Tag Archives: white people

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Messing with the wrong people

09/26/2010 Nativegrl77

Watch the Video then Send To A Friend ***

Bob Woodward’s new book, “Obama’s War,” comes out tomorrow, and leaked excerpts show just how hard some military leaders are fighting to stop a withdrawal from Afghanistan. Late last year, as President Obama struggled to pin the military down into an airtight exit strategy, General Petraeus said:

“[The administration] is ****ing with the wrong guy.”

It’s clear Petraeus and his subordinates want to ignore the July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing troops. A colonel briefing reporters at the Pentagon this week even told them that, “No one said that we were withdrawing in July 2011.”

Military officials need to understand that it’s not up to them when we leave Afghanistan. Ultimately, that’s up to us, the American people, and we’re sick and tired of this war that’s not making us safer and that’s not worth the cost. General Petraeus is the one messing with the wrong people–the 57 percent of Americans who oppose the war.

The publicity around Woodward’s book gives us a new opportunity to get people’s attention about how the military is undermining the Commander-in-Chief and working to extend the war. Our new video exposes their effort, but we need your help to get it in front of people.

Send our latest video to as many people as you can, and share it on your Facebook wall. With your help, we can keep the warmongers on the defensive and end this war.

Sincerely,

Derrick Crowe, Robert Greenwald
and the Brave New Foundation team

Donate today to help bring an end to this atrocious war that’s not making us any safer.

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Tell Secretary Sebelius that Vulnerable Women Deserve Abortion Coverage

09/26/2010 Nativegrl77

National Women's Law Center

Stand Up Against Blanket Abortion Coverage Prohibition

Tell Secretary Sebelius not to undermine women’s reproductive health in the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans.

Remember how angry women got when we were told we couldn’t use our own private dollars to obtain coverage of abortion care? Well it’s back. The Administration decided — without justification in law or policy — to ban abortion coverage in the newly created Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans.

It is still bad policy and your voice is needed.

Tell Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius how this harmful restriction undermines women’s access to reproductive health care now. Submit your comments today.

If adopted, this ban would prevent women with serious pre-existing medical conditions — like cancer or diabetes — from getting the abortion coverage they need to protect their health. And it will not even allow women the ability to pay for such coverage with their own private premium dollars.

Comments are due this Tuesday, September 28, so take action and tell Secretary Sebelius to stand up for the health of these vulnerable women and to reject this dangerous policy once and for all.

The National Women’s Law Center will not rest until the restrictions on abortion coverage are fixed. Thank you for continuing to fight with us to protect women’s health.

Sincerely,Judy Waxman
Vice President for Health and Reproductive Rights
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Help us continue to protect women’s reproductive rights and expand the opportunities for women and their families. Support our work today.

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Al Franken speaks …listen

09/25/2010 Nativegrl77

Sen. Al Franken just sent us a video and asked us to pass it on to you. He wanted to thank PCCC members for (successfully!) creating momentum around Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy to lead the creation of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Sen. Franken also invites folks to tell Elizabeth Warren what consumer issues her bureau should focus on first. Check out the video and give Warren your feedback here!

We’ll deliver your priorities for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when we bring Elizabeth Warren all of your wonderful congratulations!

— Julia Rosen, Stephanie Taylor, Forrest Brown, Michael Snook, and the PCCC team

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Here is your AFSCME Federal Legislative Report

09/25/2010 Nativegrl77

Welcome to the AFSCME Federal Legislative Report which is produced by the Legislation Department weekly when Congress is in session. We hope you find this report as valuable as we do in keeping up to date on significant action by the U.S. Congress affecting AFSCME members. We know when we work together as a team we accomplish more for AFSCME members across the country.

Gerald W. McEntee, President
Lee A. Saunders, Secretary-Treasurer

AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010

To view on the AFSCME website, click here

In this issue:

Republican House Members Release “Pledge” to Return to Failed Policies
Senate Takes Up Campaign Finance Legislation – Again
Democrats Vote to Protect Labor Elections Rules
Republicans Block Repeal to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
Congress Fails to Approve Multiyear FAA Bill

Republican House Members Release “Pledge” to Return to Failed Policies

On Thursday, House Republicans unveiled their pre-election campaign document, “A Pledge to America,” which is modeled after Newt Gingrich‘s 1994’s Contract with America. For the most part, it is set of warmed over, failed ideas aimed at voters for the midterm elections in November.

The document’s jobs and economy section calls for more tax cuts for millionaires and businesses by retaining all of the Bush tax cuts, rejecting President Obama’s plan to eliminate tax cuts for those earning above $250,000 to capture $830 billion in revenues. It calls for slashing spending by cutting the federal budget back to 2008 spending levels, which would mean a 21 percent reduction in yearly-appropriated programs including more than $8 billion in cuts in K-12 education and significant reductions for Head Start, child care, public safety, unemployment insurance and Employment Services, transportation, and other vital public services that AFSCME members provide. House Republicans also support canceling unspent Recovery Act funds, including the increased federal Medicaid match (FMAP) that now is available to states through June 30, 2011 and cannot be drawn down by states any faster than quarterly.

Not surprisingly, the document calls for a repeal of health care reform, putting insurance companies back in control. This would result in ending safeguards against skyrocketing premium increases, increasing the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, abandoning initiatives to improve health care, and ensuring that the ranks of the uninsured continue to grow. Instead, the House Republicans offer a litany of retread, failed ideas including expanding health savings accounts, allowing individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines, and medical malpractice reform.

The “Pledge” takes a swipe at the Employee Free Choice Act, stating: “We will fight for the rights of workers and oppose ‘card check’ schemes that put union bosses before individuals’ right to a secret ballot.” It requires that all federal legislation cite the constitutional authority upon which the bill is justified (another jab at health reform), makes it easier to strip spending out of appropriations bills, and proposes increased spending for national security, including fully funding missile defense.

The plan has been roundly criticized by the White House and congressional Democrats as “nothing more than a repackaging of the same failed special interest policies that caused this recession: cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires; cut rules for big corporations and special interests and leave the middle class to fend for itself” and “giv[ing] insurance companies control over Americans’ health care.

Rather than charting a new course, it is a continuation of the failed Bush economic policies. Interestingly, the plan says little about Social Security and Medicare, including Republicans’ privatization schemes, probably in recognition that this is a political third rail.
(Fran Bernstein- fbernstein@afscme.org)

Senate Takes Up Campaign Finance Legislation – Again

Thursday, Senate Democrats took another shot at moving their flawed version of the DISCLOSE Act (S. 3628) campaign finance legislation aimed at addressing the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision in the Citizen’s United case. Fortunately, the bill failed to garner the 60 votes needed to begin debate. The vote was 59 to 39, with all Republicans opposing the bill and all Democrats supporting it.

While AFSCME supports reasonable requirements for disclosures and disclaimers of the Union’s political and advocacy activities, we were forced to oppose the Senate bill due to extraordinarily burdensome requirements it would impose on AFSCME affiliates.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate bill creates substantial burdens for AFSCME affiliates for the mere act of transferring membership dues to AFSCME. While the bill does not require local unions and state affiliates to make reports to the Federal Election Commission, the bill does require AFSCME to report on revenues received by affiliates and to do so within a 24-hour deadline. In order for AFSCME to make these reports, it would be necessary for affiliates to provide information on its revenue sources during the previous year and to do so quickly enough for AFSCME to meet the 24-hour deadline. The bill includes civil and criminal penalties for violating the reporting requirements

The House previously approved its version of the DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 5175). It does not create burdensome requirements for AFSCME affiliates.
(Barbara Coufal- bcoufal@afscme.org)

Democrats Vote to Protect Labor Election Rules

Senate Democrats defeated a resolution of disapproval that proposed rejecting the National Mediation Board’s (NMB) amended election rules for airline and rail union elections. The resolution would have overturned revised union election procedures recently issued by the NMB under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The new rule makes clear that representation elections under the RLA will be decided based on whether a majority of the votes cast are for or against the union. Under the previous NMB rule, all workers who did not cast a ballot were counted as voting against the union. The changes, which went into effect on July 1, advanced a simple democratic proposition: the majority opinion of workers who participate should decide the election.

The challenge to the National Mediation Board’s updated union election procedures was led by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) in an attempt to undo reforms that are giving tens of thousands of airline and rail workers the hope of a union fighting for them for improved wages and retirement security. Earlier in the day, President Obama issued a statement that he would veto the resolution if it passed.
(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)

Republicans Block Repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

This week, Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the U.S. military. By a vote of 56-43 Democrats lost an attempt to have a vote on the Defense Authorization Act, which contains language repealing DADT. The Democrats fell below the 60 votes needed to proceed. The Arkansas Democrats, Sens. Blanche L. Lincoln and Mark Pryor, sided with all 40 Republicans present in opposing debate.
(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)

Congress Fails to Approve Multiyear FAA Bill

On September 23, the House and Senate both passed clean extensions for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through the end of the calendar year. This action sends a clear signal that approving a multiyear reauthorization of the FAA bill will not happen before Congress adjourns in October.
(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)

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We must act fast!

09/24/2010 Nativegrl77

CARE Action Network

On September 20, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Water for the World Act, which would enable the United States, to help provide 100 million people around the world access to sustainable – and lifesaving – water and sanitation services.

Now, this landmark bill is in the House of Representatives, but time is running out to pass it. Right now, the House is rushing to complete their work before recessing in October.

Simply put: your help is needed to bring the bill to a vote.

Access to safe water and sanitation lies at the root of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. If we do not achieve the goal of halving the number of people living without access to safe water and sanitation, we will not achieve many of the other targets, such as establishing universal primary education, eradicating hunger or reducing child mortality.

For women and girls in less developed countries, water and sanitation are critical issues. All across the world, women and girls walk miles carrying back-breaking loads of water for their families. School girls are often doubly-affected. They miss school in order to gather water. And girls are less likely to attend school when the school is lacking clean water and proper sanitation and hygiene facilities. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A study carried out by CARE and Emory University in western Kenya found that access to these vital resources reduced school absenteeism in girls by 37 percent.

For new mothers, access to safe water is critical as well. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, diarrheal disease caused by lack of access to safe water and proper sanitation is the leading killer of children under 5 years old. But we know when women can access safe water and sanitation facilities, they have healthier families and more time to devote to education and business endeavors. In essence, women become more productive members of society, helping lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty for good.

We must act fast to ensure that the Water for the World Act is voted on in the House before the fall recess.

The time for the United States to make real progress on this critical health issue is now! Please let your representatives hear that you expect them to take action to save the lives – and protect the dignity – of millions of the world’s poorest people.

Thank you!