Saturday, March 30, 2013

Stop the Senate

Below is an email from James Lardner of Americans for Financial Reform, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.



Don't let the Senate gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau!

Sign the Petition!
Dear MoveOn member,

As Elizabeth Warren says, "Never before in American history has a minority in the Senate blocked a nominee to try to get changes in a law they don't like and don't have the votes to change."

She's talking about the 43 senators who have threatened to block Rich Cordray's re-nomination as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). They don't question his qualifications; their grievance is with the agency itself. They want changes that would undermine its funding, independence, and authority before they will allow a vote on any nominee for the job.

Tell your senators to confirm Rich Cordray and let the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau do its job. 

It's time to end this outrageous obstructionism. With the Senate banking committee poised for a vote, we have come to a Paul Revere moment for financial reform and the future of the agency that Paul Krugman has called "a shining example of how to do it right."

Make no mistake: This is an effort to gut the CFPB, not fix it. A minority of senators who voted against its creation in the first place are using the confirmation process to try to bully the CFPB out of effective existence. The changes that they demand would be terrible for consumers, but wonderful for Wall Street and financial scammers. 

The choice before the Senate is simple: Allow an up-or-down vote on this nomination, or open the door to more of the slippery financial practices that the CFPB is working hard to prevent.

Thanks!

–James Lardner

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Americans for Financial Reform didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

 

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 30, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Risky, dangerous and dirty

Below is an email from Drew Hudson of the organization Environmental Action, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.




Sign the Petition!

Dear MoveOn member,

Shell Oil has been trying for the past year to start drilling operations in the Arctic, and already there have been several near disasters and blunders that heighten our concern over drilling in the risky climate of the Arctic. 

Shell Oil announced earlier this month that it will not resume its oil drilling efforts in the Arctic until at least 2014. While this is not a promise to drop its goal of putting oil platforms in the wild, remote Arctic, it is an admission by Shell that their plans are fraught with problems.

This gives us more time to convince the Obama administration to ban Arctic drilling, before Shell has a chance to resume operations.

The petition I created on SignOn.org to President Barack Obama says:

In Shell's first year of trying to drill in the Arctic, it had a ship and an oil rig run aground, had to move an oil rig because of an approaching iceberg the size of Manhattan, and had problems getting federal safety inspectors to approve one of its main disaster response vessels. 

Even if Shell had avoided those blunders, drilling in the Arctic is a bad idea—and should be off the table entirely. The Arctic is both pristine and wild, and any drilling accidents would be a disaster for the environment and a nightmare to clean up. 

Please ban Arctic drilling immediately and permanently.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Drew Hudson, Environmental Action

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Environmental Action didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 26, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Shame on CNN

Below is an email from Nita and Shaunna of UltraViolet, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.

Dear MoveOn member,

Recently a guilty verdict was handed down in the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case, in which a 16-year-old girl was raped repeatedly by boys on a high school football team. The verdict was the beginning of justice for this brave young girl, but CNN's coverage was awful. 

The entire CNN panel, including anchorwoman Candy Crowley, reporter Poppy Harlow, and legal analyst Paul Callan focused on what a tragedy this was for the boys and what a shame it was that their lives had been ruined—as if the rape was some sort of unfortunate accident and they hadn't committed a very serious, very invasive, and very life-altering for the survivor crime. 

CNN didn't focus on what this verdict meant for Jane Doe—only sad reflections on the "destroyed" lives of these boys, boys who were caught on tape raping a girl. This is wrong, and CNN owes us all an apology. 

That's why we created a petition on SignOn.org to CNN, which says:

"Your Steubenville verdict coverage was terrible and offensive. These boys committed a very serious crime, and they were held accountable. The verdict that the judge handed down was justice—not a "tragedy." The tragedy was the rape. Please apologize and make this right."

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Nita and Shaunna, UltraViolet

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. UltraViolet didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 21, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Argh!

Dear MoveOn member,

This is the nightmare scenario:

"Reid guts Senate gun control bill."1

"Tuesday's developments are a major win for the powerful National Rifle Association."2

"[Assault weapons] ban's chances of survival now are all but hopeless."3

"[A]nother major element of the president's gun policy proposal could be joining the assault weapons ban in the scrap heap."4

After months of promises that, in the wake of Newtown, this time would be different, congressional Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid, are on the verge of caving on the three most critical gun violence prevention proposals: universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and a ban on high-capacity magazines.

What's looking most likely to end up in the final bill? A provision encouraging guns in schools.

No, no, no. MoveOn members and our allies have done so much to make real reform possible—with tens of thousands of phone calls, events, lobby visits, letters, and pleas from victims' families.

We've come too far to let meaningful gun violence prevention measures be killed by the NRA's backroom lobbying, Republicans' perpetual threats of filibustering, and Democrats who won't stand up and fight.

Can you chip in $5 to our emergency campaign to double down on our work for real gun violence prevention legislation?

Click here to contribute $5 right now.

We've already organized hundreds of constituent groups putting high-profile pressure on members of Congress in their home districts and states, run ads featuring anti-NRA gun owners, and poured calls into Congress—but it hasn't been enough. If we can raise $175,000 today, here's what we'll be able to do right away: 

  • Run aggressive TV Ads taking on senators from both parties who take money from the NRA and then vote against sensible gun violence prevention
  • Ramp up the pressure in home districts and states—with events, petitions, and letters to the editor demanding an explanation from members of Congress of how they intend to vote on measures that could save the lives of their constituents
  • Support powerful state and local anti-gun-violence campaigns, like that of a MoveOn Community Committee Against Gun Violence in Tucson, AZ, which organized and won a ban on gun shows in Tucson that don't guarantee background checks for all sales.5 They're ready to take this demand statewide, and other communities are ready to follow their lead.

Can you contribute $5 to end gun violence?

We've seen congressional Democrats try to back down from a fight before—only to have the grassroots inject a dose of backbone and show them how it's done on the state and local level.

MoveOn leaders are running campaigns in places where opponents to reform—Republicans and Democrats—think gun laws are untouchable. We're actually winning on the state and local level. In addition to Tucson, Colorado just enacted significant background check reforms.6 We need to push those victories to other states, and use them to push leaders in Washington to turn the tide.

Pitch in $5 right now.

Thanks for all you do.

–Garlin, Nick, Susannah, Jessica, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "Reid guts Senate gun control bill," The Hill, March 19, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288260&id=64571-10220574-eGVw4Kx&t=4

2. Ibid.

3. "AP News in Brief at 10:58 P.M. EST," The Washington Post, March 19, 2013 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288261&id=64571-10220574-eGVw4Kx&t=5

4. "Obama's Gun Reform Package Loses One Major Provision, Another In Danger," Huffington Post, March 19, 2013 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288262&id=64571-10220574-eGVw4Kx&t=6

5. "Tucson bans TCC gun shows without background checks," KGUN9, February 5, 2013 
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local/189947891.html

6. "Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper signs landmark gun bills," The Denver Post, March 20, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288264&id=64571-10220574-eGVw4Kx&t=7

 

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 20, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Remember

MoveOn members began organizing against the war in Iraq more than 10 years ago. Here are a few photos of that courageous, important work. Will you share your story?

MoveOn members protesting the war in Iraq

MoveOn members protesting the war in Iraq

MoveOn members protesting the war in Iraq


Share Your Memory

Dear MoveOn member,

The Iraq War began 10 years ago today.

MoveOn members helped fuel the most significant antiwar movement in 30 years before the invasion began. We saw through the deception and refused to buy the warmongering that the Bush administration was selling. 

We locked arms with veterans who chose to speak out, longtime peace activists, and the few brave politicians who said no to war. We marched, rallied, and camped out. We held bake sales and vigils, and recruited a generation of progressive activists to pressure the politicians, the pundits, and our communities to stand up for peace. We made memories and friends as we demanded an end to the war. 

This tidal wave of grassroots action—and the electoral work that followed—helped bring the war to an end. So today, we want to pause and ask: 10 years later, what's one moment you remember from the movement to stop the Iraq war?

Maybe it was a community meeting you attended, or a vigil at your place of worship. Maybe it was honking your car horn as you drove by the group of protestors who demonstrated in the park every Tuesday. Or maybe you were one of those weekly protestors.

Whatever your best memory, share your story and what it taught you. We will build a stronger progressive movement by learning from our past and telling our history the way we experienced it.

Click here to share one moment you remember from the movement to end the war in Iraq—and see what others are sharing.

We must also reflect on the 6,630 servicemen and women—friends, family members, and complete strangers—we lost. The more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians.2 The thousands wounded or traumatized with scars that will take generations to heal. And the trillions of dollars wasted.3

Millions organized to prevent people from losing their lives, and to honor the people who survived. People like Tomas Young, the 33 year-old Iraq veteran who was one of the first veterans to speak out against the war. Tomas was paralyzed on April 4, 2004, five days after he was deployed to a country he felt we should never have invaded. Today, Tomas is at home with his wife in Kansas City, MO, where he's now in hospice care and awaits his last breath.4

Here's what Chris Hedges wrote about Tomas last week:5

Young will die for our sins. He will die for a war that should never have been fought. He will die for the lies of politicians. He will die for war profiteers. He will die for the careers of generals. He will die for a cheerleader press. He will die for a complacent public that made war possible. He bore all this upon his body. He was crucified. And there are hundreds of thousands of other crucified bodies like his in Baghdad and Kandahar and Peshawar and Walter Reed medical center. Mangled bodies and corpses, broken dreams, unending grief, betrayal, corporate profit, these are the true products of war. Tomas Young is the face of war they do not want you to see.

We organized because we never wanted Tomas and so many others to go to war, and we honor him by continuing to demand a rapid end to the war in Afghanistan, and stand up against any move to launch a military attack on Iran.

So the work continues. Right now, click here to share one memory from the movement to end the war.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Joan, Garlin, Matt, and the rest of the team

P.S. You can support veterans who continue to bear the physical and psychological wounds from their service in Iraq. Please consider contributing to the Wounded Warrior Project—one of the groups helping those who served: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org.

Sources:

1. "Faces of the Fallen," The Washington Post, accessed March 18, 2013
http://apps.washingtonpost.com/national/fallen/

2. "Iraq war killed at least 116,000 Iraqi civilians: study," The Raw Story, March 14, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288211&id=64503-10220574-ULw9otx&t=4

3. "Iraq war cost: $6 trillion. What else could have been done?," Los Angeles TImes, March 18, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288221&id=64503-10220574-ULw9otx&t=5

4. "The Crucifixion of Tomas Young," Truthdig, March 10, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288208&id=64503-10220574-ULw9otx&t=6

5. Ibid.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 19, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Governor Cuomo: Raise the Minimum Wage!

Below is an email from Aaron Finch, a MoveOn member in New York City who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.


Dear New York MoveOn member,

New York's minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour. For full time work, that adds up to just $15,000 a year. It's the bare federal minimum. The same as the minimum wage in Idaho and Kansas. 

It's hard to imagine anyone surviving on $15,000 for full time work, whether you're in in Brookhaven or Buffalo. New York City has the highest cost of living in America. But hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers do it every day. And with rising prices, that $15,000 buys less and less every year. 

No New Yorker who works full time should be forced to live in poverty. As corporate profits and CEO pay soar, workers should get paid a decent wage too.  

That's why I created a petition on SignOn.org to Governor Andrew Cuomo, which says:

Gov Cuomo: It's time to raise the minimum wage in New York. Please press Albany to pass a minimum wage raise now.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

President Obama used his State of the Union address to call on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour and tie it to inflation. New Yorkers can't afford to wait for John Boehner and the House Republicans to get out of the way to raise the minimum wage. 

Thankfully, we don't have to. New York can raise the minimum wage on it's own, to at least $9 an hour and tie the new rate to inflation, so workers won't continue to fall behind as prices go up. 

Governor Cuomo should lead, and push Albany to raise the minimum wage.  

Click here to add your name to this petition.

Thanks!

–Aaron Finch

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Aaron Finch didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 18, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Friday, March 15, 2013

What going on offense looks like


Watch Robert Reich explain why raising the minimum wage is one of the smartest things we can do for our economy:
 
Click to see Robert Reich show why raising the minimum wage is a no-brainer.

Watch the video
Dear MoveOn member,

It was a big week—both good and bad—in the fight for a fair economy.

Here's the bad stuff: President Obama again put devastating cuts to Social Security benefits on the negotiating table. Attorney General Eric Holder admitted that banks may be "too big to prosecute." And Paul Ryan released his latest outlandish budget plan—full of giant tax breaks for corporations, a plan to voucherize Medicare, and attempts to slash millions from Medicaid. 

But here's the inspiring part. Nearly 8 million MoveOn members are doing really terrific work, together with our allies, to hold both Democrats and Republicans accountable and put an end to austerity economics. 

Just in the past few days:
  • 250,000 MoveOn members joined with Reps. Grayson, Conyers, Ellison, and Grijalva and our friends at Social Security Works and The Other 98% to call for a one-sentence bill that would put an end to the sequester—and Rep. Grayson delivered the petition signatures directly to Speaker Boehner's office yesterday, with media watching closely.1
  • While Elizabeth Warren took bank regulators to the mat in Congress, 130,000 MoveOn members stood together with our allies at Campaign for a Fair Settlement to demand an end to "too big to jail" on Wall Street, and called for the Department of Justice to hold the banks that crashed the economy accountable. 
  • One of the best leaders on economic justice issues—the economist and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich—partnered with MoveOn to release a new video explaining why everyone should support raising the minimum wage. It's a simple policy change, proposed by President Obama in his State of the Union address, that could help make our economy work better for everyone.
And of course, day in and day out, MoveOn members are organizing in states around the country to push Republican governors to accept federal funding for Medicaid, challenge draconian local and state budget cuts, and stand up locally against the sequester.

So the fight for a fair economy has a lot of fronts. Right now, one simple thing you can do is to check out Robert Reich's video and pass it along—to equip others with the information about how we can make our economy work better for working people, not just big banks and Republican lobbyists.

Thanks for all you do.

–Anna, Manny, Jessica, David, and the rest of the team 

Source:

1. "Sequestration 2013: Lawmakers, activists call for end of sequestration," WJLA, March 14, 2013. 
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=288104&id=64304-10220574-RKIAXCx&t=7


Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 15, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Eric Holder's stunning admission

Below is an email from Brian Kettenring of Campaign for a Fair Settlement, who created a petition on SignOn.org, the nonprofit site that allows anyone to start their own online petition. If you have concerns or feedback about this petition, click here.



signon

Sign the petition
Dear MoveOn member,

The most amazing thing just happened. 

The Obama Administration finally admitted the truth of what we've been saying all along: giant Wall Street banks have become too big to prosecute. In testimony on Wed, March 6, US Attorney General Eric Holder—the nation's top cop—said,

"I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them ... I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large."1

Exactly. 

Tell President Obama to end the Administration's policy of treating Wall Street banks as too big to fail and too big to jail by taking immediate steps to break up the big banks and prosecute the criminals who used them to destroy our economy.

Now we understand why the Obama Administration has failed to bring criminal charges against a single major Wall Street bank or executive for systemic fraud that brought down our economy. When the Attorney General openly admits that the most powerful members of society won't be prosecuted for even the most egregious of crimes, we are in deep trouble as a nation. 

Remember that we gave Wall Street bankers $700 billion in TARP bailouts and $2.5 trillion in investments, loans, and guarantees to shore up their business (and outrageous bonuses)2 on the theory that letting them collapse would create a generation-long Depression. In return it seems fair to demand accountability for the actions that brought us to that point. Now it turns out the Administration never had any intention of seeking accountability.  

Stand up and add your voice in demanding the Administration end the policy of "too big to fail/jail".

That's why we're demanding an immediate end to this unconscionable policy that puts the wishes of Wall Street 1%ers above the well-being of working families, most especially those hardest hit by the criminal actions of these very same people. 

The Campaign for a Fair Settlement has pushing hard during the first hundred days of President Obama's second term for real accountability for the Wall Street criminals who stole our homes, savings, and pensions and destroyed our economy. We think this is the only way he'll secure his legacy as a champion of justice for the millions of homeowners, taxpayers and retirees harmed by Wall Street criminals. This revelation makes this all the more urgent. 

Stand up and demand President Obama take immediate steps to break up the big banks and prosecute the criminals who used them to destroy our economy.

It's break up time. Now or never.

In solidarity,

Brian Kettenring
Executive Director—Action for the Common Good, and
Campaign Director—Campaign for a Fair Settlement

1 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287895&id=64061-10220574-BiDhwKx&t=8

2http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287896&id=64061-10220574-BiDhwKx&t=9

This petition was created on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Campaign for a Fair Settlement didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 11, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Will you take Gov. Cuomo's call?

Dear MoveOn member,

We thought this message from our friends at Fair Elections for New York was important enough to pass along:


Big money in politics is standing in the way of real action on issues, from raising the minimum wage to tackling climate change. New York has a chance to be a national leader by passing Fair Elections this year.

If we want a government that gives voice to the people, and not just big campaign donors, it's time to end big-money politics by enacting citizen funded elections.

This Monday at 7PM, Governor Andrew Cuomo will join us for a special telephone town hall about Fair Elections for New York, and we need you to call in.

Click here to sign up:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287897&id=63889-10220574-FUC6tkx&t=1

The campaign to create a small donor matching system is rapidly gaining steam. Putting elections back in the hands of voters is within reach.

What activists like you do in your communities over the next few months will determine whether we win or lose.

On the call, you'll hear from Governor Cuomo about why he wants Fair Elections, get the latest update on activity in Albany, and we'll get you tapped into all the activity happening on the ground.

We have the chance to reform the way money controls politics and increase the power of voters, instead of leaving the process in the hands of big money interests that currently dominate Albany.

The call will take place on Monday, March 11th at 7:00 pm. We need you to join us.

Click here to sign up:

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287897&id=63889-10220574-FUC6tkx&t=2

Thank you,

–Joe Dinkin, The Fair Elections for New York Campaign

The text above was written by Fair Elections for New York, not by MoveOn staff, and they are responsible for the content. It's part of a new effort to pass on critical updates from other progressive groups. Fair Elections for New York didn't pay for this—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list. This email was sent through the MoveOn system, so your personal contact info was kept private. But this event is organized by Fair Elections for New York—MoveOn is not a sponsor or funder of the event—and if you sign up you'll likely get updates directly from them in the future.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 8, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

We can end the sequester in 1 sentence. Are you in?

Dear MoveOn member,

Last Friday, my friend Congressman John Conyers introduced a bill called the "Cancel the Sequester Act of 2013"—a bill that, not surprisingly, cancels the sequester.

In case you haven't heard, the sequester is an endless series of irrational and cruel budget cuts. Fortunately, since Congress invented the sequester, Congress can also kill it.

Here's the entire bill:

"Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is repealed."

That's it. That's the solution, in a single sentence. No loopholes. No self-imposed crises. Just one sentence.

Join us by signing a petition in support of just-say-no to the sequester. 75,000 people already have.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

I thought you'd like to know that the end to our current crisis is at hand. And you can help. Join us.

Click here to end the sequester.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

This petition was created by the organization Social Security Works on SignOn.org, the progressive, nonprofit petition site. SignOn.org is sponsored by MoveOn Civic Action, which is not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. Representative Alan Grayson and Social Security Works didn't pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 6, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Obama to cut Social Security?

Frightening news: Over the weekend, President Obama offered cuts to the social safety net as part of a deal to undo the sequester. 

MoveOn needs to expand our emergency campaign to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid, right now.

Can you help us raise $250,000 in the next 48 hours to expand our campaign?


Chip in $5

Dear MoveOn member,

Last year, President Obama offered Republicans a heartbreaking deal that would have slashed Social Security benefits by $112 billion over a decade.1 MoveOn members overwhelmingly opposed it. And together with allies, we won.

Now, here's the state of play. Over the weekend, faced with Republican obstructionism, the president once again—and more clearly than ever—offered to put our social safety net on the negotiating table.2

We have a plan to launch an ambitious push, with allies inside and outside of Congress, to oppose any benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Can you chip in $5 to fund our emergency campaign to save the social safety net?

Yes, I can contribute $5.

This isn't the first time there's been talk of a "grand bargain," and it won't be the last.

We've won this fight before, and we can do it again. Obama's latest offer to consider cuts just happened over the weekend. There's still time to work with allies inside and outside of Congress.

We know this kind of campaign works. For several years now, progressives inside and outside of Congress have united behind a simple message: No cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits. Again and again, it's worked. 

But to keep winning, we have to keep our laser focus. We can't afford to wait for a last-minute "grand bargain" to take us by surprise. We need to go big now. 

MoveOn member, can we count on you? 

Yes, I can contribute $5 to help save the social safety net.

If we do this, here's what we're thinking: 

  • We'll make sure middle-class champions know we have their backs. Lawmakers fighting to preserve Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid need to know we have their backs, so we'll publicly thank them and run ads in support of their leadership.
  • We'll speak truth to power. Specifically, we'll inform constituents of every member of Congress—including Democrats—how their representatives voted on slashing our social safety net. 
  • We'll change the national debate. We'll be ready to run powerful TV ads featuring a MoveOn member who would be directly impacted by benefit cuts, and have organizers helping folks start and deliver petitions on MoveOn.org's petition site, SignOn.org, opposing any cuts to the social safety net.
  • We'll join with coalition partners in building big protests. This will include direct action at congressional offices and other community actions to oppose the Washington austerity agenda.
  • We'll flood Congress and the White House. We'll light up the phone lines, bury offices in stacks of petitions, and flood senators with faxes showing significant opposition to any deal that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.

Now's the time to dig deep. Our plan costs $250,000 just to get started—and we'll need more to keep it going for the coming weeks. Can you chip in? 

Yes, I'll chip in $5.

Thanks for all you do.

Ilya, Elena, Mark, Manny, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "AARP to Congress and the President: Don't Cut Social Security," AARP, December 18, 2012
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287801&id=63753-10220574-I58B6cx&t=6

2. "Obama Renews Offer to Cut Social Safety Net in Big Budget Deal," CNBC, March 3, 2013
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100515721

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 5, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Tell us what you think

Dear MoveOn member,

MoveOn members are campaigning across the country to push elected officials to enact commonsense laws against gun violence that will make our communities safer.

To grow this movement, we're thinking about organizing events later this month, and we want your opinion on this idea:

Oscar-winning Director Michael Moore wants to join thousands of MoveOn members in living rooms and community centers to watch "Bowling for Columbine," his documentary on gun violence and why our culture is so riddled with violence. Then, we'll talk about what we can do to reduce gun violence in our communities.

If we organized events like that this month, how likely would you be to attend a watch party?

Very likely

Somewhat likely

Not sure

Not very likely

Not likely at all

Thank you—your input is extremely valuable.

–Garlin, Susannah, Eric, Ilya, and the rest of the team

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 4, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Your office visit today!

Dear MoveOn member,

Good news! Thanks to MoveOn members like you, more than 5,000 people have already committed to drop by their member of Congress' office today. Thank you for stepping up and telling Rep. Meeks to cancel the sequester.

If you haven't already dropped by the office, here's the address again: 

67-12 Rockaway Beach Boulevard
Arverne, NY 11692
Phone: 347-230-4032

If you've already stopped by the office, we'd love to hear how it went. You can share photos and tell us how it went by going to cancelthesequester.tumblr.com.

And if you haven't stopped by the office yet, here are a few final tips to make sure that your drop-by is successful:

  • Print a copy of the Cancel The Sequester of 2013 Act and ask Rep. Meeks to vote for it. Click here to download the letter and add your personal message: http://s3.moveon.org/pdfs/conyers-cancel-the-sequester.pdf.
  • Make a "Cancel the Sequester" or "Stop the Cuts, Tax the Rich" sign.
We can't wait to hear back from you!

Thanks for all you do. 

–Ilya, Joan, Nick, Manny, and the rest of the team 

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 1, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.

Emergency sequester actions today

The Tea Party and austerity-obsessed billionaires have gone too far. Can you drop by Rep. Meeks's office in Arverne TODAY and ask him to stop the madness and cancel the sequester?

Yes, I'll be there!

Dear MoveOn member,

Today the package of mandatory spending cuts known as the "sequester" takes effect. There's just one word for the impact on millions of Americans: devastating.1

  • 373,000 seriously mentally ill people are losing care. 
  • 70,000 kids are getting kicked out of Head Start.
  • 100,000 formerly homeless people will soon be back on the streets.

This is madness. The Tea Party and austerity-obsessed billionaires have finally gone too far—they're holding kids and poor families hostage to force radical benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and more. Dozens of MoveOn members have started petitions to stop these cuts—and thousands more around the country are asking how to stop the austerity lies once and for all.

Congress and the media are watching to see if the public will swallow the most savage budget cuts in a generation—and an outpouring of constituent anger can change the political calculus and end the politics of austerity once and for all. So MoveOn members are going to congressional offices TODAY at noon—and throughout the day, with an urgent message: Cancel the sequester.

Your closest office is at:
67-12 Rockaway Beach Boulevard
Arverne, NY 11692
Phone: 347-230-4032

Can you drop by Rep. Gregory Meeks's office in Arverne today (on Friday) at noon or later with other MoveOn members to say, simply, cancel the sequester?

Yes, I can drop by today.

No, but I can chip in to support MoveOn's work to stop the devastating cuts and defend our social safety net.

This is coming together quickly, as it's becoming clear that Congress is really going to let these cuts go into effect—so you don't need to prepare anything. We'll give you a letter to download and deliver to your Member of Congress, and you can wear blue to identify other MoveOn members who are there.

Let's make this the moment that the media and history books understand as the turning point in the Tea Party's attack on our government as a force for good in people's lives.

Click here if you can drop by your member of Congress' office Today (Friday).

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilya, Joan, Nick, Manny, and the rest of the team

Source:

1. "The Sequester: Senate Democrats, GOP To Stage Votes On Rival Cuts," Huffington Post, February 28, 2013
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=287746&id=63502-10220574-Cswp9rx&t=5

Want to support our work? MoveOn Civic Action is entirely funded by our 7 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.


This email was sent to eddie alfaro on March 1, 2013. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.