Tag Archives: Congress

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Let them Eat Cake


Families Must Come First

Take Action

Tell your Senators that we need real solutions for the unemployed.

Take Action

They don’t get it — or don’t care.

Nearly 15 million Americans are unemployed, and nearly 7 million Americans have been out of work for over 6 months.

Yet, once again, a minority of Senators blocked help for millions of struggling families. Hold your Senators accountable for their actions by making a phone call today.

Providing unemployment benefits and other assistance to families and helping states and localities protect jobs and services aren’t just compassionate. They are the best ways to help a fragile economy.

While your Senators are home, they need to hear from you. We can’t let another week go by without giving families the support they need.

Tell your Senators that we need legislation that extends unemployment insurance benefits and emergency assistance for families in crisis. And it needs to include additional Medicaid funding for states, or else we’ll face further cuts to health care, education, emergency assistance and other vital services for children and families. That’s right, inaction means more pink slips.

We need your help. Contact your home offices and demand real help for families, states, and the economy.

Thank you for continuing to fight for women and families.

Sincerely,

National Women’s Law Center

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9.5% Unemployment


Congress just went on vacation without extending unemployment—leaving 2 million Americans without a desperately-needed source of support. Can you send a free fax to Sens. Murray and Cantwell demanding that the Senate act?

Send a fax

The new unemployment figures came out on Friday and they’re bad. We lost 125,000 jobs and the unemployment rate is 9.5%.

But instead of helping those who are out of work, Congress just went on vacation without extending unemployment benefits. That means 2 million Americans are losing a desperately-needed source of support because of Congress’ continued failure to act.

Congress seems to think they’re doing the popular thing by pulling back support for the economy, but in fact, a recent poll shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans want benefits extended, even if it means temporarily increasing the deficit.

Thankfully, your senators, Sens. Murray and Cantwell did the right thing and voted to extend benefits. But there weren’t enough senators willing to stand with them. We need to keep up the pressure so every senator knows this urgent issue has to be dealt with right away. Click here to send a free fax to Sens. Murray and Cantwell with the results of the poll along with a demand that the Senate act.

http://pol.moveon.org/fax?tg=FSWA_1.FSWA_2&cp_id=1395&id=21582-9640874-tSp8G8x&t=3

Friday’s unemployment numbers drive home the point that Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman made last week about the perils of government inaction. He goes so far as to say we may be heading for a depression.

Here are some key excerpts from Krugman’s op-ed:

We are now, I fear, in the early stages of a third depression. It will probably look more like the Long Depression than the much more severe Great Depression. But the cost—to the world economy and, above all, to the millions of lives blighted by the absence of jobs—will nonetheless be immense. And this third depression will be primarily a failure of policy. Around the world…governments are obsessing about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending.

Unemployment—especially long-term unemployment—remains at levels that would have been considered catastrophic not long ago, and shows no sign of coming down rapidly.

In the face of this grim picture, you might have expected policy makers to realize that they haven’t yet done enough to promote recovery. But no: over the last few months there has been a stunning resurgence of hard-money and balanced-budget orthodoxy.

While long-term fiscal responsibility is important, slashing spending in the midst of a depression, which deepens that depression and paves the way for deflation, is actually self-defeating.

So I don’t think this is really about Greece, or indeed about any realistic appreciation of the tradeoffs between deficits and jobs. It is, instead, the victory of an orthodoxy that has little to do with rational analysis, whose main tenet is that imposing suffering on other people is how you show leadership in tough times.

You can read the whole thing and pass it on to your friends here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html

And click here to send Sens. Murray and Cantwell a fax to demand that the Senate does their part to get the economy growing again:

http://pol.moveon.org/fax?tg=FSWA_1.FSWA_2&cp_id=1395&id=21582-9640874-tSp8G8x&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Laura, Nita, Duncan, and the rest of the team

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UNDER THE RADAR … thinkprogress.org


BUSINESS — BP USED OIL INDUSTRY TAX BREAK TO WRITE-OFF ITS RENT FOR FAILED DEEPWATER RIG: Reports continue to demonstrate how deeply unprepared BP was to deal with its disaster in the Gulf of Mexico with tar balls reaching Texas’ shores and entering Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain. But the New York Times now explains how the oil behemoth took advantage of U.S. tax policies to significantly benefit from the failed Deepwater Horizon rig. Transocean, the company that owns that rig, used well-known tax havens in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland to reduce its U.S. corporate tax rate by almost 15 points. And due to a break in the U.S. tax code, BP was also allowed to write off 70 percent of the rent it paid to Transocean on its own tax bill. “According to a letter sent in June to the Senate Finance Committee,” the benefit amounted to “a deduction of more than $225,000 a day since the lease began.” As the Wonk Room’s Pat Garofalo writes, “[E]ssentially, the U.S. taxpayer paid BP to lease a rig that was incorporated in a foreign country for the purpose of avoiding the U.S. corporate tax.” This benefit to BP is a symptom of a larger issue. Garofalo explains that “the U.S. tax code is actually riddled with breaks for the oil industry, despite that industry’s record profits in recent years.” Sima Gandhi, a senior policy analyst for the Center for American Progress, has counted nine different subsidies that the U.S. government gives to the oil industry, including refunds for drilling costs and refunds to cover the cost of searching for oil. Last month, only 35 senators voted for eliminating $35 billion of the industry’s subsidies. Fully cutting this corporate welfare would save $45 billion per year and, according to the Office of Economic Policy at the Department of Treasury, “affect domestic production by less than one-half of 1 percent.” “The flow of revenues to oil companies is like the gusher at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico: heavy and constant,” said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in response to BP’s Deepwater write-off. “There is no reason for these corporations to shortchange the American taxpayer.”

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Thoughtful -Tuesday


What have Republicans done for you lately? or for the last 8 to 10 years?

There will be a March for Jobs in DC on October 2nd 2010

Congress is still on break while millions and millions of people either pick up their last UI check, move out of their current living space, have several garage sales or are standing in line for federal programs they probably have never had to stand in before. The people of the United States will be overwhelmed until Republicans realize we are all Americans and government is We the People not we on the Right who believe in Corporations -Wall Street not Main Street and until Main Street is straightened out our economy will continue on a downward spiral -which is exactly what Republicans want.  The question is has anyone on the right thought about what the consequences are if they let all things financial fail again? If people are upset about the deficits, and are successful in voting in Republicans to take over – would they print even more money than Hank Paulsen did and if so what would be their next move? Would we ask the Private Sector help out and what should we expect them to do? get rid of Social Security and any other programs Republicans feel are entitlements.  It is just a thought but if we let Republicans bring down the Obama administration the real loser will be the middle class; people need to open their eyes at how ludicrous it will be if Republicans continue their obstructionist behavior – and if they are successful whatever happens will do damage to everyone folks

In better news …Summer  is about to move to the 206 as temps are reported to be around 70 today and should reach 90 by Friday. We all love summer until the temperatures become unbearable which makes it harder to work live and or be healthy.

Of all the things we should know, remind and speak up or out about are what things, the last administration did that played an important part in our economic collapse. If people will accept that government is there for a reason and in doing so more people should be voting for Democrats to get the job done. The obvious conclusion folks should come to is that government is us and to say no to it like Republicans keep doing when we need it the most is just a successful attack on how government was suppose to work which is now being stalled, blocked and torn apart.

Today’s Tip: 99 Cents Isn’t Always Cheap -from livecheap.com
We love it when the stores get creative and lure you in with low priced offerings.  For example, bleach is just Sodium Hypochlorite and the stronger stuff is 6.0% concentration.  What do you get at the 99 cent store?  They don’t usually say, most likely 3%… not a bargain.  Same thing for bread, nothing like paying 99 cents when they are selling you 16 ounces instead of 24.  Another one that we’ve seen lately is things that are normally sold in 1lb packages being sold in 12 ounce packages.  They seem cheaper until you do the math.  Stores love tricking unwary consumers into thinking they got a deal.

Read the label and don’t be a sucker.

When Clinton was voted out of office he left a substantial amount of money in surplus – no President is perfect but some should be challenged what looms now is sizable tax hikes, loss of retirement benefits, double digit inflation, global financial collapse and any domino effect   could wipe out the middle class so, did you know that …

1)Bush doubled the US national debt to $10trillion in just 8 years

2)Bush took 600 out of Social Security and sent a check out to everyone,  definitely one of several reasons it is now going broke and needs to be fixed asap

3)While conflicts and rumblings of fighting in Iraq&Afghan Bush formally announced and committed our young men/women for 2wars that were not paid for

4)Tax credits and breaks given to 2% of our Wealthy

Other News …

**The President meets with the PM of Israel today and will be on cspan today

**In an effort to make sure our youth know their rights 1 for All -a new website will be launched on Thursday

**The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, sued Countrywide for unfair and deceptive practices in servicing the mortgages of homeowners in default or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The settlement requires Countrywide to pay $108 million in refunds. go to http://www.ftc.gov/countrywide

For Release: July 2, 2010

**The FTC will send refunds to eligible homeowners in the coming months. You’ll be notified by mail if you’re eligible. You don’t need to do anything now.

**The economic stress may be slow but it is easing in only 18months…after 8yrs plus of financial bad choices

**Toyota continues to have problems with their automobiles

**Reports are that Elena Kagan will prob be voted and begin her Supreme Court Justice assignment by the end of July

**UFCW local 367 is asking consumers to boycott Tacoma Macy’s until they correct the unfair hiring

**Manson follower is on their 19th try at parole

**The GOP are still on the Repeal HCR bandwagon and continue to run on this at least in GA, OK places where HCR is needed most. read the article by By KATE PICKERT,    it is a must read article on Republicans practicing exclusion

**All fives Gulf Coast states report tar balls which begs to ask where and what were the local government responsibility and why didnt they do what they had to that would not ruin the wetlands, marshes and or beaches because certain action could like berm that could harm the wildlife

**

C-SPAN …

Tests of Massive Oil Skimmer Inconclusive

Over the weekend, the converted Taiwanese tanker “A Whale” attempted to skim the waters near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but a company spokesman reported on Monday that results of the test run were “inconclusive” due to rough weather. BP and the Coast Guard have yet to determine if the massive ship, expected to take in 300,000 barrels of oil water every 10 hours, will become a permanent tool in the cleanup effort.
Ongoing storms and twelve-foot waves following the arrival of Hurricane Alex last week continue to delay recovery efforts. Meanwhile, Texas is feeling the effects of the oil spill. On Monday, the state announced that tar balls have washed onto two state beaches.

Queen to Address UN for First Time Since 1957

In a rare diplomatic appearance before the United Nations, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II addresses the General Assembly today in New York. She is expected to give a broad speech on world unity and peace.  The Queen appears before the 192-member General Assembly in her capacity as the head of state of the United Kingdom and 15 other UN member states, including Canada and Australia. She last addressed the body in 1957, at the age of 31. The UN itself was only twelve years old. She had acceded to the throne five years earlier, following the death of her father, King George VI. The Queen also plans to visit the World Trade Center site to honor the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Charles and his wife Camilla visited “Ground Zero” in 2005, and Prince Harry visited the site last year. The 2001 attacks claimed the lives of 67 British citizens.       Queen’s Speech: C-SPAN at 3pm ET

President Obama, Israeli Prime Minister to Meet in Washington

President Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office this morning. In this their fifth meeting, the President and Prime Minister are expected to discuss the Middle East peace process, as well as the Gaza Strip blockade and sanctions against Iran.
Following the meeting, an expanded working lunch will include additional U.S. officials and members of the broader Israeli delegation.
Today’s meeting was originally scheduled for last month, but Netanyahu cancelled it following an Israeli military raid on a flotilla of ships bound for Gaza.

Obama & Netanyahu: Available Later Today

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Fracking -natural gas &Halliburton


Gasland … a terrifying reminder of the word fracking and though we all want to believe in natural gas as another alternative ….the HBO special opens a person eyes way beyond what anyone has told us in the government and what we all should know …the name Dick Cheney comes up quite often.

below is the trailer for the Josh Fox documentary …everyone needs to watch this then go to Youtube and watch all 10 parts for yourselves. We all need to call our President to stop fracking unless done with extreme caution and backup plans. If done wrong causes the water to bubble and turn flammable …obviously gets into our ground water and could be very dangerous.

below is the Josh Fox Premier of Gasland PT 1,2 and 3 there are 10 parts…go to Youtube and watch them all