freshwest
freshwest's Journal
You're welcome. This is something we can do to give them leverage. They keep records...
But only from those who contact them, more especially, though who know what is being done and tell them what bill they support, and which one they oppose.
Those who refuse to get involved will not have their opinion heard. Those who refuse to vote as some say they won't, have left the field to the Tea Party. We can't count on them.
Reid to Tea Party Terrorists: 'Do ya really wanna jump? Do ya wanna?'
In this scene, Danny Glover plays the part of Obama.
Obama knows there's no air bag at the bottom in real life.
Actions taken on financial transaction taxes:
The Better Bargain: Transaction Tax, Not AusterityOn the eve of Occupy Wall Street’s first anniversary, Congressman Keith Ellison introduced a much-needed common sense bill: HR 6411, the Inclusive Prosperity Act. The bill taxes financial transactions to generate revenue for social needs. Amid our consensus-narrowed, deficit-obsessed political debate, it’s a call to arms, and a breath of fresh air.
As I’ve often argued, a financial transaction tax is deeply pragmatic, broadly popular and sorely needed. At a time when budget slashing is a bipartisan obsession, it offers vital revenue. As we struggle to escape the recession wrought by the 1 percent, it presents a simple solution to discourage speculation. As progressives fight too many defensive battles, the financial transaction tax presents an urgent opportunity to go on offense...
But the FTT would never have made it thus far without sustained and savvy organizing. Groups like National Nurses United, National People’s Action, and Health GAP have been tenacious in forcing the FTT onto the agenda. Their European counterparts have forged a critical mass of support within the EU. And they’re backed on both sides of the pond by a slew of economists and financial professionals who wield common sense against Chicken Little lobbyists...
Ellison’s bill would raise up to $350 billion through a small tax on stock, bond, derivative and currency trading.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/26-10
That is from the link, that I found here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021424128
Keith Ellison is one of the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
...Of the 20 standing committees of the House in the 111th Congress, 10 were chaired by members of the CPC. Those chairmen were replaced when the Republicans took control of the House in the 112th Congress...
All members are members of the Democratic Party or caucus with the Democratic Party. There are currently 76 declared Progressives, including 73 voting Representatives, two non-voting Delegates, and one Senator.
House members:
[edit] Arizona
* Ed Pastor (AZ-4, Phoenix)
* Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7, Tucson) - Co-Chair
[edit] California
* Lynn Woolsey (CA-6, Santa Rosa) Retired in 2012
* George Miller (CA-7, Richmond)
* Barbara Lee (CA-9, Oakland)
* Pete Stark (CA-13, Fremont) Defeated in 2012
* Janice Hahn (CA-36, San Pedro)
* Michael Honda (CA-15, San Jose)
* Sam Farr (CA-17, Monterey)
* Xavier Becerra (CA-31, Los Angeles)
* Judy Chu (CA-32, El Monte)
* Karen Bass (CA-33, Baldwin Hills)
* Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34, Los Angeles)
* Maxine Waters (CA-35, Inglewood)
* Laura Richardson (CA-37, Long Beach) Defeated in 2012
* Linda Sánchez (CA-39, Lakewood)
* Bob Filner (CA-51, San Diego)
[edit] Colorado
* Jared Polis (CO-02, Boulder)
[edit] Connecticut
* Rosa DeLauro (CT-3, New Haven)
[edit] Florida
* Corrine Brown (FL-3, Jacksonville)
* Frederica Wilson (FL-17, Miami)
[edit] Georgia
* Hank Johnson (GA-4, Lithonia)
* John Lewis (GA-5, Atlanta)
[edit] Hawaii
* Mazie Hirono (HI-2, Honolulu) Elected to the Senate
[edit] Illinois
* Bobby Rush (IL-1, Chicago)
* Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL-2, Chicago Heights), resigned his house seat on November 21, 2012
* Luis Gutierrez (IL-4, Chicago)
* Danny Davis (IL-7, Chicago)
* Jan Schakowsky (IL-9, Chicago)
[edit] Indiana
* André Carson (IN-7, Indianapolis)
[edit] Iowa
* Dave Loebsack (IA-2, Cedar Rapids)
[edit] Maine
* Chellie Pingree (ME-1, North Haven)
[edit] Maryland
* Donna Edwards (MD-4, Fort Washington)
* Elijah Cummings (MD-7, Baltimore)
[edit] Massachusetts
* John Olver (MA-1, Amherst) Retired in 2012
* Jim McGovern (MA-3, Worcester)
* Barney Frank (MA-4, Newton) Retired in 2012
* John Tierney (MA-6, Salem)
* Ed Markey (MA-7, Malden)
* Mike Capuano (MA-8, Boston)
[edit] Michigan
* John Conyers (MI-14, Detroit)
* Hansen Clarke (MI-13, Detroit) Defeated in 2012 - primary
[edit] Minnesota
* Keith Ellison (MN-5, Minneapolis) - Co-Chair
[edit] Mississippi
* Bennie Thompson (MS-2, Bolton)
[edit] Missouri
* William Lacy Clay, Jr. (MO-1, St. Louis)
* Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5, Kansas City) - Chairman, Congressional Black Caucus
[edit] New Jersey
* Frank Pallone (NJ-06, Long Branch)
* Rush Holt (NJ-12, Hopewell Township)
[edit] New Mexico
* Ben R. Luján (NM-3, Santa Fe)
[edit] New York
* Jerry Nadler (NY-8, Manhattan)
* Yvette Clarke (NY-11, Brooklyn)
* Nydia Velázquez (NY-12, Brooklyn)
* Carolyn Maloney (NY-14, Manhattan)
* Charles Rangel (NY-15, Harlem)
* José Serrano (NY-16, Bronx)
* Maurice Hinchey (NY-22, Saugerties) Retired in 2012
* Louise Slaughter (NY-28, Rochester)
[edit] North Carolina
* Mel Watt (NC-12, Charlotte)
* Brad Miller (NC-13, Raleigh) Retired in 2012
[edit] Ohio
* Marcy Kaptur (OH-9, Toledo)
* Dennis Kucinich (OH-10, Cleveland) Defeated in 2012 - primary
* Marcia Fudge (OH-11, Warrensville Heights)
[edit] Oregon
* Earl Blumenauer (OR-3, Portland)
* Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1, Beaverton)
* Peter DeFazio (OR-4, Eugene)
[edit] Pennsylvania
* Bob Brady (PA-1, Philadelphia)
* Chaka Fattah (PA-2, Philadelphia)
[edit] Rhode Island
* David Cicilline (RI-1, Providence)
[edit] Tennessee
* Steve Cohen (TN-9, Memphis)
[edit] Texas
* Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18, Houston)
* Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX-30, Dallas)
[edit] Vermont
* Peter Welch (VT-At Large)
[edit] Virginia
* Jim Moran (VA-8, Alexandria)
[edit] Washington
* Jim McDermott (WA-7, Seattle)
[edit] Wisconsin
* Tammy Baldwin (WI-2, Madison) Elected to the Senate
* Gwen Moore (WI-4, Milwaukee)
[edit] Non-voting
* Donna M. Christensen (Virgin Islands)
* Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia)
Senate members:
* Bernie Sanders (Vermont)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Progressive_Caucus
They have. May want to read the threads about bills by Begich and Sanders on this:
Dem Senator Introduces Bill To Lift Social Security’s Tax Cap, Extend Its Solvency For DecadesBy Jeff Spross on Nov 16, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Democratic Senator Mark Begich of Alaska... Social Security, the government entitlement that provides support to seniors in retirement, the disabled, and other Americans, has long been in the cross-hairs of budget reformers. The program’s trust fund currently won’t be spent out until 2033, and after that it would still pay 75 percent of scheduled benefits.
Most of the proposed solutions to the shortfall involve cutting back benefits and raising the minimum retirement age. Both are deeply problematic; at its current level of benefits Social Security kept over 20 million people out of poverty in 2011, many Americans in demanding manual labor jobs already take early retirement and thus reduced benefits as it is, and lower-income Americans have not particularly benefited from the average rise in lifespans .
This week, however, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) put forward a reform package that goes in the opposite direction, while still financially securing the program’s trust fund for roughly the next seven decades. The Washington Post’s Dylan Matthews laid out the details:
The Begich bill would lift the current payroll tax cap, which exempts wages in excess of a certain amount ($110,100 this year) from the tax. In turn, it would give high earners, who would pay more, additional benefits upon retirement, just as benefits increase as wages do for workers below the cap.
It also increases benefits across-the-board. While Bowles-Simpson and Domenici-Rivlin adopt a stingier “chained CPI” measure for inflation, Begich adopts “CPI-E,” or a measure that specifically captures inflation in goods that seniors buy.
Due to deteriorated health and other considerations, goods seniors buy tend to be more expensive than those younger people purchase. Begich’s CPI-E change would mean, effectively, a 4.5 percent benefit increase for the program’s beneficiaries, including not just seniors but their designated survivors and disabled Americans as well.
The Congressional Research Service ran the numbers back in 2010 and concluded that eliminating the payroll tax cap — while also paying out the new benefits to wealthier Americans in accordance with their new taxes — would eliminate 95 percent of the trust fund’s shortfall over the next 75 years.
Begich may not hit that goal exactly, depending on how the legislation is written. In particular, his change to CPI-E also lifts the overall benefit level, on top of the changes in CRS’ scenario. But his reform would probably come very close.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/11/16/1208701/democratic-senator-introduces-bill-to-lift-social-securitys-tax-cap-extend-its-solvency-for-decades/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021835303
Will the 29 Sanders-letter senators co-sponsor the Begich Social Security bill?
The most recent Social Security bill, proposed by Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, includes such enhancements as full cancellation of the payroll cap — making the Social Security tax a simple flat tax and not a regressive one — and improves the cost-of-living adjustment by indexing it to the items most bought by the elderly. All round, a very good bill.
This bill also goes on offense, putting a stake in the ground that says Social Security benefits should be enhanced, not just kept the same. I hope you can see the negotiating benefit of that.
The 29 senators who signed the Sen. Sanders letter are playing excellent defense — drawing a line that says No Cuts to the safety net and No New Tax Breaks for the rich. (With the Bush–Obama Tax Cuts set to expire in December, renewing them is without doubt a new tax break.)
Can we get the 29 senators to go on offense as well, and co-sponsor the Begich bill? You could ask them.
Here’s that list of Sanders-letter senators, the good guys in this fight. Note that Mark Begich, the author of the Begich bill, is an organizer:
Organizers:
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — (202) 224-5141
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) — (202) 224-2921
Mark Begich (D-AK) — (202) 224-3004
Al Franken (D-MN) — (202) 224-5641
Other signers:
Harry Reid (D-NV) — (202) 224-3542
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — (202) 224-6542
Jack Reed (D-RI) — (202) 224-4642
Sherrod Brown ((D-OH) — (202) 224-2315
Ron Wyden (D-OR) — (202) 224-5244
Patrick Leahy (D-VT) — (202) 224-4242
Ben Cardin (D-MD) — (202) 224-4524
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) — (202) 224-4822
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) — (202) 224-2823
Tom Harkin (D-IA) — (202) 224-3254
Jeff Merkley (D-OR) — (202) 224-3753
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) — (202) 224-3224
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) — (202) 224-4654
Patty Murray (D-WA) — (202) 224-2621
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) — (202) 224-3553
Maria Cantwell (D-WA) — (202) 224-3441
Daniel Akaka (D-HI) — (202) 224-6361
Tim Johnson (D-SD) — (202) 224-5842
John Rockefeller (D-WV) — (202) 224-6472
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) — (202) 224-3934
Tom Udall (D-NM) — (202) 224-6621
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) — (202) 224-4744
Carl Levin (D-MI) — (202) 224-6221
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) — (202) 224-4451
Joe Manchin (D-WV) — (202) 224-3954
http://americablog.com/2012/11/will-the-29-senators-who-signed-the-sanders-letter-co-sponsor-the-begich-social-security-bill.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251253882
Yes, and they go on about that innocent life. But their same book says we're born in sin from Adam.
I consider the pro-lifers are dishonest bullies. They claim to protect unborn people they wouldn't want living on their street and with whom they have no relationship. And who'd they want nothing to do with after birth. It's the height of vanity to mandate life altering choices on strangers for which one refuses to take responsibility for being carried out.
It's pointless to discuss this at DU any longer, yavin.
A long statement going to the INTENT of what Obama is working on, protecting the MOST vulnerable was not even commented upon. It required a person to look at the big picture, not the hot button trigger words and it was posted by Tx4obama or babylonsister..
Some now screaming about the payroll tax cut being eliminated, when Bernie Sanders said it was a bad thing for the insolvency of Social Security at the beginning screamed about it. But now they call that punishing the middle class to kiss the rich. The short memory is caused by the grind of daily news, the majority of which is geared to the subconscious.
Some had no joy about the bill of the cap being raised, just kept up with the Obama betrayal meme, which has been constantly fed from the right since 2008. The left is using the emotional currency the Tea Party ran on.
Alternative media says Obama is a by stealth evil world dictator, and all kinds of calumny is attached to his name. They promote the idea that they are against the military budget, like Democrats. At the same time they promote the vision of America being turned into an armed camp to resist Obama's alleged murderous ways that are always just around the corner. I see that fervor played out here.
But the same alternative sources that so disdain him, consistently claim the social safety net is a trap and will be disappearing, as part of their resistance to communism grows. They've stoked the flames to convince people their apocalyptic vision really is true. That gets forgotten. There is an old proverb, 'The lie wrapped up in a truth, still is a lie.'
Some aren't concerned about the 3 million people scheduled to lose their unemployment benefits if sequestration occurs, which has been a consistent act on Obama's part, to protect those people. These were the ones being threatened in the middle of a foreclosure crisis and who were the chief whipping post of the Tea Party to get the Bush tax cuts extended, or they would shut the government down.
He negotiated because of the ripple affect of the cut off of younger middle class to funding that would stop their health insurance and homes from being lost, their children having to be taken out of school as they became homeless or were displaced, and the ensuring economic effect of all of that. Somehow those people were on his mind, but not many other people's minds.
In the B & W world of the government is always wrong, the numer of people that have gotten relief and their lives helped by his loosening of disablity and the ACA, is easily forgotten. All of those millions who were not being helped but are being helped now are forgotten. The women whose healthcare was left int their hands and not the grasp of right wing oppressors, does not seem to matter, either. Short memories. And yes, all of those people are important, too.
The jump off the cliff was an emotional present to many of us, including myself, until I read more and I am sure these details are not being forgotten by Obama. Media owned by rich conservatives with edited sound bites have won the war at DU.
Thank you. It's hard to lose family members to this form of legalized insanity.
His cult are so manipulated and fearful, that they reject all reasoning, facts, reality or other views. He tells them to do that since others are now 'part of the problem' or 'the enemy.' Or as the lefty version refers to Democrats, one of the 'sheeple.'
They are evangelists for what he spews, and won't take anything less than fully embracing their (and I use the word 'their' loosely) thinking and beliefs about what is going on. So we no longer speak, even if I try to leave out all public opinion or figures out of a conversation, because she insists that I agree with her fears.
She has decided that all the people on the west coast are part of the global conspiracy and now I am suspect simply because I live out here. My last conversation with her ended up with her shouting at full volume through the telephone:
'Aren't you scared? We can't take another four years of Obama!' with wild claims about world communism, Muslims and Sharia Law.
I thought her husband, a Vietnam Veteran who always seemed to balance her out, hadn't gone down the path to media induced crazy, and then he said: 'Obama is the worst domestic threat to our country there is...'
'Et tu, BNL,' I sighed to myself and haven't called back as I'm sure I'm the 'enemy' now.
Quick! Call the Men In Black. She's an alien from another planet if she's this clueless.
I'm sure other human-made signs are confusing. Now I know why those warning labels with odd pictures are on some products, such as don't use a hair dryer in the bathtub. She may hurt herself before she learns how Earth life forms behave and how dangerous electricity is. She needs help and she's not only walking, but driving among us.
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