Tag Archives: GOP

Representative King (R-NY) and the GOP have their priorities backwards.

Representative King and the GOP are playing politics with homeland security. And while they’re busy holding hearings on the ‘radicalization’ of Muslim Americans, they’re also busy extending loopholes in our chemical security law. Tell Rep. King to stop playing politics with homeland security and focus on what really threatens Americans

On the heels of an announcement that he would be holding a series of homeland security hearings on the ‘radicalization’ of Muslim Americans, Rep. King sponsored a bill to extend the loopholes in a chemical security law for seven more years instead of supporting strong legislation that will prevent chemical disasters at plants that store tons of poison gases.

The 300 highest risk chemical plants together put over 100 million Americans needlessly at risk every single day and elected officials like Rep. King and the rest of the GOP are working to keep it that way.

King claimed it’s about jobs. But you and I know better. His support for a weak chemical security law has more to do with the corporate interests of chemical manufacturers than it does jobs. He just hopes his political theater will distract you.

Representative King claims that his hearings on Muslim Americans are ‘essential’. Meanwhile, he’s ignoring one of the biggest threats to homeland security. In fact, just across the river from his district is the highest risk chemical plant in the country, the Kuehne chemical facility in South Kearny, New Jersey. According to the facility’s report to the Environmental Protection Agency, 12 million people in the New York City/New Jersey area are threatened by their bulk storage of chlorine gas.

King and the rest of the GOP need to direct their attention where it should be — protecting our safety. If we continue to ignore these high-risk chemical plants we could be opening the door to real terrorist threats like the risk of a poison gas disaster in New York and other communities around the United States.

This isn’t about saving jobs. It’s a gift to the chemical industry.

For a safer future,

Rick Hind

Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Four seats …

02/25/2011 Nativegrl77

As Assistant Majority Leader, it’s my job to make sure Senate Democrats have the votes to stop extremist legislation. Things are about to get really busy around here.

Last week, House Republicans voted to defund health reform, eliminate money for reproductive care, slash nutrition for poor women and children and gut resources that keep our air and water clean. This is not cutting fat. These are bones – programs that keep our middle class standing.

Thanks to our Senate majority, we can stop their radical agenda. But with 23 seats up in 2012, compared with 10 for Republicans, we have a fight ahead. A net loss of four seats, and we lose our firewall.

Midnight Monday marks a crucial FEC deadline: All eyes will be on the DSCC’s fundraising numbers. $50,000 will help show that we can defend our Democratic firewall. Your donation now reflects our biggest strength – more than 90 percent of the DSCC’s donations come from grassroots supporters.

https://dscc.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=LtD0ucxYXUsTZo83DE0dVsWzXiojELdK

Republicans won the House by promising to focus like lasers on creating jobs. They have yet to put forward any job-creation plans – or explain how taking away health care, attacking women’s rights and targeting middle class families achieve this goal.

As long as we have our Senate firewall, Democrats can stop their radical legislation. But the GOP and its special interest friends are already on the attack. After the Citizens United decision, corporations are free to spend whatever they like in support of their preferred candidates. And attacks on working men and women by Republican governors weaken the Democratic base. Wisconsin is only the most recent example.

That makes what you do this minute all the more important. 90 percent of the DSCC’s donations come from grassroots donors who give $200 or less. Every dollar you give helps strengthen Democrats – and fight Republican extremists. Please act now to protect our Senate firewall.

https://dscc.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=knxj2CeogB6sqz0ofmX1hgDqzE%2Fg8y7W

From my seat in the Senate, I’m doing everything I can to stop the radical Republican agenda. But I can’t do it alone. What you do now matters. Help defend the firewall. Our future – our nation’s future – depends on it.

Sincerely,

Sen. Dick Durbin

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

From Wisconsin to Washington D.C.

02/24/2011 Nativegrl77

I don’t know about you, but I am getting sick of this crap. People are really hurting. Jobs are not coming back fast enough, people are still losing their homes, and what are Republicans doing? The GOP is using the budget crisis to wage a war on working people.

Join our DFA Live call on Tues., March 1 at 8PM EST with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to talk about what Republicans are planning to do and what you can do to stop them.

From Wisconsin to Washington D.C., Republicans are taking advantage of a crisis they created when they gave away tax cuts to the rich.

Seriously, Speaker Boehner is threatening to shut down the government by March 4th if they can’t cut funding of groceries for low-income pregnant women and children, but two months ago he insisted upon tax cuts for people making more than a quarter of a million dollars a year.

That’s not all, Republicans in Congress are insisting on cutting many vital programs to support police, fire fighters, teachers, nurses, and the list goes on and on. Not to mention the fact that even though Social Security does not contribute to the deficit, Republicans are insisting that cuts to Social Security should be on the table.

This DFA Live will also feature Nancy Altman, Co-Director of Social Security Works. She will explain how the budget, Social Security and jobs are linked and what we can do to protect the vital programs that keep our communities strong.

Cuts to Social Security and other vital programs are job killers. Speaker Boehner says that if the Republicans kill jobs, then “So be it.”

We believe Americans deserve a budget that creates jobs and protects vital programs with no cuts to Social Security.

Join our DFA Live on Tues., March 1 at 8PM to learn more about the issues and find out what you can do before March 4th to stop the Republicans.

Thanks for everything you do,

-Levana

Levana Layendecker, Communication Director

Democracy for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Radical Right:Radical States

02/17/2011 Nativegrl77

When President Obama took office amidst the worst recession in three generations, he immediately focused his energy on enacting a comprehensive plan to revive the nation’s economy.

Newly elected Republicans, however, have interpreted their temporary rise to power in an entirely different way. Where Obama saw an immediate need to grow the nation’s economy, GOP leaders are seizing their moment to force longstanding GOP fantasies upon the people they govern. Several GOP-led states are pushing plans to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights.

Twelve states are considering unconstitutional bills “nullifying” the Affordable Care Act.

-Arizona Repub licans are lining up behind a plan to unconstitutionally strip citizenship from millions of Americans.

– New Hampshire Republicans have returned to the GOP’s favorite pastime of denying gay Americans their constitutional rights. Given the opportunity to lead, far-right politicians have decided instead to ignore the nation’s needs and pursue their own narrow, unpopular ideological vendettas.

INTIMIDATION FORCE: While congressional Republicans block long-needed funds intended to help the states keep police, public schools, and Medicaid running even in the middle of a weak economy, right-wing state lawmakers have seized upon their states’ budget crisis as an opportunity to make life even harder for workers. Indiana, Idaho, and Tennessee all have legislation in the works to cut teachers’ ability to collectively bargain. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) wants to strip all state workers of their collective bargaining rights . One Missouri lawmaker even proposed rolling back child labor laws. But none of these plans hold a candle to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker‘s (R) assault on his state’s workforce. Walker plans to eliminate many collective bargaining rights and force state workers to give up nearly 20 percent of their pay to cover their existing pension and health benefits. Worse, in a statement that seems more likely to emerge from Stalinist Russia than from a modern democratic society, Walker threatened to activate the Wisconsin National Guard to intimidate any workers who protest his plans. To their credit, Walker’s constituents have not been silenced by his threat of military force. About 13,000 protesters stormed the state capitol in opposition to Walker’s anti-worker plan. Hundreds more protectors met Walker at the governor’s office. Even the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers released a statement telling Walker that “[t]he right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class.” Nevertheless, Walker doubled down on Fox News Tuesday night, reiterating his threat to use the National Guard to put down dissenting voices.

PARTY LIKE IT’S 1829: Meanwhile, 12 other states are considering an unconstitutional tactic that President George Washington once described as “preposterous and anarchic.” Last year, a leading Confederate apologist named Tom Woods published a book touting an antebellum practice known as “nullification,” in which states pass laws claiming to “nullify” a federal law. There’s only one problem — the Constitution expressly forbids this practice, proclaiming that federal laws “shall be the supreme law of the land” and binding upon each state. Nevertheless, the GOP-controlled Idaho House just passed a bill claiming to nullify the Afford able Care Act , and many other GOP lawmakers are itching to follow suit. While nullification is unambiguously unconstitutional, these bills could have a tragic effect on low-income Americans and on state budgets. Idaho’s Attorney General recently warned that, because federal law permits states to opt out of Medicaid, a state law attempting to nullify health reform could inadvertently kick Idaho out of the Medicaid program. If this occurred, the state would lose over $1 billion in federal grants to administer its Medicaid program — an amount that equals approximately two- fifths of the state’s overall budget , and it would have to chose between eliminating health coverage for the 223,198 Idahoans who currently depend on Medicaid, or implementing similarly draconian cuts such as slashing its public schools budget by 85 percent.

REPEALING CITIZENSHIP: Not to be outdone, Arizona Republicans are pushing an equally unconstitutional plan to strip citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants. In 1856, the Supreme Court handed down its most infamous decision in Dred Scott v. Sanford holding, among other things, that a former slave was not welcome into the community of U.S. citizens. Eleven years and a bloody Civil War later, the war-torn nation ratified the Fourteenth Amendment for the very purpose of overruling this repulsive holding. As the Supreme Court explained more than a century ago , the 14th Amendment ensures that all persons born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens — with rare exceptions such as the children of diplomats. Nevertheless, far-right Arizona lawmakers are now pushing a fundamentally un-American bill to create an underclass of children born in this country but unable to call any nation their own. Apparently, the Constitution doesn’t apply when Republicans see an opportunity to score points

~ my 2cents ...

Monday mashup &some News -last day of January

01/31/2011 Nativegrl77

As the weather gets just as nasty as the current political rhetoric more and more folks are opting to come out of the wood work and support Eygpt, its working people from all walks of life and some from all over the world.

On the flip side, Americans have seen members of Congress engage in what seems like a lot of overt discrimination, exclusion, and lack of compassion over the last two years. In the middle of all the nasty rhetoric, people spitting on Congress members, carrying racist signs during protests, leaving awful email or voice messages from people who clearly are not only upset but slightly or even more crazy than most some have unfortunately have acted upon their anger. It is clear, at least for me that the right person is in the office of President.

With election season right around the corner and the constant changes going on … We the People need to be even more aware more diligent in making sure our neighbors know the truth about health care reform, climate change, immigration reform and what positive things it will do for ALL Americans.

We are all waiting, watching, listening, and judging not only the behavior of President Obama but comparing and contrasting it from the current rhetoric and behavior coming from the Republican Party. It is obvious for me that they put Party and Profit before the People; folks like Senator John McCain, who called himself a maverick throughout the 2008 campaign, stated he would listen to the military about dadt then did a big flip flop stating he will no longer cooperate with Democratic members of Congress nor the Obama administration. The Republican Party and its leaders have managed to fool the public and side step their responsibility for some if not a substantial amount of the vitriol flung at the public and members of Congress.

In my opinion the night Joe Wilson decided he did not have to respect the place he was sitting, the moment or the office of President let alone President Obama himself, was the beginning of the nasty behavior.

In a time when we should be proud citizens of America to know 53% voted not only the countries first person of colour as President, he has proven to be the one who would rise to the occasion to tackle monumental challenges that others did not seem to want or accept. John McCain stated; our economy was strong though the evidence clearly showed we had been on a path to destruction and whatever Clinton did or said about our economy is just a distant memory. A Political Party, like the Republican Tea Party that keeps choosing Party and Profits over the fate of Americans is truly unacceptable. Republicans had over 8years to do something, anything about health care, climate change, bank regulation, immigration. I will admit I cannot even remember if the house of Bush even managed to allow any debates on those issues. What I do remember is a Bush doctrine that created 2Wars, 2 tax cuts for the rich, a lot of negative rhetoric concerning stem cell research, abortion, lack of a global warming treaty, the appointments of Justices Alito and Roberts, which made a direct impact on the outcome of elections and all our future ones as well. The house of Bush as we all know managed to avoid paygo now Americans suffer from his lack of restraint, forethought. The Republican Party did not look out for All Americans by choice then and here we are a whole new administration and the nonsense just seems to continue though Republicans are not in charge they refuse to let the governing party do just that … govern.

Even after the Arizona tragedy, people who call themselves tea party members, Republicans or whatever seem to be pushing their base in ways that just skims the lines of being against the law. It is offensive and troubling to know some of these people voted into office to be public servants, are now taking advantage of their power, and are practicing exclusion openly. This last week, last month talking heads, and folks on the right keep second-guessing their chances to take over both Chambers in Congress. The public should know or remember that the loss of seats in any election is tough but par for the course, but we must all remember what caused the downfall of our economy, who got us here and why; what could they have done to prevent the crash and didn’t do a damn thing.

my take

Other News …

**go to: cnn.com for the article on …Obama defends health care bill at Families USA conference

*million-man marches are planned in Eygpt

**The NE is in for more bad snow storms …called the monster

**A 129mph cyclone could hit Australia…already suffering from a lot of rain fall

**Huckabee is in Israel…

**Bill Clinton is in Haiti -observing the elections

**California Latinos protest AZ law and pust to end birthright citizenship on Saturday

**One of two sponsors of AZ citizenship bill-Rep.John Kavanagh,a Republican hopes for a lawsuit so it will go to US Supreme Court – also want to strike down the 14th Amendment -go to: cnn.com ;article written by Michael Martinez,cnn

**90% of GOP want tea party to have a say

CSPAN …

American History TV visits the Washington, D.C. home of Frederick Douglass, the ex-slave who wrote the influential “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” spoke out for women’s rights, and pressed President Abraham Lincoln for the Emancipation Proclamation. Our tour guide is National Park Service Interpretive Ranger Kamal McClarin. http://c-span.com/Events/American-Artifacts-Frederick-Douglass-House/10737419165/

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the latest dietary guidelines for Americans at a press conference held at George Washington University. The guidelines, which are updated every five years, aim to reduce the risk of chronic diseases and obesity by encouraging improved nutrition and physical activity. http://c-span.com/Events/News-Conference-on-Dietary-Guidelines-for-Americans/10737419274/

With a GDP record,”economy is back” Washington Times

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jan/30/with-a-gdp-record-economy-is-back/

White House Launches Startup America Initiative

http://c-span.com/Events/White-House-Launches-Startup-America-Initiative/10737419256/