Tag Archives: Member of Congress

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a message from Alan Grayson



What We Need on Nov. 6, And After That.

We spend so much time thinking about who will be elected to office, and so little time thinking about what they will do when they get there.  Campaign consultants tell candidates that promises are inconvenient; you might have to keep them.  And candidates dance around the issues as though they were lit firecrackers.

Not me.  Here are my goals, after Nov. 6:

(1) Full employment.
(2) Universal healthcare.
(3) Taking corporate money out of politics and government.
(4) Reinstituting progressive taxation, to reduce the deficit and the debt.
(5) Ending corporate welfare.
(6) Improving labor standards, including pensions, sick leave and paid vacations.
(7) Ending discrimination against minorities, women and gays.
(8) Providing higher education to every student who wants it.
(9) Ending the war, bringing the troops home, and reining in the military-industrial complex.
(10) Reducing the brutal and pervasive inequality in American life.

If that’s what you want for America, too, then you need to click here, and support our campaign.

I’m working 14 hours a day, seven days a week, to try to win our race for the House on Nov. 6.  I have to, because in 2010, I was the target of the most pitch-black, break-your-back, wolf-pack Super PAC attack that any Member of the House has ever seen.  The Koch Brothers, the insurance companies, the Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Party spent over $5 million to denigrate, deprecate, devastate and decimate me.  My friends, my neighbors and even my own children saw an average of 70 blistering negative ads against me on TV — paid for by nameless, faceless monsters.

It doesn’t matter.  That was then, and this is now.  We’re winning, and after the election, we’ve got work to do.  If I’m working 14 hours a day now, then I’ll work 16 hours a day after Nov. 6.  Because America’s problems can be solved, and they must be solved.

If you want to be part of that, then help make it happen.  Show your support for our ’30 Days to Victory’ Moneybomb.

But here’s the thing – a Congressman like me, who fights for progressive, fair taxation, can’t finance his campaign with “trickle down” checks from the super-rich.  A Congressman like me, who fights against corporate welfare, can’t finance his campaign with corporate PAC contributions.  A Congressman like me, who fights for peace, can’t finance his campaign with blood money from the military-industrial complex.

On the contrary, they’re the ones who firebombed us last time.

So I have only one choice.  I have to invite you to join – or re-join – our legion of contributors, who now number almost 100,000.  People who want nothing in return for their contributions but government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

When you contribute to our campaign, you give me the freedom not to kowtow to lobbyists and special interests.  You make it possible for me to do the job the way that you would do it  — honestly, and for the greater good.

In 2010, in House races around the country, big donors ($200+) supplied 92% of the cash, and small donors provided 8%.  In our race, we reversed those numbers.  And with your help, we’ll do it again.

With your help, we will win.  And then on November 7th, that’s when the real work starts.  If you want someone in Congress who will fight – every day – for justice, equality and peace, then click here, and show that you care.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

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Tell Congress – This Is Personal


WILD HORSES?

Some members of Congress are working overtime trying to place restrictions on women’s reproductive health care.

This January, a new Congress, including many newly elected members, will get to work. Lawmakers either can set a new, positive agenda on women’s health, or they can spend another two years trying to limit your ability to make decisions about your own reproductive health.

If women speak up now –loudly and in one voice – we can send the message that decisions about our reproductive health are not up for debate.

Sign the petition today and tell the new Congress: This Is Personal.

Our Message to the Incoming Congress:     www.thisispersonal.org

Decisions about women’s reproductive health are personal.  As you prepare to take office in 2013, my decisions about birth control, pregnancy and reproductive health services are not up for grabs.

Leila Abolfazli
Senior Counsel
National Women’s Law Center
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Pregnant Workers Deserve Better – Take Action


National Women's Law Center
 http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues
Tell Congress: Pregnant Workers Deserve Better
                Tell your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job.
Take Action

Did you hear the good news?
Last week, the Senate introduced the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to ensure that pregnant women aren’t forced out of their jobs.
But just because a bill was introduced doesn’t mean it will move unless we turn the pressure up. That’s where you come in.
Take Action: Please Contact Your Members of Congress today and ask them to co-sponsor the bill. The more co-sponsors, the more likely this bill will move forward.
Forty years ago, women were expected to quit their jobs when they became pregnant. Back then, pregnancy was widely regarded as a disabling condition.
Today, it is now a well-accepted fact that most women remain perfectly healthy and able to work throughout their pregnancies, and since 1978 pregnancy discrimination has been illegal. Yet women in physically demanding jobs are STILL being forced out of the workplace, just because they need temporary, minor modifications to their job duties during pregnancy. As a result, expectant mothers are losing their jobs when they can least afford it.
Here are three startling examples:

  • Heather got fired from Wal-Mart for carrying a water bottle.
  • Natasha was forced onto unpaid leave and then fired because her district manager at Rent-A-Center found out she needed help with occasional heavy lifting on the sales floor.
  • Sarah lost her job at a fast food restaurant for taking bathroom and water breaks.

And what do all of these women have in common? All three needed only minor accommodations to continue safely working during pregnancy. But because their employers refused, all three were forced out of work.
That’s why we need to build support for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Please join us by asking your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the bill.
Thank you for your help!
Sincerely,
Emily J. Martin Emily J. Martin Vice President and General Counsel National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. Fired up? Help spread the word by forwarding this action alert to friends, family and colleagues.
P.P.S. Need more info? Check out NWLC’s resources on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
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a message from Alan Grayson … for Congress



Just Chillin’.

I’d like to tell you how I met Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ).
There is a gorgeous hall in the Cannon House Office Building.  It has high ceilings, beautiful chandeliers, enormous windows, etc.  After the 2008 election, the House Democratic Caucus invited new members, returning members and retiring members to that hall, to choose our caucus and committee leaders.
There were dividers set across the middle of the hall.  In the front were the dais, the lectern, the chairs and the speeches, delivered by all the candidates for leadership positions.
In the back was the food.
In the front, you had to listen.  In the back, you could have a conversation.  You could do business.  You could make a deal.
Being a newbie, I was very interested to see who was in front, and who was in back.  I went to the back of the hall – not because I was hungry, but because I wanted to see what was up back there.
In the back of the back of the hall, I saw a man with a bushy Van Dyke beard, leaning up against the wall.  He was wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt, and a shoestring tie with a silver ornament.  He had his beverage of choice in hand.
He was just chillin’.
I walked up to him and introduced myself, rather woodenly:  “Hi, I’m Alan Grayson, the Congressman from Orlando.”

He looked at me, smiled warmly, and said simply:  “I’m Raul.”

That was my first experience with the preternatural calm, poise, modesty and dignity of Rep. Raul Grijalva.
There are certain thoughts that come to mind for Members of Congress over and over again.  One of them goes like this: “If only your voters could see for themselves what kind of person you are, then you would get 99.9% of the vote.”
That’s what other Members of Congress think about Raul Grijalva.  The phrase “nice guy” doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Because of the extraordinary respect that other Members of Congress have for him, Raul was elected Chairman of the Progressive Caucus at the end of only his fourth term in office.  As the Chairman of the Progressive Caucus, Raul is our spokesman on reducing unemployment, universal healthcare, cutting military expenditures, campaign finance reform, progressive taxation, improving education, and peace.
Right now, a conservative Democrat is challenging Raul Grijalva in his primary next Tuesday. She was appointed to her current position by crackpot Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, who is famous for sticking her finger in the face of the President of the United States and shouting at him.
Raul’s opponent says that the reason why she wants to go to Washington is that “she is frustrated with Washington.”  Personally, I’m frustrated with traffic jams, but that doesn’t make me want to be in one.  I think that you need a better reason than that to be elected to Congress.
Raul’s opponent, a rich businesswoman, is running crass attack ads on TV against him.  She’s up on the air, and he’s not.  Raul needs to fight back; we need to help.  Please contribute to Raul Grijalva’s campaign.  We can’t afford to lose him.
Courage,
Alan Grayson

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Vote Tomorrow: Don’t Mess with Abortion Access for D.C. Women


National Women's Law Center
Stop the restrictions!
                Tell your Representative to oppose the effort to limit access to abortion for women who live in Washington, D.C.
Take Action

With only a few days left until August recess, this is what they are prioritizing — an anti-abortion bill that the Senate will never consider? Well, the House of Representatives is at it again and this time, just to add insult to injury, they are going after women who have no voting representation in the House.
Tell your Member of Congress to oppose the D.C. Abortion Ban and stop your Representative from making decisions for women about their reproductive health.
H.R. 3803, also known as the “D.C. Abortion Ban,” would ban almost all abortions in Washington, D.C. for women starting at twenty weeks post-fertilization. The legislation seeks to ban abortion after twenty weeks regardless of a woman’s situation and without exceptions for rape, incest or to protect a woman’s health.
This unconstitutional bill follows the onslaught of reproductive health attacks that aim to deny women access to a constitutional right. The attacks this year have been particularly extreme: from state laws that defund Planned Parenthood to federal legislation that would require doctors to racially profile their patients before allowing them decide to terminate a pregnancy.
We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again: our health is not up for debate! Tell your Representative to oppose the D.C. Abortion Ban and stop restricting women’s access to reproductive health today.
Thank you for continuing to fight.
Sincerely,
Judy Waxman Judy Waxman Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights National Women’s Law Center   

P.S. Your support allows us to continue to fight for women’s reproductive health care as well as work on many other critical issues. Please consider making a generous contribution today.