No Secret Pardons for Bush Administration!

Tell Congress to pass a Pardons Disclosure Act to prevent President Bush from issuing secretive, blanket pardons to members of his administration


For eight years, we have been forced to sit by helplessly as President George W. Bush and top members of his administration eviscerated the Constitution, broke federal laws, and defied the will of Congress.


Now, President Bush is poised to give each and every one of his accomplices -- from Dick Cheney to Karl Rove to Alberto Gonzales -- a full pardon, ensuring that they will never receive the punishments they deserve for their activities. Worse, Bush may issue a preemptive “blanket” pardon, covering all officials within his administration without disclosing either the names of the officials involved or the crimes for which they are being absolved.


Congress can, however, stop this most objectionable action before it occurs. The American Freedom Campaign has proposed a Pardons Disclosure Act, which would force the president to specifically name any political appointees for whom pardons are granted along with the crime or crimes for which they are being pardoned.


Please tell your representatives in Congress to support a Pardons Disclosure Act, by filling out your information below and clicking on “Send My Message!”


http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26316

Media Still Letting Bush Lie on Iraq Inspectors

ABC, WaPo fail to challenge president's misinformation

12/2/08

In a December 1 interview with ABC anchor Charles Gibson, George W. Bush gave a grossly erroneous history of the run-up to the Iraq War--a false version of events that Gibson failed to challenge and the Washington Post glossed over the following day...It is troubling that Gibson would not challenge Bush on this fundamental misrepresentation of reality--and that the Post would let Bush's lie go unreported.

ACTION: Ask ABC and the Washington Post to clarify--and fact-check--Bush's statements on the prelude to the Iraq War.

For details, go to:

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3657

Our Ultimate Chance. Big Auto's Last Chance.

...There are 3 things we need to ask our representatives in DC to demand from the auto industry if they are to take $25 billion of our tax dollars.

1. We will not pay if you pollute!
The Big 3 (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) must commit to being the most fuel-efficient fleets on the planet. Mandate a fleet-wide fuel economy of 50 mpg by 2015.

2. Give us clean options!
Each of the Big 3 (Ford, GM, and Chrysler) must commit to producing 1 million Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) by 2012 and 3 million PHEV’s by 2015.

3. Create green industry!
Commit to retooling the entire industry to produce these vehicles and lead the way into a new green economy.



http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/703/t/6396/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=384

MASSIVE WAVE OF IMPRISONMENTS IN BURMA/Send a Message to UN Secretary General

Nearly every day, Burma's military dictator Than Shwe is sending dozens of human rights activists to long terms in prison. Those sentenced to many years behind bars include poets, actors, comedians, students, journalists, volunteers who helped victims of Cyclone Nargis, hip-hop artists, and members of the political party of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. These sentences are the biggest news to come out of Burma in a long time, and we have been posting all the news about the arrests on our blog.
More importantly, we are working around the clock to galvanize a strong international response. Here is some examples of what the Burma movement has done so far:
We are pressing the United Nations Security Council to convene an immediate, emergency meeting on Burma in order to impose an international arms embargo on Burma's military regime


Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kay Bailey Hutchison, leaders of the United States Senate Womens' Caucus on Burma -- which includes all the women in the U.S. Senate -- issued a demand for the arrests to stop


Our members have sent thousands of messages to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urging him to travel to Burma and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Burma (mystifyingly, the Secretary General has done basically nothing about this crisis -- so keep sending those messages)


We have been providing the news media with round-the-clock updates on those sentenced to long prison terms in Burma. There have been thousands of news articles on the arrests


A coalition of 40 organizations sent a letter to the leaders of the Southeast Asian countries urging them to demand the release of all Burmese political prisoners at the upcoming ASEAN summit on December 15th in Thailand. This meeting represents a strong opportunity for Asian leaders to tell the Burmese military regime that the sentencing of political activists must stop


Members of parliament from all over Asia are galvanizing a strong effort (more on this coming soon...)


Many world leaders are preparing a major push to free all political prisoners in Burma (more on this coming soon...)


Our allies throughout the world have successfully pressed the governments of the United States, the UK, Estonia, Slovakia, Germany, Canada, and the European Union to condemn the arrests
We have much more work to do and you are going to see some even bigger actions in the weeks ahead, but we wanted to let you know some of what we are doing. And, we wanted to thank you because none of our work would be possible without your support.
Sincerely,

Aung Din, Jeremy Woodrum, Jennifer Quigley, Jacqui Pilch, Michael Haack


Support 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma:



http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1407

Take Action: Help Save America's Fisheries

We can reverse the economic and environmental disaster of overfishing.

That's the encouraging conclusion of Oceans of Abundance, a new report by two dozen scientific, economic, political and environmental leaders.

By widely deploying a fisheries management program called "catch shares," we can make fish more abundant and fisheries more profitable—for generations to come.

You can support this vision for better fishery management.

Send an email today: Urge the National Marine Fisheries Service to adopt the recommendations from our Oceans of Abundance report.


http://action.edf.org/campaign/oceans_of_abundance

Get Started with Community Investing

You and your institution can have a social impact with your investments. Community Investing provides resources and opportunities for
lower-income communities, along with competitive financial returns.

This website contains what you need to add Community Investments to
your portfolio, and helps you choose from many high quality options in this expanding asset class.


http://www.communityinvest.org/

Let’s do it right! Restore the wetlands. Protect the people.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, the Army Corps of Engineers is still dragging its feet when it comes to restoring the wetlands destroyed by MR-GO. In fact, the Corps says it will take at least two years to even come up with a plan! Click here to comment on the MR-GO draft plan and tell the Corps to get to work fixing the wetlands.

http://action.healthygulf.org/t/6826/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26195

Convict Bush/Cheney

Please add your name as an individual or organization to a petition demanding impeachment if Bush pardons himself or his subordinates by registering / logging in, and then signing the petition.

How to indict Bush, Cheney, et alia, at the state or local level for murder or attempted murder.

How to make a citizen's arrest of a war criminal.

How to contact the International Criminal Court.

How to pass local resolutions and ordinances.

How to stop false pardons.

Other law suit possibilities.

Play our theme song by Pat Scanlon.

Buy an ARREST BUSH Shirt.

Watch video of September 2008 conference in Andover, Mass.

Coming soon: Mandamus: How you can ask a judge to order a prosecution, and how we can all do so on the same day in a national action. It's been tried in Minnesota with this writ, yielding this refusal.

Coming soon: How to use a state initiative to create an independent prosecutor.

Coming soon: How to prosecute international crimes in Florida and other states that allow common law criminal prosecutions.


http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=taxonomy/term/15

URGE MEDIA TO ARCHIVE ALL EXIT POLL RESULTS

Please take action to urge the media to report the unadjusted exit polls for the 2008 election.

Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International will again conduct all exit polling in 2008 for the National

Voters should be provided with the unadjusted exit polls and if adjustments are made to the final polls they should be explained publicly. Major media outlets are urged to archive all of the interim exit poll results to allow independent analysis later. Election integrity advocates must push for greater transparency since large-sample exit polls can and should be used be used to audit vote totals.

When the U.S. government audits the vote in a foreign country, the tool of choice is always a large-sample exit poll, which will identify problems in the vote totals. Yet, in the United States, even with the documented problems we have had in voting , our own government does not use the best tool available.

News and political divisions of the major networks must plan to archive all of the preliminary exit poll results since the overall survey will quickly be adjusted by the vendor to match the published vote totals, and will thus no longer be useful as an audit of the integrity of the vote totals.

The letter demands that the unadjusted exit polls be made public, that the preliminary exit polls be archived and that any adjustments be explained so that the National Exit Poll can be used as a tool to audit the election results.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1331/t/6410/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26158

We The People

Unless we see ourselves — individually and collectively – as the engine for real societal reform – no matter how hard that may be to imagine given our developed habits of disengagement — our vote on election day is wasted.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/27/we_the_people/

Don't Allow Coal Companies to Annihilate Streams

The Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of approving a proposal that would allow coal-mining companies to dump mining waste directly into flowing streams, filling in the streams entirely and destroying all the life in them. Since 1983 the Stream Buffer Zone rule has prohibited mining within 100 feet of flowing streams, but now the Bush administration and the Office of Surface Mining are trying to push through an under-the-table, last-minute effort to remove this protection. If the EPA approves the repeal, it will be perfectly legal for coal companies to blow off the top of a mountain, then dump the waste straight into streams, killing the rare salamanders, fish, and other species that live in Appalachian waterways. EPA Administrator Johnson could make the decision at any moment, so time is critical. Please take a minute to tell the EPA not to approve the Stream Buffer Zone revision, and pass this alert along to as many of your friends as possible.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26129

Tell Congress to Break Up Milk Monopolies

Over two years ago, the Department of Justice started an investigation into anti-trust violations by Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the company that picks up over a third of the milk from U.S. farms. The DOJ has never released the findings of their investigation and we need Congress to shine some light on what is going on in the dairy industry.

Tell the House and Senate Judiciary Committees it’s time for them to conduct hearings into anti-competitive behavior by dairy giants like DFA.

http://action.foodandwaterwatch.org/t/741/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26126

States are not providing adequate voting equipment, machines, stations and staff

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1331/t/6410/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26109

In 2004 tens of thousands of voters were denied their right to vote in Ohio when election officials provided inadequate voting machines in African American communities. Some people waited in line to vote for longer than 12 hours. Many thousands of others gave up and did not vote. This alone may have been enough to change the outcome of the 2004 election.

Well, it’s happening again.

A recent report indicated that college-age and African American precincts in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia will not have sufficient numbers of voting machines or election staff to handle the number of voters expected on Election Day. Help us to let these officials know that tens of thousands of people are watching their actions and documenting what occurs on Election Day. Even if you do not live in these states it is important for these officials to hear from you. They need to know they will be held accountable for their actions. This action is being taken in concert with a coalition of organizations working under the banner “No More Stolen Elections.” See www.NoMoreStolenElections.org.

Click and send a letter to the governor, congressional delegation (House and Senate), the secretary of state as well as election administrators where questions have been raised about the adequacy of the number of voting machines and staff.

Please take action now.

Say NO to the Gulf Council's unsafe plan for Open Ocean Fish Farming

We all love to eat fish, and we know that much of the fish we love is in high demand. Because of this demand, more and more fish are grown in huge, unsafe, and often overcrowded cages in open ocean waters called offshore fish farms, or aquaculture. In our decades of work, we have learned some tough lessons about offshore aquaculture, and unfortunately those lessons are about to be ignored by fishery managers in the Gulf of Mexico. I need your help to urge them not to go forward with their unsafe plan. Here's why:

Salmon farming has taught us a lot about the risks involved with offshore aquaculture. With so many fish packed closely together in open ocean cages, disease is much more likely. Without a doubt, some fish escape and transfer these diseases, such as contagious sea lice, to wild populations where the affects can be devastating. Studies show that some salmon populations may go extinct and most wild fish populations are declining in areas where salmon farming occurs.

Sadly, the fish farming plan proposed by Gulf fishery managers fails to protect against these substantial risks and many others. We need strong and smart national standards that will protect every part of our ocean BEFORE aquaculture moves forward in the Gulf … or any of our nation’s waters.

We must protect the health of our ocean and the environmental interests of the public before expanding fish farming in our ocean. This approach is absolutely essential to helping balance our growing demand for healthy seafood with the needs of protecting our ocean and our coastal economies.


http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11607&JServSessionIdr001=3uw4525ut2.app44b

Equal Pay for Equal Work

The Paycheck Fairness Act will make filing a discrimination claim easier, provide protection for workers who blow the whistle on pay discrimination, and strengthen the Department of Labor’s efforts to ensure fair pay for all workers.

http://www.pay-equity.org/info-leg.html

IUF Challenges Job Destruction at Nestlé, Unilever on World Day for Decent Work

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The IUF is targeting the systematic, programmed destruction of permanent work at two major food TNCs - Nestlé (the world's largest food company) and Unilever (number 3) - as unions worldwide highlight the menacing spread of precarious work on October 7 - World Day for Decent Work.

Casual, insecure, subcontracted jobs are not an accidental byproduct of the constant redefinition of "core" business, or the search for "flexibility". The destruction of permanent work has become a major pillar of corporate human resources strategy, implemented to fund record dividends and share buybacks in the name of "shareholder value". Alongside their brands, the companies are manufacturing insecurity. Precarious jobs are corporate policy for shrinking and ultimately extinguishing the number of workers who retain a direct employment relationship with the corporations whose products they manufacture - and with whom they can negotiate their terms and conditions of employment. Precarious work is union busting.

Nestlé and Unilever have been brutally and systematically eliminating permanent work while touting the virtues of job creation and "corporate social responsibility." Behind their famous "billion dollar brands" the former Nestlé or Unilever worker has been increasingly replaced by an abusive system of outsourcing, casualization, "temporary" hiring and "co-packing" which is steadily eliminating the use of permanent employment contracts.

To highlight the leading role of these two food giants in destroying decent work the IUF is launching two new websites.

Nestlewatch and Unileverwatch are interactive sites with translation toolbars for multi-language use. We've launched them to challenge these companies' systematic cultivation of insecure, precarious work, to put a corporate face on the process of job destruction, and to assist in fighting back.

http://www.iuf.org/cgi-bin/dbman/db.cgi?db=default&uid=default&ID=5399&view_records=1&ww=1&en=1

Tell Congress: You Deserve a Better Bailout!

When the House of Representatives rejected a financial bailout package on Monday, Congress had an opportunity to address objections to the proposal and ensure the rights of Main Street were protected. Instead, the Senate hastily added provisions - many wholly unrelated to fixing the economy - that caused the bill to balloon to a colossal 451 pages. Most legislators haven't had the time to read or understand it.

This is an outrage! Public Citizen opposes this bill. If the bill is enacted, we will urge Congress to return to this issue immediately after the New Year, re-regulating the finance industry and providing needed consumer protections and relief.

Write your congressional representatives TODAY and tell them to oppose H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as passed by the Senate.

http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26039

No Bailout for Big Oil!

Lobbyists from Big Oil have snuck more corporate welfare into the Wall St. bailout package-- this time for Big Oil's dirtiest forms of oil production. Take action now!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/790/t/7370/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26042

Stop Putting Special Interests Ahead of the Public Interest

Don't let Congress sidestep their responsibilities. Demand that any bailout bill include oversight over how our tax dollars are being spent!

Please join us in telling Congress that any bailout bill must:

* Be completely transparent about how our tax dollars are being used.
* Include strict oversight over the actions of the Treasury Secretary. The current proposal gives unprecedented, unlimited authority to the Treasury Secretary, and makes his decisions non-reviewable by any court of law or administrative agency. The lack of oversight is what's gotten us into this mess; Congress should not compound the problem.
* Include provisions to help families who are in danger of losing their homes avoid foreclosure.
* Cap the pay of CEOs of the bailed out companies. As ordinary Americans struggle to make ends meet and taxpayers are asked to shoulder this $700 billion bailout, the CEOs responsible for these problems should not be receiving million-dollar bonuses and golden parachutes.
* Ensure that, when the bailed out companies become profitable again, some portion of those profits will be returned to the public treasury. This cannot turn into a public debt for private profit situation.
http://www.commoncause.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4559581&auid=4054358

Tell the Senate not to drill our coasts!

On September 16, the House of Representatives rushed to pass a bill that would end the current moratorium on oil and gas drilling on the outer continental shelf posing a permanent threat to our oceans. Now the Senate is moving to consider the House passed bill along with a number of other proposals that would result in drilling our oceans and coasts.


Please take action now and tell Congress not to drill our coasts.
http://takeaction.oceana.org/t/6438/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=25177