Tag Archives: Republican

President Barack Obama meets with Amy Rosenbaum, Deputy Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, National Economic Council Director Jeffrey Zients, Christina Goldfuss, Managing Director, Council on Environmental Quality, Senior Advisor Brian Deese and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough in the Oval Office, June 12, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Join a Virtual Stop on the “Lead on Leave” Tour

Today, Labor Secretary Tom Perez, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and small business owner Molly Moon Neitzel are taking part in a Google+ Hangout on paid leave. During the conversation, they’ll share an important announcement and updates on the action across the country to help more working families succeed.

In this week’s address, President Obama reiterated that his top priority is to grow the American economy and ensure that every hardworking American has a fair shot at success. The President also urged the House to pass Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) without delay so that more middle-class workers can earn the chance to participate and succeed in our global economy.

WATCH HERE

Dr. Jill Biden Sponsors and Christens the USS Gabrielle Giffords

On Saturday, Dr. Jill Biden took part in the christening ceremony for the USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), named after former Congresswoman and Navy spouse Gabby Giffords. The ship is expected to be delivered to the Littoral Combat fleet by 2017.

21st Century Living

Image 06/16/2015 Nativegrl77

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They’re back …

06/16/2015 Nativegrl77

The gun lobbyists are so used to getting their way, they just can’t believe that they’re losing this fight over universal background checks.

They lost badly at the ballot box, so they ran crying to a judge. He told them to take a hike, so now they’re pleading with an appeals court to overturn the will of Washington voters.

None of the gun lobby’s apocalyptic “what if” fantasies have come true. They’re out of ammo, and desperate for the 9th Circuit to save them.

Want to put an end to this madness? Chip in right now – whatever you can – and help us raise $5,000 for the 594 Legal Defense Fund. Show the gun lobby we won’t back down!

Why has the gun lobby been so successful all these years at defeating common-sense gun safety proposals across the country? Because they keep fighting, no matter what. Our movement hasn’t been able to match their tenacity – until now.

We’re finally standing up to the gun lobby and their pals in the Legislature, and we’ve got them running scared. Make a donation right now to the 594 Legal Defense Fund. Let’s hit our goal and keep up the fight!

Thank you,

Geoff

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

3 Key Takeaways From The King v. Burwell Oral Arguments

06/10/2015 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

Key Moments From Oral Arguments Bode Well For The Affordable Care Act

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in King v. Burwell today, the latest partisan threat to the Affordable Care Act that threatens to strip subsidies away from millions of Americans in more than three dozen states. While the arguments presented by the lawyers and the questioning from the Justices certainly don’t give us the answer to how the case will turn out, they do provide an early indication of how the Justices may be leaning in their decision. With that in mind, we wanted to highlight three key points from the oral arguments today that could indicate that the subsidies for millions of Americans — and by extension Obamacare as a whole — will be safe when the ruling is handed down in June. For more in-depth analysis be sure to read Think Progress Justice editor Ian Millhiser’s complete analysis.

1. Justice Anthony Kennedy was concerned about what the consequences of a ruling for the challengers would mean. At one point during the arguments, Kennedy, always a potential swing Justice, acknowledged the reality that states would face if tax credits are cut off in states with federally run exchanges: premiums would spike, healthy people would drop out of the marketplace, and a so-called “death spiral” of higher premiums for fewer, sicker customers would ensue. An interpretation of the law that forces states to choose between setting up their own exchanges and eliminated tax credits raises “a serious constitutional problem,” Kennedy said.

2. The Justices got the challengers to admit that context matters. It may seem obvious that context matters — but this is actually somehow a critical debate in a legal argument where the challengers case rests on reading a single clause in place of the clear meaning of the entire law. After a nifty hypothetical from Justice Kagan, Michael Carvin, the attorney for the challengers, responded to “implore” the Justices to make their decision taking into account “the context of the Act as a whole.””

3. For any indication of momentum outside the courtroom, look no farther than right outside the Supreme Court steps. Hundreds of ACA supporters turned out to rally in support of the law and urging the court to protect health care for millions of Americans; meanwhile, just a handful of opponents thought it important enough to show up. The Washington Post writes, “If good organization could win a legal debate, supporters of the Affordable Care Act would triumph.”

Take a look at some of the best signs from the rally:

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And if that’s not enough, check out the spate of editorials in support of the law from The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Tampa Bay Times, Kansas City Star, Dallas Morning News, Knoxville New Sentinel … (shall we go on? Yes we shall) … Albany Times Union, Orlando Sentinel, Bangor Daily News, and the Toledo Blade.

BOTTOM LINE: We’ve known from the beginning that this challenge to the Affordable Care Act is a politically-motivated, legally weak attack from those trying to use the Court to do what they have been unable to do in Congress or at the ballot box: repeal the Affordable Care Act. After today’s oral arguments, we hope the Justices will see that as well and make a decision that upholds the law, and doesn’t savage the reputation of the court. Momentum is with us.

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Southern Rites: The Heartbreaking Story of Justin Patterson’s Death

06/07/2015 Nativegrl77

When Gillian Laub started photographing the racially divided town of Mount Vernon, Ga. — with its segregated homecomings and proms — she stumbled onto the story of Justin Patterson, a 22-year-old black man who was killed, on Jan. 29, 2011, by Norman Neesmith, a 62-year-old white man.

posted in Time

Patterson’s story, which further divided Mount Vernon, is the subject of Southern Rites, a HBO documentary premiering on May 18.

Dedee Clarke, Justin’s mother, spoke to TIME.

In HBO’s Southern Rites, photographer Gillian Laub goes to Mount Vernon, Ga., a racially divided town

Gillian Laub:Sha’von, Justin and Santa, 2012

“When I got the call, it was around 3.45 in the morning and my youngest son, Sha’von, said that Justin had been shot and he was dead… For a long time, Sha’von wouldn’t talk about it, he would only tell me things in bits and pieces. It wasn’t until 2013 that he told me the whole story. I think that the thing that bothered him the most was that the gun was actually aimed at him. Justin looked back, saw that and pushed Sha’von out of the way and took the shot himself. It’s something I don’t think he’ll really recover from. He just has to learn to live with it. It’s a day-by-day process, but I don’t think anybody can ever be the same.

The first time I met Gillian was in 2010. My youngest son, Sha’von, was attending the prom that year, and she was photographing it. I thought the work she was doing was great. But I didn’t know that much about her, I just knew that the pictures that she was taking were important. I didn’t get to know her on a deeper level until my son, Justin, died.

[When Gillian shifted her focus to what had happened to Justin], I was, at first, a little reluctant. But I could just see her passion and drive as she talked to me and I knew at that point that she really cared. I was more relaxed around her and I began to open up. But I just remember saying that it wasn’t going to be pretty sight because I was just not in the right state of mind, and she understood that.

You have to feel some kind of compassion when you do this. And Gillian had that; she felt it. And because she felt it, I believed that shows in her work.

Of course, it was very difficult to see Norman Neesmith in Gillian’s film. I had always made it a point not to really look directly at him. And to see him up close and personal in the film, it was very hard. It was hard to watch some of the things that he said. It’s just hard to hear that he never really acknowledged that his daughter invited them into his home. I felt that he thought he was a victim. I don’t think he understands that Justin had a life. He had a daughter. And she will never have her father.

Gillian’s work makes me feel that my son’s death was not in vain. That’s the one thing that I can hope for. I’m hoping that it will help someone. It’s too late for my son, but maybe it can help somebody else.

I’m hoping it will help other mothers to see that you can still survive that kind of pain and. I’m a survivor because God says I am. Everything that I believe in is because of God. He’s the reason that I’m here because there’s no way I could have done any of this by myself. I felt like nobody really cared because the story wasn’t out. It was a while before it was even in a paper. To see it now and to know that people really care, it does make me feel supported. It definitely does. I’m thinking that everyone will have an idea of what happened. This is real life. These people are real people; they feel that pain continuously every day.

My goal here is for people to know and understand that there’s still, very much so, a lot of injustice in this world and something has to be done about it.”