Dear MoveOn member,
Thanks to House Speaker John Boehner and his Republican caucus, the “Do-Nothing Congress” was so awful this year that I decided it deserved its own theme song.
I had fun putting together this video—which also calls out some uplifting wins MoveOn members and other progressives were able to achieve this year despite the “Do-Nothing Congress.” I hope you’ll take just a minute to watch and, if you enjoy it, pass it on.
Thanks for all you do—and all the best in 2014.
<!–This report represents the sixth edition of a new format for the Cost of Living Index. Starting in 2007, C2ER has published an Annual Review of data for the preceding year. The data contained within the report represents unweighted average prices submitted for the first three quarters of the year, with new index numbers calculated using the modified weights for the upcoming year applied to these average prices. For further details on the annual average methodology, please visit our website at http://www.coli.org/Method.asp.
–>Among the 306 urban areas that have participated the third quarter 2013 Cost of Living Index, the after-tax cost for a professional/managerial standard of living ranged from more than twice the national average in New York (Manhattan) to just over 19 percent below the national average in Norman, OK. The Cost of Living Index is published quarterly by C2ER – The Council for Community and Economic Research.
| The Ten Most and Least Expensive Urban Areas in the Cost of Living Index (COLI) Third Quarter 2013 National Average for 306 Urban Areas = 100 | |||||
| Most Expensive | Least Expensive | ||||
| Ranking | Urban Areas | COL Index | Ranking | Urban Areas | COL Index |
| 1 | New York (Manhattan) NY | 221.3 | 1 | Norman OK | 82.4 |
| 2 | New York (Brooklyn) NY | 175.6 | 2 | Pueblo CO | 82.5 |
| 3 | Honolulu HI | 167.5 | 3 | Harlingen TX | 83.4 |
| 4 | San Francisco CA | 159.9 | 4 | Memphis TN | 84.9 |
| 5 | New York (Queens) NY | 151.4 | 5 | Youngstown-Warren OH | 85.5 |
| 6 | Hilo HI | 149.1 | 6 | Covington KY | 85.7 |
| 7 | San Jose CA | 148.8 | 7 | Tupelo MS | 85.8 |
| 8 | Stamford CT | 143.3 | 8 | Augusta-Aiken GA-SC | 85.9 |
| 9 | Washington DC | 141.6 | 9 | Birmingham AL | 85.9 |
| 10 | Orange County CA | 140.7 | 10 | Sherman-Denison TX | 86.2 |
The Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services, excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, for professional and managerial households in the top income quintile. It is based on more than 90,000 prices covering almost 60 different items for which prices are collected three times a year by chambers of commerce, economic development organizations or university applied economic centers in each participating urban area. Small differences in the index numbers should not be interpreted as significant.
The composite index is based on six components – housing, utilities, grocery items, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services.
Since General Clark‘s email, over 16,000 people have signed our letter to the Environmental Protection Agency calling on them to protect the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
The RFS is an important tool in reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and it’s critical that you add your name before we submit the signatures in January. You can do that here:
Thanks for standing with the veterans, military family members, and VoteVets supporters who have already taken action on this important issue.
Jon Soltz
@JonSoltz
Iraq War Veteran and Chairman
VoteVets.org
Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering gutting one of the most important policies put in place to limit the amount of fossil fuels we burn and lower our dependence on foreign oil.
It’s called the Renewable Fuel Standard and it ensures a minimum number of renewable fuels are used for transportation in the United States.
As veterans, military family members, and VoteVets supporters, we have a unique understanding about the cost of our dependence on foreign oil. It’s not just measured in the price at the pump, or a changing climate, but also in the lives lost and changed through deployments to protect the flow of oil in the Middle East.
VoteVets is participating in the Environmental Protection Agency’s public comment period on this issue. It ends in a few weeks, and we’d love it if you added your name to ours before we submit. You can do that here:
This is an important issue and a very real chance for you to make a difference. The EPA traditionally takes these comments very seriously, but our voices are at risk of being drowned out by big oil interests running astroturf campaigns.
That’s why your petition signature is so important. I hope you’ll add your name to mine today.
All the best,
General (Ret.) Wesley Clark
Board Member, VoteVets.org
Dear MoveOn member,
Stunning news: Google supports a right-wing front group that pushes anti-environment, anti-education and anti-worker policies. That’s why I started a petition on MoveOn.org to Google CEO Larry Page. The petition says:
I’m Marisol Garcia, a teacher and MoveOn member in Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve witnessed ALEC’s dangerous agenda firsthand.
ALEC has repeatedly tried to dismantle our public schools by rerouting taxpayer funds toward private and for-profit institutions, attacking the reduced price school lunch program and attempting an end-run around teachers’ unions. On top of that, ALEC has repeatedly pushed voter suppression efforts, discouraged policies that would expand alternative energy use, and promoted the dangerous “Stand Your Ground” law in states across America.
Google has a great reputation and I couldn’t be happier about the recent investments my school made to bring tools like Chrome and Google Docs to my students—but that makes Google’s involvement with ALEC even more disappointing. Please join me in asking Google to end its support for ALEC.
Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.
Thanks!
–Marisol Garcia
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ICE: Please Don’t Deport My Mother, Gloria Pedroza |
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My Mother came to this country to give us a better future, but is being prosecuted and will be deported in February 2014. On top of that they want to give her a 10year no entry into the U.S . As a 6 1/2 year service vet with 2 deployments to Afghanistan I find this appalling. I was born here in the U.S, server my country, and they wont let my mother stay.
The only crime here is her not being allowed to stay after she raised us to be the best that she could, which she accomplished. We all have successful jobs as Managers, History majors, Pottery/Art teachers and even in the Military.
But now they want to deport her because she dose not have papers after 26 years of being in this country, which was founded on immigrants who came to this new world in hopes of a better life. She even has a Daughter who depends on her due to having Liver failure cause by a UCLA Hospital due to them giving her the wrong medication. My sister needs my mother for moral and finacial support. She even has grandkids, and still they wont consider this as sufficient to let her stay.
So I’m asking for your help to help me fight this and help keep my mom here so she can watch her grandkids grow and see them have kids of there own.
Thank you for your time. Spc. Sotelo, Joe
Be a Seed for Change 
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