Have You Contacted Your 2 Senators and Your Congressmen/women Recently?

Use these links to find your Senators and Congressmen/women and e-mail or call them. You can also see how they voted on bills that interest you. Get involved in your government, tell them how you feel about issues that effect YOU.

To Find Your Senators, their Contact Information, and how they voted click on this link:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

To Find Your Congressmen/women, their Contact Information, and how they voted click on this link:
 http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Use this E-mail Template to Contact YOUR Senators and Congressmen to Institute the "Congressional Reform Act of 2013"

Use this E-mail Template to Contact YOUR Senators and Congressmen to Institute the "Congressional Reform Act of 2013"

I am asking you to present/or move a bill called "The Congressional Reform Act of 2012."  I just sent this to Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Tim Bishop. Please feel free to copy and paste the template portion of this post.It contains the following;

1. No Tenure/No Pension

2.A Congressman/woman receives pay when they are in office, they receive no pay when not in office.

3.Congress (Past, Present, and Future)participates in Social Security.

4. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.

5. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

6. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will raise the lower of CPI or 3%.

7. Congress loses their current health care insurance and participates in the health care marketplace exchanges.

8. Congress must equally abide by the impose on the American people.

9. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void 12/01/2013. The American people did not make these contracts with the Congressmen/women.

I believe this may have been suggested by Warren Buffet as a way to lower the debt. Either way I think it's a great proposal. I realize the Congress getting paid is in the constitution so if a constitutional amendment is called for, so be it.

Please let me know at your earliest convenience where you stand on this proposal.

Thank you for your great service in the past.

END OF TEMPLATE

Use this link to find and contact YOUR Senator: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm 

Use this link to contact YOUR Congressmen/women: http://www.house.gov/representatives/ 

The "Congressional Reform Act information was from a post by Josh Duhamel on September 5, 2013.

Sign This Petition to Tell the Supreme Court to Reject McCutcheon's Attempt to Allow Unlimited Campaign Contributions

 Sign This Petition to Tell the Supreme Court to Reject McCutcheon's Attempt to Allow Unlimited Campaign Contributions 

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SIGN THE PETITION

http://www.change.org/petitions/the-supreme-court-of-the-united-states-of-america-reject-shaun-alabama-businessman-shaun-mccutcheon-s-challenges-to-the-aggregate-limit-on-campaign-contributions-that-an-individual-donor-can-make-in-a-single-election-case-to-be-heard-oct-8th?share_id=ODalnHmNSV&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition 

Here is a video of Elizabeth Warren, My comments follow

 

On October 8, 2013 the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments on McCutcheon v The Federal Election Committee. An Alabama businessman, Shaun McCutcheon has challenged the aggregate limit on campaign contributions that an individual donor can make in a single election. Currently, a donor may only give $123,300 in total, made up of sub-limits of $48,600 to candidates and $74,600 to party committees and PACs.


In an article by The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/26/elizabeth-warren-supreme-court_n_3997916.html Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warning that a coming Supreme Court case that could ultimately eliminate certain campaign contribution limits is a "clear danger" that threatens to expand the influence of large and wealthy corporations on elections.

Our politicians are already influenced enough by big money, the Koch brothers and the numerous non-profits and PACs. Citizens United has caused irreparable damage to democracy by allowing anonymous campaign contributions. Please sign this petition to The United states Supreme Court to let them know we are against unlimited Campaign contributions by individuals. 

54-44 The Senate Vote to Fund the Government with the Provision to Defund Obamacare Removed

 54-44 The Senate Vote to Fund the Government with the Provision to Defund Obamacare Removed

Recap of Events in the House and Senate the Last Few Days

Let's recap the last couple days; The House of Representatives passed a CR bill that defunded Obamacare and sent it to the Senate.

Senator Cruz made a deal with Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to speak on the Senate floor on Wednesday, he started at 2:41pm EST and spoke for 21 hours. The speech was not really a filibuster because it was never going to stop a vote on cloture, to allow discussion of the bill passed by the house. It was touted as a fauxlibuster because it was never going to stop the vote for cloture, it was a fake filibuster. Mind you the supposed fauxlibuster was to stop a bill put forth by the Republicans in the house. 

Near the end of his little show Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) he said "A vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare." That's right, Senator Cruz said a vote for cloture (a vote to allow discussion of the bill ) is a vote for Obamacare. So, since his speech wasn't really a filibuster the vote on cloture took place, wait for it, wait for it, it passed 100-0! Senator Cruz voted for it, therefore voting for Obamacare. You can't make this stuff up. The Republican party is so broken that no one knows how to fix it. How are we supposed to fix anything else?

The Senate held four votes today that ultimately, sent a bill back to the Congress, restoring funding for Obamacare, and hopefully addressed some of the spending issues that House Speaker John Boehner proposed where 100% of the defense cuts were removed giving the defense spending an actual increase and keeping in place the cuts to non-defense cuts through sequestration. In hopes of passing what is being called "clean bill" continuing resolution (CR) the bill is now back in the house. That leaves only leaves until Monday night at midnight for the Congress to act before a government shut down will take place.

Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) have been attacking House Republicans for not passing a  a bill to defund Obamacare. After his 21-hour speech to raise money and gain even more popularity with the obstructionist Tea Party under the premise of a filibuster, which wasn't really a filibuster, Senator Cruz said "A vote for cloture is a vote for Obamacare." The result of that Senate vote was 100-0, meaning that he himself voted for cloture! Wait, What?! Still have trouble with that.

Today the Senate voted 54-44 to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government with the provision to defund Obamacare removed.. So, now it's back in the hands of the House of Representatives. We need everyone to CONTACT their Congressmen and tell them we do not want a government shutdown. It is the mission of this blog to motivate people to actually contact their representatives to put pressure on them to do the right thing. We try to do this by making it easier to do that. So, here is a link that you can use to identify who your Congressmen are and how to contact them.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Please get involved and take a moment to call, or send an e-mail to your Congressman or woman right now.

You DO NOT Want a government Shutdown if you are a Sane Human Being

Senate to Vote on Continuing Resolution or Let a Shutdown Happen - Now is the Time to Contact Your Senators!

Photo by thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard.com

Use this link to get the direct phone numbers of your Senators

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Call them Now and tell them a Government Shutdown is NOT what you want!

Senate Debating Obamacare - Tell Them to Stop the Politics and Obey the Law

Senate Debating Obamacare - Tell Them to Stop the Politics and Obey the Law

If you want to know exactly what The Affordable Care Act will do for you, and how it will protect you,  get the facts right here https://www.healthcare.gov/how-does-the-health-care-law-protect-me/ .

How Does The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Help?

Pre-existing Conditions and "Lifetime Maximums"

 Millions of Americans are already had their lives saved or greatly improved by having health insurance where they would not have if The Affordable Care Act had not been made law and implemented. Insurance companies were canceling people's policies, even though they paid premiums for years and years, because they became sick, claiming pre-existing conditions. Others had become sick and policies cancelled because the insurance said they reached a maximum benefit. Many Americans paid, or their employers paid, insurance premiums for tens of years only to be dropped when they became sick. This cost many their homes and their lifestyles. The Affordable Care Act stopped insurance companies from not giving health insurance policies to people with pre-existing conditions, and from dropping them using pre-existing conditions as a reason. It stopped insurance companies from having "Lifetime Maximums" which stopped insurance companies from dropping people after they became sick.

Children Remain on Parents Insurance Policy Until the Age of 26

The Affordable Care Act made it so that parents could keep their children on their health insurance policies until the age of 26. This immediately insured millions of young people who did not have insurance because they reached the age of 18 or 19 years of age.

Made the Insurance Companies Spend 85% of Premiums Collected on Actual Patient Benefits Instead of Keeping Millions in Profits and Giving Million Dollar Bonuses and Salaries

Many people received refunds because of this part of the law. It forced the insurance companies from taking more and more of the money collected from premiums and not spending it on patient benefits.

Lower Cost Coverage for All and Insures 30 Million People Who Couldn't Afford Any Health Insurance

Many Governors, Congressmen, and Senators, not only refused to obey the law but in fact, have done everything they could to block the law from being implemented. 

In Nashville, Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, instead of expanding Medicaid and forming an insurance exchange they set up a lottery, look at this article, it's disgraceful. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/us/tennessee-holds-health-care-lottery-for-the-poor.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& 

In Florida Governor Rick Scott passes law that will force health insurance premiums up, and passes another law forcing insurance companies to lie, yes, forces them to lie, and blame the increased premiums on Obamacare. This would be unbelievable if it didn't actually happen!

First do no harm. That's a tenet of medical ethics that future doctors worldwide are taught in medical school.
If only the people we elect to represent us were required to take such an oath when they're sworn into office.
Because they aren't, folks in Florida are facing having to pay far more for health insurance over the next two years than necessary. And health insurance executives will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Florida state lawmakers, in their ongoing efforts to block the implementation of Obamacare in the Sunshine State, recently passed a law that will allow health insurance companies to gouge Floridians more than any corporate boss dreamed was possible.
And if that weren't bad enough, insurers will actually be required by law to mislead their Florida customers about why they're hiking their premiums. Read the entire article here http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/florida-insurers-are-now_b_3785206.html .

These kinds of things are happening wherever Republicans control the states. Then the Congressmen, Senators and Governors, make speeches saying that "Obamacare is making health insurance premiums rise." It is a very sad state of affairs that the very people that were elected to office to work for the American people are actually doing only what is in their best interests and don't care one bit what is best for the very people that elected in the first place. Why? Because the 1% of people in this country that have 95% of the wealth spend billions of dollars to lie to the American people and mislead them. They spend this money to get people elected and them shape laws that will benefit them. The politicians, in many cases are afraid to go against them because they know they will probably be voted out of office if they don't do what the wealthy, greedy, extreme obstructionists want.

We need to take back our country from the 1% of people that hold 95% of the wealth on this country. Now is the time to do this. I implore every American to contact their Senators right now, there debating the bill that the House of Representatives sent to them. The bill allows a continuing resolution (CR) so the government won't shut on October 1, 2013 but defunds Obamacare. Look at the link at the beginning of this articles which clearly explains what The Affordable Care Act will do. Click the other links to see the truth about what politicians are doing to mislead the America people because of the pressure their under from The Tea Party Obstructionists, The Koch Brothers, Karl Rove (Crossroads) and the other greedy rich people. Use this link to find out who your Senators are and/or get their phone number and call them right NOW! Tell them to vote for YOU! Tell them to pass the Continuing Resolution WITHOUT defunding Obamacare!

CALL YOUR SENATORS RIGHT NOW! TELL THEM YOU WANT THEM TO PASS A CONTINUING RESOLUTION WITH OBAMACARE FUNDED!

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Support GMO Labeling Efforts in Washington State and Accross the Country

Photo thanks to www.Justlabelit.org

Support GMO Labeling Efforts in Washington State and Across the Country

Doesn't it bother that Monsanto and other chemical companies are spending ridiculous amounts of money to FIGHT labeling laws which are already required in 64 other countries? 

 

 Don't you want to know what's in your food. Monsanto and others are spending great amounts of money to fight labeling laws, which are in place in 64 other countries already. They don't want to have to inform you what their doing genetically to your food for bigger profits. REALLY?! They use chemicals to grow plants and animals bigger and faster so they can make bigger profits without any concern for you and your children's health. WAKE UP! Join the effort in your area, support getting labeling on the ballot in Washington state, contact you Congressman and Senators. If you need information on who your Congressman and/or Senators are, or would like their contact information (phone number, e-mail,address) you can go to my blog www.Medic3569.blogspot.com

and click on the appropriate "Pages" button to find your individual representatives information. Contact them now and let them know you don't accept Monsanto killing their own people with chemicals, like Syria.

Go to http://yeson522.com/ to learn more, then contact your Congressman and Senators

 

Scott Walker Backs Down, Rescinds $500,000 Grant

An e-mail sent to me by The Center for Media and Democracy 
September 6, 2013
CONTACT: Nikolina Lazic, nikolina@prwatch.org

Scott Walker Backs Down, Rescinds $500,000 Grant

Last week, CMD reported that a small GOP lobby shop tied to the Tea Party and David Koch's Americans for Prosperity group was awarded a $500,000 grant in a backdoor, sweetheart deal cooked up by ALEC leadership in the State Legislature and sanctioned by the Walker administration.
The United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Foundation was the only applicant for a newly-created grant to promote hunting, fishing, and trapping in the state, despite the organization having no record in outdoors training. The organization does have a record of lobbying on extreme gun measures, controversial mines, and other GOP priorities. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the grant was slipped into the budget bill by outgoing Majority Leader Scott Suder with terms that excluded most sporting groups in the state. The grant was not properly advertised, conveniently leaving United Sportsmen as the sole applicant.
CMD documented Suder’s ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council and the extensive ties United Sportsmen staff had to the Kochs and the Tea Party, plus their history of partisan electoral politics in the state. Listed as “educators” on the grant were Americans for Prosperity's Luke Hilgemann, Sauk County Tea Party leader John Keegan, and Annette Olson, Americans for Prosperity "Activist of the Year" for 2012. CMD uncovered that the web domain for the group was registered by an Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin staffer named John Connors.
We sent out an alert prompting almost 1,000 Wisconsinites to contact the committee overnight. The United Sportsmen representative couldn’t be bothered to show up at last week’s committee hearing (joining by phone) and couldn’t answer basic questions, prompting one committee member to say that the "whole deal just doesn't smell right.” One Wisconsin Now uncovered a loophole in the bill regarding the group's tax status and later United Sportsmen apologized for misleading legislators into thinking it was a tax-exempt charity.
Thanks to these efforts and yours, Scott Walker is backing down and rescinding the grant, showing that even in the land of the shameless, the people can sometimes win.

The TRUTH about The Keystone XL Pipeline - A Bad Deal for America

 

 The TRUTH about the Keystone Pipeline is that it is a BAD Deal for America

 

(from KeystoneTruth.com by Tom Steyer, an American Investor)

 

 Chapter One: Who Profits From The Keystone Pipeline? (Here's a Hint, it's NOT America)

 

TransCanada’s pipeline will pump oil through America, but not to America. It will make up to $4 billion in profits for foreign oil companies and drive foreign economies, but do nothing for ours. That’s the truth about Keystone. At every economic level, it is a bad deal for our country.

The Keystone pipeline will cause higher gas prices, only create a handful of jobs, and create billions in profit for the oil companies. By the way, the oil will be refined here and be shipped overseas to places like China, the oil is not going to come to America, it's going to go THROUGH America.

Go to this site www.KeystoneTruth.com and watch part one "Who Profits From The Keystone Pipeline? (Here's a Hint, it's NOT America")   and decide for yourself. They are looking at the Keystone pipeline over the next four weeks. See the TRUE information about why the Keystone pipeline is BAD for America. Then contact your Representatives in Congress and the Senate and tell them that this is UNACCEPTABLE for America.

Oil Truth Part 2:

 After watching the first video you will see a number of videos on a grid, hover over each video until you see "Oil Truth Part 2." You will see how the Tar Sands oil will come through six states to get to one of the largest oil refineries in the country. The refinery is owned by Shell Oil and a Saudi Arabian company, the refinery is located in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico. These companies will make $4 Billion dollars but some of the claims made in this video are outright lies! For example you will see claims that America will get 1 Million barrels a day of oil, that "we desperately need," only problem? America will NOT be getting this oil, it will be refined and shipped overseas to China and other countries! You will see Newt Gingrich state how it's important for lots of well-paying permanent jobs when in fact, once the pipeline is operational, only approximately 50 permanent jobs will be created. An independent study by Cornell University states that the pipeline will only create 2500-4650 construction jobs as opposed to Newt Gingrich's "20,000-50,000 construction jobs. The study also explains how gas prices will go up, not down.It is said in this video that "America can't afford to turn down a million barrels a day of oil" and that this will "lower gas prices," BULLSHIT! Once again, America will NOT be getting the oil, it will be refined and shipped overseas. The video then goes on to explain how the tar sands devastate the environment. This is indisputable. The proof can be seen in this video.

The pipeline is BAD for America so why do these politicians fight for building it? Easy, being on the right committees gets the politicians a LOT of money from the oil industry lobbyist! That's a fact NO ONE CAN DISPUTE!

CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS TODAY! TELL THEM THE OIL CO0MPANIES MAKING ANOTHER $4 BILLION DOLLARS WHILE OUR GAS PRICES GO UP, AND OUR ENVIRONMENT IS DEVASTATED IS NOT WHAT AMERICA NEEDS!

GET INVOLVED FOR A BETTER AMERICA!

33 States are making the Federal Government Set Up Their Exchanges

It disturbs me that 33 states are making the Federal Government set up the exchanges in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Congressman were paid $29,000 for working 9 nines in August, they receive a "Golden" healthcare plan for LIFE once elected, and spend most of their time raising money and satisfying their base. When their constituents let them know that as much as 95% of them want to require background checks for purchasing a gun, they vote against them. Now, with their given healthcare plans, for life, they want to deny 30 million Americans without affordable healthcare to go to the emergency room if they need care, the most expensive way to provide healthcare. What I find hard to believe is that people vote these useless, lying, greedy, politicians into office. WAKE UP AMERICA! Read the facts about states that have already implemented the law.

On September 5, 2013 the New England Journal of Medicine posted an article: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1308032?query=TOC#t=comments you might want to read to get real facts about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The GOP leadership is still debating how to handle the pressure from conservatives for a vote on the CR to cut off all funding for health care reform.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-spending-bill-96393.html#ixzz2eDgfETxL

The Obstructionist Tea Party is still pushing for shutdown of the government unless the ACA is completely defunded. Only 16 states and D.C. are going to run state based exchanges. The exchanges open October 1, 2013 with coverage to begin as early as January 1, 2014. The obstructionist continue the misinformation campaign to confuse the public as to what the Affordable Care Act does. They have a focus on young people to discourage signing up. The more young people that sign up, the lower the costs will be because it spreads the risk for insurance companies as they are healthier. It is advantageous for young people to sign up because studies show that they will see a doctor 2.7 times a year and for those visits, and any labs or x-rays will bring the cost to more than what a plan will cost.

Some technical glitches exist including how medical charges and deductibles are listed, industry officials say. Health insurers planning to sell policies say they expect the glitches to be fixed by the October 1, 2013 commencement of signing up. Huffington Post had an article recently posted on this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/05/obamacare-health-insurance_n_3870784.html

Getting the 30 million people in America who can't afford health care is a good thing. Please contact you Congressman and Senators and tell them to do something other than for themselves. Contact information, if you need it, is on the "Pages" on the left side of the blog. ?Follow the blog with the button on the top left of this blog. Sign up for e-mails of new posts. Check out my Facebook page on Medic3569 "Stop the Obstructionist Tea Party" and LIKE the page. Thank you for reading this blog.

ALEC - What is it? Are Your Representatives Involved?

 

Through ALEC, Global Corporations Are Scheming to Rewrite YOUR Rights and Boost THEIR Revenue

Check out this informative website to learn about ALEC, and whether your Congressman and Senators are involved:
 http://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

This is their website:   http://www.alec.org/

These are some other site4s that are exposing ALEC for what they are, and what they do;

 http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?b=7743229&c=dkLNK1MQIwG

 http://billmoyers.com/tag/alec/

http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed

This link is to an article I recently tweeted about how they hid a Tea Party organization getting $500,000 of taxpayer money.   http://www.prwatch.org/node/12224

See if your Representatives are involved with them, and CONTACT THEM to let them know how you feel. You can use the "Pages" on the left panel of this blog to find your Senators and Congressman's contact information. Thanks for speaking out.