Just look at what the GOTea party did on the floor of the House yesterday. They denied, after nine long years, health care coverage to 9/11 victims. That’s beyond sad. That’s criminal. Is Rep. Weiner “over the top” in this video? No. He is right to be outraged and should be commended for standing up for the 9/11 victims and heroes.
Obviously, those members of the GOTea party who voted “No” on this bill care more about their misguided ideology to go against their Commander-in-Chief at all costs, and to support their big donors from special interests
While the GOP holds fast to doing everything they can to disrupt the day to day progress of conducting business in this country, there are folks on the other side of the aisle ceaselessly working for change. Rep. Lynn Woolsey, new president of Americans for Democratic Action, has introduced H.R. 5808 to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish a public health insurance option.
Remember the bitter fights over the public option by special interests groups last summer? The steamy town hall meetings on health care reform that brought to the forefront the deep seeded hate mongering that those who seek only to gain money at the expense of the American people stirred up.
U.S HOUSE POISED TO CONSIDER NAACP SUPPORTED LEGISLATION REDUCING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN CRACK COCAINE AND POWDER COCAINE SENTENCING DISPARITY TODAY
Crucial Bill Begins Reducing Sentencing disparity from 100:1 to 18:1
THE ISSUE:
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to consider S. 1789 TODAY, Wednesday, July 28, 2010, the Fair Sentencing Act of 2009 which would reduce the mandatory minimum sentence for a federal conviction of crack cocaine possession from 100 times that of people convicted of carrying the drug in powdered form to 18 times the sentence. This compromise legislation passed the United States Senate late in the evening of Wednesday, March 17, 2010, by unanimous consent (without a recorded vote). The NAACP supports this legislation as an important first step toward completely eliminating this racially discriminatory sentencing disparity.
Congressman Jim himes sent out this alert seeking assistance for victims of the storm and for Bridgeport’s and Stamford’s food pantries which experience fewer donations during the summer months when folks are out of town.
Dear Friends,
With many people out of town during the summer, food pantries have been struggling to keep supplied. This has been particularly problematic for Bridgeport’s food pantries, especially after the tornado. I recently received an email from the Bridgeport Rescue Mission asking for help. I turn to you, as involved and concerned supporters, to help our neighbors in need. We will be holding food drives at our Campaign Headquarters in Bridgeport (350 Fairfield Avenue) and the Democratic Headquarters in Stamford (123 High Ridge Road) for the next two weeks. You can drop off cans on your way to or from work or when you come in to volunteer. The contact for Bridgeport is Aaron Turner aaron@himesforcongress.com, and the contact for Stamford is Cara Pavlock cpavlock@gmail.com.
Below is the list of items that the Bridgeport Rescue Mission said they needed most:
It looks like every week we get — and I send — requests to call our legislators to support one action after another. That’s fine. We’re engaged and need to stay engaged.
But after listening to Congressman John “The Tanned One” Boehner talk about repealing the financial reform bill, I think it is time for us to call him and tell him his favorite word, “NO. The American people WANT financial reform. We will not go back to the way things were.”
Here’s his number (202) 225-6205.Call Boehner and just say NO to repealing financial reform. Call today. Call often.
“I think it ought to be repealed,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, in response to a question from TPMDC, at his weekly press conference this morning. TPM July 15, 2010 [....]
As early as Tuesday, July 20, the Senate will likely vote on The Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 5618), a bill that would extend unemployment insurance benefits to laid-off workers through the end of November 2010.
The level of long-term joblessness is staggering. In May, up to 46 percent of the unemployed had been out of work for more than 6 months. And while overall unemployment is at 9.7 percent, a level not seen since the deep recession of the early 1980′s, conditions are especially bleak for minorities, women, and low-income communities, with the jobless rates soaring into double digits. Without even the minimal income that unemployment insurance benefits provide, the risks to family stability, health, and safety are dangerously high.
Yesterday, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game showcased the diversity of the game, with many Latino and African-American players on the field. On Monday, Dominican player David Ortiz won the Home Run Derby, beating the top home run hitters in the game.
Although the league is currently reflective of diversity, the location of next year’s All-Star Game does not reflect the values of inclusion. The 2011 All-Star game is scheduled to be played in Phoenix, Arizona, where a new law, SB 1070, allows the police to stop anyone they “suspect” of being an undocumented immigrant. This means that many of Major League Baseball’s star players, their families, and their fans, would be subject to discrimination and racial profiling in Arizona. Several Major League Baseball players have already said they will not play in the 2011 All-Star game next year if it is held in Arizona.
I received this important message from NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous, reaching out to all Americans to “repudiate racism within the tea party.” We cannot afford to allow the tea party to divide our country. I am urging everyone to sign this pledge and join me in supporting the NAACP’s efforts to stop hate. I have also added a video of a short clip for the recent NAACP convention, which is critical to watch.
We are not backing down.
Yesterday, the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the racist acts of Tea Party protesters. The backlash from the Tea Party has been furious.
But we are not an organization that shies away from controversy. The NAACP was founded on hope, not hate — and we will not stand idly by as racists work to divide our nation.
Add your name to our pledge to unify America and stop the racism:
As I watched local news reports on the “highlight” of the candidate debate last night at Hartford’s public library, I was dismayed that the “highlight” of the evening was the mud slinging; especially one candidate accusing the other of being involved in a police investigation. The candidate did not offer up why there was an investigation, but decided to summon Hartford’s police commissioner to come to the podium and tell all. What grandstanding!
The mud is getting so thick, one needs to wear heavy-duty rain gear before attending one of these debates. Connecticut’s getting so good at this, we could teach the likes of swift boat advertisers a thing or two. Its as if the next step will be to have candidates come out in gladiator gear and act like they were on a really bad episode of WWE Raw. [SIDEBAR: In all fairness, there is one candidate in our state where no amount of mud could suffice what is happening for real in this candidate's professional life, Linda McMahon. Poor Linda, one does not have to look hard to find the dirt; she's covered in it from head to toe.]
Wash away the mud and what are you left with? No jobs, an insurance industry that is sucking the life out of us by outsourcing jobs to other countries, and a public school system where failure is the norm. The US high school drop out rate is at 20.3%. In Hartford, the drop out rate for low-income students is 41.1% (2009), but I guess that’s not sexy enough to capture our attention.
On Friday, Keith Olbermann reported: “A new coalition…has launched a site called BPMakesMeSick dot com, petitioning President Obama to make BP give [Gulf clean-up] workers respirators.”
Today, Mother Jones wrote about our coalition under this headline: “Where Are The Respirators?”
We have momentum — our coalition’s been reported on by the New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, Baton Rouge Advocate, Louisiana Clear Channel, Mother Jones, Huffington Post, and many others. (Media links here.)
Just today, the 11th member of Congress endorsed our coalition — joining Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Gulf fisherman, dozens of congressional candidates, and others. (See coalition here.)
FOX is up to its old race-baiting tricks. But this time, CNN is repeating FOX’s distortions and taking them mainstream.
FOX is claiming that under President Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is refusing to prosecute voting rights offenses when the victims are White and the perpetrators are Black.[1] It’s a bogus story based on the allegations of one former Republican DOJ attorney, and it sidesteps a mountain of facts.[2]
The following is an open letter opposing Linda McMahon’s candidacy for US Senate representing Connecticut. Watch the video and you’ll understand why.
An Open Letter:
As mothers, grandmothers, daughters, and sisters, we are compelled to voice our strong opposition to the candidacy of former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate. (Note: the following video below is explicit and disgusting.)
Okay, so let’s get this right. Mike Jarjura, the anti-choice, anti-gay rights candidate for State Comptroller has qualified for the public financing program while the candidate who shares our ideals and principles is still short of what he needs. Everyone – the time has come to act – if you haven’t donated to Kevin Lembo – do so now – if you have – go back and give up to the maximum amount of $100 per person
The Democratic Primary for State Comptroller could not offer a more stark contrast. Waterbury Mayor Mike Jarjura is an advisor to and has been endorsed by the anti-choice, anti-gay Marriage Family Institute of Connecticut.
Kevin Lembo served for seven years as an assistant state Comptroller, and since 2004, he has been the state’s Healthcare Advocate, helping patients and families fight insurance companies’ denials of claims and coverage.
This is an extremely serious situation. Please go donate – NOW – to Kevin’s campaign.
