Thieves in the Temple.

real bipartisanship (again!).

The Obama Administration has announced that 9.11 defendants will be tried in federal court rather than the Guantánamo military commissions -- and I must say that folks who fear that the 9.11 defendants might go free on "technicalities" show a tremendous lack of faith in the American justice system. Not to mention that said "technicalities" would more likely be due to Bush Mobb incompetence than that of Mr. Obama. Not to mention that, if all we wanted from anything were "guilty" verdicts, we'd be trying traffic tickets in military courts. Anyway, the Obama Administration won't be trying other detainees in the federal court system, so the ACLU helps you call for federal court cases for all detainees. We're either good enough to be both safe and free, or we're not. I know which side right-wingers come down on. I also know they come down on the wrong side.

Meanwhile, both Planned Parenthood and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State help you oppose the Stupak Amendment to the recent House-passed health care bill, which restricts federal support for abortion more than ever before. The Stupak Amendment doesn't just prevent the "public option" from covering abortion; it also prevents any health care entity that participates in the federal exchange from covering abortion, which, last I looked, was still legal. The net result? Millions of women who now have abortion coverage will lose it. If folks want to prevent women from having abortions, they need to make abortion illegal, period, end of story. They will fail in doing that in the short run, since the vast majority of Americans are now pro-choice. But you don't just throw random roadblocks in front of a woman's right to a legal medical procedure. Not if you respect the law, anyway.

Finally, S. 1789 would equalize crack and powder cocaine sentences; Families Against Mandatory Minimums helps you tell your Senators to support the bill. Also, you may be interested to know that Congress has required a review of mandatory minimum sentences as part of the recently-passed Defense Appropriations bill. I'm not surprised to see a fairly decent piece on mandatory minimums in the Wall Street Journal -- the Journal is fairly right-wing, economically, but many folks who are right-wing economically are fairly libertarian about criminal justice matters. I see another opportunity for real bipartisanship!

surprise, pimps! It's quick-action Saturday!

Public Citizen will hold a protest rally in Washington, D.C., this Monday, November 16, at noon, in front of Goldman Sachs's office on 101 Constitution Ave NW (close to Union Station). If you can make it, let Public Citizen know here; if not, you can still use this action tool supporting H.R. 3126, which would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, among other fine aims. The banksters are spending millions lobbying against any attempts to regulate them. You'd think they'd want to spend millions, you know, hiring people to help them undo the damage they've done. But no. The banksters don't think like you and I. They're bold, you know. They're doing "God's work," after all.

foreign policy Friday, plus the new Paul on the block.

Mr. Obama wants to close Guantánamo, but many members of Congress have a not-in-my-backyard attitude toward relocating detainees -- even though federal prisons already hold convicted terrorists without incident, and even though the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees aren't terrorists. So Common Cause provides an open letter to Congress supporting the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detainee center, which they rightly say the world associates with torture and tyranny. No, tyranny is not too strong a word for what's happened there. It's not too strong a word for what's happening at the Bagram holding facility, either, which threatens to become the new Guantánamo under Mr. Obama. When the "Close Bagram" alerts start arriving in my inbox, you'll see them here.

Meanwhile, as Mr. Obama takes his time figuring out what to do in Afghanistan, we can call him at 1.888.310.8637 and advise against escalating that conflict. My specific advice always goes like this: "get bin Laden, get out." A Bush-style "surge" will give America 20,000 to 40,000 soldiers' worth of breathing room, but we'd need many more than that to properly occupy a nation, and that's not the business we ought to be in. A more surgical application of soldiers/diplomats/intelligence agents would more likely produce the architect of 9.11. Now America's last reporter, Greg Palast, finds it inconceivable that a millionaire in need of dialysis is hiding out in the mountains of Pakistan. If so, that should make our exit that much quicker.

Finally, this Wall Street Journal blog piece interviews Republican U.S. Senate candidate Rand "son of Ron" Paul. I'm pleased that Mr. Paul currently outpolls and outraises the Republican establishment candidate, Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Greyson, but I'm less pleased that he, well, plays the game more than his father does. When Ron Paul opens his mouth, I know he's telling the truth as best he understands it regardless of the political consequences -- even when I don't agree with him, which is often. But when Rand Paul tells us that he sees similarities between his race against Mr. Greyson and Marco Rubio's "insurgent" campaign against the "established moderate" Charlie Crist, he lies three times -- first by suggesting that Mr. Rubio is a "conservative" and not a reactionary, secoond by suggesting that the not-terribly-moderate Mr. Crist is a moderate, and third by suggesting (though not stating) that even Mr. Greyson is some sort of moderate, though he's exactly the kind of boilerplate far-right-wing corporatist Republicans have been churning out all decade. His anti-war views are noticeably softer than his pop's, too. Maybe Rand Paul took his father's defeat in the 1984 Texas Republican Senate primary way too much to heart.

time and a word.

The House passed H.R. 3639, which froze credit card rates and sped up new protections for consumers to December 1, but now the Senate must act. I know why Democrats might avoid action -- Sen. Dodd (D-CT) has just introduced a massive financial regulation overhaul bill. But Republicans? They're so blindly corporatist they can't see the tips of their own noses. I can just hear Jim DeMint saying: why now? Because credit card companies have been jacking up rates, doubling minimum payments, and tacking on fees for actually paying balances off, all to beat the February deadline for implementation of new credit card reforms. That's why now. Anyway, the will of the Senate doesn't matter -- the will of the people matters. Consumers Union helps you make it so.

Meanwhile, the Healthy Families Act (H.R. 2460/S. 1152) allows workers to earn up to seven paid sick days per year (one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work, which can only begin to be used after 60 days on the job, per Sec. 5). The Family Medical Leave Act permits workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year, but the Healthy Families Act would help workers get paid days off for illness, care of a family member, childbirth or adoption, or recovery from sexual assault or domestic violence. Opponents no doubt wonder why, if so many businesses already offer paid sick leave (I get 12 paid sick days a year at my job), why bother? Well, to kick the butts of the businesses that don't, obviously -- like the food service industry, which doesn't give paid sick leave to four out of five workers. Nice job, guys. NETWORK, the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, helps you support the bill.

Finally, though the Obama administration has set modest goals of raising fuel efficiency standards to 34 mpg and lowering carbon dioxide emissions to an average of 250 grams per mile by 2016, the auto industry is fighting them tooth and nail. You'd never know the American auto industry just got bailed out, would you? Seriously, the chutzpah of corporations in this country is just astounding -- if most of us didn't have to work for corporations, we'd all be busting out the torches and pitchforks for them right now. Anyway, the EPA is accepting public comments about the rules, and Public Citizen helps you leave your comments. Which is preferable to busting out torches and pitchforks, of course. I sure do hope it never comes to that.

here, there, and everywhere.

In a not entirely surprising development, the uneasy truce between the democratically-elected-but-overthrown leader of Honduras, President Zelaya, and the usurper, General Micheletti, has fallen apart. Thus SOA Watch reminds us that Mr. Obama's phone number is 202.456.1111 (or 202.456.1414), and that State Secretary Clinton's number is 202.647.4000, and that we may leave messages with these individuals demanding that the U.S. government not recognize the illegitimate government of Honduras or the upcoming November 29 elections. Think about it: the usurpers have already attacked their own people. Do you think they'll conduct fair elections, now less than three weeks away? Hardly. You may also press for the reinstatement of Mr. Zelaya and punishment for those who have violated human rights.

In other news, House health care legislation (H.R. 3962) passed by a five-vote margin late Saturday evening, with one Republican (Joe Cao of Louisiana, exactly whom I expected) voting "yea" after the Democrats got their margin. H.R. 3962 passed with that awful Stupak amendment, but on balance it's a better bill than I thought: it still includes the individual mandate, but also mandates large employers to help provide insurance, and prevents health insurers from jacking up rates based on pre-existing conditions (or gender, I might add), which items a bill needs to have at the least if it's going to have an individual mandate. It also includes a not-particularly-robust public option. But the bill may one day achieve what single-payer could achieve more quickly -- if the Senate doesn't eviscerate it. Mr. Lieberman has already said he'll join a Republican filibuster against any bill with a public option "as a matter of conscience." Whose conscience, he doesn't say. Not the conscience of the people of Connecticut, I imagine -- which is the only "conscience" that should matter in his vote.

all in one day: the health care version.

The House debates their massive health care bill today -- which is unusual, since they normally have weekends off -- and hopes to vote by the end of the day. The bill they'll produce will be better than the one that passed the Senate Finance Committee. But they've done gone and angered up my blood. The House leadership apparently persuaded Rep. Weiner (D-NY) to withdraw his amendment, which would have essentially replaced the entire bill with a single-payer system like the one described in H.R. 676, but then permitted Rep. Stupak (D-MI) to proceed with an anti-abortion amendment. You can call your House Reps and oppose the Stupak amendment using the tools in the upper left-hand corner. And the People's Email Network provides a petition saying, simply: "pass Medicare for All, or pass nothing."

Am I a bad liberal for doing this? Hell no! What's my job as citizen again? To express my will -- not to express some watered-down version of my will that might make other people like me, and certainly not to go along with What's Best for Team Democrat. The Democrats are not my team. America is my team. And yes, I suppose the Democrats would risk losing their majorities in 2010 even if they did pass single-payer -- not because the people oppose it (because they don't, if every poll I've been reading for the last ten years is any indication), but because the corporations and their lackeys oppose it, and will spend tons of money lying about it, and thus help create an atmosphere where some other legislative mis-step will prove fatal. But at least then it would be worth it, because we'd have single-payer. And I maintain that the Democrats run a greater risk of losing both Houses if they pass this bill -- or, worse, if both Houses produce a compromise bill that they never vote upon because all their constituents know it's a pile of dung.

early in the morning.

OK, now I'm hearing that the House may vote either on H.R. 676, the single-payer health care bill, or the Weiner Amendment to the House leadership-approved health care bill that would essentially replace said bill with H.R. 676. Such a vote could happen literally any minute, so Public Citizen helps you tell your Rep to vote yes on this matter. Many Reps (mine included) have said they'd vote in favor of single-payer if it ever came to a vote; now's the time for them to keep their word. I'd follow up with a phone call, as well. Nothing like a little message force multiplication to keep the politicians on their toes.

Meanwhile, the Senate works on their version of ENDA, S. 1584, and some Senators are apparently making noises about broadening exemptions for religious organizations so they can discriminate against gays more. I'm willing to put up with the exemptions already in the House version of ENDA, because those exemptions conform with existing law -- only churches and non-profits would get those exemptions, because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act permits them. But now religious broadcasters are trying to get individual religious employers exempted as well, which would basically eviscerate the bill. Everyone's entitled to their own religious beliefs -- but not to an all-encompassing right to discriminate against people on the basis of said beliefs. I think opposition to this far-right lobbying effort merits a phone call to your Senators. They'll never see it coming.

Pennsylvania residents, take note: the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has drafted a climate change action plan that calls for Pennsylvania to cut its emissions 30 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. That's the biggest cut I've ever seen, and (so far) it doesn't involve any cap-and-trade games. I almost feel crass for mentioning this, but this effort would create a lot of jobs for people who can help houses, businesses, and transportation services meet the new limits. Of course, if the state doesn't hear from us, it could just pretend the plan never existed. But PennEnvironment helps you leave a comment so that, yeah, like, they'll have to listen. Or at least look bad if they don't listen.

time passes slowly.

I'm not interested in calling my Reps and Senators to support the House health care bill. It still contains the individual mandate, it still contains a not-particularly robust public option, and it doesn't even allow states to create their own single-payer plans if they like, a Dennis Kucinich brainchild that made it out of committee but, somehow, didn't make the final bill. But Brendan Skwire calls our attention to the Eshoo/Barton amendment in the House's health care bill dealing with biologics, or drugs made from living organisms. Those who use them swear by them -- or, should I say, those who can afford them swear by them -- but Eshoo/Barton gives corporations the right to tweak their biologic drugs in such infinitesimally small ways that far cheaper generics will never appear on the market. Reps. Waxman (D-CA) and Deal (R-GA) apparently had an amendment that would have permitted generics to penetrate the market more easily, but of course Mrs. Pelosi caved to the Blue Dogs and put the Eshoo/Barton amendment in. Because the Blue Dogs are all about fiscal responsibility, even when it costs more. I think the Eshoo/Barton amendment is a good thing to call your Reps about, using the tools in the upper left-hand corner of this page. (In other news, that vote on the Weiner amendment? Not happening. This bill is a boatload of suck, and the Democrats will pay for it in 2010. The good news? Just as the remaining moderate Republicans in the House paid the price for the scarlet R in 2006 and 2008, the Democrats most likely to lose their House seats will be Blue Dogs.)

Meanwhile, behind every dark cloud there's another one: six law professors find too much ambiguity in the FCC's proposed net neutrality rule. The professors found the FCC's definition of "nondiscrimination" too narrow -- the FCC applies the term to an ISP trying to charge content providers for enhanced access, but not to ISPs trying to slow or block traffic. I guess you'd say the FCC applies "nondiscrimination" to positive discrimination but not negative discrimination, which can be just as bad. The professors also found the FCC's definition of "reasonable network management" to be, well, just about nonexistent -- the rule offers no guidance over whether, say, a Comcast can slow BitTorrent traffic at will, which FCC Chair Kevin Martin said they could not do in 2007. Is this another example of the Obama Administration wanting to hear from all sides? Fine; that's why we have public comments on executive branch rule-making. But if you don't define "reasonable network management," you might wind up letting corporations do it for you. And that would be bad.

don't stop 'til you get enough.

S. 1808, the Control Spending Now Act, would cut a lot of wasteful spending, chief among them the $244 billion in as-yet-unspent Bush bailout money. Senator Feingold's bill also targets earmark spending, corporate welfare, and big agribusiness subsidies. Chances are that, if you read the bill at thomas.loc.gov, you'll find something you don't agree with, but I think the aggregate effect of the bill is quite positive, even if it includes that annoying line-item veto section that the Supreme Court will almost certainly strike down (as they did a decade ago). I think S. 1808 merits a phone call to your Reps and Senators. None have stepped up to co-sponsor Mr. Feingold's bill, not even putative spending hawk John McCain. So give them a call. They'll never see it coming.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama signed a bill last week including gays in hate-crimes legislation -- if we must have hate-crimes legislation (and reasonable people disagree about that), it ought to include gays -- and now the Gay and Lesbian Task Force reminds us that H.R. 2981, a.k.a. ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2009, requires our support. Of course the right-wing "family" "values" crowd has their knickers in a twist over it -- the American Family Association, for instance, tells us that, if ENDA passes, a "Christian school...would not be allowed to reject a homosexual" who applied for a particular job. That's a lie -- under ENDA, an employer would be unable to reject a homosexual just because they're homosexual, and ENDA doesn't even establish an affirmative action program for gays. That's your "Christian" right-wing: always thinking you're stupid. I bet on you being smart.

Finally, Mr. Obama has just done something we thought he wouldn't do -- nominate an industry lobbyist to head a federal agency. If Mr. Obama gets his way, Anne Ferro would head the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which regulates truck safety. Granted, we're in November before we're hearing about the kind of thing Mr. Bush did all the time, but that doesn't make it any less wrong. Ms. Ferro lobbied in favor of Bush rules that would have increased the number of hours truckers could drive without a break. Ever met a truck driver? I've met dozens (I used to unload trucks in college), and they're among the most overworked people on Earth. They don't need to be spending even more time on the road; they need to be paid better for the work they do. Letting them work more hours, putting them and other drivers on the road at an unacceptably high risk -- what a typical Bush solution to a problem. Public Citizen provides the contact tool.

UPDATE. Argh! I've fixed the link in the 3rd paragraph so that it works.

one nation under a groove.

Weren't we just hoping the House would put together a bill restraining PATRIOT Act excesses? Along comes H.R. 3845, the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009, which would reform the National Security Letters and library records search provisions and would also require the government to go through a court when it wants a national security gag order. However, the bill does not contain protections for charities that do humanitarian work in strife-torn lands. The ACLU helps you ask the House for that protection. The House Judiciary Committee will begin hearings on PATRIOT Act reauthorization tomorrow, so let's get crack-a-lackin'.

Public Citizen (the source of yesterday's health care action alert, as I should have mentioned) informs me that we're doing a good job putting pressure on our Reps to demand a vote on the Weiner amendment to the health care bill -- which would essentially replace the health care bill with H.R. 676, the single-payer bill. Now Public Citizen urges you to call Speaker Pelosi herself, at 202.225.0100 (though you can also use the number I found at her website yesterday), and demand a vote on the Weiner amendment. The amendment, if passed by both houses and signed by the President, would eliminate the private health insurance industry. Some people say that like it's a bad thing. I think it's a good thing. Like Rep. Weiner, I wonder: what service does the private health insurance industry provide, other than converting care for others into profit for themselves?

Apparently the Senate did not vote last week on H.R. 3548, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009. I don't know what's holding them up this time. I do know that this economy, now widely presumed by the chattering class to be "recovering," still hemorrhages over half a million jobs a month. NETWORK, the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby (I may not stop), helps you tell your Senators to support extending unemployment benefits. It's not like the unemployed can just go get another job or something. Hello, Senators? No one's hiring..

H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act, sailed through a House subcommittee and a House committee; now it deserves a full vote in the House. The Local Community Radio Act -- which, all together now, enjoys actual bipartisan support -- would enable the creation of hundreds of new, small, independent low-power FM radio stations, a nice alternative to the 80-song playlists we put up with from every big radio station we encounter. The big radio stations also don't serve communities that well -- they only run news in the mornings, and they banish their public interest broadcasting to an early Sunday-morning ghetto. So Free Press helps you contact your Reps and Senators with the number one reason you support low-power FM stations. I've given you three reasons, but of course you've got others. One of those might even be "I'm dissatisfied with the amount/quality of religious programming I get from big radio stations."

Finally, today is Election Day, one of the holiest days on the "Thieves in the Temple" calendar, so even though it's an off-year, go out and vote. Virginia and New Jersey will elect governors today, and New York Congressional district 23 will elect either a Democratic or Conservative Party House Rep today (the Republican dropped out over the weekend and, despite what you may have heard from Fox News, she then endorsed the Democrat). And in my lovely vale, we'll elect a new District Attorney. So, if anyone has any problems voting today -- said problems may include, but are not limited to, finding the polling place, voter intimidation, accessibility issues, voting machine problems, and provisional ballot issues -- or if anyone witnesses anyone having these or any other problems, the toll-free number for you to call is, as always, 1.866.OUR.VOTE -- or if, like me, mnemonic devices such as "OUR VOTE" actually slow you down considerably when you're dialing, 1.866.687.8683.

tempus fugit.

Rep. Weiner (D-NY) wants to offer an amendment to the current House health care reform bill that would essentially replace it with H.R. 676, the single-payer bill. Of course, House leaders decide which amendments get votes and which don't, and Nancy Pelosi seems to have an animus toward single-payer for some reason -- so we need to call our Reps right away and demand a vote. The Capitol switchboard number is 202.224.3121; you may also use the tools in the upper left-hand corner of this page. While you're at it, you may as well call Mrs. Pelosi herself at 202.225.4965 and ask her to submit H.R. 676 to the Congressional Budget Office for an evaluation of its cost. I bet it costs less than the House's ineffectual bill, which in turn cost less than the Senate's even more ineffectual bill. Don't take "because the bill won't pass" as an answer. If the people find out how much it'll save while providing better services than we get from the HMOs now, then Congressfolk will have to vote against the people's will.

Meanwhile, the current House bill does ensure full access to reproductive health care services for women, and Planned Parenthood helps you ensure that whatever comes out of Congress continues to do so. You can amend the contact tool to reflect your preference for single-payer health care, especially in paragraph one. And if the Vitters and DeMints of the world really want to deny women access to birth control and abortion, then they ought to work to make birth control and abortion illegal, rather than forcing the law to discriminate against more than half the population. That's all I've got to say about that.

Finally, the New York Times reported that the legitimate and illegitimate governments of Honduras have agreed to let the democratically-elected Mr. Zelaya finish out his term. At least that's impression you gather from its lede. Then there's this nugget, buried down in paragraph 13: "Some significant obstacles remain, not least of which is the approval of the nation’s Congress, which voted overwhelmingly to strip Mr. Zelaya of power four months ago and now has to decide whether to reinstate him." Well, that's hopeful! And then, in paragraph 18, Mr. Micheletti (the usurper) apparently thinks the accord with Mr. Zelaya will create a "unity government." One hopes that, with world opinion unified against the Micheletti "government," Honduras's Congress will do the right thing and reinstate Mr. Zelaya. But hope is exactly what it is. It's not exactly a contract.

unemployment benefits extension, plus credit card reform acceleration.

A while back, we talked about S.1699, which would have extended unemployment benefits to the states that didn't already have their unemployment benefits extended, but (according to an alert commenter) that bill got held up by Sens. Kyl (R-AZ) and Hatch (R-UT), under the pretext that they needed more time to study it blah blah blah. Seems like all Jon Kyl's good for is holding up good bills. But the Democratic Senate leadership brought H.R. 3548 -- which would extend unemployment benefits another 14 weeks for workers in all 50 states, and add another six weeks of benefits for workers in states with unemployment rates above 8.5% -- to a cloture vote instead, and that bill passed its cloture vote and will proceed to a full Senate vote soon. We've already delayed unemployment benefit extension too long. If we're going to let corporations make all our decisions for us, if we're going to let them fire workers willy-nilly for their own "survival," then extending unemployment benefits is the very least we can do. I said least, Senator Kyl, OK? Anyway, NETWORK, the National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, provides the contact tool.

Meanwhile, Congress's massive-but-not-quite-massive-enough credit card reform legislation will take effect in February, and as you might guess, credit card corporations have been jacking up rates and fees and minimum payments like there's no tomorrow. But H.R. 3639 would move credit card reform's kick-in date for the biggest credit-card issuers up to December 1, so that you might get some relief during the holidays. H.R. 3639 should get a House vote soon; Consumers Union provides the contact tool. Said contact tool also argues for the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which of course we ought to take every opportunity to support, since the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opponents are spending millions of dollars to defeat it, when they could be spending millions of dollars hiring people to defend the rights of small businesses. Which would, you know, create jobs.

the return of Quotestamp! (Guest-starring the Italics Hammer and the Hyphenator.)

At last, a climate change action tool I can get behind, and of course it's from the People's Email Network. No cap-and-trade, no giving away of emissions "permits," just a simple mandate to cap CO2 levels at 350 ppm, where it was about 20 years ago (vs. the 387 ppm we now have). Only a few people on Earth don't "believe in" global warming, but you don't have to be a scientist to reject their "skepticism," you just have to follow the money. Who "benefits" from global warming "alarmism"? According to global warming "skeptics," "radical" environmentalist organizations benefit. While global warming might help, say, the Sierra Club's fundraising efforts, it hardly makes them rich. Now who benefits from global warming "skepticism"? Large corporations that pollute a lot and stand to lose a lot of money if they're forced to pollute less -- in other words, people with actual money and actual power. In the follow-the-money game, the biggest pile of money always loses. Hell, the biggest pile of money has to lose somewhere.

Speaking of the environment, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar surprises (in a good way) by halting new claim-staking on one million acres of land around Grand Canyon National Park, and the Department of the Interior will now take public comments on whether he should extend that moratorium 20 more years. Environment Colorado helps you submit said comments. This will wind up being a long fight, though -- the 1872 Mining Law, a President Grant production, mandates that hardrock metal mining concerns always take precedence over environmental/local community impact concerns. That law got passed some 30-odd years before Teddy Roosevelt made conservation popular. The contact tool Environment Colorado provides also addresses the 1872 Mining Law, but you may want to contact your own Reps and Senators about it, too. They'll never see it coming.

an alert about health care, and, in addition, an alert about health care.

Forget Obamacare -- forcing people to buy into the corporate health insurance system, even with the vague hope of a public option or a "trigger" thereto somewhere down the line, is a scam, the kind of scam that makes me doubt either Mr. Obama's courage or his good intentions. Single-payer will have to start at the state level, and perhaps not coincidentally, Pennsylvania state Rep. Manderino (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) and state Sen. Ferlo (D-Pittsburgh) have introduced single-payer bills in their respective houses. These bills are H.B. 1600 and S.B. 400, respectively. The bills would fund health care mainly through a 3% tax on individuals, a 10% payroll tax on employers, existing Medicaid/Medicare funds, and tobacco settlement funds. Now I think the income and payroll tax additions could be progressive, and I'm planning to tell my Reps and Senators so; Pennsylvania residents can do the same using contact information that may be found here. They'll never see it coming.

Meanwhile, Public Citizen still helps you defend against medical malpractice "reform," and advocate for real health care reform. For extra Anger Power, you might read this entry from Public Citizen's blog telling stories about folks whose medical malpractice claims were most emphatically not "frivolous." Only two anecdotes, you say, to prove that point? Well, that's one more anecdote than most tort "reform" proponents will give you at any given moment -- and their anecdotes, in my experience, don't actually prove their point (i.e. they don't describe actual miscarriages of justice, but suggest that people shouldn't have to go through the trouble of fighting unjust lawsuits, which, to me, is the price of living in a democracy). Plus most lawsuits get filed by corporations, not people, or even large groups of people. Yet the tort "reform" advocates generally leave corporations untouched. It's like that's the idea or something.

bring the noise!

Mr. Obama gives me hope sometimes -- like when he took on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's "remember the neighborhood butcher" ads, which imply that a Consumer Financial Protection Agency would adversely affect small businesses. "I don't know how many of your butchers are offering financial services," Mr. Obama told the press -- and no, an informal line of credit isn't the same as a derivative. Now Mr. Obama does have this habit of making nice noises and then coming up with reasons not to deliver, but then this isn't really about him -- it's about us, making the noise we need to make. PennPIRG helps us bring that noise.

Meanwhile, in case you've missed any of the pro-net neutrality action alerts I've been passing along here, Common Cause provides another one. The big telecoms have geared up to fight any and all efforts like H.R. 3458, and guess who's their willing pimp? Why, that "populist," Glenn Beck -- he of course thinks Net Neutrality is "Marxist." I shouldn't let pass that Mr. Beck's guest hack implies that the Christian Coalition is stupid for agreeing with the Free Press -- he did call Free Press's argument a "scare story," after all. Are Republican corporatists really afraid they'll lose their Christian allies? We can only hope! A politically independent Christian right would be far more valuable to democracy than the Christian right currently tethered to the corporatists who do far more to ruin their children's morals than any liberal does.

it came from the Senate Finance Committee! And other atrocities.

CREDO also provides a pro-net neutrality contact tool. Their email missive puts it quite succinctly: "Who do you want to decide which websites you can visit or what Internet content you can access -- you or a big telecom company?...Net Neutrality is the principle that Internet users, not Internet service providers, should be in control." The FCC prepares to propose new net neutrality rules this week, but the big telecoms are pretty mad about all that. We talked about an AT&T astroturfing effort yesterday, but the big telecoms have been attacking on more traditional fronts as well: an incredible 72 House Democrats sent a letter to the FCC opposing net neutrality rules, and guess what: all but two received contributions from big telecoms this year. It doesn't matter. They may have the money, but we have the will. Rep. Polis (D-CO) could tell you that.

Meanwhile, the health care "reform" bill that came from the Senate Finance Committee includes a provision mandating document requirements and database checks before anyone can receive subsidies or participate in health care exchanges. Supposedly that requirement would keep undocumented immigrants from receiving health care -- but surely you realize that an undocumented immigrant would want to avoid advertising their presence in the United States by getting health care. You may also know that the sort of "authentication" documents the provision requires, like a photo ID, aren't standardized across the country, so a lot of people (perhaps not coincidentally, poor people) don't have them. Make no mistake, this isn't a "solution" to a "problem" -- like "rescission," this provision just keeps people from getting health care, since, you know, health care is a burden on health insurers' profits. The ACLU helps you oppose this provision.

Pennsylvania residents, take note: Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County) is at it again, calling Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans "traitors" and "Benedict Arnolds" for advocating for climate change legislation. I'm not much into demanding apologies from people -- generally, I think we apologize too readily and not very sincerely -- but I get so, so tired of folks who think everyone who disagrees with them is a "traitor." Here's the relevant section from Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." See the part about "disagreeing with Daryl Metcalfe"? Me neither. So Keystone Progress helps you hand out the beatdowns. And, ah, good citizens of Butler County? Could you unseat this man in 2010, please? Send a Libertarian to the House if you have to.

him, Al Franken (again)! Plus airport nudity and AT&T astroturfing.

Sen. Franken's anti-discrimination/anti-forced arbitration Defense Appropriations amendment did pass the Senate resoundingly, but now the House and Senate go into conference, and the Senate is actually thinking of weakening the amendment. You know, because it's in conference, the other place where good bills go to die, and also because they think no one's watching. Public Citizen helps you let them know we're watching. They recommend you call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid first, and your own Senators second. The Franken Amendment's number is S.A. 2588, and the Appropriations bill's number is H.R. 3326. They don't get to use "the amendment wasn't in the House bill, so we had to compromise" as an excuse. If it passed the Senate by a 68-30 margin, chances are it would've passed the House with an even bigger margin.

Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now has machines that enable screeners to see under your clothes. That wart you were thinking of getting burned off your rearend? Better get it done before you get on that plane! The TSA originally claimed it would only use the machines for secondary screening (presumably for folks who set off a metal detector), but has apparently changed its mind, and now plans to use them in place of metal detectors. The House has already overwhelmingly passed legislation reining in this practice, and the legislation was the brainchild of Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz, meaning it presumably has the blessing of the far right. So what's the Senate waiting for? The ACLU helps you demand that the Senate protect our privacy better during airport screening.

Free Press still provides a petition demanding that Congress codify network neutrality provisions, thereby preventing some corporation from telling you what you'll see on your internet. The occasion of this reminder? This item, describing a missive from a Senior Vice President at AT&T to all of his U.S.-based managers suggesting that they send anti-net neutrality comments to the FCC. The VP in question tells his managers to "use (their) personal accounts," presumably so they won't be identified as AT&T employees. The VP's missive is here; he provides "talking points" for his side. I already laughed out loud at number one -- China (China!) gives its wireless cell phone users more choices than the U.S. does. Did I mention it's China? A totalitarian state? Giving its consumers more choices than the U.S.? China? The talking points don't get any better from there -- number two decodes into "all regulation is anti-competition" when we know better, number three decodes into "all regulation is anti-network management" when we know better, number four decodes into "net neutrality will kill people" when we know better, and number five decodes into "wah! We hate Google! Wah!"

when governments go bad.

The Senate Judiciary Committee moved the weak Leahy PATRIOT reform bill forward last week, instead of the superior Feingold JUSTICE bill -- but the House has not acted on PATRIOT Act reform at all, so the ACLU helps you urge your Rep to introduce the JUSTICE Act or something like it. The House would still have to introduce such a bill, move it through committee to a full House vote, pass it, and then conference with the Senate to produce a final bill -- but that's four opportunities to make your will known to your Reps and Senators. They'll need to hear from us at every point, or else they'll do what they want, which is cave to the fearmongerers. Who may now count Barack Obama among their number -- now that he's President, he won't want to give up power that easily.

Meanwhile, the illegitimate Honduran coup government has hired a Washington, D.C.-based PR firm (Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates) to paint a smiley face on their regime -- which, for those of you counting at home, has kicked out a democratically-elected leader, cracked down on protestors sympathetic to said leader, and earned the enmity of just about the entire planet. SOA Watch (among others) will protest outside Chlopak et al's offices today at 12.30 pm, and also helps you urge Chlopak et al to reconsider its decision. You may also call them at 202.289.5900. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said "there are lies, damn lies, statistics, and public relations"? No? Well, he might have done, if he were alive today.

what in Sam Hill's goin' on?

Folks on the right like to accuse Mr. Obama of breaking a lot of promises he never made in the first place, but here's (another) actual promise he actually hasn't delivered on: he hasn't rescinded Bush Mobb-era rules allowing religious organizations receiving federal funds to discriminate in their hiring practices. What a conundrum, huh? If some Episcopalian charity can't just not hire Jews, what's the world coming to? One more time: if you receive federal funds, you follow federal rules, and if the federal rules say "don't discriminate," then you can't discriminate. You're not special if you're a religious organization. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State help you communicate your will to the President.

Planned Parenthood helps you call your Senators to demand that women don't get left out of health care reform. In your call, you'll specifically ask that your Senators "vote against any amendment that undermines women's access to comprehensive health care from the provider of their choice." You may want to add that if the amendment is offered by a Senator named Vitter or DeMint, that's a good sign they should vote against it. "Comprehensive" includes birth control and abortion, as far as I'm concerned, since they're both legal. My Libertarian friends like to tell me that health care providers should have the choice of whether or not to provide these services, but a) free markets should focus on consumer choice, not the provider's choice and b) try telling that to folks who live in rural areas and won't have a choice in any real sense.

cloudbusting.

The People's Email Network, in an effort to "confront the dangerous trend toward violent extremism in America," has joined with Velvet Revolution to nail a seven-point petition to the government's door. In signing it, you'd demand that both the Justice Department and Congress investigate violent extremism within the U.S. and media incitement to said violence. I don't believe Bill O'Reilly has blood on his hands for George Tiller's murder (or that Glenn Beck has blood on his hands for whatever), so I worry a little about this kind of effort becoming Our Very Own Witchhunt. But the PEN petition doesn't call for anything unlawful, and calls, in fact, for quite a few good things -- like investigating media violations of antitrust laws, rolling back the loosening of media consolidation restrictions, and scrutinizing FCC broadcast licenses -- which I'd support under any circumstance.

Meanwhile, as the big financial kingpins prepare for another round of bad publicity, NETWORK, the (wait for it!) National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, calls for the reallocation of a mere $1 billion of TARP funding toward the National Housing Trust Fund. The relevant legislation is H.R. 3766, the Main Street TARP Act, and S. 1731, the Preserving Homes and Communities Act. Neither title contorts the language for the sake of a clever acronym, and H.R. 3766 also reallocates $2 billion of TARP money to the Emergency Homeowners' Relief Fund, while S. 1731 allocates a little over $6 billion in grants to states to assist homeowners currently in default on their mortgages. None of this is as good as mortgage cramdown, but it's good enough to support. NETWORK provides a contact tool for H.R. 3766 here, and another one for S. 1731 here.

You may have been one of the 23,000 good folks who signed a petition protesting worker conditions at the Giumarra Vineyards Corporation, which produces about a tenth of America's table grapes, but American Rights at Work now helps you post a comment on the Nature's Partner website protesting said working conditions. (Nature's Partner uses Giumarra grapes, in addition to dozens of other foodstuffs by other producers.) You might tell Nature's Partner that Giumarra forces workers to fill dangerously high quotas while picking in 100-degree-plus heat without adequate water or shade or breaks, plus they give unpaid "time-outs" for workers who protest the quotas, the heat, the lack of water, the lack of shade, or the lack of breaks. I'd say bullying and interfering in union elections also qualifies as a "bad working condition" -- you know, since it's a condition, and the workers are working. The only good thing about corporate "partnerships"? The bad PR can spread more easily.

Finally, Brendan Skwire suggests that the locally-owned Philadelphia media ignored one pro-health care reform stunt because reporters were "pulled off the story to cover Phillies fans at local bars." You're free to doubt the veracity of that particular story in the absence of further evidence, but the rest of the article is pretty damning anyway. See the Inquirer bury its coverage of HCAN's City Hall rally in its business section, where all stories critical of business go to die! See the Inquirer business reporter call numerous local pro-reform events "staged," then explain why her paper devoted such extensive coverage to the multitudinous "staged" events coming from the right! One more time: newspapers aren't dying because of new technologies. They're dying because they suck at what they do. And they suck at what they do because their corporate owners redistribute all their papers' income upward.

UPDATE. Corrected one word in paragraph four, sentence two above, so that paragraph four, sentence two above would make some sense. I used to know how to edit.

long-distance runaround.

H.R. 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009, would, as its title suggests, establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that could prevent the next economic Armageddon. And yet, in the midst of the current economic Armageddon, not everyone's on board with it: apparently Rep. Melissa Bean (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment that would prevent states from passing stronger consumer protection laws than those of the federal government. Rep. Bean is a "Blue Dog," or "fiscally-conservative Democrat," but I continue to insist that conservatism means more than just giving big corporations whatever they want. And these are the same big corporations that just crashed-and-burned our economy, so maybe, for a little while, they should shut it. Public Citizen helps you hand out the beatdowns.

Meanwhile, I found last night's opening segment on The Daily Show especially rousing. Long story short, Jon Stewart rips CNN for fact-checking a Saturday Night Live skit and then fact-checking nothing else. That Mr. Stewart fact-checks more in that segment than CNN does is a credit to him -- and a shame to the rest of us. I sure do wish I had some of that old-timey a la carte cable packaging right now, so I wouldn't have to pay CNN for the privilege of watching The Daily Show. Of course, if we rallied in D.C., the media wouldn't cover it.

creeping up to the money god.

H.R. 1826/S. 752, the Fair Elections Now Act, would help get big corporate money out of federal elections. I've had my qualms about it in the past -- namely, that it'd be too easy for the big corporate guns to bundle hundred-dollar contributions -- but a $100 limit would be much better than a $2,300 limit. I'm far less worried about the voluntary nature of the public financing program described in the bill -- similar systems work quite well in Maine and Arizona, and a candidate who opts out of the public financing system would be fairly well-stigmatized by his/her publicly-financed opponents. H.R. 1826 now has 102 co-sponsors; Public Citizen helps you urge your Rep to join them.

masters of war.

The House approved a Defense Authorization bill emerging from conference that releases names of students and instructors at the nefarious WHINSEC (née School of the Americas), but only for the next two years, and not at all if the Secretary of Defense decides the "national interest" takes precedence. Which is, you know, better than before, but still not enough -- many, many crimes were committed between 2005 and 2008, and we need to know about all that if we're to pursue a just and effective foreign policy, which is in the "national interest." So SOA Watch still provides a slightly updated contact tool, with which you may express support for H.R. 2567. H.R. 2567 would actually suspend WHINSEC operations for a period not exceeding two years, until a bipartisan commission concludes an investigation into allegations of human rights abuses. Two years of breathing room for a lot of good folks in Latin America: priceless.

As I noted in this space before, the National Equality March takes place this coming Sunday, October 11. The marchers plan to meet in Farragut Square (17th & K St. NW) at 11 a.m. before heading over to the march kick-off site at noon. You can find more information about the march here. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network also plans activities for the preceding Saturday, including a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery at noon and a rally for don't-ask-don't-tell repeal, the time and place of which will be announced later. SLDN will also host a reception at Nellie's Sports Bar (9th & U St. NW) from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday honoring all LGBT soldiers. Let's see if we can outdraw Glenn Beck's 9.12 crew. And then let's see how the "liberal" media covers it on Monday morning.

Speaking of the "liberal" media, FAIR finds their case for war with Iran wanting, which may not surprise you. Do I think Iran wants to enrich uranium just to make power, especially when it's sitting on all that oil and sitting underneath all that sun? Of course not -- but if we're going to disregard our intelligence community's best estimate of Iranian nuclear capabilities whenever we feel like it, then why do we even have an intelligence community? And we've lost over 4,000 American soldiers (and over 1,000 private contractors) in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction that, surprise, didn't exist, even though our intelligence community told us all about that, too. That's over 5,000 painful reasons to stop the "liberal" media from enabling the Masters of War. Just for starters.

real bipartisanship.

H.R. 1147/S. 592, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009, would permit low-power FM stations to flourish in this great land by repealing third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between LPFM stations and "full-service" FM stations, translator stations, and booster stations. H.R. 1147 enjoys broad bipartisan support -- Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE) originally co-sponsored the bill, and current co-sponsors (85 total!) range from Dennis Kucinich and Barbara Lee all the way to Ron Paul and Joe Wilson. So who has held up LPFMs this long? The big telecoms, of course -- they promoted the fiction that LPFMs interfere with other FM broadcasts, which fiction even then-FCC Chair Michael Powell (finally) refused to accept in 2004. Free Press helps you find out if your Rep is a co-sponsor, and thank them or encourage them to become co-sponsors, as the case may be.

Also, I'd like to extend special thanks to all my visitors from opencongress.org over the last few weeks. I hope you got what you were looking for -- and if you didn't, leave a comment about it and I'll do better.

him, Al Franken!

Sen. Franken (D-MN) confounds the haters yet again by authoring a Defense Appropriations bill amendment (S.A. 2588, amending H.R. 3326) forbidding defense contractors from forcing their employees' sexual assault and discrimination cases into arbitration (vs. a jury trial). Wow! Mr. Franken's only been in the Senate for, like, six minutes and already he's got the whole attach-amendment-to-must-pass-bill thing down. He must have done the extra reading for Sausage Making 101. As you recall, forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts usually lead to decisions in favor of the corporations paying for the forced arbitration, which does not exactly make said arbitration impartial. I guess right-wingers will denounce Mr. Franken's amendment as a threat to national security. Let's unpack that: if Halliburton/KBR can't let Jamie Leigh Jones get gang-banged by her co-workers without being scrutinized by the American justice system, then the terrorists have won. Not terribly convincing as put, is it? Public Citizen provides the contact tool.

Meanwhile, you helped end Defense Department funding for the F-22 earlier this year, but Congress plans to vote on an additional $2.5 billion for C-17 transport planes we don't need and both Mr. Obama and Secretary Gates oppose. Now the C-17 actually is pretty useful moving planes and troops around, but even Tha Dicksta has said we don't need to make any more. Then again, maybe I shouldn't cite him as an authority. How about John McCain, then? He's been a vocal (though not always effective) opponent of wasteful military spending, and he doesn't want to spend any more on C-17s, either. Basically, then, it comes down to what Boeing wants, since they build the planes, and last I looked, corporations can't vote. You know, because they're not people. True Majority has the contact tool. We sure could do a whole lot of economic stimulating with $2.5 billion. Hell, we might even be able to do some effective defense spending with $2.5 billion.

Finally, two shministim (Israeli youth who've refused compulsory service in the Israeli army) have been criss-crossing America telling us why they refuse to take part in the occupation of Palestine, and they're coming to Philadelphia tomorrow, October 7. Actually, they'll speak in two locations: at Swarthmore College from 4-5.30 pm (at Science Center 101) and at UPenn at 7 pm (at the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall). Israeli youth, as you may know, must serve in the military for a few years, so their refusal makes them (also!) greater patriots than I. More information can be found here, as it arrives. I just hope they have time to get from one location to the other -- they should only have to take the Schuykill for a short chunk of that trip, but still.

starving the right beast.

In Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, Republicans use the ongoing economic Armageddon to hold the people hostage to their extremism. The state had a budget deal a few weeks ago, but in the wake of protests by the artistic community against new taxes on musuems and related endeavors, the House revised the budget, for the better: the new budget taxes cigars and smokeless tobacco for the first time, and (more importantly) imposes a severance tax on natural gas drilling, while eliminating the aforementioned art taxes as well as taxes on games of chance run by non-profit groups (vs. games of chance run by casinos). The Republicans object to the new plan, of course, and would hold your government hostage -- unless we can round up a few votes among southeastern Republican Senators, whom Keystone Progress helps you contact.

Meanwhile, President Obama announced new car mileage standards back in May, but the EPA and the Department of Transportation now seek comments on the rules that would impose said standards, so the Union of Concerned Scientists helps you leave comments on said rules. One worries, of course, that the EPA and DOT will develop rules with loopholes -- loopholes like the one that allowed car manufacturers to reclassify certain cars as "light trucks," which helped fuel (so to speak) the SUV boom of the last decade. Or loopholes like the inadequate car weight thresholds that spur automakers to make heavier cars (i.e., the Hummer) that can evade fuel regulation entirely. You get to argue against such loopholes in your comment.

Finally, since Color of Change began its campaign to de-fund Glenn Beck's show, over 60 advertisers have pulled their ads. However, a few major advertisers continue to run ads on Mr. Beck's show, and so Color of Change helps you call them. The recalcitrant corporations include Target, Orbitz, Warner Bros. and Roche (which makes the ACCU-CHEK line of blood sugar monitoring products for diabetics). I may or may not use their calling script; I'm thinking you ought to tell your respondent this: just watch the Glenn Beck show one afternoon -- watch his fake crying, his everyone-even-your-grandmother conspiracy theories, his enemies lists on his big white boards, his fact-free issue discussions -- and ask yourself if you want to be associated with that. Sometimes, even with corporations, it ain't all about money.

super-action Friday!

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has spent at least $2 million, no, not on new staffing to make life easier for small businesses, but on ads claiming that a Consumer Financial Protection Agency would make it harder for (among other people) butchers to extend credit to their customers. That's your U.S. Chamber of Commerce: taking small businesses hostage to get goodies for large corporations. How many times must I tell these pimps! You don't scrap regulation reining in the abuses of large corporations because small businesses might get unfairly caught in the dragnet -- you just make sure small businesses don't get unfairly caught in the dragnet. Of course the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't really this stupid; they just think you are. PIRG helps you hand out the beatdowns.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate work to reconcile a Defense Appropriations bill. The House version includes the McGovern/Sestak/Bishop/Lewis amendment that would force the federal government to release names of instructors and attendees at the nefarious WHINSEC, the trade school for torturers and murderers. So SOA Watch urges you to call Carl Levin (D-MI), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and urge him to ensure said amendment gets into the final version of the bill. Sen. Levin's number is 1.202.224.6221; alternately, you may use the Capitol's toll-free number (1.800.473.6711) and ask to be connected to Sen. Levin's office. You should identify the amendment by its four House co-sponsors (given above), and you may want to add that the amendment asks only for the release of the same information released to human rights organizations from 1946 to 2004. You may even want to add that folks who claim that American security will be compromised, etc., are either lying or paranoid, as we had only one major terrorist attack on American soil during all those years, and that attack happened because the President (sic) didn't do his job, not because thugs got ID'd.

Finally, True Majority provides another contact tool with which you may tell your government to rein in PATRIOT Act abuses. Sen. Leahy (D-VT) has introduced a bill reauthorizing expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act, but with only a few small improvements; the JUSTICE Act, a Feingold/Durbin production, would do considerably better. When the PATRIOT Act's "sneak and peek" warrants get used far more on drug cases than on terrorism cases -- and, worse, when the federal government doesn't seem upset by that -- you know it's bad. If you didn't already, that is.

the anti-enabling machine in full effect!

American Rights at Work focuses its laser beam on the Giumarra Vineyards Corporation, which apparently treats its grape-pickers like dung. According to eyewitness testimony, Giumarra forces grape-pickers to "race" each other in a grape-picking contest in 100-degree heat, then fires the "losers." They also force unpaid "time-outs" on workers who question their supervisors, while denying workers adequate water or shade or non-punitive break time as they work in the heat. And they have also told workers trying to unionize that they'll convert to a wine-making operation, which requires fewer workers. I can't say how serious they were about that one, since Giumarra picks about a tenth of America's table grapes, but still, a threat is a threat. The National Labor Relations Act doesn't cover farm workers, sadly, but it also doesn't prevent good citizens from heaping bad PR on bad corporations. So get heaping.

Meanwhile, right after Congress introduced legislation aiming to strengthen net neutrality rules new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has announced plans for stronger efforts toward that same end. So Free Press reminds us of their petition supporting net neutrality -- that is (for those of you here for the first time), the principle that you ought to be able to retrieve whatever file you like from the internet at the same speed as any other file, and that no corporation should dictate to you what you get faster. The petition has 1.6 million signers, and Free Press wants to get to 2 million. Don't underestimate the power of a large petition -- that was former Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) you saw standing next to a stack of petitions and letters in 2003 as he co-introduced anti-media consolidation legislation with Sen. Dorgan (D-ND). Net neutrality continues to enjoy actual bipartisan support (vs. the "bipartisanship" you see Mr. Obama constantly chasing in Washington), so pour on the people-power, that's what I say.

Finally, Planned Parenthood urges you to call your Senators and demand that they vote against any amendment to any health care reform bill that denies women the comprehensive health care they need. Maybe I'm not a team player if I mention the word "abortion," but frankly I think a single-payer plan (or whatever passable melange comes out of Congress) should cover abortions, since they're still legal. Certainly I'll mention the words "birth control," and no matter how we feel about it (I'm very much in favor of it, thank you), it's legal, and deserving of coverage under any health-care reform package. If the Jim DeMints and David "Diaperman" Vitters of the world want to keep standing in the way of a woman's access to her own damn good health, let's just call them what they are: haters. And let's stop coddling them, too.

post-modern sleaze.

S. 1699, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2009, would (as you might imagine) extend unemployment compensation in 23 states. Why only 23? Because those states have unemployment rates below 8.5%, and the House already approved a 13-week extension for the other 27 states. Only a Scrooge McSmallgovernment could possibly disapprove -- I mean, I can hardly consider unemployment payments a handout, even, given that corporations consider their workers a drain on their profits and can't wait to lay them off. NETWORK, the Catholic Social Justice Lobby (I never said I wouldn't start again!) provides the contact tool.

Meanwhile, the normally-estimable Nate Silver calls Glenn Beck a "post-modern conservative." If by "post-modern" he means "utterly incoherent," I might halfway agree. But the halfway I won't budge on is "conservative" -- Glenn Beck is a reactionary simple and plain; if he thinks something smells of Obama-ness, he's against it without thinking about it, except to dream up new ways of throwing everything-and-the-kitchen-sink at it. But I've got other bones to pick with this piece, too. Mr. Silver's dismissiveness of "consistency" in paragraph 4 insults those of us who strive honestly toward consistency, let alone those of us who achieve an honorable measure of consistency. And I'd like some proof, please, that Glenn Beck is "distrustful" of corporations. And that next-to-last sentence posits a false opposite -- really, are all conservatives either "spontaneous" a la Beck or "cooked up by a K Street thinktank"? Just because honest conservatives can hardly get on TV doesn't mean they don't still exist.

testify!

Now the Electronic Freedom Foundation provides a contact tool with which you may support S. 1686, the JUSTICE Act. S. 1686, as you may recall, would reform the widely-abused National Security Letter process and would repeal big telecom immunity from lawsuits for their participation in Mr. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. As the Senate Judiciary Committee considers the renewal of several about-to-sunset provisions of the PATRIOT Act, we must make our will known. And, by the by, don't expect much help from Mr. Obama on this matter. As light can be observed as both wave and particle, Mr. Obama's intransigence on Executive branch power matters can be seen as both a) the first flush of a man getting his hands on power and b) an Executive doing what he perceives to be "his job" of defending the law as it exists. Either way, that equals "no help."

Word on the street is that the Senate Finance Committee (why oh why is the Senate Finance Committee working on a health care reform bill again?) plans to vote on the public option today, and Keystone Progress provides a unique contact tool which blasts all the members of the Senate Finance Committee at once. Which I suggest you summarily hijack to express your own will -- which, in my case, is that the Finance Committee scrap its bill and adopt a single-payer health care system like the one described in H.R. 676. I think the bill is a big pile of suck, and I'm gonna tell them so. I'll reprint the entirety of my letter in the comments section.

Finally, for your enjoyment and edification, Bill Maher makes a New Rule, the main purpose of which is to excoriate our laziness in attacking the problems that face us. I've often said that we should have had Coxey's Armies marching on the Capitol day after day during the Bush era, and with Mr. Obama being such an incrementalist or whatever, it's no different now. Of course, I blame myself for not being one of these marchers. What stuck for me in Mr. Maher's rant, believe it or not, was this: "Did you know that we eat the same high-fat, high-carb, sugar-laden (expletive) that's served in prisons and in religious cults to keep the subjects in a zombie-like state of lethargic compliance? Why haven't Americans arisen en masse to demand a strong public option?...We're tired and our brain stems hurt from washing down French fries with McDonald's orange drink." Actually, I know all of this from experience: approximately 24 hours after I dramatically cut back on my carb intake during my late 20s, I felt much better about myself and became a considerably more effective person. I only regret that I didn't become effective enough to keep George W. Bush from stealing his way into office.

five little words.

If you've missed previous opportunities to support S. 1686, the JUSTICE Act, which would roll back many of the abuses of the PATRIOT Act, well, here are two more, one from the People's Email Network and one from CREDO. And I promise this sentence will have fewer commas. Prepare yourself for the nightmare scenarios from the "liberal" media (and Pravda TV) of terrorists climbing through your bedroom windows and strangling your babies in their cribs. You'll likely see many Democratic "centrists" and "independents" on these "liberal" media broadcasts. Don't listen to them. They generally don't know what they're talking about.

I've been getting plenty of action alerts demanding a timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan, as Sen. Feingold has advocated, but I'm not so much into timetables as I am into narrowing the mission -- get bin Laden, get out. So I'll continue not passing those action alerts along, and I'll instead suggest that you call your Reps and Senators and tell them those five little words after the dash in the previous sentence. This is a curious moment in the war's progression, as you know -- Gen. McChrystal wants more troops, while President Obama seems reluctant to send them. I see an opportunity for the people to take charge of this operation.

Finally, the National Equality March takes place in Washington, D.C. on October 11, 2009, and the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network urges you to attend. There'll be events the day before, too, but the main event is that Sunday at noon. Here's another incentive for you to attend: the Ravens, Giants, Cowboys, Panthers, Vikings, Eagles, Steelers, Bills, Falcons, Cardinals, Patriots, Jaguars, Colts, and Dolphins will all win their games that week. There -- now you don't have to watch the games. And here's yet another incentive: do you want to be outdrawn by the corporate-funded and Fox News-promoted teabagger rallies? Let's show the "liberal" media sixty or seventy thousand people who know why they're at a rally and aren't there because they got whipped up by corporate interests.

here's where the story ends.

The New York Times, as part of a series on the health care debate, published a lengthy piece essentially sliming the single-payer solution, even though polls still show solid majority support among the American people. Long story short: the article told us why single-payer was crazy and unworkable, and loaded up on sources (from across the ideological spectrum, supposedly) who tell you why single-payer is crazy and unworkable, with only George McGovern arguing why it's not. You may contact New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt, either at 1.212.556.7652 or at public at nytimes dot com, with your protests. I eagerly await the rhetorical contortions they'll employ in justifying their latest sack of crud.

Meanwhile, Sen. Murkowski (R-AK) has apparently proposed an amendment to the EPA's fiscal 2010 appropriations bill that would strip it of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from "non-mobile" sources for the next year. I guess she thinks (since she's what passes for a moderate these days) she'll split-the-baby -- she'll go after the easy target (cars) so she can protect the corporations (like coal plants) who do more than two-thirds of the polluting. But the right thing to do is still the right thing to do. So CREDO helps you oppose the Murkowski amendment. And don't get complacent counting on the Magic 59 Democrats in the Senate -- Sen. Begich will likely vote with Ms. Murkowksi, Hawaii's Democrats will also likely vote with Ms. Murkowski as they often do on these matters (Messrs. Akaka and Inouye were big ANWR drilling supporters, for example), and Mary Landrieu also generally votes with the oil interests, who would also very much like Mrs. Murkowski's amendment. And that's before we get to the rest of the Democrats' "centrists," who might claim Our Fragile Economy just can't bear any more regulation boo-hoo.

Finally, S. 1584/H.R. 3017, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, is up in Congress again, and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force helps you support it. I can live with Sec. 4 (f), since it doesn't specifically outlaw affirmative action for gays, but merely says ENDA doesn't "require or permit" it. And I have to live with the exemptions for religious organizations because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gives religious organizations similar exemptions. And of course I understand why the Armed Forces are also exempted -- don't-ask-don't-tell doesn't permit otherwise (separate legislation already introduced in Congress addresses that). But though ENDA's not perfect, it's good enough. 29 states currently permit firing employees who identify as gay and/or employees their boss perceives to be gay, and 38 states currently permit firing employees who identify as transgender. That's wrong and it needs to stop. End of story.

fake cost-containment, actual courage, and a promise kept.

Public Citizen helps you tell your Senators to keep medical malpractice suits in the courts, where they belong. The Baucus-led health care effort, in a putative effort to hold down costs, plans to experiment with "substitutes" for the civil justice system for medical malpractice cases. I would have the same problem with that as I do with forced arbritration -- corporations doing the arbitrating would want return business from other corporations (in this case, hospitals and health insurers), and so would usually rule in favor of said corporations. But think about what efforts like these say about our culture: they say we can't trust judges to judge, and that people with legitimate grievances against doctors and hospitals have to let themselves be screwed for the greater good. The Baucus/Obama "plan" demands no sacrifice from corporations, only people. I think we're better than that. Not only that, we already know ways of heading off problems before they become malpractice suits, and the Senate should work on that, not legislating yet another giveaway to their rich friends.

President Zelaya returned to the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras on Monday, and the illegitimate Micheletti regime responded to the news with a violent crackdown against thousands of pro-Zelaya protestors yesterday. The illegitimate regime has reserved the right to raid the Embassy to retrieve Mr. Zelaya. That means it's time to get on the phone to our Executive branch and demand that it condemn the violent crackdown already underway and call for the illegitimate regime to comply with international law by protecting the Brazilian Embassy and accepting the restoration of President Zelaya to office. The State Department's number is 1.202.647.4000, and the White House's is 1.202.456.1111. You may also find Mr. Obama's web contact page here. Might I add that the good citizens of Honduras show great courage? Both of the reports you view/read above will describe many instances of Hondurans refusing to back down in the face of Mr. Micheletti's strong-arm tactics. Good for them. I wish I were a tenth as brave as they are.

I said I'd pass along any email action alerts I received about S. 1686, the JUSTICE Act, and the ACLU has already come through with one. I believe the Senate Judiciary Committee is debating expiring PATRIOT Act provisions as we speak, so if your Senator serves on that committee, you'll want to contact them with a quickness; the Senate provides a list of those Senators here. But if your Senator is not on Judiciary, there's no harm in making him or her aware that you support the legislation.

busload of faith.

Our homey, Sen. Feingold (D-WI), has introduced S. 1686, the JUSTICE Act, in the Senate; broadly, S. 1686 would renew two PATRIOT Act provisions due to expire on December 31 and would scrap a third, and the bill would also repeal the big telecom immunity for warrantless wiretapping provided by the FISA Amendments Act. S. 1686 won't repeal the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act, which would be my preference. But it would fix a lot of problems. And with a Democratic President, 59 Democratic Senators, and a 70-plus seat majority in the House, the Democrats really have no excuses. I wonder where the massive opposition to the JUSTICE Act will come from. From the "liberal" media, perhaps? They'll squeal like pigs, as though terrorists will strangle you in your bedroom if S. 1686 passes. And, of course, don't forget the Executive Branch -- Presidents of any party don't like to give up any power, if they can help it. I'm sure I'll get email action tools about S. 1686, and I'll pass them along when I get them, but you can still call your Senator and support it today. They'll never see it coming.

Citizens for Tax Justice urges us to support progressive tax measures in order to make health care reform more affordable. I support progressive income tax measures on principle; I don't need health care reform to do that, and I won't support health care reform if it isn't single payer. But CTJ supports some good ideas -- ending the exemption from the Medicare tax for wealthy investors, and limiting itemized deductions for wealthy taxpayers, to name two. I'd rather do either of these than support the so-called "Cadillac" tax on health care benefits, which I think will open the door to taxing everyone's health care benefits eventually. You can find Finance Committee Senators listed here; clicking on their names will direct you to their Senate home pages, which will link, ultimately, to contact information (or you can use the Senate's general contact page provided in the upper left-hand corner of this page). The instant answer to "health care reform will cost too much"? "The Bush tax cuts cost more." Just so you know.

On the occasion of the apparent return of President Zelaya to Honduras, some 80 days after the Honduran military kicked him out, School of the Americas Watch provides a contact tool supporting H.Res. 630 condemning the coup and H.R. 2567, which would investigate human rights abuses connected to the School for the Americas. Many members of the Honduran military learned their "trade" at the SOA, and many others still train there. After that, you can still call the State Department at 1.202.647.4000 and tell State to legally define the de facto regime in Honduras as a military coup, to help reinstall President Zelaya into office without preconditions, and to ensure that the coup plotters will be held responsible for what they've done. These all seem like big jobs, and they don't always seem like they do a whole lot of good. But refusing to do them because they don't seem like they do a lot of good? That's not the attitude that got rid of slavery.

victims.

Pennsylvania residents, take note: Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) stopped a resolution recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month because, he said, it had a "homosexual agenda." Go ahead, read for yourself. You see it? Me neither. I'd started to think Republicans were just going to accuse anything they didn't like of having a "homosexual agenda," until an actual domestic violence worker suggested that what Mr. Metcalf could have really meant was that all domestic violence workers are man-hating lesbians. That just never gets old! And I guess, in his view, the approximately one in nine men who report suffering from domestic violence are all closeted homosexuals. Hear the sound of knuckles dragging on the ground? That's Daryl Metcalfe coming. Keystone Progress helps you protest his actions.

Meanwhile, Diebold plans to sell their voting machine business, Premier Election Solutions (sic), to its top competitor, Election Systems and Software. Normally, you'd jump for joy at the prospect of Die Bold getting out of the election-fixing business -- but the proposed sale would give ES&S, itself not exactly an innocent actor, almost three-quarters of the voting-machine market. Monopolies, or near-monopolies, just make everything worse: a monopoly or near-monopoly can virtually dictate terms to federal and state governments, and I don't want corporations dictating any terms to federal and state governments -- only the people get to do that. So Common Cause helps you oppose said deal.

and now for another exciting new edition of "meet the new boss."

The Obama Administration argued in a federal appeals court this week that the 600 detainees at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan don't have habeus corpus rights. Some of them have been held for up to six years, etc., with no charges filed against them, etc. You may recall that in the wake of Boumediene v. Bush, which held that detainees at Guantånamo have habeus corpus rights, Mr. Bush started moving detainees to Bagram. And Mr. Obama claims the right to keep doing that, though, as a Senator, he argued fairly passionately against it. Sigh. The ACLU helps you oppose this insanity.

Speaking of insanity, Unionvoice provides a contact tool telling the Senate Finance Committee to fix the Baucus health care bill so that it is not a boatload of suck. You can edit the tool to reflect your own values, of course -- it wants you to argue for a "public option," whereas I want to argue for single-payer. And don't think Mr. Obama has your back on this: the Baucus bill is basically a summary of everything Mr. Obama said he wanted in his speech last week (without the "public option," which wasn't going to be all that public anyway). If your appetite for insanity is insatiable, you can watch Senator Conrad (D-ND) talk about why Republicans should love this bill.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama's Justice Department has not moved on his stated desire to reverse a Bush Mobb rule permitting religious groups receiving aid from the federal government to discriminate on religious grounds when hiring. Number one, discrimination is wrong. Number two, you take federal money, you follow federal rules. Number three, Tha Bush Mobb's interpretation of the 1993 Religious Freedom Preservation Act is probably full of it. Did I mention discrimination is wrong? Anyway, this page helps you contact Attorney General Holder and communicate your thoughts. You can write a letter, call him, send an email, whatever you think is best.

Finally, I read a great letter-to-the-editor in my (very) local paper yesterday, written by one Richard DeMarco of South Philadelphia (scroll down to the bottom; it's the letter entitled "Pick the Right side"). This Richard DeMarco did more work writing that letter than most members of the cable news idiopunditry do in a calendar year. And don't anyone get snooty about the spelling of "delegitimize" (which could just as easily have been a typesetting error), when the punditoids commit larger errors of fact and rhetoric nearly every time they draw breath. I suspect Richard DeMarco makes less money than the punditoids. And yet that doesn't stop him from doing a citizen's work. Go figure.

beyond here lies nothin'.

California residents, take note: AB 260 would reform the mortgage industry in California, and yet there it sits on Mr. Schwarzenegger's desk. What's he waiting for? The main mortgage industry complaint, as you might have guessed, is that the bill would encourage frivolous lawsuits, as if they don't trust the justice system or something. But CALPIRG informs me that state regulators actually have the biggest beef with the bill, as if they didn't just help screw up the entire economy or something. Hard to believe someone has actually offended me more than the tort-reform crowd, but we are cursed to live in interesting times. CALPIRG has the contact tool.

I'm a bit confused by the latest Employee Free Choice Act email alert I've received from American Rights at Work. Senator Specter told an AFL-CIO convention that an EFCA "that will be totally satisfactory to labor" would pass. But given Mr. Trumka's recent remarks that card check might not be an absolutely necessary component of a passed EFCA, I feel compelled to wonder if Big Labor has moved the goalposts a bit. And sure enough, American Rights at Work tells you to call Sen. Specter (using the toll-free number 1.888.528.6450) and ask for this: "Workers who want a union must have a free choice and a fair path to form a union, free from intimidation." Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'm not actually seeing the words "card check" in there. I called Mr. Specter's office not long ago and asked for a clear answer about card check, and I think you ought to do the same. You may want to remind him that he supported a bill with card check during Mr. Bush's second term. (No, he hasn't responded to my inquiry yet, but I don't suspect he's lollygagging, either. Yet.) You can report your call here when you're done.

Finally, if you're a Facebook user (and if you're not now, you probably will be soon), the ACLU provides a quiz that tells you how much of your personal information and your friends' personal information you may be accidentally providing to third-parties. Short answer: you have no idea! Sure, they're probably using that info to sell you stuff -- but they may also be sharing that information with other people who may want to sell you stuff, or who may have more insidious aims in mind (hello, federal government!). It may seem odd to take a quiz in order to find out how much info quizzes can give out, but afterward I can just about guarantee you you'll be sharing less information willy-nilly, plus you'll have an opportunity to petition Facebook itself for more careful treatment of your personal information. (Full disclosure: the L-Word character who most resembles me, according to Facebook, is Alice. I was hoping for Tina. But praise the Lord it wasn't Jenny.)

couldn't get ahead.

I oppose Mr. Obama's health care plan, as he laid it out last week. Long story short: it's not single-payer. Long story slightly longer: at its best, it'll deliver universal, expensive, corporate health care coverage at prices the corporations will dictate absolutely, meaning you're no less likely to go bankrupt if God-forbid-something-happens-to-you. And you'd even be paying premiums for the "public" option, which begs the question: how on Earth is that "public"? When even the Father of Reaganomics supports single-payer, you know for sure that the government opposes its owners, the people. So the People's Email Network helps you send a very simple message to your elected Reps and Senators: "Any health care reform bill without single-payer is no reform at all." You can write a letter-to-the-editor from that page if you like. Don't worry; most of its readers will probably agree with you.

Rep. Nadler (D-NY) has introduced the Respect for Marriage Act; I can't get a text for the bill at thomas.loc.gov yet, but apparently the bill would repeal the Defense (sic) of Marriage Act, which denies gay couples over a thousand protections married couples get -- protections like the ability to file joint taxes, take unpaid leave to care for a partner, and receive surviving spouse benefits under Social Security. And no, the Respect for Marriage Act doesn't force churches to marry gays. You're going to hear that from the Emptiest Wagon of Our Public Discourse, so I thought I'd say it first. CREDO has one contact tool and Keystone Progress has another, just for Pennsylvania residents, of course.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering: the "liberal" media did treat the D.C. teabag fest this past weekend a whole lot better than they treated the considerably larger anti-war protest in D.C. in 2002. No doubt they wanted to protect themselves from charges of "bias," though they ought to explain how actually practicing bias protects one from charges of bias. Heckuva job, "liberal" media -- I mean, letting the know-nothings have more say than everyone else has worked so well for us so far.

of unearned money, unearned "rights," and unearned honors.

Congress has returned to "work," and so Free Press reminds us to ask your House Reps to support H.R. 3458, the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2009. The Astroturf groups (NetCompetition.org, the American Consumer Institute, the Internet Innovation Alliance) are trying to convince our House Reps that free markets are for corporations, not consumers. But H.R. 3458 would keep the Internet free for consumers by preserving our ability to view any web page we like, without some corporate gatekeeper delivering whatever they like (i.e., the content of their corporate "partners") more quickly to your computer.

Meanwhile, the Arbitration Fairness Act (H.R. 1020/S. 931) would essentially outlaw forced arbitration contracts in civil rights, consumer, employment, and franchisee disputes, though it would still permit voluntary arbitration to resolve disputes. Corporations sneak forced arbitration language into contracts, as you probably recall, so that you can't redress grievances through the courts -- and, perhaps not coincidentally, the courts will almost certainly be more impartial than some arbitration mill trying to get repeat business from the corporations you're fighting against. So Public Citizen helps you support this bill. We've got the momentum on our side -- two large banksters (Bank of America and J.P. Morgan Chase) have dropped forced arbitration clauses from their credit card contracts, and the National Arbitration Forum agreed to close its massive consumer arbitration practice after a lawsuit from the Minneosta Attorney General. But let's not get complacent!

Finally, even the Father of Reaganomics, Paul Craig Roberts, thinks America should adopt a single-payer health care system, mainly because the corporations have botched things so badly. Mr. Roberts's endorsement would be quite a coup for our side -- in an America that actually honored conservatives. Unfortunately, this America coddles reactionaries and gives them the unearned honor of the mantle "conservative." Nonetheless, I'll mention Mr. Roberts's endorsement anyway, since I still dream of an America without an insane pundit class. Mr. Roberts has the same big problem I have with the Obama plan -- the individual mandate essentially preserves big corporation profits, which doesn't reduce costs. I don't think mandating everyone's participation in the high-cost, corporate health care system is a better way than Canada's way. Hell, I don't think it's better than England's way.

science!

S. 619, the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, does pretty much what it says it'll do -- limit use of antibiotics in agriculture. I understand the American Veterinary Medical Association opposes S. 619, essentially claiming that the science isn't conclusive -- but, as this veterinarian suggests, they may be speaking less for their membership and more for their corporate partners. Besides which, the common sense is conclusive: too many animals these days ingest too many antibiotics pre-emptively, which makes for multiple generations of sick animals and stronger bacteria. The Union of Concerned Scientists provides the action tool.

Meanwhile, Monsanto and Dow win FDA approval for a kind of Frankencorn supposedly so herbicide- and bug-resistant that corn yields could increase by 5 to 10 percent. That doesn't mean world hunger will reduce by 5 to 10 percent, but Big Corn doesn't even bother with that argument anymore. And the risk of genetically-modified plants hurting the people who consume it, or spreading out and contaminating other plants? Apparently that risk sounds no alarms, either to the FDA or Big Corn. Tha Bush Mobb FDA used to be stacked (dare I say SmartStacked?) with the sort of "conservative" who thought everything business did was A-OK, and not the sort of conservative who would warn against introducing genetically-modified plants without fully understanding their effects. I'm sad to see, eight months on, that the false "conservatives" haven't all left. And Big Corn still has its iron grip over American politics.