Daily Archives: 11/14/2012

President Obama Holds a Press Conference.


 

   
 
 
 
 
 
President Obama holds a press conference in the East Room of the White House. November 14, 2012.

For science (and NOT the election)


Union of Concerned Scientists

Congress: Keep Independent Federal Agencies Independent

After the election, the Senate will likely take up misguided legislation that would give the White House more control over certain federal agencies that protect our health and safety—such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The bill would make it more difficult for these agencies to use the latest science to protect the public from emerging threats—and make it easier for the White House to interfere in the work of these critical independent agencies. As a result, special interests with deep pockets would have even more influence in Washington.

Don’t let the lame duck Congress pass this terrible legislation.

Urge your senators today to strongly oppose the so-called Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act.

Take Action Today!

Sincerely,
MichaelHalpern_jpg
Michael Halpern
National Field Organizer
Center for Science and Democracy
Union of Concerned Scientists

So Who Were Those 14 People Standing Behind the President?


The White House

On Friday, President Obama laid out his strategy for moving our country forward and reducing our deficit in a balanced way. Speaking from the East Room of the White House, the President was joined by Vice President Joe Biden – and 14 others stood behind him at the podium.

So who were those 14 people anyway? One was Pam, a school administrator. Another, Sara, is a veteran recovering from open-heart surgery. Barry has six children and Steve is an orthopedic assistant. Estela recently became an American citizen and voted in a U.S. election for the first time on Tuesday.

What they all have in common, however, is an interest in helping find answers to some of the big questions we face as a nation.

Find out more about the 14 people who stood behind the President.

President Barack Obama delivers a statement to the press on the economy, in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 9, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

President Barack Obama delivers a statement to the press on the economy, in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 9, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

In Case You Missed It
Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog:President Obama Marks Diwali
Yesterday, President Obama wished a Happy Diwali to the Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists celebrating the holiday here at home and around the world.

Veterans Helping Survivors on the Road to Recovery
Facing the task of cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy, a group of former veterans known as Team Rubicon use skills acquired in the military to assist people affected by the storm. Team Rubicon was formed by two former Marines following the Haitian earthquake in 2010.

Saying Thanks to our Troops on Veterans Day
Honoring Veterans Day, Captain Todd Veazie introduces himself as the new Executive Director of Joining Forces. As an active duty Naval Special Warfare officer with 26 years of service, Captain Veazie will join First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden in this national initiative to provide support to service members and their families

People Power vs Big Oil


Pascal V – Avaaz.org
In days, Nigeria’s Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell and set in motion a law that would hold oil companies to account for the first time ever. The President endorses the penalty, but Big Oil are lobbying MPs like crazy to vote against reform. Our voices can drown them out to win justice for Nigeria’s people. Join the urgent call now!

Sign the petition

In days, Nigeria’s Parliament could approve a $5 billion fine against giant oil polluter Shell for a spill that devastated the lives of millions of people, and pass a law to hold all oil companies to account for polluting and plundering. This is a watershed moment, but unless we all speak out, oil giants will crush it.

Finally, Big Oil is having to pay for the wasteland and violence that they’ve created. President Jonathan supports the Shell fine, and progressive Senators are pushing for strong regulations, but oil companies are slick, and without huge international support MPs could buckle under the pressure.

Politicians are deciding their positions right now — sign the urgent petition for the Nigerian Parliament to fine Shell and support the bill, and then forward this to everyone — when we hit a million signers we’ll bring our unprecedented global call to the steps of Nigeria’s Parliament:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/make_shell_pay_b/?biEWLbb&v=19059

Experts say that every year Big Oil spills as much crude into the Niger Delta as an Exxon Valdez, but as it is Africa, it gets little media play. After a leak occurred at Shell’s Bonga oil facility last December, millions of gallons poured into the ocean and washed up on the densely populated coast — resulting in one of the largest African oil spills ever. The fine and bill on the table are a once in a lifetime chance to stand up to Big Oil.

Oil companies have made $600 billion in the last 50 years in Nigeria, but locals don’t see the benefits. Their land, drinking water and fishing grounds are ruined. And Shell has spent hundreds of millions of dollars a year on security forces, repressing protest against its harmful practices.

The oil industry is crucial to the economy, but companies have never been held to account for the devastation of drilling. Now, the Nigerian President and a few brave MPs are speaking out and they could finally slam the oil giants with tough fines and give fair pay outs to the victims. If we show MPs that the world supports these crucial steps, we can literally change the lives of millions. Click below to sign the urgent petition:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/make_shell_pay_b/?biEWLbb&v=19059

Avaazers have stood up to Big Oil all over the world, from Chevron in Ecuador, to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to ending fossil fuel subsidies at the Rio Summit. Now let’s do it for Nigeria too. Make sure the politicians send a message to Big Oil: your days of impunity are over.

With hope and determination,

Pascal, Patricia, Alex, Ricken, David, Rewan, and the Avaaz team

Shell Faces $5 Billion Nigeria Fine (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303933704577532723563488122.html

Shell urged to pay Nigeria $5bn over Bonga oil spill (BBC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18875731

Shell’s grip on Nigerian state revealed (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-shell-nigeria-spying

U.N. slams Shell as Nigeria needs biggest ever oil clean-up (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/04/us-nigeria-ogoniland-idUSTRE7734MQ20110804

Nigeria: Oil spill investigations ‘a fiasco’ in the Niger Delta (Amnesty International)
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/nigeria-oil-spill-investigations-fiasco-niger-delta-2012-08-02

The Mandate … via a decisive Obama VICTORY


By ThinkProgress War Room

What the Election Means for the Fiscal Showdown

President Obama won a decisive victory on Tuesday. He’s the first Democrat since FDR to be elected twice with over 50 percent of the vote.

As soon as the election was over, discussion immediately turned to the upcoming fiscal showdown. Over the course of the next few weeks, Congress has to resolve numerous fiscal issues:

  • The fate of the Bush tax cuts, particularly those for the wealthiest Americans.
  • $1.1 trillion in automatic cuts to both defense and domestic discretionary spending.
  • The debt ceiling, which may be hit as soon as the end of next month.

If nothing is done by the end of the year, the automatic cuts kick in and taxes revert to Clinton-era rates for everyone, not just the wealthy.

Republicans are already indicating that they think the election either didn’t mean anything or somehow actually validated their viewpoint. House Speaker John Boehner (R) said yesterday that tax hikes for the wealthy were off the table. He then floated what he called a “compromise,” but in reality is basically the same tax plan that Mitt Romney just ran on — and lost. For his part, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) has already taken the debt ceiling hostage to deep cuts to entitlements and other spending. Cantor also insisted that Obamacare be on the table during negotiations.

Here’s why the election provides President Obama with a mandate to push his vision — a balanced approach that invests in the middle class, makes smart spending cuts, and, most importantly, makes the wealthy pay their fair share. Conversely, the election was also a definitive repudiation of the GOP’s failed top-down approach.

Candidates Ran on Tax Fairness — And Won

The President made raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans a centerpiece of his campaign, and never wavered from that position. On election night, one of Politico’s top headlines read: “Exit polls 2012: Most say hike taxes.” In fact, 6 in 10 voters nationwide say they think taxes should be increased. The question of returning the high end tax rates to those during the Clinton era played an even more central role in key Senate races in blue, purple and even deep red states:

  • Connecticut (D55, R43): Linda McMahon released a tax plan that was identical to Gov. Romney’s proposal and similarly pitched her plan as a tax cut for the middle class even though analysts agreed it would provide massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. Rep. Chris Murphy centered himself as the candidate “on the side of the middle” class, featuring McMahon’s tax policy that benefited the richest in multiple ads, declaring “it’s time to make the rules fair.” According to an analysis of Kantar Media CMAG data by CAP Action, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent at least $550,000 in the final week of the election championing McMahon’s tax plan and contrasting it with “politicians who raise taxes so they can keep spending more”.
  • North Dakota (3,000 votes): Even in solidly red North Dakota, Heidi Heitkamp championed tax fairness and campaigned in support of the Buffett Rule. She also attacked her opponent, Rep. Rick Berg, for twice voting in favor of the Republican budget, specifically citing its tax cuts for the wealthy. Heitkamp also strenuously defended her support for Obamacare, even turning Berg’s support for repealing it into an attack. Crossroads GPS spent heavily against Heitkamp with more than half a million dollars in the final eight weeks used to define Heitkamp on the tax issue.

The American people voted for candidates up and down the ballot that supported getting rid of tax giveaways and special loopholes that favor the richest corporations and individuals.

A Debate Between Two Visions for the Economy

This election across the country was a proxy debate on two competing visions for economic growth: the trickle-down model that suggests that the only job creators are the richest, where it is enough to grow profits without sustaining jobs or wages, and the “middle out” vision of the economy that says the government has a role to play in making prosperity possible for more Americans. And what happened? The middle class as the engine of economic growth won.

  • Exit polls show that a majority believes that the economy generally favors the wealthy (55 percent); what’s more a majority also said that Romney’s policies favor the rich (53 percent). But it wasn’t just about Romney’s support of policies that benefit the wealthiest; it was that people rejected the basis of his top-down economic theory.
  • A poll of 1700 presidential voters the night of the election found that while voters credited President Obama with being better on the economy by only a point, when it came to “restoring the middle class”, voters favored Obama by twelve points.
  • Joel Benenson, chief pollster for the Obama campaign, wrote for New York Times about an 800 person poll they conducted for their own firm, finding: “Spending cuts alone could not address voter concerns — 89 percent of those surveyed agreed that “for my children to have the economic opportunities I’ve had, we need to make real investments in education, creating world-class schools and making college more affordable.” Benenson continued, “And when asked what the key to growing our economy was, nearly two in three voters said it was building a strong middle class over creating a “healthy climate for business.”

Americans made clear this week that they are more interested in investing in growth through the middle class than austerity measures that place more of the burden on the middle class. There is broad support for cutting wasteful spending, including tax giveaways that favor the wealthiest, rather than cutting investments in programs that protect social mobility and growth, like education, infrastructure and public health.

As Elizabeth Warren stated in her speech after defeating Sen. Scott Brown, “This victory belongs to you…we’re going to fight for a level playing field and we’re going to put people back to work.“

The Choice

The choices we make over the next few weeks will have huge consequences for the middle class and our economy for a generation to come: will Congress ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share, or will they keep the game rigged for the wealthy at the expense of the middle class? One path asks the wealthy to pay a little more in order to reduce the deficit while making investments in the middle class that we need in order to grow the economy over the long-term. A different path asks the middle class and seniors to foot the bill by slashing Medicare and Social Security just to provide another round of tax cuts to the wealthiest – tax cuts that have proven to not create jobs and would effectively preclude investments in energy, education and infrastructure.

As Republicans and Democrats make their case to the American people during the fiscal showdown, they would be wise to look closely at what Americans said loudly and clearly in this election and the brinkmanship and pledges they rejected.

BOTTOM LINE: Republicans made their case to the American people and the American people rejected their approach.

End the Insurance Coverage Ban On Abortion for Servicewom​en Who Have Been Raped


 

National Women's Law Center
 
 
     
  Our Military Women Deserve Better  
     
   
     
  Tell your Members of Congress to end the outrageous abortion coverage ban for military women who have been raped.  
     
  Take Action  
     

How would you feel if I told you that our military women are banned from having abortion coverage in cases of rape and incest?

You should be outraged.

Tell your Members of Congress to end the outrageous abortion coverage ban for servicewomen and military dependents who have been raped or experienced incest.

Currently, an extreme policy prevents servicewomen and military dependents from having coverage for abortion services if they become pregnant as the result of rape or incest. This unfair policy forces them to pay for the abortion care they need, unlike their civilian counterparts who also depend on the federal government for their health insurance.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Last spring, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) offered an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would remove this abhorrent ban. It passed the Senate Armed Services Committee with a bi-partisan vote, even gaining support from Senators Carl Levin and John McCain (the Chairman and Senior Republican on the Committee). Congress will finalize the NDAA soon — they may even begin this week. The only thing in the way of ending this unjust ban is some anti-choice Members of Congress who are willing to play politics with the women that serve this nation.

We can’t allow that to happen. As millions of Americans observe Veterans Day, we’re reminded of the sacrifices our military women make every day for us — now it’s our duty to stand up for them: tell your Members of Congress to end the abortion coverage ban for servicewomen and military dependents who become pregnant due to rape or incest.

Thank you for continuing to protect women’s reproductive health.

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

P.S. Your support allows us to continue to fight for women’s reproductive health, as well as work on many other critical issues. Please consider making a generous donation today.

If you eat chicken … by Phyllis McKelvey via Change.org


 

Change.org
Tell the USDA to keep our chicken sanitary by rejecting the poultry industry’s demand for fewer regulations.
Sign Phyllis’ Petition

I have 44 years of experience working in the poultry industry including as a chicken inspector. I saw meat covered in feces and worse come through my plant every day. Because of trained government inspectors like myself, this meat was kept from ever reaching anyone’s plate.

Now, the USDA is about to make a decision that could stop government inspectors like me, leaving regulation of the chicken industry to the private companies themselves. This could allow for unsanitary chickens to be accidentally approved by rushed workers without important safety oversight.

As a mother, grandmother, and retired chicken inspector, I can’t sit back and watch. I started a petition on Change.org asking the USDA to keep contaminants off of chicken by rejecting the poultry industry’s demands for fewer regulations. Click here now to sign.

USDA inspectors are crucial to ensuring safe chicken meat, and the poultry industry wants to reduce the amount of time they’re given to inspect chicken to a fraction of a second. I know from experience that not being able to inspect the full carcass means dangerously contaminated birds are often approved by rushed inspectors.

Earlier this year, a concerned mom started a petition on Change.org asking the USDA to stop using low-grade meat product in school lunches, and she won. I know that if enough people sign my petition, the USDA won’t bow to the chicken industry’s dangerous requests — it’s important to act now, because they could make a decision soon.

With your help, the USDA will stand up for consumers and reject the poultry industry’s new inspection proposal. Join me in urging them to keep meat free of deadly contamination — sign my petition now.

Thank you for your support.

Phyllis McKelvey
Former USDA poultry inspector
Albertville, Alabama

P.S. Notice anything different? We just rolled out a redesigned website – we hope you like it! We’re proud to be the world’s largest petition platform, empowering you (and 20 million other people!) to make the change you want to see. Click here to read more about who we are, and here to read about how we keep our tools completely free for people like you.

The Progress Report


Congress Looks (A Little) More Like America

One of the biggest stories over the past week has been the record diversity in the electorate and the role that played in helping propel the president to victory. That very diverse electorate also voted to send the most diverse Congress in history to Washington — more women, more LGBT people (including the first ever openly gay Senator), more religious diversity, more racial diversity, and more younger members. The new Congress is still older, whiter, and more male than the country as a whole, but the incoming Congress will at least look a bit more like the rest of America.

The House Democratic caucus will not be majority white male for the first time ever. Meanwhile, the Republican caucus actually grew less diverse.

ThinkProgress’ Adam Peck, Scott Keyes, and Zack Beauchamp took a look at some the faces that will be coming to Washington for the 113th Congress. Here’s what they found:

New member diversity:

Race/Ethnicity

African American
Marc Veasey (D-TX-33)
Steven Horsford (D-NV-04)
Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ-10)
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08)

Latinos
Ted Cruz (R-TX-SEN)
Joaquin Castro(D-TX-20)
Tony Cardenas (D-CA-29)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM-01)
Juan Vargas (D-CA-51)
Joe Garcia (D-FL-26)
Pete Gallego (D-TX-23)
Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA-35)
Filemon Vela (D-TX-34)
Raul Ruiz (D-CA-36)

Asian American
Mazie Hirono (D-HI-SEN)
Grace Meng (D-NY-06)
Mark Takano (D-CA-41)
Ami Bera (D-CA-07)*
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02)
Tammy Duckworth (IL-08)

Religion

First non-theist
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ-09)
First Hindu
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02)
Ami Bera (D-CA-07)
First Buddhist senator
Mazie Hirono (D-HI-SEN)

Gender

Women
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA-SEN)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI-SEN)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND-SEN)
Deb Fischer (R-NE-SEN)
Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ-01)
Julia Brownley (D-CA-26)
Jackie Walorski (R-IN-02)
Tammy Duckworth (D-IL-08)
Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01)
Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM-01)
Elizabeth Esty (D-CT-05)
Lois Frankel (D-FL-22)
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02)
Dina Titus (D-NV-01)
Ann Kuster (D-NH-02)
Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH-01)
Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA-35)
Grace Meng (D-NY-06)
Ann Wagner (R-MO-02)
Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03)
Susan Brooks (R-IN-05)
Cheri Bustos (D-IL-17)
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ-09)

Orientation

LGBT
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI-SEN)
Mark Pocan (D-WI-02)
Mark Takano (D-CA-41)
Sean Maloney (D-NY-18)
First bisexual
Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ-09)
First openly gay person of color
Mark Takano (D-CA-41)

Age

Born in the 1980s
Patrick Murphy (D-FL-18)
Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI-02)
Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA-04)
Eric Swalwell (D-CA-15)

*- Leading his congressional race, but it has yet to be officially called

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

Support for repealing Obamacare hits all-time low.

Why NBC should fire Donald Trump. (500,000 people have also called on Macy’s to dump Trump.)

Five ways the religious right imploded in 2012.

Paul Ryan blames “urban” vote instead of unpopular policies for his loss.

The emerging pro-choice majority.

Corporations calling to “Fix the Debt” want $134 BILLION in tax breaks.

Incoming House Judiciary Committee Chairman said that Social Security and Medicare are unconstitutional.

Top Republican admits raising taxes on millionaires “won’t kill the country.”

Congressional Republicans: Obama should “compromise” and accept Romney tax plan.

Hurricane Sandy, Climate Change & Our Politics

Hurricane Sandy was a tragic event that killed more than 100 people and may end up costing the economy as much as $50 BILLION. Unfortunately, Sandy is not the first and won’t be the last extreme weather event that is fueled by climate change.

Our colleagues at the Center for American Progress put out a report today on climate change and extreme weather events. The whole thing is worth reading, and has an interactive map with each county identified that was affected by at least one severe extreme weather disaster in 2011 or 2012. but just take a look this chart of the most destructive events to get a sense of what extreme weather events are already costing the U.S. just in the last two years. Nearly 1,000 people dead, and $116 billion in damages:

Conservatives argue that reducing our carbon pollution is too expensive, but it’s clear that we can’t afford not to take action on climate change.

Sandy has been so horrific an event that even the media, which has been notoriously bad at covering climate change, has taken notice of the connection between our warming world and extreme weather events like Sandy. For example, here’s the provocative cover of this week’s Bloomberg Businessweek:

Unlike in the 2008 election, only one major presidential candidate — Barack Obama — actually even believes in climate change. During the Republican primary, Mitt Romney came out as a climate science denier. And during his acceptance speech at the RNC, Romney famously mocked the president for wanting to tackle climate change — something that earned him a rebuke from President Clinton earlier this week.

During an event in Virginia today, Romney stood by silently as a protester confronted him on climate change.

MAN: Romney! What about climate? That’s what caused this monster storm! Climate change!

ROMNEY: [silent]

CROWD: BOO! USA! USA! USA!

Watch it:

In addition to opposing action on climate change, Mitt Romney also has curious views on federal disaster relief spending. Just last year, Romney said federal spending on disaster relief was “immoral” and suggested that we privatize the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Finally, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. who endorsed George W. Bush in 2004 and did not endorse in 2008, endorsed President Obama today, primarily citing climate change:

The devastation that Hurricane Sandy brought to New York City and much of the Northeast – in lost lives, lost homes and lost business – brought the stakes of Tuesday’s presidential election into sharp relief.

The floods and fires that swept through our city left a path of destruction that will require years of recovery and rebuilding work. And in the short term, our subway system remains partially shut down, and many city residents and businesses still have no power. In just 14 months, two hurricanes have forced us to evacuate neighborhoods – something our city government had never done before. If this is a trend, it is simply not sustainable.

Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week’s devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.

But we can’t do it alone. We need leadership from the White House – and over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. His administration also has adopted tighter controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the dirtiest coal power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy), which are estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.

Bloomberg also knocked Romney for his lurch rightward on the issue, adding that we need “determined leadership determined leadership at the national level to move the nation and the world forward.”

(It’s also worth noting that Bloomberg also pointed to sharp differences between Romney and Obama on women’s health and marriage equality, saying he “want[s] our president to be on the right side of history.”)

BOTTOM LINE: As Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events vividly illustrate, we simply cannot afford to wait any longer to take decisive action to reduce the amount of carbon pollution we are putting into the atmosphere.

Congressional Budget Office: Cost Estimates


Offsetting a Carbon Tax’s Costs on Low-Income Households: Working Paper 2012-16

The Challenge of Deficit Reduction

In fiscal year 2012, the federal budget deficit surpassed $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row. If lawmakers maintained current policies by preventing most of the tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to occur in January, deficits would total almost $10 trillion over the next decade. Federal debt held by the public would increase from nearly 73 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2012 to 90 percent of GDP 10 years from now.

Economic Effects of Policies Contributing to Fiscal Tightening in 2013

report

Substantial changes to tax and spending policies are scheduled to take effect in January 2013, significantly reducing the federal budget deficit. According to CBO’s projections, if all of that fiscal tightening occurs, real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) will drop by 0.5 percent in 2013 (as measured by the change from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the fourth quarter of 2013)—reflecting a decline in the first half of the year and renewed growth at a modest pace later in the year.

CBO Releases a Report on the Economic Effects of Policies Contributing to Fiscal Tightening in 2013

blog post

Significant tax increases and spending cuts are slated to take effect in January 2013, sharply reducing the federal budget deficit and causing, by CBO’s estimates, a decline in the nation’s economic output and an increase in unemployment. What would be the economic effects of eliminating various components of that fiscal tightening—or what some term the fiscal cliff?

S. 3525, Sportsmen’s Act of 2012

Pay-As-You-Go Effects for S. 3525, as Introduced on September 12, 2012

…