Tag Archives: United States

The Senate Convenes at 10:00amET May 19, 2011

Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business until 11am with Senators permitted speak therein for up to 10 minutes each with the time equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees with the Majority controlling the first half and the Republicans controlling the final half.

Following morning business, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider calendar #80, Goodwin Liu, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit with the time until 2pm equally divided and controlled between Senators Leahy and Grassley or their designees.

The Senate will be in morning business until 7pm with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Prior to adjourning on Thursday, Senator Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to S.1038, a bill to provide for the extension of expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act until June 1, 2015.

Votes:

74: Motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Goodwin Liu, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit: Not Invoked: 52-43-1(present)

Unanimous Consent:

Passed Calendar #51, S.990, Small Business Extension w/Landrieu-Snowe substitute amendment (1yr extension through May 31, 2012)

Discharged Judiciary and adopted S.Res.184, recognizing the life of Hubert Humphrey w/ a Sessions amendment

Adopted S.Res.192, designating May 21, 2011, as “National Kids to Parks Day”

Adopted S.Res.193, honoring the bicentennial of the City of Astoria.

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The next meeting in the House is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on May 23, 2011

~ my 2cents ...

Governor Walker will do what?

05/18/2011 Nativegrl77

Sitting here listening to thom hartmann talk with his guest John Nichols from the Nation — it becomes way too a scary awakening and just need to share what is on the Repupblican agenda. I suggest everyone tune into radio as well as tv because the information is less likely to be as skewed as tv. So, apparently, on the desk of Gov. Walker is a list of take aways he plans to carry out quietly unless folks in WI take action

– School Boards and their authority

– Town Boards and their ability to set debt limits

– County, City, Villiage School Boards ability to do their own budgeting for labor unions and or labor relations

– ending the Natural Resource/Vet dept

Governor Walker intends to gut the power of the Secretary of State and appoint Czars -of his own that will do what he says

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Going to cost them

05/17/2011 Nativegrl77

Absolutely incredible!

Democrat Kathy Hochul has surged to a dead heat in a New York special election that could dramatically alter the political landscape in Washington. Ever since Republicans took the majority in the U.S. House, they’ve pushed a non-stop platform of unpopular and destructive ideas, like ending Medicare while preserving tax breaks for millionaires.

Kathy’s special election, in one of the reddest districts in the state this May 24th, is our first chance to show them how much it’s going to cost them. Let’s get her over the top.

http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63ca61/1b9dd8ab/4ae5ef98/4e0ce962/1372734153/VEsH/

Kathy is exactly who we need in Congress. She is a tireless fighter for jobs, someone who will always do right by middle class families in her district, and a strong leader who will stand up to the hard right.

Washington insiders and the media are closely watching this race. If Kathy can win a dramatic grassroots victory in this Republican stronghold, it would give Democrats the momentum in our fight to preserve Medicare and stop the Republicans’ reckless agenda.

That’s why hard right groups have just launched a smear campaign against her.

http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63ca61/1b9dd8ab/4ae5ef98/4e0ce962/1372734153/VEsE/

This race is winnable, but time is running short. We must keep TV ads on the air so Kathy can keep fighting back against the special interest-funded attacks.

With the eyes of the world watching, let’s show them exactly the kind of victory that grassroots Democrats are capable of.

Senator Chuck Schumer

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Scholastic Lies to 4th Graders …change.org

05/17/2011 Nativegrl77

Let’s say you’re the CEO of McDonald’s. You know kids love to eat your food, but their pesky teachers keep telling them it’s not healthy. Don’t worry! You have options.

Scholastic (the company that publishes tons of children’s books) has a program where companies like McDonald’s, the American Coal Foundation, and SunnyD can pay to have teachers teach kids about their products to create “brand awareness” and “consumer loyalty.”

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-scholastic-stop-pushing-corporate-pr-in-classrooms?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=XjZTygzXWR_JMKqNQJEBS

It’s called Scholastic InSchool Marketing –– and it has nothing to do with education.

Here’s how the program works: A corporation gives Scholastic a pile of money. In turn, Scholastic creates a curriculum designed to further “client interests,” cleverly masked as actual learning opportunities for students. (For example, Scholastic sometimes says these materials will help improve students’ scores on standardized tests.)

According to Scholastic, this program reaches more than 66,000 classrooms.

Some terrific groups (including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Rethinking Schools) are fighting hard to end Scholastic InSchool Marketing. This week, they had a big win when Scholastic agreed to stop selling its “United States of Energy” curriculum (paid for by the American Coal Foundation) which teaches 4th graders about the benefits of coal while hiding all the risks to public health.

Momentum is on their side. Now it’s time to stop this practice for good. Sign the petition today to tell Scholastic to end its insidious InSchool Marketing division:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-scholastic-stop-pushing-corporate-pr-in-classrooms

Thanks for taking action,

– Patrick and the Change.org team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Contribute now to Fight Back Against Republican Attacks

05/17/2011 Nativegrl77

Remember that Republican congressman who high-tailed it out of Washington after the shirtless photos he sent to women on Craigslist got splashed all over the Internet?

Well, the special election for his seat is just 8 days away and our Democratic candidate, Kathy Hochul, is down by just 1 point in her latest poll!

Republicans know it would be a disaster to lose this race in the single reddest district in all of New York — even his Royal Highness Speaker John Boehner rushed up there to raise cash for more dishonest Republican attack ads.

With just 24 hours to go until our One Week Out Deadline, let’s show we’ve got what it takes to fight this race to the finish.

http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63ca97/1b9dd8ab/4a800264/4e0ce99a/243752719/VEsE/

I’m telling you — the more folks in Western New York hear about the Republicans’ support for that ludicrous budget to end Medicare, the more voters are flocking to support Kathy.

The Republicans’ cynical plan to pay for tax breaks for the ultra rich by ending the Medicare support that our seniors rely on is far more shameful than a few racy photos. Let’s make sure they don’t get away with it.

Thanks,

James Carville

P.S. Back in 2009, Democrats won another special election in upstate New York by just 726 votes. This race is shaping up to be the same sort of nail-biter. Help us hit our $75,000 goal to help put Democratic candidate Kathy Hochul over the top. http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63ca97/1b9dd8ab/4a800264/4e0ce99a/243752719/VEsE/