You may have heard about Louis Marinelli, NOM’s online strategist who recently resigned because he supports marriage equality. He took all of the organization’s 290,000 Facebook fans with him. They’ve just begun to rebuild a Facebook fan base from scratch.
Here’s where you come in. If everyone on this list – after holding your nose – friended NOM, pro-equality supporters would outnumber NOM’s current anti-equality supporters 6 to 1.
But you know what would really make an impact? Leave a comment on NOM’s Facebook posts. Let’s saturate their page with positive, fact-based pro-equality messages. Some suggestions:
-Marriage for gays and lesbians will do nothing to religious freedom. Houses of worship will continue to decide whether they want to recognize gay marriages, or not. We’re talking about committed gay and lesbian couples going down to city hall to get married.
-Gay couples want to make the public commitment of marriage – and be held accountable for that commitment .
-Credible polls show a majority of American Catholics actually support marriage for gay and lesbian couples. People in the pews do not necessarily agree with the Catholic hierarchy.
You can get more ideas for comments in our “Fact” section of NOMExposed.org. But – please – don’t leave personal, ad hominem attacks. Don’t let them drag you into the gutter. No tit for tat. That gets us nowhere. We need elevated, positive conversation.
One last thing. The fight for marriage in New York is heating up. While HRC and other LGBT groups just launched a new campaign in New York. NOM has too and is trying to mobilize its people. If you live in New York State, become a NY NOMWatcher. We need more eyes and ears on the ground and online.
Chris Kopacz hopes his logo will become the symbol of opposition to Gov. Rick Snyder‘s budget proposals.
Chris Kopacz is a self-employed graphics designer and he’s using his dissatisfaction with Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget-balancing plans to distribute a logo he created that he hopes will become the symbol of opposition.
The logo shows an outline of the state on a blue background and the words “Stand Up & Fight.”
The eventual goal, he says, will be a movement to recall Snyder from the office he’s held for just three months.
“I support that and I’m behind that,” says Kopacz, 32, of Waterford Township. “Right now, all we can do is generate interest for it.
“There’s no recall option until the governor has been in office six months,” he said. “On July 1, they can actually start the recall effort in earnest.
“We are definitely going to exercise that option,” Kopacz said.
Since he introduced his budget proposals to the Legislature in mid February, Snyder, the former Gateway CEO and self-described “one tough nerd,” has become a polarizing figure in Michigan politics and government.
The budget proposals include taxing pensions but giving generous tax cuts to businesses while cutting funding to education and placing limits on public worker benefits.
A poll on the website http://www.recallrick.com sums up the sore points of Snyder’s budget proposals.
It asks people to pick the number reason to recall the governor: Cuts to education budgets, attacks on unions, cuts to local governments or the recently signed emergency manager legislation.
Proposed cuts to education is listed at the top by 36 percent followed by the emergency manager bill at 32 percent.
At http://www.theoaklandpress.com, the website of The Oakland Press, a simple question asks if people approve of Snyder’s job so far. More than 90 percent said they don’t with more than 2,200 voting.
Across the social website Facebook, there are numerous pages dedicated to tossing Snyder from office at the first opportunity. The Facebook pages include Recall Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan Rally Information, and Recall Rick.
“If we look at Snyder’s budget proposal, it is fundamentally flawed,” says Kopacz, “$1.9 billion in tax credits while cutting $1.8 by clamping down on teacher salaries and wages, unemployment, pensions.
“The reason I’m concerned about this is because what they seem to be doing is essentially widening the gap between the rich and poor and eliminating the concept of the middle class.”
Snyder on Thursday issued a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and House Speaker Jase Bolger highlighting the accomplishments of his administration and the Republican-controlled Legislature in three months.
Listed among them was the controversial legislation signed that extends access to federal unemployment benefits for those who exhaust their state benefits. But the legislation also shortened the time of state benefits from 26 weeks to 20.
“We’re putting Michigan on the path to prosperity through cooperation and relentless positive action,” Snyder said.
Democrats were quick to issue other assessments of the first three months.
The Michigan Democratic Party posted a two-minute video on YouTube slamming Snyder and Republicans for closing state police posts and lowering state unemployment benefit weeks.
“This video tells the real story of the governor’s first three months on the job,” Brewer said. “Snyder and the Republicans have cut unemployment benefits and eliminated jobs. His budget also cuts public education and public safety, unfairly raises taxes on seniors, middle-class families, and low-wage workers – all so he can pay for a record giveaway to big corporations, insurance companies, big banks, and wealthy CEOs. That’s not ‘reinventing’ Michigan. That’s ruining Michigan.”
But for all criticism and talk of a recall, a recent and more scientific poll notes that while Snyder’s negatives are up, his numbers remain more positive than negative.
A poll by Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group off 600 likely voters between March 14 and March 19 notes that 42 percent approve of the job Snyder is doing as governor while 38 percent disapprove.
As for his plan to balance the state budget, 44 percent approve while 41 percent disapprove.
Poll respondents were 26 percent Republican, 26 percent Democrat and 43 percent independent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percent.
But as MRG President Tom Shields notes, “The honeymoon is over for Gov. Snyder.”
Shields notes that Snyder has better number than Republican Gov. John Engler did after his first three months in office in 1991.
“Gov. Engler’s plans to cut government spending were met with the same kind of resistance as Gov. Snyder’s plans are currently drawing,” says Shields.
Kopacz hopes his logo becomes the symbol of resistance. It’s posted on the website as a free download at http://www.standupmi.com.
Contact Charles Crumm at 248-745-4649 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 248-745-4649 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, charlie.crumm@oakpress.com or follow him on Twitter @crummc and on Facebook. More information is at oaklandmichiganpolitics.blogspot.com.
The struggle in Wisconsin is still ongoing, but MoveOn members like you have already played a pivotal role in fighting back against Governor Scott Walker‘s radical attack on workers’ rights.
Walker expected his budget bill to sail through, but instead, it’s sparked a national backlash and energized millions of people. And that’s thanks, in part, to you.
Since the fight began:
Thousands of Wisconsin MoveOn members attended the massive demonstrations in Madison, made calls to their state legislators, and sent almost 10,000 messages to Governor Walker, which protesters plastered all over the walls outside Walker’s office when he refused to accept them. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206612&id=26435-17809870-dEjiEix&t=1
MoveOn members sent more than 260,000 statements of support to the Wisconsin 14. We delivered the statements—all 5,700 pages of them—to State Senator Chris Larson. He was thrilled to share them with his colleagues and posted on Facebook: “Thank you for standing with us! (And yes, people actually do get paper copies of those forms you fill out online. Thank you MoveOn.org).”
MoveOn members nationwide contributed more than $445,000 to support the efforts to recall the Republican state senators who refuse to negotiate. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206613&id=26435-17809870-dEjiEix&t=4 The folks running the recall report they’re off to an amazing start, beating their signature goal in the first weekend by 35%, and they’re hugely grateful for the early fundraising.
MoveOn members held solidarity rallies in every state capital—our biggest in years, and on just four days’ notice—to say that we are all Wisconsin and we won’t stand by while Republicans try to kill the American Dream. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206323&id=26435-17809870-dEjiEix&t=5
It’s an amazing and inspiring list. And this fight is far from over. Even if Governor Walker manages to push through his disastrous proposal, the recall efforts targeting Republicans are already off to an amazing start and several of those who support Walker could be thrown out of office as soon as June.
With similar fights happening across the country and in Washington, we’ve got a long way to go before we put the American Dream back in reach for all Americans. But Wisconsin has sparked a national uprising and given us the strength to fight back.
For the moment though, we just wanted to take the time to say thanks, for all you do.
–Daniel, Joan, Kat, Lenore, and the rest of the team
P.S. With Republicans in Washington pushing devastating federal budget cuts—to education, student loans, NPR, environmental protection, family planning, health and nutrition programs for pregnant women and small children, and more—we’re looking to highlight the stories of those who’d be affected by the cuts. If any of the Republican budget cuts would affect you or your family.
But instead, Dr. Julia Carbajal — Flour Bluff’s Superintendent — decided to cancel all extra-curricular clubs in order to prevent Nikki’s “Gay Straight Alliance” (GSA) student group from forming. It’s her way of getting around the federal “Equal Access Act” law mandating simliar access on school grounds to student groups, regardless of their politics or philosophy.
We know what happens when schools fail to address the bullying of LGBT kids: depression, isolation, and suicide. So we need to help.
Nine out of ten LGBT students experience harassment in school because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. At least two-thirds feel unsafe in the classroom. LGBT teens can be up to four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers.
In just a few days, nearly 4,000 Change.org members have signed the petition supporting Nikki, sharing the story on Facebook and forwarding emails like this to their friends.
This Friday, Nikki and members of the Corpus Christi community are organizing a major demonstration outside Flour Bluff High School. At the protest, Nikki and her supporters will be delivering petition signatures to Flour Bluff administrators, sending a strong message that it’s time to provide a safe, caring and effective learning environment for all students — including LGBT youth.
The superintendent’s outrageous actions have garnered attention throughout the U.S. Students, parents, and school officials everywhere are watching to see what happens — and the outcome in Corpus Christi will have reverberations across the country.
Sign our petition today, so Nikki can deliver the signatures of as many people as possible this Friday in Texas:
The time to secure our clean car future is now. The federal government and California are collaborating on new emissions and fuel economy standards (aka “clean car standards”) which will cover vehicles from model years 2017-2025. These standards will help break America’s dangerous addiction to oil and are a significant piece of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ plan to cut our nation’s projected oil use in half by 2030.
U.S. automakers, such as Ford, are already benefiting from the current round of clean car standards. Indeed, USA Today notes that Ford’s main sales winner is the remodeled Explorer SUV model, which focused on fuel efficiency improvements. In acknowledging the U.S. consumer, Ford said “With oil nearing $100 per barrel and gasoline prices continuing to rise, consumers’ consideration for fuel economy once again is taking top billing.”
But as Ford sings the clean car song to the press, they and the other U.S. automakers are actually pushing to weaken the 2025 standards. Ensuring full and accurate coverage of the automakers in the press will be critical to pushing back against this effort.
We’ve proven time and time again that the public voice is an essential counterbalance to the automaker spin machine. So head to our online Action Center and help make sure the press is covering this story with your interests in mind, not just the automakers’.
P.S. Are you a FB user and want to use the power of “The Social Network” to clean up our cars? Then “like” our new UCS Clean Car Watchdog Facebook page. It will give you the latest news and even more real-time opportunities to make your voice heard on this crucial issue.
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