Tag Archives: United States

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

PBS and NPR


The budget fight in Congress is really just beginning and it’s going to be a big one. Republicans are claiming they’ll shut the government down if they don’t get their way. They’re willing to cost even more Americans their jobs — just so Republicans can make a political point and attempt to hold Obama hostage.

What Republicans don’t understand is if Democrats stand together, we’ll win this fight.

That’s why DFA members are demanding a budget that has no cuts to vital programs, invests in jobs, and makes the rich and corporations pay their fair share.

And when we talk about vital programs, we’re not just referring to Social Security, Medicare, or the many aspects of our social safety net that keep the struggling middle class and poor Americans from poverty and homelessness. We’re also talking about education, the Environmental Protection Agency, and of course, NPR and PBS.

Our fiends at CREDO action are calling on Congress to fully fund National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, please join them right now.http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/504?akid=474.1480546.8I3SJ5&t=1

Our fiends at CREDO action are calling on Congress to fully fund National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System, please join them right now.

House Republicans, when deciding how they want to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, immediately attacked NPR and PBS. They cut all funding — that’s right, all of it — for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the nonprofit responsible for funding public media including NPR, PBS, Pacifica and more.

If the funding is not restored in the Senate, it would be a tremendous blow to the entire public interest media sector.

House Republicans disingenuously claimed that they needed to cut funding for public media because of budgetary constraints. But what they failed to highlight is that national public broadcasting is remarkably cost effective, providing local news and information, free of charge, for millions of viewers while only receiving about .0001% of the federal budget.

More to the point, it’s nearly impossible to put a price tag on the actual value of public broadcasting.

We cannot allow congressional Republicans to destroy public media.

Tell Congress: Fully fund NPR and defend public service media! http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/504?akid=474.1480546.8I3SJ5&t=2

Public media is one of the last bulwarks against the corporate media, where the combination of consolidation and profit motive has long since shifted the focus to infotainment rather than substantive news. In many rural and less affluent communities, broadcasters rely on federal funding to provide the only available high-quality news and public affairs programming.

Without public media, corporate media monopolies would increase their already large control of what we see on television, hear on the radio or read in the newspaper.

The increased accumulation and consolidation of corporate power is a threat to our democracy. And nowhere is this more evident than in our media. It’s important that we stand up to stop this today. America simply cannot afford to lose what public media brings to the table.

Tell Congress: Fully fund NPR and defend public service media!http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/504?akid=474.1480546.8I3SJ5&t=3

Conservatives have longed for any opportunity to defund NPR, PBS and other public media, and now it looks like they may finally get their wish — unless we stop them.

Tell the Senate to reject cuts to public broadcasting today.

Thank you for everything you do,

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director


Democracy for America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

You’re invited: Tony & Janina’s American Wedding


 

Be a part of their story

Have you heard the story about Tony & Janina? Their family was torn apart by our broken immigration system and their heartbreaking story has been captured by a powerful documentary film.

Tony & Janina’s story is just one of thousands that happen every day. More and more states are attempting to copycat Arizona’s racial profiling laws, while the House of Representatives has grown increasingly restrictionist and lawmakers attempt to take citizenship away from newborn babies.

We need to stand up and fight back, locally and nationally.

But where do we start? With you. In your homes and communities, with your friends and families, at your churches and schools. We want you to hold a screening of a special version of “Tony & Janina’s American Wedding” and invite your community. We’ll provide you with a special copy of the film, discussion questions and everything you’ll need to get your community involved.

Sign up to host a screening party in your neighborhood >> http://ri4a.org/

It’s simple. Just sign up to host, set the date and time of your party, and then start inviting your friends. We’ll provide you with everything you need to get the discussion underway – you just provide the space.

We need everyone in the fight. Host a party, share Tony & Janina’s story and get your friends and family involved!

http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/blog/blog/tony-janinas-american-wedding/

Thanks,

Marissa Graciosa

Reform Immigration FOR America

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

WI State Senator Chris Larson …supports


Here is a message for PFAW members and activists from Wisconsin State Senator Chris Larson, a member of PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network and one of the 14 Democratic Senators who left Wisconsin in order to prevent the Republican controlled Senate from passing Gov. Scott Walker‘s union-busting budget proposal:

Friends,

I write to express my sincere thanks to you and the other thousands of PFAW supporters who have taken the time to show your support for us and for our state’s public employees. Just one week ago, our Republican Governor Scott Walker announced that he would be using a budget adjustment bill to reverse 50 years of Wisconsin history and go after worker rights in Wisconsin. If passed, the balance in our society will again tilt to the powerful over the powerless. The ability to organize and get fair treatment are qualities that built our country. This is what the last generation fought for in the 60s and the 70s to make sure we all had a better life.

If this bill moves forward in Wisconsin, rights in all America we have grown to take for granted will no longer be so reliable. Workers will no longer be able to work as a group to negotiate anything besides wages. Republicans here have already passed a “tort reform” law that makes it much harder to seek justice in Wisconsin. But this new move by Walker is much worse. It is an unprecedented attack on workers, their communities and our tradition of working with labor to move our state forward.

If this passes here, it will pass in other states.

To be clear, Walker is seeking to scapegoat unions as the cause of the fiscal crisis in an effort to divide the middle class against itself. This, while he is opening tax loopholes for the richest in the country.

I appreciate your support and seek it for the ongoing fight ahead of us. Please speak out in any way you can. We need you to let your neighbors know that this assault on worker rights will hurt every person and every community across Wisconsin, and perhaps across the nation. It will drive down wages and decrease work place safety for all workers in our country, union and non-union alike.

Thank you for all you do for your community.

In Solidarity,

Chris Larson

Wisconsin State Senator

twitter.com/ChrisJLarson

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Why Wisconsin matters for President Obama (via Anderson Cooper 360)

1 Comment

CNN Political Unit Washington (CNN) — President Obama knows that the ongoing budget protests in Wisconsin are just round one in the national battle for control of the budget message. So he’s reportedly sent his outside political team, Organizing for America, to help build even larger crowds. It’s something that drew ire from House Speaker John Boehner on Friday. “His political organization is colluding with special-interest allies across the cou … Read More

via Anderson Cooper 360

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

First, they attacked PBS and NPR. Now this?


First, they went nuclear on PBS and NPR. Now, they have voted to totally shut down AmeriCorps — the groundbreaking national service program that has transformed the lives of millions of Americans.

In the dead of night on Saturday, a Tea Party-driven group of House members voted to kill AmeriCorps, completely eliminating all funding. With a potential government shutdown looming on March 4th, the fate of 85,000 AmeriCorp community organizers, teachers, and tutors will now be decided by the U.S. Senate.

Here is the heart of the matter: AmeriCorps volunteers help and protect our country’s most vulnerable. Every day, AmeriCorps organizers work in many of the poorest communities in America, lessening the pain of those suffering in this brutal economy. As their work rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina exemplifies, these organizers are the backbone of our country’s service community — a Peace Corps for our own country.

After hearing the shocking news, former AmeriCorps volunteer Caleb Jonas decided he had to do something. From a coffee shop in Massachusetts, Caleb logged in to www.Change.org from his laptop and created a petition asking Congress to “Save AmeriCorps.” Caleb’s inspiring action has already been signed by 17,266 Americans — without significant promotion from any major organization. Until now. http://www.change.org/petitions/save-americorps?alert_id=NNHcGQVECl_XoMYVCMMAM&me=aa  

Click here now to quickly sign your name to Caleb’s “Save AmeriCorps” petition to the Senate. Your signature will help Caleb reach his personal goal of 85,000 signatures — one signature for every AmeriCorps member currently serving their country. DEADLINE: Thursday, 5 p.m.

Why does Caleb care so much about AmeriCorps? Because he spent a year improving the quality of tutoring programs for low-income kids in Minnesota — and witnessed AmeriCorps members build houses for Habitat for Humanity, help political refugees start new lives, improve reading test scores for elementary school students, and help disadvantaged high school students get into college.

As Caleb told us over the phone, it breaks his heart that this vital national service program could be shut down at a time when people in the most marginalized communities in America need it the most. That’s why Caleb was inspired to start his “Save AmeriCorps” petition from a coffee shop — and why AmeriCorps supporters are sharing it on Facebook and forwarding messages like this to their friends around the country.

With AmeriCorps on the chopping block, it’s time for us to stand up for Caleb and thousands of other volunteers who have committed years of their lives to community service. Will you click here now to sign your name and tell the Senate not to kill AmeriCorps?

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-americorps?alert_id=NNHcGQVECl_XoMYVCMMAM&me=aa

Thank you for joining Caleb and Change.org members across our country fighting to save AmeriCorps before it’s too late.

— Patrick and the Change.org team