Tag Archives: cheney

~ my 2cents ..., ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

What’s going on … in the House and Senate

02/04/2010 Nativegrl77

Today 2/4/2010

Both leaders of the House and Senate are on their way toward establishing a new path toward a jobs bill and health-care reform. The issues have been difficult but they will not give up. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi states that in the near future people will be paying 1dollar out of every 5dollars for health-care, the problem will not go away, we can solve the issue by repealing the anti-trust exemptions, increase , lower cost and improve choices for all Americans.

In a series of votes that dramatized the conflicting pressures Democrats face to spur job growth and control the deficit. The House voted 217-212 to raise the government’s borrowing authority to a record level, with 37 Democrats joining Republicans opposing the measure.

The speaker reminded people that this is a important day, the House celebrated the enactment of payasyougo (HJ RES 45) today in a vote of 233yeas and 187nays without one Republican vote; payasyougo does not pay down the current debt accrued; it does force or puts the brakes on future increases. The 1.9 Trillion increase in the cap the govt can borrow and the measure to force stricter rules will create fiscal responsibility. The speaker reminded people that she is definitely focused on getting Eleanor Holmes-Norton re-elected, is concerned and working toward equal rights for the people, is very proud that the lily ledbetter law has been passed as well.

In a vote of 94 yeas and 2nays, which, was changed to 96-o because two Republican Senators rescinded their votes. Martha Johnson was finally appointed to her position as GSA head. In a moment of emotion, Senator Dorgan voiced my feelings at least, that for over 8months Republicans have blocked her nomination and now they almost unanimously vote to put her in, which raises doubts in the integrity of Republicans.

The intent is clear, question is will they continue to hold up appointments; without them in place the administration will never be as competent as they should be, any Republican holding up appointments are directly responsible for any and all problems that occur.

Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that the Senate will begin work on job creation legislation, offering a hand of good faith to do this in bipartisanship. He also discussed the recent meeting between Pres. Obama and Senate Democrats, and outlined his broader legislative goals for the year.

In what was quite possibly the last business of the day in the Senate; a step-down speech; sad but a proud moment for Democrat Senator Paul Kirk,a speech delivered from a true Public Servant who will be truly missed on the Senate Floor.

~ my 2cents ...

Cats away … so-called insiders diss our President

01/25/2010 Nativegrl77

REPost from 7/2009

Some things just don’t change…

why do people in the Obama administration seem to wait until he is out of DC to talk, rant and rave about what is going on? or lack of it … i support what Obama wants to achieve … Republicans are being childish, not planning on helping Americans out, the decision to be the party of no hopefully will backfire.

We the People voted for Obama… the people want change … healthcare, energy and better education

but some democrats in office don’t seem to want to act in our best interest … the Public is not stupid … it will take a long time for change … it took how long for this crisis to blow up? people need to be reminded … Obama has been in office for 7months…1yr now… anyone with common sense, i guess 1yr later and common sense among the people is over, i thought people would know it will take longer than 7months to see a difference … even now a yr later

fear mongering is creeping up again and this time it’s on both sides of the isle … teachers and fire fighters are loosing their jobs … some states are cutting social services .. my state is… any state using this money to balance their budget is why the numbers are not good …

the stimulus package is being held up,now passed, the question is why?and the answer to why the stim was held up? Republicans have decided to kill any bill, thus killing the Obama Presidency. heard only 7/10% of it has been processed … and most of it going to rural America? i don’t believe that is totally true but what is def true; Officials used that money to plug budget holes

id say that last 90% should be jobs jobs jobs, the grid and the train … or just jobs jobs jobs … 10% is not very good … someone needs to tell me what’s up

It appears like some stuff is going on behind the scenes … who is sitting on the stimulus money if at all … if not tell us the truth … someone needs to get this stuff straight …

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Chevron to Clean Up Its Toxic Mess in Ecuador

01/22/2010 Nativegrl77

Demand that Chevron to take responsibility for dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater.
Over the course of twenty-six years of oil drilling in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, U.S. oil giant Chevron deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into the rainforest, leaving local people suffering a wave of cancers, miscarriages and birth defects.

The tragedy in Ecuador is so profound, it has been compared to the Exxon Valdez spill and called the “Amazon’s Chernobyl.”

In spite of the tremendous suffering caused by this toxic pollution, Chevron has refused to clean up the catastrophe.

Demand that Chevron take responsibility for its actions now >

Within the next year, the outcome of a court case sixteen years in the making will be determined by a court in Ecuador.

Chevron has pledged that even if it is found guilty in court the company simply won’t pay to clean up the site or provide health care, potable water and compensation to affected communities.

Chevron needs to take responsibility. But the company won’t unless it feels pressure from its American customers and the general public.

Send a letter to CEO John Watson and tell him he needs to clean up the toxic legacy in Ecuador >

And tell Watson that Chevron must shift to clean sources energy and adopt sound human rights policies so that what is happening to the people of Ecuador and the rainforest never happens anywhere else.

Thank you for lending your voice,

– The Change.org Team in partnership
with Rainforest Action Network

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Update from Washington State: SustainableWorks secures Recovery grant.

01/14/2010 Nativegrl77

from the greenforall.org website— filed under: recovery

In May of 2009, we reported on a major legislative victory for clean-energy jobs in Washington, thanks to deep community involvement and champions in the state legislature. Now, the application process for those funds is complete, and a great organization called SustainableWorks won a Recovery grant.

Update from Washington State: SustainableWorks secures Recovery grant.

We have an exciting update from Washington State!

A few months back, we reported on a major legislative victory for clean-energy jobs in Washington, thanks to deep community involvement and champions in the state legislature.   The Washington State legislation (Senate Bill 5649) paved the way to create thousands of good, green-collar jobs, by designating that funds from the Recovery Act support energy-efficiency retrofit programs.

This ground breaking legislation was passed because of the hard work of leaders in the Sound Spokane Alliance. Green For All worked with community advocates and members of the legislature to ensure that the bill benefited community members and included job quality standards. and

Now, the application process for those funds is complete, and a great organization called SustainableWorks won a Recovery grant. Thanks to SB 5649 and Recovery Act funding, SustainableWorks will expand its work to facilitate energy-efficiency retrofits in moderate-income neighborhood.

SustainableWorks already has experience pioneering retrofit projects in small commercial and residential buildings in Spokane, WA. It has proven that a highly trained workforce, paid family wages, can provide cost effective energy retrofit services. SustainableWorks is now a statewide non-profit pioneering neighborhood-based, large-scale energy efficiency projects.

In addition to this experience, SustainableWorks is a good pick for Recovery funds because it is committed to providing quality jobs and opportunities for new workers to enter the workforce. The program requires that all contractors pay Washington State prevailing wages with benefits to all employees. It also requires that all contractors use at least 20% apprentices on its projects and that 25% of these apprentices must be new first-year apprentices. With the support of Electrical Workers, Plumbers and Pipefitters, Laborers, Sheet Metal Workers Unions and others, SustainableWorks has agreements to place individuals from underserved communities directly into apprentice programs that usually require a long waiting period. These unions have demonstrated their commitment to making the building trades accessible to all.

SustainableWorks will require contracted employees to receive extensive training so that its workforce can perform energy retrofit work more efficiently than past models. This, combined with simplifying the process for consumers, will result in a program that can be sustainable for the long haul.

The energy retrofit work SustainableWorks will do with Recovery funds is part of a continuum of programs to help low-income Washington residents reduce their energy costs through energy saving home retrofits. The Washington State Low Income Weatherization program performs free energy retrofits in low-income households. SustainableWorks will provide retrofits in moderate-income homes that don’t qualify for the low-income program. It will combine utility incentives and Recovery funding to make certain that the costs for the retrofits are covered up-front with low interest loans, and fully paid for over time with energy savings.   SustainableWorks is also grounded in a community organizing model that is critical to reaching homeowners who are either unaware of energy savings opportunities or are not pursuing them because of the costs involved. SustainableWorks can reach these households and help them save energy, organizing one moderate-income neighborhood at a time.

It is very exciting to see the next step in the process, as landmark legislation on the federal and state levels (the Recovery Act and SB 5649) begins to turn into jobs, opportunity, and environmental sustainability for people and communities in Washington State.

For more stories of how the green economy is growing across the United States, see our new Green Economy Roadmap.