Amodei Non-Committal on Labor Rights

Introduced in the U.S. House last September, by Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA8), was a bill titled, “Protecting American Jobs Act (HR2978).”  Looking at just the title of the bill alone, one might think that at least one Republican understood the need for Congress to focus on JOBS, but that ‘one’ would be very disappointed in what is actually contained in the bill.

HR 2978 has absolutely nothing to do with “protecting” jobs and has absolutely everything to do with ensuring greedy Corporate America won’t have to worry about those pesky little unions.  You see, the intent of this bill is to pretty much gut the National Labor Relations Board’s ability to conduct elections for labor union representation and to investigate/remedy unfair labor practices.  (You might remember that the Senate had been filibustering NLRB appointments in a continuing effort to prevent the board from functioning — that was — until President Obama recently appointed three members via recess appointments, finally allowing the board to function.)

Here’s a summary of what HR2978 would do:

• Amends the National Labor Relations Act to repeal the authority of the General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to issue, and prosecute before the Board, complaints with respect to unfair labor practices.  (Well heck … if Rep. Scott wants his bill to do this, why didn’t he just save the ink and write a one-line bill that simply said, “Repeal the NLRB”?)
• Repeals the prohibition against: (1) review of an administrative law judge’s report by any person other than a Board member or legal assistant; and (2) advice to or consultation with the Board by an administrative law judge with respect to exceptions taken to his or her findings, rulings, or recommendations. (Oh gee, can anybody say, “Micromanage”?)
• Limits the Board’s rulemaking authority to rules concerning the internal functions of the Board. Prohibits the Board from promulgating rules that affect the substantive rights of a person, employer, employee, or labor organization.  (Again … more support for one-line bill hypothesis that simply said, “Repeal the NLRB”?)
• Revises Board powers to grant it the authority to investigate unfair labor practices, but repeals its power to prevent any person from engaging in them.  (Excuse Me?  You can investigate, but you can do anything if you find a Corporation totally screwing its workers?)
• Repeals the Board’s power to issue a complaint against a person charging an unfair labor practice. Allows an aggrieved party to bring a civil action for relief (including injunctions) in U.S. district court or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in cases where it appears that a person has engaged, is engaging, or is about to engage in an unfair labor practice.  (As if the courts weren’t overloaded enough, now this moron wants to force workers to pay lawyers to go take their complaint to court.)

Unable to contain my emotions when I read the bill on December 7, 2011, I once again wrote an email to Rep. Amodei, using PopVox.com:

I oppose passage of H.R. 2978, the “Protecting American Jobs Act.”  Rep.Scott (R-GA) must have a sick sense of humor and a distorted perception of what actually creates jobs.  Castrating the one federal agency that works to ensure labor gets a fair shake such that they’re incapable of protecting workers rights will do absolutely NOTHING to protect American jobs and in fact, will do everything to protect the wishes and demands of Corporations at the expense of workers and their jobs.

Today, I got a very non-committal response back from Rep. Amodei’s office:

It may still be in committee, and it may indeed die there, but it still begs the question: does Rep. Amodei have labor’s (our) backs … or the back of Corporate America?

Amodei Inclined to Oppose HR3096, as written

A while ago, I wrote to Rep. Amodei to express my thoughts about HR3096.

HR 3096 – Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2011.  To restore the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of Gulf Coast States, to create jobs and revive the economic health of communities adversely affected by the explosion on, and sinking of, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon.

The bill proposes to deposit 80% of any fines levied after enactment of this bill into a special fund which would then be used to fix the mess BP created in the Gulf of Mexico.  It then sets up governmental entities that will administer programs under this act.  Well, as we all know, that will be in the courts for decades while BP attempts to forego having to pay anything in fines/penalties and negotiates them down to an amount that won’t fix the mess they created.  In the end, what it means is that you and I, through our taxes, will need to fix that mess.

I wrote to Rep. Amodei, our elected representative in the House, in opposition to passage of this bill:

“I oppose passage of H.R. 3096 which appears to be allocating my tax dollars to restore the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of Gulf Coast States, to create jobs and revive the economic health of communities adversely affected by the explosion on, and sinking of, the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon.

Excuse me? The BP Corporation caused that mess through their mismanagement and incompetence. The outrageous volume of profits they’ve hoarded, not my tax dollars should be used to correct the mess they created. If that should bankrupt them, so be it. That’s part of competing in the “free market.”

My tax dollars should be used to pay current expenses and retire the nation’s debt, not subsidize BP’s incompetence.”

Here’s Rep. Amodei’s response:

Oh … so let me see if I understand … it’s not okay to support continued tax relief for middle class Americans … but it is okay to support “additional revenue streams” for energy development in the Gulf of Mexico.

Big News on Birth Control

— By Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager on January 22, 2012

Here’s some big news that’s going to affect millions of women.

On Friday, the Obama administration announced that soon women won’t have to pay out of pocket for birth control: starting August 1st, many insurance plans nationwide will be required to fully cover contraception without co-pays or deductibles. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more women can make health care decisions based on what’s best for them—not their insurance company—all while saving hundreds of dollars every year.

Think about how different that is from what the candidates on the other side would do. They’ve all vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and Mitt Romney even said he would have signed a constitutional amendment in Massachusetts to define life as beginning at conception, similar to the notorious state-level “personhood” amendment that could ban many forms of contraception, and even IVF.

That’s why, right now, we need to show that millions of Americans are standing with President Obama on his commitment to women’s health—add your name today.

This news is just one more way the Affordable Care Act ensures that being a woman will no longer be considered a pre-existing condition. Critical preventive services like mammograms and other cancer screenings are now free, and an estimated 1.1 million young women are now covered by their parents’ health plans.

But at the same time, our opponents have been waging a war on women’s health—attempting to defund Planned Parenthood, overturn Roe v. Wade, and everything in between.

The President has stood firm against these attacks on women’s health, but if we’re going to protect our progress—and have the chance to take even more steps forward—we need to show we have his back now, when the heat is on.

Add your name to show your support for women’s access to health care today.

 

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Organizing to End Corporate Personhood

David Cobb, Democracy Unlimited & Move to Amend joins Thom Hartmann. This week – Portland, Maine became the latest city in America to pass a resolution calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to overturn Citizens United and declare that corporations are not people. Joining a long line of other cities from Los Angeles to Boulder to New York that have passed similar resolutions. For tonight’s Conversations with Great Minds – Thom Hartmann is joined by a man who’s been intrumental in raising awareness of this issue – and organizing today’s Occupy the Courts rallies across America – David Cobb. He is a lawyer, political activist, and engaged citizen. He has sued corporate polluters, lobbied elected officials, run for political office himself, and even been arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. Currently, David is the National Projects Director of Democracy Unlimited – and he’s the Spokesperson for Move to Amend – the organization that spearheaded today’s day of action.

The conversation takes place in two parts:

Under the Reading Lamp — 1/22/2012

Does US Senate Commit Treason with NDAA Bill? Jeanine Molloff, Op-Ed: “December 1st, 2011, the US Senate accomplished the unthinkable–with the nearly unanimous passage of the National Defense Authorization Bill of 2012–they committed treason. Written and planned in secret by the Senate Armed Services Committee, the newly minted NDAA contains three sections which collectively sanctions indefinite detention of alleged terrorists or ‘terrorist sympathizers’–anywhere in the world including the US– and designates the military the duty to arrest, imprison and interrogate without benefit of counsel,’ accused civilians here on Main Street.”

After ‘Citizens United’: The Attack of the Super PACs John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney, Op-Ed: “Citizens United’s easing of restrictions on corporate and individual spending, especially by organizations not under the control of candidates, has led to the proliferation of “Super PACs.” These shadowy groups do not have to abide by the $2,500 limit on donations to actual campaigns, and they can easily avoid rules for reporting sources of contributions. For instance, Super PACs have established nonprofit arms that are permitted to shield contributors’ identities as long as they spend no more than 50 percent of their money on electoral politics.”

Corporate Rule Is Not Inevitable Sarah van Gelder, Op-Ed: “You may remember that there was a time when apartheid in South Africa seemed unstoppable. Sure, there were international boycotts of South African businesses, banks, and tourist attractions. There were heroic activists in South Africa, who were going to prison and even dying for freedom. But the conventional wisdom remained that these were principled gestures with little chance of upending the entrenched system of white rule. ‘Be patient,’ activists were told. ‘Don’t expect too much against powerful interests with a lot of money invested in the status quo.’”

A Credit Union to Bail out People, Not Big Banks Judith Scherr, News Report: The Occupy Movement condemns the banks’ role in predatory lending and the foreclosure crisis, the high-interest student loans they say enriches the bankers and impoverishes college students, bank investments in private prisons and more. But protesting isn’t enough for Occupy San Francisco activist Brian McKeown. He says a bank should be a transparent institution whose mission is to help people. And so, with like-minded partners, McKeown is putting together a plan for the People’s Reserve Credit Union (PRCU).

Boehner Threatens to Hold Payroll Tax Holiday Hostage to Approval of Keystone XL Zack Ford, Video Report: On Fox News Sunday this morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told Chris Wallace that “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the Keystone Pipeline is approved.” When Wallace pressed him whether Republican leadership would make the pipeline a condition for extending the payroll tax holiday, Boehner admitted, “We may,” adding (several times) that “All options are on the table.” Proponents of the pipeline have dwarfed opponents in lobbying spending, inflated the actual effect it will have on job creation, and spread various myths designed tocircumvent its environmental impact.

Bernie Sanders: We Must Stop This Corporate Takeover of American Democracy Bernie Sanders, Op-Ed: “Two years ago, the United States supreme court betrayed our Constitution and those who fought to ensure that its protections are enjoyed equally by all persons regardless of religion, race or gender by engaging in an unabashed power-grab on behalf of corporate America. In its now infamous decision in the Citizens United case, five justices declared that corporations must be treated as if they are actual people under the Constitution when it comes to spending money to influence our elections, allowing them for the first time to draw on the corporate checkbook – in any amount and at any time – to run ads explicitly for or against specific candidates.”

How the Republicans on the FEC Are Making Citizens United Even Worse Josh Israel, News Analysis: “Three Republican appointees to the Federal Election Commission may be as responsible as anyone for the lack of transparency of post-Citizens United political spending. Two years ago, when the Supreme Court issued its Citizens United ruling, one bright spot was that the majority explicitly endorsed the constitutionality and necessity of disclosure rules that inform voters who paid for the political ads they see. ‘Disclosure is the less-restrictive alternative to more comprehensive speech regulations,’ they affirmed.”

The Green Economy, Boon or Menace? Emilio Godoy, News Report: In its study “Who Will Control the Green Economy?”, published Dec. 15, 2011, the ETC Group argues that the development of a green economy will primarily benefit large corporations, unless changes are made to the current models of production and consumption of goods and services and international governance. It reveals that large transnational corporations in the energy, pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries are already forming alliances to exploit biomass and grab control of natural resources like land and water.

Christopher Petrella | Death, Taxes, and Alcatraz Christopher Petrella, Op-Ed: “Please allow me to introduce some figures that I believe will convincingly demonstrate the scope and depth of our predicament. Although the United States represents less than 5% of the world’s population, we harbor over 25% of those incarcerated. In fact, we’ve incarcerated more people in absolute terms than China, whose population is four times the larger. Despite these sobering figures, few thinkers, however—even those of avowedly ‘progressive’ persuasion— have sharply critiqued the well-worn diptych of ‘crime and punishment.’”

Bad Bankers, Bad Fraud Deals, And The President’s ‘Great Gatsby’ Problem Richard (RJ) Eskow, Op-Ed: “Investigate the Banks!” Today a coalition of progressive groups handed in a petition with more than 360,000 signatures that demanded exactly that. It calls on the Obama administration to stop pushing a cushy fraud settlement for bankers, to pursue a fair deal for shafted homeowners, and to let criminal investigations against Wall Street crooks proceed. Yet White House officials are still aggressively pushing the very same cushy deal on foreclosure fraud that inspired the petition.

How Payday Lenders Make Billions By Fleecing Americans In Poverty Tanya Somanader, News Report: “As a growing number of Americans slip out of the middle-class into economic insecurity, they are increasingly vulnerable to predatory lending schemes like the payday loan. Each year, about 12 million Americans incur long-term debt by taking out a short-term loan that’s intended to cover a borrowers’ expenses until they receive their next paycheck. Payday lending takes ‘unfair advantage of lower-income borrowers,’ with most taking out nine repeat loans per year with an interest rate as high as 400 percent.”

Robert Reich | Amend 2012 Robert Reich, Video Presentation: Thanks to the Supreme Court and Citizens United, the same big corporations and billionaires that destroyed our economy and caused millions of us to lose our jobs and homes, are spending obscene amounts to drown out our voices in elections and take over our government. But together, “We the People” can set things right. Stand with Robert Reich and join the movement for a constitutional amendment today.

Kucinich Announces Constitutional Amendment to Publicly Finance Federal Elections Dennis Kucinich, Op-Ed: On the eve of the second anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United, which opened the floodgate of unlimited, shadowy corporate spending in public elections, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced H. J. Res. 100, a constitutional amendment to rescue American democracy from corporate money’s corrupting influence.

Join the Online March for Trust Women Week!

Today, as we celebrate the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, women’s reproductive freedom and health are still under attack.

The Tea Party Congress has moved aggressively to shut down women’s access to reproductive health care and deny women the basic right to choose by targeting their health insurance and key healthcare providers, most notably, Planned Parenthood. In the states, a movement is afoot to make abortions illegal by conferring the status of “personhood” on embryos, and various state legislatures have taken up bills that would erect insurmountable barriers to women exercising their right to choose.

People For the American Way is proud to be partnering with the Silver Ribbon Campaign and an extremely broad coalition of organizations to promote the Virtual March celebrating Trust Women Week.

It is imperative that we begin 2012 with a powerful event that builds solidarity and momentum for reproductive health, rights and justice.

Join the Virtual March now and send your views to Congress and other elected officials where key decisions are pending about reproductive health, rights and justice.

You’ll see your actions on an online map where you can also see who else is joining you, nearby and nationwide.

Choose from messages like:

• “I trust women and I vote”
• “Reproductive rights are human rights”
• “We are the 99%. Fix the economy, and stop the war on women”
• And more.

Join the march now and then help spread the word!

You can find out more about Trust Women Week at http://oursilverribbon.org.

Former Rep. Grayson on the Anniversary of Citizens United

Getting the Picture: Payday Loans

Paydays loans may give consumers quick and easy access to cash, especially when they find themselves in a financial pinch. But these loans, with their high fees and requirement of immediate repayment out of the consumer’s next paycheck, can send consumers into a cycle of debt.

The CFPB wants to know how these small-dollar loans impact consumers. So yesterday, Director Rich Cordray and several members of our leadership team traveled to Birmingham, Ala., to gather with consumer and civil rights groups, industry representatives, and the public. We wanted to listen, learn, and collect information about the multi-billion dollar payday lending business.

Watch Director Cordray’s introduction to the hearing and tell us what you’re seeing in your community about payday loans.

Payday loans typically allow consumers to receive funds very quickly, but they can also present potential harm. For example, repayment is often due within two weeks at a hefty price. The annual percentage rate (APR) sometimes reaches more than 400 percent. A consumer who can’t pay on time may take on more debt to cover the previous loan that has now come due. This can spiral quickly into an ongoing cycle of debt.

We are just beginning our nonbank supervision program, which includes payday lenders. We want to hear more about how the payday loan market is operating throughout the country. What can you tell us?

Check out the speech,  get the full picture, and then tell us your story!

HHS Posts Final Rule re: Insurance Plan Conception Coverage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 20, 2012

Contact: HHS Press Office (202) 690-6343

A statement by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius

In August 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services issued an interim final rule that will require most health insurance plans to cover preventive services for women including recommended contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible.  The rule allows certain non-profit religious employers that offer insurance to their employees the choice of whether or not to cover contraceptive services. Today the department is announcing that the final rule on preventive health services will ensure that women with health insurance coverage will have access to the full range of the Institute of Medicine’s recommended preventive services, including all FDA -approved forms of contraception.  Women will not have to forego these services because of expensive co-pays or deductibles, or because an insurance plan doesn’t include contraceptive services. This rule is consistent with the laws in a majority of states which already require contraception coverage in health plans, and includes the exemption in the interim final rule allowing certain religious organizations not to provide contraception coverage. Beginning August 1, 2012, most new and renewed health plans will be required to cover these services without cost sharing for women across the country.

After evaluating comments, we have decided to add an additional element to the final rule. Nonprofit employers who, based on religious beliefs, do not currently provide contraceptive coverage in their insurance plan, will be provided an additional year, until August 1, 2013, to comply with the new law. Employers wishing to take advantage of the additional year must certify that they qualify for the delayed implementation. This additional year will allow these organizations more time and flexibility to adapt to this new rule.  We intend to require employers that do not offer coverage of contraceptive services to provide notice to employees, which will also state that contraceptive services are available at sites such as community health centers, public clinics, and hospitals with income-based support.  We will continue to work closely with religious groups during this transitional period to discuss their concerns.

Scientists have abundant evidence that birth control has significant health benefits for women and their families, it is documented to significantly reduce health costs, and is the most commonly taken drug in America by young and middle-aged women. This rule will provide women with greater access to contraception by requiring coverage and by prohibiting cost sharing.

This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty. I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services. The administration remains fully committed to its partnerships with faith-based organizations, which promote healthy communities and serve the common good.  And this final rule will have no impact on the protections that existing conscience laws and regulations give to health care providers.

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A Victory on KXL — Now it’s Time to Lead on Climate

A huge victory against Keystone XL… and the fight continues.

This is why activism matters.

Six months ago, the Obama Administration was set to approve one of the single most environmentally disastrous fossil fuel projects imaginable.

Today, the Keystone XL pipeline is dead! Designed to bring filthy tar sands sludge from Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast of Texas so that oil companies can profit by selling the oil overseas — it was dealt a severe setback yesterday when President Obama said no to an election year blackmail threat by the American Petroleum Institute and its lackeys in Congress.

But President Obama didn’t reject Keystone XL because he wanted to. Or because he thought it was the right thing to do. Or because he thought it would help his reelection campaign. He rejected it because you made him do it.

It’s a victory for activists. But because the President rejected the pipeline on a narrow technicality,¹ in no way has he set down a clear marker against the pipeline or the carbon bomb that burning Canadian tar sands oil in China represents.

We want to thank the many groups and thousands of activists, who, following the inspiring call of Bill McKibben, joined us in putting massive public pressure on the President. In fact, CREDO waged the single largest activism campaign in our history.²

It was this pressure that forced President Obama to initially delay the decision in November. And it was this pressure, combined with the Republicans’ overzealous and irresponsible demand of a 60-day deadline that forced him yesterday to reject the pipeline permit.

Our pressure overcame the lies and propaganda of Republicans and oil giants, and their threats of “huge political consequences” if he didn’t approve it.

Rejecting this pipeline was the right thing to do. But by rejecting it purely on a technicality, there are many things President Obama did not do:

• He did not close the door to this pipeline once and for all. In fact, he specifically opened the door to the southern portion of Keystone XL, which would allow this oil to be exported overseas — the real reason TransCanada wanted Keystone XL in the first place.
• He did not explain the imperative of stopping not just this project, but others that will expedite disastrous warming. Just the opposite — he touted the need to expand oil and gas drilling and made no mention of clean energy.
• He did not refute the lies of Republicans and polluters, whose biggest “jobs plan” is a foreign oil pipeline whose chief purpose is to export oil overseas.

The time to lead us away from dirty fuels and prevent escalating global catastrophes from climate change is here. And President Obama still can.

Tell President Obama: It’s time to lead on climate. Make the case in your State of the Union Address. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Until President Obama makes a clear and compelling case to the American people for sweeping action to reduce our dependence on any and all fossil fuels, the pace of our transition will remain slower than what is required to stem the onrushing danger of climate pollution.

Until he refutes the false choice presented by Big Oil and Republicans — that we must choose between a clean energy future and a stable economy — he empowers and remains vulnerable to their attacks.

Until he shows his commitment to clean energy over dirty fossil fuels, the energy of progressive activists will be spent fighting individual bad decisions, instead of pushing to support needed progressive policies.

And ultimately, until President Obama takes the opportunity for a true moment of leadership that publicly raises the stakes on the fight to stabilize our climate, the State of our Union will remain deeply clouded.

Tell President Obama: It’s time to lead on climate. Make the case in your State of the Union Address.

Click here to automatically sign the petition.

For now, it is clear that we must fight for every victory. It’s also clearer than ever that when we fight, we can win.

Let’s use this momentum to push for even broader victories to bring about the type of future that you and I know is still possible.

Thank you for being part of this historic victory.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

1. You can read President Obama’s statement rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline on a narrow technicality here.
2. CREDO activists submitted 1,188,106 petition signatures and public comments to the White House, the State Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, House and Senate leadership, the Nebraska legislature, and TransCanada. CREDO members also made 36,360 calls to the White House, Obama for America, and House and Senate offices, organized a protest with more than 1,000 people outside of an Obama fundraiser in San Francisco and submitted 156,615 public comments to the State Department as part of the formal hearing process on the project. Hundreds of CREDO Activists were arrested as part of White House civil disobedience and hundred attended public hearings along the proposed pipeline route.