The Affordable Care Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President in March 2010, gives you better health security by putting in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that hold insurance companies accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more choice, and enhance the quality of care for all Americans.
SEE: How it works 
Starting Sept. 23, 2010 A bridge to 2014 Reducing Costs Progress
Republicans are trying to push forward a plan that would gut America‘s social safety net — and unless we act now, they may get their way.
Congress needs to raise the debt ceiling before August 2nd so that the government doesn’t default on its debts, which would wreak havoc on the economy. But Republicans are refusing to vote to raise the debt ceiling unless they can also pass massive cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, student aid, and other important programs that create opportunity and protect the most vulnerable among us.
Democrats in Congress are holding the line, saying that they won’t accept any cuts to these programs without asking huge corporations, millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share.
But as the deadline approaches, Congressional Democrats will be under immense pressure to compromise their principles, even if it means giveaways for the rich while most Americans suffer.
Please join us in calling on the White House and Congress to say NO to any deal that asks people who are already struggling in this economy to sacrifice even more, without asking corporations and the rich to pay their fair share. And please ask your friends and family to join us as well:
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/907?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=3
The moral line is clear: the budget must not be balanced on the backs of poor and working folks while millionaires and billionaires pay lower taxes than ever. Americans oppose cuts to Medicare and Social Security by a 2-to-1 margin, and a large majority thinks that keeping benefit levels the same is a bigger priority than short-term deficit reduction.1 And an amazing 72% of Americans are united behind the idea of asking the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes.2
By speaking out, we can help give the President and Congressional Democrats the political space they need to stand strong against the GOP‘s dangerous demands. It’s especially important that we deliver this message to the House of Representatives, because it’s likely that any budget deal will have to happen with the blessing of Democrats there. If they stand strong, we can avoid the worst of the cuts.
Why do we need to raise the debt ceiling?
Congress sets the maximum amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills on time. If our debt rises above the limit, the government will begin to default on its commitments. And when that happens, there will be far-reaching consequences for everyone, but especially poor and working folks.
If the government doesn’t pay its bills, it’s a lot like when you or I don’t pay our bills — it ruins our credit, and makes buying goods and services more expensive. Worse, it makes even having debt more expensive, which means that money the government will have to pay higher interest rates — money that won’t go to economic stimulus or preserving the social safety net.
Most reputable economists say that a government default would wreck the nation’s economy, halting the already-weak recovery and possibly taking the world’s economy down with it.3
That fact hardly matters to most Republicans in Washington, who are treating the prospect of default like a high-stakes game of chicken. Many see an opportunity to gut programs that they never could otherwise, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. It’s a disgusting, cynical strategy.
If enough of us speak out, we can help save the social safety net and force corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. Please join us now:
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/907?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=5
Thanks and Peace,
— Rashad, James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Matt, Natasha and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 24th, 2011
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU–your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or large corporations that don’t share our values, and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/205?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=7
1. GOP Divided Over Benefit Reductions: Public Wants Changes in Entitlements, Not Changes in Benefit,” Pew Research Center for People and the Press, 7-7-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/908?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=9
2. “Poll: Taxing the rich favored over Medicare cuts,” Politico, 4-20-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/909?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=11
3. “To the limit,” New York Times, 7-1-2011
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/910?akid=2071.1174326.rdN0yZ&t=13
You know that the budget talks in Washington are heating up. But you may not have heard that Social Security cuts are on the table. That’s because they’re not talking openly about cutting Social Security. Instead, they’re saying that they are making a technical change in the way the cost-of-living adjustment is calculated for federal programs like Social Security. But this is a stealth benefit cut that would mean insecurity for all Social Security recipients, especially women. And, because the cut would grow deeper the longer you receive benefits, it would especially hurt women, who live longer than men, rely more on income from Social Security, and are already more likely to be poor. Women can’t afford cuts to Social Security benefits because:
Women and their families shouldn’t bear the brunt of deficit reduction—and time is running out. Tell your Members of Congress and the Administration that Social Security and programs vital to low-income families must be protected – and millionaires and corporations must contribute to any deficit reduction plan. Demand Fair Change, Not Spare Change™ in the budget debate. Sincerely, |
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P.S. Want to know more about this stealth Social Security benefit cut? Check out our blog. |
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Today the President will talk about the debt ceiling, the deficit and announce a new consumer protection agency as well as the head that will definitely protect us consumers.
It’s summer here but only reaching around 69 and lasting about 2-3days – just another rant coming up below …
I am willing to accept anyone as long as the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head has Elizabeth Warren’s seal of approval. Contrary to what the professional and or elite left might be stating this is not worthy of staying at home instead of voting for all Democrats in 2012 , voting right of center or whatever they all seem to be pushing at the moment which i cannot even put into writing … i don’t plan to go there. I get it …we have a huge tent with a lot of different views and beliefs but since none have been the President of the US of A before i say unless you know what happened behind closed doors don’t be so easy to throw your leader to the wolves. I gotta say I do not get throwing the leader over the cliff if you don’t get your way right away attitude at all especially after the last guy left without paying for the 2Wars & 2Tax cuts for his rich oil friends and who must have outsourced all that money because the man only created about 3million jobs in 8yrs.
The next few weeks and months, leading up to the 2012 elections the talk will be filled with good, bad, and ugly rhetoric mostly by folks who are paid to rile the base on both sides of the aisle. The last few weeks have given us all some eye opening news what with some telling us they are liberals when in actuality they are something more right of center but they get paid to play both sides of the aisle. It must be difficult getting a check in “the media industry”…. I guess. We have online blogs, newspapers, and op-eds and some not all have comment pages that require your email address in order to respond. There are new activist news blogs, or so-called online news sources, newspapers with well-known folks writing op-eds some try to pass them off as the truth others know they have an audience who expects negative rhetoric pumping up the opposition on what I have to say are non-partisan issues. I do not normally respond to comment pages but John Nichols is a well-known progressive reporter/writer and like many other progressives are doing some damage to the cohesiveness of a Political Party that has a huge tent yet leans left. I am not likely to believe everything in an article or interview word for word, no matter who it is. I read the stuff but i would not be so mindless to take what he or anyone else says and vote for or against anything let alone President Obama in 2012 just because of the rhetoric, but hey, that is just me. It is clear a number of so-called writers have been using headlines to bash the President and call me sensitive but people who read them and decide the person writing them is speaking to you personally is beyond my understanding. I have a tendency to want the information and the facts from say the President or others in control instead of those playing political games or mind games. The environment is ripe with doom and gloom but as we get closer to that August 2nd deadline, it does seem more of a reality than folks including me want to believe. It is also offensive to listen to Republican members of Congress act as if the impact from not raising the debt ceiling is a scare tactic and not the truth. I ask … why do we have to find out but then reality hits and truth is both sides of the aisle see this as the big moment to change the way we all live our lives. The problem is one side is devoted to a family values platform, practices exclusion, discrimination and those who already have feel they should have even more while others paraphrasing Jeff sessions that have none need to work harder for a better life… is that with no safety-net?. Yes, it is. I wonder if they went so far as to imagine what our neighborhoods would like after about a month. The haves would be doing their thing while the used to have are barely living and the others well the image I have is one that looks like a third World country. I am sure those who were unwilling to work for minimum wage jobs are outsourced and if you happen to be an out of work union person and failed to comply with the new deal expect to be held to a low wage job because the party of tea said so. Last, women, gays, and minorities would be “seen but definitely not heard”. Yes, the story, a seemingly hazy fictional thing full of BS, but listen to those running for President from the right. If you cleared away the Republican haze you would see the future and it could be green it definitely seems like a FDR moment but as we all know this is not the Republicans most might say they disagreed with but respected. We all know life has changed as the last guy took a surplus spent it and while the ship was sinking not too much was being done to fix it. So, we know the last guy had a surplus, didn’t pay for, but waged 2wars and 2huge Tax cuts to the rich the part where things fall apart is a bit blurry but some say recessions are cyclical. I do not believe this is a typical recession year; in fact it feels like that car though a complete wreck by now is about to be totaled by Republicans with behavior unfit for any Public Servant. I have to say that any member Congress who signed off on the Grover Norquist pledge failed to take their position seriously and obviously do not understand their jobs, or realize that they represent the people of America not just their state. If you listen to the likes of a Kucinich’s or pundits, writers and reporters like this guy you should probably keep in mind that most articles now are filled with opinion news and should be taken in topically. I get progressives have a short memory and along with that a short loyalty program. I have to say when you are armed with the facts you do not give up on your Leader. We should put his feet to the fire but telling people to show your distaste by not voting is reckless and irresponsible. It is not lost on me that professional or elite progressives are more likely to have tantrums, a personal agenda or choose to bypass talking to members of Congress by throwing in a 3rd option which got us into the predicament we are now in. I resent them and the people who drank the kook-aid because they should have been more aware of the obvious. Again, this is not your father’s conservative political party; it is a ruthless somewhat tyrannical, racist, exclusionist group. They do not deserve to govern, and as we see, the House of Representatives led by Republicans seem unable to represent all Americans let alone govern. I don’t know about you but I have to ask myself daily if folks have been paying attention for the last 24months or watching even the slight opposition of our own members of Congress voting in ways that hamper President Obama. I was glad to see that most if not all blue dogs were voted out, yet the filibustering done by the Republican Tea Party, the stalling ,blocking and scaling down of bills, nominees has gone unacknowledged by most talking heads with strange comments of who ultimately has to take responsibility for the problems that are not getting solved. I read the op-ed and have since lumped Nichols with hamsher, adamgreen, arrianna and others who clearly have an agenda that is far more left of center and while it makes sense to them left the whole idea is to represent all the people and that is a centrist. I would not begin to assume all people lean left but we do have two factions who seem to be willing to ruin it for everyone. I am not saying that I am happy with everything the President has done but weighing in on who has done more to stop progress is glaring not to mention McConnell’s statement to make Obama a one term President is just one of many reasons why we should all give the President a 2ndterm. I will say it …if Republicans had actually put in a good faith effort to move forward with legislation designed to help all Americans and the outcome was as we all see it today. I would have to think about whom to vote for in any election. The fact is …It’s the Republicans Stupid. People need to get informed with facts not take an Op –Ed or opinion news to decide your future. I do know that legislation is created and passed by Congress, that Republicans & big Corporations are sitting on billions of dollars instead of investing in America, have laid off and outsourced over 1.5million jobs to china, India and Mexico since Obama was elected. It does not help when Americans hear news of a republican member of Congress possibly having bets against the system while in Congress seems illegal to me and crooks, liars and the shady need not apply to be a part of Congress or the Whitehouse.
I support Pres. Obama and will vote for Barack Obama in 2012 because I know given the tools to move forward we all would have the opportunity for the following and much more such as green jobs, can rest knowing that the Hyde Amendment is intact, women have the right to choose and think for themselves. That we are a people who care about each other and believe in Fair Share, clean water, clean air, climate change, love and marry whom you want. It is difficult to think people out there do not see the obstacles he has had getting legislation through let alone believe it is coming from an extreme part of the Republican Party and some conservadems. The 2010 midterms are usually a no big deal event but voters though warned by President Obama failed or refused to listen to what was at stake, members of Congress were to self-centered opting to focus on their own campaigns instead of what lay before them … American issues. There were pundits that obviously had some sway telling folks to stay home or voting right of center. I will never understand voting against your own interest when the stakes are so high and I will never forget the BS thrown at us by people who call themselves progressives who must have been right of center to begin with not to mention opinion news. -People who actually vote need to use their own minds instead of listening to someone who really does not care about you however; they do care about their own ratings and wages though.
I still have hope for change but we need the audacity to see the future. Unfortunately, Republicans really want to protect right of center ideology …, which only about 20% of our population believes in – does this make any sense?
Other News …
J.Lo and Marc Anthony will still do reality show
Eye test for Alzheimer’s could revolutionize diagnosis: How does it work?
Casey Anthony Release: Parents Refused to be Decoys
Debt Ceiling Debate Moves From White House to Congress, Prospects Uncertain
What did you think of the final ‘Harry Potter’ film?
US General Petraeus hands over command in Afghanistan amid wave of attacks
stunned by heartbreaking loss to Japan in Women’s World Cup final
CSPSN …
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NRC Chairman Discusses Nuclear Power Industry
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Liette Gidlow of Wayne State University in Detroit specializes in 20th century politics, women’s history, and culture. In this week’s class, Professor Gidlow looks at the issue of civil rights in the early 1990’s.
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Thomas Jefferson purchased a 1,334 acre tract in Virginia as a testing ground for various agricultural methods and labor systems – experiments that presented alternatives to slavery. In this discussion, a panel reflects on Jefferson’s motivations, his relationship with his confidante William Short, and their exchange of ideas on how to best manage this land known first as “Indian Camp” and then later named Morven.
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Be a Seed for Change 
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