigner

P.S. To hit our goal of 40,000 signatures in the next 72 hours we are going to need everyone who cares about the future of our planet’s rainforests to speak up. Forward this message to anyone you know who wants to make sure the last 400 Sumatran tigers survive.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

From GALLUP.Com​: Texas and Mass. Still at Health Coverage Extremes in U.S.


Texas residents continue to be the most likely in the United States to lack health coverage, with 27.2% reporting being uninsured in the first half of 2011. At the other end of the spectrum is Massachusetts, where 5.3% of adults are uninsured.

www.GALLUP.com

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

a message from Ben Betz, People For the American Way


This is outrageous. A corporate-backed right-wing group fighting to dismantle workers’ rights in Ohio hijacked the words and image of a great-grandmother who had filmed an ad for our allies, distorting her message and making it look like she supported their position against workers.

Cincinnati resident Marlene Quinn had filmed a TV ad for our friends at the “No on Issue 2” campaign — the campaign to repeal Senate Bill 5, Ohio’s version of the Wisconsin bill that stripped public workers of their collective bargaining rights. In the ad, she told the story of her grandson and great-granddaughter’s rescue by firefighters, and rightly made the case that passage of Issue 2 on the ballot this November, affirming SB 5, would lead to less firefighters there to protect Ohioans.

In a shockingly underhanded move, a leading right-wing group in the fight, Building a Better Ohio, stole the footage of Marlene for its own ad, and presented it in a way that made it look like Marlene was for Issue 2!

Ten Ohio TV stations have already pulled the ad and we’re going to keep the pressure on the rest until do too. Help us by joining our petition to Ohio TV stations now.

www.pfaw.org

In an email for our allies at the No on 2 campaign, Marlene said of the Right’s ad:

“It’s insulting to the brave firefighters who saved the life of my great-granddaughter. I’m outraged they are using my face and my words to push their harmful agenda. They certainly did not ask my permission. I feel violated.”

Watch a side-by-side video comparison of the two ads and sign our petition now.

We hope you’ll speak out against the Right’s latest dirty tactic, and then engage others to do the same.

Thank you for all your support and activism to fight the Right’s dirty tricks.

— Ben Betz, Online Strategy Manager

 

politics,pollution,petitions,pop culture & purses