THE NO HOLDS BARRED WAR ON CHRISTMAS & Can A Scrappy Gang Of Republicans Save Christmas For A Million Unemployed People? 6DEZ13

THE political party that launches an annual propaganda campaign about the "war on Christmas" is guilty of waging (GASP!) war on Christmas. The unemployment rate is still 7%, tens of millions of Americans who want to work can't find jobs. We are still in a recession. But the gop / tea-baggers who claim to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ are insisting unemployment benefits for the tens of millions of unemployed in the U.S. will not be extended. Benefits for 1.3 million of these people will end on 28DEC13 unless Congress passes an unemployment benefits extension, more will loose their benefits after the new year. Please sign this petition telling Congress to pass an unemployment extension before they go on their holiday break. 

Ever gotten a dirty look for wishing someone "Happy Holidays"?

It's the same story every year. December rolls around, and the next thing you know Bill O'Reilly and FOX News get to work raising the blood pressure of conservatives everywhere, telling tall tales of how evil liberals won't let them sing carols or display nativity sets. And every year, most of those stories turn out to be false -- not that it ever deters the talking heads from telling them.

Well, this year there is a real "War on Christmas"; and it's not being waged by the ACLU or the Democratic Party. This year, the Republicans are playing Scrooge, robbing 1.3 million people across America of desperately needed unemployment benefits right in the middle of the holiday season -- and setting the stage for robbing millions more of the same benefits later.

Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi stood up for the unemployed in a big way, saying she won't support any budget deal in the House that doesn't guarantee these crucial benefits. But Republicans refuse to extend them. Congress is scheduled to go on holiday break in just a few short days, and if they don't reach a deal benefits will be completely cut off on December 28th, sending people who are already in a tough place scrambling for income even as temporary holiday jobs disappear and more people find themselves without work.

Nothing could be more heartless -- or less in the spirit of the season. Tell Republican leaders in Congress to end their "War on Christmas" and extend unemployment benefits now.

When it comes to Christmas, Republicans talk a big game, but sometimes it's hard to tell if they understand what holidays are really about. Regardless of what you call them or how you choose to observe them, the holiday season is about family. It's about community. It's about lifting up people who are struggling and taking care of each other. And that's what makes this situation so appalling.

I know that getting Republicans in Congress to act is always a long shot, but if we can get them to move on anything, it's this. After all, at the end of the day, even the Grinch had a heart. And deep inside, Republicans know that at this time of year especially we should be showing each other compassion and care -- not taking from those who really need it.

So this holiday season, let's come together to tell Republicans enough with the Scrooge act -- end your "War on Christmas" and give millions of people the gift of financial security over the holidays.

Thank you for standing with us,
Jim
Jim Dean
Chair, Democracy for America 
WASHINGTON -- A coalition of House Republicans is preparing a letter to send to their party's leadership pleading for an extension of long-term unemployment insurance, a rare positive sign for the plan's legislative prospects.
The members are currently trying to pick up additional signatures for the letter, which may be sent to leadership either Friday or Monday, according to a House aide. A spokesman for Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) told the Las Vegas Sun and confirmed to The Huffington Post that the congressman would be among those signing on. Several sources said Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) is leading the effort, meanwhile, but Gibson's office ignored requests for comment.
At a time when Congress appears unlikely to pass an extension of federal unemployment benefits before they expire on Dec. 28, a show of support from members of the House majority could provide a bit of a boost. Still, the prospects of an extension passing seem low, meaning benefits for 1.3 million long-term jobless Americans will likely stop abruptly after Christmas.
Moments after the Labor Department announced on Friday that the economy had added 203,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate had fallen to 7 percent -- the lowest level in five years -- House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) seemingly dismissed the need for an extension of federal benefits.
"Today’s report includes positive signs that should discourage calls for more emergency government 'stimulus,'" Boehner said.
Boehner's spokesman, Brendan Buck, would not say whether the speaker was referring to unemployment insurance specifically. Instead, Buck referred The Huffington Post to a statement Boehner made on the matter Thursday -- before the jobs numbers were announced -- in which he promised to look at a proposal if it were put forward by the president.
"I am not the expert [on the issue]," Boehner added. "Talk to the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee."
The White House has not produced a proposal, though the president's team has tried to amplify pressure on Congress by releasing state-by-state data on the impact a lapse in unemployment insurance would have. The administration also referenced the need for an extension in its response to Friday's jobs report.
House Democrats, meanwhile, put forward a budget plan that includes a $25 billion extension of unemployment insurance, a provision that would be paid for by funding IRS tax collectors to go after delinquent taxpayers.
Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced standalone legislation to reauthorize the benefits as well. But an extension is more likely to pass if it's included in the budget deal currently being negotiated in a bicameral conference committee. Those negotiations will continue to take place over the weekend, led by Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). One congressional aide familiar with the talks said the inclusion of unemployment insurance in the final deal was "still an open item," likely to be resolved with input from the chambers' respective leaders.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/06/unemployment-benefits_n_4399549.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the whole federal social safety net are on the chopping block 16NOV13

THE ongoing federal budget negotiations present a stark difference in the priorities of Progressives and repiglicans / tea-baggers. There is a real possibility the Obama administration will consider accepting a grand betrayal and give in to demands that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits be cut, the retirement age be raised, SNAP (food stamps) be cut while corporations continue to receive tax breaks for sending American jobs overseas. For people in Virginia our two Senators, Tim Kaine D and Mark Warner D sit on the banking committee. Here is a letter (that you can add your comments in) from the AFL-CIO telling them to reject the repiglican / tea-bagger budget and to demand the federal social safety net, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid funding not be cut. Click the link no matter who your Senators are (it will find them with your zip code) to send your letter. We can win this battle, but only if we remind our Senators who elected them and tell them what we want.
Have you ever seen a movie, thought it was awful and then been horrified to learn there was actually going to be a sequel?

That’s how I feel about yet another looming fight over our country’s budget. “The Budget Battle: The Sequel No One Wants” is not a movie anybody wants to see.

But House Republicans are insisting we watch it. Their hostage-taking has forced a sequel of the same manufactured debt crisis they tried to hype last year. Right now, Republicans on the Budget Committee—like committee Chair Paul Ryan—are trying to get Democrats to keep the job-killing sequester in place and agree to even more austerity pain by cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

Even if your Senators don't serve on the Budget Committee they can stop these shenanigans. Tell them to oppose any plan that includes benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, does not repeal the sequester and keeps tax breaks for corporations that outsource jobs overseas.

Just like last year, House Republicans want to put the 99% on the chopping block and bail out the billionaires and millionaires who already take too much from this country. But we don’t have to let these Republican extremists write the script to this sequel.

We can do it and make it a blockbuster hit that everyone will want to see. We can make sure it features an end to job-destroying fiscal austerity—the repeal of sequester. We can give a starring role to any lawmaker who supports no cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits, period. And we can expose the villains who get $600 billion in tax breaks given to their companies for sending their business overseas for the next 10 years and the members of Congress who support them.

Let’s get to work on creating the sequel to the budget battle that working people, not extremist lawmakers and their corporate funders, want to see.

go.aflcio.org/no-bad-sequel

In Solidarity,

Damon
----------------------
Damon Silvers
Policy Director, AFL-CIO
 

PETITION TO CONGRESS DEMANDING THEY RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE 15NOV13

POLITICS aside, this is a petition calling on john boehner r OH, the US House majority leader, to secure enough votes from his party in the House to pass legislation raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation. Federal social safety net programs have been slashed by sequestration and more cuts are being threatened in the current budget negotiations, leaving many working poor suffering, unable to survive on their current wages. Though this petition is from the DSCC it is pretty non-partisan, the goal is to get one million signatures to show Congress the American people support raising the minimum wage. Click the link to sign....
https://www.dscc.org/-/minimum-wage 

Dems who need pressure, a call to action on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid 22OKT13

TWO prominent Democrats in the US Senate are laying the groundwork for Pres Obama and the Democratic caucus in the US to betray the American people who elected them to office. Both Sen Dick Durbin D IL and Sen Mark Warner D VA have gone on national TV and stated there will have to be "adjustments" made to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid in the upcoming budget negotiations with the repiglicans and tea-baggers. They are willing to sacrifice the retirement security and the health care of the disabled to satisfy the greed of the same people in congress who shut down the federal government earlier this month. The same people who don't represent the best interest of the people who elected them or the American people as a whole, but who represent the wealthy and corporate interest who bought  and paid for their elections to congress. The decision has already been made for another grand betrayal, and the propaganda campaign has started to sell it to the American people. See my earlier post Government Close Down - Another Grand Betrayal in the Works? 4OKT13
http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/government-close-down-another-grand.html
Below is a call to action from the PCCC / Progressive Change Campaign Committee to hold all Democrats who promote, support and vote for cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid accountable, including supporting Democratic challengers when they are up for reelection and not volunteering for or contributing to their campaigns. Click the link to sign the pledge.
Sen. Mark Warner keeps saying he's open to cutting Social Security. And he's negotiating for Democrats with Paul Ryan!
We're preparing to fight back during the upcoming months of negotiations.
Sign the pledge to take action against anyone -- Democrat or Republican -- who wants to cut Social Security.
More below... -- Adam

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Sunday on CBS's Face the Nation, Sen. Mark Warner said: "We all know at the end of the day...Democrats are going to have to give on entitlement reform."

This is coming from one of the Democrats picked to negotiate with Paul Ryan and hash out a budget.

We need to pressure Sen. Warner on his home turf to stop pushing for a Grand Bargain that cuts Social Security.

Can you help us fight against Warner and other Democrats who push for benefit cuts? Sign the pledge to take action and hold Democrats accountable.

Sen. Warner has a bad habit of pre-emptive caving on Social Security. Days before the government shutdown, Warner told CNBC, "Democrats are gonna have to give on entitlements." He was wrong.

This broken record needs to find a new tune. We must expand benefits for seniors and veterans, not cut them.

Starting next week, we want to organize Warner's Virginia constituents, generate local media events, and flood his office with pressure from constituents.

Pledge to take action against benefit cuts and ensure that Sen. Warner and any Democrats who follow his lead hear loudly from their constituents -- click here to sign.

Some groups won't name names of Democrats who need pressure. We just did because, with Social Security at stake, progressives need to pressure the right people.

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

-- Adam Green, PCCC co-founder

On Fox News Sunday, the second ranking Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin said he was open to cutting Social Security and explained:

"Social Security is gonna run out of money in 20 years. The Baby Boom generation is gonna blow away our future. We don't wanna see that happen."

Huffington Post points out, "Social Security will not run out of money in 20 years. The program currently enjoys a surplus of more than $2 trillion."
We expect false facts and a push to cut Social Security benefits from Republicans, but not from Democrats like Dick Durbin.
Senator Durbin is on the key committee for the budget talks, and negotiations begin soon. That's why he needs to hear from us now.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Kimberly Fountain, Campaign Director