FIGHT HATE: Tell Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard Act

From Human Rights Campaign

A law protecting all of our citizens against senseless hate violence is long overdue. Two years ago, radical right-wing groups and George W. Bush's veto threat blocked the Matthew Shepard Act, which would outlaw hate crimes based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. But now the bill is back.

Tell Congress we need the Matthew Shepard Act to help ensure safety and security for ALL people.



TAKE ACTION NOW!

URGENT ALERT: Say NO to the BAILOUT!

from AfterDowningStreet:

Please call your Representative in the House today and say ...

Vote NO And We'll Vote for You, Vote YES And We'll Denounce You Every
Day for the Next Month

Vote NO on Paulson's Plunder!

Capitol Hill Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

--

What They're Voting on


Five Reasons to Vote NO

Wall Street Welfare Queens

KUCINICH: OPPOSES BAILOUT AND ASKS: "Is this the United States Congress
or the board of directors of Goldman Sachs?"

A Better Bailout

Pelosi Plowing a Republican Bill Through Congress and Pissing Off
Republicans at Same Time

What's Good for Wall Street Is Only Good For Wall Street

Rep. George Miller Defends Democrats' Conduct on Paulson's Plunder

They Want Mama to Make It All Better

Bank Borrowing From Fed Already Exceeded Bailout Total in Last Week:
$700 Billion Figure Means Nothing

Ron Paul: Greenspan, Bernanke Should Be Criminally Charged

NO BAILOUT Petition by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Tops 40,000
Signers - Sign Off for NO BAILOUT

Alabama's Senator Shelby Rejects Paulson's Treasury Raid

Bailout Bums: Libertarian-Minded Republicans Are Caught With Their Pants
Down As Wall Street Panics The Capital City

10 Ways to Bail Out Wall Street (and Main Street) Without Soaking

Once in a Century Rip-Off

Socialist Bailout of the Criminal Investment Banks: Are We On The Verge
of The Deluge?

Redistributing the Wealth - National Protests Erupt Over Bailout Plan

How Wall Street Can Bail Itself Out Without Destroying The Dollar

Financial Terrorism

Congress Has 43,457,362 Reasons to Help Goldman Sachs

Thanks, Hank!

Tax Revolt!

Well-Run Banks Balk at Paulson Plan; Should Be Included in Negotiations

Iraq All Over Again: Bush, Paulson and Bernanke are Just Crying Wolf

Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime

I DISSENT - An Essay Against A Government Bailout

Rep. DeFazio Asks Wall Street to Pay for Its Own Bailout

Ann Wright and David Swanson Discuss War and Bailouts

Danny Schechter on the Sub-Crime Problem

Rep. Marcy Kaptur on House Floor

“Mortgage Fraud”: The Paulson Bail-Out Plan

Bail Out People Before Bankers

If Congress Agrees to This Rip-off Bailout, We'll Be Handing the Money
to the People Who Got Us in This Mess

Bailout Plan Won't Be End of Wall Street Bailouts

Blood, Sweat, and Bailouts

Stand Against the Bailout Scam!

Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine

Bernie Sanders

Ten Reasons Why Bush's Proposed Bailout Is Larceny

What Nobody's Saying: The Bailout Will Kill the Dollar

We Can Stop Paulson's Plunder

"No Blank Check" or "No %$#!*@ Check"

The Eight Year Bailout

Stop Paulson's Plunder: ACTION LINKS and Background

Send Your Money to Cindy Before Nancy Spends it All

Stop the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal

From Friends Committee on National Legislation:

By this time next week, Congress will likely have left Washington for the countdown to Election Day. Before your representative and senators go home, Bush wants them to rush through a nuclear cooperation agreement with India allowing that country to resume nuclear testing without facing international sanctions. India has already exploded one nuclear weapon and has refused to join the international agreement to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Congress could improve relations with India without agreeing to its resumption of nuclear testing, without enabling the Indian government to increase production of nuclear weapons by up to 500 percent. Congress should insist that before the United States signs any nuclear cooperation agreement, India agree to not produce or test any more nuclear weapons; sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits all nuclear test explosions; and stop the production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium - fissile materials used in the production of nuclear weapons. All five acknowledged nuclear weapons states (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) have halted production of fissile materials.

Insisting on these safeguards would likely mean that the agreement would be dead for this Congress. A dead agreement would be better than one that undermines efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

DO SOMETHING! Urge your members of Congress to oppose any deal with India allowing that country to resume nuclear testing.

Work to Stop Bombing in Darfur

from Amnesty International USA:

The Sudanese government used a Russian-made Antonov plane with the “UN” symbol on its wing to drop bombs on Darfur. This act shows that the Sudanese government does not intend to comply with the UN arms embargo. This is a clear violation of international humanitarian law and a clear example of why the current UN arms embargo needs to be expanded to cover all of Sudan.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International issued its new report Blood at the Crossroads with accounts of Russian and Chinese weapons used to violate human rights in Darfur. In one case, the report describes Russian-supplied Mi-24 attack helicopters being delivered to the Sudanese government in 2006. Since then, the Sudanese government has used these helicopters in indiscriminate aerial attacks in Darfur.

It is undeniably clear that the current UN arms embargo cannot effectively restrain the arms flow into Darfur. At the same time, Sudanese armed opposition groups in Darfur are allegedly receiving their weapons from Chad. The innocent people of Darfur are left in the middle of this conflict.

With your encouragement, your Senator and Representatives can help stem the flow of weapons to Sudan. Senate Resolution 660 and House Resolution 1462 1) condemn the ongoing flow of weapons into Darfur and 2) call for an expansion of the UN arms embargo to cover all of Sudan. Leadership from the United States is necessary to signal to the rest of the world that ongoing violence in Darfur will not be tolerated.

DO SOMETHING: Take action to stop the flow of weapons into Darfur.

Help in a Bad Economy

from Friends Committee on National Legislation:

The US government is acting swiftly to keep wobbly financial giants from collapse, putting billions from the US Treasury at risk. This week, the federal government loaned $85 billion to American International Group, and earlier this month the government gave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac $200 billion in loan guarantees.

Unfortunately, Congress has been slow to protect the people hit hardest by the economic meltdown.

High unemployment and low wages mean that many workers don't earn enough to put food on the table and to keep their families housed and safe.

DO SOMETHING! Congress talks about legislation to help the poor, but the House only plans to be in session for one more week before adjourning for the election. Before Congress leaves to campaign for re-election, urge your representative to do 3 things:

1. Expand the Child Tax Credit to reach 3 million additional children in low-income families and increase support for 10 million more.

2. Expand food stamp benefits to provide immediate help to low-income families and instantly stimulate the economy where food stamps are spent. Each $1 spent on food stamps improves local economies by $1.73.

3. Extend unemployment insurance for those who have been unable to find work in this failing economy. In August, the unemployment rate was 6.1 percent, the highest it's been in a decade.

Why do people need help now? It may be news to many of us that the economy has actually been growing in the past year - by 3.3 percent. But most people haven't benefited from this growth. The prime beneficiaries have been people whose incomes are in the top 1 percent in the United States. Between 2002 and 2006, the income of 99 percent of people in the United States rose by an average of 1 percent per year, while people in the top 1 percent saw their incomes rise by an average of 11 percent a year. For people already living on the edge, this means less food on the table, less money to pay for doctors visits, more difficulty paying the rent or mortgage, and less time with their kids because they are working harder.

Find out more about the Child Tax Credit.

Find out more about rising unemployment rates.

Just Days Left to Raise an Outcry

From Planned Parenthood:

The Bush administration recently proposed a radical federal regulation change that would allow doctors to knowingly withhold information from their patients about widely accepted medical treatment options like birth control, emergency contraception, and abortion services. Even worse, this new rule could allow individual health care providers to redefine abortion to include the most common forms of birth control -- and then refuse to provide them.

DO SOMETHING! Submit a comment to the Department of Health and Human Services during the official 30-day comment period -- it ends
September 25. And please, please spread the word to friends and family.

With more than 600,000 health facilities nationwide affected, including hundreds of Planned Parenthood health centers, millions of patients' access to basic, comprehensive reproductive health care may very well depend on your action.

Fix the Real Economy

from AFLCIO's Working Families:

Today's disastrous economic headlines have been brought to you by Bush-McCain-style economic policies. They prove that an economy built on Wild West behavior without legitimate government oversight brings disaster.

Beyond the government bailouts of financial giants like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG, we need to restart our economic engine by fixing our real economy - where real people live and work.

We need immediate action by Congress to provide relief for working families, create new jobs and rebuild our economy from the ground up. The AFL-CIO is calling for fast-track congressional approval of a new economic stimulus plan that includes:

* A moratorium on home foreclosures to allow for a restructuring of subprime mortgages.
* Extended unemployment benefits for jobless workers.
* Fiscal relief to states and funding for food stamps to make sure all Americans can provide for their families.
* A jump-start for ready-to-go construction projects to repair schools, roads and bridges—construction that will help create good, family-supporting jobs in many communities where currently there are none.

DO SOMETHING! Join us by calling your member of Congress today and tell them to take action: (202) 224-3121

We need to fix the real economy because families like yours remain our true economic engine. It is clear that our economic system is out of whack and we need to get to work fixing it right now, not just bailing out huge corporations.

Tell your member of Congress to pass a new economic stimulus bill that will help working families in the real economy as much as the speculative economy. We need to restart America’s real economy.

Support Credit Card Reform!

from Consumers Union:

Monday was a sobering day. The stock market sinks. Banks verge on collapse. 401ks shrivel. Fannie, Freddie, Bear Stearns and now the insurance industry get bailouts. Could it possibly get worse?

Yes -- without change, big banks losing money on Wall Street could try to squeeze you to recoup their profits. A quick credit card rate increase here, a new fee there, might be good for them, but creates crisis for you.

Congress will vote in the next few days to head-off a credit crunch aimed at you by cracking down on abusive credit card company tactics.

DO SOMETHING! Tell your House members to vote for the credit card reform bill now!

About 50 million American households carry an average $17,000 in credit card debt. This bill would stop unjustified interest rate hikes on that debt.

The bill also would stop the companies’ unfair practice of applying your payments to low-interest balances first leaving the high-interest debt to compound and bury more of us in debt.

Paying off credit card debt should be fair to everyone, not just a way to squeeze more money out of you. But the banking lobby continues their campaign to stall these reforms.

Only days remain for Congress to pass this bill before they break for the year. Don’t let them walk away without heading off a new crisis that would further erode your financial security.

TAKE ACTION: Support Economic Recovery

from ACORN:

TAKE ACTION: TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO SUPPORT AN ECONOMIC RECOVERY PACKAGE THAT INCLUDES LIHEAP AND OTHER BENEFITS FOR LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.

Call Your Members of Congress Now on the ACORN Toll-Free Hotline at 1-866-888-9292!

The House Leadership is expected to bring up an economic recovery bill within the next few days. Discussions are going on right now about what might be in the package. Rumors have circulated that many of the programs ACORN cares deeply about will receive funding in the bill. We need your help to press for aid to help low-income people pay for food, heat, and other basic needs, and to make sure that essential public services are maintained.

ACORN and its advocates are asking that more funding be provided to LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) and nutrition assistance programs such as Food Stamps and WIC, and that unemployment insurance should be extended to help low-wage and jobless workers who have been laid off. Congress needs to hear from constituents who demand that urgent needs are met—both because it’s the right thing to do and because economists tell us these investments will boost and stimulate the economy. It won’t be easy to pass a recovery bill, but if Congress hears a sense of urgency from constituents, they’ll understand they cannot wait until January without having acted.

Take Action: Email and call your Representative and tell them to support an economic recovery package that includes funding for LIHEAP and nutrition programs and extends unemployment insurance. If your Member of Congress says he/she will support such a bill, thank him/her for their support.

Support the Employee Free Choice Act!

From American Rights at Work

Healthcare plan? Hand sanitizer.

Employee benefits package? Soda in the break room.

Welcome to a workplace that’s seriously out of whack:




Let's face it. Something's wrong when CEOs rake in hundreds of times what their employees earn, and workers get the boot just for talking about unions.

It could almost be a bad joke if it weren't such a serious problem. That's why we teamed up with the award-winning producers at Brave New Films to make this video, and hope you take a minute to sign our petition after you watch.

GET BUSY: Check out the video and take one minute to sign our petition for workers' rights.

ALERT: Not in My Cart!

From Consumers Union:

The holiday shopping season will begin in just a few weeks, yet we still have a long way to go before we can trust the safety of the products on our store shelves.

Congress has taken some first steps -- investigational hearings and initial bill proposals -- but it won't be easy to get real protections through Congress quickly. Consumers Union will testify before a Senate Committee this week, and it's time to raise the volume.

Will you join us in holding Congress' feet to the fire?

Send a message urging your members of Congress to strengthen product safety and import laws now, before anyone else gets hurt.

Hazardous imports continue to flood the American marketplace. More than 12 million children’s toys have been recalled this year alone!

Just last week, J.C. Penney recalled Winnie the Pooh toys for excessive lead levels, and the Cub Scouts pulled a lead-laden merit badge. More dangerous imported products may be sitting on the shelves of stores around the country right now. But will they be caught before they are bought?

The dangerous combination of lax safety regulations, a lack of enforcement, and a shortage of federal inspectors will only lead to more recalls.

Visit NotInMyCart.org and send a message to Congress to help keep yourself, your loved ones, and all Americans safe this holiday season.

Once you've sent your letter, please tell your friends and family and ask them to join you and thousands of others in helping to make consumer products safe!

ALERT: Call Congress, Support Clean-Energy Bill

An army of auto industry lobbyists is swarming over Capitol
Hill. Their mission? To strangle a clean energy bill in the cradle --
before you and I can enjoy better gas mileage and more renewable
energy.

Your member of Congress needs to hear from thousands of
constituents like you right now -- BEFORE that bill hits the
floor. Your one phone call can do more to counter the auto
lobbyists and deliver a clean energy future than any other
single weapon we've got.

Your representative's staffers will be happy to register your
opinion on the energy bill. Tell them you want a STRONG energy
bill with TWO KEY provisions:

• A guarantee that new passenger vehicles will get an average
  of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.
  
  
• A requirement for utilities to produce 15% of their
  electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

An energy bill with these two centerpiece provisions will cut
America's oil dependence, make a down payment on reducing global
warming pollution, and -- at long last -- usher in a cleaner
energy future.

We've waited two decades for Congress to pass legislation that
could start breaking the chains of our enslavement to the
automakers and Big Oil. We're unlikely to get a second chance
for many years to come.

Please seize this one chance for a clean energy future by
calling your member of Congress today! You can reach legislators
via the Congressional Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

ALERT: Secure Your Social Security

From Consumers Union:

Do you know where your Social Security number is? It is probably in the hands of every insurance company you've ever had, your bank, your credit card companies, your doctor, the hospital where you had your surgery, your student loan company, your university admissions office and more.

Your Social Security number is yours -- and should be protected.

Your Social Security number gives thieves the key to your credit and your money. With so many copies floating around, it's no wonder ID theft has directly affected one in four Americans.

Lawmakers concerned about your privacy recently filed strong legislation to protect you. Help us pass this new law in 2008 with a quick message to your own Representative now.

ALERT: Stand for an Inclusive ENDA!

From National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:

Last week, thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their friends — just like you — delivered an uncompromising message to Congress: Vote for an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that protects all LGBT people (H.R. 2015), and don’t settle for a substitute bill that leaves some people behind (H.R. 3685).

Congress heard you and postponed a vote on a substitute bill. But we expect a new vote to be scheduled soon — maybe as soon as next week. There is no time to waste!

We know why it’s so critical that transgender people be included in ENDA. One-third of transgender people report facing employment discrimination at some time in their life. And you can’t separate discrimination against transgender people from discrimination against the rest of our community. For example, many gay and bisexual men get taunted for “acting like a girl.” Many lesbians are criticized for “being too butch.” We all face anti-transgender bias, even if we don’t identify as transgender ourselves.

Congress is listening to us and is making up its mind about which bill to move forward — a bill that provides protections based on gender identity or a bill that does not. Your representative needs to hear from you, and needs to hear our message loud and clear.

Please, right now, make a phone call to your representative. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121. An operator will connect you with your representative’s office. When a staff person answers, tell them:

“I’m a constituent and I am calling about one bill I support and another I oppose. I support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, H.R. 2015, which protects all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from job discrimination. However, I urge you to oppose any motion or amendment that would strip out transgender protections, or any bill without transgender protections (such as H.R. 3685). We are one community and we want to move forward with one bill that protects all of us. Thank you.”

Click here to send an e-mail to your representative.

Click for a list of U.S. House members.

ALERT: Help Override Bush's Veto of Health Care for Kids

From the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee:

If you're like most Americans, you feel that our health care system is broken. It doesn't serve every child, regardless of their family's income level. But George W. Bush just vetoed a bill that would fix this problem - denying 10 million kids the health care they need and deserve!

More Republicans are reconsidering their vote on CHIP and the efforts to override Bush's veto are gaining momentum. We need to keep up the pressure and fight to even the score for kids.

Stand up for the children: Sign a petition to demand Republicans join the rest of Congress in an emergency override of Bush's immoral and callous veto.

ALERT: Tell Congress to Grow a Spine!

From People for the American Way:

The fight to restore oversight, accountability and your constitutional rights is on! Congress still has the chance to say NO, definitively and without equivocation, to spying on Americans without a warrant.

Yesterday saw the first movement of legislation to fix the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and replace the deceptively-named Protect America Act (or PAA, which grants the Bush-Cheney administration unprecedented authority to spy on Americans without warrants). The House Judiciary and Intelligence committees both marked up the Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective (RESTORE) Act of 2007 (H.R. 3773).

The RESTORE Act does improve upon the PAA. However, this fight is just getting started and more legislative options, as well as possible improvements to this bill, are still on the table. That is why we need to keep the pressure up.

But while we're pressuring Congress to strengthen the legislation -- for instance, by adding explicit requirements for individualized warrants -- the White House and its Republican allies in both the House and the Senate will be using every procedural tool and political tactic at their disposal to extend the administration's wiretapping and surveillance authority (permanently if possible). And consistent with their general phobia of accountability, they're pushing for immunity for those in the telecommunications industry who may have broken the law by assisting the administration with domestic spying.

The Right is already leaning hard on members of Congress to buckle on accountability, oversight and defending due process and the Fourth Amendment.

Don't let them sacrifice our constitutional rights on the altar of "compromise." Join the thousands who have already signed the petition and demand that they show some backbone!

Will members of Congress stand up to the Bush-Cheney administration, or will they show about as much backbone as a jellyfish?

Tell them it's time to show some spine.

20,000 civil liberties activists have already signed the petition. Help us get to 50,000 before the floor vote expected next week!

ALERT: Bring Katrina Survivors Home

From Amnesty International

August 29th marked the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, yet thousands of people remain in limbo, wondering if they will be able to return home.

These survivors have endured ongoing hardship for too long. With most public housing in New Orleans still shuttered and a dearth in affordable housing throughout the Gulf Coast, survivors are at continued risk of ongoing displacement far from home. It's time to give displaced Katrina survivors a timely and dignified return.

The House of Representatives has done its part to uphold the right to return. Now it's up to the Senate to do the same. Tell your Senator that the time has come to bring Katrina survivors home.


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