Congress Moves to Fast Track TPP, Threatening Human Health and Environment

More info on Fast Track and the TPP -- very undemocratic legislation and as for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal it is NOT a good deal for most Americans. We will bleed more jobs and flush our trade deficit deeper down the toilet. WHY is Barack Obama supporting it?!!?? Call 202-456-1111 to complain -- and call your Congressmembers. As Ed Schultz of @WeGotEd said, "Not a single trade deal in the last 40 years has benefitted US workers."

Read this: Congress Moves to Fast Track TPP, Threatening Human Health and Environment

Make the TPP Public and DON'T Fast-Track it!

Sign the Letter to the Congress members and the President which FREE PRESS Action Fund is co-sponsoring with RootsAction.

 

These are MY comments:

 

As a constituent, I urge you to make the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership public and to block any proposal for fast-track authorization. If they Fast-Track it, please commit to voting NO, no matter how the corporate toadies whip you.

 

We need protections for our US citizens, for our internet and online activities AND we need to have our US jobs protected AND our environment protected AND our FOOD protected: NO GMOs.

 

Sounds like you should be SAY NO to the TPP and stick up for We the People and NOT just corporations.

 

BOTTOM LINE: We need FAIR trade, NOT "free" trade AND we NEED an economy that works for ALL of us. 

 

THANK YOU for keeping me apprised of your position on the TPP.

 

 

                                               ### 

End of my comments: ACT, too, NOW. PLEASE. THANKS

Tweet Congress

Thanks to #Uppers Lindy Rose a/k/a @LindyRose1 for passing along this link of twitter handles for 113th Congress members, blogged by Adi at the StuffThought blog. This is an awesome tool for activists.

No More Bush Tax Cuts Extensions!

Let the Bush Tax Cuts expire (they were supposedly only there in the first place because the USA had a surplus, long gone -- and I am okay with them ALL expiring. Otherwise, Congress will be after the small pieces of the budget pie that benefit the 99% and we lose more than any benefit we'd get from any extension of the tax cut.

The big guys who really benefit from our country and its bounty ought to pay. They offshore their offices to avoid corporate taxes, and outsource the jobs to save money rather than paying US employees, and then use our tax system which the rest of us who still have jobs pay for. WE pay for the massive corporate use of our court systems while these corporations and their executives avoid paying taxes!!

Yes. Let Bush Tax Cuts expire -- and dial the White House comment line 202-456-1111 and tell PBO that We the People, at least We the 99%, benefit more by the tax cuts expiring.

Occupy Wall Street Note

Still have more catching up to do after a busy work day, but I WAS down to OccupyWallStreet Sunday afternoon and evening. Was drawn into the Political and Electoral Reform working group moderated by Jack Rabbit and Tim and had hoped to return last night but work intervened. I bless those who can just drop everything and go down there. Have pix but need to find time to post them. Must be off on new day but must tell you it WAS a great energy to be down at Liberty Square / Liberty Plaza (I've heard both used) -- Dr. Helen Caldicott and Jeff Madrick spoke to the Sunday evening GA: awesome. (I was wearing a green sweatshirt with an orange cat on it WITH political buttons if you see some older lady in any photos fyi.)

~~ cross posted at BlueRootsRadio.com

Petition / Letter - Shared Sacrifice: U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT)

America's Senator Bernie Sanders has followed up his hour and a half Senate Speech with a Letter to the President which YOU can sign. Join 98,464 others [current signature tally] and tell the President that we want TRUE Shared Sacrifice. Do not give in to Republican terrorism. Stand firm for the 90% of Americans who are NOT making it in today's economy. Furthermore, in Bernie's words:

...Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending....Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.

It is much easier to sign a Letter to the President then to have to hit the streets if the GOP have their way and massacre our 20th century Social Programs legacy.

Please at least READ THE WHOLE LETTER -- and if it speaks to your heart, sign it.

Thank you.

Marching in NYC for a Free Egypt

Marching in NYC for a Free Egypt
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Beautiful energy, spirit, and hope in this mass of people marching together for a Free Egypt over 42nd Street by Bryant Park and the NY Library (right)-- NYC March with the People of Egypt, Time Square to the Egyptian mission at 44th and Second Ave; Feb 4, 2011. Joining them after work was a small effort compared to theirs. Bless them in their effort to stay non-violent in the face of an abusive government. [One of 30 of my photos on Flickr - click pic to see larger and the others]

MORE from Fighting Bob Fest

UPDATE -- Just found another YouTube site with more from Fighting Bob Fest. Check out more great stuff at PABAKER55's channel: www.youtube.com/user/pabaker55. Huzzah! (FYI, Fighting Bob Fest is named after Wisconsin's great progressive, Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette.)

Open Message To President Barack Hoover Obama

The following message was left at the WhiteHouse.gov contact page for President Barack H. Obama -- and I am sad to say that the H is for Hoover, as in Barack Hoover Obama:

Have you become a Hoover Republican? The budget freeze is an absolute mistake which will make the registered Republicans and the Blue Dogs very happy and will do awful things to your legacy. I am supposed to be your base and you have totally deserted the issues I care about: true peace, economic justice, restoration of our democracy (cancelling the unpatriotic PATRIOT Act, ending torture, getting rid of Bush league government lawyers), and last but not least: REAL healthcare for all -- single payer (or at least a public option).

Enough. When are you going to give us the Change we can BELIEVE in -- and NOT this awful Bill-Clinton-like middle-ground mess? They call you a socialist anyway, give them (and me) THAT vision. Some socialistic problems that help everyone, not just the wealthy elite. THEN, I will thank you.

I've asked for a response. Let's see if I get one.

Quick Note to DCCC

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a request for a donation. In their envelope was returned this note:

Donate to campaigns of BLUE DOGS?
Muzzle the BLUE DOGS -- the awful Stupak Amendment & Where is the PUBLIC OPTION & Real Healthcare Reform? SINGLE PAYER? Where is Progressive Change?!?
-- And PEACE PLEASE!

More on Marriage Equality

Multimedia message
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

The 2nd photo from the marriage equality vigil at NY Senator Onorato's office. Folks were urged to call Senator Onorato at 518.455.3486 and leave a message with full name and address. "Say that you want a YES vote on marriage." This is more than marriage, however, it is a human rights issue

Writing the White House On-Line

Not getting through on the White House Comment Line -- 202-456-1111, I've called through the White House line: 202-456-1414 and have been transferred. BUT, I also urge people to WRITE a progressive message at the WhiteHouse.gov comment page. I left THIS comment:

Be a Roosevelt -- NOT a Clinton.

People before Profits -- any healthcare reform must NOT benefit the greedy insurance industry. We need Single Payer -- an expanded improved Medicare for All, or at least all who WANT it. The only compromise is an affordable comprehensive STRONG Public Option WITHOUT the need for extra insurance polices.

NOTE: Any healthcare reform without at least a strong public option is UNACCEPTABLE.

Basic healthcare should NOT be a matter of profit but available to ALL.

DO NOT BETRAY YOUR BASE

I pray God that President Obama gets the message and speaks to this next Wednesday.

Several friends have taken the Facebook Universal Healthcare poll, Are you in favor of a government run healthcare system? Yes. No. Maybe.

The poll puts me in a quandary. I commented to a friend's voting yes:

Government run? Like the Veteran's system? I'm more in favor of government PAID healthcare: single payer -- an expanded and improved Medicare for all. And I would consider the public option as a compromise position. What I do know is I want insurance companies OUT. The profit motive has no place in healing. And the health industry is paying $1.3 million a day in lobbying that it keeps its greedy hold over peoples lives. If I take the poll I have to lie and say yes or my vote would likely be misinterpreted. We absolutely need affordable comprehensive healthcare for all -- and it really shouldn't be tied to jobs. Now let's all call Congress and tell them so including Blue Dog Dem Mike Ross from Arkansas. Thanks for caring, Brandon!

So now, do I take the poll to build momentum and misrepresent my position? I am not opposed to the Veterans Hospital system -- I don't think we need it over-all. Just expand and improve Medicare, congress! Now, to contact congress AGAIN. (And maybe I will call Mike Ross who needs to know his Blue Dog naysaying is affecting us all.)

Rachel Maddow: Indefinite detention? Shame on you... President Obama

Should we give to President Obama an authority we wouldn't trust to a President Bush or future Republican presidents? The policy of "preventive detention' is scary and leads us down a very slippery slope. I didn't vote for President Obama to have him legalize thought crimes or try to read my or anyone's mind. This is an outrage to traditional American values and sounds like something out of a scary science fiction movie. NO to preventive detention. (And how many people of color or liberals would be locked up by certain others following a variant of this policy??) No. No. No.

I have left the above comment on the White House comment form and urge others to do likewise and contact Congress, too. (Thanks, FireDogLake for the Rachel Maddow YouTube clip.) For more info, google and search Twitter, but also check out Glenn Greenwald here and here, especially and listen to his iTunes podcast with ACLU Attorney Ben Wizner on the subject. Also for clarity/focus/comments read Behind Blue Eyes' Obama Proposes Indefinite Preventive Detention without trial.   And remember to check for terms indefinite detention and prolonged detention. Bottom line: This is not peace-keeping, this is democracy erosion. I want my country back not a fascist America or a daddy state. Act, please.

Ridgewood Democratic Club Dinner on June 10th

Please consider supporting the Ridgewood Democratic Club Dinner to be held June 10, 2009. (FYI, Kate Ann a/k/a Kate Anne is one of the honorees with a community service award.) Buy a journal ad and/or come. Download the form for details.

Thanks!

Traitor Dems Cause Foreclosure Bill to go Down

Bank lobbyists persuaded traitorous conservative Democratic senators to vote against American homeowners this past week in Dick Durbin's bill which would have allowed judges to have mortgages renegotiated for Americans facing foreclosure on their mortgages on their initial homes, just like the wealthy can have done on their mortgages on second homes. Huffington Post listed their names and contact info after Arianna Huffington appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Call and tell the senators what you think of their traitorous votes (and tell them you are donating to their primary opposition -- then do it!):

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) (202) 224-2651
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) (202) 224-5852
Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) (202) 224-3954
Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) (202) 224-2441
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) (202) 224-2551
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) (202) 224-5842
Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) (202) 224-5824
Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) (202) 224-4843
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) (202) 224-6551
Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) (202) 224-2353
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA) (202) 224-4254
Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) (202) 224-2644

Reporting on Huffington Post, Ryan Grim documented the dollar amounts these traitors received from the banks -- in essence TAX payer stimulus money -- ARGH

Rev. Lawson on Today's Economic Crisis

Laura Flanders of GritTV and Firedog Lake did an excellent interview of Civil Rights great Rev. James Lawson at the March on Wall Street this past Saturday. He contends that there is a link between plantation capitalism and our current economic crisis.

Thom Hartmann: GOP 2:1 Presence on TV

Why are the Republicans still two to one on TV, even since Obama has become president? Perhaps we should be directing this question to the TV networks, particularly since in the Bush days when we asked about GOP domination in guest spots they told us it was because the Republicans were in power. They are not in power now but the Republicans are still being given the benefits of the bully pulpit. Boo hiss! But don't just bitch, speak up!

Tell Barack OUR vision

Please read Heather Wokusch's piece at CommonDreams.org: You're Scaring Me, Obama: Let the Bush Years Die (also found at her own site) and then follow her lead and TELL BARACK AND HIS TEAM OUR VISION at Change.gov. Yes, Barack's made some appointments I am not thrilled about, but perhaps he has read his team the riot act about the need to follow OUR vision.

I'm all for staying positive, like Code Pink, who has admitted to being part of the fake New York Times episode. Now they are pushing all sorts of POSITIVE Actions relegating War to the Dustbin of History.

The nay sayers on both sides are out there pushing their negativity. WE SAY, "Yes, we can!" Let's push for our positive vision of the U.S. and the World, TELL OBAMA our VISION, and MAKE HIM DO IT!!! Thanks for YOUR help.

Erin go Barack!

Erin go Barack!
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Brent O'Leary and Irish American Democrats in New York City made calls on Tuesday night to Ohio Irish Americans in support of Barack Obama. We had some great conversations and sent blessings to our Ohio brethren.