Think Fast …thinkprogress.org

As gas prices continue to climb, President Obama announced yesterday that he has ordered the Justice Department to look into manipulation of oil prices through speculation. A new DoJ team will “root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices,” Obama said at a town hall in Reno, NV.

“Oil giant BP spent $2 million on federal lobbying efforts during the first three months of this year,” a 25 percent increase over the same period just a year ago. Transocean, which owned the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig, spent $110,000 this year.

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), the subject of an ongoing ethics investigation, announced his resignation yesterday, effective May 3. Leaders of the Senate Ethics Committee released a statement hinting that their probe had found evidence of wrongdoing, and Ensign acknowledged that his resignation came in part to avoid formal charges.

Hawkish Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has become the highest-ranking American politician to visit with rebels in Libya, calling them “my heroes.” Meanwhile, President Obama authorized armed drone operations in the country as rebels recaptured a key border crossing into Tunisia.

Democrats are suing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to “force the disclosure of tens of millions of dollars in secret donations.” The move is seen as a direct response to heavy secret campaign spending during the last election season by private companies and nonprofits.

By a veto-proof vote of 16 to 8, the New Hampshire State Senate voted to become the 23rd right-to-work state in the nation. “The governor does not believe the state should be passing laws dictating the terms of contracts between private employers and workers,” said a spokesman for Gov. John Lynch (D), who has vowed to veto the measure.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) backed away from Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare-ending budget plan yesterday, instead embracing a plan more like that of former CBO director Alice Rivlin, which allows seniors to remain on Medicare or find a private plan. Gingrich said seniors should be able to choose “a more personal plan.”

Former GOP Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee accused conservative talk show host Glenn Beck yesterday of likening him to a “Nazi” after Beck accused Huckabee of being “progressive” for supporting First Lady Obama’s anti-obesity campaign. Huckabee said Beck was just “creat[ing] yet another ‘boogeyman’ hiding in the closet that he and only he can see.”

And finally: Meghan McCain, a columnist for the Daily Beast and the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), conducted a bizarre interview with real estate mogul Donald Trump yesterday, which included, among other embarrassing questions, a plea for Trump to hire McCain should he officially announce a presidential campaign

Earth Day Dawning

Earth Day has dawned in the east! That means now is the time to spread our message, take action and engage the world in a dialogue on the state of our environment.

We need your help to get the Earth Day message out. Do you use Facebook? Great! Join us online to and help us show your friends and family that Earth Day is a day for environmental action.

Please share your support for Earth Day: join A Billion Acts of Green on Facebook and earn a green badge for your wall

Your actions matter, especially to your friends. Will you stand up and be an example of sustainability in practice?

Join us on Facebook, stand behind our call for all people to play an active role in protecting our environment

We hope to see you on Facebook!

The Team,

Earth Day Network

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About Earth Day 2011

Earth Day 2011 is themed after the Billion Acts of Green Campaign. To date, we have collected over 100 million Acts of Green and Earth Day events in 152 countries.

How You Can Get Involved

There are hundreds of ways for you to get involved in Earth Day this year. Visit our Earth Day 2011 page for a full breakdown of programming. Want to get started right now? We recommend that you organize an Earth Day Event in your community or attend an event near you, and pledge an Act of Green. You can event check out an environmentally themed movie, like Mia and the Migoo.

Earth Day 2011 Highlights

• Large Earth Day events in 17 of the largest U.S. cities, including St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, and New York anticipate thousands of people often over multiple days. Volunteer service is sweeping the across the world, with cities such as Columbus, OH expecting over 4,000 people to plant community gardens, clean up riverbanks and remove invasive vegetation from parks.

• Over 150 cities and towns in India are holding Earth Day events, with an enthusiasm rivaling the very first Earth Day in 1970. Earth Day India 2011 partners include the million-member trade union Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and the Center for Environment Education’s Paryavaran Mitra Project. SEWA, founded in 1972 by noted Gandhian and civil rights leader Dr. Ela Bhatt, is coordinating Earth Day events in 10 districts of western India, while the Center is creating “Environment Friends” (Paryavaran Mitras) in 100 schools nationwide. The Center is also working with one of India’s largest public sector companies, the Steel Authority of India.

• Local and state leaders worldwide, realizing the need to foster local green economies, are holding Earth Day Network’s Global Day of Conversation meetings with their constituents. In the U.S., 240 cities are participating while 22 events are confirmed internationally, in China, Macau, Iraq, Mexico, UK, Albania, Italy, Uganda and South Africa. They include Denver Mayor Guillermo (Bill) V. Vidal recognizing 11 restaurants and auto shops for working for 15 months with Denver’s Department of Environmental Health to make Earth-friendly changes in their businesses. In California, Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) will give away free bus passes to selected customers who ride on Earth Day, April 22, or anytime next week.

• The U.S. State Department adopted A Billion Acts of Green® as its own Earth Day theme, calling on 256 U.S. Embassies and Consulates in 177 countries to log the most Acts of Green. The U.S. Ambassador to Finland, for example, will conduct country-wide “Skype” call with students across his country encouraging them to take individual action to reduce their carbon footprint, highlighting the Embassy’s green initiatives and soliciting feedback.

• In the U.S., over 160 universities have joined Earth Day University, registering 250 events. Their events include Husson University in Bangor, Maine donating produce from its organic garden to Shaw House, a local homeless shelter. Other schools such as Duke University are devoting the entire month of April to Earth Day.

• Earth Day Network’s Canopy Project continues to make huge inroads against deforestation, as official partners such as Trees for the Future, Roots & Shoots in China, the Iraq Ministry of Agriculture and the African Rainforest Conservancy are planting over 45 million trees across Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

• Young Iraqi land mine survivors Hocar Hamdamin Hassan and his 11-year-old brother are greening their Nesetman Primary School by planting trees. Hocar said he wants to show the world that everybody should help save the planet, no matter the obstacles.

www.Earthday.org

LGBT Equality: The Offensive Defense

This week, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) released the details of the House’s intervention in defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), responding to President Obama’s announcement in January that the Department of Justice would no longer defend the law’s constitutionality in court. DOMA’s Section 3 defines marriage for the federal government as only being between a man and a woman, prohibiting legally married same-sex couples in states like Massachusetts and Iowa from accessing the 1,138 federal benefits of marriage (such as joint tax returns, Social Security spousal benefits, and exemption from the Estate Tax). Binational same-sex couples are also deprived of the opportunity to sponsor the foreign-born partner for a Green Card. This past July, a Federal District Court in Boston ruled the law unconstitutional based on the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. It reads: “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” House Republicans will essentially have to argue that gays, lesbians, and bisexuals do not deserve due process; they are willing to spend a lot of taxpayer money to do it and the end result might actually end up being the exact opposite of what they hope to accomplish.

CONSERVATIVE MOTIVES: Last week’s “defending marriage” hearing provided an introduction for what kind of defense the Republicans will mount. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) has said he would support impeaching Obama and defunding the DOJ over the DOMA decision and he used last week’s hearing to reiterate his rebuke of the President. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) joined Franks in reiterating the lie that children are only best served by having opposite-sex parents, echoed by the testimony of two prominent anti-gay figures, Maggie Gallagher and Ed Whelan. Though the law cannot be defended without reinforcing animus against same-sex couples’ relationships, almost every GOP potential presidential candidate has offered their own support for defending DOMA, including Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, and Mitt Romney. Boehner responded to a letter from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that he even thinks funding should be reclaimed from the DOJ to support the House’s defense of the bill, writing, “Obviously, DOJ’s decision results in DOJ no longer needing the funds it would have otherwise expended defending the constitutionality of DOMA. It is my intent that those funds be diverted to the House for reimbursement of any costs incurred by and associated with the House, and not DOJ, defending DOMA.” And how much will it cost? The legal contract suggests a cap of $500,000, but a realistic assessment of DOMA’s defense suggests the half million is more likely a minimum than a maximum.

THE SECRET CONTRACT: Without including Democrats in the negotiations, the House’s Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) arranged a contract with former Solicitor General Paul Clement, who now earns $5 million a year at the law firm of King & Spaulding. The contract calls for a “blended rate” of $520/hour (as opposed to Clement’s usual $900+/hr rates), but even at that rate, $500,000 will not go far considering there are 12 different cases pending against DOMA. Good thing the spending cap can be raised “by written agreement.” In addition to the unrealistic cost estimates, the contract contains other concerns. Noticeably absent from the contract’s nondiscrimination statement are protections for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” despite the fact K&S boasts of their support for LGBT employees on their website. Even more conspicuous is a gag rule for all K&S employees regarding advocacy for or against DOMA. According to the contract, “Partners and employees who do not perform services pursuant to this Agreement will not engage in lobbying or advocacy for or against any legislation … that would alter or amend in any way the Defense of Marriage Act and is pending before either the U.S. House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate or any committee of either body during the term of the Agreement.” Pelosi is still waiting for answers to her many questions about how the contract was negotiated so that Democrats can provide proper oversight.

TIMES HAVE CHANGED: Since President Bill Clinton enacted DOMA in 1996, the political landscape and public opinion have shifted in support of marriage equality. Multiple recent polls have shown that a majority of Americans now support full marriage equality for same-sex couples. Five states and the District of Columbia now offer same-sex marriages, with several more offering same-sex civil unions and domestic partnerships. Plenty of Republicans like Dick Cheney and Meghan McCain have voiced their support of marriage equality. In February, a Maryland senator flipped to supporting same-sex marriage after hearing the “troubling” testimony “demonizing” gay families. A Colorado senator who recently voted against civil unions is now reconsidering his position. No defection has been more remarkable than that of Louis Marinelli, who organized the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) 2010 “Summer for Marriage Tour” and managed much of their online outreach. Now an open supporter of marriage equality, Marinelli is speaking out against NOM, and even though NOM is distancing themselves, they are also apparently taking legal action against him. While there is much to condemn Republican House leaders for about their defense of DOMA, their efforts could well have the opposite effect. By inviting the spotlight upon their animus, they will raise visibility for the continued plight of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans and likely promote the very trend of supporting marriage equality they oppose.

-Dorthy Height

 Dorothy Height: a civil rights heroine, educator and social activist is taking place; she was a woman who had her finger print on all things American and as the President said deserves a place in our history.

CBO -The Effects of Automatic Stabilizer​s on the Federal Budget

The Effects of Automatic Stabilizers on the Federal Budget

This report focuses on the automatic responses of revenues and outlays to developments in the economy—the automatic stabilizers—that reflect cyclical movements in real (inflation-adjusted) output and unemployment. CBO estimates that automatic stabilizers are adding significantly to the budget deficit now but that their contribution will steadily fade over the next few years.

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=12129

In the history of Wisconsin there have been only 4 recall elections ever

Today, we made history in Wisconsin.

WI Democrats — supported by over 2,600 DFA volunteers on the ground — submitted over 150% of the signatures needed to demand the recall election of the 5th Republican State Senator: Alberta Darling.

 This is unprecedented. In the history of Wisconsin there have been only 4 recall elections ever. Now, in just the last two months, we’ve legally required 5.

Republicans from Madison to Washington D.C. are watching every single step of this fight and we’re not going to let up until we win. With signature gathering continuing for the 3 Republicans left who are eligible for recall, it’s vital we keep covering TV with our hard-hitting real people ad. If we hit $600,000 by Friday night, we’ll be able to stay on the air in target districts through the end of next week. Please contribute now to make it happen.

http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/684?akid=716.1480546.CN66s7&t=3

Our TV ad, which we created with our friends at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features life-long Republican voter Mike Crump.

 ”As a Republican my entire life I’m appalled at what Scott Walker and the Republicans did. This hurts my family. It’s about my kids in school.”

 Mike is one of the many reasons MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Cenk Uygur have all praised our Wisconsin ads. It’s also why local activists in Wisconsin have asked us to keep it on TV.

 Please watch the ad and contribute now.

Thanks to the support we’ve had so far from DFA members nationwide, we’re closer than ever to flipping the WI Senate and stopping Governor Walker’s anti-families agenda.

 Working together with our members on the ground, we won’t stop until we win. Thank you for everything you do.

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair