June 30, 2013

America is Under Siege As The Koch Brothers Look to Replace The Constitution

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/30/america-seige-koch-brothers-replace-constitution.html
"In fact, in preparation for oligarchs and theocrats ascendance to unchallenged authority to reign over the people, Republicans are eliminating the last vestiges of democracy, economic independence, and freedom from religion as they openly oppose the Constitution in their final push toward fascism."

The Architect Of Trickle Down Economics Finally Put In His Place

www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/30/the-architect-of-trickle-down-economics-finally-put-in-his-place/
"ever since Milton Friedman began pushing his ideas, companies, and our nation, have suffered. While in the short-term, it can look decent, over the longer period, only collapse is shown. If we do not halt this idea, and bury it alongside its creator, then we shall pass as a nation, great no more and just a faded memory."

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/30/the-architect-of-trickle-down-economics-finally-put-in-his-place/#ixzz2XlIgv4P7

Bank of America Schemes to Evade Settlement Rules and Pocket Cash - Truthdig

Bank of America Schemes to Evade Settlement Rules and Pocket Cash - Truthdig
"Documents leaked by a bank insider show the company sold servicing rights to more than half a million mortgages to loan servicing companies in order to make a quick profit and avoid settlement requirements, leaving homeowners in the lurch and with fewer protections to avoid foreclosure"

Rick Perry Uses Personal Attacks To Pick On State Senator

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

ALEC’s Latest Scam Is Sending Public School Dollars to Corporate Owned Private Schools

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/29/alecs-latest-scam-sending-public-school-dollars-corporate-owned-private-schools.html
"The truth is their main complaint is using government funds to support any program that does not funnel taxpayer dollars to corporations and the wealthy, and they have particularly focused on what they call an obscene waste of money on public education that in their corporatist libertarian philosophy is better spent on for-profit private and religious schools."

Christie Shoots Self in Foot - Rejects Obamacare Medicaid Expansion for New Jersey

www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/28/1219838/-Christie-Shoots-Self-in-Foot-Rejects-Obamacare-Medicaid-Expansion-for-New-Jersey
"As if maybe no one will notice they've been screwed out of healthcare!
#GoodbyeGOP"

Low Wages And High Priorities

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

June 28, 2013

The 5 Biggest Stories from the Fight for the Survival of Public Education | Alternet

The 5 Biggest Stories from the Fight for the Survival of Public Education | Alternet
"The 2012-2013 school year saw the fight over public education reach a new pitch, ending with mass layoffs in Philadelphia, and other large school districts, and a cadre of parents and workers who began a hunger strike in protest."

Meet Senator Wendy Davis

This Week's Killer Heat Wave Threatens To Cause Earth’s Hottest Temps Ever | Alternet

This Week's Killer Heat Wave Threatens To Cause Earth’s Hottest Temps Ever | Alternet
"The Southwest may experience the hottest weather in recorded history. Still don't believe in global warming?"

Chronicling The Fracking Revolution

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Why The GOP Can’t Afford To Kill The Immigration Bill

Why The GOP Can’t Afford To Kill The Immigration Bill: Immigration reform passed the Senate on Thursday, with 14 Republicans voting in favor. Despite this bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill could easily die in the more polarized House or thereafter in the conference process. If it does, the cause of death will be a lack of Republican support. That will reinforce the anti-immigrant [...]/p

Constitutional Right to Vote Needed More Than Ever After Supreme Court Guts Voting Rights Act | Common Dreams

Constitutional Right to Vote Needed More Than Ever After Supreme Court Guts Voting Rights Act | Common Dreams
"Chief Justice Roberts stated in his ruling that, "things have changed dramatically,” implying that Section 4 is now unnecessary. Yet, since 2000 the VRA has been invoked 74 times in order to protect voter equality."

Comment Period Closing On Bristol Bay Mining, One Of The Most Important Environmental Issues “You’ve Never Heard Of”

Comment Period Closing On Bristol Bay Mining, One Of The Most Important Environmental Issues “You’ve Never Heard Of”: An important chapter in one of “America’s largest natural-resources fights in decades” is coming to a close. The comment period on the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft “watershed assessment” of the potential impacts on mining in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska ends on Sunday. At issue is the Pebble Project, a proposed copper and gold [...]/p

New Hampshire Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana

New Hampshire Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana: Earlier this week, both houses of the New Hampshire legislature voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill permitting doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to many patients with chronic or terminal illnesses. Gov. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said she would sign the bill. The New Hampshire bill is somewhat less permissive than medical marijuana laws in many other [...]/p

The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis

The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis
"Another stunner from Matt Taibbi, and kudos to Rolling Stone for continuing to support his work. Just make sure to take your blood pressure medicine before you read it."

San Diego Judge Puts Unprecedented Gag Order on Sidewalk Chalk Protestor Trial

San Diego Judge Puts Unprecedented Gag Order on Sidewalk Chalk Protestor Trial
"Let's remember that this is a case in which the SD city attorney's office (elected separately from the mayor, with an ambitious chief, Jan Goldsmith, who allegedgly takes campaign money from big banks) only chose to prosecute months and months after the alleged "crime": Olson scrawling anti-big bank messages in front of three SD Bank of America branches.  He did this, according to Olson, with a specifically chosen water soluble chalk (as in easily removed with water or by rain) called "Creatology"."

SCOTUS Gave Big Pharma the Right to Kill & Maim

North Carolina Becomes First State to Disqualify Itself for Federal Jobless Benefits

North Carolina Becomes First State to Disqualify Itself for Federal Jobless Benefits
"The wingnuts are really running wild in North Carolina. A new law taking effect over the weekend will cut unemployment benefits for new claims and disqualify the state from receiving federal funds for the long-term jobless."

Wendy Davis v. Rick Perry

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Irony alert: Cuccinelli calls for transparency while scrubbing right-wing social agenda from website

www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/28/1219665/-Irony-alert-Cuccinelli-calls-for-transparency-while-scrubbing-right-wing-social-agenda-from-website
"Of course, this isn't a reflection of some sort of moderation on Cuccinelli's part. Instead, he attempts to focus on things like transparency to distract from his continued support for the far-right. The good news is that Cuccinelli's plan to make himself appear more centrist than he really is won't be easy, given that his running mate is the certified whack-a-doodle E.W. Jackson. Cuccinelli may want to run from his party's extreme conservatism, but he can't hide."

Rep. Duckworth Blasts Businessman For Seeking Disability Status

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

In California, Even Workers Who Prove Wage Theft Don’t Get Their Money

In California, Even Workers Who Prove Wage Theft Don’t Get Their Money: Wage theft isn’t just rampant in America’s most populous state, according to a new report. It’s also nearly impossible for California workers to fight, because even those cheated employees who take the time and risk to pursue their legal rights and win a judgment from the state government rarely receive the pay they’re owed. Workers [...]/p

Details reek in story of gifts to Virginia governor

Ohio Lawmakers Slide Stealth Draconian Abortion Laws Into Budget

Ohio Lawmakers Slide Stealth Draconian Abortion Laws Into Budget
"Texas. Ohio. North Carolina. Mississippi. Virginia. They're all on the women-hating train, barreling down the tracks at breakneck speed, racing to see who gets to the Supreme Court first."

How Sequestration Is Hampering The Justice System

How Sequestration Is Hampering The Justice System: On Thursday, the Federal Bar Council, an organization of attorneys who practice before federal courts in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, sent a letter to President Obama and members of Congress expressing concern about the impact of sequestration on federal courts and, in particular, the Second Circuit. In the letter, the council’s president, Robert J. [...]/p

Ohio Democrat Calls On Women Across The Nation To Join Her In Standing Up Against Republican War On Women

www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/28/democratic-warrior-woman-fights-back-gop-anti-abortion-law-in-ohio/
"Now women are giving the GOP notice that they are sick and tired of being attacked year after year over an issue that was settled in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling. 2012 was merely a warning shot from women. Apparently women need to sink the GOP ship in state after state in 2014 in order to slam the message through their thick skulls that the war on women and choice is totally outrageous and unacceptable. Republicans never intended to stop their war on women. Women are now saying enough is enough. It ends here."

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/28/democratic-warrior-woman-fights-back-gop-anti-abortion-law-in-ohio/#ixzz2XXu0AwCw

What’s Next For Wendy Davis?

What’s Next For Wendy Davis?: After Sen. Wendy Davis (D-TX) successfully blocked an omnibus anti-abortion bill on Tuesday by filibustering it for 13 hours — without eating, drinking, straying off topic from the proposed measure, sitting, going to the restroom, or even leaning against a table — she became an overnight sensation. The hashtag #standwithwendy was trending worldwide on Tuesday [...]/p

The Reagan Revolution is an Utter Failure

Cavuto and Erickson Continue Flogging Fake IRS 'Scandal'

Cavuto and Erickson Continue Flogging Fake IRS 'Scandal'
"Never mind that Darrell Issa's witch hunt with the IRS has pretty well blown up in their faces, or the recent confirmation of what we've known for some time now, which is that the IRS was also giving extra scrutiny to liberal groups applying for tax exempt status, and not just these so-called tea partiers.
Never mind any of that, because no one at Fox is going to let a few facts get in the way of them continuing to flog one of the many items on the list of the fake "scandals" they've been carrying on about ever since that black Kenyan, Muslim, Socialist, Communist, Marxist usurper got reelected.
So what's their latest excuse to continue harping about this story after it's been debunked?"

Small Words, Small Guys | Common Dreams

Small Words, Small Guys | Common Dreams
"Ha. Rick 'Foot-in-the-Mouth' Perry was stupid, arrogant and contemptible enough to sound off at a right-to-life cabal on heroic filibuster Wendy Davis not learning from her own life experience as a teen mom, after which he got what was coming to him. Davis called his statement "without dignity..."

Ohio Voters Don’t Support The Radical Abortion Restrictions Attached To The State Budget

Ohio Voters Don’t Support The Radical Abortion Restrictions Attached To The State Budget: On Thursday afternoon, the Ohio legislature approved a budget bill that includes several serious attacks on women’s reproductive freedom. The proposed budget would defund Planned Parenthood, strip funding from rape crisis centers that give their clients information about abortion, force some abortion clinics to close, and require doctors to give women information about the fetal [...]/p

Sen. Lamar Alexander Calls for Eliminating the Minimum Wage

Sen. Lamar Alexander Calls for Eliminating the Minimum Wage
"Republicans complain about welfare benefits for the poor, but they sure don't mind that corporate welfare one bit."

Texas Troopers Forcibly Arrest 72-Year-Old Woman During Wendy Davis Filibuster

Texas Troopers Forcibly Arrest 72-Year-Old Woman During Wendy Davis Filibuster
"A 72-year-old woman who appeared to be doing nothing more than observing Texas Senate proceedings following state Sen. Wendy Davis' (D) filibuster of an abortion bill was forcibly arrested and charged with assaulting an officer early Wednesday morning."

Americans Need To Learn More About Obamacare, But GOP Keeps Undermining Education Campaigns

Americans Need To Learn More About Obamacare, But GOP Keeps Undermining Education Campaigns: What if a health care law could benefit millions of Americans — but no one knew about it? Recent Republican efforts to derail Obamacare’s educational outreach — despite abundant evidence that Americans don’t know enough about the law to take advantage of it — may have that very effect. On Thursday, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) [...]/p

North Carolina Republicans Drastically Cut Benefits For Job Seekers

North Carolina Republicans Drastically Cut Benefits For Job Seekers: Life gets tougher as of Sunday for over 400,000 out of work Tarheels as a set of unprecedented cuts to jobless benefits passed by North Carolina Republicans in February take effect. The bill didn’t just shorten the length of state-funded unemployment insurance, as several states have done. It also cut the level of weekly benefit [...]/p

Legislator Blocks Openly Gay Colleague From Speaking About DOMA, Cites ‘God’s Law’

Legislator Blocks Openly Gay Colleague From Speaking About DOMA, Cites ‘God’s Law’: Openly gay Pennsylvania state Representative Brian Sims (D) planned to speak on the legislature floor on Wednesday about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act — but he was blocked from talking by a Republican colleague who said his comments would be “open rebellion against God’s law.” Now, Sims is asking [...]/p

Inequality is worse than you think

www.inequality.is/
"A new project from the Economic Policy Institute will show you income inequality—what it means for working people, how it was created and how, together, we can fix it."

How the Supreme Court's Outrageous Assault on Our Lives Might Be Used to Knock Republicans Out of Power in Congress | Alternet

How the Supreme Court's Outrageous Assault on Our Lives Might Be Used to Knock Republicans Out of Power in Congress | Alternet
"The damage to this country that the Supreme Court's right-wing majority has done could be employed by Dems to destroy House Republican majority."

Rush To Implement Previously-Too-Racist Policies Follows SCOTUS Ruling

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Deception, Misinformation Distinguish Anti-Abortion Bills In Ohio, N.C.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

June 27, 2013

Scientists Warn: Largest Ocean 'Dead Zone' in History | Common Dreams

Scientists Warn: Largest Ocean 'Dead Zone' in History | Common Dreams
"The largest 'dead zone' ever recorded is headed for the Gulf of Mexico this summer, as high levels of pollution runoff, elevated by Midwestern floods, seep into the ocean."

David Letterman Interviews Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher

David Letterman Interviews Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher
"Climate activist Tim DeChristopher visited "The Late Show" with David Letterman on Tuesday to discuss the documentary "Bidder 70," which tells the story of his stunning act of civil disobedience in a time of global climate chaos."

The Senate Passes Bernie Sanders’ Plan to Create 400,000 New Jobs

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/27/senate-passes-bernie-sanders-plan-create-400000-jobs.html
"In reality, there was little for Republicans to complain about in the Sanders plan. It is not a government mandate. Funding for the Youth Jobs Plan will come in the form of grants that will allow states and localities to create jobs or design their own job training programs. The irony is that a senator who the right mocks as communists/Marxist/socialist just got a jobs plan passed that puts states first."

Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'Don't Double Student Loan Rates'

Wisconsin Budget Includes $1 Million Taxpayer Giveaway for Well-Funded Teach for America

Wisconsin Budget Includes $1 Million Taxpayer Giveaway for Well-Funded Teach for America
"Teach for America is a non-profit whose stated mission is to "eliminate educational inequity by enlisting high-achieving recent college graduates and professionals to teach," but the organization is backed by a number of right-wing interests that have bankrolled the conservative push to privatize, voucherize, and generally dismantle free and universal public education in America."

Bernie Sanders Gets Republican Leader To Admit He Wants To Abolish The Minimum Wage

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/27/bernie-sanders-republican-leader-admit-abolish-minimum-wage.html
"During a hearing on raising the minimum wage, Sen. Bernie Sanders got the ranking Republican on the committee to admit that he wants to abolish the minimum wage."

Does Gov. Rick Perry Hate Women?

Epic - Disabled Veteran Politician RIPS Fake-Disabled Contractor (VIDEO)

Marriage Equality Advocates Turn Attention To State Laws

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

'Democracy Has Been Stolen And We Have To Take It Back'

'Democracy Has Been Stolen And We Have To Take It Back'
"It is not right that anyone is able to just keep our government from operating, for any reason. It is time to end the filibuster. Visit Fix the Senate Now."

Darrell Issa: "Fool me once..."

Chicago Students Try to Speak to Board, Forcibly Removed From Meeting

Chicago Students Try to Speak to Board, Forcibly Removed From Meeting
"Keep in mind, the fall of Apartheid started with students. They are the untapped power in the fight to save public education.
To sign a petition supporting the students, click here."

Mayors Vote Unanimously to End Federal Marijuana Crackdown

Mayors Vote Unanimously to End Federal Marijuana Crackdown: While the U.S. Supreme Court was handing down its string of blockbuster rulings this week on the scope of federal laws, the nation’s mayors were developing their own guidance for the feds. During the annual convening of city mayors, hundreds of city leaders unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on the federal government to back off [...]/p

Rick Perry’s Cheap Shot at Wendy Davis - Truthdig

Rick Perry’s Cheap Shot at Wendy Davis - Truthdig
"Davis, meantime, took the high road in responding to the governor’s remarks. “Rick Perry’s statement is without dignity and tarnishes the high office he holds,” she said."

BREAKING: Senate Passes Historic Immigration Reform

BREAKING: Senate Passes Historic Immigration Reform: On Thursday afternoon, an immigration reform bill that would affect millions of undocumented immigrants was approved by a final vote of 68 to 32 in the Senate. The bill puts up to 11 million undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship and enforces tough border security measures. Vice President Joe Biden presided over the historic [...]/p

DOMA's Demise A Major Win For Marriage Equality

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Iconic Lesbian Couple Talk DOMA Ruling And About Finally Getting Married

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy: DOMA Decision Represents ‘Sad Day For Our Nation’

Chick-fil-A’s Dan Cathy: DOMA Decision Represents ‘Sad Day For Our Nation’: There has been speculation that the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A is trying to move away from its anti-gay beliefs and practices, but company president and CEO Dan Cathy disproved that myth Wednesday on Twitter. Responding to the Supreme Court’s rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8, Cathy tweeted: Sad day for our nation; [...]/p

SCOTUS Delivers Landmark Victories On Same-Sex Marriage

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

How Congress Can Undo The Supreme Court’s Attack On Workers’ Rights

How Congress Can Undo The Supreme Court’s Attack On Workers’ Rights: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court handed down decisions in two little-watched cases: Vance v. Ball State University and University of Texas Southwestern Center v. Nassar. Both cases erected new hurdles for those who experience workplace harassment or discrimination. In the Vance case, the Court decided that when it comes to sexual harassment, someone is only [...]/p

Texas blue future seen in popular backlash against GOP abortion bill

Texas GOP abortion bill fails against impassioned opposition

Time To Move Away from the Reagan Revolution

Time To Move Away from the Reagan Revolution
"From devastating the economy, to gutting social welfare programs, and helping to send thousands of Americans to the streets, the Reagan Revolution was a complete disaster for this nation, no matter what Conservatives will try to tell you."

Same Old Party

For Bradley Foundation, Challenging Affirmative Action & Voting Rights is Part of Long-Term Crusade

For Bradley Foundation, Challenging Affirmative Action & Voting Rights is Part of Long-Term Crusade
"Which means the Bradley Foundation is not going anywhere anytime soon -- and battles over racial equity, voting rights, affirmative action and a range of other issues will continue to be funded and fought for years to come."

92-Year-Old Rosanell Eaton And Others Explain Why They’ll Go To Jail Protesting Conservative Policies In North Carolina

92-Year-Old Rosanell Eaton And Others Explain Why They’ll Go To Jail Protesting Conservative Policies In North Carolina: RALEIGH, North Carolina — Over 3,000 people turned out this week for the growing Moral Monday movement in North Carolina, where faith leaders are organizing weekly protests against the state’s sharply-conservative policies that would hurt the poor, women, minorities, and the environment. Among the crowd were 120 people who were willing to face arrest in [...]/p

Texas Shaping Up To Be Huge Battleground in 2014

Texas Shaping Up To Be Huge Battleground in 2014
"Wendy Davis' Democratic victory on Tuesday in Texas was a shot across the bow to the Texas Republican Party. In short, it sent a message that Democrats are organized, energized and working to turn Texas blue after too many years of Republican dominance. Sen. Wendy Davis was just what the doctor ordered to light up Texas women on both sides of the aisle and set their resolve to oust the old white men who want to put Big Government in their lady parts."

Man Chalks Pro-Health Care Message On Sidewalk, Gets Arrested For Writing ‘Derogatory Remark’

Man Chalks Pro-Health Care Message On Sidewalk, Gets Arrested For Writing ‘Derogatory Remark’: A health care activist in Pennsylvania was arrested Wednesday night for writing a message in sidewalk chalk protesting the governor’s decision to block health care for 700,000 residents in the state. Like many Republican governors around the country, Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) has opposed expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania, even though the federal government would fully [...]/p

Ten Reasons No One Should Lionize Justice Kennedy

Ten Reasons No One Should Lionize Justice Kennedy: Wednesday morning, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined his four more liberal colleagues to strike down the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act — thus continuing his solid, if not entirely unbroken, pro-gay record on the Supreme Court. Gay rights, however, is one of just a few areas where Kennedy does not behave like a loyal conservative. Here [...]/p

Six States Already Moving Forward With Voting Restrictions After Supreme Court Decision

Six States Already Moving Forward With Voting Restrictions After Supreme Court Decision: Less than 48 hours after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, six of the nine states that had been covered in their entirety under the law’s “preclearance” formula have already taken steps toward restricting voting. In a 5-4 decision, the Court’s five conservative justices ruled Tuesday that [...]/p

Thank Wendy Davis for Her Heroic Filibuster Defending Women from Another GOP Attack

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/26/wendy-davis-heroic-filibuster-defending-women-gop-attack.html
"It’s a sad commentary on the Republican Party that they couldn’t even stand to listen as Senator Davis spoke about women’s health — an issue she knows a heck of a lot more about than they do — without trying to shut her down."

Texas Republican Says Senator Wendy Davis Is A Terrorist For Filibustering Anti-Abortion Bill (IMAGE)

www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/27/texas-republican-says-senator-wendy-davis-is-a-terrorist-for-filibustering-anti-abortion-bill-image/
"She’s not a terrorist, she’s a hero and she should be respected not only as a woman, but a fantastic and brave politician who did her job by protecting her fellow citizens. That’s more than any Republican has done over the last decade."

Read more: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/06/27/texas-republican-says-senator-wendy-davis-is-a-terrorist-for-filibustering-anti-abortion-bill-image/#ixzz2XP8nIqCj

Texas Moves Forward With Voter ID Laws

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Antonin Scalia Misses the Days When It Was OK for Government Discriminate Against Gay People | Alternet

Antonin Scalia Misses the Days When It Was OK for Government Discriminate Against Gay People | Alternet
"Supreme Court's arch-conservative says legalizing same-sex marriage discriminates against people who don't want it."

Wendy Davis Says She Has Aspirations To Run For Statewide Office

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

You Won’t Believe WHEN and WHY the Tea Party Movement Was Created!

www.occupydemocrats.com/you-wont-believe-when-and-why-the-tea-party-movement-was-created/
"The two organizations that are the most responsible for the rapid growth and proliferation of the Tea Party Movement are America’s for Prosperity and Freedomworks. Not only did these two organizations start off as a very pro tobacco lobby organization called Citizens for a Sounds Economy, they are now still actively “supporting the tobacco companies’ political agenda by mobilizing local Tea Party opposition to tobacco taxes and smoke-free laws."

Supreme Court Activists Conspired With Republicans and ALEC To Kill Democracy

www.politicususa.com/2013/06/26/supreme-court-activists-conspired-republicans-alec-kill-democracy.html
"What the conservative court accomplished besides handing ALEC the right to restrict minority voters in the South is effectively abolishing the 15th Amendment. Remember, none of ALEC’s voter suppression laws are worded to restrict minority voting, but they do specifically target minorities who are most adversely affected by Republican policies."

Southern Republicans begin gleefully acting quickly in response to gutting of Voting Rights Act

www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/26/1219118/-States-once-covered-by-Voting-Rights-Act-s-pre-clearance-rules-move-quickly-on-election-law-changes
"Seemingly within minutes of the Supreme Court's announcement of its ruling yanking the teeth of the Voting Rights Act Tuesday, officials in several states were saying they would move ahead with new election laws that no longer must be pre-cleared by federal authorities because of the court's 5-4 decision."

June 26, 2013

Under Obamacare, Montana Residents Will Get Better Benefits For Less Money Than They’re Paying Now

Under Obamacare, Montana Residents Will Get Better Benefits For Less Money Than They’re Paying Now: Individual and small group health plans sold on Montana’s Obamacare marketplace in 2014 will be cheaper than what current plans would have cost without the health law — even though the new marketplace plans will offer significantly better benefits than the status quo, according to a new Montana actuary report. Without the health law, insurance [...]/p

Ohio Lawmakers Amend Their State Budget’s Abortion Restrictions To Be Even Worse Than Before

Ohio Lawmakers Amend Their State Budget’s Abortion Restrictions To Be Even Worse Than Before: Ohio lawmakers are currently trying to pass a state budget, but many of the debates over the legislation have nothing to do with the state’s financial policies whatsoever. Abortion opponents have hijacked the budget negotiations to launch several attacks on women’s health, tacking on provisions that would defund Planned Parenthood, shut down abortion clinics, and [...]/p

Less Than 24 Hours After Abortion Bill Filibuster, Texas Governor Calls Another Special Session

Less Than 24 Hours After Abortion Bill Filibuster, Texas Governor Calls Another Special Session: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) will call a second special legislative session that will begin on July 1, according to ABC News reporter Arlette Saenz. The news comes less than 24 hours after Texas’ first special session concluded with a 13-hour filibuster that effectively blocked an omnibus abortion bill from passing. Perry convened the first [...]/p

Sen. Bernie Sanders: The Minimum Wage

The Lies You’ll Probably Hear If You Visit A Right-Wing ‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’

The Lies You’ll Probably Hear If You Visit A Right-Wing ‘Crisis Pregnancy Center’: Taking the morning after pill is equivalent to having an abortion. Emergency contraception typically causes dangerous hemorrhaging, can damage the cervix, and often lands women in the hospital. It’s not a good idea to buy emergency contraception over the counter. Choosing abortion is emotionally damaging to women. Those are just a few of the falsehoods [...]/p

The IRS “Scandal” Was A Set-Up | Common Dreams

The IRS “Scandal” Was A Set-Up | Common Dreams
"Got that? Republicans told the IG to limit it to conservaitve sounding names, and then when the IG report only mentioned conservative-sounding names, they blasted out this “scandal” to the media.

It was a set-up from the start. And the media completely fell for it. If you hear anyone say that “the IRS targeted conservatives” please let them know this is not what happened — not at all."

The Texas-Oklahoma Red River Smackdown Foreshadows Water Fights To Come

The Texas-Oklahoma Red River Smackdown Foreshadows Water Fights To Come: Here’s a preview of the way climate change and human-driven global warming could upend our society, in the form of a recently decided Supreme Court case. Over the last few years, a dispute between Texas and Oklahoma over the 35-year old Red River Compact has been winding its way through the court system. The compact [...]/p

Three Of Every Four Americans Are Living Paycheck-To-Paycheck

Three Of Every Four Americans Are Living Paycheck-To-Paycheck: According to a new survey, more than three-quarters of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck in order to make ends meet. The study, conducted by Bankrate.com, found that 76 percent of citizens had less than six months’ worth of savings to their name. Half of Americans had less than three months emergency savings and more than a [...]/p

Time for Congress to Regulate the Supreme Court Clan!

Top Senate Republican Hints Voting Rights Act May Be Held Hostage In Exchange For Voter Suppression

Top Senate Republican Hints Voting Rights Act May Be Held Hostage In Exchange For Voter Suppression: Tuesday’s decision neutering a key prong of the Voting Rights Act leaves supporters of voting rights in a difficult position. If they do nothing, voter suppression laws can go into effect, and may not be struck down by the courts until after they have succeeded in disenfranchising many voters. Yet the Roberts Court’s decision to [...]/p

Supreme Court’s War on Democracy

www.consortiumnews.com/2013/06/25/supreme-courts-war-on-democracy/
"After the Voting Rights Act was gutted on Tuesday, some officials from the Old Confederacy immediately rubbed their hands with glee, anticipating how they could minimize the number of black and brown voters in future elections and maximize the number of white Republican members of Congress."

Did SCOTUS just send Voting Rights to the Back of the Bus?

House Republicans Charged The American Taxpayer $2.3 Million To Lose DOMA Case

House Republicans Charged The American Taxpayer $2.3 Million To Lose DOMA Case: Two years ago, House Republicans hired Paul Clement, the former Solicitor General who has since built a practice out of trying to convince judges to repeal laws supported by Democrats and preserve laws supported by Republicans, to defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act. Clement’s team then charged the taxpayer $520 an hour to unsuccessfully [...]/p

CEOs Made 273 Times What Workers Did In 2012

CEOs Made 273 Times What Workers Did In 2012: Wages have been stagnant or falling for American workers throughout the recovery, but their bosses’ pay has rebounded dramatically. Average CEO compensation hit $14.1 million in 2012, up more than a third from 2009, and the ratio of CEO pay to worker pay hit a staggering 272.9-to-1, according to new research from the Economic Policy [...]/p

Supreme Court Rules DOMA Is Unconstitutional

Supreme Court Rules DOMA Is Unconstitutional: The Supreme Court just handed down a 5-4 decision striking the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act. According to Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion for the Court, “[t]he federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect [...]/p

TX Senate Erupts Into Chaos As GOP Tries to Cheat Their Way To Abortion Ban

TX Senate Erupts Into Chaos As GOP Tries to Cheat Their Way To Abortion Ban
"Because of Republicans' behavior in front of Texas and the rest of America, it's quite likely Texas really will turn blue, and sooner rather than later. Stay tuned, this is just the beginning."

Republican Senator Calls For Abolishing The Minimum Wage

Republican Senator Calls For Abolishing The Minimum Wage: On the 75th anniversary of the landmark bill that established a minimum wage, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) called for abolishing it completely, the Huffington Post reports. At a Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee meeting to mark 75 years since the signing of the Federal Labor Standards Act, which set a minimum wage and mandated [...]/p

The Court, The Corporate Coup, And The Call To Struggle

The Court, The Corporate Coup, And The Call To Struggle
"Our democracy was under siege even before the Supreme Court's ruling on the Voting Rights Act. This decision caps the Court's clean sweep on behalf of the United States Chamber of Commerce and is part of a concerted effort to seize democracy on behalf of moneyed interests."

Sick? The GOP Wants You to Come to Work Anyway | Alternet

Sick? The GOP Wants You to Come to Work Anyway | Alternet
"Florida Governor Rick Scott is latest Republican to block paid sick leave."

Texas senator stands for millions in thwarting anti-abortion bill

Thanks To The Supreme Court, Wendy Davis Will Probably Lose Her Senate Seat

Thanks To The Supreme Court, Wendy Davis Will Probably Lose Her Senate Seat: On the very same day that Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) drew national attention for stopping a bill that would have closed every abortion clinic in the state and outlawed abortion after 20 weeks, the Supreme Court gutted the law that kept her in office in the first place. In fact, just an hour [...]/p

Voting rights and wrongs in America

Democrat Ed Markey Claims Mass. Senate Seat

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rep. Lewis: 'Sad To Have To Fight This Fight All Over Again'

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

PERRspectives: John Roberts Completes 30 Year Mission to Kill Voting Rights Act

PERRspectives: John Roberts Completes 30 Year Mission to Kill Voting Rights Act
"To put it another way, the conservative majority on the Roberts' Court called a foul ball fair. Apparently, that's what Reagan staffer turned Chief Umpire John Roberts meant to do all along."

Killing The Voting Rights Act

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

June 25, 2013

Texas Lawmaker Attempts To Block Stringent Abortion Restrictions With 13-Hour Filibuster

Texas Lawmaker Attempts To Block Stringent Abortion Restrictions With 13-Hour Filibuster: Texas’ special session ends at midnight on Tuesday. And if state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) can continue speaking until that point about the dangerous effects of SB 5, an omnibus abortion bill that Texas Republicans are currently attempting to push through the extra lawmaking session, she’ll effectively block it from being able to pass. Since [...]/p

Virginia Attorney General Complained Voting Rights Act Required ‘Running To Mommy’

Virginia Attorney General Complained Voting Rights Act Required ‘Running To Mommy’ By paralyzing the federal government’s power to guard against implementation of laws with a discriminatory effect — even in places like Virginia with a history of voter suppression— it will be much harder for citizens to cast their votes, regardless of the stated intent of the suppression.

Fox's Napolitano Ignores Continuing Voter Discrimination To Applaud SCOTUS Decision On Voting Rights Act

www.mediamatters.org/blog/2013/06/25/foxs-napolitano-ignores-continuing-voter-discri/194600
"Despite Napolitano's claims to the contrary, the Voting Rights Act has continued to protect voters from discriminatory voting changes. Legal analyst Andrew Cohen criticized the decision in a post at The Atlanticnoting that Section 4 was "invoked more than 700 times between 1982 and 2006 to block racially discrimination [sic] voting measures." A Mother Jones article quoted Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who, in her dissent to the decision, pointed out "eight examples of race-based voter discrimination in recent history"."

How The Supreme Court Just Undercut The Environmental Progress Obama Envisions

How The Supreme Court Just Undercut The Environmental Progress Obama Envisions: On the day that President Obama made a major announcement on his commitment to protecting the environment, the U.S. Supreme Court had other ideas. In a 5-4 ruling that could dramatically expand challenges to environmental land use laws, the court held Tuesday that a state’s regulation of privately owned wetlands was subject to severe constitutional [...]/p

Sen. Murray Blasts Republicans For ‘Governing By Crisis’

Sen. Murray Blasts Republicans For ‘Governing By Crisis’: In an interview with ThinkProgress on Tuesday, Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) blasted the pattern of manufactured legislative crises that’s prevailed in Congress since 2011. Murray, who was at Center for American Progress to give a speech on early childhood education, argued that Republican obstructionism has prevented the government from effectively planning for [...]/p

Rep. John Lewis: I Never Thought I'd Live To See Voting Rights Act Undone

Two Hours After The Supreme Court Gutted The Voting Rights Act, Texas AG Suppresses Minority Voters

Two Hours After The Supreme Court Gutted The Voting Rights Act, Texas AG Suppresses Minority Voters: Just two hours after the Supreme Court reasoned that discrimination is not rampant enough in Southern states to warrant restrictions under the Voting Rights Act, Texas is already advancing a voter ID law and a redistricting map blocked last year for discriminating against black and Latino residents. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott issued a statement [...]/p