Tag Archives: Republican

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Weekly Address: Congress Should Keep America Moving Forward

10/08/2012 Nativegrl77

In this week’s address, President Obama says that Congress should act to keep our nation moving forward by keeping taxes low for 98 percent of Americans, cutting red tape so responsible homeowners can save about $3,000 a year on their mortgage by refinancing at lower rates, and creating a veterans jobs corps to help our returning heroes find work.

Weekly Address: Congress Should Keep America Moving Forward

In October, the White House is working to recognize a range of important causes:

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: On Monday evening, the White House was illuminated pink to mark the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. President Obama wrote in a Presidential Proclamation, “we honor those we have lost, lend our strength to those who carry on the fight, and pledge to educate ourselves and our loves ones about this tragic disease.”
National Energy Action Month: On Monday, in an official proclamation, President Obama called on the American people to “recognize this month by working together to achieve greater energy security, a more robust economy, and a healthier environment for our children.” The President is pursuing an all-of-the-above strategy to help the United States achieve energy independence. Watch this video outlining the progress we’ve made and President Obama’s plan for the future.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month: This month also marks Domestic Violence Awareness month. The Obama Administration is committed to raising awareness and preventing domestic violence. Earlier this year, President Obama directed federal agencies (PDF) to develop policies to assist victims of domestic violence in the federal workforce. Through Vice President Biden’s 1 is 2 Many campaign, we released a public service announcement featuring professional athletes and other role models speaking out against dating violence.

Energy Datapalooza: On Monday, the White House hosted an Energy Datapalooza highlighting private-sector entrepreneurs and innovators who are using freely available data from the government and other sources to build products, services, and apps hat advance a secure and clean energy future.
MRAP Task Force: Also on Monday at the Pentagon, the Vice President commemorated the achievements of the Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle (MRAP) Task Force—the men and women who helped accelerate the production and fielding of protective vehicles to our forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, saving the lives of thousands of Americans. Learn more about the MRAP achievement here.
Educating the Educators: On Wednesday, Dr. Jill Biden announced that more than 100 colleges have signed on to Operation Educate the Educators, a partnership between the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and Military Child Education Coalition. To learn more, read Dr. Biden’s blog post about this major milestone.
The Employment Situation in September: Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the latest jobs report, showing that private sector establishments added 104,000 jobs last month, and overall non-farm payroll employment rose by 114,000. The economy has now added private sector jobs for 31 straight months. For more information, read Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Alan B. Krueger’s blog post.
Equal Futures: Last week, the United States, along with 12 other founding nations, announced Equal Futures, a new partnership between the U.S. and other nations to advance the rights and opportunities of women and girls. Today, the White House hosted a special Office Hours session with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls and Samantha Power, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, to answer questions about how the Obama Administration is working to empower women and girls through the Equal Futures Partnership. See what you missed during the live Q&A on Twitter here.

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a message from Alan Grayson

10/08/2012 Nativegrl77

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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the President’s Weekly Address

10/01/2012 Nativegrl77

Weekly Address: It’s Time for Congress to Help Responsible Homeowners

bywhitehouse

In this week’s address, President Obama explains his administration’s steps to help the housing market, including giving responsible homeowners a chance to save thousands of dollars every year by refinancing their mortgages, but he says we need Congress’s help to do more.


		More videos. New Features. The official iPhone app is here. Get it now.

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This Week’s Top 3 On ThinkProgress

10/01/2012 Nativegrl77

There are just 39 days until the election and five days until the first presidential debate. ThinkProgress has three important stories from the past week you don’t want to miss:

1. Everything You Need To Know About Yesterday’s Great Jobs News

2. The Truth About The Obama Phone

3. 6 Conservatives Who Think The Media Is Fixing The Polls For Obama

Best,

Igor Volsky

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FYI Republicans : Rape is Rape

09/27/2012 Nativegrl77

Legitimate Rape Is Back

| By ThinkProgress War Room

Republicans Signal New Support for Disgraced Candidate

When Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) made his infamous observation that “legitimate rape” rarely produces pregnancy because “the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” his fellow Republicans couldn’t run away fast enough. One after another they denounced Akin — despite the fact that many of them shared his sentiments on the issue if not his extremely poor choice of words. In fact, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan even teamed up with Akin and other House Republicans in an ill-fated effort to redefine rape. Ryan also worked with Akin on a “personhood” measure that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances and ban common forms of birth control and in vitro fertilization.

The most immediate impact of the Republican effort to distance themselves from Akin (and to try to force him to quit the race) came in the form of declarations from GOP outside spending groups that they would abandon Akin’s campaign and pull their money out of Missouri. For the most part, these groups have kept their word and Sen. Claire McCaskill has surged ahead in the polls.

Now things have changed.

Yesterday was the last day that Akin could pull out of the race and, as promised, he did not do so. So with their chances of taking the Senate looking more and more unlikely by the day, it appears Republicans don’t think Akin and his outrageously offensive comments are so bad after all.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, the official campaign arm of Senate Republicans, opened the door to getting back into the race on Akin’s behalf:

“There is no question that for Missourians who believe we need to stop the reckless Washington spending, rein-in the role of government in people’s lives, and finally focus on growing jobs in this country, that Todd Akin is a far more preferable candidate than liberal Sen. Claire McCaskill,” NRSC executive director Rob Jesmer said. “As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.”

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who had earlier called on Akin to quit the race, also voiced his support for Akin:

Congressman Akin and I don’t agree on everything, but he and I agree the Senate majority must change. From Governor Romney to the county courthouse, I’ll be working for the Republican ticket in Missouri, and that includes Todd Akin.

Other prominent Republicans went even further. Former Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are backing Akin. Gingrich even held a fundraiser for Akin earlier this week. Akin also received the backing of Sen. Jim DeMint’s (R-SC) Senate Conservatives Fund, an influential, well-funded group that has backed the GOP’s most extreme Senate candidates over the past two election cycles.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP’s apparent re-embrace of Todd Akin tells us what we knew all along: Republicans didn’t really object to Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape,” they just found them to be politically inconvenient. Despite their initial attempt to distance themselves from Akin, it appears that Republicans are going to have to take responsibility for his outrageous comments about women and their bodies.