Tag Archives: Voting

Zach Silk, Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility


What happens t‌omorrow afternoon could determine who has more power in our state — 80% of Washington‘s citizens, or a tiny group composed of the national NRA leadership and the local gun lobby.

Last week, after the secretary of state released the language that we will use on our petitions to ensure that Washington gets to vote on requiring anyone buying a gun to pass a simple background check, that tiny group of ideologues filed a lawsuit to change it.

So we have to go to court t‌omorrow afternoon — and the judge’s decision on how we word the ballot title could be the difference between passing a measure that 80% of us support, or letting the NRA leadership and the gun lobby have their way.

Help us win the first battle of this campaign by contributing $3 to fight for fair petition language!

I know, it doesn’t seem like much, but the wording of a petition will matter A LOT when voters decide if they want to help us get on the ballot.

With fair wording, it’s going to be up to the voters to make their own decision — and we have a great change to make our state a lot safer.

With unfair wording, the NRA leadership and the gun lobby can scare a lot of voters who support criminal background checks away — and who knows what could happen.

We can’t afford to take that chance. Contribute $3 today to help us fight for a fair chance!

That’s all we ask for — a fair chance to let the voters decide.

And it all starts t‌omorrow.

Thanks again,

Zach Silk

President Obama Speaks on the Affordable Care Act


 

 

President Obama delivers statement on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on the health, lives and pocketbooks of women and their families. May 10, 2013.

Farm Bill debate begins–yo​ur voice is needed:


The Pulse: Facts you need from experts you trust

Visit our interactive farm

Our government is currently paying farmers to grow virtually the opposite of what it recommends that Americans eat—including billions to subsidize items such as corn syrup that go into processed food. Not only do these policies undermine our health, they damage our air, soil, and water. Thankfully, there’s a better way. Check out our new analysis, The Healthy Farm: A Vision for U.S. Agriculture, that identifies four ways that modern, science-based practices can produce abundant, affordable, healthy food and protect our environment. Be sure to visit our interactive healthy farm and take action as debate on the Farm Bill heats up. —Karla

Science in Action
Farmers Market Debate on Farm Bill begins—we need your help
We have an opportunity right now to reorient government policies to provide greater support for healthy food and farms. A proposal has been introduced to strengthen support in the Farm Bill for programs that meet our food needs, provide economic opportunities, and minimize harmful environmental costs. Tell Congress: the Farm Bill should support healthy farms and food—not processed food and industrial agriculture!
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Cartoon: Farm Bill
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 VOTE for UCS! Support our submission in the Looking @ Democracy video contest. INFOGRAPHIC: Are U.S. farms growing the food we should eat? Find out! Organic dairy—it’s good for your bones and great for the local economy. Learn more. Just rotate the crops? How one scientific study is upending the claims made by chemical companies!
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Karen Perry StillermanKaren Perry Stillerman
Senior Analyst,
Food and
Environment ProgramFollow
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Our country has one of the highest costs for medical care, and has increasing amounts of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other diseases. To what extent can changes in our food system help make Americans healthier and what is UCS doing about these problems? —Janet Cruz, Kamiah, ID It’s true that healthcare spending in the United States currently accounts for 18 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is expected to rise sharply as the population ages. And rates of diet-related chronic diseases are soaring. Most of us know we should eat a healthier diet—with more fruits and vegetables, and less meat, sugar, and processed foods—but we’re being undermined by a food system that sets us up to fail. MOREDo you have a question for UCS scientists? Submit your question today.
This Just In
Visit our interactive farm Take a trip to a modern, sustainable farm
Healthy farms can meet our need for affordable, healthy food while providing real environmental and economic benefits. Our interactive graphic takes you on a tour of the top practices and benefits associated with modern, sustainable farming. Start your journey now!
Got Science
ALEC’s at it again: this time pushing state legislation that threatens our food’s safety by shielding factory farms from whistleblowers. Here’s what you need to know…
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Buzz from the UCS Blog: The Equation
  Laura Wisland: Solar Power Blooms Across the Country  Michael Halpern: Duped Again on Emergency Contraception  Todd Sanford: Wildfire Season Has Arrived in the West  Kevin Knobloch: A Welcome Voice of Corporate Leadership
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What going on offense looks like



Watch Robert Reich explain why raising the minimum wage is one of the smartest things we can do for our economy:Click to see Robert Reich show why raising the minimum wage is a no-brainer.

Watch the video

Dear MoveOn member,

It was a big week—both good and bad—in the fight for a fair economy.

Here’s the bad stuff: President Obama again put devastating cuts to Social Security benefits on the negotiating table. Attorney General Eric Holder admitted that banks may be “too big to prosecute.” And Paul Ryan released his latest outlandish budget plan—full of giant tax breaks for corporations, a plan to voucherize Medicare, and attempts to slash millions from Medicaid.
But here’s the inspiring part. Nearly 8 million MoveOn members are doing really terrific work, together with our allies, to hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable and put an end to austerity economics.
Just in the past few days:
  • 250,000 MoveOn members joined with Reps. Grayson, Conyers, Ellison, and Grijalva and our friends at Social Security Works and The Other 98% to call for a one-sentence bill that would put an end to the sequester—and Rep. Grayson delivered the petition signatures directly to Speaker Boehner‘s office yesterday, with media watching closely.1
  • While Elizabeth Warren took bank regulators to the mat in Congress, 130,000 MoveOn members stood together with our allies at Campaign for a Fair Settlement to demand an end to “too big to jail” on Wall Street, and called for the Department of Justice to hold the banks that crashed the economy accountable.
And of course, day in and day out, MoveOn members are organizing in states around the country to push Republican governors to accept federal funding for Medicaid, challenge draconian local and state budget cuts, and stand up locally against the sequester.
So the fight for a fair economy has a lot of fronts. Right now, one simple thing you can do is to check out Robert Reich’s video and pass it along—to equip others with the information about how we can make our economy work better for working people, not just big banks and Republican lobbyists.
Please watch this video and share it with with friends and family and everyone you know.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Manny, Jessica, David, and the rest of the team

Source:

1. “Sequestration 2013: Lawmakers, activists call for end of sequestration,” WJLA, March 14, 2013.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288104&id=64304-17809870-nrLSqyx&t=7