The Year of Living Shamelessly

A year's-end message from People for the American Way:

As I reflect on the work we accomplished this year, there’s no denying that 2010 has been a year to remember. That’s why the timing couldn’t be more perfect for a new e-book by satirist Paul Slansky, The Year of Living Shamelessly: Political Lowlights of 2010. 

A portion of proceeds from the book will go to People For the American Way, making it a great last minute holiday gift that will support our efforts to fight the most radically right-wing Congress that will convene in Washington in just a few weeks. You can easily send copies as gifts via email through the website.

The Year of Living Shamelessly guides readers through a remarkable year in American politics and the unforgettable personalities that drove it. Some highlights include:

• the congressional candidate who moonlighted as a Nazi reenactor;
• the lieutenant governor who compared food stamps for the needy to “feeding stray animals”;
• the Senate candidate who ran away from a press conference;
• and the former president who said he missed “being pampered.”

Click here to purchase book, priced at only $3.99.  Thank you for your support of People For the American Way--I wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season, and all the best in the coming New Year.

Best,

Ben Betz, Online Communications Manager

Message from Senator Bernie Sanders

Thank you for your progressive political activism and your strong efforts on behalf of grassroots democracy and the survival of the American middle-class.  As Vermont’s senator and perhaps the most progressive member of the U.S. Senate I look forward to working together with you in the up-and-coming struggles that our country faces.

The very simple and truthful political reality is that those of us in Congress who are prepared to stand up to right-wing extremism will not be successful without the strong support of millions of Americans at the grassroots level.  Equally true is the reality that the average American citizen - disgusted with tax breaks for billionaires, Wall Street greed, a never-ending recession, attacks on Social Security, two wars and minimal efforts against global warming - will not see their views translated into legislation without the support of progressive members of Congress. We have got to work together.  Let’s do it!

With a right-wing Republican Party taking control of the House of Representatives on January 5th, and with the Republicans gaining 6 seats in the Senate, let me briefly outline to you some of the immediate political struggles that I see occurring:

THE ECONOMY: In the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing.  Meanwhile, the people at the top are doing phenomenally well.  The crooks on Wall Street whose greed precipitated this recession are now earning more money than before the American people bailed them out.  The top one percent in our country now earn over 23 percent of all income, more than the bottom 50 percent.  The U.S. today has by far the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider.  While “official” unemployment is at 9.8 percent, real unemployment is over 16 percent – being especially high for blue collar workers, the young and people of color.  Despite all of this the Republicans, whose campaigns are funded by some of the richest people and largest corporations in the country, want more tax breaks for the wealthy, more government deregulation, more unfettered free trade, more anti-union legislation and no more funding for unemployment benefits.

DEFICIT REDUCTION: President Bush converted the large budget surplus which President Clinton bequeathed to him into record-breaking deficits because of Bush’s huge tax breaks for the rich, two wars, the Medicare Part D prescription drug program and the Wall Street bailout – all unpaid for.  Now, with the Republicans having successfully won more tax breaks for the rich under President Obama and thus massively driving up the national debt, those same Republicans are hell-bent on moving toward "deficit reduction" by slashing many programs desperately needed by working Americans.  They will go after Medicare, Medicaid, affordable housing, education and childcare, veterans’ needs, infrastructure and environmental protection – among many other areas.  In their eyes, tax breaks for billionaires are good.  Affordable housing and educational opportunities for working families are bad.

SOCIAL SECURITY: Under the guise of fighting for deficit reduction, the Republicans will unleash an unprecedented attack against Social Security.  They will attempt to slash benefits, raise the retirement age and move toward the eventual privatization of a program which has, for 75 years, successfully lifted many tens of millions of elderly Americans, people with disabilities and widows and orphans out of poverty.  Make no mistake about it: the attempt to destroy Social Security hasnothing to do with deficit reduction.  Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion dollar surplus, can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 27 years and has not contributed one nickel to the deficit.  This is an ideological struggle on the part of Republicans in Congress and their billionaire backers to undo the most significant government social program in the history of the United States.  They want Wall Street to provide retirement benefits, not Social Security – not because this is a better plan for seniors, but because it ensures massive profits for Wall Street.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY: Most of us share the view of the vast majority of scientists who, having examined all existing evidence, have concluded that global warming is real and is almost certainly caused by man-made activities.  Our goal must be to cut greenhouse gas emissions and transform our energy system away from fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy.  In the process of moving our country to energy independence we can, over a period of years, create millions of good paying jobs.  Almost all Republicans in Congress disagree.  Supported by the coal and oil companies, Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh, they believe that global warming is a “hoax,” and that our energy system should continue to be largely reliant on fossil fuels.  The newly empowered Republicans in Congress will do everything they can to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and, in a variety of ways, give support to the oil and coal companies.  This is no small issue.  The future of the planet, in terms of extreme weather disturbances, flooding, drought, disease and large-scale human migration, may be at stake.  We must vigorously fight for environmental sanity and for energy policies that move us away from fossil fuels.

As Vermont’s Senator I look forward to working with you on the issues that I’ve discussed as well as many that I haven’t had time to get into in this letter. I should also mention that as Vermont’s senator I will be up for re-election in 2012.  As the longest serving Independent in congressional history (16 years in the House and 4 in the Senate) there is no question in my mind that the Republicans, Karl Rove and the big-money interests behind them will do everything they can to defeat me.  If you would like to help out in my campaign, please visit my website and consider making a contribution.

There is no doubt that I will be opposed by every big-money interest in the country: Wall Street and the credit card companies, the insurance and drug corporations, the big banks, the military-industrial complex, the oil and coal companies and every other special interest that I’ve taken on over the past twenty years.  The issue of securing enough money to run a strong campaign becomes especially relevant in light of the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision which allows corporations and billionaires to invest as much money as they want into campaigns in total secrecy.  Please support my campaign bydonating today.

Let me conclude by thanking you once again for your activism and by wishing you and your family a healthy, happy and peaceful new year.

Sincerely,


Senator Bernie Sanders

P.S.: Please forward my message on to any friends and family that you think might be interested.  And if you would like to keep up with what I am doing, you can visit my campaign website or follow me on Facebook or Twitter.

Join Feminist Majority Now

We must organize, organize, organize! Pro-women's rights and abortion rights forces have just lost some 44 votes in the US House of Representatives and 7 in the Senate as a result of the 2010 election. We must organize to make sure we hold our ground and build for 2012. We must not go backwards. We need you to join the Feminist Majority, renew your membership, and/or give an end of the year fight back special contribution today.

We need your support more than ever in these very challenging times. In addition to losing seats in Congress, some 18 state legislative bodies changed to anti-women's rights and anti-abortion rights majorities.

We cannot let right-wing opposition in Congress or in the states drive us backwards. The struggle for feminist policies and programs, never easy, has become much, much harder. We have a lot of lost ground to recover and many future dreams to realize. That is why I am writing today to ask you to fight back with the Feminist Majority. Frankly, we need you - your support will be critically important in 2011 and as we build for 2012.

We will need your support to fight reactionary efforts to defund family planning, to cut social security and Medicare, to defund reproductive health clinics, to stop both the domestic Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the International VAWA, and to build for 2012. 

With your help, we have been building and winning for women, defending women's rights, protecting the gains of the last 40 years - and now we must do more. Please fight back with the Feminist Majority today. We must be strong at this historic moment.

For women's lives,

Eleanor Smeal
President
Feminist Majority

What AAUW Can Do in a Year

This blog just isn't about what needs to be done. It's also important to look back and see what has been accomplished. AAUW (the American Association of University Women) has done a lot in 2010. Below is a list of some of their successful and on-going efforts. Fortunately, the list is a long one.

Celebrate Action Network Successes in 2010!

As we reach the end of 2010, we take a moment to thank our AAUW Action Network activists for their extraordinary efforts to advance our shared mission this year. Your advocacy and financial support, along with the tens of thousands of others in our nationwide network of e-activists, has helped AAUW influence public policy throughout 2010. In the current economic climate, when so many organizations are cutting back, AAUW remains uniquely positioned to be a strong voice for you in the halls of power. As educated women and men, we continue to be advocates and catalysts for sustainable change, and your contribution today will supercharge our efforts to break through barriers for women and girls tomorrow.

Thanks to your activism and generosity, we can claim some impressive advocacy and programmatic achievements this year. This year, AAUW:

·         Made enormous strides toward strengthening and updating the Equal Pay Act by advocating for the Paycheck Fairness Act. Although the bill was ultimately defeated by a procedural vote of 58-41 in the Senate, President Obama personally thanked AAUW and Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Lisa Maatz for AAUW’s leadership in advocating for the bill. We will continue the fight for strong pay equity legislation in the next Congress, and for stronger equal pay enforcement through the Executive Branch.

·         Published Why So Few? Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, a comprehensive report on the continued underrepresentation of women in these fields adding to AAUW’s strong research foundations. This report has been so successful that AAUW has already invested in a third printing. You can order a copy by mail for just the cost of shipping at ShopAAUW or download the report here.

·         Awarded $3.2 million in Fellowships, Grants, and Awards for the 2010-2011 academic year to support 215 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls. Since 1888, AAUW has provided more than $80 million to 11,000 fellows and grantees around the globe.

·         Helped close the book on the Pentagon’s 17 year-old “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which bans LGBT Americans openly serving in the military. This policy, which has caused the discharge of thousands of trained and skilled servicemembers on the basis of their sexual orientation and cost taxpayers millions of dollars, was repealed by a 65-31 vote last Saturday. It is expected that the President will sign the repeal bill this week.

·         Encouraged the inclusion of Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s (D-MD) Women’s Health Amendment in the health care reform legislation. This amendment will prevent health insurance providers from discriminating against women, requiring insurance companies to cover additional preventive health care and screenings for women at no additional premium or co-payment cost.

·         Successfully advocated for the rescission of a 2005 interpretation of a test designed to measure schools’ athletics compliance with Title IX, the law which forbids sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs. This Bush administration interpretation created a loophole in which a school could use an online survey, even one with extremely poor participation, to satisfactorily demonstrate compliance with the law; in April, the Obama administration closed the loophole.

·         Received a five star rating from GreatNonprofits.org, a group dedicated to providing and hosting reviews and ratings of nonprofit organizations, and was included on their list of Top-Rated Women’s Empowerment Nonprofits.

·         Hosted a reception honoring Sara Manzano-Diaz, Director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor. In attendance were Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement Tina Tchen, and leaders from the women’s community.

·         Published the Congressional Voting Record for the 111^th Congress, providing information on the positions of each senator and representative on the issues important to the AAUW Action Fund. These positions are identified by tracking the voting and cosponsorship records for each member of congress and are useful tools for our advocates in determining their members’ past actions on important issues.

·         Informed AAUW members of the candidates’ positions in many of the closest and most important races in the 2010 midterm elections through the AAUW Action Fund Voter Guides. Candidates’ positions were determined using voting records, public statements, campaign position papers and information posted online by trusted sources, and were provided to our members to help them make informed decisions when voting.

·         Brought nearly 500 college women from 48 states, Washington D.C., the Virgin Islands, the West Indies, and Guam together for the 25^th AAUW/NASPANational Conference for College Women Student Leaders. Students returned home ready to improve their campuses and their communities.

·         Recognized the 2010 Women of Distinction Award recipients at NCCWSL: Patti Solis Doyle, Dr. Dorothy Height, Christina Lagdameo, Marie Tillman, and Nomfundo Walaza.  

·         Informed recommendations from the White House Middle Class Task Forceand Equal Pay Enforcement Taskforce which included ways to improve pay equity enforcement and work-family balance.

·         AAUW Leadership Corps grassroots liaisons have worked with state presidents, branch boards, national members, and staff to strengthen AAUW at every level. From all across the country, the AAUW Leadership Corps is supporting members in their efforts to break through barriers for women and girls!

·         Worked with our e-advocates to dramatically grow our voice on Capitol Hill. Through AAUW’s Action Network, which logged over 13,000 new subscribers this year, we sent over 74,000 messages to legislators and the administration this year, influencing them on a host of issues from pay equity and women’s health to hate crimes and Title IX.

·         Successfully supported the House passage of the America COMPETES Reauthorization which contained a number of provisions to improve education and training in science, technology, engineering, and math and to reduce barriers that deter women from pursuing academic career goals in these fields.

·         Received recognition of our research and advocacy in publications as diverse as Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, and Time Magazine.

·         Successfully fought for the inclusion and passage of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, one of the largest investments in higher education ever, in the health care reform bill.

·         Worked with government agencies to create new regulations that help women and girls. In one example, pregnant and parenting students are now considered“high-need students” and federal programs helping them will be considered a priority, thanks to AAUW’s efforts.

·         Broke the readership record for the AAUW Dialog Blog with nearly 10,000 readers this year. We also moved the conversation about equity for women and girls into other new media, including Facebook and Twitter.

·         Celebrated the one year anniversaries of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, hard-won victories for equal rights that could not have succeeded without the commitment and dedication of AAUW’s e-advocates. The FBI has relied on AAUW’s input in writing and updating its hate crimes statistics collection to include gender-biased motivated crimes.

·         Worked to keep members of our communities and the public informed via letters to the editors of local papers on a variety of topics, including pay equity and Title IX. You can see just a few of the published letters in AAUW’sNewsroom.

·         Honored the memory and the courage of women who came before us and fought for passage of the 19^th Amendment 90 years ago this year, as well as the 90^th anniversary of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.

·         Prevented several attempts to weaken public education by diverting public funds to private or religious schools through voucher funding schemes. AAUW stands firmly by the belief that the country should provide an excellent education for all children, not private school vouchers for a few.

·         Celebrated the publication of the book Secrets of Powerful Women this past February. AAUW Director of Public Policy Lisa Maatz was honored to be chosen to write one of the book’s 24 essays on women’s journeys to success. Other contributors included Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Kay Granger (R-TX).

·         Launched “In That Moment I Knew”, a series of radio public service announcements highlighting members’ stories and AAUW’s mission and goals.
 

·         Increased support for anti-bullying legislation that would ensure all schools have effective policies in place to prevent and respond to bullying and harassment, as well as educate teachers and administrators about these issues. Informed in part by AAUW testimony and that of other groups, the Department of Education sent a letter to the nation’s schools offering guidance on bullying and harassment and reminding them of their responsibility to prevent bullying under the nation’s civil rights laws.

·         Disbursed over $90,000 to five plaintiffs to help with their legal costs in precedent-setting sex discrimination lawsuits, on campus and in the broader workplace.

·         Celebrated the 35^th anniversary of the AAUW Action Fund Capitol Hill Lobby Corps with 1,200 visits to members of Congress this year alone, and a Capitol Hill reception.

·         Launched Elect Her, a comprehensive program to build the pipeline of women running for public office. The campus training, Elect Her — Campus Women Win has doubled the number of trainings to reach 20 campuses in Spring 2011.

·         Successfully fought back a dangerous “Personhood Amendment” in Colorado which would have constituted a sweeping ban on abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother was at risk.

In the past year, AAUW and our activists have made great strides on Capitol Hill, on college campuses, and in our branches and communities. We have made our voices heard, but our work is far from over. These tough economic times are a challenge to all of us, but they can be especially devastating to women because of harassment, discrimination, unfair wages, and more. Please make a contribution now, so that AAUW can intensify our crucial work to break through barriers for women and girls in the coming year.

AAUW’s Action Network makes it easy for advocates to influence Congress to act on issues critical for equity for women and girls. Help Action Network grow and be even more of a force in our nation’s capital. Urge your friends and family tojoin AAUW and AAUW’s Action Network today.

The grassroots liaisons in AAUW's new Leadership Corps program will be reaching out to AAUW branch leaders to provide mentoring and assistance. Whether you are a member of an AAUW branch (an officer or not) or a member-at-large interested in becoming involved with other AAUW members, please fill out the online form here to indicate areas of branch programming or administration for which you would like assistance.

Washington Update is AAUW's free, members-only weekly e-bulletin offering an insider's view on the legislative process, the latest policy news, resources for advocates, programming ideas, and updates from the Public Policy and Government Relations Department. Subscribe today!

Read the 2009-2011 AAUW Public Policy Program.

Become part of the AAUW national community and break through barriers for women and girls. Join now.

Strengthen AAUW's voice with policy-makers! Donate now.

Connect with AAUW online via our website and blog, and follow us on Facebookand Twitter.

Palin: "Misinformer of the Year" Video

A message from:  

This year, we've chosen Sarah Palin -- former half-term governor, current Fox News contributor and prolific Facebook user -- as our Misinformer of the Year.

It was a tough competition. On issues like health care, net neutrality, climate change and immigration, the conservative media offers an unprecedented flood of distortions, exaggerations and utter fabrications. We atMedia Matters for America work around the clock to expose, fact-check and counter this non-stop flood of lies and attacks.

Click here to watch the "Misinformer of the Year" video and support Media Matters for America with a tax-deductible donation.

This year, Palin stood out for her sheer ability to dominate our national conversation and draw the attention of the entire news media to her factually challenged claims and vicious attacks. She has blurred the line completely between media figure and political activist.

When Glenn Beck's over-the-top rhetoric and conspiracy theories inspired unhinged gunman Byron Williams to target the Tides Foundation with violence, Palin could have stood up for responsibility and helped rein Beck in. Instead, she legitimized him and his attacks, saying "I stand with you, Glenn."

From spreading lies about "death panels" to cropping Obama's comments about "American exceptionalism," from her comfortable perch at Fox News to her self-promoting books and reality show, Palin has truly broken new ground in misinformation.

In the year to come, Palin is sure to keep up her efforts at dominating the headlines, influencing the political process and advancing falsehoods and distortions at every turn -- aided and abetted by millions in free airtime and glowing coverage from her friends at Fox News. We are prepared to fight back -- but we need your help.

Thank you for your support.

David Brock
Founder and CEO
Media Matters for America

Not-Really-Neutral Net Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission betrayed the fundamental principle of net neutrality and sold us out to AT&T, Verizon and Comcast.

This is the culmination of a long struggle, and it's important we discuss frankly what led to this point. So this will be a longer e-mail than we traditionally send, with some recommended action items at the end.

Despite what you may have read in the headlines, the rules passed by the FCC today amount to nothing more than a cynical ploy by Democrats to claim a victory on net neutrality while actually caving on real protections for consumers.

Make no mistake, AT&T lobbyists pre-approved this proposal, which means consumers lost and Big Telecom won.

Net neutrality is a principle that says that Internet users, not Internet service providers (ISPs), should be in control. It ensures that Internet service providers can't speed up, slow down, or block Web content based on its source, ownership, or destination.

Yet today the FCC, let by Obama-appointee Julius Genachowski and cheered on by the White House, voted to adopt rules that will enshrine in federal regulations for the first time the ability of AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other ISPs to discriminate between sources and types of content. And despite the fact that there is only one Internet, the rules also largely exempt cell phones and wireless devices from what meager protections the rules afford.

It's no exaggeration to say that this decision marks the beginning of the end for the Internet as we know it.

Senator Al Franken laid out what's at stake with this ruling, saying:

"The FCC's action today is simply inadequate to protect consumers or preserve the free and open Internet. I am particularly disappointed to learn that the order will not specifically ban paid prioritization, allowing big companies to pay for a fast lane on the Internet and abandoning the foundation of net neutrality. The rule also contains almost no protections for mobile broadband service, remaining silent on the blocking of content, applications, and devices. Wireless technology is the future of the Internet, and for many rural Minnesotans, it's often the only choice for broadband."

So how did we get here? Just two years ago, net neutrality advocates were heartened by the election of a president who promised to defend net neutrality and appoint an FCC Chair who would do the same.

Initially, things looked good. After President Obama was inaugurated and after he appointed Chairman Genachowski to head the FCC, we had what we thought were three net neutrality supporters on the five-member commission and the support of the president. It seemed reasonable, therefore, to support the FCC in writing the net neutrality regulations that we needed.

But it was the FCC's unwillingness to undo a Bush-era decision to deregulate broadband Internet providers that demonstrated how weak the Obama administration's support for net neutrality really was.

This Bush-era decision classified broadband Internet providers outside of the legal framework that traditionally applied to companies that offer two-way communication services

After a federal court ruled that unless the FCC reversed the Bush-era decision to deregulate broadband the FCC couldn't enforce net neutrality rules, Genachowski tested the waters with a proposal to reregulate (or in the jargon of the FCC "reclassify") broadband. Genachowski himself said that, according to the FCC General Counsel, pushing ahead with policies without reregulating broadband would be unwise given the tenuous legal footing the FCC would find itself in. In fact, Genachowski said:

"...continuing to pursue policies with respect to broadband Internet access [without reclassifying broadband] has a serious risk of failure in court. It would involve a protracted, piecemeal approach to defending essential policy initiatives designed to protect consumers, promote competition, extend broadband to all Americans, pursue necessary public safety measures, and preserve the free and open Internet. The concern is that this path would lead the Commission straight back to its current uncertain situation-and years will have passed without actually implementing the key policies needed to improve broadband in America and enhance economic growth and broad opportunity for all Americans."

But the Chairman changed his tune after he unsurprisingly came under pressure from the telecom giants.

From what we can gather, one of the decisive moments came when 74 Democrats signed a letter to the FCC warning Genachowski not to reclassify broadband. The letter, which was promoted by telecom lobbyists, cleverly included language to support Congressional action to address the issue of net neutrality. But given that Congress was demonstrably beholden to the telecom lobbyists, and with the Republicans threatening the FCC outright, the subtext was clear. No FCC action on reclassification meant no viable chance to implement real net neutrality rules.

CREDO aggressively acted to hold these Democrats accountable for their letter. 119,096 of us signed petitions. We held in district meetings at the offices of 12 signers. But at that point it was too late. The damage had been done.

Chairman Genachowski was quickly cowed by political pressure and signaled an unwillingness to reclassify broadband. And rather than trying to give us net neutrality protections, he has instead sought to find a way of cynically passing something he can claim is net neutrality, when it's nothing of the sort.

We continued to fight and over the course of our campaign we submitted 158,702 public comments supporting real net neutrality. Our members made over 6,500 phone calls to the FCC. And sent 65,911 faxes to liberal FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in a last ditch attempt to get him to refuse to go along with Genachowski on his fake net neutrality proposal.

In the end, there is no way to paint this decision today as anything less than a defeat for net neutrality advocates and for our democracy.

The process demonstrated a breakdown in institutions of government that are supposed to safeguard the public interest and implement the will of the people. Here we have an example of a federal agency with the full power and authority to fulfill its mandate and protect the public interest, caving to nothing more than the withering stare of those they must regulate. The president said he supported net neutrality. There was no Republican filibuster holding us back. We simply needed the Chairman to propose real net neutrality rules that would hold up in a court of law, and we needed the three Democrats on the FCC to vote to pass them. It was that simple. And yet we failed to make it happen.

The lack of political will to confront the telecommunications giants effectively gave these oligarchic interests a veto over the rules that govern their behavior. In this way the narrow interests of a few powerful and wealthy corporations were prioritized over the public good and the literally millions of people who spoke out and demanded that the FCC protect our free and open Internet.

This is a clear example of industry capture of a regulatory body, and a damning indictment of government institutions that are supposed to regulate — not be run by — corporate interests.

Also let's remember that a free and open Internet is an important part of 21st Century democracy. By failing to protect it, this set of rulings is similar to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that tilted the realm of public discourse even more in favor of the wealthy and the powerful.

We have to be honest and share with you who have fought with us for real net neutrality a frank assessment of what just happened at the FCC. There is not right now a next step we can propose that will undo the damage that was done today to the free and open Internet.

But we will not simply lie down and give up. Here are four things you can do now to fight the corporate interests that gave birth to this situation we find ourselves in:

1) Read and share this blog post by our friends at Progressive Campaign Change Committee with three things everyone needs to know about Chairman Genachowski's fake net neutrality rules. huffingtonpost.com/jason-rosenbaum/breaking-fcc-breaks-obama_b_799844.html

2) Tell the FCC to at least oppose the increased consolidation of our media by opposing the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. Click here to take action.

3) Harry Reid's new chief of staff is a former telecom lobbyist and contributor to Republican causes. Tell Reid to fire him. Click here to take action.

4) Lastly, one senator fought to the end — Sen. Al Franken. Click here to join us in thanking him for standing up for net neutrality.

Thank you for continuing to fight.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

DREAM Act UpDate II

From The Chronicle of Higher Education

December 18, 2010

Deferred Again: Senate Vote Is Latest Setback for 'Dream Act'

By Kelly Field

Washington

For the second time in three months, the U.S. Senate has tried, and failed, to pass legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented college students.

Saturday morning Democratic leaders fell short of the 60 votes necessary to overcome a threatened filibuster and move to a vote on the bill, known as the Dream Act. The House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this month.

Under the Dream Act, children who were brought to the country illegally could earn legal status by attending college or joining the military. The bill would also make undocumented students eligible for some federal student aid.

Advocates say the measure would benefit the economy by helping young immigrants obtain better-paying jobs. But critics say the measure would reward illegal behavior and encourage more immigration.

The Senate majority leader, Sen. Harry M. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, has cast the bill as a down payment on a broader immigration overhaul and promised Hispanic voters in his home state that he would push for its passage. In September, he tried to attach the Dream Act to a defense reauthorization bill. But Republicans thwarted that plan, defeating a motion for the defense bill to proceed to debate.

The bill's most-recent defeat in the Senate was the latest setback in the 10-year effort to enact the Dream Act. The measure enjoys bipartisan support but has never made it through both chambers of Congress.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Reactions from the Right

This weekend, the Senate took a huge step forward for equality. By voting to repeal “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” 
(DADT), Congress has made all of us safer and made clear that the men and women who sacrifice for our country should be treated with respect, regardless of sexual orientation. 

But even with 65 Senators who voted in favor of the final bill, the fight to repeal DADT was always difficult. The vitriol and anger of those who opposed repeal was best personified by Senator John McCain, whose furious attacks and shifting rationale made clear that there was nothing he wouldn't do to keep the policy in place. 

For those who remembered John McCain as a reasonable and sometimes even moderate Republican senator, the image was shocking. It seemed like Senator McCain had completely lost his mind. 

Maybe he hasn’t. 

Although the vast majority of Americans supported ending Don't Ask Don't Tell, the far-right base of the Republican Party was intractably opposed to extending any rights to LGBT Americans, and Senator McCain wants to remain in their good graces. Take a look at some of the reactions to the vote collected on PFAW's Right Wing Watch blog: 

Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association: "The new Marine motto: 'The Few, the Proud, the Sexually Twisted.' Good luck selling that to strong young males who would otherwise love to defend their country. What virile young man wants to serve in a military like that?" 

Tony Perkins of The Family Research Council: "It is clear why this was done: not to enhance the military's ability to accomplish its mission or to enhance national security. Rather, it is a political payoff to a tiny, but loud and wealthy, part of the Democratic base."

Peter LaBarbara of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality: "If the lame-duck Congress succeeds in ‘gaying down' our military this weekend, it will take a disastrous leap toward “mainstreaming” deviant, sinful homosexual conduct."

These aren't fringe figures in the Religious Right movement. They are important figures in the GOP, and party leaders are eager to cater to their bigoted agenda.

Thanks to a flood of new right-wing politicians entering Congress in just a few weeks, you can expect more extremism and more politicians playing political games with important issues.

Our win on Don't Ask Don't Tell this weekend was a tremendous victory, and it happened thanks to the dedicated work of thousands of engaged activists and leaders like you. But the Right Wing won't take this lying down, and we'll need your support to continue the fight for equality and justice for all people under the law.

Sincerely,



Michael Keegan, President 

Fox News' Global Warming Policy

According to CREDO Action, the latest outrage about Fox News is:

A memo was leaked from Fox News' managing editor, Bill Sammon, instructing Fox journalists never to report on global warming without IMMEDIATELY questioning the prevailing scientific consensus.¹.

We all know that Fox News is biased and not a legitimate news organization. But Fox News tries to deflect criticism by distinguishing between its "straight news" reporting and its commentary.

If Rupert Murdoch wants to maintain that Fox is a real news outlet, then he needs to react like the owner of a news outlet and fire Sammon immediately. But it can't stop there — Fox must also submit to an external review of their climate coverage and agree to correct the record based on the findings.

Anything less will demonstrate to any fair-minded observer that even Fox's "straight news" is actually just propaganda.

Click here to join us and automatically add your name to our petition to Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News is the most watched cable news network. It would cost the Republican party and their polluting supporters hundreds of millions of dollars to match the market saturation of this message and others like it with paid political advertising. But because Fox is treated like a news outlet, all it takes is a single email from one rightwing executive to the network's producers, and our airwaves are blanketed with this propaganda.

The memo establishing Fox's climate reporting policy was written on December 8, 2009, shortly after Fox White House correspondent Wendell Goler reported that 2000-2009 would be the warmest decade on record, and that the scientific community remained united behind their belief in human-induced climate change.

Just 15 minutes later, Fox News Managing Editor Bill Sammon made clear that that kind of truth-based reporting had no place at Fox News, telling reporters to "...refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question..."²

Click here to sign our petition telling Rupert Murdoch to fire Bill Sammon and set the record straight on the science behind global warming.

It's long been clear that Fox News is the anchor of the rightwing message machine. But now, Fox isn't just lining up on one side of a partisan debate, they are taking a stand against the planet. And Sammon's memo shows that climate change denial isn't just the bias of particular reporters, it's company policy.

This is by no means an isolated incident. Weeks earlier, Sammon sent another memo to Fox News' reporters ordering them to refer to the public health insurance option as the "government option" — a phrase suggested by noted GOP strategist Frank Luntz because it would create opposition to the plan.³

According to watchdog group Media Matters, "Sammon instructed staff to refer on air to 'government-run health insurance,' the 'government option,' 'the public option, which is the government-run plan,' or — when 'necessary' — 'the so-called public option."'⁴ We have an opportunity to hold Fox News accountable and expose them for what they are.

Please join CREDO and our allies at ColorOfChange in demanding that Fox News fire Sammon, and correct their record of lies. Click here to automatically sign our petition.

Thank you for fighting Fox.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

1. "Liberal media watchdog: Fox News e-mail shows network's slant on climate change," WashingtonPost.com, 12-15-10

2. "Fox editor urged climate skepticism," Politico.com, 12-15-10

3. "Fox News VP: Don't Call the Government-Run Health Care Plan by the Name People Like," New York Magazine, 12-9-2010

4. "LEAKED EMAIL: Fox boss caught slanting news reporting," Media Matters for America, 12-9-2010