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Showing posts with label Legislation. Show all posts

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Who is A.L.E.C. Why are they, and Republican Governors and Republican-Controlled State Legislators Limiting City and Local Legislators Ability To Govern For The People?

How Republicans Use "Preemption Laws" To Take Legislative Power Away From The People

From "The American Prospect Longform" August 22, 2016

John A. Smith, Editor/Founder, New York, August 26, 2016

See how Republican Governors and Republican-controlled State Legislatures are using "Preemption Laws" to take away Cities and local legislators power to create laws that the people in those cities heavily favor. They recently affected Denton, Texas, when they passed a fracking ban in November 2014. "Sure enough, despite widespread local support, it only took months to make Denton’s fracking ban history. The GOP-dominated Texas state legislature, under pressure from the oil and gas industry, passed a law forbidding any locality from banning fracking. Denton’s own state representative voted for the measure." READ MORE: http://prospect.org/article/blue-cities-battle-red-states.

     These Republican Governors are affecting local laws passed by the people of those cities and towns in the interest of corporations and special interests by writing these preemption laws, of which many are actually written by ALEC (see ALEC Exposed here:http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed ) Preemption laws are being used by state legislatures on issues like gun safety, smoking, anti-discriminatory legislation, LGBTQ legislation, and much much more.

   "Minimum preemption” laws have been used for years. They force localities to do something where they might otherwise have done little or nothing, like environmental laws. The federal government has been setting minimum standards of environmental protection for years, preempting the states from allowing lower environmental standards.

      "Most current preemption laws, by contrast, are what one might call “maximum preemption.” These laws aren’t about setting minimums; instead, they prohibit local regulation. States have prevented localities from creating paid sick leave requirements for businesses, or raising the minimum wage. Many who oppose these measures blame their proliferation on the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, which has drafted “model” preemption bills for state lawmakers to use. “Pretty much anything you can think of that matters to the American family is under assault by local preemption,” says Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change, which fights preemption laws around the country reports The American Prospect. "In the last five years, as Republicans have captured an unprecedented number of state legislatures and as cities have become hotbeds for progressive organizing, the number of maximum preemption laws has grown dramatically. In 2011, after Wisconsin passed a bill limiting the local ability to require paid sick days, ALEC and the National Restaurant Association took up the cause, and now 15 states have preempted local paid sick day requirements" READ MORE: http://prospect.org/article/blue-cities-battle-red-states.

LEGAL DEFINITION: "Preemption"

n. the rule of law that if the federal government through Congress has enacted legislation on a subject matter it shall be controlling over state laws and/or preclude the state from enacting laws on the same subject if Congress has specifically stated it has "occupied the field."

Preemption - Legal Dictionary | Law.com

dictionary.law.com/default.aspx?selected=1575Law.com Legal Dictionary

Most current preemption laws, by contrast, are what one might call “maximum preemption.” These laws aren’t about setting minimums; instead, they prohibit local regulation. States have prevented localities from creating paid sick leave requirements for businesses, or raising the minimum wage. Many who oppose these measures blame their proliferation on the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, which has drafted “model” preemption bills for state lawmakers to use. “Pretty much anything you can think of that matters to the American family is under assault by local preemption,” says Mark Pertschuk, the director of Grassroots Change, which fights preemption laws around the country. - The American Prospect

Earlier this year the Charlotte City Council passed a measure extending civil-rights protections for its LGBT community. The policy also allowed transgender individuals to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity rather than with their biological sex. Including gay and transgender people in anti-discrimination ordinances has become a standard business-friendly move; nationwide, 225 cities and counties have passed similar measures, in part to attract businesses. While Republican Governor Pat McCrory and state legislature leaders threatened to intervene in Charlotte, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, an advocate of the measure, wasn’t overly concerned. “I thought they’d make a big noise about it but they’d recognize it was just Charlotte, it’s a progressive city, and they didn’t need to come in and change anything because it would jeopardize the economy,” she says.

But when the state Republicans responded, they sent shockwaves around the country by passing a maximum preemption measure that invalidated all local anti-discrimination ordinances, including those protecting women and racial minorities. Not only did they force transgender people to use public bathrooms based on their reproductive organs; for good measure, they also rolled a provision into the bill that forbade any North Carolina city from increasing the minimum wage. READ MORE: http://prospect.org/article/blue-cities-battle-red-states.

Even if you're disgusted with the candidates for the presidential race it is imperative that you vote this November 8th! The Senate, House, and local elections are crucial to the future of our cities, towns, counties, and country.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Do-Nothing-Congress Has 4 Days Left - We Have Their Calendar and What's Not On It

Chart by republicanjobnation.com

Where's The Farm Bill, Immigration Bill, Jobs Bill, or Any Significant Legislation That Would Move the Country Forward?

Legislative bills that are normally passed without even a discussion were not passed because they were never even brought onto the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. The real problem is that the Tea Party members and establishment Republicans can't seem to get anything significant done, House Speaker John Boehner has had to rely on Democratic votes to get bills passed.

A major reason for the lack of legislating, of course, rests in the divided government re-elected in 2012. That left Democrats in control of the Senate and White House, with Republicans in charge of the House.
Sarah Binder, an expert on legislative politics at the Brookings Institute, says that other factors are to blame as well, like policy disputes between members of the same party and the dwindling number of moderates willing to mediate tiffs between warring factions.

Carrie Dann, a political reporter for NBC News states that the Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform legislation earlier this year but prospects for a vote in the House are slim. House Republicans have voted some 47 times to either repeal or somehow change the newly enacted health-care law, efforts that have been shelved in the upper chamber.

That sets the backdrop for an election year in 2014. With all 435 House seats up for re-election and 33 Senate seats at stake next November, the balance of power in Congress is very much in play. Read More: NBC Politics article about our "Do Nothing Congress" November 26, 2013

With only a handful of remaining legislative days on their calendar, this current Congress is on track to go down as one of the most unproductive in modern history. The paltry number of bills Congress has passed into law this year paints a vivid picture of just how bad the gridlock has been for lawmakers, whose single-digit approval rating illustrates that the public is hardly satisfied with their trickle of legislative activity.

According to THOMAS, the legislative tracking service, this Congress has passed just 52 public laws since it gaveled into session in January. Check the

At this point in George W. Bush’s second term as president, for example, 113 bills had been enacted into law, according to numbers crunched by Pew Research Center’s Drew DeSilver. In the same amount of time during the 110th Congress – from January until before the Thanksgiving recess of 2007 – that number was 120.

So far this year, the president has signed legislation to specify the size of commemorative coins for the Baseball Hall of Fame, to name a subsection of IRS code after former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and to honor baseball great Stan Musial with a namesake Midwestern bridge.
With the ceremonial measures excluded, according to DeSilver’s calculations, Congress has enacted just 44 “substantive” laws so far this year. That’s well below the average of about 70 substantive bills passed in the equivalent time period between 1999 and 2012.

Photo by Eric Wolfson

U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner (R-OH)

Many in Washington say Boehner is to blame for his woes. Others say the fractious nature of the current Republican caucus might have undermined any speaker. Newt Gingrich, who held the post in the mid-1990s, says that Democrats’ control of the Senate and the White House has made Boehner’s job “10 times harder than mine was.” Boehner still plays a key role in Congress, but primarily by refusing to allow votes on measures supported by the Senate, like its immigration reform bill, which Democrats say would pass if it came to the floor. In fact, in a strange twist on bipartisanship, most of the must-pass measures adopted by Congress recently have gotten through the House only when Boehner has defied the wishes of a majority of his caucus and relied on Democrats. Those votes have been widely described as a sign of weakness. If that is so, that may be evidence that the problem isn’t purely Boehner’s own. His Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, turned to Republicans seven times for votes she couldn’t get from her own side.

Paul Ryan (R) and Patty Murray (D) working on budget deal. Photo by navytimes.com

Obama vs. Boehner: Who Killed the Debt Deal?

In a New York Times Magazine Article in March, 2012 - Who Killed The Debt Deal? Almost immediately after the so-called grand bargain between President Obama and the Republican speaker of the house, John Boehner, unraveled last July, the two sides quickly settled into dueling, self-serving narratives of what transpired behind closed doors. In the months that followed, some of Washington’s most connected Democrats and Republicans told me in casual conversations that they didn’t know whose story to believe, or even what, exactly, had been on the table during the negotiations. Both sides knew that if the most crucial and contested details of their deliberations became public, it would complicate relationships with some of their most important constituencies in Washington — or worse. It’s one thing for a Democratic president to embrace painful cuts in Medicare and Social Security benefits, or for a Republican speaker to contemplate raising taxes, if they can ultimately claim that they’ve joined together to make the hard decisions necessary for the country; it’s quite another thing to shatter the trust of your most ideological allies and come away with nothing to show for it. Obama and Boehner have clung to their separate realities not just because it’s useful to blame each other for the political dysfunction in Washington, but because neither wants to talk about just how far he was willing to go.

Photo by jobsanger.blogspot.com

December is for Deadline on Budget Deal:

December 13, 2013 is when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R) and Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray (D) are supposed to produce the compromise conference report on the budget negotiations; By the way, congressional appropriators are very itchy to get at least a topline number from Ryan-Murray to find out if Sequester 2 is really going to kick in.

Democrats are resisting a proposal to increase the amount federal employees contribute to their pensions, while Republicans are challenging the concept of trading spending cuts for promises of future savings. Democrats are also demanding an extension of benefits for long-term unemployment insurance, either as part budget deal or as a separate measure.

In case a budget deal isn’t reached, House lawmakers yesterday began discussing the outline of a short-term bill to fund the government, according to a Republican leadership aide. The bill would probably be for three months, after current authority expires Jan. 15. Read More: Bloomberg December 6, 2013 Budget Negotiators Seek Limited Deal as Opposition Mounts

Photo by obamacrat.com

What America Needs as Opposed to What Political Parties Need

President Barack Obama Address on December 4, 2013 focused on his plan to grow the economy and the middle class. The unemployment numbers that came out on Friday were encouraging, 7%, the lowest in 5 years, since the financial crisis. This country needs significant legislation on many issues, the Farm bill (without $40B taken out of food stamps like the Republican Congress want,) Immigration Reform, Jobs, Women's Rights legislation, that stops the attack on women, Voter ID/disenfranchise laws stopped, it does not need the obstructionism, partisanship politics, misleading rhetoric and outright lies, selfishness, corrupt politicians, Tea Party members backed by the ultra-rich, corporations, and Super PACS (that are buying our elections and Representatives.) The TeaPublican/Republican Party needs to get those who treat the word "compromise" as a word that doesn't exist in the English language out of their elected offices. That's harder to do since the 2010 Supreme Court ruling on Citizens United. That's why we need a Constitutional Amendment to overturn that decision. The parties need to work together to solve issues and stop the racist, hateful, and obstructionism that just doesn't make any sense for anyone.

How Income Inequality is Holding Back Our Economy

In a Center for American Progress December 4, 2013 Article Ben Olinsky and Asher Mayerson explain how "Trickle Down Economics" didn't, and don't work. "For more than 30 years, conservative politicians have tried to sell Americans on the notion that giving tax cuts to the wealthy will spur economic growth and job creation, generating broad-based economic prosperity. Their marketing of this “trickle-down economics” has been successful: After decades of campaigning, many Americans now accept the oft-repeated assertion that lower taxes and less regulation leads to job growth. Congress followed suit, lowering tax rates sharply for the highest-income earners, while leaving tax rates relatively unchanged for other groups. When President Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the marginal tax rate for the highest income bracket was 70 percent, but that fell to just 28 percent by the time he left office. Even after modest increases since then, the top marginal tax rate for top earners today hovers at just more than half of what it was in 1980 (see figure 1). At the same time, Congress and the courts have taken repeated steps to roll back labor and financial regulation, further contributing to the skyrocketing wealth of the top 1 percent."

Jared Bernstein explains the "Impact of Income Equality" in a Center for American Progress Article on "The Impact of Income Inequality on Growth" He says "Among the most important economic challenges facing the United States and some other advanced economies today is the increase in the inequality of economic outcomes. In the case of the United States, the distributions of income, wages, and wealth are more dispersed than ever. Though measurement issues abound, it is widely agreed that U.S. economic inequality is at historically high levels."

Jobs

The U.S. created 203,000 jobs and the unemployment rate falls to 7%, that's good news. It's the lowest it has been since the financial crisis occurred in 2009. In a Huffington Post December 6, 2013 article on the November Jobs Report the Associated Press "A fourth straight month of solid hiring cut the U.S. unemployment rate in November to a five-year low of 7 percent. The gains in the job market could spur greater economic growth." We need a jobs bill passed, infrastructure repair and replacement, and training to put people back to work who lost their jobs through no fault of their own and are not good candidates for the jobs that are available.much of our infrastructure is in dire need of repair, the amount of bridges that hundreds of thousands of American families drive over daily, that have failed inspections is unbelievable in a country like ours. Pass a damn jobs bill and let's get the infrastructure repair5s and replacement underway.

Photo by iowarepublican.com

Immigration Reform

In a Washington Post Opinion on December 6, 2013 famed Chef Jose Andres said "The first time I saw America was from my perch on the mast of a Spanish naval ship, where I could spot the Statue of Liberty reaching proudly into the open, endless American sky. At night, I would often wonder whether that sky was the explanation for the stars on the American flag — put there so the world would know that this is a place of limitless possibility, where anyone from anywhere can strive for a better life."

He recalled that starry sky on Nov. 13, when after 23 years in America, my wife, Patricia, and I were sworn in as United States citizens. The naturalization ceremony in Baltimore, attended by 72 other tearful immigrants from 35 countries, was a moment I had dreamed about since the day I arrived in America with little more than $50 and a set of cooking knives, determined to belong. I eventually settled in Washington, where my partners and I have been fortunate to build a restaurant business that now employs thousands of Americans across the country.

Because many of us took great risks to come here and support our families, immigrants tend to have an especially strong work ethic. My friend Rodolfo started his career in America tiling the floors at Jaleo, our first restaurant. But he soon began washing dishes and baking bread overnight, sometimes holding two or three jobs while he learned how to cook. And today, that construction worker from Bolivia is a head chef, a restaurant investor, a wonderful father and a proud American citizen.

If other immigrants had the chance to pursue their dreams like Rodolfo, all of America would benefit. As legal residents, immigrants would contribute more in taxes, spend more at our businesses, start companies of their own and create more jobs. Immigration is not a problem for us to solve but an opportunity for America to seize.

Right now the legislation is stalled in the do-nothing-Congress. The Senate bill S 744, the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" introduced to the Senate on April 16, 2013, by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) passed the Senate on July 27, 2013. In the U.S. House of Representatives there numerous bills related to the Senate bill;

H.R. 3568: Training Highly Skilled Americans Act of 2013

H.R. 3431: American Families United Act

H.R. 3344: Fraudulent Overseas Recruitment and Trafficking Elimination Act of 20

H.R. 3130: Protect Family Values at the Border Act

H.R. 2624: Child Trafficking Victims Protection Act

H.R. 2270: To impose enhanced penalties for certain drug offense that take place on Federal propert

H.R. 1596: American Jobs in American Forests Act of 2013

H.R. 490: Visa Waiver Program Enhanced Security and Reform Act

Comprehensive Immigration Reform Stalled

House Speaker John Boehner refuses to bring a comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill, like the Senate's S 744 to the floor for a vote. Senate Majority has said for some time that there are enough votes with House Democrats and Republicans to pass a bipartisan bill. But, there it sits, stalled.

Photo by politusic.com

We Must Fire These Representatives Who Are Not Representing the American People's Best Interests

If you check the Bills To Be Considered in the U.S. House of Representatives for the Week of December 9, 2013 you won't see a Farm Bill, an Immigration Reform Bill, a Jobs Bill, or much of anything significant.

Just as many important issues have not been acted upon by this Do-Nothing-Congress, about to become the "Least Productive Congress Ever" in the Guinness World Book of Records. Talk to friends, neighbors, co-workers, staying with these obstructionist TeaPublican, Republicans is hurting our Republic. The turnout for the 2014 elections will probably determine who controls the House and the Senate after the midterm elections. Typically the incumbent President loses seats in the House during his second term especially. We must not let that happen, for the good of the country.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

New Guardian Docs Show ALEC Misled Press, Public. Are You Surprised?

Are Your Representatives ALEC Members?

Photo by DailyKos

Are Your Representatives Members of ALEC? What Is ALEC?

The Center For Media and Democracy Article: ALEC Exposed tells how global corporations are scheming to rewrite YOUR rights and boost THEIR revenues. In this posting you can also see "Who Is Behind ALEC?" "Who Funds ALEC?" "What Corporations Are Involved In ALEC?" Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. In ALEC's own words; "corporations have a voice, and vote." Regardless of what ALEC members say, the U.S. Constitution does NOT give corporations the same rights as people, and money is NOT a voice. Corporations do NOT have the right to vote.

Cartoon by articpetrel.blogspot.com

Citizens United Gives Corporations Power Through Campaign Contributions

Although a Peter Hart poll found that 79% of Americans including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats "support a Constitutional Amendment that would overturn then Citizens United decision and make clear that corporations do not have the same rights as people. Further, a 2012 Associated Press poll found that 83% of Americans including 81% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 85% of Democrats believe "there should be limits on the amount of money corporations, unions, and other organizations can contribute to outside organizations trying to influence campaigns for President, Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly nine in ten Americans (88%) say that corporations have too much power. 83% of Americans (81% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 85% of Democrats) think there should be limits on how much money corporations can give in elections. And 90% of those with incomes above $100,000 support such limits.

ALEC forms 501(c)(4), but previously claimed: "We have no current plans to operate a 501(c)(4) in the near future"

The Guardian documents show that ALEC has formed a new 501(c)(4) entity, the "Jeffersonian Project," apparently in anticipation of the IRS investigating ALEC's current 501(c)(3) charitable status. This revelation could be seen as an admission from ALEC that its critics were correct about its violations of the tax code (although ALEC insists it does not lobby, despite documentary evidence to the contrary).
ALEC had previously misled reporters about its plans for a 501(c)(4).

In December of last year, ALEC spokesperson Kaitlyn Buss told Bloomberg News "we have no current plans to operate a 501(c)(4) in the near future."
When Buss said "the near future" and "current plans," she apparently meant "next week."
Just eight days after the Bloomberg story ran, ALEC formed the 501(c)(4) "Jeffersonian Project," according to a certificate of incorporation obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy. (ALEC also failed to mention to Bloomberg that it had incorporated another 501(c)(4), "ALEC NOW" in July of 2012; that entity was dissolved earlier this year.)

To learn more about ALEC and who is involved see a post from this blog on September 1, 2013

When Common Cause's late president Bob Edgar filed a whistleblower complaint challenging ALEC's tax status in April of 2012, ALEC fought back hard. Its lawyer Alan Dye publicly dismissed the complaint a "harassment tactic" that "ignores applicable law."
"The attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council are based on patently false claims," he told reporters at the time.

But behind the scenes, Dye took a more measured tone, according to the Guardian documents. Forming a 501(c)(4) -- which is allowed to lobby without limit -- would "provide greater legal protection or lessen ethics concerns," Dye wrote in an August 2013 memo to ALEC's board of directors. Forming the Jeffersonian Project would remove "questions of ethical violations made by our critics and state ethics boards and provides further legal protection."

"ALEC certified to the IRS for years that it didn't spend a penny on lobbying, thereby preserving its absurd status as a charity," Steve Spaulding, Staff Counsel at Common Cause, told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD.)
ALEC's charitable status had allowed its corporate members to write-off their ALEC membership dues -- which are essentially lobbying expenses -- as tax-deductible charitable contributions.
"In forming a 501(c)(4) arm, it appears that ALEC is on notice that it's not going to get away with abusing our nation's charitable tax laws much longer," Spaulding said.

Read More on The Center for Media and Democracies PR Watch

Be sure to "Subscribe" to this blog (above on the left margin) and "Sign Up for E-mails for notifications of laws being acted upon in the House and Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives only has 4 days left before the end of the year. Stay informed and contact YOUR Representatives on bills they are preparing to act on.

Photo by PR Watch.org

Also see The Center for Media and Democracy's article Don't Believe the Spin from ALEC telling how ALEC members will gather legislators to plan their agenda for next year.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Bills About To Be Acted Upon In The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate VERY SOON. You must ACT NOW To Be Heard! VOL. 01 November 27, 2013

STATUS: Referred to Committee, (S. 815 (same title) Passed Senate — Nov 07, 2013)

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

I Just Used GovTrack.us to Contact My Senators to Let Them Know I Support H.R 2061, Check Out How EASY it is To Contact YOUR Senators

I just called my two Senators to let them know that I support H.R. 2061, the Digital Transparency and Accountability Act. It was really easy using GovTrack.us If you want to be heard click on this link, Click Here to go to GovTrack.us then at the top of the page click on "Call your Senators." Enter your address and they'll find your Senators for you. Then for each Senator, enter your phone number next to "Call Me," button, your phone will ring almost immediately. When you answer they will tell you which Senator they are automatically connecting you to. and you will be connected to your Senators office. They even have a script to follow! The exact wording to use, if you want to, right there on the monitor. It's a great way to let you contact your Representatives and let them know how you feel.

You can then track your Senators and Congressmen/women, and see what legislation is upcoming and track those bills that you are interested in. Try it, I think you'll like it.