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wandering Wednesday &some News


Last night, the President delivered his first National Oval office speech. It was obvious the speech would not be good enough for cable talking heads, mostly pundits.  This is a moment when we need to support President Obama; we need to be united in solidarity for this President. We all need to support and or challenge; some or us would like him to be more left of center.  I do feel like he needs to get rid of Rahm because his ideals may not be the same that voted him into office.  I also feel there are reasons none of us know and may never know why Rahm is the catch all or helper in chief… i wish it were someone more left of center but that being said… I still will support our President and his efforts to bring us into the 21st Century… We all need to work on the members of Congress to follow this effort

The speech dealt with what happened on the Gulf Coast, the commitment to make BP pay, admitted that the moratorium will hurt people but the need to make sure people are safe as well as the equipment and while the guys on Msnbc wanted him to put the skews on BP maybe jack them up? I have to say viewers like me prefer the calm and reasonable President of the United States. The last person was loud and though he was commander in chief, he took himself way too seriously at time and not enough on other occasions when possible. And we all have to be thankful that the Mccain/Palin ticket was voted down by 53%, the President will appoint specific people to move forward toward any and all progress and while he gave the people information; people seemed to think he was suppose to tell them everything involved. This is Not going to happen. It was strange to hear folks really feel he had left out the most important things.  That is a subjective comment; it is more likely that as the Commander in Chief, covered what he thought Americans needed to know. It will not be the last time he will address the nation because unfortunately this BP disaster will affect not just the Gulf Coast; this thing will affect tourism, the restaurant biz, hotels housing, as well as the seafood maybe for decades.

Currently, folks are listening to Steph miller show that had Washington State Congressman Jim McDermott; who has been a champion for us here in Seattle as well as all Americans; keep it up! her other guest: Chris Matthews has a documentary about the extreme right.  I will Not be watching the Chris Matthews show because it seems like it’s stirring up the right to act out and that is scary for me; it makes my skin crawl and though it’s an attempt to shine the light on the extreme right it just seems to give them too much air time for me.

Today, the President will meet with  BP executives and get these people to do what is right for the people on the Gulf Coast the Wetlands, Marshes, Estuaries and beaches …the list could go on. Hopefully the families of the 11 men/women who died that day will be given appropriate restitution because it looks like those oil workers were an after thought.

The republican party as well as 20 democrats voted against closing the gas tax loopholes yesterday; which was a disappointment to me as a voter knowing we need Dems in Congress to work for the people but are still siding with the oil industry; not for the People. The fight to keep the Clean Air Act alive was not that hard though it was offensive  Murkowski’s dirty twist got on the floor of Congress to be dealt; she tried and failed though 5 Democrats voted with her; which is a big disappointment for our Environmental progress. The Democrats who chose to weaken the Clean Air Act and failed should be held accountable:  Blanche Lincoln(AR), Even Bayh(IN), Mark Pryor(AR),Mary Landrieu(LA),Ben Nelson(NE),John Rockefeller(WV), which was surprising; why did Rockefeller vote against this thing. Please call your Senator if listed above to support progress into major climate change and energy policies we need for our children’s future.

Other News …


C-SPAN …

President to face BP execs at white house meeting

Pres. Obama will meet with BP executives where he will discuss a victims compensation fund for those impacted by the Gulf oil spill. BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO Tony Hayward, Robert Dudley head of a new disaster management team and Lamar McKay, head of BP America will all to meet with the President to discuss an escrow plan as well as BP’s cleanup efforts. Later, a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee will examine the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, focusing on ensuring a financially responsible recovery. Last night, in his first ever message from the Oval Office, he offered a plan that included making BP pay for all costs associated with the accident. Yesterday, top executives of the five largest oil companies, including BP America, testified at a House Energy Subcommittee hearing and attempted to distance themselves from the fallout of the Gulf oil spill.

watch President Obama: Oil Spill Address (Tues)
watch Pres. on BP meeting: c-span.org at 12:15pm ET
watch Senate Homeland Subcmte: c-span.org at 3pm ET
visit Complete C-SPAN Coverage: Gulf Oil Spill

Sen. Armed Services continues hearing on Afghanistan after Petraeus takes ill yesterday

During testimony yesterday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Gen. David Petraeus took ill and was ushered out of the hearing room before he could further detail the planned 2011 drawdown of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The General returned 20 minutes later to reassure the committee that he was “just dehydrated” only to be dismissed for the day when Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) announced the hearing in recess. The committee will resume today and continue discussions on the drawdown along with questions about the upcoming military offensive in the southern city of Kandahar, which has traditionally been a stronghold for the Taliban.

Conferees Continue to Negotiate Details on Financial Reform Bill

Members of the House-Senate Conference Committee on financial regulation meet for a third day of deliberations on the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. The 43 committee members, or conferees, will debate and negotiate on sections of the bill related to investor protections, executive compensation and corporate governance – as well as rules governing audits of the Federal Reserve. The bill contains 12 major sections and spans almost 2000 pages.  The committee hopes to have a bill approved by both chambers of Congress and signed into law by President Obama by July 4th.

watch Hearing on Oil Spill Impact on Health

watch Interview with Sen. Dorgan

watch Pres. Obama Remarks to Military Personnel watch Pres. Obama with Local Officials

watch North Carolina Debate

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Wall Street just got shocked



As  Two financial giants told Congress not to kill a reform won by progressives and opposed by Wall Street lobbyists.

Can you join as a citizen-signer of their letter to Congress?

Wall Street

media reports have noted, a big policy victory resulted from our primary challenge to Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

When progressives attacked her for being a tool of big corporations, she offered a last-minute Wall Street reform proposal that the AP calls the “toughest” to pass the Senate. It restores Glass-Steagall-style rules that protect your bank deposits from being gambled away.

Conventional wisdom said Wall Street would kill this reform after the primary was over. But some big news just shocked the banks.

Two regional Presidents of the Federal Reserve — widely considered financial titans — wrote a letter calling on Congress to keep this proposal in the final bill.

Can you add your name as a citizen signer of this game-changing new letter? Click here to read and sign it.

We will deliver thousands of signatures to the key members of Congress who are negotiating the final Wall Street reform bill this week.

Plus, if thousands of us sign, we can generate a fresh round of media coverage around this letter — influencing the national debate and increasing the pressure on Congress to pass this big reform.

Our first goal is 10,000 signatures — can you help us reach it by signing today? Click here.

Thanks for being a bold progressive,

— Aaron Swartz, Adam Green, Stephanie Taylor, Shaunna Thomas, and the PCCC team

P.S. The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent writes, “The Halter challenge was a show of force by the left. Period. If you don’t belive that, ask yourself why Lincoln suddenly found herself backing a tough-on-derivatives proposal in the Senate.” Progressives empowered these financial titans to speak out. Now, let’s elevate their voices by joining as citizen signers.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What we saw tonight


Send to 5 people you know …
Tonight, in his very first speech from the Oval Office, President Obama addressed the nation on the BP oil spill and the crisis in the Gulf Coast.

Millions of Americans heard him lay out the path forward: Tens of thousands will continue to work around the clock to stop the oil spill and prevent further damage. The Obama administration will ensure that BP is held accountable, covering the costs of the clean-up and paying its debts to the people whose lives have been upended by the disaster.

The Gulf Coast will be repaired and restored for the people who call it home and whose livelihoods depend on it.

But, as the President said tonight, this is just the beginning — we need to ensure that a disaster like this never happens again.

The President presented a vision of a future where we as a nation are not held hostage by our dependence on fossil fuels — and a plan for an economy that invests in energy generated right here and creates jobs for millions of Americans in the process. Under his leadership, some of this is beginning to take shape — clean energy is starting to put people back to work across the country, building more efficient cars and trucks, repurposing old factories to manufacture wind turbines, and investing in research that will discover new energy technologies.

Critics will say that a real transition to clean energy is a challenge that can’t be met. But the President made it clear tonight that he will not back down — even if the path forward is not easy. And, as this movement has shown time and again, neither will we.

You are one of hundreds of thousands who have already stood with President Obama for a clean-energy future. Washington has put this off for far too long — America must act. We need your help today to show strong support for the President’s vision for a clean-energy future. Please pass on this email to five friends today — and ask them to join you in standing with the President:

http://my.barackobama.com/CleanEnergyFuture

Thank you,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

ThinkProgress.org


UNDER THE RADAR

BUSINESS — BP CALL CENTERS ARE JUST A ‘DIVERSION’: Having caused the greatest environmental disaster in American history, BP is now scrambling to defend its public image by running expensive TV ads, buying space on Google search results, and hiring former Bush and Cheney aides as public relations officials. While BP has boasted of its call centers in an attempt to demonstrate that it’s responsibly taking care of the oil spill and listening to public complaints, this effort’s credibility is now seriously questioned. One of BP’s contracted phone operators just came forward to KHOU in Houston, revealing how she and the other 100 operators at her site are merely PR props. Although they are supposed to be collecting and passing along ideas for clean-up and requests for spill-related aid, she says BP is not interested in doing anything with the information the operators receive. “We take all your information and then we have nothing to give them, nothing to give them,” she says. The calls are “non-stop,” but the contracted operators are just “a diversion to stop [calls] from really getting to the corporate office, to the big people.” Some operators “don’t bother” taking notes during their calls. The anonymous tipster laments how “it’s so frustrating when these people live right there and nothing is being done to help them.” BP officials acknowledge that this call center has received over 200,000 phone messages, yet they “can’t say just what percentage of calls is returned.” The Center for American Progress’ (CAP) Senior Fellow Tom Kenworthy and the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson have argued in a recent report that “[f]ederal agencies, not BP, should handle spill response hotlines for volunteers, technology ideas, affected wildlife, and others. Full call records need to be logged with incident reports and technology ideas presented publicly on dynamic websites.”

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

it’s Tuesday, what’s going on- in Congress


The Senate Convenes: 10:00amET June 15, 2010

Following Leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 11:30am with senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. The Majority will control the first 30 minutes. The Republicans will control the next 30 minutes. The remaining time will be equally divided between the two Leader or their designees.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the District Court nominations listed below. There will be up to 20 minutes for debate equally divided between Senators Leahy and Sessions or their designees. At approximately 11:50am, the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination in the order listed.

– Tanya Pratt of Indiana,
– Brian Jackson of Louisiana, and
– Elizabeth Foote of Louisiana.

Upon disposition of the nominations, the Senate will recess until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons.

When the Senate reconvenes at 2:15pm, the Senate will resume consideration of the House Message to accompany HR4213, Tax Extenders. Roll call votes in relation to amendments are expected to occur throughout the day.

As a reminder, today Senator Reid filed cloture on the motion to concur with an amendment with respect to Tax Extenders. The only applicable filing deadline is for second degree amendments. Those amendments must be filed one hour prior to the cloture vote on Wednesday.

Votes:
185: Confirmation of Tanya Pratt of Indiana to be US District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana;
Confirmed: 95-0

186: Confirmation of Brian Jackson of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Louisiana;
Confirmed: 96-0

Elizabeth Foote of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Louisiana;
Confirmed by voice vote

187: Sanders amendment #4318: (close oil and gas tax loopholes) (subject to a 60-vote threshold);
Not Agreed To:
35-61

188: Vitter amendment #4312: (Oil spill trust fund); (subject to 60-vote threshold) not agreed to: 48-49

189: Franken amendment #4311: , as modified (subject to a 60-vote threshold); Agreed To: 63-33

Unanimous Consent:

Passed HR3951, a bill to designate the facility of the US Postal Service located at 2000 Louisiana Avenue in New Orleans, LA, as the “Roy Rondeno, Sr. Post Office Building.”

_______________________________________________________________

CURRENT HOUSE FLOOR PROCEEDINGS
LEGISLATIVE DAY OF JUNE 15, 2010
111TH CONGRESS – SECOND SESSION

P.M. –

SPECIAL ORDER SPEECHES – The House has concluded all anticipated legislative business and has proceeded to Special Order speeches.

6:03 P.M. –

Mr. Bishop (UT) requested the following general leaves to address the House on June 22: Mr. Poe of TX for 5 min and Mr. Jones for 5 min.

6:00 P.M. –

ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with further one minute speeches.

H. Res. 1322:

celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program and recognizing the significant contributions of Albert Einstein Fellows

5:59 P.M. –

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 405 – 5 (Roll no. 364).

5:52 P.M. –

Considered as unfinished business.

H.R. 5486:

to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, and for other purposes

5:51 P.M. –

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On passage Passed by recorded vote: 247 – 170 (Roll no. 363).

5:44 P.M. –

On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by recorded vote: 187 – 230 (Roll no. 362).

5:24 P.M. –

The previous question on the motion to recommit with instructions was ordered without objection.

5:17 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Camp (MI) motion to recommit with instructions. The instructions in the motion seek to report the same back to the House forthwith with an amendment adding a section entitled “REPEAL OF INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE MANDATE”.

5:15 P.M. –

Mr. Camp moved to recommit with instructions to Ways and Means.

Considered as unfinished business.

H. Res. 1389:

recognizing the immeasurable contributions of fathers in the healthy development of children, supporting responsible fatherhood, and encouraging greater involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, especially on Father’s Day

5:14 P.M. –

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 416 – 0 (Roll no. 361).

4:41 P.M. –

Considered as unfinished business.

4:40 P.M. –

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – The Chair announced that the unfinished business was the question on adoption of a motion to suspend the rules which had been debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.

H.R. 5486:

to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, and for other purposes

POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS – The Chair announced further consideration of H.R. 5486 would be postponed until a time to be announced.

4:39 P.M. –

The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.

3:45 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 5486.

Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 5486 and H.R. 5297 with 1 hour of general debate. Previous question shall be considered as ordered without intervening motions except motion to recommit with or without instructions. Measure will be considered read. Specified amendments are in order. All points of order against consideration of each bill except for clauses 9 and 10 or rule XXI are waived.

Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1436.

H.R. 4855:

to establish the Work-Life Balance Award for employers that have developed and implemented work-life balance policies

3:44 P.M. –

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Failed by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 249 – 163 (Roll no. 360).

3:36 P.M. –

Considered as unfinished business.

H. Res. 1436:

providing for consideration of the bill ( H.R. 5486) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, and for other purposes; and providing for consideration of the bill ( H.R. 5297) to create the Small Business Lending Fund Program to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, and for other purposes

3:35 P.M. –

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On agreeing to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: 228 – 186 (Roll no. 359).

3:26 P.M. –

Considered as unfinished business.

H. Res. 1383:

honoring Dr. Larry Case on his retirement as National FFA Advisor

Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 409 – 0 (Roll no. 358).

2:55 P.M. –

Considered as unfinished business.

H.R. 4855:

to establish the Work-Life Balance Award for employers that have developed and implemented work-life balance policies

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

2:41 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 4855.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Ms. Woolsey moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

H. Res. 1322:

celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship Program and recognizing the significant contributions of Albert Einstein Fellows

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

2:22 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H. Res. 1322.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Ms. Woolsey moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution.

H. Res. 1414:

congratulating Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men-Englewood Campus, the Nation’s first all-male charter high school, for achieving a 100 percent college acceptance rate for all 107 members of its first graduating class of 2010

2:21 P.M. –

At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Ms. Woolsey objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was withdrawn.

2:14 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H. Res. 1414.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Ms. Woolsey moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended.

H. Res. 1389:

recognizing the immeasurable contributions of fathers in the healthy development of children, supporting responsible fatherhood, and encouraging greater involvement of fathers in the lives of their children, especially on Father’s Day

At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.

1:59 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H. Res. 1389.

Considered under suspension of the rules.

Ms. Woolsey moved to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution.

1:58 P.M. –

The Speaker announced that votes on suspensions, if ordered, will be postponed until a time to be announced.

H. Res. 1436:

providing for consideration of the bill ( H.R. 5486) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, and for other purposes; and providing for consideration of the bill ( H.R. 5297) to create the Small Business Lending Fund Program to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, and for other purposes

1:57 P.M. –

POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS – At the conclusion of debate on H.Res. 1436, the Chair put the question on adoption of the resolution and by voice vote, announced the ayes had prevailed. Ms. Foxx demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings on adoption of H.Res. 1436 until later in the legislative day.

The previous question was ordered without objection.

12:58 P.M. –

DEBATE – The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H. Res. 1436

Considered as privileged matter.

11:31 A.M. –

ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with further one minute speeches.

11:30 A.M. –

PRINTING OF PROCEEDINGS IN RECORD – Mrs. Berkley asked unanimous consent that the proceedings had during the Former Members Ceremony be printed in the Congressional Record and that all Members and former Members who spoke have the privilege of revising and extending their remarks. Agreed to without objection.

The House convened, returning from a recess continuing the legislative day of June 15.

10:04 A.M. –

The Speaker announced that the House do now recess for the purpose of receiving Former Members of the House. The next meeting is subject to the call of the Chair.

ONE MINUTE SPEECHES – The House proceeded with one minute speeches.

The House received a message from the Senate. The Senate passed S. 1660.

10:02 A.M. –

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG – The Chair led the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

The Speaker announced approval of the Journal. Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Journal stands approved.

10:01 A.M. –

Today’s prayer was offered by the House Chaplain, Rev. Daniel Coughlin.

10:00 A.M. –

The House convened, returning from a recess continuing the legislative day of June 15.

9:01 A.M. –

The Speaker announced that the House do now recess. The next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. today.

9:00 A.M. –

MORNING-HOUR DEBATES – The House proceeded with Morning-Hour Debate. At the conclusion of Morning-Hour, the House will recess until 10:00 a.m. for the start of the legislative day.

The Speaker designated the Honorable Kathleen A. Dahlkemper to act as Speaker pro tempore for today.

The House convened, starting a new legislative day.