FAIR Action Alert: USA Today's Social Security Scaremongering

Here’s some extreme media bias.

Under the headline "Social Security Races to 'Negative': Rash of Retirements Push Fund to Brink," USA Today's February 8 front page presented an alarmist view on a story that is regularly misreported in the corporate media (Extra!, 7-8/95, 1-2/05; FAIR Action Alert, 10/19/07).

 

Reporter Richard Wolf leads with this warning: "Social Security's annual surplus nearly evaporated in 2009 for the first time in 25 years." But several paragraphs later, readers are told that the program has been "accumulating a $2.5 trillion trust fund"--which certainly sounds less ominous than the headline's warning about being on a "brink." And by a "nearly evaporated" surplus, USA Today means that Social Security "took in only $3 billion more in taxes last year than it paid out in benefits."

 

The story tries to justify the alarm nonetheless by pointing out that "because the government uses the trust fund to pay for other programs, tax increases, spending cuts or new borrowing will be required to make up the difference between taxes collected and benefits owed." Two "experts" are quoted to endorse that view, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget's Maya MacGuineas, a former adviser to the McCain campaign.

 

Actually, the fact that Social Security would begin paying out more in benefits is neither alarming nor particularly surprising. In the 1980s, Social Security taxes were raised and benefits cut in the name of covering the retirement of the Baby Boomers--and, not incidentally, so that the system could loan its surplus to the Treasury Department to cover for Reagan's income tax slashing (Extra!, 1-2/88; Nation, 3/2/09). That money was to be paid back with interest, just like the U.S. Treasury's debts to China, Japan, private U.S. citizens and everyone else who owns Treasury bonds. If Social Security fails to collect the money that is owed to it by the Treasury, that would amount to a massive fraud and transfer of wealth, as trillions of dollars specifically collected to pay for workers' retirement benefits would never be used for that purpose, and instead would merely transfer the general cost of government from progressive income taxes to the regressive payroll tax (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 1/27/05).

 

The money borrowed from Social Security is currently scheduled to be paid back by 2037, at which point the program will have an actual deficit. But many experts have argued for years that this projected future shortfall is not a short-term crisis, and can be addressed with minor changes like eliminating the cap on taxable income, so that the wealthy would pay the same percentage of their income as middle-income and poor workers (Social Security: The Phony Crisis, 1999).

 

A story that presents Social Security as on the "brink," then, is giving readers a decidely skewed perspective on an important matter of public policy. As economist Dean Baker noted recently on his Beat the Press blog (2/8/10): "If nothing is ever done to change the program, the projections still show that it will be able to pay close to 80 percent of scheduled benefits. This will still provide future retirees with a benefit that is considerably larger than what current retirees receive."

 

If USA Today were to present these less-alarming facts, the headline might read, "Social Security Continues to Pay Benefits as Expected." That would be much less alarmist--and more accurate.

 

ACTION: Ask USA Today why it presented such a one-sided report on Social Security. Encourage the paper to include experts who would disagree with the notion that Social Security is in some sort of crisis.

 

CONTACT:

USA Today

Brent Jones, Standards Editor

Phone: 1-800-872-7073

accuracy@usatoday.com

Inserted from <FAIR>

I removed USA today from my source feeds list a long time ago for two reasons.  First, they offer so much infotainment and so little hard news that getting at the minuscule real content is not worth the effort of digging through all the fluff.  Second, they tend to spin their coverage so far to the right that they have compromised their journalistic integrity.  This story was particularly unethical, because it raised a bogus alarm at a time when the GOP wants to eliminate Social Security.  I hope you will call or email.  I did.

ACLU Slams Four GOP Senators

These Republicans must have something against the Constitution.

Four U.S. Senators are pursuing legislation they believe would fix the "mistake" President Obama made with the man who allegedly failed to blow up a Christmas Day flight into Detroit.

That "mistake" was treating him like a serious criminal, tossing him in jail and planning a trial.

Nevertheless, Senators Joseph Lieberman (R-CT) [traitor party affiliation corrected], Susan Collins (R-ME), Robert Bennett (R-UT) and John Ensign (R-NV) are pushing legislation that would require civilian authorities to consult with intelligence leaders when taking an accused terrorist into custody.

"[This] legislation would not deprive the President of any investigative tool," Sen. Lieberman's Web site claims [traitor delinked]. "It would not preclude a decision to charge a foreign terrorist in our military tribunal system or in our civilian criminal justice system."

In a response, Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, fired back: "It is extremely disturbing that members of the U.S. Congress are essentially calling for Obama administration officials to discard the Constitution when a terrorist suspect is apprehended – as if the Constitution should be applied on a case by case basis."

In the Lieberman press release, Sen. Ensign explained that he believes informing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of his Miranda rights before condemning him to possible life in prison is "as perplexing as it is dangerous."

"This more clearly illustrates that this Administration is more concerned with gently prosecuting terrorists than it is with extracting important intelligence from them that would help prevent future attacks and protect the citizens of this country," he claimed.

"Terrorism is a crime, and to treat terrorism that takes place far from any battlefield as an act of war is to propose that the entire world is a battlefield, to give criminals the elevated status of warriors and to invest whoever the current president may be with the authority to imprison a broad category of people potentially forever, without ever being afforded an opportunity to defend themselves," noted ACLU's Romero… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Raw Story>

Warning!  Prepare a barf bag before watching video!

 

Now, I know that LIEberman claims to be an independent Democrat.  He is, in fact, a Republican.  If a farm animal says nothing but “Oink”, don’t believe anyone who tells you it isn’t a pig.  Contact your Senators today, and tell them, “Traitor Joe must go!”

Action Alert: It's Time to Fight for Working Families

As petitions go, this one is pretty pretty plain vanilla, but in light of the indecision in Washington about the best way forward, it’s important that we make our voices heard.  This MoveOn poll does just that:

For the last year, Democrats in Washington have let lobbyists and corporate interests run roughshod over the peoples' business. Wall Street got bailouts. Bankers got bonuses. Big Insurance rewrote the health care bill. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans struggled to make ends meet.

But now thanks to the Massachusetts special election, Democrats finally know they need to change course. The question is, will they learn exactly the wrong lesson? Will they give up on change altogether?

We need to make sure Democrats don't get it wrong this time. It's time to demand that they start truly fighting for working families. Pass real health care reform. Reign in Wall street. Take on the banks and special interests that stand in the way of change.

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to the White House and Democrats in Congress.

To sign the petition Click Here.  I did.  Please join me.

Action Alert: Stop Murkowski!

Credo Action sent me this one:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is launching a potentially devastating attack on the Clean Air Act. Majority Leader Harry Reid has granted her a vote for January 20 that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants and other polluters in 2010.

The vote -- on an amendment to a must-pass bill to lift the debt ceiling -- will remove the EPA's enforcement funding and power so big polluters like the coal industry can ignore the Clean Air Act.

You think this would be easy to stop, but the vote is predicted to be close with many Democrats considering voting for the bill. This attack is a rerun of the successful efforts by Newt Gingrich to hamstring the Clinton EPA in the 90s.

 

"Congress must not block the Clean Air Act's limits on global warming pollution."

 

Republican and Democratic senators alike need to hear from you. The coal industry has been working furiously to close deals with senators across the political spectrum, including those who say they want to protect the environment. We cannot underestimate the Senate's vulnerability to cynical attempts to handcuff the EPA.

The vote is expected to be close and we cannot take victory for granted.

 

Big Energy Lobbyists helped write this bill.  According to McClatchy DC:

Two lobbyists had a hand in writing language proposed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that could curtail the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate major emitters of greenhouse gases.

Their involvement, first reported Monday by The Washington Post, came at the request of a staffer on the Senate Energy and Environment Committee, where the Alaska senator is the top Republican. Both of the lobbyists, Jeff Holmstead and Roger Martella Jr., represent a number of high-profile energy clients. Both had top positions in the EPA during the Bush administration.

Murkowski has led the charge against the EPA's role in regulating greenhouse gas emissions, saying she has concerns about an executive branch agency, rather than Congress, writing such regulations. Her original amendment would have been attached to a spending bill and it would have prohibited the EPA for one year from spending any money on developing regulations for greenhouse gases…

We all know what the Bush/GOP appointees in the EPA did to gut that agency.  I’m sure that their input is bad for everyone except the energy executives.

You can sign this petition at Credo Action.  I did.

Action Alert: Repo the Dough!

There’s a good petition for you to sign, but first some bankster news.

Health care reform suffered the torments of partisan obstruction. Now gird yourself for financial reform and the perils of bipartisan blight.

In health care, lockstep Republican opposition caused months of delay, and empowered the likes of Connecticut's embittered Senator Joe Lieberman and Nebraska's compromised Ben Nelson to exact cankerous concessions to forge a super-majority.

So Washington pundits rail against bitter partisanship. Republican Senator John McCain charges that Obama is to blame for the partisan divide, even though the President wasted months while Max Baucus courted coy Republicans. Senator John Cornyn, the most rabid of Republican obstructionists, damns the partisan process as a reason to oppose the health care bill. This is akin to a gang of thieves lamenting crime in the streets.

Next year, assuming that this health care bill, like a large kidney stone, must eventually be passed, the Congress will turn to financial reform. In the House, Republicans remain in lockstep opposition, providing not one vote for a measure that would take the first steps towards limiting the ability of banks to fleece us again. But in the Senate, we may well witness not the price of partisan rancor, but the blight of bipartisan cooperation.

Senate Banking Committee Chair Chris Dodd put forth a strong legislative proposal, one far better than the administration's plan. When the Committee's senior Republican, Alabama's Richard Shelby, scorned that in an extended rant, Dodd decided to pair up Democrats and Republicans on the committee to come up with bipartisan solutions. And now reports suggest that a bipartisan plan may well be unveiled in January, with Dodd pushing for an early vote.

Hold onto your wallets. We don't yet know what is in the bipartisan bill, but we do know what has been kicked to the curb. Shelby announced one price for his cooperation: no new agency to protect consumers from financial fraud or abuse. Want Republican cooperation? Then the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency - with a mandate to police everything from mortgage fraud to preposterous bank overdraft charges - is verboten. Grateful banking lobbyists will insure him a lucrative retirement.

We continue to suffer a pandemic of bank fraud and abuse. In the housing bubble, mortgage companies rewarded brokers for peddling exotic mortgages to customers that the brokers knew couldn't afford them and didn't understand them. Now, banks are raking in record sums from overdraft charges, credit card fees, and preposterous ATM charges. Payday lenders are pocketing the equivalent of 1000% interest from the poorest working people.

The White House has sensibly championed a new agency devoted not to the health of the banks but to the protection of consumers. Already the banking lobby succeeded in weakening the proposal in the partisan House, exempting auto dealers - hell, we know they are honest, right? - and over 90% of all lending institutions, and eliminating the mandate to offer "wonder bread" or plain vanilla loans along with the exotica banks prefer to peddle.

But that was with House Republicans in opposition. In the Senate, the price of bipartisanship is to trash the whole concept. Caveat emptor, baby… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

There’s a black sheep in every family.  Cousin FatCat, pictured above, is thrilled that his bankster owner will be able to keep him on a generous diet of 100% caviar, because the Repuglicans know only one definition for bipartisan: Democratic cave-in.  I’m sure there will be a petition circulating on this bill, and when it surfaces, I will put it up for you.  In the meantime, here’s one to tax Wall-Street speculation:

…Reckless Wall Street gambling collapsed the economy. The big bankers, like Mr. Potter, got theirs – an unbelievable $3 trillion in government help! It worked so well that Wall Street will pay out some $140 billion in bonuses this year.

But what about George Bailey and the rest of us? Where is the help for the 16 million Americans who are now out of work? The millions of unemployed facing foreclosure? The millions more teetering on the brink of personal bankruptcy?

The banks were aided on the condition that they free up credit, modify mortgages and help put America back to work. They have not kept the bargain. Tell Congress, it’s time to take some of the big bailout bucks back and pass a small transaction tax on stock market speculation to pay for new job creation. Leftover bailout funds should also be put to work creating jobs.

Please sign our New Year's petition calling on Congress and the President to "Repo the Dough" by taxing speculation and putting Wall Street to work rebuilding Main Street! And, please ask your friends to join in this petition from BanksterUSA.org and CMD, by sharing this link: http://tinyurl.com/RepotheDough.

Lisa Graves is the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy based in Madison, Wisconsin.

Inserted from <Center for Media and Democracy>

To sign just click the link above.

A Bold Thank You for Bernie!

I’ve been exchanging email with a representative of  Progressive Change Campaign Committee.  They’re involved in several interesting projects, including collecting and delivering Thank You messages from Americans to Bernie Sanders for putting a hold on the nomination of Bush's Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke.  I covered Bernie’s hold here.  They saw that article, liked it and contacted me.  Here’s a video of them delivering messages to Bernie.  I found his reaction touching.

 

I invite you to check them out by clicking the link to them above.

Action Alert: The Senate Is Broken

The GOP has become so over the edge in obstructing our nation’s business that they have undermined the legislative process.  The current health care impasse is a prime example.

Ah, Judd Gregg, erstwhile Obama cabinet member. I guess he feels he still needs to make amends to his Republican overlords for that flirtation with bipartisanship. Here's what he's up to now:

Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-NH) has penned the equivalent of an obstruction manual -- a how-to for holding up health care reform -- and has distributed the document to his Republican colleagues.

Insisting that it is "critical that Republican senators have a solid understanding of the minority's rights in the Senate," Gregg makes note of all the procedural tools the GOP can use before measures are considered, when they come to the floor and even after passage.

He highlights the use of "hard quorum calls for any motion to proceed, as opposed to a far quicker unanimous consent provision. He reminds his colleagues that, absent unanimous consent, they can force the Majority Leader to read any "full-text substitute amendment." And when it comes to offering amendments to the health care bill, the New Hampshire Republican argues that it is the personification of "full, complete, and informed debate," to "offer an unlimited number of amendments -- germane or non-germane -- on any subject."

Reid's office responded:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office pounced on such a vivid example of Republican instransigence. "Just in time for the holidays, here it is in black and white, the Republicans' manual for stall, stop and delay," said Jim Manley, Reid's spokesman. "And what do the American people get? -- higher costs and less coverage. What kind of present is that?"

In return, Dem leadership is threatening to "pull out the procedural stops to force votes on amendments."

Moreover, Senate Democrats said after huddling on floor strategy Wednesday, the majority party is prepared to keep the Senate in session until Christmas or beyond in order to complete work on the bill before New Year's.

"Unless the Republican leadership comes forward with a reasonable approach to these amendments, I think our patience is wearing thin," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). "We’re just not going to sit here forever and watch this bill go down."

The Senate began its formal debate on the healthcare reform bill on Monday but has yet to hold a vote on the first two amendments to the legislation because of Republican objections to moving forward. Without an agreement from the minority, Democrats would either have to file cloture on each amendment, a process that takes days and requires 60 votes, or move to table the amendments, a procedural move that requires only 51 votes but that traditionally has been viewed by senators as harsh.

Goodness, anything but be harsh… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Last night, Keith Olbermann summed up the situation quite well.

 

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

Note that Ezra Klein said that the Republicans are not just holding up the legislation.  They are holding up the process whereby legislation is enacted.  They are using these tactics across the board, not just on health care.  They are mercilessly sabotaging the needs of the American people for political gain in scope and manner unprecedented in US.  history.  The Senate is broken.  While we have our majority, Democrats must change the rules to prevent further GOP misuse of existing procedures.

One such step has been proposed by Alan Grayson.  He suggests changing the requirement for cloture from 60 to 55 votes.  I would have posted this link earlier, but Grayson’s site was incompatible with Internet Explorer until recently.  Now it’s fixed, so if you have not already signed Grayson’s petition, please do.  It’s a start in the right direction.  To sign the petition, Click Here.

Action Alert: What Was 9/11?

A few days ago, I reported that President Obama has appointed Dana Perino to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.  Yesterday she demonstrated her gratitude and loyalty.

 

Earth to Dana the Dingbat!!  Hello?!!?  What was 9/11?!!?

Seriously, I don’t believe for a moment that Dana does not know not only that 9/11 was a terrorist attack, but also that it could have been easily avoided were it not for the total incompetence (at best) of Bush and his GOP minions.  Perino lied to discredit Obama.  Sean Hannity, Faux Noise propagandist and operator of Hannidate, a site where closeted GOP hypocrites go to find their very own wide-stance lovers, just sat there and did not correct her.

The White House phone number is (202) 456-1111.  Will you join me in challenging Barack Obama to rescind her appointment?

Action Alert: Vote for Human Rights With Your Shopping

This makes perfect sense to me.

In time to kick-off of the holiday shopping season, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today released a guide to hundreds of popular American brands rated on businesses' treatment of LGBT employees. "Buying for Equality 2010" divides businesses and their consumer products into red, yellow and green categories based on their score on the HRC Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, a nationally recognized benchmark of LGBT inclusion. The guide is available for download and viewing online at www.hrc.org/BuyersGuide.

"Congress is currently considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a critical piece of workplace legislation that will include our community. Until all LGBT Americans get fair treatment in the workplace, we must support businesses that support us," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "By purchasing products from businesses that support LGBT equality, shoppers send a clear message to businesses that their support, or lack thereof, will directly impact their bottom line."

The LGBT community is estimated to have $712 billion in buying power this year, according to research by Witeck-Combs Communications and Marketresearch.com. A recent study by Witeck-Combs/Harris Interactive also found that 78 percent of LGBT people are extremely or very likely to consider brands that are known to provide equal workplace benefits for their employees, including LGBT workers.

"From determining which car to purchase, to the right holiday gift for the kids, to everyday grocery shopping, this guide harnesses the power of equality-minded shoppers. At this moment it's critically important that businesses hear that their customers support businesses that support us," said Solmonese.

Fair-minded consumers are encouraged to write to businesses to either thank them for their support, ask them revise their policies, or encourage them to participate in the Corporate Equality Index. More information can be found at www.hrc.org/ConsumerAdvocacy.

This is the fifth year the Human Rights Campaign has published Buying for Equality. The guide has been viewed and downloaded more than 300,000 times at www.hrc.org/BuyersGuide…

Inserted from <YubaNet>

SantaCat figures that when times are hard as they are now, one of the best way we can support progressive causes is to spend our shopping money with companies that support human rights.  While this effort seems focused on support from the LGBT community, there’s no reason why others can’t help as well.  Every time anyone’s rights are violated, so are mine.  Click either link to download the guide.

Action Alert: Send Pro Stupak DINOs a Coat Hanger

I found an interesting article about the practical effects of the Stupak-Pitts amendment.

Like most anti-choice efforts we've seen come out of Congress and state legislatures in the past 30+ years since abortion was legalized, Stupak's Coathanger amendment is another attack on the practical side of the issue: on access. Rather than going for Roe and actually proposing something that could result in it's being overturned, he's going the practical route of making it more difficult to obtain by stretching the limits of the Hyde amendment beyond the breaking point.

The Stupak amendment does not literally say that plans on the exchange can’t include abortion coverage, it just makes it completely impossible that a plan could for several reasons. To pretend that a reading of the Stupak amendment could not easily be used to stop the sale of plans covering abortion on the exchange is absurd. That is like claiming a law making it illegal to sell tubes capable of having a bullet pass through at high speeds would not be a ban on firearms. Nita Lowey is correct that this amendment could easily put new restrictions on a woman’s ability to buy an insurance plan that does include abortion coverage from a private insurance company, even with her own money.

Once the dust settles on the legal issues of what this bill does, you have to look at the practical results. Even if insurers participating in the exchange can find the needle to thread to offer abortion coverage, would they? No, says one industry expert.

"I really think it would be impractical," says Robert Laszewski, a health insurance industry consultant....

Laszewski says the problem is that by all estimates, the vast majority of people who will be shopping in the new exchanges will be getting subsidies, so they won't be allowed to get abortion coverage. Thus, if a health insurer did offer a separate plan with abortion coverage, it would only be available to a small universe of buyers, and it simply wouldn't make much business sense.

"It's not an ideological issue, it's not about abortion or not abortion," Laszewski says. "It's about what is administratively simpler, easier to administer. It just adds a level of complexity they will likely avoid."

Sara Rosenbaum, a health lawyer and professor at George Washington University, agrees that it's impractical to expect health insurance plans to cover abortion in the exchanges, even for people paying the full premiums without federal help.

"If you speak to insurers in the industry, they will tell you that they simply can't operate under these circumstances," Rosenbaum says. "They need to be able to offer standard products that get administered in a standard way for everybody."

For insurers, it's about the bottom line, and the bottom line is easier to maintain through standardized, streamlined processes. That means offering a standard product, in this case one that excludes abortion... [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

In my last article on this subject, I said essentially the same thing, but did I did not reason it out as clearly as this does.  This is a Republican attempt to kill health care reform and a DINO attempt to win points with the theocon set.  Nothing we can do will influence the Republicans in Congress.  The only solution for them is to vote them out of office, but we should pressure the DINOs in every way possible.  I received a petition from Credo Mobile that I found most appropriate:

Sign this petition and send a coat hanger to the 20 formerly pro-choice Democrats -- all men -- who voted to pass the Stupak Amendment.

"We know what happens when women are denied access to reproductive health care including abortion. And we can't go back to an era of coat hangers and back alley abortions. Reconsider your vote on the Stupak Amendment. Tell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that the final health care bill that emerges from the conference committee can't turn the clock back on women's rights."

To send a DINO a coat hanger, Click Here.

Action Alert: Joe Lieberman Must Go!

I’ve told you before about how my cell phone provider sends alerts, and here’s one too important not to share.

Sen. Lieberman has indicated he plans to join with Republicans to filibuster any health care bill that contains a public option. Alone, the Republicans don't have the votes for a filibuster. So by joining with them, Lieberman would be tipping the balance of power in order to sink health care reform.

We need to push the leaders of the Democratic caucus to take a tough stand against Lieberman. Last year, the New York Times quoted an anonymous "member of the Senate Democratic leadership" who said about Lieberman:

"We need every vote. He's with us on everything but the war."

But now Joe Lieberman has announced that he will not vote to stop the filibuster of any for a health care bill that contains the public option. He justifies this position by saying that a government-run health insurance option will cost taxpayers and increase the National Debt even though the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasts $100 billion in savings thanks to the public option. He further claims that his position is what is best for his constituents, even though polling in Connecticut shows that among likely voters 68 percent favor a public option, while only 21 percent oppose it.

Now is the time for Senate Democratic leadership -- Senators Reid, Schumer, and Durbin -- to stop making excuses for Joe Lieberman. Harry Reid has shown great leadership in writing a health care bill that includes the public option. But Joe Lieberman is not "with us" on everything but the war. Joe Lieberman's position is against Senate Democrats, against his constituents in Connecticut and against the will of the American public.

Actions must have consequences. Any senator who filibusters the public option does not deserve a chairmanship and should be removed from his or her post.

To sign the petition, please Click Here.

Action Alert: Up or Down Vote on Health Care!

First watch the video:

 

Then sign the petition:

PETITION TO SENATE DEMOCRATS:

"Any Democratic senators -- including Joe Lieberman -- who support a Republican attempt to block a vote on health care reform should be stripped of their leadership titles. Americans deserve a clean up-or-down vote on health care reform that includes a public option."

Over 90,000 signatures and growing.

To sign, Click Here.

Action Alert: DeFox America

While checking out News Hounds this morning, I came across the following petition:

 

Dear Congress member,

I am writing to urge you to join me in "Defoxing America."

Fox "News" personalities are pushing an agenda that is dangerous to ordinary Americans. Using tactics such as placing individuals singled out for censure on a blackboard and linking them to murderous dictators like Josef Stalin, Fox News has deliberately created an atmosphere of hysteria that they have used to attack organizations and individuals fighting for the issues that matter most to working families. I urge you to stand up to these new McCarthy-ite tactics by voting against any unconstitutional legislation that singles out specific organizations. This includes the Continuing Resolution that cuts off Federal support to the national anti-poverty group ACORN.

Don't let Glenn Beck's blackboard dictate the people's agenda. Stand up and "Defox America".

I signed it!  Won’t you join me?

Action Alert: Demand a Strong Public Option from Harry Reid

Robert Reich explains why now is the perfect opportunity to insure that a strong Public Option is included in the health care bill in the Senate.

The health-insurance industry has finally revealed itself for what it is.

Insurers hate the idea that's emerged from the Senate Finance Committee of lowering penalties on younger and healthier people who don't buy insurance. Relying on an analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers, insurers say this means new enrollees will be older and less healthy -- which will drive up costs. And, says the industry, these costs will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. Proposed taxes on high-priced "Cadillac" policies will also be passed on to consumers. As a result, premiums will rise faster and higher than the government projects.

It's an eleventh-hour bombshell.

But the bomb went off under the insurers. The only reason these costs can be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums is because there's not enough competition among private insurers to force them to absorb the costs by becoming more efficient. Get it? Health insurers have just made the best argument yet about why a public insurance option is necessary.

Right now they run their markets and set their prices, and pass on any increased costs directly to consumers. That's what they're threatening to do if the legislation attempts to squeeze, even slightly, the colossal profits they plan to make off of thirty million new paying customers.

They want every penny of those profits. They demand every cent. And if the government dares raise their costs a tad higher than they expected when they first signed on to support the bill, they'll pass those costs on to consumers in the form of higher premiums. They can carry out their threat only because they have unaccountable, untrammeled market power.

But they've now hoisted themselves on their own insured petard. They've exposed themselves. If they had to compete with a public insurance plan, they couldn't get away with this threat. They couldn't pass on the extra costs. They'd have to compete with a public insurance option that forced them to give consumers the best deals possible… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Huffington Post>

I couldn’t have said it better myself.  But what makes Harry Reid so important here?  As the Majority Leader, he has the final say on whether a Public Option is included in the bill itself or presented as an amendment.  Sen. Chuck Schumer explains it.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threw down the gauntlet on the public option for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) last night. Appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show, Schumer essentially put the fate of the public option in Reid's hands -- saying that while the bill passed Tuesday by the Senate Finance Committee doesn't include a public health insurance option, it's up to Reid to decide whether to include a public option in the bill that merges the Senate Finance Committee bill with the bills passed by others committees -- all of which do include a public option.

"Leader Reid has the option of putting it in the final bill," Schumer said of the public option. "If he puts it in the final bill, in the combined bill, then you would need 60 votes to remove it. And there clearly are not 60 votes against the public option. And so we're urging him to do that, and he's seriously considering it."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <TPM>

Ok, to make this absolutely clear, if Reid does not include a Public Option, we will need 60 votes to put it in.  If he does, the Republicans will need 60 votes to take it out.  Since they will be unable to accomplish that that, the only way for them to defeat the public option is to filibuster the entire health care bill.  Now, they will surely do so anyway, so what difference does it make?  A big difference.  The biggest obstacle we face is not the Republicans.  It’s the DINOs like Baucus himself.  Most of these turncoats would have no difficulty selling out to the Republicans by voting against just the public option.  But if they don’t have that opportunity, they are faced with a choice.  They can either vote for the bill that includes a public option or they can try to explain to the voters in their states why they voted against the entire bill.

My cell phone company sends me alerts about needed progressive action, and they did so yesterday on this.  Here it is.

On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Senator Max Baucus, passed a health care reform bill without provisions for a public health insurance option.

This opens the door to procedural shenanigans that could prevent the public option from ever being considered on the floor of the Senate, which would make it much harder for the public option to be included in the final bill that lands on the president's desk.

We can't sit back and let the public option die. Tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure a public option is included in the health care reform bill that goes to the floor of the Senate.

As the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid will lead a process to merge the Baucus bill with another health care reform bill passed by the Senate HELP Committee, which does include a public option. The product of this merger will go to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Besides President Obama, there is nobody in a position to effectively oppose Senator Reid's decision should he choose to include provisions for a public option. But if Senator Reid does not include a public option in the merged bill, it will be difficult to insert the public option at a later stage of the process.

We have the votes to pass a public option in health care reform. We have to make sure the public option is not abandoned before a full Senate vote even takes place.

Join us in asking Senator Reid to keep the public option alive by including it in the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate.  [emphasis original]

To join this effort and sign the petition, Click Here.  We can win this if we make the effort.

Action Alert -Rep. Alan Grayson: Where's Our Money?

Alan Grayson is at it again.  Although I disagree with his aligning himself with that racist, sexist wing-nut, Ron Paul, I fully support what he’s doing here.

Last week, Ron Paul and I sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee about the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.
Before he is reconfirmed for a second term, we think the Senate and American public should know who got the $2 trillion the Federal Reserve has lent out over the last two years. Only then will the Senate be able to judge whether he should keep his job.
It's important that the Senate hear from you. That's why we've launched UnmaskTheFed.com, an easy online tool to let you contact your Senators.
Visit UnmaskTheFed.com and ask your Senators to vote NO on Ben Bernanke's confirmation until the Federal Reserve comes clean on what it has done with OUR money.
It would simply be unreasonable for the Committee to confirm Bernanke to another term given how little is known about what he has actually done. Remember, Ben Bernanke didn't see the crisis coming and has added $1.2 trillion to the Fed's balance sheet through covert bailouts...

Inserted from <Huffinfton Post>
I signed.  Won’t you join me?

Action Alert - Call 'Em Out: Bachmann

She’s not our favorite wing-nut.

"A gross distortion." "Pants on fire!" "False." That's what the independent PolitiFact site has said about Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's health reform lies.

In fact, PolitiFact has rated six of her statements, and all of them have been either "false" or "pants on fire" false.

The stakes are too high to let Bachmann's reckless lies go unchecked. So we're calling her out.

 

To sign off on calling her out, visit The Democratic Party.

Action Alert: Protect President Obama

Instead of a big company I use Credo Mobile, a company that costs a little more, but donates a portion of my phone bill to progressive causes and sends me alerts about progressive issues.  I may not renew with them, because one of their Sales Reps lied like a Republican to me at the outset of my contract, and they have yet to make that right to my satisfaction, but nevertheless, I do appreciate the work they do, the good service they offer, and the alerts they send.  This one is too important not to share it with you.

The right-wing hate speech polluting the debate over health care is generating more and more threats against President Obama, some truly frightening.

CNN anchor Rick Sanchez reports that when President Obama visited Phoenix, Ariz. on August 17, local minister Steven Anderson of the Faithful World Baptist Church, who strongly expresses hatred for Obama in many of his sermons, told his congregation that he wished him dead. In a disturbing twist, it was discovered that Chris Broughton, the man who brought an AR 15 assault rifle to the Phoenix rally where Obama spoke, had attended Anderson's sermon. In a later interview, Broughton said he concurred with his pastor's wish to see Obama "die and go to hell." As many as twelve men were seen walking around the Phoenix Convention Center with guns on that day.

President Obama faces 30 death threats a day, a 400 percent increase from former President Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, a veteran investigative journalist and conservative who recently authored a book about the Secret Service.

Kessler notes that funding cutbacks have already left the first African-American president in U.S. history particularly vulnerable. The book, which alleges that the cash-strapped Secret Service is endangering the president by cutting corners, has sent shockwaves through Washington. "There's no question his life is in danger." "Tomorrow, Obama could be assassinated ... simply because the Secret Service was not doing what it used to do, " said Kessler.

"We have half the number of agents we need, but requests for more agents have fallen on deaf ears at headquarters," a Secret Service agent told Kessler.

"There's a tremendous feeling within the Secret Service that they are risking an assassination," Kessler told Canadian TV.

As CNN's Rick Sanchez said on the air, "This looks serious. This almost looks like this is coming to the point where we are even beyond maybe where this nation was on November 22 of 1963, when JFK was assassinated, when there was also an environment of hate in this country."

As racist attacks increase and protestors continue to bring guns to presidential events, it is strikingly clear that President Obama is vulnerable to harm. Are the Secret Service and FBI doing enough to protect him? Will they confront and investigate those who threaten our president so that they can be prosecuted and jailed?

We cannot allow funding problems to weaken the organizations charged with protecting the life of our nation's president. In 2003, the Secret Service and FBI became part of the Department of Homeland Security and now must compete with 20 other agencies for oversight from their chief, Janet Napolitano. She must use her authority to ensure that the Secret Service and FBI put more agents on the ground to protect President Obama and confront and investigate those who threaten him. It is time for Americans of every stripe to insist that the Secret Service and FBI operate at the highest levels of effectiveness.

Sign your name to this petition so that Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security hears the message loud and clear. And please pass this message on to your friends and colleagues. It is a difficult time in America, and we have to stand up and make sure our president is safe… [emphasis added]

To add your voice, CLICK HERE.

Action Alert: Stop the Slaughter!

The  current focus of US politics is health care reform, and I think we can expect that to continue for some time.  But rarely have I seen the issue reduced to such crystal clarity as it is in the following article.

The right-wing anti-Obama-care movement is OK with killing off tens of thousands of Americans each year.

That's what this is all about: The right-wingers and their corporate sponsors are protecting a medieval and violent health care system that kills more Americans each year than all the Americans who have died in the war on terror since 2001, including the 3,000 victims of 9/11, and the 5,000-plus U.S. service members who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Every two months, the American health care industry is party to the slaughter of more Americans than al-Qaida managed to kill. Osama bin Laden must look at the Tea Baggers, FreedomWorks, health-industry billionaires like Rick Scott and the rest, and think, "If only I could kill as many Americans as they do! These guys are pros!"

They need to answer for this -- they need to explain why they are trying to protect a system that kills 22,000 Americans per year -- a figure based on a landmark report by the prestigious Institute of Medicine.

In fact, 22,000 is a conservative figure -- one of the authors of that report thinks the real figure in 2006 alone was 27,000 Americans killed from our health care system, perhaps as high as 40,000. But I'll stick to the conservative casualty number of 22,000, which is horrific enough… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alter-Net>

I recommend that you check the two embedded links and read the reports yourselves.  Assuming that it will take until the beginning of 2013 to take effect, approximately 71,500 more Americans will be sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed.  How many more must die?  Please contact your Senators and Representatives to tell them authentic health care reform cannot wait.  For their contact information Click Here.

Action Alert: Let’s Put Beck Out of Business

Today, Glen Beck’s hoard of crazed sheep will descend on Washington,DC, spewing hate, lies, and Kool-Aid.  While searching for sources for this message, I found a single article in Think Progress that said  virtually everything  I had intended.  Here it is:

This Saturday, right-wing protesters will gather in Washington, DC for a march to oppose health reform, President Obama, "corruption," and "an overall conversion to a socialist style government." The event, scheduled intentionally on Sept. 12 to coincide with the anniversary of the day following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was conceived largely by Fox News' Glenn Beck. Beck, the McCarthyite Fox News talk show host who has lost dozens of advertisers for calling Obama a "racist," is a relentless promoter of his 9/12 Project. However, most of the day-to-day organizing has been orchestrated by a now familiar set of lobbyists and Republican operatives who have helped plan anti-Obama "grassroots" tea party events since February. In addition, a set of far-right groups are supporting the event, bringing along self-described "American mob members" to join in on the Obama-bashing.

BECK EXPLOITS 9/11: In the past, Beck has said he "hates" the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In 2007, Beck criticized the supporters of the Ron Paul "Revolution" who did a fundraiser on Guy Fawkes Day: "It's really not the way I would go, tying my movement in with a historical terrorist attack, especially in post-9/11 America." Nonetheless, Beck hosted a special program earlier this year announcing his initiative called the "9/12 Project" -- an effort to ostensibly recreate the patriotic unity after the September 11 attacks.  In addition to standing for Sept. 12, according to Beck, "9/12" stands for nine principles -- beginning with "America Is Good" and "I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life" -- and 12 values -- including "Reverence" and "Personal Responsibility." But far from calling for common ground, Beck explained that the purpose was to demonize his political opponents and declared that his movement would "surround them." He has also implored listeners to attend the rally because they "may be the only thing that stands between freedom and slavery." Members of the 9/12 Project have become a vocal -- and sometimes violent -- presence at townhall meetings and political protests. The 9/12 project website, owned by Beck's media company Mercury Radio Arts, directs readers to his radio newsletter.

CORPORATE GOP FUNDING: While Beck and his allies in right-wing media have provided a platform of constant publicity and coverage for the event, FreedomWorks, led by corporate lobbyist and former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, is coordinating the march and running its official website. The FreedomWorks organizers tell participants that "it is imperative" to "maintain the populist imagery," including a logo that invokes the Black Power salute. Starting in August, Beck began directing viewers to the FreedomWorks website at the end of his Fox News show. Billed as a "grassroots" rally, the event is actually sponsored by Republican political action committees and corporate front groups. The top sponsors are the right-wing think tank National Taxpayers Union. Another top sponsor, Tea Party Patriots, is an astroturf website run by FreedomWorks staffers who have rebuffed members objecting to the march's logo. Our Country Deserves Better -- a Republican PAC that has compared Obama to Hitler -- operates the Tea Party Express, a bus tour arriving in DC for the 9/12 march. Other sponsors include the Heartland Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute, corporate front groups that claim smoking is good for you and global warming doesn't exist. Both organizations have received millions of dollars from Philip Morris, ExxonMobil and Koch Industries, the largest privately-held company in the United States. The American Conservative Union, another sponsor, is run by David Keene, a lobbyist for a firm that represents private health care companies, including the insurer HealthFirst. Many of these groups -- each of which paid up to $10,000 to FreedomWorks to participate as sponsors -- were pivotal in providing assistance to attendees of rowdy town halls in August and anti-Obama tea party protests. Part of their strategy was encouraging anger and intimidation against lawmakers supporting health care and clean energy reform was part of the strategy.

RADICAL UNDERGROUND EMERGES: The official sponsorship list of the rally reveals a subterranean, extreme element of the American right in attendance. One of the top sponsors is the extremist organization Grassfire.org, which runs ResistNet.com for "Patriotic citizens who are opposing the Obama-led socialist agenda." Members of the ResistNet -- who promote anti-semitic Nazi propaganda, claim Obama is a Muslim, and praise the assassination of doctors -- are organized on Grassfire against health care reform ("Government-Run Socialized Health Care"), clean energy reform ("Cap-and-Trade Tax"), and immigration reform ("Amnesty for illegals"). Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) -- who is sponsoring and speaking at the 9/12 rally -- has praised Grassfire.org for its "great service to the American people." The National Association for Rural Landowners, a bronze sponsor, references the incidents at Waco and Ruby Ridge to call for attacks on "government entities" and liberals. In a YouTube video posted in July, the group makes the case for a secession, followed by a violent civil war. Similarly, another 9/12 cosponsor, FreeRepublic, is a forum for various radical right causes. As ThinkProgress reported, the shooter at the Holocaust museum found a welcome audience for his writings on the website. Despite the inclusion of such anti-government extremists, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA),  Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) all plan to attend and speak. [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Think Progress>

Frankly, I prefer not to support any company that helps keep him on the air with advertising, and although dozens of companies have already dropped him, here’s a list of those that remain.

• Lear Capital
• Legacy Publishing Company (The Total Transformation Program)
• The Foundation for a Better Life
• News Corp. (The Wall Street Journal)
• Carbonite
• LifeLock
• Mortgage relief hotline 1-888-336-5967
• Ashley Furniture (Which previously stated it had "pulled" its advertising from Beck)
• Rosland Capital
• National Review
• Conservatives for Patient's Rights
• Merit Financial
• Superior Gold Group
• Loan modification helpline 800-917-8549
• IRSTaxAgreements.com
• Clarity Media Group (The Weekly Standard)
• Roche Diagnostics (Accu-Chek Aviva)
• Zero Technologies (ZeroWater)

Inserted from <Media Matters>

I urge you not to patronize any of those companies.  Color of Change has a campaign to contact Beck’s advertisers and petition them to pull their support from his show.  I  added my name.  Please add yours.  To do so, Click Here.