Senate

I Was Shocked and Appalled to Not See a Plethora of Stories on What the Republicans Did To Veterans in the Senate Yesterday

Republicans Are NOT Supporting Our Troops!

They Killed a Crucial Veterans Bill in the Senate Yesterday!

And Yesterday February 28, 2014 They Killed A Crucial Veterans Bill in the Senate – Photo meme by http://www.cognidissidence.blogspot.com

I subscribe to, and receive literally over 100 e-mails every morning and about as many throughout the day, I was really shocked and astounded to not see even one that addressed what the Republicans did in the Senate yesterday.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced S 1982 the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014 on February 3, 2014. Senator Sanders chairs the Veterans Affairs Committee. The vote on the motion to move it to committee needed 60 votes to pass. Only two (2) Republicans voted “Aye” or for it’s passage, the motion failed.

2/27/2014 Senate floor actions. Status: Motion by Senator Reid to commit to Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment (SA 2767) fell when the bill was committed in Senate. Printer friendly version of S 1982.

S 1982 – The Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014

This is a summary of what the bill would do:

Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014 – Amends federal veterans provisions to revise or add provisions concerning medical services and other benefits provided to veterans and/or their dependents through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) relating to the following areas:

survivor and dependent matters, including benefits for children of certain veterans born with spina bifida;
education matters, including the approval of courses for purposes of the All-Volunteer Force and the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance programs;
the expansion and extension of certain health care benefits, including immunizations, chiropractic care, treatment for traumatic brain injury, and wellness promotion;
health care administration, including extension of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program, and
complementary and alternative medicine;
mental health care, including an education program and peer support program for family members and caregivers of veterans with mental health disorders;
dental care eligibility and expansion, including a program of education to promote dental health in veterans;
health care related to sexual trauma, including appropriate counseling and treatment and a screening mechanism to detect incidents of domestic abuse;
reproductive treatment and services, including fertility counseling as well as adoption assistance for severely wounded veterans;
major medical facility leases;
veterans’ employment training and related services;
veterans’ employment, including within the federal government and as first responders;
career transition services;
employment and reemployment rights of members of the Armed Forces after active duty service;
small business matters, including contracting and subcontracting participation goals with federal departments and agencies;
administrative matters, including regional support centers for Veterans Integrated Service Networks;
the revision of claims based on military sexual trauma as well as claims for dependency and indemnity compensation;
jurisdictional matters, including with respect to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims;
the revision of certain rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, including protections with respect to the expiration of professional licenses, a prohibition on the denial of credit or the termination of residential leases due to military service, and the temporary protection of surviving spouses under mortgage foreclosures; and
outreach and miscellaneous matters, including: (1) repeal of the provision of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 that reduces the cost-of-living adjustment to the retirement pay of members of the Armed Forces under age 62, and (2) the accounting for discretionary accounts designated for overseas contingency operations/global war on terrorism.

Republicans Block Veterans Bill – The legislation failed to overcome a Republican parliamentary maneuver that required 60 votes to keep the bill alive. American Legion national commander Daniel M. Dellinger called the Senate action “inexcusable.” He was equally blunt in an interview with The Washington Post. “I don’t know how anyone who voted ‘no’ today can look a veteran in the eye and justify that vote.” Read More on Sen. Sanders “This Week in Review” on his website.

The cost of the bill would be approximately $21B” and the TeaPublicans demanded that it be paid for before they would take any action on it. That requirement was met when Democrats proposed using an account, the OCO (Overseas Contingency,) where money is sitting since President Barack Obama ended the Iraq War. The fund was used to finance (on the credit card, the deficit) the Iraq war. The Iraq war, which you should remember former President George W. Bush absolutely and unequivocally lied about the reasons to start that war, ended and the funds are sitting idle in the OCO account. The Republicans don’t want to use these funds to “support” the troops that fought the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, they want to use them to start another war, this time with Iran. That’s why they tried to attach an amendment onto this Veterans benefits bill, to impose more, and stricter, sanctions on Iran, and destroy the diplomatic process which is showing promising signs of working. They would much rather start another war than support our veterans.

That’s Outrageous’ Do you remember what happened near the end of the State of the Union address in January? Members of Congress rose to their feet for a standing ovation when President Obama introduced Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, an Army Ranger who was wounded in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan. On CNN on Friday, New Day host Chris Cuomo showed video of congressmen applauding and contrasted that show of support for Americans who serve their country with what happened in the Senate on Thursday. “Republicans did what they do best these days. They just blocked. But blocking our veterans? I don’t have to tell you that that’s outrageous,” Cuomo said.

Watch CNN

What’s Iran Got to Do With It? Republicans insisted on adding a provision to the veterans bill that would slap sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Regardless of the merits of the sanction proposal, Sanders called it “disrespectful” to veterans to insist on putting the unrelated provision in his bill. “Whatever your views are it just does not belong in a veterans bill,” he said.

Watch the floor speech

War Hawks and Deficit Hawks The Senate Republicans, “apparently believe it’s O.K. to give tax breaks to the largest corporations, the wealthiest families in this country, to spend trillions of dollars on war without figuring out how to pay for it, but when it comes to $21 billion over a 10-year period to take care of veterans and their families, apparently they have difficulty with that.”

Listen to the Ed Schultz radio interview

Who can forget when Tea Party member Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) led the entire Republican party to shut down the government, which they deeply regretted later, and all the media coverage at the War Veterans Memorial with Stupid Palin, Ted Cruz, and many others blamed President Obama for using veterans as pawns in a political agenda. Video on Ted Cruz and Veterans at the War Memorial during the shutdown of the government.

Please help stop the madness. Share this with every veteran that you know, everyone that you feel needs to know what their Republican and Tea Party members are actually doing AGAINST their better interest. If we don’t get the vote out we are going to suffer even worse. The TeaPublicans, with all the state governments that they control, thanks to the 2010 midterm elections, have gerrymandered (redrew district lines to favor Republican and Tea Party members,) and imposed voter ID (suppression) laws which are going to make it very hard to keep the U.S. Senate, and much harder to take the house. The Koch brothers (America for Prosperity), Karl Rove (USA Crossroads) and the other SuperPACS have already started and it will be much worse than the 2010 midterms if we don’t get involved, especially if the SCOTUS rules for Shaun McCutcheon in McCutcheon v FEC (Federal Election Commission) which will lift the limits on individuals campaign contributions like Citizens United did for corporations, unions, and organizations such as the SuperPACS listed above.

Read the American Legion statement

Read The Washington Post

Watch Sanders’ news conference

New Guardian Docs Show ALEC Misled Press, Public. Are You Surprised?

Are Your Representatives ALEC Members?

Photo by DailyKos

Are Your Representatives Members of ALEC? What Is ALEC?

The Center For Media and Democracy Article: ALEC Exposed tells how global corporations are scheming to rewrite YOUR rights and boost THEIR revenues. In this posting you can also see “Who Is Behind ALEC?” “Who Funds ALEC?” “What Corporations Are Involved In ALEC?” Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. In ALEC’s own words; “corporations have a voice, and vote.” Regardless of what ALEC members say, the U.S. Constitution does NOT give corporations the same rights as people, and money is NOT a voice. Corporations do NOT have the right to vote.

Cartoon by articpetrel.blogspot.com

Citizens United Gives Corporations Power Through Campaign Contributions

Although a Peter Hart poll found that 79% of Americans including 68% of Republicans, 82% of Independents, and 87% of Democrats “support a Constitutional Amendment that would overturn then Citizens United decision and make clear that corporations do not have the same rights as people. Further, a 2012 Associated Press poll found that 83% of Americans including 81% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 85% of Democrats believe “there should be limits on the amount of money corporations, unions, and other organizations can contribute to outside organizations trying to influence campaigns for President, Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Nearly nine in ten Americans (88%) say that corporations have too much power. 83% of Americans (81% of Republicans, 78% of Independents, and 85% of Democrats) think there should be limits on how much money corporations can give in elections. And 90% of those with incomes above $100,000 support such limits.

ALEC forms 501(c)(4), but previously claimed: “We have no current plans to operate a 501(c)(4) in the near future”

The Guardian documents show that ALEC has formed a new 501(c)(4) entity, the “Jeffersonian Project,” apparently in anticipation of the IRS investigating ALEC’s current 501(c)(3) charitable status. This revelation could be seen as an admission from ALEC that its critics were correct about its violations of the tax code (although ALEC insists it does not lobby, despite documentary evidence to the contrary).
ALEC had previously misled reporters about its plans for a 501(c)(4).

In December of last year, ALEC spokesperson Kaitlyn Buss told Bloomberg News “we have no current plans to operate a 501(c)(4) in the near future.”
When Buss said “the near future” and “current plans,” she apparently meant “next week.”
Just eight days after the Bloomberg story ran, ALEC formed the 501(c)(4) “Jeffersonian Project,” according to a certificate of incorporation obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy. (ALEC also failed to mention to Bloomberg that it had incorporated another 501(c)(4), “ALEC NOW” in July of 2012; that entity was dissolved earlier this year.)

To learn more about ALEC and who is involved see a post from this blog on September 1, 2013

When Common Cause’s late president Bob Edgar filed a whistleblower complaint challenging ALEC’s tax status in April of 2012, ALEC fought back hard. Its lawyer Alan Dye publicly dismissed the complaint a “harassment tactic” that “ignores applicable law.”
“The attacks on the American Legislative Exchange Council are based on patently false claims,” he told reporters at the time.

But behind the scenes, Dye took a more measured tone, according to the Guardian documents. Forming a 501(c)(4) — which is allowed to lobby without limit — would “provide greater legal protection or lessen ethics concerns,” Dye wrote in an August 2013 memo to ALEC’s board of directors. Forming the Jeffersonian Project would remove “questions of ethical violations made by our critics and state ethics boards and provides further legal protection.”

“ALEC certified to the IRS for years that it didn’t spend a penny on lobbying, thereby preserving its absurd status as a charity,” Steve Spaulding, Staff Counsel at Common Cause, told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD.)
ALEC’s charitable status had allowed its corporate members to write-off their ALEC membership dues — which are essentially lobbying expenses — as tax-deductible charitable contributions.
“In forming a 501(c)(4) arm, it appears that ALEC is on notice that it’s not going to get away with abusing our nation’s charitable tax laws much longer,” Spaulding said.

Be sure to “Subscribe” to this blog (above on the left margin) and “Sign Up for E-mails for notifications of laws being acted upon in the House and Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives only has 4 days left before the end of the year. Stay informed and contact YOUR Representatives on bills they are preparing to act on.

Photo by PR Watch.org

Also see The Center for Media and Democracy’s article Don’t Believe the Spin from ALEC telling how ALEC members will gather legislators to plan their agenda for next year.

S 1743 in Senate – (H.R. 2728) was Passed Last Week (1 of 3 Passed to Allow A Fracking Free-For-All on Public Lands)

S 1743 in Senate – Contact Your Senators Now To Stop A Free-For-All on Public Lands

Update from GovTrack.us notified this writer that text was ready for S 1743 – Protecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act This bill is related to H.R. 2728 which was one of three bills that was passed last week by the House of Representatives to cause a “Fracking Free-For-All” on public lands, see “STOP H.R. 1900, H.R. 1965, H.R. 2728!” Nov. 24, 2013 – Get Involved For A Better America,

This bill contains the following text:

(b)

The Secretary of the Interior shall not enforce any Federal regulation, guidance, or permit requirement regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any component of hydraulic fracturing, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on or under any land in any State that has regulations, guidance, or permit requirements for hydraulic fracturing.

(c)

The Secretary shall recognize and defer to State regulations, guidance, and permitting for all activities regarding hydraulic fracturing, or any component of hydraulic fracturing, relating to oil, gas, or geothermal production activities on Federal land regardless of whether the regulations, guidance, and permitting are duplicative, more or less restrictive, have different requirements, or do not meet Federal regulations, guidance, or permit requirements.

Summary:

This bill is designed to take away from the Federal Government, public lands, and the power to regulate fracking and it’s related tasks. It gives states the regulatory authority. This will cause a fracking free-for-all on public lands. This is unacceptable. Click here H.R. 2728 to TRACK the bill, and your Senator’s votes. But, before that, you can use this link to call your Senator’s office and tell them to not allow the Republicans to take our Federal land and allow a fracking free-for-all. Now is the time to act, they are rushing these bills through before they go on holiday recess in a few days.

Now is the time to contact your Senators and tell them your not going to accept a fracking free-for-all on public land. Use this link to see the bill, track the bill, contact your Senators, and then track how your Senators vote

S 1743, See the Bill, Find and Contact your Senators, and then Track how your Senators Vote

Senator Chuck Schumer Keeps Backround Cecks Alive and is Optimistic It Can Pass By The Midterm Elections

Thank You Senator Chuck Schumer

I received an update on one of the Senators that represent me and all New Yorkers from VoteSmart.org this morning. I believe in giving credit when it is warranted since I criticize when when they do something wrong or are inactive.

This is a link to the actual update I received from VoteSmart.org Update on Senator Chuck Schumer from VoteSmart.org

I e-mailed my senator and then posted it on my Facebook account (Mdic3569) and on my Facebook page www.Facebook.com/StoptheObstructionistTeaParty, here is a link to the post: Post on Facebook

Keep up the good work Chuck!

S. 815: Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013

This Bill may be voted on this week

A bill to prohibit the employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

By clicking or tapping the link below you will be able to “Track” the bill and easily find and contact your Representatives in the House or Senate.

GovTrack.us Page for S 815

Medic3569’s What Did the House of Representatives Accomplish Yesterday?

With Nothing Better To Do The House Disapproved of President Obama Exercising Authority To Suspend the Debt Ceiling

and Moved Forward on exempting any major swap participant or major security-based swap participant from from the prohibition against federal assistance

H.J. Res 99 Passed 222-191

H. R. 992 Was Passed 292-122

H. J. Res 99

Relating to the disapproval of the President’s exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit, as submitted under section 1002(b) of the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014 on October 17, 2013. Disapproves of the President’s exercise of authority to suspend the debt limit. On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 222 – 191, 2 Present (Roll no. 570). See how YOUR Representative voted on H. R. 99 here

H.R. 992 (Related Bills H.RES.391, and H. R. 2374)

Their activities Floor Summary of Legislative Activities for October 30, 2013 included voting on ammending Section 716 of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. H. Res.391 passed on Tuesday by recorded vote: 230 – 188 (Roll no. 564,) providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 992); which passed yesterday by a recorded vote: 292 – 122 (Roll no. 569.) See how YOUR Representative voted on H. R. 992 here

H.R. 992 is to amend provisions in section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act relating to Federal assistance for swaps entities, and providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2374*) to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide protections for retail customers, and for other purposes.

H.R. 992 would extend to any major swap participant or major security-based swap participant that is an uninsured U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank the exemption from the prohibition against federal assistance to swaps entities which is currently limited to any major swap participant or major security-based swap participant that is an FDIC-insured bank or savings association.

*H.R. 2374
(Sec. 3) Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the SEC from promulgating a rule establishing an investment advisor standard of conduct as the standard of conduct of brokers and dealers before it has ascertained: (1) if retail customers are systematically harmed or disadvantaged owing to the operation of brokers or dealers under different standards of conduct than those that apply to investment advisors under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and (2) whether adoption of a uniform fiduciary standard of care for brokers or dealers and investment advisors would adversely impact retail investor access or availability to personalized investment advice and recommendations. See how YOUR Representative voted on H. R. 2374 here

H.R. 4173 (111^th): Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law on July 21, 2010 and yet very little has actually been implemented. This law is supposed to put back the regulations from 1934 which prevented financial institutions from becoming too big to fail. Since the financial industry took most of middle America’s net worth with the financial collapse of 2009 these institutions have actually grown, leaving us in the precarious position of it happening again. We need people to contact their representatives and tell them we want Dodd-Frank implemented completely, and now.

To find YOUR Congressmen/women, and Senators, and how to contact them use:

Find YOUR Congressmen/women and how to Contact Them

Find YOUR Senators and how to Contact Them

To TRACK these and other Bills, or to TRACK your Representatives use:

POPVOX allows you to TRACK your Representatives and Bills in the House and Senate

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Get Involved For A Better America

People Should Have Influence – Not Corporations