Indiana’s attorney general on Tuesday appealed a judge’s ruling that blocked key aspects of a new state law that cut some public funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization provides abortions.
Daily Archives: 06/29/2011
Remember Election Night 2010? a word from AL Franken
Remember Election Night 2010?
Remember watching Democrats you admired—progressive champions—giving concession speeches? Remember shaking your head as radical right-wingers were declared winners? Remember the first moment you realized that John Boehner was going to become Speaker of the House?
Not fun memories. But here’s the thing: In a lot of states, the cake was baked a long time before the polls closed—not in 2010, but in 2009.
Every cycle, races are won and lost—months before anyone votes—because one side builds an early advantage that proves to be insurmountable.
And if the DSCC misses its June 30th goal of $113,000, a Democratic Senator who’s fought to support President Obama for years will lose…a dangerous Tea Party radical will become a U.S. Senator…an open seat Democrats could have won will go to the GOP—and it might just be the takeover that gives Republicans a Senate majority.
That’s what’s at stake on June 30th. And with Democrats defending 23 seats—compared with just 10 for the GOP—we can’t afford to let any fall off the map now. So please click here and help the DSCC reach its $113,000 goal by making a $5 contribution now! www.dscc.org
Look, I know you’ve been getting a ton of emails about this deadline. And I know it’s not easy to hear that, if we don’t act now, we’re going to lose races and maybe even the Senate.
But the GOP needs to take just four of 23 Democratic-held seats to take the majority. And if we miss our June 30th goal, it’ll be like handing them a couple of freebies right from the start.
That’s why a group of Democratic Senators has put together a match—so that any contribution you make by clicking on this link before the deadline counts for double.
But 90 percent of the contributions that fund the DSCC’s operations—from hard-hitting response ads to its national grassroots organizing plan—comes from individuals like you. And if individuals like you don’t step up to meet this deadline, there won’t be anything anyone can do later to make up for it.
Now do you see why we keep bugging you with all these emails? Plain and simple, your response today will determine how many races we can win next year. In fact, if the technology existed, I bet Future You—the one watching TV on Election Night 2012—would be forwarding these things to Present-Day You like crazy.
So do Future You a solid. Please give whatever you can to help the DSCC reach its $113,000 goal before June 30th. www.dscc.org
Thanks,
Make Boehner Cry … Robby Mook, DCCC
We all know it doesn’t take much to make Speaker Boehner get teary-eyed. But let’s give him something to really cry about.
Just 24 hours from now marks the first mid-year Federal Election Commission (FEC) deadline of the 2012 campaign.
This deadline is so huge that just last week Boehner announced he’s transferring $1 million of his own Big-Oil-tainted funds to our Republican counterparts to give the false impression that they are the ones with the momentum at this critical benchmark.
We can’t let this stand. www.dccc.org
We absolutely must exceed Boehner’s cash infusion with over $1 million in grassroots support of our own. But we need your help immediately.
Make John Boehner Cry: Contribute $3 or more before Midnight Tomorrow and House Democrats will triple-match your gift.
If we want to show we’re serious about taking the Speaker’s gavel away from John Boehner, we can’t wait until 2012.
We have 24 hours left to raise the $92,023 more we need to beat Boehner’s $1 million — Act now. www.dccc.org
Robby Mook
DCCC Executive Director
The Progress Report
Karl Rove’s $20 MILLION Distraction
Jun 28, 2011 | By Josh Dorner
Don’t Forget–The GOP United Behind Plan to End Medicare, Give More Tax Breaks to Big Oil, Billionaires
Late last Friday, Karl Rove’s attack group, Crossroads GPS, announced a $20 million attack ad campaign going after President Obama. Crossroads says the ads, initially showing on cable and in 10 states, are meant to “frame the national debate” on jobs and the economy. What they really want to do, of course, is re-frame the national debate away from the GOP’s disastrous and spectacularly unpopular plan to end Medicare in order to give more tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and Big Oil (three groups that just so happened to fund a related Rove attack group last year).
Here’s a reminder of what’s in the GOP plan and where the 2012 candidates stand on it. (Hint: they all support it.)
What’s Included in the GOP Plan:
the end of Medicare as we know it
a massive new tax cut for Big Oil and other huge corporations
a massive, hidden tax increase on the middle class
a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires
huge cuts to government programs and services that millions of Americans rely on each day, including student loans, food safety, and unemployment benefits
All the 2012 Candidates Support the GOP Plan:
Mitt Romney: Romney said he was “on the same page” as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), author of the GOP’s budget plan, before going all in on the plan to end Medicare and adding that he “appreciate[s] what Paul Ryan has done.”
Michele Bachmann: In February 2010, Bachmann said the GOP’s 2012 nominee would need to be forthright with the American public about the need to “wean everybody off” Medicare and Social Security. Bachmann voted for the GOP’s plan to end Medicare, even though she later admitted she was concerned about the $6,000+ in additional annual health care costs that the plan would shift to seniors.
Tim Pawlenty: Pawlenty refused for weeks to say whether or not he supported the details of the GOP plan, including the part that ends Medicare. The former Minnesota governor eventually said “of course” he would sign the plan to end Medicare if presented to him as president, noting separately that he also supports cuts to Social Security.
Jon Huntsman: Huntsman’s support for the plan to end Medicare is crystal clear. He told Good Morning America: “I would’ve voted for it. Including the Medicare provisions.”
Herman Cain: The former pizza mogul is a strong support of the plan to end Medicare, having said: “I absolutely support Paul Ryan’s plan. It is exactly the kind of bold restructuring that we need in order to get our hands around the entitlements issue.”
Ron Paul: He voted against the GOP budget plan in the House — but only because it does not go far enough. The Texas congressman believes Medicare and Social Security are both unconstitutional and even compared them to slavery.
Rick Santorum: He strongly supports the plan to end Medicare, but with one caveat: he wants the end of Medicare to come even sooner than in the GOP plan.
Newt Gingrich: Gingrich’s presidential campaign imploded after he admitted on Meet the Press that the GOP’s plan to end Medicare is “radical right-wing social engineering.” After taking intense fire for days from his fellow Republicans, Gingrich eventually apologized to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and said he would have voted for the plan after all.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed
The Ohio House today passed a potentially unconstitutional measure that would effectively outlaw abortions six or seven weeks into pregnancy. The so-called “heartbeat bill” is the most radically restrictive anti-abortion legislation in the nation.
The Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security held its first hearing today on the DREAM Act, with Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano among those testifying in support of the bill alongside DREAM activists and representatives from the Defense Department. The hearing was packed with students, many of whom were wearing trademark caps and gowns, supporting the bill that has been continually reintroduced since 2001. The bill came closest to passage last year during the lame duck session, but fell five votes short of overcoming a Senate filibuster.
Google estimates the cost of delaying clean energy innovation and smart energy policies for just five years could cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars.
A shocking new audit was leaked today by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General that found Boeing is overcharging the US Army by up to 177,000 percent on helicopter parts. All told, this has resulted in millions of dollars of overspending on the taxpayers dime.
After Michelle Bachmann’s latest gaffe, in which she falsely claimed John Quincy Adams was a founding father, people have tried to edit Adams’ Wikipedia page. Bachmann’s latest gaffe comes after her former chief of staff wrote an op-ed in the Des Moines Register, saying she does not have the “judgment, the demeanor, and the readiness to serve as president.”
Eighty-one corporations are lobbying Congress in an attempt to block a new requirement that companies disclose the ratio between their CEOs’ pay and the pay of their median worker.
The Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal notes, “if you look at the 10 states in the U.S. that rely the most on private prisons, they incarcerate a percentage of their population in privately-owned facilities roughly equivalent to what Europe does in all their facilities.”
After taking a $10 billion bailout, Goldman Sachs is sending 10,000 jobs to Singapore. As ThinkProgress’ Scott Keyes pointed out, “Goldman is firing American workers at a time of record profits for the company, which raked in $2.7 billion in profits in the first three months of 2011 alone.”
Yesterday was national Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day: Here are five ways PTSD hurts U.S. soldiers, and what you can do to help.
News You Can Use: Low Tax Rates For Rich People Don’t Create Jobs
Our Center for American Progress colleague Michael Linden took a look at the numbers and (surprise!) found that the GOP’s oft-repeated claim that low marginal tax rates fuel job creation is just not true. Check it out:
I am an outlaw
Just one week ago, I published an expose in the New York Times. It was my life story. I am an undocumented immigrant, an outlaw in my own country.
In the days since, I have been drowning in media requests, tearful letters, and powerful Facebook messages. I want to thank all of the individuals who have both challenged and supported me, and ask those who have not yet done so to join me.
I’ve left my job as a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and come out about my immigration status because it’s long past time to strike up a more civil, inclusive debate about immigration in America. It’s a risk, but I have a unique story to tell, and I was tired of staying silent.
Now, I’m launching the project “Define American.” http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs
We may not all agree on how to fix it, but one thing we can all agree on is that our immigration debate is out of control and our immigration system is badly broken. I believe not only that we can do better, but that we must.
Will you sign the pledge to stand with me, Jose Antonio Vargas, in calling for a new national conversation on immigration? http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs
Some would say my story is the tale of a hard-working immigrant who defines the American dream: achieving success against great odds, working hard, and even earning a Pulitzer Prize for my reporting. Still, despite everything I’ve achieved, the law still says I am not technically an American. I am undocumented.
I want to ask my fellow Americans: What would you do, if you found out at age 16 that you didn’t have the right papers? As a journalist, my job is to ask questions that spark conversation. Now I am asking you to join in that conversation.
Sign the pledge to “Define American,” share it with everyone you know, and then leave us a comment about what you would do if you found out you were undocumented. I will bring your comments and stories with me as I head to the next round of media interviews. http://www.change.org/petitions/stand-with-me-jose-antonio-vargas-for-a-new-conversation-about-immigration?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=priUkRVDLL_INmaVodArs
We all have a story to tell, so let’s talk. Let’s debate. Most importantly, let’s listen.
All the best,
- Jose
Mercury Poisons Water, Wildlife … Rodger Schlickeisen, Defenders of Wildlife
Mercury can have a devastating effect on wildlife. From endangered salmon to the bald eagles that eat them, mercury contamination can have widespread and dangerous impacts on our environment. That’s why Defenders of Wildlife is joining with our friends at CREDO Action to help keep this poison out of our air and water… and away from our wildlife.
Please read the message below and tell the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to stop mercury from poisoning our environment.
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It only takes a little mercury to cause a lot of brain damage and death.
But every year, coal-fired power plants alone pump nearly 50 tons of this potent neurotoxin into our air. Mercury exposure is so widespread in this country that as many as 1 in 6 women of childbearing age has mercury levels in her blood high enough to put a baby at risk of mercury poisoning,1
Incredibly, mercury from power plants has been totally unregulated by the Clean Air Act, until now. The EPA has announced a significant rule to reduce emissions of mercury, arsenic, lead, dioxins, acid gas, and six dozen other toxic chemicals that power plants are now able to freely dump into our air.
It’s the most important clean air rule since the Clean Air Act was updated in 1990 — and the EPA is under tremendous pressure by the coal industry and extremists in Congress to weaken it.
Tell the EPA: Stop unlimited toxic mercury pollution from power plants. Submit a public comment now.
For decades, Big Coal and electric utilities have successfully fought requirements to reduce their toxic air pollution.
They’ve kept releasing mercury into the air, where it finds its way into the vast majority of our lakes and waterways, into our fish, and then into our bodies, where the poison accumulates, causing deadly disease and impairing fundamental brain functions like the ability to walk, talk, read, write and learn.
Now we have a chance to change that. According to the EPA, reduced emissions from this new air toxics rule will save as many as 17,000 American lives every year by 2015, and will prevent up to 120,000 cases of childhood asthma.
Tell the EPA: Stop unlimited toxic mercury pollution from power plants. Submit a public comment now.
The health benefits of this rule will provide tremendous monetary benefits of between $60 billion to $140 billion annually, at a substantially lower cost of less than $11 billion for the polluters.2
With no sense of irony, polluters claim this is too expensive a cost for them to bear — as they reap billions of dollars in profit and heap substantially higher health costs onto the public. But the cost of the new regulations is a bargain, and the requirements are very reasonable: power plants have four years to install or upgrade to technology that already exists and is in use at many power plants nationwide.
As we have seen with the repeated attacks on the Clean Air Act’s ability to regulate climate pollution, industry efforts to weaken this air toxins rule will be fierce, and these powerful utilities have many friends in the Congress who are more than happy to do this dirty work.
We need to display a massive show of support to encourage the EPA to keep this landmark rule as strong as possible. Please add your voice now.
Tell the EPA: Stop unlimited toxic mercury pollution from power plants. Submit a public comment now.
Thank you for fighting for clean air.
Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets
1. “Protect our kids from toxic mercury,” CNN, March 17th, 2011
2. “EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Rule: Bottom Lines and Background,” NRDC, March 16th, 2011
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Thank you,
Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife
Corporate crackdown .. Rebecca Tarbotton, Rainforest Action Network
As corporations amass more and more power over our government and all of our lives, how do we stop them from trampling our rights and polluting the air and water we need to survive?
We must be unrelenting, we must be strategic and we must be more brave than we’ve ever imagined we could be. Now is the time for action.
Last month, four RAN activists chained themselves to Disney‘s headquarters to shine a light on its forest destruction. Just a week later, six more were arrested bringing attention to the struggle of 30,000 Ecuadoreans living with Chevron‘s oil disaster in the Amazon.
Why would these courageous men and women risk so much? Because sometimes it takes rappelling off a bridge and unfurling a 50-foot banner to get a corporation to put people’s health and the environment first.
RAN’s next big action is going to be absolutely awe-inspiring…Do you want to be in on it?
We need you there with us. We need your direct support now to start planning.
You can feed an activist a meal that will fuel them through the grueling physical challenge of a banner action. It only takes $10.
Precision communication is key to pulling off direct actions. Put a mobile phone into the hands of our next action coordinator for $25.
Direct action climbers dangle hundreds of feet over land or water, which means safety comes first. Protect the most vital tool a climber has, their head. Give $50 to buy a safety helmet for a RAN activist during our next big banner hang.
Now if you’ve got the means and the passion to push Corporate America hard, I’m asking you to go big. Like 80-feet wide kind of big.
Be the funder behind RAN’s next massive banner. $500 will get the job done.
When corporate polluters refuse to stop decimating precious rainforests or blowing up historic mountain ranges, we’ve got to take action.
YOU can make it happen. Donate today.
For a just and thriving planet,
Rebecca Tarbotton
Executive Director
2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival -
2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Festival dates: June 30 – July 4 and July 7 – 11
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The festival features many of the finest practitioners of diverse, authentic, living traditions — both old and new. The Festival’s goal is to strengthen and preserve these traditions by presenting them on the National Mall in a respectful way to promote mutual understanding.
This year the festival will celebrate the people and culture of Rhythm and Blues music in the United States. The Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is program is being produced by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in partnership with the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Also featured at the festival will be the rich bio-cultural diversity of Colombia and exploration of Colombian cultural expressions which are inextricably connected to their distinctive environments and the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Promoting World Peace and Friendship.
Through performance and discussion sessions, the Rhythm and Blues program explores the social and cultural history integral to the development of rhythm and blues (R&B) music. Participants include artists, producers, songwriters, radio personalities, and others who have contributed to making R&B a cornerstone of America’s musical legacy.
Featured performers scheduled at the Soulsville and Motor City stages in the Rhythm and Blues section during the week of June 30 to July 4 are: Swamp Dog, Shirley Jones of The Jones Girls, Nat Dove, Stax Music Academy, Sonny Til’s Orioles, The Funk Brothers, and the National Hand Dance Association.
During the week of July 7 – 11: The Dixie Cups, The Monitors, Fernando Jones, Smooth & EZ Hand Dance Institute, The Swallows, Fred Wesley and the New JBs, and The Jewels.
The Dixie Cups (pictured above) began performing rhythm and blues music in 1963 and the group now includes original members Barbara Ann Hawkins (right) and Rosa Lee Hawkins (left), joined by Athelgra Neville. Drawing on their New Orleans roots, the group recorded “Iko Iko” but it was their number one hit, “Chapel of Love,” that beat out The Beatles for the top spot in 1964 and garnered the group’s first gold record. Photo by Richard Strauss, Smithsonian Institution
Evening Concert Highlights Motor City Stage
June 30
6:00 – 9:00 P.M.
An Evening with Soul Train and Dance Party
July 1
6:00 – 8:00 P.M.
An evening with Miss Martha Reeves
July 2
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
An Evening with Swamp Dog
July 3
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
An Evening with The Funk Brothers
July 7
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
An Evening with Fred Wesley and The New JBs
July 8
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
An Evening with The Dixie Cups®
July 10
6:00 – 8:00 P.M.
An Evening with Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff
and Tribute to Philadelphia International Records
Programs and performances are subject to change. For current information, visit www.festival.si.edu
To see the full festival schedule, visit www.festival.si.edu
wicked Wednesday weather& some News
The World is watching … As Freedom marches ramp up and the violence against protesters breaks out again … people have had enough
Remember … there is always strength in numbers
I think we all take our freedoms for granted here in the US of A though lately the Republican Party is beginning to make me feel a little less free every day. I watched as freedom fighters in Egypt Libya and others in the region did whatever they had to before going out to march against tyranny , but the idea that there are people being killed by their own government for wanting to be free, heard, wanting to be participants in their own futures is not new but it is disturbing. There were mothers with children, older men and women and college students coming out in droves to let the current dictators know it’s time for a change and given what these dictators will lose they have chosen to “crackdown” on the protesters which we all know is pure bs and a lack of respect for life.
Months ago, we saw some of the people of Iran try to rise up and claim a voice of independence. Unfortunately, what came out of that was the loss of freedom fighters with Neda becoming their symbol of strength. However, in the end after a few days those freedom fighters had to retreat which had to be the only way to save lives. It was a rude awakening at how a dictator only respects his position and is still willing to sacrifice the many for his title, power, and money. Then we heard of an uprising in Tunisia Egypt and many others in possible transition with talk of more and more people willing to risk their lives to gain their freedom. It was definitely clear that a movement against the Ancient practice of dictatorship by freedom fighters for a move into the 21st Century was breaking out all over. The voice and votes of millions have gone uncounted and or compromised for decades. The demand to be heard great but to get the change they need and want … means that the fear of authority was, is, cannot be an option… and the possibility of death likely.
The quick response from dictators was surprising, disturbing, and totally unacceptable. I have to say it was strange to see how fast they were able to cut off most if not all connections to the outside world, stating the US meddled in the process to divert responsibility while using extreme force on their own people. In the case of Libya, we heard their government make threats of slaughtering all who will not stand down and going house to house, which was after reports of thousands already killed by Gadhafi forces. The demand to move into the 21st Century continues to be met with bullets bombs and death. It has to make you wonder if the money the militia gets is worth killing their own people, don’t they want personal freedom , do they dare dream or wonder what living in a more modern society would be like. I guess being an American, the thought of remaining silent under force let alone 40years of dictatorship is just not an option. These men of so-called power showed the World how horrible they were and as days and weeks went by their own military forces began to crumble. It was enlightening to see just how nefarious these dictators were and still are. I have to say it was stunning to hear that under pressure a dictator was willing to kill Military forces who wanted out and or refused to kill civilians. It was equally stunning that some managed to flee the region and others definitely in elite positions asked for refuge while workers, outsourced from other countries became shields, trapped, or lacked funds to go home, as some countries did not help their people out others took that long walk across the border to temporary safety and freedom in refugee camps.
The journey toward freedom is sometimes paved with danger
pray for all those involved
Other News
Egypt probes Tahrir Square
clash
Instant view: Greek parliament votes
NM Wildfire Burns Near Nuke Facility
Roche seeks more time for Avastin in
breast cancer
Taliban claims credit for hotel
attack
Burma warns Aung San Suu Kyi to halt
all political activities
Conservative blogger Breitbart sees
Sarah Palin jumping into White House race
CSPAN …
President Obama Holds News Conference
Will take questions on Afghanistan, Libya, deficit talks
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White House Releases National Counterterrorism Strategy
Deputy Nat’l Security Adviser John Brennan on U.S. plan to defeat al-Qaeda
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Senate Panel Looks at Supreme Court Rulings
Sen. Leahy said the Court sided with corporations
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Federal Reserve To Issue Final Rules on Debit Card Fees
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GAO Reports on Diplomatic Security
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for austerity plan
