Archive for Activism
Posted by Congress Watcher on February 4, 2008 at 9:10 pm · Filed under Activism, All Articles, House legislation
Let’s offer a round of solid progressive thanks to the following members of Congress. They have given their official support to H.R. 5808, the law written by Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts: “To prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from selling any oil and gas lease for any tract in the Lease Sale 193 Area of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region until the Secretary determines whether to list the polar bear as a threatened species or an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973″.
George W. Bush is trying to delay the decision of a designation of polar bears under the Endangered Species Act until after the February 6 auction of drilling rights in public waters of the Chukchi Sea to big oil corporations. The Chukchi Sea is to the north of Alaska. It’s where polar bears in the United States hunt seals, and its protection as polar bear habitat would require action on global warming, as well as prevention of oil drilling by George W. Bush’s family friends in the petroleum industry. A decision on the the polar bear’s status under the Endangered Species Act was required by law to happen long ago, but President Bush has decided that he can ignore federal law when it interferes with oil corporations’ economic interests.
Representative Markey’s legislation, H.R. 5808, would force the Bush Administration to provide a decision, or to delay the distribution of oil drilling leases in the Chukchi Sea. The following members of the House of Representatives support holding George W. Bush accountable:
California: Howard Berman, Lois Capps, Susan Davis, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Barbara Lee, Jerry McNerney, Ellen Tauscher, Lynn Woolsey
Connecticut: Rosa DeLauro, John Larson
Illinois: Phil Hare
Maryland: Chris Van Hollen
Missouri: Emanuel Cleaver
New York: Maurice Hinchey, Michael McNulty, Jose Serrano, Jose
Oregon: Peter DeFazio
Pennsylvania: Joseph Sestak
Washington: Jay Inslee, Jim McDermott
Unfortunately, that’s just not enough support for this important legislation to pass. If you don’t see the name of your Representative in the U.S. House here, it’s because your Representative has decided not to stand up to George W. Bush on this important issue.
Call Congress now: There’s just one day left during which you can take action. Call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. They’ll connect you to your Representative’s office, and you can leave your message, urging support of H.R. 5808, with them.
Posted by Congress Watcher on January 28, 2008 at 5:39 pm · Filed under Activism, All Articles, Senate legislation
Let’s reduce this message down to its basic form: The FISA Amendments Act would allow the government and telecommunications companies like AT&T to cooperate in order to use the Internet and cell phone networks to spy against you.
Imagine the corporations and the government alike reading through your emails, without any chance for you to stop them. What might they find to use against you or your family?
Imagine the corporations and the government listening in on your telephone calls, recording every word into a giant computer database. The equipment is set up and operational.
Imagine the corporations and the government following every move that you make as you go around the Internet, whether you use passwords to protect your privacy or not.
Imagine this all taking place without any search warrant, without any judicial review, and without any meaningful congressional oversight. That’s what’s going on, and the Senate is on the verge of making it legal by passing the FISA Amendments Act.
They’re going to do it today.
CALL NOW!!! The number of the congressional switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
If you don’t want American freedom to be tossed onto the junkpile of history, tell your senators you want three things.
1. Vote against cloture on the FISA Amendments Act. If the debate continues, the Senate cannot pass this rotten legislation.
2. Support Senator Dodd’s filibuster if cloture passes.
3. Vote against the FISA Amendments Act if the filibuster fails.
You can find your senators’ names at the Progressive Patriots Senate Scorecard.
Please, don’t wait. Just five minutes of your time is all that this vital defense of liberty will take. Tell your senators to show some backbone, and to defend the Constitution they have sworn to uphold.
Posted by Congress Watcher on November 6, 2007 at 9:44 am · Filed under Activism, All Articles, Personalities
Senator Chuck Schumer stepped over the line last week, and embraced George W. Bush’s use of torture. Schumer agreed to support Michael Mukasey for Attorney General, even though Mukasey has signaled that he will uphold the use of waterboarding torture.
That’s against the law, against the Constitution, and against the spirit of 1776 that the United States of America was founded upon. Charles Schumer doesn’t seem to care. Senator Schumer only seems to care about the dirty back room deals that he can cut with the Bush White House.
The Democrats of New York State did not elect Charles Schumer to be the political ally of George W. Bush. New York State Democrats did not elect Senator Schumer to support torture.
It is time to let Chuck Schumer know that if he won’t support the values of New York State Democrats, then New York State Democrats won’t support him.
Tonight at 6:00 PM, New York Democrats will meet to protest again Charles Schumer’s collaboration with the Bush Republicans on the nomination of Michael Mukasey as Attorney General of the United States. The protest, organized by New York Progressive Democrats of America and Brooklyn For Peace, in coalition with local activist groups from around the region, will meet outside Senator Schumer’s house, and demonstrate there, at 9 Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, NY.
Call Brooklyn For Peace at (718) 624-5921 for more information.
To call Senator Schumer’s office to express your disapproval of his cowardly surrender to George W. Bush’s agenda of torture, call (800) 828-0498 and ask for Charles Schumer’s office.
Keep Wisconsin Evolution Bumpersticker
Posted by Congressional Aid on September 1, 2006 at 9:15 am · Filed under Activism, All Articles, House legislation, Power Plays
The impeachment of the President of the United States is provided for in a small set of clauses of the United States Constitution:
Article 1, Sections 2-3:
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment….
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Article 2, Section 4:
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
The first passages set forth the procedure under which impeachment occurs. Since impeachment must be initiated by the House and carried out by the Senate, the cooperation of Representatives and Senators is crucial. Unless a number of members of the Republican party in Congress decide to put consideration of high crimes and misdemeanors above party loyalty (an unlikely but not impossible scenario), Democratic majorities in the House and Senate become a prerequisite to the impeachment of George W. Bush. This is one reason why the 2006 congressional elections are so important.
The last passage sets for the condition under which a president may be removed from office under impeachment procedures: “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” Has the president committed treason, bribery, or another high crime or misdemeanor? Jonathan Turley, constitutional law professor at George Washington University, believes so. As Professor Turley is quoted regarding the recent ruling by Judge Anna Diggs Taylor:
Jonathan Turley, law professor at George Washington University and a recognized expert on constitutional law, says the ruling Thursday by a federal judge in Detroit raises “serious implications for the Bush administration” and indicates that the President “could well have committed a federal crime at least 30 times.”
“This ruling is a bad situation that just got worse for the White House,” says Turley. “These crimes could constitute impeachable offenses.”
Turley knows a thing or two about the impeachment process. He worked with Special Prosecutor Ken Starr on the investigation that led to impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, in a stinging indictment of Constitutional abuse by the Bush Administration over its use of warrantless wiretaps of American citizens by the National Security Agency, ruled the program violates the Administrative Procedures Act, the doctrine of separation of powers, and the First and Fourth amendments to the Constitution and ordered an immediate halt to the practice.
Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s ruling that George W. Bush has not only violated the Constitution but broken laws in his program of warrantless wiretapping provides a clear opening for impeachment of George W. Bush and his removal from office. Whether than opening is taken depends on the character and resolve of Congress.
Posted by Congress Watcher on August 24, 2006 at 8:11 pm · Filed under Activism, All Articles, Senate campaigns
Recent polls from the most vulnerable Republican-held Senate seats show that the Democrats can take the United States Senate as well as the House of Representatives. Along with a recapture of Connecticut from Republican in Donkey’s Clothing Joseph Lieberman, these races can give Democrats control of the Congress, and enable America’s national legislature to take strong action to hold George W. Bush and Dick Cheney legally accountable for their many crimes against American law and the American Constitution.
You can help make this attainable goal a reality. Join the MoveOn Call for Change campaign as a telephone volunteer. I’ve made several calls myself as a part of this campaign, and I can tell you from my personal experience that it’s not only the right thing to do - it’s fun.
You work with a computerized system to conduct a simple poll of likely voters in battleground districts across America, enabling MoveOn to identify those voters who are likely to vote Democrat for Congress on Election Day this year, so they’ll be able to focus the get-out-the-vote effort in those districts more effectively.
Be a part of the solution. Help take back Congress. Volunteer!
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