Tag Archives: United States

Tara McGuinness, The White House – #ACA is good


If you want tangible evidence of the way that the new health care law is already helping ordinary people, it’s worth having a conversation with one of the 8.5 million Americans who received rebates from their insurance companies this summer. Just ask the folks who got checks in the mail.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, insurers are required to spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on medical care, instead of overhead like salaries or advertising. And if an insurance company doesn’t meet that standard, it has to provide a rebate to its customers.

It’s a really big deal, and we want to make sure everyone understands how it works.

Here’s a graphic that breaks things down. Will you share it to help answer questions in your community?

Check out this graphic about health care rebates.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/health-care-rebate

Thanks! Tara

Tara McGuinness Senior Communications Advisor The White House

@HealthCareTara

~~ Congress ~~ On break until 7/23


Wethepeople

The Senate will convene at 10:00am on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.

  • Following the prayer and pledge, the Majority Leader will be recognized. It is expected he will renew his motion to proceed to S.1243, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. The time until 12:00pm will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.
  • The next roll call vote will be at 12:00pm on Tuesday, July 23rd on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1243.  Cloture was filed on that motion during Thursday’s session of the Senate.  If cloture is invoked, all post-cloture time will be yielded back and the Senate will proceed to vote on the motion to proceed to S.1243 (likely a voice vote). If the motion to proceed to S.1243 is adopted, the text of H.R.2610, as reported by the House Appropriations, will be deemed House passed text for the purposes of rule 16.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

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Last Floor Action:7/19
9:53:37 A.M. -H.R. 5
DEBATE – Pursuant
to the provisions of H. Res. 303, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 20
minutes of debate on the George Miller (CA) substitute amendment No. 26.

USA: Save the bees


Across the USA, millions of bees are dying, threatening our food supply. Scientists blame one group of pesticides some of which have just been banned in Europe. A new bill could save America’s bees, but big Agriculture and the pesticide industry are lobbying hard against it. We only have days to make sure Congress acts to stop the Chemical Armageddon — sign the emergency petition now!Quietly, across the USA, millions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. A new bill this week could ban one group of deadly pesticides and save bees from annihilation, but only if Congress feels the sting of public opinion.

America’s bees are facing a chemical Armageddon — just last week, 50,000 died in a single car park in Oregon after being exposed to pesticides, and last winter over 50% of all California’s bees died. Leading scientists blame one group of pesticides called neonicotinoids. The evidence is so compelling that the entire European Union has begun banning them, and the Save America’s Pollinators Act could impose a ban on these deadly poisons in the US.

Now it’s up to us to get our politicians to save America‘s bees. Big Agriculture and powerful chemical companies like Bayer are already lobbying hard to stop the bill, but if we show an overwhelming public support for a ban, we can counter their influence. Sign the petition below and tell everyone — when we reach 250,000 signers, we’ll take Avaaz’s giant inflatable bee to Capitol Hill to tell Congress to save our bees:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/usa_save_the_bees/?biEWLbb&v=27215

Bees don’t just make honey, they are vital to life on earth, every year pollinating 95 types of fruits such as avocados, almonds, apples, and that’s just the A’s — with an estimated $30bn value. Without immediate action to save bees, many of our favorite fruits, vegetables, and nuts could vanish from our shelves.

Recent years have seen a steep and disturbing global decline in bee populations — some bee species are already extinct and some US species are at just 4% of their previous numbers. Scientists have been scrambling for answers. Some studies claim the decline may be due to a combination of factors including disease, habitat loss and toxic chemicals.

But increasingly, independent research has produced strong evidence blaming neonicotinoid pesticides, forcing the European Union to temporarily suspend use of one or more of these bee killers. But, in the US, the EPA has been slow to react — their review won’t be completed until 2018 condemning our bees to 5 more years of chemical Armageddon.

This issue is now coming to the boil as major new studies have confirmed the scale of this problem, and Representatives Blumenauer and Conyers have introduced legislation. If we can get other members of Congress to act, we could shut down once and for all Bayer’s influence on policy-makers and scientists. The real experts — the beekeepers and farmers — want these deadly pesticides prohibited until and unless we have solid, independent studies that show they are safe. Let’s support them now. Sign the urgent petition to Congress now, then forward this email:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/usa_save_the_bees/?biEWLbb&v=27215

We know we can win on bees. Last April, over 2.5 million of us signed a petition calling on the EU to adopt a ban on bee killing pesticides and won! And in the US, nearly a million of us persuaded the EPA to review their position on these poisons. Now let’s go one step further towards saving bees!

With hope,

Iain, Luis, Anne, Alex, Allison, Ricken, and the whole Avaaz team

PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community. It’s easy to get started – click to start yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917

MORE INFORMATION

Mystery Malady Kills More Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms (NY Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?pagewanted=all

Bee protection: US in spotlight as EU bans pesticides (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/30/bee-protection-us-eu-bans-pesticides

Legislation to restrict pesticide use proposed by Rep. Blumenauer (Oregon Live):
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2013/07/legislation_to_restrict_pestic.html

Some US bumblebees see 96% drop in last decades (Treehugger):
http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/some-us-bumblebees-see-96-drop-in-last-decades.html

the Senate considers Executive Calendar ~~ CONGRESS ~~ the House ?


WethePeople

The Senate will convene at 9:30am on Wednesday, July 17, 2013.

  • Following the prayer and pledge, the Majority Leader will be recognized.
  • Following the remarks of the two Leaders, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of NY, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.  The time until 10:00am will be equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees. At 10:00am, there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Hochberg nomination. If cloture is invoked on the nomination, there will be up to 8 hours of post-cloture debate on the nomination.
  • Cloture was also filed on the following items:
  • If cloture is invoked on the Hochberg nomination, following disposition of the Hochberg nomination, there would immediately be a cloture vote on the Perez nomination.  If cloture is invoked on the Perez nomination, there would be up to 30 hours of post-cloture debate on the nomination.  Following disposition of the Perez nomination, there would be a cloture vote on the McCarthy nomination. If cloture is invoked, there would be up to 8 hours of post-cloture debate on the McCarthy nomination. If cloture is not invoked on a nomination, the Senate would proceed to vote on cloture on the next nomination.

10:01am The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of New York, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States;

Invoked: 82-18

There will now to be up to 8 hours for debate prior to a vote on confirmation of Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of New York, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Upon disposition of the nomination we will proceed immediately to a vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Perez nomination. We hope to yield back some of that time and have those votes early this afternoon. Senators will be notified when any votes are schedule.

We expect to have a series of 2 roll call votes as early as 3:30pm. Those votes would be on the following items:

–          Confirmation of Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of New York, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; and

–          Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #99, the nomination of Thomas Edward Perez, of Maryland, to be Secretary of Labor.

3:36pm The Senate began a roll call vote on Confirmation of Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of New York, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States;

Confirmed: 82-17

4:09pm The Senate began a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #99, the nomination of Thomas Edward Perez, of Maryland, to be Secretary of Labor;

Invoked: 60-40

There will be no further roll call votes today.

Senator Murray asked unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar #33, H.Con.Res.25; the amendment at the desk, which is the text of S.Con.Res.8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be inserted in lieu thereof; and that H.Con.Res.25, as amended, be agreed to. Further, that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses; and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate; and that following the authorization, two motions to instruct conferees be in order from each side:

– Motion to instruct relative to the debt limit; and

– Motion to instruct relative to taxes/revenue;

That there be two hours of debate equally divided between the two Leaders, or their designees, prior to votes in relation to the motions; further, that no amendments be in order to either of the motions prior to the votes; all of the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

Senator Lee asked that the request be modified so that it not be in order for the Senate to consider a conference report that includes reconciliation instructions to raise the debt limit. Senator Murray objected to Senator Lee’s modification because she offered the Senator to vote on motions to instruct conferees on the debt limit. Finally, Senator Lee objected to Senator Murray’s original request.

WRAP UP

ROLL CALL VOTES

1)      Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of NY, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States; Invoked: 82-18

2)      Confirmation of Executive Calendar #178, the nomination of Fred P. Hochberg, of NY, to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States Confirmed: 82-17

3)      Motion to invoke cloture on Executive Calendar #99, the nomination of Thomas Edward Perez, of MD, to be Secretary of Labor; Invoked: 60-40

LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

Discharged the Judiciary committee and adopted S.Res.183, commemorating the relaunching of 172-year-old Charles W. Morgan by Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea.

Began the Rule 14 process of S.1315, Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act. (Cornyn)

Began the Rule 14 process of S.1316, Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act. (Cornyn)

Began the Rule 14 process of H.R.1911, Smarter Solutions for Students Act.

No additional EXECUTIVE ITEMS

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July 2013
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Watch Live House Floor Proceedings

Last Floor Action:
4:59:09 P.M. -H.R. 2668
WORDS TAKEN
DOWN – During the course of debate, exception was taken to certain words used
and a demand was made to have words taken down. Mr. Price (GA) asked unanimous
consent to withdraw the words. Without objection the words were withdrawn. The
House resumed with debate on H.R. 2668.

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Support Tom Perez


National Women's Law Center
 Tomorrow, the Senate has a chance to do something that could help every single woman in the United States. But we have to make sure they know we care.
This is our last chance. Tell your Senators to support the nomination of Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor.
Throughout his career, including most recently as head of the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice, Tom Perez has shown that he is committed to enforcing the laws upon which women, and all workers, rely. He’s combined this commitment with extraordinary skill and competence, both in the federal government and when he served as Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
The U.S. Department of Labor enforces laws enabling workers to take job-protected family and medical leave, wage and hour protections that shield workers from exploitation and abuse, and rules requiring federal contractors to advance equal opportunity in their workforces, including equal pay. This critical Department also houses the Women’s Bureau, whose mission is to improve pay and working conditions for women. The next Secretary of Labor will have the opportunity to continue the important progress toward ensuring fairer workplaces for women and for all workers.
Tom Perez is committed to the needs of women and their families. Tell your Senators to support the nomination of Tom Perez for Secretary of Labor.
Thank you for everything you do to advance the rights of women and their families.
Sincerely,
Marcia Greenberger  Marcia Greenberger Co-President National Women’s Law Center