Tag Archives: obama

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Jason Rosenbaum, from dscc.org


BREAKING: For the third time in three weeks, Senate Republicans filibustered a bill to create jobs – this time through rebuilding America’s crumbling roads and bridges.

Unbelievable.

These lawmakers won’t lift a finger to put people back to work and get our economy moving again. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House found time to debate and pass a reaffirmation of “In God We Trust” as our national motto, which has been in place since 1956, was reaffirmed in 2002, and again in 2006.

As President Obama said, “I trust in God, but God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.”

If you agree that Republicans should stop playing politics with our economy and help people get back to work, please sign our petition. We’re looking for 100,000 people to take a stand for jobs and America’s middle class.

We’re going to keep calling Republicans out for their stubborn refusal to do anything to get our economy moving again. Thanks for your help.

Jason

—
Jason Rosenbaum
DSCC Director of Online Communications

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Department of Justice … Jim Dean


“The universal rights of assembly and free speech must be protected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.” — President Barack Obama.

You may be thinking the above quote from President Obama was talking about the Occupy Wall Street protests — but he wasn’t. He was talking about the protests in Iran this past year.

Yet every morning, we read another story from a DFA member involved in an Occupy Wall Street action — stories about how protesters are struggling with authorities just to be able to exercise their basic rights. Every day we hear about some new dirty trick being pulled in an effort to stifle and break up the movement.

The tactics are varied. Some days it’s the Mayor of New York attempting to forcibly evict protesters from Zuccotti Park under the guise of “cleaning” or taking away the power supply. Other days, it’s mass arrests in Boston in the middle of the night. And just days ago it was the horrific story of police firing dangerous weapons on unarmed peaceful demonstrators in Oakland — and even seriously wounding a United States marine who served in Iraq.

The truth is: the universal rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters to free speech and assembly are not being protected right now. It’s time for our nation’s top law enforcement agency to stand up and defend its own civilians who are under attack — from New York to Oakland and every occupation in between.

Tell the Department of Justice to make a statement protecting the rights of Occupy Wall Street protesters to demonstrate in safety and peace. Sign the petition now.

At other pivotal moments in American history, the Department of Justice and the President have taken action to protect its citizens engaged in protest from injustice and police brutality.

We need that same leadership again now.

President Obama has stood up and showed great leadership in demanding that all governments worldwide protect the rights of their people to peacefully protest without harassment. It’s time for the Obama administration to lead again by demanding those exact same protections for peaceful protestors here in the United States of America.

Add your name to the petition now. Tell the Department of Justice to protect the rights of Americans to assemble and speak freely.

Thank you for everything you do,

– Jim

Jim Dean, Chair

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Student loan reform can’t wait


2012

James Kvaal is the Policy Director for Obama for America.

Friend —

President Obama just took two serious steps to make life a lot easier
for folks with student loans — and there’s a good chance you or someone
you know will benefit from these changes very soon.

Here’s how:

— Effective this January, if you’re someone who has different kinds
of loans — guaranteed and direct — you’ll be able to roll them both
into one direct loan and bring down your interest rate. You’ll only have
to write one check a month, and you’ll see a discount. This switch adds
no cost to taxpayers across the board.

— You might remember that, as part of last year’s student loan
reform, borrowers’ loan payments could be no higher than 10 percent of
their disposable income. This is a big deal — but it wasn’t going to
help anyone enrolling before 2014. Today, the President announced that
he’s speeding up this program so it will affect students next year —
helping over 1 million students. This will have huge consequences for
people struggling to make their student loan payments.

Sometimes, it can be hard to see how policy changes will actually affect your day-to-day life.

Not the case with this one. These changes will make a real difference in helping millions of Americans get by month to month.

We put together a video explaining how these changes will help Americans. Watch
it to learn a little more about what today’s steps would do, and then
make sure everyone you know who should hear about it does.

Learn how student loan reforms help you.

President Obama isn’t waiting on Congress to take action. He’s doing
everything in his power, right now, to help bolster our economy and get
folks back on their feet.

On Monday, he laid out new rules on federal mortgages to help make sure more families don’t lose their homes to foreclosure.

On Tuesday, the administration announced two new initiatives to help veterans find work.

Today, it means making changes that make student loans a lot easier to manage.

These are actions that can’t wait on the next vote or the next election.
So long as people are struggling, this President and this
administration will do everything in their power to help them when and
where they can. It’s just that simple.

Now, let’s make sure that the millions of people who stand to benefit from today’s steps know about it.

Watch the video to learn more about today’s student loan changes — and then help get the word out:

http://my.barackobama.com/Student-Loan-Reforms

Thanks,

James

James Kvaal

Policy Director

Obama for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

We can’t wait …James Kvaal, BarackObama.com


Now that each and every Senate Republican has vowed to block measures that would create jobs, President Obama is not going to wait for them to rebuild the economy and bring financial security back to the middle class.

Today, he announced new rules on federal mortgages to prevent more families from losing their homes to foreclosure. And that’s just the beginning — the President said he would continue to make the changes he can by executive action, while continuing to urge Congress to act on legislation to strengthen the economy and create jobs.

If Congress doesn’t act, he will — because millions of Americans can’t just wait for Congress to do their jobs. That’s why thousands of you have been calling and tweeting your representatives over the past month, joining the President in sending a message to lawmakers in Washington that they need to act now.

We’re not just going to continue to wait — and we’ll be keeping up the pressure by making sure they’re hearing from folks across the country every day about why they need to act.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/m/55c11c7b/6c0d017d/132d201b3/118ab764/190700188/VEsH/p/eyJKU1ZGVFVGSlRDVWwiOiJ5bmF0aXZlNzdAZ21haWwuY29tIiwiSlNWYVNWQWxKUT09IjoiOTgxMTUifQ==/


Republicans in Congress have repeatedly filibustered the President’s ideas to create jobs now — ideas that until recently were supported by Republicans.

The President’s action today also stands in stark contrast to the positions of the Republicans running for president. Mitt Romney even told a newspaper last week that we actually shouldn’t act; we should let the housing crisis “run its course” and “hit the bottom” so that “investors” can come in and buy up these homes at cheap prices. He’s saying to homeowners that they are on their own, forcing thousands of families to explain to their kids why they have to give up their homes.

Doing nothing while families struggle: that’s the opposite of what this president and this campaign stand for. President Obama isn’t going to let Congress’ inaction stop him from doing what he can right now.

So here’s what the President’s announcement means:

— More families whose homes are under water will get help and save money on their monthly mortgage payment through the Home Affordable Refinance Programs.

— If the value of your mortgage is $100,000 and your house is valued at $75,000, you previously weren’t able to refinance to save your home — forcing many families to pay higher interest rates. As a result of today’s announcement, many more responsible homeowners will be able to lower their rates and pay their debts.

— And this is just one of the incremental changes to come. Next, the President will announce new steps to help young people manage their federal student loan debt while they look for a job and get on their feet. He’ll also take action to help small businesses and entrepreneurs, spur the engines of job growth, create new jobs, and assist veterans in finding them.

These measures alone are not a comprehensive solution to the economic challenges we face. That needs to come out of Congress — and if they’re going to finally put party aside, they’re going to need to keep hearing from us. President Obama is stepping up the pressure, and he’s counting on us to keep going, too.

Get the President’s back and keep the heat on Congress — tell your story of why we can’t wait any longer: