Tag Archives: United States

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This week the House will vote on Republican scorched-earth budget cut proposals that would amputate critical government services working families rely on every day. They want to slash education—from Head Start to Pell Grants for college. Cut food safety inspections. Cut job safety inspections. Cut investments in infrastructure. Cut the money to send out Social Security checks. And eliminate hundreds of thousands of middle-class jobs.

This week the U.S. House will be voting on extremist budget proposals that essentially would shut down critical services for working families this fiscal year. House Republicans claim it’s deficit control. It’s not. It’s an all-out assault on America’s middle class and naked political payback to CEOs who poured millions into the 2010 elections.

Sign the petition telling representatives to stop wasting time on outrages like this.

>> http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=JwmLLkAvQ9Z2eaO7KyjEHVAYly69wHrp

Then, forward this message to your friends and urge them to sign, too. http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=Bw132snZIJsEpBwz1ZhVLumJZ0bcS%2BhP

This isn’t “fiscal responsibility” or “deficit control.” It’s a bald-faced attack on America’s middle class as political payback to CEOs who poured millions into the 2010 elections. CEOs don’t like job safety regulations, so the politicians they elected will cut the funding and fire the inspectors. CEOs don’t want environmental safeguards, energy improvements or curbs on health insurance companies, so their politicians will just defund the programs.

Sign the petition. Tell representatives: Get to work creating jobs and reviving our economy and stop wasting time on outrages like this.

Then, forward this message to your friends and urge them to sign, too. http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=JwmLLkAvQ9Z2eaO7KyjEHVAYly69wHrp

The Republican proposals would propel us squarely in the wrong direction—toward an America we do not want to be. If we don’t stop this budget insanity now, services ordinary Americans count on could cease for months or fail to function at all in this fiscal year.

Think about what America will be like with no occupational safety and health inspections or investigations of workplace fatalities and disasters. No National Labor Relations Board elections to enable working men and women to have a stronger voice on the job, collectively bargain, or choose whether to form a union. No certainty about when the Social Security checks will arrive.

This isn’t about deficit control. It’s about legislating working America out of the way of limitless corporate profits.

Stop this budget insanity. Sign the petition. Tell representatives: Get to work creating jobs and reviving our economy and stop wasting time on outrages like this.

Then, forward this message to your friends and urge them to sign, too. http://act.aflcio.org/salsa/track.jsp?v=2&c=Bw132snZIJsEpBwz1ZhVLumJZ0bcS%2BhP

The budget madness isn’t limited to the federal level. In state after state, Republican legislators and governors whose election campaigns raked in the corporate contributions are ignoring the job crisis and playing politics-as-usual with the lives of working families. They’d rather take modest pensions and collective bargaining rights away from public employees than win them for working families struggling without. Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin is so determined to make people with decent middle-class jobs suffer and end collective bargaining for public employees that he’s told the National Guard to be ready in case working people strike or rise up.

Wow.

And if that’s not extreme enough, a Missouri state senator, Jane Cunningham (R), proposes ending the ban on employing children younger than 14 and limiting the hours children may work.

Don’t let the budget insanity go any further. Let’s stop it now.

Sign the petition. Tell representatives: Get to work creating jobs and reviving our economy and stop wasting time on outrages like this.

Then, ask your friends to sign, too.

Thank you for taking action.

In solidarity,

Manny Herrmann

Online Mobilization Coordinator, AFL-CIO

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Tell Obama: Veto attacks on EPA funding

02/20/2011 Nativegrl77

Call the White House: President Obama must tell Congress he’ll veto attacks on the Clean Air Act Call now. Obama can stop attempts to block EPA funding. Take action!

Call the White House at (202) 456-1111.

Sample script: ” Hi, my name is… and I am calling to ask President Obama to uphold his commitment and tell Congress he will veto any legislation that strips the Clean Air Act of its authority to limit climate pollution. ”

Congress will likely pass a Republican spending bill that puts the Clean Air Act on the chopping block.

Their proposed continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the fiscal year includes massive cuts to the EPA, and blocks the Clean Air Act’s authority to set limits on carbon pollution.

Top administration officials have said, as recently as two weeks ago, that Obama would veto any bill that takes away the Clean Air Act’s climate authority. 1 But Congress needs to hear it directly from the President.

Can you call the White House and ask President Obama to tell Congress he’ll veto any spending bill that undermines the Clean Air Act?

Here’s the number to call and a sample script:

Number: (202) 456-1111 (Lines close at 5 pm EST)

Script: “Hi, my name is… and I am calling to ask President Obama to uphold his commitment and tell Congress he will veto any legislation that strips the Clean Air Act of its authority to limit climate pollution.

On Tuesday, the Obama Administration issued a statement that the President would veto the spending bill if it undermines “critical priorities” or “national security” 2 — but didn’t indicate if the Clean Air Act’s climate authority was included as a deal breaker.

The President needs to explicitly affirm this commitment ASAP.

To avoid government shutdown, the final bill must be passed by March 3rd. And as the House debates this bill, Senate Democrats are already working on their version.

While a much different bill will likely emerge from the Senate, the inclusion of provisions to defund the Clean Air Act is a possibility. Conservative and coal-state Democrats like Jay Rockefeller are actively working to delay the EPA’s climate authority, and more progressive Senators facing re-election, like Sherrod Brown and Debbie Stabenow, are still on the fence.

If Obama doesn’t draw a line in the sand, Senate Democrats could cave. But if the President makes his support explicit, he’ll encourage Senate Democrats to stand up for the Clean Air Act, and can veto the law if they fail to do so.

Please call the White House and urge the president to make explicit his commitment to veto attacks on the Clean Air Act.

Thanks for working to protect clean air.

Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager

CREDO Action from Working Assets

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

On the Budget: A Tale of Two Visions

02/20/2011 Nativegrl77

Special Report on the Budget

A Tale of Two Visions

This week we saw two radically different visions for America‘s national priorities. President Obama’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012 generally protects key programs for women and girls, although it makes some painful cuts. The House Republican plan for funding — and de-funding — the federal government for the remainder of 2011 would, by contrast, irresponsibly slash funding for a wide range of programs vital to the well-being of women and their families, with consequences that I can only describe as devastating. Read NWLC’s program-by-program analysis of the competing plans >>

Joan Entmacher

Vice President, Family Economic Security

National Women’s Law Center

Issue by Issue

Explore each of the issues below to learn how they would be affected:

Health & Reproductive Rights — Read More>>

Early Childhood Care and Development — Read More>>

Education — Read More>>

Employment and Training — Read More>>

Assistance to Unemployed Workers — Read More>>

Civil Rights and Worker Protections — Read More>>

Tax Benefits for Working Families — Read More>>

Safety Net Programs — Read More>>

Violence Against Women — Read More>>

Social Security and Retirement — Read More>>

Tax Reforms — Read More>>

Additional Fact Sheets and Resources

House Republican Spending Cuts Devastating to Women, Families and the Economy >>

Gingrey H.R. 1 Amendment Will Make It Harder for Low-Income Women to Obtain Access to Contraceptives >>

Fleming H.R. 1 Amendment Will Jeopardize Patient Access to Health Care Services and Information >>

Oppose the Pence H.R. 1 Amendment that Will Jeopardize Women’s Access to Basic Health Care >>

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Wisconsin

02/18/2011 Nativegrl77

For the last three days, tens of thousands of nurses, teachers, workers, students, and citizens have protested in front of the Wisconsin Capitol in Madison.

Governor Scott Walker is trying to cut benefits for state workers and take away their collective bargaining rights – and he threatened to call out the National Guard if they protest, a threat that’s still on the table.

Just hours ago, Democratic State Senators boldly refused to show up for a vote — delaying the vote!

We must stand in solidarity with these Wisconsin citizens who are fighting back against the Governor. Can you sign our open letter? (Already, dozens of local and national leaders have joined us.)

Click tell the Wisconsin State Legislature to oppose Walker’s budget and say no to his threat to use the National Guard against state workers!

Thousands have camped out in the capitol building overnight, a scene Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan had to admit was “like Cairo has moved to Madison.”

So far, dozens of local Wisconsin leaders like Patrick Landgraf, President AFL-CIO Local 18 have signed on, and they’re joined by the PCCC, VoteVets, CREDO Action, and Daily Kos, as well as thousands of people from Wisconsin and across the country.

We’ll alert the media to the progress of this letter, as more and more people stand in solidarity against Gov. Walker’s cuts and threats. So please pass this email to others.

Click here to sign the open letter in solidarity.

Thanks for being a bold progressive,

Stephanie Taylor, Jason Rosenbaum, Adam Green, and the PCCC team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

RE: Support for the Reporting of Multiple Sales of Long Guns

02/18/2011 Nativegrl77

Thank you for your comment regarding the 60-day emergency notice of information collection relating to ATF Form 3310.12 (Report of Multiple Sale or Other Disposition of Certain Rifles), published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2010. The Federal Register and supplement form may be found at: http://www.atf.gov/regulations-rulings/rulemakings/general-notices.html

The primary purpose of this program is to improve law enforcement’s ability to identify firearms traffickers, to disrupt the criminal activity and to stop deadly violence plaguing the southwest border States and Mexico. The multiple sales reports will apply only to rifles that are semi-automatic, greater than .22 caliber, and have the ability to accept a detachable magazine. Federal firearms licensees in the States of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas will complete the forms for those transactions when an individual purchases two or more of these rifles within five business days. We intend to evaluate the results at the end of a 1 year pilot period.

As mentioned in the notice, if granted by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the emergency approval of the form is valid for 180 days. All comments received in response to the notice will be carefully considered and, if warranted, revisions to the form will be made.

www.usdoj.gov