~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Predicament Facing Progressive Media | Advertiser Boycott Against Beck WORKED | At&T-T-Mobile Merger Bad for Ethnic Communities

04/18/2011 Nativegrl77

from :AlterNet

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

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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?

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 »

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

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

04/18/2011 Nativegrl77

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.

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

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

The greenest way to support UCS -Kevin Knobloch,President

04/18/2011 Nativegrl77

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.

~ my 2cents ...

Monday mashup &some News …

04/18/2011 Nativegrl77

So, two weeks without both Chambers of Congress doing the Peoples Business makes me a little unsettled. I wonder what all of us political junkies will do, the weather is very cold here, definitely not spring like and gotta say it makes me think about and I wonder how many left of center members of Congress will support the President’s Budget on camera given what happened last week on the Floors of Congress. I hear some say that they support this President but I have to say the silence from most left of center members of Congress two years ago was and still is a bit much for me as a voter who definitely will vote for Barack Obama in 2012.

How a Bill Becomes a Law <<

When performing legislative research, it is important to understand the legislative process. The numerous steps that result in a bill becoming a law are described in this 24th edition of “How Our Laws Are Made.”

Failed Promises ?

my take on failed promises? or change to or redirection of promises?

i would say the day the system crashed was the day we all should have hit the re-set button to any campaign pledges that may need a new process to achieve a positive outcome.

… Community Organizer and young Senator Obama watched from the side lines, watching, hearing and knowing the status quo had to change; no financial crisis to speak of but things probably were not as they should be so Presidential Candidate Obama had an agenda for America. It is possible some financial issues are brewing, the house of Bush was focused on the surplus, waging a couple of Wars and giving out tax breaks to what I would say were his friends at least two times.

If we compare and contrast what Bush did to what Candidate for President Obama did, he ideas, his values and visions for America not only seemed far ahead of the Republican Administration but Barack Obama’s other competitors as well. To be sure it is obvious that Barack Obama knew what he wanted to do which included changing the way things are done on the Capitol Hill, Congress. We all know that change takes a while maybe positive change takes years and so does co-operation and as months went by there are more rumblings of financial problems. As more rumors came out about a financial issue some candidates stayed quiet some said our economy was fundamentally strong while others seemed to lose it as more private meetings with candidates became the norm. The political competition, cableheads and or negative noise about candidate Barack Obama started grew stronger. face a lot of criticism from not just the Republican Party but from people from our own party putting out doubt about where he was born, was he an American and did he pal around with terrorists or those questions about his ability to bring in the vote of not only women but white women and men. As all these political debates happen the race card gets pulled out by some if not all candidates who say they want to represent all Americans. As the weeks pass more information about how bad things were started to come out and like everyone else we all started to notice that there were a lot of layoffs happening on a weekly and or monthly basis. I remember the news coverage of employees coming from corporate America companies crying and or leaving the building with boxes or their belongings. While the media dissed candidate Obama, talked about Bush being less available and McCain tells Americans that our economy is still sound and strong though it is clear by his behavior the news is bad. It is also obvious Hillary Clinton opts to say little; seemingly in such shock herself and quite rattled about the financial news of an impending Wall Street crash. It was at that moment that I along with a whole lot of other folks came to believe Hillary did not have what it takes to handle that 3am call not to mention she was engaging in some of that race card nonsense the Republicans were fully engaged in. In my opinion the fact that she even went there was offensive as a democratic candidate for President of the US of A.

In just months before Americans had to vote for President of the United States the House of Bush slowly opened the doors of pain. I believe Americans figured it out themselves long before Bush decided to come clean what with friends, relatives and or neighbors with homes suddenly leaving the area and neighborhoods were definitely emptied and the question that still haunts me is; why did they wait until the next administration was about to be put into place?

Other News …

**Storms in NC kill

**Last day for Taxes

**Japanese voters

**Japanese voters call for prime minister Naoto Kan to step down

**Libyan Rebels Battle Qaddafi Forces as Migrants Flee Misrata

**French minister under ‘attack from Taliban’

**Many dead after Nigerian election protests

**Inflation in China Poses Big Threat to Global Trade

**Libyan forces shell Misrata, 17 killed: rebels

CSPAN

Pakistan Foreign Minister on U.S.-Pakistan Relations … http://c-span.org/Events/Pakistan-Foreign-Minister-on-US-Pakistan-Relations/10737420948/

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A Look at Offshore Drilling and Environmental Regulations … http://c-span.org/Events/A-Look-at-Offshore-Drilling-and-Environmental-Regulations/10737420946/

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Washington Journal Special Series: National Debt

http://c-span.org/Events/Washington-Journal-Special-Series-National-Debt/10737420941/

Focus on Bi-partisan Fiscal Commission

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

There’s nothing courageous about it

04/15/2011 Nativegrl77

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