Happy Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo

The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day, but it should be! And Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it should be. Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810.  And it took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico.

So, why Cinco de Mayo? And why would Americans savor this day as well? 

Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5 1862.  For more info:  history.com

Must see Vids ~~~ YouTube

the Rand family — — reminders

Ron Paul: More Freedom, Less Government, Lower Taxes, Strong National Defense

Ron Paul mailer predicted race war — Newsletters with signatures possibly from Paul ..some written in 1993

 http://youtu.be/W58FmTuaSfk

Freshman Congressman Rand Paul … Celebrated his Teapublican victory at a Private Country Club …

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) said yesterday that Kentucky GOP U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul’s positions should be the positions of the Republican Party. “I think a lot of us in the Republican Party would like to see Rand Paul and his voting and how he will vote in the U.S. Senate [become] the position of the Republican Party,” Bunning told reporters. Bunning, however, didn’t endorse Paul’s controversial view of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.TP

Rand Paul has been reported stating,  he would (modify)? maybe abolish Dept of Education, Farm Subsidies, Slash Medicare, Fair Housing Act, American Disabilities Act and believes any Public entity should be subjected to the rule of law but Private Ownership should have the right to refuse service to anyone they want; which, makes one wonder if Rand actually understands the 1964 Civil Rights Act or how and who potential business owners get the right to do business, Public or Private … uh City, State, Federal business license ….

From NBC’s John Yang
LOUISVILLE — Rand Paul wasn’t the only Tea Party-favored candidate to defeat an establishment candidate in Kentucky today.

UPS pilot Todd Lally ran away with the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth in Kentucky’s 3rd Congressional District, which centers on Louisville. He beat three candidates, including Jeff Reetz, a Pizza Hut franchise owner who was the favorite of the House Republican campaign committee.

Lally is strongly pro-gun rights and anti-abortion rights. The Louisville Courier-Journal‘s editorial page said that during his endorsement interview, he said President Obama wouldn’t be able to get a security clearance if he wasn’t president and said health care reform was for the benefit of “freeloaders.”

By Will Femia

Rachel Maddow interviews Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul about how he reconciles his views on small government with civil rights, racism and segregation.

WASHINGTON – Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul said Friday that President Barack Obama’s criticism of BP in the wake of the Gulf oil debacle sounds “really un-American.”  Paul, already facing a backlash over remarks earlier this week about civil rights legislation, criticized the Obama administration for declaring it will put its “boot heel on the throat of BP.” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs used similar language shortly after the spill.  In an interview Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Paul says the president’s response is part of the “blame game” that’s played in the United States. msnbc

The morning after he declined to endorse the totality of the Civil Rights Act in his much-discussed appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, Dr. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) copped to feeling regret — not over his comments, but rather his decision to be interviewed by Maddow in the first place.

“It was a poor political decision and probably won’t be happening anytime in the near future,” the Tea Party endorsed Senate candidate said on the Laura Ingraham show on Thursday morning. “Because, yeah, they can play things and want to say, ‘Oh you believed in beating up people that were trying to sit in restaurants in the 1960s.’ And that is such a ridiculous notion and something that no rational person is in favor of. [But] she went on and on about that.”

Blaming the messenger is a tactic often used by politicians when the message itself is to blame. And Paul’s appearance on the Maddow show on Wednesday night was anything but bland. For 15 minutes, he and the host went back and forth in debating where there should be limits to government efforts to desegregate private institutions (Paul was skeptical that the government should play any role at all). But the notion that the MSNBC host was somehow unloading liberal hostilities on him doesn’t jibe with the fact that Paul got the same type of treatment during an NPR interview earlier that morning — or, for that matter, that a conservative voice on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, seemed aghast at his answers. “He needs to come up with an answer today, or Kentucky will be Arizona: a battleground for ugly, racial politics,” Scarborough said. “He has 24 hours.”

(Paul, in fact, chose Maddow’s show to initially launch his Senate candidacy a year prior to last night’s appearance.)

Paul did seem to draw back (or tighten) his discussion of the Civil Rights Act during his interview with Ingraham.

“These are settled issues in the Civil Rights Act,” he said. “I have no intention of bringing up anything related to the Civil Rights Act… I think [segregation] is sort of a stain and blight on our history — so, no, I have never really favored any change in the Civil Rights Act or any of that. But they have seemed to unleash the loony left on me.”

In April of last year, Dr. Rand Paul was the featured guest speaker at an event held by the Constitution Party of Minnesota, whose stated goals include “restor[ing] American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations.”

Bruce Wilson

Writes on religion and politics

Rand Paul Keynoted 2009 Rally for Far-Right Constitution Party

All you really need to know about Christian Reconstructionism is in the title of a January 2008 Talk To Action story of mine, More From The Biblical Stoning & Legalized Slavery Movement.

Enter Rand Paul.

Amidst the hullaballoo over Republican Rand Paul’s upset victory in the Kentucky GOP primary for US Senate, one of the few journalists to raise the issue of Paul’s somewhat uncomfortable proximity to Christian Reconstructionism has been Alternet’s Adele Stan, who observes that Rand Paul’s father Ron Paul is personal friends with one of the bigger names in the Christian Reconstructionist movement, Howard Phillips, founder of the US Taxpayers Party — now re-branded as The Constitution Party. But there’s much more direct evidence tying Ran Paul to the Constitution Party, whose national platform declares,

“The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations…The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law”

As Adele Stan notes, Phillips gave a keynote address at the Ron Paul For President Convention in Minneapolis a year and a half ago. And, Ron Paul endorsed the 2008 Constitution Party’s presidential candidate in the 2008 election, Chuck Baldwin.

As it’s said, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. In a May 21, 2009 appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Rand Paul affirmed that his political beliefs were extremely close to those of his father Ron:

Alex Jones: ”You’re basically what I would call a chip off the old block. Your policies are basically identical to your father, correct?”Rand Paul: ”I’d say we’d be very very similar. We might present the message sometimes differently.. I think in some ways the message has to be broadened and made more appealing to the entire Republican electorate because you have to win a primary.” [Rand Paul on Alex Jones, 5/21/09]

So it isn’t altogether surprising that Rand Paul could be found, in April 2009, at a rally held by a political party that’s been heavily influenced by a movement whose founder, Rousas Rushdoony, advocated executing homosexuals by stoning, wanted to reimpose the institution of slavery, and maintained that the Sun rotated around the Earth.

[below - video from Minneapolis "End the Fed" rally establishes that Rand Paul was in the vicinity prior to the Minnesota Constitution Party rally later that day. Note: the rally itself was not held by the MN Constitution Party.]

On April 25, 2009, Rand Paul was the featured guest speaker at The Constitution Party of Minnesota’s “event of the year.” I’ve found video of Rand Paul at an afternoon Minneapolis rally, so he was without a doubt in the vicinity.

Just to make sure I talked to Tammy Houle, whose phone number is the Minnesota Constitution Party listed contact number, and she confirmed to me that Rand Paul had indeed spoken at the April 25th evening event.

The odd thing about Rand and Ron Paul’s political tendency is that it offers liberals and progressives a number of points of agreement, probably more than with more ‘mainstream’ conservative GOP politicians. For example, Ron Paul has been a principled opponent of the invasion of Iraq and US military adventurism in the Mideast generally, and Rand Paul espouses the same position.

But it’s hard to get much more extreme than Christian Reconstructionism, whose founder Rushdoony was a Holocaust denier, a racist, a creationist, and an advocate for slavery who claimed that African-American slaves were lucky.

Weigh it for yourself — Howard Phillips, who founded the Constitution Party, has, according to journalist Frederick Clarkson, described Rousas J. Rushdoony as “my wise counseler.”

As Rushdoony wrote in Politics of Guilt and Pity:

The white man is being systematically indoctrinated into believing that he is guilty of enslaving and abusing the Negro. Granted that some Negroes were mistreated as slaves, the fact still remains that nowhere in all history or in the world today has the Negro been better off. The life expectancy of the Negro increased when he was transported to America. He was not taken from freedom into slavery, but from a vicious slavery to degenerate chiefs to a generally benevolent slavery in the United States. There is not the slightest evidence that any American Negro had ever lived in a “free society” in Africa; even the idea did not exist in Africa. The move from Africa to America was a vast increase of freedom for the Negro…

None of this, of course, is Rand Paul’s direct responsibility. But it certainly is suggestive.

And so, without further ado, here’s the April 9, 2009 post advertising Rand Paul’s April 25th appearance at the Minnesota Constitution Party “Liberty Banquet 2009″ that’s posted on Ronpaulforums.com :

The Constitution Party of Minnesota announces with anticipation, the event of the year — Liberty Banquet 2009Patriots and statesmen will come together on April 25th to hear featured guest,

Dr. RAND PAUL

Don’t miss this opportunity to unite with other like-minded folks for an evening of inspiration and motivation. The evening begins at 5:00 pm with a social hour, dinner at 6:00, followed by introductions and guest speakers. Preceding Dr. Paul, we will hear a few words from the two tenacious gentlemen that recently accepted the co-chairmanship of the CPMN Veteran’s Coalition, Leon Moe and John Salsbury.

The Chaska VFW will be the location of the event, which is located one block west of the intersection of Old Hwy. 212 and Hwy. 41 near downtown Chaska. The cost of tickets is $30 per person or 4 for $100. Get yours soon by sending payment to CPMN Treasurer, Patricia Becker, 23078 – 21st Avenue, St. Augusta, MN 56301.

Related News On Huffington Post:

A version of this post was originally published on Talk To Action.

• Rand Paul

Related News On Huffington Post:

Rand Paul Gently Rebuked By GOP Senators Over Civil Rights Act Opposition Senate Republicans are cautiously distancing themselves from the controversial comments about civil rights legislation made by the GOP candidate who wants to join their caucus….

Top Dems Suggest Tea Party Might Be More Bark Than Bite Top Democrats at the various campaign committees are expressing more and more confidence that they can overcome the wave of anti-government populist sentiment unleashed by…

Sarah Palin: Rand Paul’s ‘Libertarian Streak’ Will Ward Off ‘Leftist Liberal Overreach’ Former Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke Wednesday night about the positives of the establishment-shaking victory of Rand Paul, the Tea Party and Palin-supported…

Rand Paul: Obama Sounds ‘Un-American’ For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill (VIDEO) In attempting to close the book on his controversial statements about the scope of the Civil Rights Act, Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul invited another…

Rand Paul Is ‘Kentucky Fried Candidate’ Over Civil Rights Comments WASHINGTON (AP) — A tea party conservative on a national stage, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul of Kentucky labored Thursday to explain remarks suggesting businesses…

Is Rand Paul The Real Deal Or Just A One-Hit Wonder? “Washington is horribly broken.” “The debt bomb is ticking.” Those were the words spoken by newly-christened Kentucky Republican Senate nominee Rand Paul during his victory…

Rand Paul Blasted By James Clyburn Over Civil Rights Act: ‘He Is Not Good For This Country’ (VIDEO) GOP leaders in Congress have been cautious — if not tepid — in their rebuke of Kentucky Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul for his refusal…

Another Reminder: Gov. Christie -did what to Seniors and the Disabled of NJ in 2010?

source: www.NorthJersey.com

Hispanics say N.J. Gov. Christie’s proposed budget cuts would hit them hard

Sunday, June 20, 2010
Last updated: Sunday June 20, 2010, 10:27 AM

 BY ELIZABETH LLORENTE

The Record

STAFF WRITER

Hispanic leaders are warning that Governor Christie’s proposed budget cuts will devastate their communities by leaving little or no funding for programs that assist the unemployed, disabled and the destitute, among others.

Leaders are particularly concerned about the pending elimination of the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development, which funnels funds to some 40 agencies that they say serve about 300,000 mostly low-income Latinos annually. The 35-year-old department, they note, is the only state agency that focuses on Hispanics.

The cuts are the latest source of frustration among Hispanics over Christie. They were angered by his decision to drop legal immigrants who are not naturalized U.S. citizens from NJ FamilyCare, a health insurance program for low-income parents, and by the possibility that he would eliminate the Commission on New Americans, a long-awaited initiative by his predecessor to address immigrant issues in New Jersey.

“This is not shared sacrifice,” said Guillermo Beytagh-Maldonado, executive director of the Hispanic Directors Association, an umbrella group, referring to the proposed cuts. “He’s cutting our head off. So many people in New Jersey are talking about how Hispanics are going be profiled in Arizona because of the new immigration law. But right here in New Jersey we’re being profiled, we’re being treated outrageously.”

Hispanics say Christie seems indifferent to the problems and needs of their communities, though Hispanics are now the state’s largest minority group, making up 16 percent of the population. Nearly 30 percent of the state’s Hispanics in New Jersey are uninsured and about 16 percent live in poverty.

Deborah Howlett, the head of New Jersey Policy Perspective, said that about 80 percent of residents will be affected by Christie’s cuts to varying degrees.

“The economic recession has hit minorities harder than other people,” Howlett said. “People in lower income brackets, which include a disproportionate share of Hispanics, are being asked to shoulder more of the burden because they’re more reliant on the social services being cut.”

A spokesman for Christie said the governor was not singling Hispanics out, or acting insensitively toward them.

“No one can possibly say they’re being singled out,” said Michael Drewniak, Christie’s spokesman. “That’s just ridiculous. It’s a wrong assumption. By that logic, we’re targeting every group of every kind.”

“The governor is trying to tackle an $11 billion deficit that he inherited,” Drewniak said. “The cuts must be deep and wide.”

Drewniak said the cuts were not made thoughtlessly.

“We tried to be as careful as we could,” he said. “Everyone is pretty much in the same boat.”

Hispanic leaders say they understand that the governor faces a tough job in trying to deal with the deficit.

“We’re all willing to tighten our belts,” said Lorenzo Hernandez, who heads the Hispanic Information Center of Passaic, one of the agencies that gets funding from the Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development.

But Hernandez and other leaders say it is a mistake to slash funding for Hispanic community organizations that serve a group that not only is one of the most needy in the state, but one whose language and cultural barriers make access to services difficult.

“When I lost my job, my employer did not pay me vacation or holiday pay that I was owed,” said Maria Cristina Caballero, a Passaic resident who came to this country from Colombia two years ago. “I tried going for help to public agencies but got nowhere, and I felt I was in a hopeless, dead-end situation.”

Caballero went to the Hispanic Information Center, which provides a wide range of services, including assistance to domestic violence victims, the unemployed and people who need shelter, food and medical attention. The center helped Caballero get the money owed to her by her former employer.

“I would not have gotten it on my own,” Caballero said. “I was truly lost and overwhelmed.”

Many people who turn to the Paramus-based Hispanic Institute for Research and Development, which offers classes such as word processing and English, have lost jobs and are trying to get back on their feet, said Emilio Fandino, the non-profit group’s executive director. Many of the clients of HIRD, which gets about $75,000 from the state, have taken free English and job skills classes elsewhere, but those usually cover only the basics, Fandino said. The institute offers classes in conjunction with Bergen Community College.

“If we stopped getting the funding from the state, maybe about 200 people wouldn’t get the scholarships we give them, and couldn’t take the classes because they can’t afford it,” Fandino said.

Beytagh-Maldonado has met with legislators to drum up support for restoring funds for programs on which many Hispanics depend. Hispanics in New Jersey typically have received inadequate resources from the state government, he said.

“I don’t think the state has ever really adjusted to the reality that Hispanics are the group with the most needs,” he said. “We have the highest dropout rates, highest uninsured, high poverty rate, and the community is growing in New Jersey.”

Of the community-based agencies, he said: “They go with the people to the schools, talk with the teachers, with social workers. These are the people on the front lines who provide preventative services so that problems don’t get bigger and become crises.”

Many of the agencies and programs were set up in the 1970s and 1980s in response to the growth of immigrant residents who lacked the linguistic skills and knowledge about U.S. public agencies to access services on their own.

“So the idea was to have people from the community, who knew the language and culture, to guide these immigrants,” said Frank Argote-Freyre, a professor at Kean University and head of the state Commission on New Americans, an advisory group that has expressed concerns about Christie’s willingness to keep it alive.

Like other Latino leaders, Argote-Freyre and Beytagh-Maldonado called Christie’s decision to drop legal immigrants from the state’s insurance program for the poor a harsh move.

Nearly 12,000 legal immigrant parents are being removed from the program. U.S. citizen parents are also to be denied coverage if their annual family income exceeds $24,000 a year for a family of three.

“They’re taking people from FamilyCare and are going to force them into charity care,” Beytagh-Maldonado said. “When immigrants can’t get access to health care, everyone is affected, everyone’s health is at risk. All these cuts are just going to end up being more expensive for New Jersey in the long run.”

E-mail: llorente@northjersey.com

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N.J. Assembly fails to override Christie veto of millionaires tax

Monday, June 21, 2010
Last updated: Monday June 21, 2010, 5:01 PM

 

BY MATT FRIEDMAN

State House Bureau

STATE HOUSE BUREAU

 

TRENTON — Democrats have failed to override Governor Christie’s veto of a tax that would increase taxes on income more than $1 million.The bills, which would devote the proceeds to restoring property tax rebates for seniors and the disabled, died on the Assembly floor Monday when Democrats could not convert any Republicans who voted against it last month, when it passed strictly along partisan lines.Although a majority of Assembly members (47 to 33) voted for the bill, Democrats did not reach the two-thirds majority needed to override it. The override would have required flipping seven Republican votes. Because the override attempt failed in the Assembly, where the bill originated, the Senate will not attempt it.

The Assembly and Senate both passed the millionaires tax last month strictly along partisan lines, only to see it vetoed by Christie minutes later.

The bill would have raised the tax rate on income over $1 million for approximately 16,000 households. A companion bill, also vetoed by Christie, would have devoted the funds to restoring property tax rebates for the seniors and disabled as well as cuts to state-supplemented senior drug programs that have since been reversed.

The Assembly first took up the companion bill, which Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Monmouth) said would not help seniors because there is no money to restore rebates.

“What can help (seniors) is a hard 2.5 percent cap on property taxes,” she said.

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N.J. Senate resolution urges Christie not to join health care reform lawsuit

Monday, June 21, 2010

 

BY MATT FRIEDMAN

State House Bureau

STATE HOUSE BUREAU

 

The state Senate Monday approved a resolution urging Governor Christie not to join 20 other states in a lawsuit against the federal health care reform law.Christie has faced pressure from conservative activists to join the suit, which argues the law’s penalty on individuals for not buying insurance is unconstitutional. Senate Democrats, in turn, responded with the resolution, which points out that Christie was able to restore proposed cuts to subsidized senior drug programs in part with money allocated from the law.Christie has not said whether he plans to join the suit. Most of the states challenging the law have either Republican governors or elected Republican attorneys general.

“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be for the senior citizens and use the Obama health care plan to fund their programs and then challenge it in court,” said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a sponsor.

The state Senate Monday approved a resolution urging Governor Christie not to join 20 other states in a lawsuit against the federal health care reform law.

Christie has faced pressure from conservative activists to join the suit, which argues the law’s penalty on individuals for not buying insurance is unconstitutional. Senate Democrats, in turn, responded with the resolution, which points out that Christie was able to restore proposed cuts to subsidized senior drug programs in part with money allocated from the law.

Christie has not said whether he plans to join the suit. Most of the states challenging the law have either Republican governors or elected Republican attorneys general.

“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t be for the senior citizens and use the Obama health care plan to fund their programs and then challenge it in court,” said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a sponsor.

Cobell v Salazar

June 15, 2010

Dear Indian Country

This is the eleventh letter in a series of open letters that I’m sending to Indian Country. The purpose of this letter is to update you about the settlement and to let you know what you can do to help.

Before the Memorial Day holiday, the House of Representatives voted to pass the “American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010″ which includes a provision authorizing the Cobell settlement. This is good news and we now await approval in the Senate. I hope that the Senate passes the bill before the July 4 recess, but there is a chance that might not happen.

Individual Indian trust beneficiaries have expressed their overwhelming support for this settlement. Not only does it put $1.4 billion into the hands of individual Indians in a relatively short period of time, but it promises to make another $2 billion available to individual Indians over the next ten years, preserve sacred Indian lands for future generations and create a fund for post-secondary education worth up to $60 million. This is the largest settlement/judgment against the United States since the founding of the Republic and we have a unique opportunity to right an historic injustice. For these reasons I intend to direct our attorneys to work with the government to extend the settlement agreement yet again so that justice may have a chance. However, every extension of time delays the distribution of our settlement funds. Enough is enough. Further, there are a few tribal leaders in Indian Country, some with misguided intentions, who want to terminate the settlement for their own personal purposes.

Senator Barrasso (R – WY), Vice-Chairman, Senator Committee on Indian Affairs, has introduced an amendment that he says would “improve” the settlement agreement. However, the agreement provides that the settlement terminates if there are any changes to its terms. Senator Barrasso knows this and he knows that adoption of his amendment would kill the settlement. Why? He is playing Washington politics because the dirty truth is that he would vote against the current Senate bill even if his amendment is adopted.

Tribal leaders should know better (and most do) than to support a new Senator from Wyoming who rarely, if ever, has supported Indians. Senator Barrasso has made an effort to gain support from certain leaders in Indian Country for his amendment. He argues that his amendment really does not make significant changes to the settlement. Of course, most tribal leaders and individual Indian trust beneficiaries are not buying it. Still, there are a few wrong-headed tribal leaders who support his plan to kill our agreement. If your tribal leaders are voting to change the settlement in any way, they are helping Senator Barrasso kill our settlement and they are depriving you of your money. They do not deserve your vote and should be voted out of office if they stand for re-election. Have your friends and family demand that their tribal representatives support our settlement.

Understanding who is with us and who is against us is important because the National Congress of American Indians says that it will consider a resolution that would help Senator Barrasso kill the Cobell settlement during its conference June 20-23, 2010. If you don’t know whether your representative to NCAI is with you on Cobell, make sure you find out in advance. Any legislative changes to the settlement agreement will terminate the settlement.

Let me also stress that most tribal leaders support our settlement. I thank each of you for resisting the efforts of Senator Barrasso and his staff to undermine what we have achieved.

Will the Native American Bank hold the settlement funds or have any role in distribution? I am the Chair of Native American Bank and I have been asked whether Native American Bank would handle or otherwise be involved in the distribution of our settlement funds. The answer is no. The settlement agreement sets forth standards for selection of a federally insured depository institution that would hold and distribute the settlement funds. Only well capitalized commercial banks with trust powers are eligible for selection (and, the Native American Bank has no trust powers). Only banks with highly rated trust departments and proven experience and skill in the distribution of class action mega-settlements will be considered for this important task. We must be sure that prompt and accurate distributions are made by bankers who understand fully the nature and scope of their fiduciary duties to you. Anything less isn’t good enough.

Does this settlement resolve any future claims? No. The settlement agreement resolves only covered claims through September 30, 2009. It does not resolve any claims that may accrue after September 30, 2009. A list of claims not covered by the settlement agreement (e.g., pre-September 30, 2009 claims that may be brought against the government) can be reviewed here and here. For a complete list of claims, you should consult the settlement agreement.

What does settlement of the Cobell case mean for the tribes and tribal trust cases? Tribes are not parties in our case and would receive no funds from our settlement. Nevertheless, they are beneficiaries of our settlement. We have over 80 published decisions and an encyclopedia of factual findings that have been established in Cobell regarding the government’s trust duties, information technology security, and the destruction of trust records and information. Volumes have been written on the government’s breaches of trust. This material provides a free roadmap to litigation success and it is readily available to tribes in connection with their trust litigation against the government if they decide to actually litigate their cases. On the other hand, I understand that most tribal cases have been dormant (while they have observed our litigation) and their attorneys would prefer a quick settlement so they don’t need to spend the time and resources required to litigate effectively against the United States government. Nonetheless, such tribes and their attorneys are likely to be disappointed because it is also my understanding from conversations with senior Interior and Justice officials and certain tribal attorneys that there will be no settlement with any tribe if Cobell is not settled.

Finally, tribes will benefit directly from the $2 billion land consolidation program which would result in the largest restoration of land to Indian tribes in the history of the United States. It still amazes me that tribal leaders would oppose our multi-billion dollar settlement that so clearly benefits them and their members – even though they, themselves, didn’t do anything to help us. However, this is not the first time in our history that some of our leaders have decided to sacrifice individual Indian interests for their political gain. I am working hard to see that they fail and urge you to do the same.

Prior Ask Elouise letters can be found on the settlement website:
http://cobellsettlement.com/class/ask_elouise.php. We also have a “frequently asked questions” section while includes the most common questions we’ve received as well as questions and answers from prior Ask Elouise letters: http://cobellsettlement.com/press/faq.php. With so many members of the class, I can’t answer every question that you send. The Ask Elouise letters will answer as many questions as possible that are relevant to the entire class.

The most common question I receive every week relates to whether a particular person is included in this settlement. Unfortunately, I do not have that information. The settlement agreement provides general guidelines (see also http://cobellsettlement.com/press/faq.php), but I also understand that many of you have unique or unusual circumstances, which make it unclear to me whether you are included in the settlement class. For those of you who still have questions, I recommend that you register to receive all Court-ordered communications to ensure you do not miss important information. There is no need to register if you are receiving a quarterly IIM statement. The Court ultimately will determine who is included in this settlement. Registration information can be found at the end of this and every Ask Elouise letter.

If you are not currently receiving an IIM statement from the government, please remember to register for correspondence over the Internet or by calling the number below.

Internet: Telephone:

https://cert.tgcginc.com/iim/register.php 1-800-961-6109

If you have a question, send an e-mail to: askelouise@cobellsettlement.com. Otherwise you can send me a letter to the address below. To expedite the processing of your letters our contractor has set up a post office box in Ohio, but I assure you this letter is coming from me and I will see your letters.

Ask Elouise
Cobell Settlement
PO Box 9577
Dublin, OH 43017-4877

Thank you and keep your questions coming!

Best wishes

Elouise Cobell
Browning, Montana

great Green info … 2013

7.3 Pounds of plastic… Mostly pvc is in artificial trees

20 Is the number of years … We must reuse artificial trees before it lowers the carbon footprint, equal to a real tree

4000 Recycle centers nationwide … please find out where you can dispose of your Xmas tree this year for compost, woodchips for gardens and or  hiking trails.

600,00 Homes …Could be powered by energy used from Xmas tree lights every year, go to holidayleds.com and find out how to recycle your incandescent lights.

A 20% reduction in meat consumption… Would have the same impact as switching from a standard sedan to an ultra-efficient fuel car.

5000 gallons of water … Is the amount it would take to produce 1lb of wheat.

20%  of the worlds’ population…  Could be fed with the grain and soybeans used to feed US cattle.

4.5% … Is the number of greenhouse gases produced worldwide by animal farming than by transportation.

1500 miles … Is the average amount it takes to get food on our tables, the road trip takes tons of energy, the gas used to commute pollutes, buy, use and support your local farmer’s markets and community gardens

660 gallons… Is about how much water it takes to grow cotton for one T-shirt.if the shirt is coloured,a lrg amt of dye rinses off into factory wastewater,ends up in rivers and some dyes have carcinogens.

just more good info from LYBL and Eatingwell.com

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!

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:

• Wisconsin (D51, R46): Rep. TammyBaldwin was the lead sponsor of the Buffett Rule in the House of Representatives and made it a central element of her campaign, including in her advertising. Her opponent, Tommy Thompson, opposed the Buffett Rule, calling it “discriminatory.” He also ran on a tax plan that would lower taxes for the wealthy while raising them on the middle class and the poor. American Crossroads, Crossroads GPS and the Chamber of Commerce all spent heavily to define Baldwin as a “tax and spend” liberal; in fact, in the final two months these three groups spent over $3.6 million to attack Baldwin on her tax plans. Yet, fifty-two percent of Wisconsin voters said that taxes should be increased for those making over $250,000, according to exit polls (with another 12 percent supporting tax increases for all incomes and 32 percent against tax increases for high earners).

• 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.

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.

Honor and Recognitio​n Long Overdue

Lonnie Bunch, museum director, historian, lecturer, and author, is proud to present A Page from Our American Story, a regular on-line series for Museum supporters. It will showcase individuals and events in the African American experience, placing these stories in the context of a larger story — our American story. A Page From Our American Story Grave of CPL Freddie Stowers at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France. Freddie Stowers, the grandson of a South Carolina slave, holds a unique spot in America’s pantheon of war heroes — as the only African American awarded the Medal of Honor for service in World War I. Stowers’ story, however, must be told in two parts. The first part of the story is his act of heroism in 1918; the second part is that it took more than 72 years before Stowers finally received the recognition he was due. The United States was the last major combatant to enter World War I, the “war to end all wars.” The conflict began in Europe in 1914, but in the U.S., isolationist sentiments were strong resulting in a foreign policy of non-intervention. However, in April 1917, after a German U-boat sank the British ship Lusitania, killing 128 Americans on board, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany. Three months later, on July 3, 1917, American troops landed in France. Corporal Freddie Stowers came to France as part of the all-black Company C, 371st Regiment, 93rd Division that deployed in September, 1918. His service in France was short but courageous and memorable. More than 50 years after the Civil War, America’s military was still segregated. The French, however, had no such rules, and Stowers and Company C were sent to the front lines to serve alongside French troops. On September 28, just days after arriving in France, Stowers’ company was in the midst of an attack on Hill 188, Champagne Marne Sector, France, when enemy forces appeared to be giving up. According to the War Department, German soldiers emerged from their trenches waving a white flag, arms in the air — military actions that signal surrender. It was a ruse, however. As Americans, including Cpl. Stowers, went to capture the “surrendering” Germans, another wave of the enemy arose and opened fire. Very quickly, Company C’s lieutenant and non-commissioned officers were killed in the fight. This left the 21-year-old Stowers in command. Without hesitation, he implored his men to advance on the Germans. Stowers would be mortally shot during the exchange. Wounded and dying, Stowers continued to fight on, inspiring his men to push the enemy back. With Stowers leading the counter-attack, Americans took out an enemy machine gun position and went on to capture Hill 188. Following the battle, Stowers’ commanding officer nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but the nomination was never processed. The Pentagon said the paperwork was misplaced. Some raise the possibility that the nomination wasn’t misplaced at all, but deliberately lost. They point to the fact that American troops were segregated and suggest that racial bias in the military might be the reason for Stowers’ missing paperwork. The final part of Freddie Stowers’ story begins in 1990. As the Department of Defense began to modernize its data systems, it ordered a review of all battlefield medal nominations. When Stowers’ recommendation was found, the Pentagon quickly took action to give the corporal the long overdue recognition and honor he deserved. After the posthumous presentation of the Medal of Honor to the sisters of Corporal (CPL) Freddie Stowers by President George H. W. Bush, Mrs. Barbara Bush and Mary Bowens admire the Medal of Honor certificate. Ms Bowens is CPL Stowers’ sister. His other sister Georgina Palmer (far left) looks on. CPL Stowers is the only Black American to receive the Medal for action during World War I. Photo: Robert Ward, DOD PA, April 4, 1991. On April 24, 1991, more than 72 years after Stowers made the ultimate sacrifice for his nation, his sisters Georgiana Palmer and Mary Bowens, 88- and 77-years-old at the time, were presented his Medal of Honor by President George H. W. Bush. Long before Stowers was honored by his nation, he, along with other members of Company C, received recognition from the French government: “For extraordinary heroism under fire.” Stowers and his unit received the Croix de Guerre – the French War Cross — the highest military medal France awards to allied soldiers. Prior to World War I, 49 African Americans had been awarded the Medal of Honor, including 25 men who fought for the Union in the Civil War. There were 119 Medals of Honor recipients in World War I, with Stowers being the only African American. His long overdue recognition in 1991 is a small but important sign of the progress we as a nation have made. All the best, Lonnie Bunch Director P.S. We can only reach our $250 million goal with your help. I hope you will consider making a donation or becoming a Charter Member today.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the newest member of the Smithsonian Institution’s family of extraordinary museums. The museum will be far more than a collection of objects. The Museum will be a powerful, positive force in the national discussion about race and the important role African Americans have played in the American story — a museum that will make all Americans proud.