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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

You are Never Too Old to #Occupy!!



(Just heard about this on the Ed Schultz Show)

If you think there is nothing you can do – you are wrong.
Read this story of determined 99%-ers.

Read about the history of the story here:

We are the approximately 500 families, who after working for many years at the Ravenswood Works under various aluminum company names, who met the contractual requirements to retire with lifetime Insurance and Prescription benefits, each based on the contract benefits that were in effect at the time of retirement. The executives at Century Aluminum Company unilaterally made the decision to modify these contractual obligation by terminating these benefits to increase their profit margins and apparently to reward themselves with larger bonuses. This resulted in not only wiping out of Insurance and Prescription benefits but also a large portion, if not all, of the retiree pensions due to having to spend their pension money on insurance or try to survive without coverage.

This is an example of Corporate Greed at its very worst!


Read more about them here -
this piece that goes into some detail of the hardships that this has caused.



The retirees labored their entire lives for wages and pensions comparably lower than those of other aluminum workers. They did it believing they made those sacrifices in exchange for good, lifelong health coverage. Over the past two years, however, Century evicted them, about 540 retirees altogether, from the insurance plan.

Though Century failed to fulfill its obligation to pay for retiree health care, it handed its last CEO, Logan W. Kruger, $4.9 million in 2010. That’s twelve times more than Americans pay their president, the leader of the free world. Century gave Kruger another $6.2 million to leave last November. Still, he’s suing for $20 million on top of that. Century also is defending against a lawsuit filed for the retirees by the United Steelworkers (USW) union, which represented most of the Century workers.
Or this version form HuffPO
On Dec. 18, a dozen retirees, men and women in their 60s, 70s, even 80s, began occupying a median strip along Route 33 in front of the closed Century Aluminum smelter in Ravenswood, W.Va. In tents and under tarps, a small group stays overnight, despite hypertension, arthritis and other old age ailments. One has suffered a stroke.

These vulnerable people expose themselves to weather extremes although some have no health insurance at all. Century cancelled it. That's why they're occupying Century.

The retirees labored their entire lives for wages and pensions comparably lower than those of other aluminum workers. They did it believing they made those sacrifices in exchange for good, lifelong health coverage. Over the past two years, however, Century evicted them, about 540 retirees altogether, from the insurance plan.

The betrayal burns. Executives at Century, corporate 1 percenters, committed the same sort of treachery that is being condemned by Occupy Wall Street demonstrators representing the victimized 99 percent across the country. Thus the retirees adopted the grandchildren's protest tactic of encampment.

This is not the first time this has happened,
and it is not the last time it will happen.

And, yes they are correct, YOU could be next.

But – it may be the first time there has been an occupation.
#Occupy

MN GOP - Nullifying My Vote

Last night when I was driving home I was listening to 950am left talk radio (which can be podcasted from anywhere in the world) and I heard something that was VERY distressing to me - personally.

In 2010 thousands of Minnesotans stepped into the voting booth to make the Minnesota House and Senate Republican for the first time in ages or even ever and the destruction of our state started.

At the same time that was happening (2010) those same thousands of voters were deciding between ALEC member Tom Emmer or Democrat Mark Dayton for the governor's office. 

If Emmer had won - Minnesota would have been a duplicate of Wisconsin and Ohio and Michigan. 
The whole state would have gotten f#cked royally.

Well - Democrat Mark Dayton is in the governors office.
I voted for Dayton.  I thought that my vote counted.

Well it doesn't.

I voted for Dayton and after the election thought
Well at least we aren't Wisconsin - we have a Dem in the governors mansion.
I thought that having a Dem in the governor's office would slow the damn GOP down.
Well that's a damn lie.

BIG F#cking Deal - 
We have a Dem as governor and the MN GOP are doing every endrun they can.

Minnesota is NOW worse than Wisconsin!~
'CAUSE
No one is paying attention and the scuttlebutt is that EVERYTHING that the GOP thinks Dayton will veto is going to be passed this session as a possible amendment to the constitution - so Dayton can't veto it.

SO - Minnesota is still getting SCREWED.

The estimate is that at least 20 amendments to the Minnesota constitution will be put on the ballot in 2012 - because the f#cking MN GOP can't take no for an answer from our Democratic governor.

The sad part is -
Minnesota is not Wisconsin
and the GOP are going to screw the entire state
before more than 25 citizens will get together at one time
to say no (but in a very quiet. polite voice).

We don't have democracy in Minnesota anymore -
We are the current state of the GOP.

By the way

I HATE THE MN GOP
I HATE THEM

AND THEY HATE ME
 - as witnessed in the remarks of Allen West to Liberals in relation to liberal progressive ideology:
"You can take it to Europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the North Pole, but get the hell out of the United States of America."


Minnesota
The state where
One person, One vote
Has been changed to
One Party, One Vote.

U.S. More Lawless than Iran/Iraq?


Hated the way it was formatted – but the questions are good and the answers are sourced/cited, so that’s a good thing.

Found this ALEC related question interesting.

Six.
Which of these countries puts the highest percentage of their people in jails and prisons?
  China?
  Iran?
  Iraq?
  Germany?
  Russia?
  USA?

Answer:Six. The rate of incarceration per 100,000 people is:
  USA 730,
  Russian 534,
  Iran 334,
  China 122,
  Iraq 101, and
  Germany 86.
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, University of Essex


So, this would lead you to believe that the US is more lawless than Iraq or Iran.

But really that's not the case - what's true is ALEC corporate sector members need to make more money - by using prison labor!

This is a boom for ALEC’s private prison industry corporate members.
This is a boom for ALEC’s corporate sector members who use cheap prison labor instead of hiring you or your neighbor to do the work.

If you are not aware of the role in American Legislative Exchange council (ALEC) Prison Labor issues I suggest you start here

And then maybe - grab your favorite drink, get comfortable and sit down and  listen to this:







ALEC members and those affiliated with ALEC in any manner
MUST NOT BE RE-ELECTED or receive our support in any means or manner!

Without state and federal legislators ALEC will cease to exist and it will implode.

For more information on ALEC –
Please read this or this or this

This is what ALEC is About  - An Interview with Mark Pocan about the ALEC Annual Meeting.

And watch this news video  from North Carolina on how other ALEC "model legislation" is going to screw the citizens of North Carolina - legislation introduced by ALEC legislators.

Do your own act of education!
Send the links shown above to friends and family and educate them about ALEC.

Squeeky Clean GOP - Probably NOT



By next Monday the House Ethics Committee is slated to decide whether to formally investigate Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.). Moreover, allegations arose over this past weekend that Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) might have accepted illegal campaign donations, according to The New York Times.

Additionally, there are the three Republicans — Reps. Pete Sessions (Texas), Buck McKeon (Calif.) and Elton Gallegly (Calif.) — who earlier this month were referred to the House Ethics Committee for taking part in Countrywide’s VIP mortgage program, aimed at gaining special favor from lawmakers.

Among the other Republicans facing ethical scrutiny are:

• Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.), who is being investigated by the FBI, IRS, Miami-Dade Police Department’s public corruption unit, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement over allegations that he abused his former seat in Florida’s state House of Representatives for personal financial gain and repeatedly lied on financial disclosure forms.

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who came under fire last year when a New York Times article raised questions of legality around his former company’s dealings. 

• Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who is accused of owing $117,000 in child support to his ex-wife, which he did not report on his financial disclosure forms and, if true, would violate House rules.

This is probably only the tip of the iceberg - after all the GOP is all about "free-market" thinking - which probably leads to more "free market" ending up in their bank accounts.

It's amazing to me how the GOP has one set of moral/ethical standards for GOP members and another set of standards for Democrats. 

I’m sure if they looked at offshore accounts for all and specifically for ALEC state legislators and ALEC ALUMNI – they would probably see a lot of payola from ALEC corporate members.

Call to Action: Minnesota Marriage Amendment

Here's your chance for action today.  It's probably best - if you are a Minnesota resident to take this action.

Andrew's Round Table was formed after the anti-gay marriage amendment was pushed onto the 2012 ballot in Minnesota. We are a group of straight, fair-minded individuals who love and support our LGBT family members and friends, both past and present.

Mission:
Our mission is to foster civil discussion about same-sex marriage, freedom and the constitution, and ultimately to defeat this amendment in November 2012.

Would you like to add your name to a valentine to be delivered February 14th to the two Majority Leaders in Minnesota one of whom is an ALEC member?
Dear Representative Kurt Zellers and Senator David H. Senjem,
Happy Valentine’s Day! We hope you and your family enjoy a day filled with love and happiness. Our wish this year is that you honor love and embrace acceptance of all Minnesota couples.  We urge you to have a change of heart and pull the Marriage Amendment off of the November ballot.
Sincerely,
and look for this
Valentine's Wishes for a Minnesota Change of Heart!
Click that and a popup will ask you to sign the Valentine they are going to present.

Or you can go to the Andrews Roundtable webpage
Look for the big red heart
click on it and do the same.

If you would like to join Andrew's Round Table in hand delivering these Valentine's Day wishes
please meet in the Capital Rotunda at 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday February 14, 2012.

My public service message for the day.

Unknowing Rebuttal to ALEC's Report Card on America...

This report was just released in MInnesota.  It is an example where the author recognizes something isn't right - but the author doesn't know where the original idea came from - in this case ALEC.  Because the author never notes the link with ALEC "model legislation (ha!) - very few people would see this report and read it.

ALEC has "model legislation" for charter schools, for vouchers, for everything and anything that will benefit their corporate sector members while taking funds away from the public schools. 

In the report they note this ALEC free market approach does not do what it is claims to do.

Indeed, the mounting evidence suggests that this market approach to education does not produce gains anywhere like those needed for universal student achievement.
I have not had the time to read the whole thing - but what I have read suggests that free market based educational systems based on (what I know is) lots and lots of  "model legislation" (hah!) from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) - does NOT  necessarily produce the results that citizens are promised when they move their children to these corporately run educational alternatives.

From the report webpage

Minnesota is home to the nation’s oldest charter school law and has also implemented school choice initiatives, such as open enrollment. This simulated market experience has not supported the idea that increased competition drives improvement.

We have to stop taking taxpayer dollars away from our public schools and giving them to corporations that try to do education.

We have to stop this use of public tax dollars to fund corporate profits.

Why would we put our children's education in the hands of "profiteers" rather than those people in our public schools who are dedicated to education?

What ALEC is doing to America
is an EXPERIMENT in "free markets"
and the data is showing
that their "free market experiments" are failing and 
that ALEC  policies DO NOT WORK.


When it comes to ALEC and education -
2 + 2 does not equal 4
- it equals corporate profits and that is not good for anyone concerned.



ALEC members and those affiliated with ALEC in any manner
MUST NOT BE RE-ELECTED or receive our support in any means or manner!


Without state and federal legislators ALEC will cease to exist and it will implode.


For more information on ALEC –
Please read this or this or this


This is what ALEC is About  - An Interview with Mark Pocan about the ALEC Annual Meeting.


And watch this news video  from North Carolina on how other ALEC "model legislation" is going to screw the citizens of North Carolina - legislation introduced by ALEC legislators.


Do your own act of education!
Send the links shown above to friends and family and educate them about ALEC.

Monday, January 30, 2012

It is Glory Hallelujah - When Someone Stands UP for What is Correct!

This is so good...........




Not even gonna tell you what it is about - cause it is just that damn good!

Wish more people would do the correct thing - it is a joyful!

We Are the 99% and We Know It.

We are the 99% and we know it.
They are the 1% and they know it.

But do you truly understand the why and wherefore behind those statements?
And do you truly understand why the 1% don't care?

There are some excellent articles and shows that have been on recently that you really need to read and watch – and here are the info & links you need just to a couple of what I consider "the best".

A week or so ago, we read in The New York Times about what in the Gilded Age of the Roman Empire was known as a bacchanal – a big blowout at which the imperial swells got together and whooped it up.

The St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan was the site of a black-tie dinner for Kappa Beta Phi, whose members were told “what happens at the St. Regis stays at the St. Regis.” (John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times))

This one occurred here in Manhattan at the annual black-tie dinner and induction ceremony for Kappa Beta Phi.  That’s the very exclusive Wall Street fraternity of billionaire bankers, and private equity and hedge fund predators.  People like Wilbur Ross, the  vulture capitalist; Robert Benmosche, the CEO of AIG, the insurance giant that received tens of billions in bailout money; and Alan “Ace” Greenberg, former chairman of Bear Stearns, the failed investment bank bought by JPMorgan Chase
And if you have missed the first couple weeks of Moyer and Company – it’s time to catch up on your watching – cause you are missing out on some amazing commentary – unheard before – about the Wall Street banksters and the economy.

And if you missed this panel on C-SPAN - Take some time to take a look at what they had to say – 2 ½ hours worth of excellent commentary.
“Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity,” which featured filmmaker Michael Moore, author Barbara Ehrenreich, personal finance guru Suze Orman and veteran organizers Majora Carter, Roger Clay and Vicki Escarra..

GOP Determined on Koch's Keystone Pipeline

Senate GOP floats bill to bypass Obama and approve Keystone

 Senate GOP leaders are flexing their constitutional muscles with a new push for approval of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

Citing Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause, Senate Republicans floated legislation Monday that would bypass the Obama administration and approve TransCanada Corp.’s pipeline to carry oil sands crude from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries.

The bill goes further than the GOP provision in December’s payroll tax cut deal, which simply imposed a deadline for a decision on the Obama administration — one that President Obama met early when he rejected the project on Jan. 18.

 “This new bill is a lot like the old one, but it makes it definitive that Congress has the authority to push the Keystone XL pipeline forward,” said Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who sponsored the measure along with Sens. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.).
I wonder what the commission payments from Koch to their offshore accounts will look like?


And then – just in case that doesn’t work you have this

GOP wants Sen. Baucus to go rogue on Keystone XL oil sands pipeline
Republicans are pressing Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to buck his leadership and use his authority in the payroll tax conference to green-light the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.

Baucus has told business leaders in Montana that winning authorization for the transnational pipeline is one of his highest priorities for 2012.

Republicans say Baucus, as co-chairman of the payroll tax conference, has the power to include Keystone language in must-pass legislation and will pressure him to act.
It's amazing to me that they would go to all this bother to ruin the US environment to transport oil that will be shipped from Texas to other countries.


(Side note - makes me sick that The Hill has a topic section named Energy and the Environment.  That's where this post was and in this case the two are diametrically opposed.)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

ALEC Hearts Mitch Daniels


If you try to find a recent issue of Inside ALEC - you can't.
Our good friends at the American Legislative Exchange Council - have stepped up their secrecy - they are hiding everything now.


This was the cover of InsideALEC - April 2011
The second to the last issue they made public on their private, but non-secretive website (hah!).



BUT - after his rebuttal to the SOTU address,
And his foreword for the questionable ALEC "Report Card on America,"
And after all the nasty stuff that he has done to the state of Indiana on ALEC's behalf
the next Daniels cover shot will probably look like this.




Some Scott Walker Humor for your Day

A 5 - 10 minute read that will make you smile from CMD.

Submitted by Sara Jerving on January 26, 2012 - 10:51am

Well-dressed women in suits handed out "official" programs at Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's State of the State address last night. The back of the program read "2011-2012 Legislative $ession Brought to you by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)," and featured pictures of the Koch Brothers and a long list of Walker campaign contributors.

Minnesota - ALEC's Right to Work for Less - is Officially Here

The Center for America is Minnesota's version of the Heartland/Heritage/AFP crap.
From their webpage
Center of the American Experiment is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt, public policy and educational institution that brings conservative and free market ideas to bear on the hardest problems facing Minnesota and the nation.
Last week in a press release the following was announced:
Minneapolis, MN — Two influential Minnesota-based conservative public policy organizations – Center of the American Experiment and Minnesota Free Market Institute – today announced they are joining forces to form one new organization.
Yes - Minnesota Free Market Institute - which Representative and ALEC member King Banaian belongs to.  Free market - that's what it's all about!

And you have this tie to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a national group backed by corporate special interests, has been pushing similar legislation across the country over the last two years. A recent report identified John Gibbs from Comcast as ALEC’s Corporate State Chairman. Gibbs also serves as Center of the American Experiment’s Vice President.
WELL...........................Today, the Center of the American Expermient released the first piece of propoganda to Minnesotans - promoting ALEC's "Right to Work" for Less.


 
This statement made in the conclusion of the report :
RTW laws attract productive resources (both capital and labor) to a state, and the absence of such laws repels them.
is based on highly questionable statistics from the ALEC “Rich States Poor States” Report.

Lead author - Richard Vedder - has strong ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy...
NONE OF THE AUTHORS are Minnesotans.

The Right to Work for Less fight has officially begun in MInnesota.
Remember - Dayton has already said he won't sign this as legislation, so the ALEC members and the GOP are looking to put an amendment to the consitution.
The bill introducing the amendment "HF65 Right to Work for Less Constitutional Amendment" was authored by ALEC member Rep. Steve Drazkowski

Get ready folks.  Better start educating yourself.
Here's a start - a good read from Indiana.

The real reason for the bill has nothing to do with rights and nothing to do with work. It doesn't even have anything to do with improving Indiana's business climate - already ranked sixth best in the country. The purpose of right-to-work for less is to please corporate donors who want to lower labor costs. What right-to-work for less does is limit unions' financial resources and therefore their ability to negotiate for higher wages and benefits.

And this important document from Minnesota

No.  Workers in states with so-called Right-to-Work (RTW) laws have a consistently lower quality of life than in other states - lower wages, higher poverty, less access to health care, poorer education for children - according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Census Bureau.  Why should Minnesota adopt a losing RTW strategy that lowers the standard of living for workers and their families?

Update 2/1/12
after the IN RTW Bill was passed from the Indiana AFL-CIO
And while it is not a war of our choosing, over the days ahead, citizen by citizen, block by block, community by community, legislative seat by legislative seat we will wage this “war” to take back our government from the special interests and restore the hard-earned rights of all Hoosier workers.”


ALEC members and those affiliated with ALEC in any manner
MUST NOT BE RE-ELECTED or receive our support in any means or manner!

Without state and federal legislators ALEC will cease to exist and it will implode.

For more information on ALEC –
Please read this or this or this

This is what ALEC is About  - An Interview with Mark Pocan about the ALEC Annual Meeting.

And watch this news video  from North Carolina on how other ALEC "model legislation" is going to screw the citizens of North Carolina - legislation introduced by ALEC legislators.

Do your own "act of education" at your local precinct caucus.
Distribute materials about ALEC.
Submit a resolution against ALEC.

Become a delegate and take a "get rid of ALEC" resolution to the district and state levels.
#Alec

How Much Debt - By President

From Common Dreams and the US TREASURY!!!!


ALEC's Privatization Model - DOES NOT WORK

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants to privatize government services.  In ALEC's sick little mind the only thing they are worried about is corporate profits and not interested in the good of the public.

Last year I posted an entry about how privatization of water had not worked out so well in Texas.

Well. today on Daily Kos another post about how the ALEC model of privatization of public services has gone wrong.

In other words, United Water does not appear to maintain records when complaints about contamination of the drinking water of their residents are received. No call logs. No record. Nobody knows nuthin'. That's public service on a budget, clear and simple.

Pontiac seems to be in the bulls eye in terms of mismanagement by an Emergency Manager. Recently, U.S. Congressman Gary Peters stepped in to help save the city millions in federal grant funds that Schimmel essentially gave away.

When Stampfler privatized Pontiac's water & wastewater treatment to United Water, many questioned how on earth there could by $2.8 million per year in money to be saved. I suggested that hiring a company facing a serious 26-count federal indictment might be the reason.

It now appears that the cost-cutting move is beginning to have a serious and worrisome impact on the residents of Pontiac.

UPDATE:  2/28/2012
And today you have this post on Common Dreams that looks at the privatization of water issues and please read it and take the time to think about it.
This is the disaster that he American legislative Exchange Council wants to detonate on the citizens of the United States - to prvatize public services - a model that does not work!!!!!!!11

It's not just American consumers that feel the pinch as our municipal water systems change from public to private hands — and it's not just that Aqua America is one bad actor, either. Private interests worldwide increasingly control our water. Too often, customers are getting a raw deal.



After all, as consumers time and time again have experienced, corporations in the water business are accountable primarily to their shareholders, not the people they serve or the localities in which they operate. Conversely, public officials can be voted out if their constituents don't like the services rendered.

Folks!  when are you going to wake up and realize that
privatization of anything = croneyism

Privatization and cronyism DO NOT CARE about the public good.

As long as we have ALEC legislators in our government - the public is NOT protected.
As long as we have ALEC legislators in our government - only corporate profit is protected.




ALEC members and those affiliated with ALEC in any manner
MUST NOT BE RE-ELECTED or receive our support in any means or manner!


Without state and federal legislators ALEC will cease to exist and it will implode.


For more information on ALEC –
Please read this or this or this


This is what ALEC is About  - An Interview with Mark Pocan about the ALEC Annual Meeting.


And watch this news video  from North Carolina on how other ALEC "model legislation" is going to screw the citizens of North Carolina - legislation introduced by ALEC legislators.


Do your own act of education!
Send the links shown above to friends and family and educate them about ALEC.

Yes, ALEC is Anti-democracy.

Two days ago, I found an article on the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which made me feel good - because the article was pretty good.

Critics: Politics, business too cozy in group that includes state lawmakers Conservative organization ALEC seeks to recruit state lawmakers at S.F. event
Steve Terrell | The New Mexican


Posted: Sunday, January 22, 2012
Every year, a handful of New Mexico legislators attends the national conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a controversial conservative organization best known by its acronym ALEC

The article was good and the comment thread was pretty good.

One comment has bothered me for the past 48 hours and it wasn’t until lunch today that I finally found the answer that no one else had been able to post (yes, I’m slow sometime).

Here’s the comment (my emphasis)
As if legislators never sit down in face-to-face meetings with  representatives of all sorts of special interest groups, including  public and private sector union representatives, environmental groups,  AARP, NAACP, NOW, the NRA, and etc.. I'm sure all of those organizations have proposed model legislation related to the issues that concern  them, some good and some bad. I'm sure all of those groups have found at least a few sympathetic legislators to sponsor their bills. As long as  no legislators are somehow coerced into voting against their will I  don't see how anything anti-democracy is afoot
For those of us that follow ALEC we are so use to what we know
-  we are so aware of all the nastiness that ALEC is behind
-  that we forget that others don’t know - what we know.

Here’s my reply that would be too little, four days too late. 
 (Wish I could think faster, but I’m a muller.)
The rebuttal to that comment which never appeared in the comments (to the best of my knowledge)
has to do with the fact that
  • ALEC is behind the voter ID bills that will disenfranchise 5 million voters.
  • ALEC supports the concept of the electoral college and does not support popular vote
  • ALEC is a proponent of the tenth amendment movement which includes nullification of the 17th amendment which is the election of state senators by popular vote - they want senators to be appointed.

Our democracy depends on one person, one vote – to exist as a democracy
– and when ALEC and their ALEC legislators take that away from us
– our democracy is damaged.

Yes, ALEC legislation is anti-democracy
and ALEC’s focus on destruction of voting rights
is the only thing we have to reference.
#Alec
.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

OccupyFlorida - #Occupy an ALEC Meeting, Please

You'll need to check this out and verify it...
- as of right now I have not been able to confirm this but here's the skinny that I have.

Information supposedly sent to Florida Legislators:

You are cordially invited to attend ALEC’s K–12 Education Reform Academy, February 3–4, 2012 at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. For invited legislators like you, ALEC will cover your room for up to two nights at the host hotel. ALEC will also reimburse up to $500 for travel expenses, which includes coach airfare, cabfare, and a reimbursement of 55.5 cents per mile driven.
#OccupyFlorida please let ALEC know that ALEC and their educational reform is not wanted in Florida.

And if you can't make it to the protest - be sure to check your legislators campaign and finance and gift reports to make sure they don't get reimbursed from the taxpayers for this - as ALEC is footing the whole cost - to the Ritz no less!
PEACEFUL PROTEST, PLEASE
We don't need a repeat of what happened in Sante Fe.
http://www.lcsun-news.com/new_mexico-news/ci_19828394
The injury that happened - was an accident - but they are going to play this like their lives were in danger.
Bad press for us - is bad press for us and good press for them.
PEACEFUL PROTEST PLEASE.



Thank you so much!
, #OccupyALEC, #Alec

Update 2/1/2012


TALLAHASSEE, FL
The Democratic Progressive Caucus of Florida (DPCF) calls on Florida legislators to boycott the upcoming academy being hosted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The ALEC K-12 Education Reform Academy will be held February 3–4, 2012 at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. The DPCF sees this interference by outside interests as a threat to our democracy.

Caucus President Susan Smith stated, “The secretive process of allowing corporate lobbyists and billionaires to write legislation, which they then pass off to Florida legislators, is a betrayal of the intent of representative government. The closed-door gathering of legislators is not government in the sunshine.”

, #Occupy

Ron Paul - Against the 99%

Minnesota party caucuses are coming up in a little over a week.
Last night and again this morning I heard advertisements for Ron Paul.

Unfortunately I am hearing way too many people who think this guy has something to offer – which couldn’t be farther from the truth.

From his campaign webpage and the ads I saw and heard.

Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who doesn’t just talk about balancing the budget, but who has a full plan to get it done.

SPENDING:
Cuts $1 trillion in spending during the first year of Ron Paul’s presidency, eliminating five cabinet departments (Energy, HUD, Commerce, Interior, and Education),
Let see….
Get rid of the Department of Education
ED was created in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. ED's 4,400 employees and $68 billion budget are dedicated to:
•Establishing policies on federal financial aid for education, and distributing as well as monitoring those funds.
•Collecting data on America's schools and disseminating research.
•Focusing national attention on key educational issues.
•Prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equal access to education.

Good-bye to student loans – good-bye to student grants.
Good-bye to grants to our schools
Welcome to the new United States – third world country in regards to education.
Hello segregation.

Goodbye – to environmental cleanups.
Hello – to expansion of nuclear energy and nuclear waste.
Hello – dependence on fossil fuels – go Koch brothers!

Get rid of the HUD (Housing and Urban Development)
HUD’s Mission Create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all.
HUD’s Vision Our vision is to improve lives and strengthen communities to deliver on America’s dreams. Therefore, we pledge— For Our Residents: We will improve lives by creating affordable homes in safe, healthy communities of opportunity, and by protecting the rights and affirming the values of a diverse society.

Good-bye to fair housing and equal opportunity in housing.
Good-bye to the FHA and mortgage insurance.
Good-bye to affordable housing made available through HUD grants.
Good-bye to the American Dream!

Get rid of the Department of Interior
Our Mission: Protecting America's Great Outdoors and Powering Our Future
The U.S. Department of the Interior protects America’s natural resources and heritage, honors our cultures and tribal communities, and supplies the energy to power our future.

Our future ability to build a new energy frontier, address climate change, preserve our treasured landscapes, tackle America's water challenges, and empower Native Americans


Good-bye to our national parks.
Hello to fracking and oil exploration in our national parks.
Hello to gated communities for the rich in what use to be our national parks.
Good-bye to enjoying the outdoors!
Good-bye to wildlife refuges!
Native Americans – you are on your own!  Good luck while you fight for anything from the Republicans – including keeping what you currently have.

While you're thinking about the loss of the great outdoors - you may want to read a little Jim HIghtower on loss of recreational spaces as posted on Common Dreams.

Get rid of the Department of Commerce
That would get rid of all these agencies:
•Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
•Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA)
•Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
•Census Bureau
•Economic Development Administration (EDA)
•International Trade Administration (ITA)
•Minority Business Development Administration (MBDA)
•National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
•National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
•Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)
•National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
•National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
Hello to more weather related deaths – NOAA would be gone.
Goodbye to patent protections.  Good bye to trademark protections.
Hello – to white guys only doing construction projects.
Goodbye – to the census and voting districts that actually represent the people who live in the district.
Goodbye – to standard weights and measure – who needs them? How much radiation were you just exposed to – who the hell cares!  How much gas do you think you just bought – who cares!  Think you are really getting the correct dosage of that that chemical in your medicine – hah!

And that quick review is only the tip of iceberg as to what could be gone with the elimination of these departments.

I suppose Ron Paul thinks we can privatize all this – so the rich get richer and the 99% get screwed even more.


Based on this Ron Paul’s jobs plan
is to lay off 100’s of thousands
of people who are the 99%


People you can’t be serious!
Get rid of the Ron Paul as a candidate – this guy is toxic to the 99%

If you think that this can be delegated to the states – you are crazy
– 50 different states with
50 different policies and
50 different sets of regulations and
50 different enforcement
AND – You won’t know what regulations or enforcements are in affect every time you cross another stateline!

Anybody from the 99% who supports this guy may as well be voting for Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney, or kissing Eric Cantor’s butt.