If you’re wondering how bad Republican obstruction in our state Senate has become, here’s your answer: It’s gotten so bad that this month, the Washington Supreme Court has held the state in contempt for failing to deliver a plan to fund our schools.

But if you think this ruling alone — a ruling that one Republican dismissed as “inconsequential” — will spur them to take serious action, don’t get your hopes up.

With our children’s future on the line, it’s time to take a stand.

It’s time to elect new leaders who will work together to fully fund our schools, protect our environment, and build a working Washington.

Help Seth Fleetwood, Tami Green, Matt Isenhower, Shari Song, and me stand up to Republican attacks and obstruction.

Earlier this month, the state Supreme Court issued a unanimous order to hold the state of Washington in contempt after Republicans failed to get serious and work with me and my colleagues on a real plan to fully fund our schools.

We all knew that this could happen. That’s why I put forth a plan to dramatically increase funding by ending tax loopholes that don’t measure up to our kids’ education. But just like they have done on my proposals to fund transportation, stop climate change, and create new jobs, Republicans dug in their heels and refused to act.

Washingtonians deserve better!

Seth Fleetwood, Tami Green, Matt Isenhower, and Shari Song are fighting for Democrats to take back the Senate majority, and they need our support.

Click here to make a $5 contribution before tonight’s midnight fundraising deadline to help Seth, Tami, Matt, and Shari take back the Senate majority so we can build a working Washington.

When things have gotten so bad that the state Supreme Court has to tell the state legislature to do its job, you know it’s time to make a change.

With just over one month left before Election Day, it’s critical that we act now and give Seth Fleetwood, Tami Green, Matt Isenhower, and Shari Song the support they need to win and take back the Senate majority.

Thanks for your support.

Very truly yours,

Jay Inslee

You might know the British luxury label Burberry for its iconic check pattern, but it turns out they’re hiding something sinister in those tartan designs.

Greenpeace’s latest investigations revealed that children’s clothes sold by Burberry contain hazardous Little Monsters, which can break down in the environment to form toxic and hormone-disrupting substances.

Whether you buy Burberry clothes or not, once released into the environment these hazardous chemicals can affect everyone.

Time for Burberry to become a Detox Trendsetter

We know they can do it. With your help we have already convinced 17 global brands to commit to Detox. Many of these brands, including Valentino and Zara, are already leading the revolution to clean up their supply chains and eliminate these chemicals.

Now it’s time to for Burberry to Detox and banish these nasty Little Monsters from their clothes forever.

Take Action

Today, we are taking to Facebook to get the attention of Burberry and its 16 million followers.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Go to Burberry’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/burberry
2. Choose one of their posts
3. Leave a comment asking Burberry to Detox now and stop using hazardous Little Monsters to make our clothes
4. Be sure to include this link in your comment: http://greenpeace.org/littlemonsters

It’s time to let Burberry know that fashion is far more beautiful without toxic chemicals.

Let’s go!

Ilze Smit
Detox Campaigner
Greenpeace

In February, President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative to ensure that all youth, including boys and young men of color, have opportunities to improve their life outcomes and overcome barriers to success.

And now, the Administration is taking this effort local, by engaging mayors, tribal leaders, and county executives who are stepping up to lead in their communities.

The My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge will encourage communities (cities, counties, suburbs, rural municipalities, and tribal nations) to implement coherent cradle-to-college-and-career strategies aimed at improving life outcomes for all young people.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for our young people, or our country, which is why we’re seeing such eagerness from local officials and community leaders. Already, 135 mayors, county officials, tribal leaders, Democrats, and Republicans have signed on. And we’re going to keep welcoming them aboard in the coming weeks and months.

But even with leadership from the top in these communities, this must be an all-hands-on-deck effort. No child in this country should feel like they need to “beat the odds” in order to get ahead, and certainly shouldn’t feel like they are on their own as they try. Our young people deserve better than that, and as a country, we can’t afford to let so many of our children, our future workers, and our future leaders slip through the cracks.

When we work together to help all young people reach their full potential, we will be that much closer to reaching our full potential as a nation. The My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge is a call to action, and we all have a role to play.

Learn more about the Challenge, and visit MBKchallenge.org to accept the President’s challenge.

By CAP Action War Room

How Republicans In Three States Are Trying To Change The Game

Conservative legislatures and Secretaries of State across the country have taken draconian steps to limit access to the vote, from voter ID laws, to limits on early voting, and now to manipulating the ballot and registration processes. Each of these actions were done in the name of protecting the integrity of the voting process, while having the actual impact of shutting out certain demographics: communities of color, low-income, young and elderly voters and veterans, among others. Right now the November elections in several states are poised to occur under a cloud of uncertainty and suspicion because of these actions.

Georgia: Blocking Eligible Voters from Registering

Last week, Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp sent a memo saying he had received “numerous complaints about voter applications submitted by the New Georgia Project,” a voter registration effort aimed at increasing turnout by African American voters. This week, after the group challenged Kemp’s claims and said Kemp’s office had held up more than 50,000 voter registration forms for months, Kemp changed his tune.

In audio released by Better Georgia, Secretary Kemp says, “Democrats are working hard, and all these stories about them, you know, registering all these minority voters that are out there and others that are sitting on the sidelines, if they can do that, they can win these elections in November.”

Kemp delaying the processing of more than 50,000 voter registrations could change the outcome of the elections if people are unable to vote. His comments suggest he is fine with that.

Kansas: Manipulating the Ballot to Help the Republican Incumbent

On Thursday, September 18, the Kansas Supreme Court told Secretary of State Kris Kobach to remove the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, Chad Taylor, from the November ballot, per the candidate’s request. Kobach had refused to do so since Sept. 3, when the candidate first made the request, after he learned that a ballot with incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts against Independent Greg Orman showed the independent winning.

Ballots were scheduled to begin being mailed this Saturday in Kansas, but Kobach announced he would tell the Kansas Democratic party to pick a replacement by noon September 26, according to the Kansas City Star. Kobach said his office would “review the legal options if Democrats fail to comply,” and cited a federal law in saying he could delay sending overseas ballots.

Incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts is behind in a head-to-head matchup with Greg Orman, as much as six percent. A Roberts loss could threaten the Republicans’ chances of taking over the Senate in the next Congress. Instead of getting out the vote, Kobach tried to rewrite the ballot, reversing course this afternoon and announcing that Kansas will actually start sending out overseas ballots without a Democratic nominee listed.

Wisconsin: Changing the Law at the Last Minute

A week ago, a federal appeals court ruled to reinstate Wisconsin’s voter ID law, requiring voters to show photo identification when they vote. The 2011 law has been challenged in the courts for years, and this ruling was unprecedented in its timing: less than two months before the election. Like the others, the justification for this law was the always elusive voter fraud, when in reality it would serve to disenfranchise roughly nine percent of the state’s voters. In 2010, Governor Scott Walker won by just 124,638 votes, and he appears to be in an even closer race this year.

ACLU’s legal team estimates “the state would have to process and issue 6,000 photo IDs every day between now and November 4 in order to serve all” the impacted residents who don’t have one now. Additionally, several thousand absentee ballots have already been sent to voters and many have been returned, without an ID check.

The immediate concern in Wisconsin is the ability of the state to enforce a major change in election law less than two months before the election. The change impacts 300,000 voters, enough to easily change the outcome of an election that had only 2.1 million voters in 2010.

BOTTOM LINE: Georgia, Kansas and Wisconsin in no way represent the entire picture of voter suppression efforts in states across the country, but the recent events in these states highlight how Republican efforts to cutoff access to the vote have real impacts in elections. In cases like Georgia and Kansas these are clear efforts to change the outcome of elections in favor of their party. Americans deserve better when it comes to their most basic of rights.