Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts

December 11, 2013

Protestors In Rep. Paul Ryan's Office Demanding a Budget for People, Peace, and Planet

Originally posted at AcronymTV




Only hours before Paul Ryan and Patty Murray announced that they reached a two year budget agreement (The BiPartisan Budget Act of 2013), representatives from a broad coalition demanding a budget that would cut military expenditures in order to increase funding for a wide range of domestic programs called on Congressional leaders to craft a budget for people, peace and the planet.

Now, because this broad coalition included over a hundred peace, anti-hunger, anti-poverty, environmental and community groups it is almost universally ignored within the walls of Congress. That is one reason why part of that call came in the form of an unscheduled visit to the office of Paul Ryan and Patty Murray.

David Swanson, writing at War is a Crime points out, the Murray Ryan Budget deal, which sets aside more than 50% of the 2014 budget for the military budget is an unbelievable outrage to churn out on International Human Rights Day while numerous members of Congress were off in South Africa claiming to support the use of nonviolence to effect change in the world.  At a press conference before the office visits, speakers representing a Budget for People, Peace and the planet spoke to the media.

Speakers at the news conference included the following: Jill Stein, Green Shadow Cabinet; Cheri Honkala, Liz Ortiz, and Glen Davis of the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign; David Swanson, Roots Action; Mark Dunlea, Hunger Action Network of New York State; Dr. David Schwartzman, Professor Emeritus Howard University and community activist.



tags

Budget, Budget deal, Sequestration, Congress, budget, Sequester Victims, Budget agreement, Paul Ryan Budget, budget cuts, military spending, Protesting budget, Hunger, Jill Stein, Muray Ryan budget, Paul Ryan, Green Shadow Cabinet, Budget Deal, Bipartisan budget deal, Budget cuts, Patty Murray Budget, Cheri Honkala, Liz Ortiz,Glen Davis, David Swanson, Acronym TV, Dennis Trainor Jr, Mark Dunlea, protests, protestors,

August 31, 2012

Paula Bradshaw on Global Warming, and running for US Congress as a Green



"Greens are often criticized of not living in the real world. According to these critics the real world is one of money, profit, real estate speculation, resource extraction, and Wall Street riches. It's a world in which once the fish are dead, and so are the corn, then we can eat money. You have to wonder 'what planet are they from?' Well, I'm from THIS planet and I'm a member of the reality-based community. I know our lives are dependent on the ecosystem of which we are a part."

-- Paula Bradshaw, candidate for US Congress, Illinois 12th district



After the Debate:

August 5, 2012

Should Obama and Congress be arrested under NDAA for supporting Al Quida?




Welcome to the beautiful and surreal reality of life under American corporatism, under a Congress that churns out thousands and thousands of pages of (often contradictory) legislation a year.

If providing material assistance to al-Qaeda is illegal under the National Defence Authorization Act (2012), and Obama and Congress are sending $25 million of aid to al-Qaeda-affiliated Syrian opposition, aren’t Congress and President Obama violating their own law? Should Obama (or at least the Justice Department) not be using “all necessary and appropriate force” including “the power to indefinitely detain” to prevent Obama and Congress from assisting al-Qaeda? Did anyone in Congress or the Obama administration even bother to read the law that they were signing?

Do Federal laws no longer apply to lawmakers?


March 23, 2012

Senate Bill to Ban Congressional Insider Trading Is Useful, But Timid

Statement of Craig Holman, Government Affairs Lobbyist, Public Citizen



One step forward was the name of the game today in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today followed the footsteps of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in both substance and procedure by forcing the Senate to approve a watered-down bill banning congressional insider trading without any chance for amendments to strengthen the measure. It is a victory of sorts – the legislation clearly applies the laws against insider trading to Congress for the first time, and provides a system of near real-time disclosure on stock trading by Congress to help enforce the law.

But it is also a missed opportunity for more sweeping ethics reforms.

Prompted by the leadership of Sens. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Senate more than a month ago approved by a 96-3 vote a strong “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge” (STOCK) Act that would have banned congressional insider trading, required political intelligence operatives who prowl the halls of Congress for information to use in stock trading to disclose their clients and activities, and provided the means to enforce ethics laws in the courts.

Wall Street rallied to block the political-intel provision and found a friend in Cantor, a leading beneficiary of its campaign largesse. In a brazen parliamentary maneuver, Cantor pulled the strong STOCK Act, stripped it of the political intelligence and anti-corruption enforcement provisions and brought his substitute measure to the floor under rules prohibiting any amendments. The watered-down House bill was sent back to Reid, who today did much the same thing in the Senate chamber.

Make no mistake: the legislation is a big step forward. But Congress had a chance to do something grander.

Reps. Timothy Walz (D-Minn.) and Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) already have introduced separate legislation to enact the political intelligence and anti-corruption enforcement provisions, and similar legislation is expected to be introduced in the Senate with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joining Grassley and Leahy. Public Citizen dearly looks forward to helping these members press in the near future for what should have been law today.

January 19, 2012

AnnoyYour Congresspeople from Home



You know how annoying it is to get robocalls from presidential, congressional, etc campaigns? Well, since your congresspeople like robocalls so much, why not use their own most annoying fundraising tool to call congress?

You can record a message ahead of time, and then send it to every member of congress. It's like being able to be here to lobby, without ever having to leave home, get time off from work, or find a sitter for the kids.

ReverseRoboCall.com

November 27, 2011

60 minutes: Congress and Inside Trading

This is not a GOP vs DNC problem. They BOTH do it. And it SHOULD be ILLEGAL.

THIS is why it makes equal sense to Occupy both DC and Wall Street.



h/t @NaomiWolf

April 24, 2011

The Citizen's Filibuster by Peaceful Uprising



YES.

There's something magical about this. The idea that the simple act of a few people singing could bring things to a screeching halt. More proof that you don't need bombs or guns.

Art is the most effective tool in our arsenal.

9 young activists interrupted the proceedings in the US House by singing one at a time. As each activist was detained and taken out, another began and Congress was forced to pause their proceedings. They sang the following words to the tune of the Star Spangled Banner:

"Oh why can't you see
It's my life that's at stake
When you sell out our world
You are stealing my future
Can you look in my eyes
As you gamble our lives
When will you stop the lies
So that we can survive?
If you represent me
Not the fossil fuel industry
You must stop wasting time
Chasing your dollar signs
Oh, say will you listen to
Our generation
If you refuse to hear us now
Then we have to shut you down"

February 5, 2011

The Punk Patriot Performs an Experiment



Hi there. It’s been a while.
I’m a little fuzzier than last time we talked. I know you might have liked me better clean-shaven, but it’s cold outside, so I ask that you just put up with it.

So a little housekeeping to start. I want to point out that in a past video, I said that congress would never pass a repeal of DADT. Some of you asked that I make a retraction. So here it is: I was wrong about that, and I’m glad to be wrong about that. Now I can say things like “Shouldn’t all our soldiers be allowed to marry whomever they want?”

However, I don’t feel I’m wrong that both parties use wedge issues to fire up their base, and that neither party actually cares about these wedge issues. When Republicans rail against illegal immigration, and then it turns out that they have illegal immigrants working at their mansions as full time staff, that’s not hypocrisy. That’s just flat contempt for the stupidity of the voting population. When Democrats say that they care about poor people, but refuse to talk about Single Payer healthcare, or a living wage, that’s not their playing to the middle. They just don’t care. They’ve got corporate dollars to chase after so that they can fight the next election battle. Which brings me to another point I would like to develop more in a later video-- the real power center of the USA isn’t in Washington, DC. Those familiar with the term, “Soft Power” will recognize that the place where the bulk of the nation’s decisions are actually made is on Wall Street, in New York City. Protesting in Washington DC to be heard by congress or the President, is like yelling at a McDonald’s cashier about the rain forests being cleared for cattle in Brazil. It might make you feel better, but the kid behind the counter isn’t the person making the decisions for the company. He’s only there because that’s where he gets his paycheck. His job is to sell you on the idea of buying the apple pie... which isn’t even really an apple pie, but some sort of strudel in a cardboard box. and Ain’t that America?

One more item of housekeeping. This video is sort of an experiment. I want to see if actually want me to keep making these videos or not. If you do, please subscribe over at my blog for whatever level is right for you. We can work together on this. If I can get say, 60 people to subscribe at $10 a month (that’s $2.5 a week) I’ll be able to afford to quit my job, where I’m currently working 54hrs a week, and find part time work. I can also start making a Punk Patriot video every week.
Currently, I have 5 subscribers at the $10 a month level. They are awesome people who get it. Thank you to: Maike Both, Patti Ellis, Jason Dawson, Michelle Duffy, and Billie Rae Lucoff.

Others are saying, “Wait! Didn’t you get rich with your YouTube Partnership and your thousands of views on your last few videos?”

No. Due to a glitch, google ad-sense never linked with my YouTube channel, and I was never able to collect my massive monthly paycheck of a whopping 38 cents in ad revenue.

And now some of you kids who think everything on the internet should be free, I want to tell you something-- things in real life aren’t free. And if I’m going to work all the time so that I can afford to stay alive, then I won’t have time to make videos. So if you’re okay with that, please don’t donate, and I’ll go away.

November 3, 2010

Boehner sure did promise a lot...

Boehner certainly promised a lot in his speech. "Cutting spending," eh? So that means we're ending the 3 trillion dollar wars, right?

"Changing how government works, to make it responsive to the people..."
So that means you're pushing to adopt Mike Gravel's proposed National Referendum, right?

"Shrinking the size of government" are you? "Getting the government off our backs" are you?
So no more roving wiretaps on US citizens? Closing Guantanamo bay? Cutting the Pentagon's budget?

"Putting small businesses back to work" are you? You're doing that? Wouldn't that mean the government would have to intervene? Starting things out by contradicting yourself within the same paragraph: What a great start to the next congress.

PS Did he sound like he was half-in-the-bag drunk to anybody else but me? --Maybe that's why he started crying for no goddamned reason?

August 5, 2010

The following people are assholes who should lose their next election:

This is audience supported media. Please help keep it going





So H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation act of 2010 would have paid for healthcare for first responders who are dying as a direct result of the fact that they were first responders on 9/11/2001.

"How would they pay for this entitlment?" you might ask. Well, they were going to pay for it by closing the tax loophole that allows billion dollar corporations to avoid paying taxes on income earned in the US by setting up PO boxes in other countries.

This bill was pretty fucking amazing. No fucked-up riders, no blatant gifts to private interests... So there's obviously no way this bill is going to get through congress alive.

First off, the Democrats used a proceedure that required a 2/3rds vote.
Second, our congress is populated with America-hating, heartless assholes who should be shoved in a dark closet, and locked inside without access to light, food, or water.

How many heartless assholes? 159 heartless assholes. That's how many.

These are their names, congressional districts, and party affiliation. Let's be sure that they lose their next election. Democrats who voted Nay are in bold:
Jo Bonner AL-1
Bobby Bright AL-2
Michael Rogers AL-3
Robert Aderholt AL-4
Spencer Bachus AL-6
Trent Franks AZ-2
Jeff Flake AZ-6
Robert Berry AR-1
John Boozman AR-3
Walter Herger CA-2
Daniel Lungren CA-3
Tom McClintock CA-4
Devin Nunes CA-21
Elton Gallegly CA-24
Howard McKeon CA-25
David Dreier CA-26
Edward Royce CA-40
Jerry Lewis CA-41
Gary Miller CA-42
Ken Calvert CA-44
Mary Bono-Mack CA-45
Dana Rohrabacher CA-46
John Campbell CA-48
Darrell Issa CA-49
Brian Bilbray CA-50
Duncan Hunter CA-52
Doug Lamborn CO-5
Mike Coffman CO-6
Michael Castle DE
Jeff Miller FL-1
Ander Crenshaw FL-4
Virginia Brown-Waite FL-5
Clifford Stearns FL-6
John Mica FL-7
Gus Bilirakis FL-9
Adam Putnam FL-12
Vern Buchanan FL-13
Connie Mack FL-14
Bill Posey FL-15
Thomas Rooney FL-16
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen FL-18
Lincoln Diaz-Balart FL-21
Mario Diaz-Balart FL-25
Jack Kingston GA-1
Lynn Westmoreland GA-3
Tom Price GA-6
Paul Broun GA-10
John Gingrey GA-11
Charles Djou HI-1
Michael Simpson ID-2
Peter Roskam IL-6
Melissa Bean IL-8
Judy Biggert IL-13
Timothy Johnson IL-15
Donald Manzullo IL-16
Aaron Schock IL-18
John Shimkus IL-19
Stephen Buyer IN-4
Dan Burton IN-5
Mike Pence IN-6
Thomas Latham IA-4
Steve King IA-5
Lynn Jenkins KS-2
Edward Whitfield KY-1
Geoff Davis KY-4
Harold Rogers KY-5
Steve Scalise LA-1
John Fleming LA-4
Rodney Alexander LA-5
Bill Cassidy LA-6
Charlse Boustany LA-7
Roscoe Bartlett MD-6
Vernon Ehlers MI-3
David Camp MI-4
Frederick Upton MI-6
Michael Rogers MI-8
Thaddeus McCotter MI-11
John Kline MN-2
Erik Paulsen MN-3
Michele Bachmann MN-6
Gregg Harper MS-3
Samuel Graves MO-6
Roy Blunt MO-7
Jo Ann Emmerson MO-8
Blaine Luetkemeyer MO-9
Dennis Rehberg MT
Jefferey Fortenberry NE-1
Lee Terry NE-2
Adrian Smith NE-3
Dean Heller NV-2
Scott Garrett NJ-5
Christopher Lee NY-26
Virginia Foxx NC-5
Howard Coble NC-6
Sue Myrick NC-9
Patrick McHenry NC-10
Jean Scmidt OH-2
Michael Turner OH-3
Jim Jordan OH-4
Robert Latta OH-5
Steve Austria OH-7
John Boehner OH-8
Patrick Tiberi OH-12
Steven LaTourette OH-14
John Sullivan OK-1
Frank Lucas OK-3
Tom Cole OK-4
Mary Fallin OK-5
Greg Walden OR-2
Glenn Thompson PA-5
Jim Gerlach PA-6
William Shuster PA-9
Joseph Pitts PA-16
Todd Platts PA-19
Henry Brown SC-1
Addison Wilson SC-2
James Barrett SC-3
Bob Inglis SC-4
Phil Roe TN-1
John Duncan TN-2
Jim Cooper TN-5
Marsha Blackburn TN-7
Louis Gohmert TX-1
Ted Poe TX-2
Samuel Johnson TX-3
Ralph Hall TX-4
Jeb Hensarling TX-5
Joe Barton TX-6
John Culberson TX-7
Kevin Brady TX-8
Michael McCaul TX-10
K. Conaway TX-11
Kay Granger TX-12
William Thornberry TX-13
Ron Paul TX-14
Randy Neugebauer TX-19
Lamar Smith TX-21
Pete Olson TX-22
Kenny Marchant TX-24
Michael Burgess TX-26
John Carter TX-31
Peter Sessions TX-32
Rob Bishop UT-1
Jason Chaffetz UT-3
Rob Wittman VA-1
J Forbes VA-4
Robert Goodlate VA-6
Eric Cantor VA-7
Frank Wolf VA-10
Doc Hastings WA-4
Cathy McMorris Rodgers WA-5
Dave Reichart WA-8
Shelley Capito WV-2
Ryan Paul WI-1
F. Sensenbrenner WI-5
Thomas Petri WI-6
Cynthia Lummis WY




Here's the Daily Show segment on the subject:


The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
I Give Up - 9/11 Responders Bill
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party


Full information on the voting roll here: GovTrack.us




Anthony Wiener's speech in full:

April 30, 2010

Democrats Introduce a bill for a Biometric National ID card

All the Alex Jones conspiracy theorists can pat themselves on the back.

The Democrats have introduced a bill that would require everybody who has a job to carry a biometric national ID card.

They're calling it the B.E.L.I.E.V.E system, (Biometric Enrollment, Locally stored Information and Electronic Verification of Employment)

I guess that means that you can start BELIEVING the shit that Alex Jones talks about.

Read articles on the subject here, here and here.

Oh, and hear what the ACLU has to say on the subject.

December 4, 2009

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires



The war in Afghanistan is like being caught in a brier patch-- once you're in far enough, every way you go is equally as bad. That's why the best way out is to simply wander in circles until you bleed to death. Obama clearly understands this strategy.

November 21, 2009

October 25, 2009

Franken Anti-Rape Amendment may be Stripped from Final Bill by Democratic Leadership

From TPM

The anti-rape amendment introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) may be stripped from the defense appropriations bill by Appropriations chairman Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), the Huffington Post reports.

Multiple sources told reporter Sam Stein that the provision -- which would prohibit the Pentagon from hiring contractors whose employment contracts prevent employees from taking work-related allegations of rape and discrimination to court -- is being targeted by defense contractors. Their lobbyists have reportedly flooded Inouye's office, worried they may lose contracts or open themselves up to lawsuits.

One source said it "looks increasingly likely" that Inouye will remove the amendment.

Stein points out that Inouye has received $294,900 from the defense industry over the course of his career. His top two contributors are defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, and he also receives money from General Dynamics and Boeing.

[>more after the jump]

October 23, 2009

Alan Grayson is a F**ING FIRESTARTER!

I'll be donating to this guy's re-election campaign. Here he is on Hardball with Chris Matthews, calling the Republicans murderers, and accusing Dick Cheney of being a vampire.





I think "Firestarter" is officially this dude's themesong: