Editors’ Stuff

Today, the voters in Wisconsin Recall Election districts decide whether or nor to recall State Senators who have supported the policies that affect the lives of 98% of the working people in the State.

Let’s hope We The People of Wisconsin today send a message to Governor Scott Walker that the powerful, special interest monetary support of candidates that push Walker’s agenda of legislating for the most wealthy individuals and corporations no longer will be accepted.

Let the people of Wisconsin set the tone for the rest of the country that this strategy of “fiscal reform” on the backs of the majority of working people will no longer be tolerated.

The magical mystery tour of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker continues.

This week Walker appointed a lobbyist’s (who donated $120,000 to Walker’s election campaign last year) 27 year old son to a job paying $81,500 a year in Wisconsin’s Department of Environmental Protection Agency.

The lobbyist’s son has no environmental agency experience, is a college drop out, and has two DUI’s on his record.  Hey we all make mistakes – we’re not throwing stones at this guy.

Walker can pay this guy $81,500 but will not pay an educator with a masters degree $50,000 to teach our children.

Come on Governor Walker, you owe the people of Wisconsin more respect than this.  Maybe if you paid teachers instead of lobbyists their sons might become teachers.

Where are our priorities? That is our question.

So many States are cutting budgets on the backs of our educational system – cutting teachers, programs and support.

Yet we spend $200 Million+ sending missiles into Libya. Where are our priorities?

President Obama said last night our strength abroad is based upon our strength at home. How can we be strong at home when we compromise the education of our children? Where are our priorities?

We keep throwing money at big companies, the most wealthy people in this country and wars. Where are our priorities?

Here is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders list of some ways to address budget deficits by getting everyone to pay their fair share:

“Sanders compiled a list of some of the 10 worst corporate income tax avoiders.

1. Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009.  Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

2. Bank of America received a $1.9 billion tax refund from the IRS last year, although it made $4.4 billion in profits and received a bailout from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department of nearly $1 trillion.

3. Over the past five years, while General Electric made $26 billion in profits in the United States, it received a $4.1 billion refund from the IRS.

4. Chevron received a $19 million refund from the IRS last year after it made $10 billion in profits in 2009.

5. Boeing, which received a $30 billion contract from the Pentagon to build 179 airborne tankers, got a $124 million refund from the IRS last year.

6. Valero Energy, the 25th largest company in America with $68 billion in sales last year received a $157 million tax refund check from the IRS and, over the past three years, it received a $134 million tax break from the oil and gas manufacturing tax deduction.

7. Goldman Sachs in 2008 only paid 1.1 percent of its income in taxes even though it earned a profit of $2.3 billion and received an almost $800 billion from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department.

8. Citigroup last year made more than $4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. It received a $2.5 trillion bailout from the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury.

9. Conoco Phillips, the fifth largest oil company in the United States, made $16 billion in profits from 2007 through 2009, but received $451 million in tax breaks through the oil and gas manufacturing deduction.

10.  Over the past five years, Carnival Cruise Lines made more than $11 billion in profits, but its federal income tax rate during those years was just 1.1 percent.

Sanders has called for closing corporate tax loopholes and eliminating tax breaks for oil and gas companies. He also introduced legislation to impose a 5.4 percent surtax on millionaires that would yield up to $50 billion a year. The senator has said that spending cuts must be paired with new revenue so the federal budget is not balanced solely on the backs of working families.”

One last time – Where are our priorities?

History began being made yesterday at about 4:00 PM Central time when Governor Scott Walker,  Scott Fitzgerald and their Senate administration peeled off the collective bargaining rights of Wisconsin workers into a separate bill; took a vote (18-1); and adjourned the session over the objection of State Senator Peter Barca.

Barca was reading the State law that required a 24 hours notice for a bill vote applicable to non critical legislation. Walker and his cronies gave the people of Wisconsin and their legislators a two (2) hour notice.

The people of Wisconsin began swarming the Capitol building within minutes of the final vote. Beginning today, the John Deere tractors and combines will be rolling into Madison to object to Walker’s moves. Saturday, Michael Moore will headline a rally of an estimated 150,000 people to object to Walker’s tactics. Today, beginning at 2:00PM high school and college students will be walking out of their classes to protest Walker and the Senate’s move.  They have been out in full force via Twitter and Facebook inviting local media to their schools to witness the walk outs.

This weekend will go down in history when “We the People” stand up to the 400 most wealthy people (50% of the income of this country) and their Wisconsin puppets and let their voices be heard.

Our message to the people of Wisconsin: Recall every one of those 18 State Senators as soon as law allows. Then in January send Walker back to the Koch brothers. Stand firm you 14 State of Wisconsin filibusters – we’re supporting you.

Even though Democracy does not matter to Governor Walker and his administration – it does matter to the people of Wisconsin! Watch and see. Please, no violence or destructive behavior. We know your emotions are high but let’s show Walker we’re different.

Last Saturday we were part of the estimated 100,000 people that are standing up for their rights and opposing the influence of special interests on our legislative process. In the snow and cold we were all there.

This was a rewarding and emotional experience as people with tears in their eyes thanked us for our support.

As the financial reform legislation makes it’s way to President Obama’s desk for his signature, the position for head  of financial Consumer Protection  is available.

Vermont Senator, Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed Elizabeth Warren for this position (see below). As usual, Senator Bernie Sanders is once again right on with our views on how things in Washington should operate in the best interest of the We The People.

We have followed Ms. Warren’s work. Ms. Warren is bright, articulate and has a refreshing “tell it as she sees it” way of doing things. Let’s just hope the ways of Washington don’t change Ms. Warren – we don’t think it will.

Sanders Urges President to Name Elizabeth

Warren to Head Consumer Protection Agency

WASHINGTON, July 20 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) urged President Obama to pick Elizabeth Warren to be the first director of a new consumer protection bureau.

Obama on Wednesday plans to sign into law a bill overhauling financial regulations that would create the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

In a letter sent to the White House on Monday, Sanders wrote that “at a time when doubts about Wall Street and its practices run very deep … American consumers need a federal government that is looking after their best interests.”

Sanders acknowledged that some senators may oppose Warren. “Good!” he wrote. “It will allow for a serious debate as to the role that government should play in protecting the American people against the outrageous behavior we have seen on Wall Street.”

For a copy of the letter, click here.

Media Contact: Michael Briggs or Will Wiquist (202) 224-5141

Tonight at 7:00 (central), 8:00(eastern) President Obama will address the Gulf Coast oil spill and the tragic effects on the people, the environment and the economy.

We hope to hear an open, honest assessment of what is being done to stop the flow and the specific plans and resources that will be allocated to cleaning up this mess.

Once again we see big companies driven by greed employing unnecessary and irresponsible strategies that produce devastating effects. This is all too similar to the financial companies that brought our economy to it’s knees in September, 2008 where we had to bail them out to avoid a financial meltdown.

Let’s all watch and listen tonight.

We hope President Obama has the political will to use this Gulf Coast tragedy as the foundation for a comprehensive energy strategy that will offer substantial incentives for energy conservation and a full court press to develop and implement a sustainable energy strategy based upon clean, renewable energy production from the infinite resources of the sun and the wind.

This AP photo pretty much says it all!

The Military Spending Bill that passed in the Senate last night contained an amendment by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders that would require transparency (internet posting) of federal contractors that engaged in misconduct while performing their government contract.

Just maybe BP will be on this list?

Once again our thanks to Senator Sanders.

Fighting Fraud A military spending bill that passed the Senate on Thursday includes a Sanders amendment to make a federal contractor fraud database accessible to the public.  The Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System is a database created by the Clean Contracting Act of 2008 that lists incidences of misconduct by federal contractors.  The database is an important tool for tracking the behavior of federal contractors. It lists prior findings of liability relating to federal contracts, including findings from criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings.  The database also lists whether the contractor has ever defaulted on a prior federal contract.  Finally, it lists whether contractors have engaged in such egregious behavior to have been suspended or disbarred from contracting.  The Sanders amendment would require that the database be posted on the Internet, ensuring that the public has access to this critical, public information about where their tax dollars are going. “We cannot let corporations rip off American taxpayers,” Sanders said.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders once again is the champion for the people of this country in dealing with the major issues facing US.

The Gulf Oil Spill is the result of so many factors that our legislators in Congress have not adequately addressed. Does it take a disaster like the Gulf Oil Spill to get the attention of the other 534 representatives we have? Still, we have folks in Congress that continue to resist progressive thinking and actions in the best interest of the people rather than those of special interests.

We thank you again Senator Sanders – we need you and your efforts to continue!

Sanders Proposes Drilling Ban and

Stronger Fuel Efficiency Standards

WASHINGTON, May 27 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said today that the United States must learn a profound lesson from the BP oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and make certain we protect our oceans from future disasters and transform our energy system away from fossil fuels.

Sanders introduced legislation that would ban offshore drilling along America’s ocean coastlines and increase fuel efficiency in American cars.

The measure would prohibit drilling in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and along Florida’s gulf coastline. A moratorium on drilling in those areas that Congress approved every year since 1982 lapsed in 2008.

Sanders’ bill also would set a fuel economy standard of 55 miles per gallon, up from an average of 35 mpg that American car makers must achieve by 2030 under current law.

An outgrowth of an Obama administration push to stiffen the standards, the detailed requirement proposed by Sanders would bring the United States up to par with China, Japan, Canada, South Korea and nations in Europe that already have more aggressive standards than the U.S. In Europe, for example, cars already get the equivalent of 42 mpg and by 2020 cars in Europe will be required to get at least 65 mpg.

The improved fuel economy would translate into a savings of $1.43 per gallon of gas.  Opening all of America’s coastal waters to drilling would yield such a modest boost in petroleum supplies that the price of gas would dip by only 3-cents a gallon.

“Is 3-cents-a-gallon in the year 2030 worth the potential risk of another disaster like this?” Sanders asked. “I don’t think it is.”

The legislation already has drawn support from leading national environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth. “As the Deepwater Horizon disaster shows, new offshore drilling puts our coasts at unacceptable risk,” said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth.

Contact: Michael Briggs or Will Wiquist (202) 224-5141

No wonder only 23% of the people trust Congress!

We have all the critics of the Administration’s efforts to reform Health Care, Financial regulations, our Educational System and our Energy Policies saying “No to Big Government – saying “We don’t want the Federal government involved in our States and our lives”.

That’s just fine until a crisis happens like the Gulf Coast Oil disaster.  Now, those same critics are calling out the Administration for not “responding fast enough” – not “doing enough”.

What is it folks – you only want the Federal Government involved when you can’t handle a mess you’ve created?

Hypocrisy at it’s finest!

Let’s get behind the Administration and start pushing Congress to become effective regulators by being efficient in dealing with the major issues facing our country.

If anything is too big to fail it’s a Congress that can’t deal with issues that have been ignored for so long.