Congress is forcing the Army to spend nearly half a billion dollars building tanks that officials insist they dont want, with money they say could be…
In the Being Biden audio series, Vice President Biden tells the story behind a photo — of where he was, why it matters to him, and how the experience fits into the broader narrative of this Administration.
In this installment, the Vice President tells the story behind a photo taken with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backstage at the Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards. The two discussed their shared commitment to reduce violence against women — and their call for all Americans to continue to speak out on this issue.
Universal Background Checks for Gun Purchases: The Senate Judiciary Committee is working on gun violence prevention legislation as we speak and is expected to advance a universal background check bill to the full Senate as soon as tomorrow. This is a no brainer. Not only would this be the most effective policy to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, it’s supported by nearly everyone. The most recent poll, out just today, finds that 88 percent support universal background checks — including 85 percent of gun-owning households. Other polls have shown support of over 90 percent.
Job-Creating Infrastructure Investments: A majority of Americans support making investments to repair and replace our deteriorating national infrastructure — investments that could create hundreds of thousands of jobs. In fact, investmenting in our roads, bridges, airports, and other infrastructure was the most popular job creation policy. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly voted down such proposals in recent years, citing their unwillingness to finance them using tax hikes on the wealthy and corporate special interests like Big Oil.
Pathway to Earned Citizenship: A pathway to earned citizenship is an integral part of reforming our broken immigration system and bringing the 11 MILLION undocumented immigrants already here out of the shadows. Even 60 percent of Republicans support a pathway to earned citizenship, which receives the support of 70 percent of all Americans.
Expanded Early Childhood Education: In his State of the Union speech, the president proposed universal pre-kindergarten for every four year-old and a significant expansion of other early childhood education programs. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of Americans support making these kind of vital investments in our children — investments which come with significant returns.
BOTTOM LINE: Support for progressive ideas and values isn’t limited to Democrats or the left side of the political spectrum. Most progressive policies enjoy broad, bipartisan support and are simply mainstream views held by a majority of Americans. By contrast, conservatives are clinging to an ideology and views that are seen as extreme and out of touch by a majority of Americans.
Evening Brief: Important Stories That You Might’ve Missed
Tomorrow is International Women’s Day. It’s a day to celebrate the potential of women and girls. To do amazing things. To change the world.
With activists this passionate, there was no way the threat of a massive snowstorm or even the weather shutting down the government could stop us. Right now, hundreds of CARE supporters like you are helping nurture this potential by meeting on Capitol Hill and demanding a change to the status quo – and an end to brutal violence against women and girls.
As someone who shares my belief in the power of women, as well as my horror at the epidemic of senseless, brutal attacks on little girls, mothers, and grandmothers – I hope you’ll do one more thing for women this week: Share this image on Facebook in honor of International Women’s Day, and all of the women and girls who are needless victims of violence and abuse. Or simply forward this email.
Whether it’s demanding change from our leaders, working with women AND men to shift attitudes, or preventing gender-based violence or treating its survivors – CARE is determined to create a better world – one where girls and women don’t have to live in fear and shame.
We must make it impossible for our friends, family, and neighbors to ignore these women or their suffering. We must stand up for women all around the world who are threatened and harmed behind closed doors or even out in the open. We must make visible what has become an invisible, but heartbreaking truth.
With less than a week to go before the first election under Kenyas new constitution, fear and speculation are at an all-time high that what happened in… read more
You might think that laypeople are hard to convince when it comes to talking about climate change and related phenomena, like ocean acidification, but in…
An 18-year-old woman who says she was drugged and raped in a motel in west Edmonton in mid-February instead found herself arrested and denied medical care. read more
2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States. Widespread drought, wildfires and extreme heat affected human health and caused food prices to… read more
President Obama urges Congress to stop the sequester — the harmful automatic cuts that threaten thousands of jobs and affect our national security from taking effect on March 1.
Tell Congress to do what is right for ALL victims of Domestic Violence.
What better way for members of the House of Representatives to show ALL victims of domestic violence that as Public Servants, they support and protect the right to live a decent life which includes the pursuit of happiness by passing the Senate version of VAWA S.1925.
The fact is the Violence Against Women’s Act has always passed in both Chambers without a problem is well known, though the Republican led House chose to show overt prejudice against Native Alaskan, Native Americans, Undocumented and LGBT Americans when it rejected VAWA on March 30, 2012.
However, Republicans have yet another opportunity to do what is right. Tell your Republican member of Congress to be on the right side of History and pass the Senate version of #VAWA that protects all victims of these crimes, regardless of their age, gender, race, sexuality, or faith. The mission to continue that conservative party line lives on and seems to insist on taking, stripping, yanking, cutting, slashing away personal power while yelling that they want smaller Government and it defies what Americans are about . Teapublicans in Congress, a small coalition, have made a choice to attack social issues, the decision to go out of their way to filibuster the economy is beyond my understanding.
If you believe Americans have A RIGHT to experience equality in all its forms: voter, union, women’s, gender, minority, and gay RIGHTs -along with more than a splash of compassion for the poor think about the Violence Against Women Act and how it might be affecting your family friends neighbors or co-workers.
President Obama and his administration changed the definition of rape to help more people
Please show support for S.1925, Call your member of Congress Tell them to PASS #VAWA -
A lot of misinformation is being circulated by the bills detractors about S. 1925, the real #VAWA.
Read below for the facts !
(1) Since #VAWA first passed, the number of individuals killed by an intimate partner has decreased by 34% for women and 57% for men. #VAWA has saved lives while saving money, saving $12.6 billion in its first 6 years alone.
(2) S. 1925 saves money by consolidating and repealing more than 15 programs, ensuring more funding will go directly to needed victim services rather than grant administration.
(3) S. 1925 adopts almost word-for-word the accountability measures developed by Senator Grassley for the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act.
(4) S. 1925 does not create “new victims” or support “special interests”. The real #VAWA protects all victims of these crimes, regardless of their age, gender, race, citizenship, sexuality, or faith.
(5) Our nation must not say, “There are too many victims” or “You are not the ‘right’ kind of victim”. All victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking deserve help. That is what S. 1925, the real VAWA, does. It’s time – way past time — to do much more to stop this violence, and to protect victims from all walks of life including:
The U.S. tax code contains many preferences that lower or eliminate the amount of taxes owed. Those preferences include deductions, exclusions, and tax credits, which can be either refundable or nonrefundable. Refundable tax credits differ from other preferences in a significant way: Whereas other preferences reduce the amount of taxes owed to the government, refundable credits can result in net payments from the government.
Below is an email from Alex Vanderweele from the organization EarthJustice, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.
The critically endangered population of Pacific Northwest orcas has been reduced to only 84 whales. Now, they face a new threat from anti-environmental groups seeking to strip away their Endangered Species Act protections.
These unique marine mammals have been decimated by the decline of salmon—their primary prey—and by toxic pollution and habitat degradation from shipping, sonar, and other human activities. They need more, not less, protection.
Please voice your support for continuing vital protections for the Pacific Northwest’s irreplaceable killer whales by signing the petition I created on SignOn.org to the Protected Resources Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which says:
I support continued protections for southern resident killer whales under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Removing ESA protections that the orcas vitally need not only threatens the survival of this fragile population, it would also needlessly disrupt and undermine recovery efforts that demand more—not less—attention.
This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. EarthJustice didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.
