Tag Archives: obama

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Join Environmentalists for Obama


Earth Day.

A big day for the environment — but to protect our air, land, and water, we have to make every single day count between now and November 6th.

President Obama knows we don’t have to sacrifice clean air and clean water to create jobs and grow our economy. But time and again, we’ve seen that our opponents are willing to play politics with the health of our natural resources — and the American people — just to protect the bottom line of their special-interest allies.
If it was up to them, we’d have no EPA working to protect our kids from harmful air pollution or make sure our water is safe to drink — polluters would once again have a free pass. And I probably don’t need to remind you of their views on climate change.

So, as we pause to appreciate our planet, say you’re standing with the only candidate in this race who’s fighting for it:

Join Environmentalists for Obama.


This community will help spread the word about the President’s record on the environment and what’s at stake in this election.
President Obama has already taken historic  steps to clean up our air and water, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and bring ecosystems like the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Florida Everglades back to life.

 This is what that kind of change looks like:
 — Setting the first-ever national standards on mercury and other forms of toxic air pollution from power plants, which will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 asthma attacks every year when fully implemented

— Developing fuel efficiency standards that will nearly double fuel economy for cars and light trucks by 2025

— and save families thousands of dollars at the pump and save our country millions of barrels of oil

— Establishing safeguards to cut interstate soot and smog-forming pollution from power plants by more than 50 percent and improve air quality for more than 75 percent of Americans

— Investing more in clean energy than ever before — and putting us on track to double our use of renewable sources by the end of the year

— Signing one of the largest expansions of wilderness protections in a generation, setting aside more than 2 million acres of land

All of that is on the line — along with the chance to keep going.
We simply can’t afford a White House that is skeptical about the human impact on climate change and continues to give Big Oil taxpayer giveaways at a time of record profits.
It’s on us to make sure that doesn’t happen — right now, President Obama needs you to have his back.
If you’re ready to fight alongside him, join Environmentalists for Obama today:
Thanks,
James
James Kvaal National Policy Director Obama for America
P.S. — Check out a special Earth Day message from President Obama here.

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Shh! Never Discuss Your Salary … Fatima Goss Graves, National Women’s Law Center


Never discuss your salary with anyone.

That’s what they told Lilly Ledbetter on her first day on the job in 1979. It wasn’t until she found an anonymous note in her locker that Lilly realized that she was being paid as much as 40% less than her male colleagues in the same position.

This sort of pay secrecy policy that punishes employees helps to hide discriminatory pay practices. And here’s the kicker: Lilly worked all those years for Goodyear Tire & Rubber, which had the privilege of being a federal contractor.

Today is Equal Pay Day — the day that a typical woman’s wages finally catch up to a typical man’s in 2011. Ask President Obama to ban federal contractors from retaliating against employees who talk about wages.

It took Lilly 20 years to find out that she was being paid less than her male co-workers. But we know that Lilly is not alone: nearly fifty years after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, women working full time are paid just 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts. And the wage gap is far worse for women of color.

It’s time to end punishing pay secrecy policies among federal contractors.

The President has the executive power to protect employees who work in companies that have federal contracts. Presidents have used executive orders to address other workplace rights, including requiring that contractors protect their employees from discrimination on the job.

In recognition of Equal Pay Day, join us in calling on President Obama to end retaliatory pay secrecy policies in federal contracting.

Thanks for your support!

Sincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center
P.S. NWLC has some brand new resources released for Equal Pay Day. Check out our interactive wage gap map and new fact sheets on the wage gap and women of color, minimum wage and combating punitive pay secrecy policies.

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..President Obama and Vice President Biden’s 2011 Tax Returns


Jay Carney April 13, 2012 10:30 AM EDT
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Today, the President released his 2011 federal income and gift tax returns. He and the First Lady filed their income tax returns jointly and reported adjusted gross income of $789,674. About half of the first family’s income is the President’s salary; the other half is from sales proceeds of the President’s books. The Obamas paid $162,074 in total tax.

The President and First Lady also reported donating $172,130 – or about 22% of their adjusted gross income – to 39 different charities. The largest reported gift to charity was a $117,130 contribution to the Fisher House Foundation. The President is donating the after-tax proceeds from his children’s book to Fisher House, a scholarship fund for children of fallen and disabled soldiers.

The President’s effective federal income tax rate is 20.5%. The President believes we must reform our tax system which is why he has proposed policies like the Buffett Rule that would ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share while protecting families making under $250,000 from seeing their taxes go up. Under the President’s own tax proposals, including the expiration of the high-income tax cuts and limitations on the value of tax preferences for high-income households, he would pay more in taxes while ensuring we cut taxes for the middle class and those trying to get in it.

The President and First Lady also released their Illinois income tax return and reported paying $31,941 in state income tax.

Download the Obamas’ tax returns

The Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden also released their 2011 federal income tax returns, as well as state income tax returns for both Delaware and Virginia. The Bidens filed joint federal and combined Delaware income tax returns. Dr. Biden filed a separate non-resident tax return for the state of Virginia. Together, they reported adjusted gross income of $379,035. The Bidens paid $87,900 in total federal tax for 2011. They paid $13,843 in Delaware income tax and $3,614 in Virginia income tax. The Bidens contributed $5,540 to charity in 2011.

Download the Bidens’ tax returns

American taxpayers are able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent.  You can visit the taxpayer receipt and after entering a few pieces of information about your taxes, the taxpayer receipt will give you a breakdown of how your tax dollars are spent on priorities like education, veterans benefits, or health care.

View the President and First Lady’s tax receipt

View the Vice President and Dr. Biden’s tax receipt

Jay Carney is the White House Press Secretary
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the Affordable Care Act helps Women and their Families


I bet you get calls, emails, or texts from friends and relatives all the time. But isn’t it nice to get something from them in the mail?

Here’s a way you can put something meaningful in your friends’ mailboxes, in much less time than it takes to sit down and write a letter.

For the Women’s Week of Action, people are sending postcards to their friends and family about some of the ways that the Affordable Care Act helps women.

Can you send an “Our health, our vote” postcard — or a few — about the Affordable Care Act to people you know?

It won’t cost you a stamp, or a trip to the post office. You can do it all from the site. Just click the link, pick one of three messages that are ready to be plugged into your postcard, enter your friend’s address, and hit send. It takes less than two minutes.

When your friend sees that postcard among their junk mail and bills, they might just smile and feel happy to have gotten some mail from you.

And it’ll get them thinking about how far we’ve come with health reform, and how many women are going to be living healthier lives thanks to having more access to preventive care, or not losing coverage for themselves or their kids because of a pre-existing condition — to name a thing or two.

It’s a small gesture that takes no time at all. But the more people know about what health care reform actually does, the more they care about protecting it.

And if they’re not already involved in this campaign, that postcard will make them think about joining you.

So send some postcards today, and help get the word out on women’s health for the week of action:

http://my.barackobama.com/Send-a-Womens-Health-Postcard

Thanks,

Kate

Kate Chapek National Women’s Vote Director Obama for America

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-Just the facts – What the Obama2012 Campaign is doing and a reminder of what President Obama has done –


First Lady Michelle Obama: “Join me in standing up for all those who have served.”

“The beginning of the Iraq war was a moment that no American will ever forget. Nine years later, we remember those who gave their lives, and honor the sacrifice of all the brave women and men who have served our country. In 2008, Barack made a promise that as President, he would bring the Iraq War to a responsible end—he kept his word. When he took the oath of office, more than 140,000 troops were stationed in Iraq. This past December, the last of our soldiers came home.
Now that our service members are home, we are doing everything we can to support our veterans and their families in the challenging transition to civilian life.
Barack expanded the Veterans Affairs budget and made it possible for more than 500,000 veterans previously denied care to become eligible for VA health care. And he streamlined the claims process to ensure that our veterans can get the high quality benefits and services they’ve earned — and get those services more quickly.
Barack helped pass tax credits to encourage small businesses to hire our wounded warriors
We also know that when our men and women in uniform are called to serve, their families serve right along side them. That’s why we’ve been working to expand employment opportunities, job training programs, and wellness services for military spouses and families — the folks who bear the greatest burden of their loved one’s deployment.
In the end, we all have an obligation to support those who have served our country so selflessly—from our veterans with special health needs, to all those seeking to join the civilian workforce, to families coping with the grief of losing a loved one. So I hope you’ll join me in standing up for all those who have served.
Visit BarackObama.com/Veterans to get involved, and to learn about all the ways your President is working to support our veterans and military families.
Thank you.”

Uploaded by on Mar 18, 2012

Help build this campaign: https://my.barackobama.com/feb2012resultsvid
We wanted to take a moment to share what volunteers across the country have been up to:
-Opened five new field offices in Pennsylvania -Opened seven new field offices in Ohio -Recruited 65 new team leaders in Nevada -Registered 5,000 new voters in North Carolina -Made 28,000 calls in Washington state -More that 2,414 students attended the Greater Together summits
Overall, we’ve been able to raise more than $45 million in February. More than 1,552,000 people have donated to Obama for America from April 2011 to February 2012. More than 348,000 grassroots donors gave in February alone, of those donors, more than 105,000 were first time donors.
This campaign continues to be funded by folks in all 50 states giving what they can. That’s why the average donation was $59.04. Also 97.7% of donations were $250 or less.
Thank you for all the hard work done so far, and for all the hard work yet to come.

by on Mar 18, 2012

Leave a note for the troops: https://my.barackobama.com/sharonpottervid
Sharon Potter is the first female in the state of Nevada to receive a purple heart by way of serving in Iraq. She stands with President Obama because of his continuing fight to ensure that our nation’s veterans and military families are taken care of.
In Sharon’s words:
“As veterans we’re the ones that sign on the dotted line with our lives and no veteran should have to come home and fight for their benefits.”

At 18-months old Jackson’s insurance company listed him with a pre-existing condition: ear infections. Starting in 2010 insurance company’s were banned from denying coverage to children for pre-existing conditions. As Jackson’s mom says:
“The Affordable Care Act makes it so that I know that my children are covered and that is an amazing thing.”

When Liam was five-months old his insurance premiums went up by 100 dollars a month. As Liam’s mom Rebecca says:
“It was completely unbelievable that insurance for a five month old could be that expensive. I called them and what I was told was: ‘You can change your plan or go somewhere else'”.
Since the Affordable Care Act passed, the insurance commissioner in Rebecca’s state has been reviewing the rates to make sure families get a fair deal. Because of this, Rebecca and her family received a refund.
In 2012, Liam got a insurance renewal notice in the mail, this time, his premium was reduced. As Rebecca says:
“Before the Affordable Care Act I felt totally helpless and I now I feel like there’s somebody looking out for us. I’m very grateful that the President has fought for health care reform.”