Tag Archives: United States Congress

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Tell Congress: Help Jobless Workers Not Millionaires
Congress: Stand Up for Struggling Women and Families
Your Members of Congress need to hear that they should extend unemployment benefits and let tax cuts for millionaires expire.
Call 1-866-606-1189 today!

It’s hard to believe — but Congress is considering cutting taxes for the rich at the same time they discontinue unemployment insurance benefits for the millions of people who are out of work!

The emergency unemployment insurance program expires at the end of November. If Congress fails to extend it, this lifeline will be cut for 2 million workers in December alone. And, because these families won’t have income to spend in their communities to support their families, more jobs will be lost.

Yet, some of the same Members of Congress who are saying that they can’t afford to extend emergency unemployment benefits for another year insist on extending tax breaks for millionaires.

Will you stand up for your neighbor and call your Members of Congress? Calling is easy to do.

  1. Call 1-866-606-1189
  2. Tell the operator who answers the phone the name of your Member of Congress. (Not sure? Look it up here.)
  3. Once you are connected to the office of your Member of Congress, tell the staff person who answers:
    • Your name, that you are a constituent from (city, state).
    • Stand up for struggling families by extending unemployment benefits for a year and allowing the tax provisions that only benefit the wealthiest two percent of households to expire on schedule.
    • Thank you.
  4. Hang up and ask your friends or coworkers to make a call as well. (To reach all three of your Members of Congress, you will have to dial 3 times. Thanks for your support and for making this extra effort.)

The Bush-era tax cuts and recent improvements in tax credits for working families will expire on December 31 unless Congress acts to renew them. Tax breaks for millionaires are also set to expire this year. Congress should extend tax benefits for middle- and lower-income families and not waste $700 billion giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

We have a limited amount of time to take action. Please take a stand for justice by calling 1-866-606-1189 today.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,
Joan Entmacher Joan Entmacher
Vice President, Family Economic Security
National Women’s Law Center
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Stop the next corporate media takeover


Can you call Sen. Cantwell? Tell her: “Fight hard to make sure the Local Community Radio Act passes Congress this month.”

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441


Report your call

Dear MoveOn member,

We all know corporate interests spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy this election.1

But that’s not all: Many of the same corporations own our TV and radio airwaves, biasing our political debate in favor of corporate interests.2

Now, there’s a bill in Congress that could put media back in the hands of the Other 98% of us instead.3 Thousands of communities could get their own community-run radio stations—think youth, civic leaders, and local musicians on your FM dial, talking about the real issues facing our country.

The low-power FM radio bill has passed the House and has a bipartisan majority in the Senate, but corporate broadcasters are fighting to kill this bill.4 They’ve lined up a tiny group of politicians to block the bill. This week could be our last chance to win a huge victory for independent voices in the media.

Can you urge Sen. Cantwell to make sure the Local Community Radio Act passes before Congress goes home for the holidays?

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441

Then, click here to let us know you called:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSWA_2&cp_id=1482&id=25178-9640874-UQWhstx&t=2

Does radio matter? Yes. Twice as many people get their news from talk radio as from the TV evening news—on all three networks combined.5 That’s why lobbyists for corporate broadcasters are paying top dollar to protect their radio monopoly. But when communities run their own local radio stations, people can hear real debate on the issues that really matter.

With thousands of independent radio stations across the country, we can start building a shared understanding of the real solutions to our problems. We can start building a movement to stop corporate influence in our democracy. And then we can start rebuilding an economy that works for everyone.

Call Sen. Cantwell now, and ask her to fight hard for the Local Community Radio Act:

Senator Maria Cantwell
Phone: 202-224-3441

Help track our progress by letting us know you called—just click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/call?tg=FSWA_2&cp_id=1482&id=25178-9640874-UQWhstx&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Kat, Amy, Anna, Duncan, and the rest of the team

P.S. You can read more about low-power FM radio from our friends at Free Press by clicking here: http://www.freepress.net/lpfm

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FW: Emergency Action on DISCLOSE Act

Congress is convening today for its “lame duck” session to end the year. This could be our last chance for a long time to pass the DISCLOSE Act and pull back the curtain from the shady corporate spending that helped propel the Far Right into power in the election a few weeks ago.

Join the thousands of activists who have already signed our emergency petition to the Senate by adding your name now.

We need a full court press now to make sure the pressure’s on the Senate to bring up and pass the DISCLOSE Act. If you missed Diallo’s email from last week, please take a moment to read it now and sign the petition.

Thank you for your activism!

— Marge Baker, Executive Vice President

From: Diallo Brooks, People For the American Way
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 5:51 PM
To: Marge Baker
Subject: Emergency Action on DISCLOSE Act

 

disclose 

Dear Senator,

Please do all you can to pass the DISCLOSE Act now, and pull back the curtains to reveal the interests behind the spending. Americans have a right to know.

sign the petition

The window of opportunity for Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act is shrinking fast.

On Monday, Congress convenes for a “lame duck” session to end the year… in January, the Tea Party-dominated Republican majority takes over in the House, comprised of many of the beneficiaries of this year’s runaway, undisclosed corporate spending.

PFAW is pulling out all the stops and will be putting as much pressure as we can on Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act in this short session, before time runs out and the new House majority is seated.

Help build the centerpiece of our lobbying efforts. Sign our emergency petition to pass the DISCLOSE Act right now.

Earlier this year, Republican senators voted in lockstep to filibuster the DISCLOSE Act, with a handful of GOP senators from more liberal states hanging their objections on various provisions of the bill. This time around, Democrats will be offering a stripped-down version which will simply require the wealthy interests that bankroll the attack ads and directly support candidates to come out of hiding and reveal themselves.

As we saw in this past election, shadowy front groups with pleasant sounding names like “Commission on Hope, Growth and Opportunity,” the “Coalition to Protect Seniors,” and the “Center for Individual Freedom” are paying for endless ads on the public airwaves and not disclosing their donors. Voters have a right to know who is funding these messages.

It’s time to pull back the curtain from the corporate special interests like Big Oil and Big Insurance which are funding much of this activity and give Americans the information they deserve to make up their minds about issues and candidates.

Join our emergency petition to pass the DISCLOSE Act now and ask others to do the same.

It’s no wonder the Right wants to keep this information hidden from voters. We saw in the midterm elections that when voters know where the funding for campaign messages is coming from, they are more likely to see through misleading attacks and evaluate biased ads more reasonably.

This is a major all-hands-on-deck campaign we are waging, but making sure you are on board by adding your name to our emergency petition is the first critical step.

This is a fight we can win, but we don’t have much time. Please sign now and spread the word.

— Diallo Brooks, Director of Field Mobilization

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Pop Quiz


Pop quiz: Which of the following will make up a majority of the deficit in the next decade?

A) Social Security
B) Medicare
C) The National Park Service
D) PBS
E) George Bush’s tax cuts

Give up? The answer is E — George Bush’s tax cuts.

But this week the co-chairs of the so-called “Deficit Commission” came out with their recommendations on how to fix the deficit. Do you know what their answer was? They said they wanted to cut A, B, C and D.

That’s right — the co-chairs of the Deficit Commission said that they wanted to cut Social Security, Medicare, the National Park Service, PBS and a whole lot more. But they’re OK with leaving George Bush’s tax cuts in place even though those tax cuts are projected to make up over half of the deficit over the next 10 years.

These guys are dead wrong and it’s time Congress knew just how wrong they are — sign the pledge calling on Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

Add your name now

Not only are they dead wrong on how to fix the deficit, but they’re probably the only two people in the country who think it’s a good idea to cut Social Security.

On Election Day, Democracy for America polled voters nationwide on some key issues, and when asked about Social Security only four percent said they supported making cuts to Social Security.

The vast majority of Americans — 85 percent — said they don’t want any cuts to Social Security. But they don’t get a vote in the Deficit Commission, so let’s make sure Congress hears what they have to say — sign our pledge today.

Tell Congress to reject the Deficit Commission’s right-wing attack on Social Security.

DFA members told us to stand strong for Social Security. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Thank you for working to move America forward.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

Democracy for America relies on you and the people-power of more than one million members to fund the grassroots organizing and training that delivers progressive change on the issues that matter. Please Contribute Today and support our mission.

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Out in the cold


 

More than 2 million workers and their families are in danger of losing their unemployment benefits just before the holidays.unemployment

Tell Congress to renew unemployment insurance now:

Click here

 

For millions of Americans and their families, a storm is brewing. Unless Congress acts by November 30th, two million unemployed Americans who are struggling to find work will be cut off from vital unemployment payments just before the holiday season.1

It would be a disaster — not only for people who are out of a job and whose only lifeline is these small unemployment payments, but for the entire economy.2

It’s going to be a tough fight to make sure Congress extends these benefits — Republicans and conservative Democrats have stood in the way of extending unemployment insurance in the past, and they’re likely to do it again. They say we can’t afford to pay for it, but many of the same politicians are willing to add trillions to the deficit to extend President Bush’s massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Please join us in demanding that Congress extend unemployment benefits, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/preserve/?id=2275-1238940

The economic downturn has hurt everyone, but it’s hit Black communities particularly hard — unemployment among Black folks is at 16%, twice the national average. For young Black men, it’s above 40%.3

Economists say that unemployment benefits are one of the most effective ways to boost the economy, and the U.S. Census Bureau data reports that 3.3 million more people would have fallen below the poverty line in 2009 without unemployment benefits.4,5

There are some signs that the economy is starting to recover — the number of new people applying for unemployment benefits has recently fallen. But if Congress fails to extend unemployment for 2 million people who are currently out of work, it would deal a serious blow to that progress. Those two million jobless Americans won’t have money to spend on their basic needs, and all kinds of businesses will suffer as a result — and be even less likely to start hiring.

Congress reconvenes on November 15 — and will only have a short time to continue the federal unemployment benefits program before the November 30 deadline. This past May, because of what conservative Democrats and Republicans to block extending unemployment benefits, Congress missed the deadline and allowed the program to lapse for seven weeks — stopping benefits to more than 2.5 million long-term unemployed job-seekers and their families. The unemployed cannot afford another lapse in benefits, and neither can our economy.

It’s hard to believe, but some politicians are saying we can’t afford to pay for these benefits, while at the same time trying to extend President Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy. It’s a position that prioritizes luxury for the wealthy over survival for the most vulnerable people in our country — and it makes no sense for our economy.

Congress hears from wealthy people with access and power every day. So it’s essential for all members of Congress to hear from ordinary Americans who are struggling to make ends meet or know someone who is.

Please join us in demanding that Congress extend unemployment benefits by clicking the link below. We’re working with the National Employment Law Project to deliver your message to Congress this week. And we’ll keep our eye on politicians who are standing in the way of doing what’s right for our economy, and we’ll give you ways to hold them accountable.

http://www.colorofchange.org/preserve/?id=2275-1238940

Thanks and Peace,

— James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Natasha, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
November 15th, 2010

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:

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