Everybody Knows with Dr. Bob and Dan-o
Increasing wealth and income inequality in the United States is the great moral and economic issue of our time. It speaks to whether we will be a nation with a vibrant and growing middle class, or an oligarchic form of society in which a handful of incredibly wealthy families control our economic and political life.
In America today, the top 1% owns 38% of our country's financial wealth. The bottom 60% owns all of 2.3%. In the last several years, 95% of all new income has gone to the top 1%. Sadly, we recently learned that in 2012 the top 40 hedge fund managers in the country earned $16.7 billion dollars, as much as 300,000 public school teachers combined -- almost a third of all high school teachers in America. How's that for national priorities!
In America today, the top 1% owns 38% of our country's financial wealth. The bottom 60% owns all of 2.3%. In the last several years, 95% of all new income has gone to the top 1%. Sadly, we recently learned that in 2012 the top 40 hedge fund managers in the country earned $16.7 billion dollars, as much as 300,000 public school teachers combined -- almost a third of all high school teachers in America. How's that for national priorities!
This Tuesday, February 11th, is The Day We Fight Back (against mass surveillance) -- and we need your help to make it as impactful as it can be.
This will be BIG. This will be the biggest day of action against dragnet NSA surveillance in history. This will be The Day We Fight Back.
Do you remember two years ago when the Internet went dark to fight toxic legislation in Congress that would have crippled freedom on the Internet—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)—and we won?
Click here to learn more and to sign up to take part.
We understand the United States to be a democracy, founded upon a Constitution that affords us critical rights, and governed by the rule of law.
Yet for years, the NSA has exploited secret legal interpretations to undermine our privacy rights -- thus chilling speech and activism, and thereby threatening to subvert the very underpinnings of our democracy itself.
This Tuesday, February 11th, thousands of websites and organizations are joining together to demand an end to mass spying.
This will be BIG. This will be the biggest day of action against dragnet NSA surveillance in history. This will be The Day We Fight Back.
Do you remember two years ago when the Internet went dark to fight toxic legislation in Congress that would have crippled freedom on the Internet—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)—and we won?
Click here to learn more and to sign up to take part.
We understand the United States to be a democracy, founded upon a Constitution that affords us critical rights, and governed by the rule of law.
Yet for years, the NSA has exploited secret legal interpretations to undermine our privacy rights -- thus chilling speech and activism, and thereby threatening to subvert the very underpinnings of our democracy itself.
This Tuesday, February 11th, thousands of websites and organizations are joining together to demand an end to mass spying.
Eleven-hundred workers in eastern Ohio are trying to regain their jobs because AEP is increasing unaffordable rates to electrical consumers like Ormet, the company where these workers had jobs. Workers shouldn’t be caught in the middle of corporate greed.
Will you join us at our phone banks at the Ohio AFL-CIO (395 E. Broad St, Columbus) to call Union members and working families, to demand fairness for workers, from AEP?
Good jobs---with family-sustaining pay, retirement security, and healthcare---are at risk, and AEP, the Public Utilities Commission, and Gov. Kasich all have a hand in this. Politicians who are attacking jobs with so-called right to work are not even acting to save good, Ohio jobs. Our phone banks will talk with union members and allies about keeping these workers on the job and we will connect them by phone with an AEP office to leave a message that working families and electricity users don’t accept this.
What: Phone banks to Save Ohio Jobs & Beat Back Right to Work
When: Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 4:00pm - 6:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Ohio AFL-CIO, 395 East Broad St, Columbus
Will you join us at our phone banks at the Ohio AFL-CIO (395 E. Broad St, Columbus) to call Union members and working families, to demand fairness for workers, from AEP?
Good jobs---with family-sustaining pay, retirement security, and healthcare---are at risk, and AEP, the Public Utilities Commission, and Gov. Kasich all have a hand in this. Politicians who are attacking jobs with so-called right to work are not even acting to save good, Ohio jobs. Our phone banks will talk with union members and allies about keeping these workers on the job and we will connect them by phone with an AEP office to leave a message that working families and electricity users don’t accept this.
What: Phone banks to Save Ohio Jobs & Beat Back Right to Work
When: Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 4:00pm - 6:00pm and 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: Ohio AFL-CIO, 395 East Broad St, Columbus
As of the 21st, Citizens United has reached it's "fruit & flowers"
anniversary - four years of degrading our electoral process, one attack
ad at a time.
Super PACs and special interest groups spend millions of dollars to influence elections. We often don't know where they get the money. We don't know what their true motivation is. Yet they spend enough cash to put their agenda front and center, while middle class families in Ohio - the ones that don't have a million dollars to spend on campaigns - get drowned out.
I bet Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are celebrating today. You could have bought a sports team -- or maybe a small tropical island - with the amount of money their affiliated groups spent on the last election. BUT WE’RE GOING TO USE TODAY TO REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO STAND AGAINST CITIZENS UNITED.
On this anniversary, I'm teaming up with some of my colleagues to gather 400,000 signatures on our petition to end the effects of Citizens United. JOIN US - SIGN THE PETITION RIGHT NOW.
Super PACs and special interest groups spend millions of dollars to influence elections. We often don't know where they get the money. We don't know what their true motivation is. Yet they spend enough cash to put their agenda front and center, while middle class families in Ohio - the ones that don't have a million dollars to spend on campaigns - get drowned out.
I bet Karl Rove and the Koch brothers are celebrating today. You could have bought a sports team -- or maybe a small tropical island - with the amount of money their affiliated groups spent on the last election. BUT WE’RE GOING TO USE TODAY TO REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO STAND AGAINST CITIZENS UNITED.
On this anniversary, I'm teaming up with some of my colleagues to gather 400,000 signatures on our petition to end the effects of Citizens United. JOIN US - SIGN THE PETITION RIGHT NOW.
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Next Tuesday, January 21 is the fourth anniversary of the United States Supreme Court Citizens United vs. FEC decision, a key decision in the expansion of personhood rights for corporations. Coordinated by Move to Amend of Central Ohio, a number of local groups will hold a gathering to rally public support in opposition to this decision.
The rally is scheduled from 11am until 2pm. The activities will start at the ProgressOhio offices at 172 E. State St. near N. 4th St. at 11:00am in downtown Columbus with socializing and networking followed by a feed to hear national MTA spokesperson, David Cobb at 11:30. After the online conversation with Cobb, at around noon, attendees will march to the West side of the Ohio Statehouse on High Street near the McKinley statue to be addressed by local speakers supporting the opposition to Citizens United. Prominent among the speakers are Pat Marida of Sierra Club addressing environmental effects of corporate personhood and Jon Beard of the Columbus Coalition for Responsive Government.
My name is "Sue," and I work at Staples. I can't tell you my full name because I'm afraid I'll lose my job for what I'm about to tell you: Staples recently decided to cut part-time employees' hours just so they won't have to provide health care benefits under Obamacare.
Staples is taking advantage of a loophole in the health care law that says employers don't have to provide coverage for employees who work less than 30 hours a week. Staples also told managers to hire more part time workers if they need people to cover the schedule.
Cutting employees' hours just to avoid paying for health care is not right. I can't afford to make less money than I do now without taking on another job. That's why I started a petition on Change.org asking Staples to not cut part-time employees' hours and comply with Obamacare. Will you join me by signing my petition?
Staples is taking advantage of a loophole in the health care law that says employers don't have to provide coverage for employees who work less than 30 hours a week. Staples also told managers to hire more part time workers if they need people to cover the schedule.
Cutting employees' hours just to avoid paying for health care is not right. I can't afford to make less money than I do now without taking on another job. That's why I started a petition on Change.org asking Staples to not cut part-time employees' hours and comply with Obamacare. Will you join me by signing my petition?
This week, Boehner helped aggressively spread the story of a New York man unable to cover his toddler on his new family insurance plan through the Affordable Care Act.
Turns out that, despite coverage in the New York Post, the man's appearance on Fox, and Boehner's posts on his website and Twitter account, the man was simply mistaken—he'd typed the wrong number when listing his family members. "100% false," as a spokesman for New York's Department of Health said. "Of course, everyone is covered in the family policy."
This is just one of many mistaken, falsified, or debunked stories being spread since the rollout of the new health care exchanges. The difference this time? Boehner has yet to apologize, edit the post on his website, or even delete the tweet he posted. He's apparently standing by this story.
But it's one thing for the media to settle for bad journalism—it's another for the nation's most powerful lawmaker to go around perpetuating lies. Can you join other MoveOn members in publicly calling on Boehner to apologize?
Turns out that, despite coverage in the New York Post, the man's appearance on Fox, and Boehner's posts on his website and Twitter account, the man was simply mistaken—he'd typed the wrong number when listing his family members. "100% false," as a spokesman for New York's Department of Health said. "Of course, everyone is covered in the family policy."
This is just one of many mistaken, falsified, or debunked stories being spread since the rollout of the new health care exchanges. The difference this time? Boehner has yet to apologize, edit the post on his website, or even delete the tweet he posted. He's apparently standing by this story.
But it's one thing for the media to settle for bad journalism—it's another for the nation's most powerful lawmaker to go around perpetuating lies. Can you join other MoveOn members in publicly calling on Boehner to apologize?
"Pass the gravy and petition, please."
Families and friends will hear that this week at Thanksgiving Dinner tables across the state. That's because Marriage Equality supporters in Ohio want to help us collect One Million Signatures for Marriage so that voters can repeal Ohio's 2004 Marriage Ban next year.
Will you help us reach that goal?
If so, just click here to get your petition and simple instructions on "how to" collect signatures on the petition. It's super easy and frankly, I think you'll find that equality is pretty yummy!
Thanks for giving your time and attention to helping us winning marriage equality in Ohio.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and friends.
Best regards!
Ian James
FreedomOhio
Families and friends will hear that this week at Thanksgiving Dinner tables across the state. That's because Marriage Equality supporters in Ohio want to help us collect One Million Signatures for Marriage so that voters can repeal Ohio's 2004 Marriage Ban next year.
Will you help us reach that goal?
If so, just click here to get your petition and simple instructions on "how to" collect signatures on the petition. It's super easy and frankly, I think you'll find that equality is pretty yummy!
Thanks for giving your time and attention to helping us winning marriage equality in Ohio.
Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family and friends.
Best regards!
Ian James
FreedomOhio
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It’s not too late to offer employee giving at your workplace through Community Shares of Mid Ohio. During workplace giving campaigns, Community Shares collects donations for its coalition of more than 50 nonprofits. Each individual donor selects a charity or group of charities to receive their donation based on which organization is working on the issues and causes they care about most in their community.
These donations have been beneficial to many of the member nonprofits of Community Shares. Contributions from employees at workplaces across Columbus and Central Ohio have allowed: NNEMAP Food Pantry and Neighborhood Services to purchase food for local residents in need, Habitat for Humanity – MidOhio to acquire supplies to build homes for families in need and to revitalize neighborhoods, WrightChoice prepare students with a disability for internships and employment and many more services from great local nonprofits.
“Employee contributions through our workplace giving campaigns are a great way to connect individuals to their community,” Teresa Trost, Executive Director of Community Shares of Mid Ohio explained. “It really is like a layaway program for giving back.
FAST FOR FUKUSHIMA: Today, Monday, November 11, many of us will begin our first "Eleventh Day Fast for Fukushima." Along with so many others, I won't be eating from dawn to dusk. I will do liquids. But the fast will be meant to honor the victims of this horrible disaster, and to focus our efforts on finding ways to survive it.
The fast comes exactly 32 months after the disaster began. Many of us will fast again each 11th day of the month until Fukushima ceases to threaten the health of the planet, which will almost certainly take a long long time. Hopefully the fasts will be good for the planet's health as well as our own.
NEW PETITION: Many of you wrote noting I omitted the link for the new petition from Arnie Gundersen, asking Tepco be removed from Fukushima.
Here it is
We already have 715 signers, and hope for many many more.
The fast comes exactly 32 months after the disaster began. Many of us will fast again each 11th day of the month until Fukushima ceases to threaten the health of the planet, which will almost certainly take a long long time. Hopefully the fasts will be good for the planet's health as well as our own.
NEW PETITION: Many of you wrote noting I omitted the link for the new petition from Arnie Gundersen, asking Tepco be removed from Fukushima.
Here it is
We already have 715 signers, and hope for many many more.