IMMIGRATION — TEXAS TEACHER SINGLES OUT LATINO STUDENT DURING SB-1070 DISCUSSION, SAYS MEXICANS ‘EXPECT HANDOUTS’: A high school English teacher in San Antonio, TX has been “removed from the classroom” after she reportedly singled out a Latino student wearing a Mexican soccer jersey and publicly insulted him with racist remarks. According to the student, Augustine Ortiz, what began as a discussion about Arizona’s new immigration law (SB-1070) escalated to an anti-Latino, racist attack. Ortiz said the teacher — whose name is being withheld pending an investigation — told him to sit in the front row, “proceeded to single him out repeatedly,” and made racist remarks about how Mexicans always “expect handouts.” The teacher also told the class that “soon it’s going to be the United States of Mexico,” according to Ortiz, and said Mexicans are “the racist ones.” The San Antonio Express-News reports that two students defended the teacher, saying Ortiz “was late to class and missed crucial aspects of her lecture.” They didn’t dispute the bulk of Ortiz’s account. However, another student in the class that day, Reina Mondragon, corroborated Ortiz’s story.” Mondragon said the teacher also “questioned why documents in the United States frequently are translated into Spanish and whether Mexicans should be allowed to own land in this country.” She said the teacher’s lecture “felt more like an attack, and like she was judging people from Mexico,” than a balanced discussion. According to Ortiz, when he went to complain about the incident, the vice principal “brushed him off.” However, once the school’s principal learned of the episode, administrators removed the teacher and launched an investigation. Ortiz also noted that the English teacher had been his favorite instructor. “She actually said we need to stand up for what we believe in,” he said. “And now I’m standing up for what I believe in.” About 93 percent of the students at the school are Hispanic.
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Republicans Block Democrats’ Efforts To Hold BP Accountable — GOP Leaving Taxpayers On The Hook For Bailing Out BP May 18, 2010
Today, Democrats took to the floor to explain the urgent need to pass this legislation to hold BP accountable and protect the American taxpayer, but Republicans blocked us for a second time in less than a week. Excerpts of Democrats’ remarks today are below.
By blocking Democrats’ 2nd attempt to pass the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act – which would ensure BP pays for the full cost of its disastrous negligence by raising the outdated liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion – Republicans are leaving American taxpayers on the hook for bailing out BP.
Nevada Senator Harry Reid: “The fundamental principle behind the Wall Street bill we’ll finish this week is accountability. Those who created the mess bear the responsibility for cleaning it up. One of its most important provisions promises taxpayers they will never again be asked to bail out a big corporation that acted recklessly and put our economy at risk. When it comes to the ongoing catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, our motivation is no different… We have to put our foot down and make clear that taxpayers will not pick up the tab. I will do everything in my power to make sure the polluters pay the price.”
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez: “After all, BP’s profits amounted to $5.6 billion for the first three months of this year. Profits, not proceeds. Profits. That breaks down to $94 million in profits each and every day. That means their current damages liability under the law of $75 million is less than one day’s profits. Less than one day’s profits… But they want taxpayers to bail them out when they spill. It’s fundamentally wrong. Our bill is as simple as it gets. It says no bailout for BP. It says BP pays for its own mess, not the nation’s taxpayers. It says you either want to fully protect the small businesses and communities devastated by the spill or you want to protect multibillion dollar oil companies from being held fully accountable.”
Florida Senator Bill Nelson: “We are looking at a gargantuan economic and environmental disaster facing this nation but particularly those states on the gulf coast and the Atlantic seaboard… The places like the sugary white beaches of northwest Florida, where I will be this Friday, where already the cancellations are coming right and left as their tourist season starts, and hotels that would normally have 85% occupancy are less than 20% occupancy. You see the economic consequences from this… For the life of me, I can’t understand someone objecting as they are going to do in raising an artificial limit of $75 million, up to at least $10 billion, and it’s probably going to exceed $10 billion. But the argument you’re going to hear is they are going to say oh, it shouldn’t be this, it ought to be tied to profit. Now, is it really responsible public policy to say that because of a company makes less money that it should be responsible for less damage? No.”
New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg: “And we’re going to see here today, as we saw the other day, a response from the other side, and I hope that they have the courage, the guts to stand up here and say where were the ordinary American taxpayers, or maybe we like the other guys better, maybe we like big oil better. Will the United States Senate stand with fishing industries and hard-working men and women who make a living providing sustenance to our nation, or will it continue its stand with big oil?… Our colleagues, they stayed true to the oil companies, they stood up and they wanted to make sure that they blocked any attempt to pass a bill that would raise the liability. So here we are back today again to urge our colleagues to stand up for the American taxpayers who are sick and tired of bailouts.”
Washington Senator Patty Murray: “Now, Mr. President, the questions are: who should be responsible for this cleanup? Who should bear the burden for big oil’s mistakes? Should it be the taxpayers, families and small business owners who are already being asked to bear so much today? Or should it be BP, the company that is responsible for this spill and that made $6.1 billion in profits in the first three months of this year alone? Mr. President, I cosponsored the prevention act because, to me the answer’s pretty clear. I believe that BP needs to be held accountable for the environmental and economic damage of this spill, and I’m going to continue to fight to make sure that our taxpayers do not end up using a single dime to pay for the mess this big oil company created. To me, this is an issue of fundamental fairness. If an oil company causes a spill, they should be the one to pay to clean it up, not the taxpayers.”
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin: “As Senator Murray has said and Senator Menendez has said and Senator Nelson has said, it’s basically whose side you’re on. Who should pay for this disaster? Should it be the taxpayers of this country? Should it be the small business owners whose livelihood is now in jeopardy? Should it be the property owners who are going to suffer damage? No. It should be BP oil and its affiliates. That’s what the Menendez bill does. It places responsibility on the appropriate party. BP should pay.”
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar: “I recently saw firsthand the miles and miles of oil slick in the gulf coast. The scope of the disaster is staggering. This should not threaten the entire coast of our country. But beyond that, potentially, if they close the port of New Orleans, you think of the effect on Minnesota, if the oil keeps spreading the effect it will have on other parts of the country. I don’t think the taxpayers of this country should have to pay for that. That is why I support the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act, which will ensure that the current liability act for a single oil spill will not apply to the gulf coast oil disaster. It will make sure that BP, which flaunted its record profits of $6 billion in the first-quarter of this year alone, that they pay for this. And the taxpayers of this country which are already burdened with the costs of the difficult times of this economy and what wall street has done that they are not stuck with the bill here.”
Senate Democrat Newsroom
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Repower America
With at least 4 million gallons of oil already poisoning the Gulf Coast and no end in sight for this environmental catastrophe, the alarm bell to end America’s dependence on fossil fuels is ringing and has reached a deafening volume.
We need a strong bill to transition our nation to clean energy — and we need it now.
Yesterday, we reached an important milestone in this fight when Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman released a draft version of their climate and clean energy proposal.
This is the starting gun for the Senate to craft and pass the strongest possible climate and clean energy legislation.
This week’s proposal is not the only language on the table. Over the last year, a number of other Senators, including Senators Susan Collins and Maria Cantwell, have put forward several proposals that also help end our addiction to fossil fuels. The addition of the Kerry-Lieberman draft proposal is important because it is the final piece of the puzzle — and now it’s time for the Senate leadership to craft the strongest bill possible, drawing out the best from all of the ideas that have been put forth.
The bill language that is finally selected for consideration by the Senate and the priority that it receives in the Senate calendar is driven by the Senate leadership. And how hard they push for this bill, and how strong it will be, will be determined by how much pressure Senators are feeling from us.
This week’s draft proposal from Senators Kerry and Lieberman is not perfect — it does not by itself solve the climate crisis, and there are too many provisions within it that support our continued dependence on fossil fuels, including too few restrictions on offshore drilling. Critically, the proposal does commit the United States to reducing carbon emissions 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 from 2005 levels — meeting the commitments President Obama made to the rest of the world at Copenhagen’s climate negotiations last year.
On Monday, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that the Senator is waiting to hear the public reaction to this draft legislation before he decides if climate and clean energy legislation will be a top legislative priority this year.
So we have to make sure our Senators hear from all of us. We cannot afford to wait any longer for climate and clean energy legislation, and we cannot afford weak legislation that won’t get the job done.
Please send an email to your Senators asking them to do everything in their power to ensure that a comprehensive climate and clean energy bill makes it to the floor of the Senate this year, and that this bill is the strongest bill possible.
http://cpaf.repoweramerica.org/senateactionnow
Congress’s failure to lead on climate and clean energy has cost us far too much already. But the first step to a better future is simple: “Bill, Baby, Bill!”
Thanks for making your voice heard at this critical time,
Dave Boundy
Campaign Manager
The Climate Protection Action Fund’s Repower America Campaign
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Tuesday News tips …
Democrats… true Democratic Candidates need We the People. It’s Super Tuesday, Primary day and as we all wait for the votes to come in it is important for all Democrats to GOTV for all the right Candidates who will continue with the great efforts to get our financial system, health care, climate change, immigration reformed, inplace and adjusted as needed. The focus should be progressives and or candidates willing to get us into the 21st Century and back in saddle again, or as the number one in the Nation.
The oil dump off the Gulf Coast has gotten to a point where everyone is now questioning what was said by the 3 stooges.. =BP/Halliburton/TransOcean from the beginning; did they start spinning from the beginning; why didn’t have equipment siphoning off oil right away. The conflicts between them was sad and offensive and when the final truth is that the equipment actually malfunctioned, that they were trying to draw oil from a blown well and mud, blow out switch or, top hat, junk shot and now siphoning, which probably should have been started sooner by people dressed in protective gear including masks.
immigration is still important and seems to be getting shoved under the rug; the polls have stated that people of America are sort of inclined to side on Gov Jan Brewer’s law… well, the poll question is what i question … the law is not stating that we need a comprehensive immigration reform … it states that the police will have the right to questions … by reasonable suspicsion…what is that? what does an illegal look like/what does an American look like? it means if you look like an undocumented or as most put it … if you look like an illegal then you are up for being stopped, questioned based on your accent, shoes and whatever will get you to show your papers. We all have to question what happens next? will police be paid at a higher rate because they are doing the job of a immigrant agent? and people need to know that police do commit errors, they do racially profile and in Seattle it was shown on camera … by a citizen…with audio and it def was racial profiling and racial slurs … the polls and how they are worded are the question
Other News …
**Pfizer to cut 6,000 jobs/closing more plants
**The Dow bounces back
**Republican Mark souder resigns after being caught having an affair with a staff aide
C-SPAN …
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN179665920100517
White House Press Briefing 5/17
Commerce Small Business Summit 5/17
Panelists Take Snapshot of Current Supreme Court Amid Changes
Coinciding with the recent release of “The Supreme Court: A C‑SPAN Book Featuring the Justices In Their Own Words,” C‑SPAN and the Library of Congress sponsor a discussion on the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court reporters Joan Biskupic and Lyle Denniston, and former law clerk Maureen Mahoney take a look at the current make-up and issues facing the Court.
Primary Day Arrives in Oregon too!! Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Arkansas
Three state primaries being held today may shape the Congressional elections in November. In Pennsylvania, Incumbent Sen. Specter (D-PA) defends his seat from challenger U.S. Representative Joe Sestak (D). Also, Mark Critz (D) and Tim Burns (R) are in a special election to fill the seat of the late Rep. John Murtha (D). Kentucky holds a primary for the GOP U.S. Senate race with Trey Grayson, Rand Paul, Gurley L. Martin, John Stephenson and Jon J. Scribner. Lastly, incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln is up against challenger Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the Arkansas U.S. Senate Democratic Primary.
Election Coverage: Tonight on C-SPAN Networks
New START Treaty Submitted To Congress
In April, Pres. Obama and Russian Pres. Medvedev signed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that will limit long-range nuclear weapons. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Sec. Robert Gates and Jt. Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen discuss the treaty at a Senate Foreign Relations Cmte hearing. This would replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and the 2002 Moscow Treaty.
Senate Hearing: LIVE on c-span.org
START Signing Ceremony (4/8)
Lawmakers Examine Long Term Impact of Oil Spill
Congress continues its investigation into the Gulf oil spill, hearing from Obama Administration officials and executives from BP and Transocean. The Senate Commerce Cmte. will highlight the personal responsibility of BP and Transocean, while the heads of the Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration list short and long-term impact of the spill. Also, the Senate Environment Committee hears from EPA Admin. Lisa Jackson and Interior Sec. Ken Salazar on federal assistance in the Gulf Coast.
Commerce Cmte: c-span.org, 2:30pm ET
Environment Cmte: C-SPAN3 at 2:30pm ET
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Weekend News/Reviews
It’s Sunday and as most of us wake up, turn on the tv we see news of incredible turmoil and violence in Bangkok that appears to be all about control .. shouldn’t we all be able to protest without getting shot? i know, but i still wonder why can’t things be done differently.
Talkingheads are talking Primaries coming up this Tuesday ; we are at a time when people need to decide… the choice of taking Political sides… history shows that Republicans have questionable behavior; it also has to be understood what would happen if anyone from the Tea Party is voted into Political Office to represent We the People; when in fact the tea party people do not represent all the people only a select few and that does not include people of colour in my opinion. In some cases Republican Politicians have made comments that suggest women need to stay in the kitchen and off the floor of Congress. It’s an obvious choice to me because Republicans practice exclusion; say they want less govt but go to Wall Street, Big Banks, AIG and big Oil Corp for money to support them; even our Supreme Court has helped Republicans and that move to legally deem corporations and individuals equal
The idea of hearing Sarah Palin talking is bad enough but when she gets out there and gets paid… This woman is hardly qualified to be speaking for anyone … she is an ex-Gov of Alaska who apparently couldn’t finish out her job and some in Alaska do feel she abandoned them is now trying to tell the President what to do and campaigning for anti-abortion? it’s offensive to hear her talk, it’s offensive for her to be out there taking money to say negative things about other Politicians when she is a Political quitter herself; it’s offensive to think she honestly feels she is a supporter of Women or Family; because clearly she is not, WHY? includes all things effect by families: her inability to separate Church from State, a right to choose, English or else? marriage for all people, how did she do among blacks and 1st nation families in Alaska and immigration will affect women and their families.
Today the Gulf Coast Benefit is being held all day and headliners involved and performing include: Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, Neville Brothers and more …
The BP effort to plug up a siphon tube is starting to work and is it just me or did anyone else feel strange watching all those fisherman standing in line getting pay checks? especially after the interviews, it definitely felt like some were getting better deals than others … pitting them against each other is just wrong and like some of them said… they? whoever can rectify the problem needs to start rotating boats … everyone should get a piece of the action … speaking of action … there should not be a small print clause about what happens … the people there still should and expect more … contracts with a no lawsuit clause are just wrong.
I get why they are using dispersants but the definition doesn’t get lost on me either …where will the oil plus poison go after being dispersed … EPA?
immigration … Gov Brewer has made a choice to go after the President and we all must remember how Brewer got her job and after looking at her FB page the idea of the ole bait and switch came to mind; not only was she considered sane at some point she was appointed to Obama’s federal council of governor’s panel, had many ideas that seem good in writing yet one has to wonder …is it power, politics and control that is making Arizona an example of how not to act if you truly are an American? or is it
Other News …
**Banks cut Emergency lending from Fed
**44thou Military Helmets recalled due to design problems
**California’s bleak financial outlook has deep cuts coming to social programs
**PBuchanan has it out for Jews? very offensive
**BP efforts to plug siphon tube is starting to work at this time
**All those near Oklahoma need to stay away as a tornado headed or is there… if you are near underground facility get there now
**UK is going to be closing airports again as the Volcano spews ash
**NCarolina… Republican territory has about a $788mil deficit,will be slashing teachers
**Feds approve of dispersals
**Former Mexican Senator is missing
C-SPAN
Monday at 2:30pm (ET) on C-SPAN
Senate Hearing on the Response to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill
Gregg: GOP Not Trying to Stop Financial Reform
On C‑SPAN’s Newsmakers, Budget Committee Ranking Member Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) clarified that Republicans were not interested in stopping financial reform but hoped their amendments could improve the bill. In particular, he went over Republican efforts to change the bill’s language regarding derivatives, saying the current bill will hamper the “nation’s ability to be resilient and economically competitive.”
It’s Saturday … and as the weather heats up so does the political climate all over the country; what with primaries, laws that legalize racial profiling, Arizona is out of control … laws like the birther, the shoes please and now a ban on Ethnic Studies, reports of American troops leaving Haiti completely; troop numbers dropped to 900 and will drop again to 500 in June, a group of national business lobbyists in Florida want to take away health care from fellow Americans have joined in a suit against the new law of the land, capping that oil dump on the Gulf Coast, which, if you watched the hearings last week; it was the other guys fault show and continues to play itself out on national tv like the 3 stooges, only it wasn’t funny at all; it was offensive.
The President stated that watching them fall all over each other to blame and or point fingers at the other was offensive. We the People got the impression there was a whole lot of bad acting going on; 3 huge Corporations pretending to care but in the end seem to be standing firm on the liability cap amount and willing to waive the costs to taxpayers with the help of Republicans and some conserva-dems… how much more can Americans take. This oil dump will take a toll on every aspect of life on the Gulf Coast and includes oil drilling as well so … alternatives need to be started asap.
Other News …
**Striking at a lucrative bank business, the Senate on Thursday voted to force credit card companies to reduce fees for debit card transactions and permit merchants to offer customer discounts based on their payment method. The 64-33 vote inserted the fee requirement in a package of new financial rules the Senate is considering to ward off a repeat of the financial crisis.cbsnews
**Npr is reporting that McFarlane and her drains/bridges have helped save Haiti
**A joint lawsuit led by Florida, now 20 states was filed on March 23 by mostly Republican attorneys general.
Congress close to deal to pay for tax cutsCongress is finally getting around to extending more than 50 popular tax breaks that expired at the end of last year, including money savers for homeowners, businesses and shoppers in states with no income tax. Lawmakers want to raise taxes on investment fund managers to help cover the cost.
**The ban on Ethnic Studies could force Arizona int losing 10% in federal funds;Arizona plans to force schools to comply or be punished? State or Fed funds should be withheld immediately
**Feds/Justice Dept opens up criminal investigation regarding WVA underground mine
C-SPAN …
Today at 7pm (ET) on C-SPAN
America and the Courts: Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference Panel Moderated by U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan
President Obama Police Ceremony
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Be a Seed for Change 
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