OBOF TYMHM & MORE Vol 15 - No 5

OPINOINS  BASED  ON FACTS (OBOF)

&

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)

YEAR ONE

YEAR TWO

YEAR THREE

YEAR FOUR

YEAR FIVE

 

OBOF YEAR FIVE INDEX
OBOF TYMHM	Jan. 07, 2015
OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 1	Jan. 19, 2015
OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 2	Feb.  03, 2015
OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 3	Feb.  23, 2015
OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 4	March 02, 2015
OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 5	March 06, 2015

 

Agenda

1.  Full funding DHS.

2.  TPP helps business - hurts us.

3.  Nation wide action opposing TPP.

4.  Free 84 Beagles from cruel treatment.

5.  Taxpayer funded abuse to Farm animals.

6.  USDA: Ban dangerous pig drugs.

 

 

 

NOTE FROM FLOYD:

 

Posting 15-4 was posted just 4 days ago.  If you happen to read this on Saturday the 7th, you might miss 15-4.  So, be sure to go back to it.

~~~

Boehner caves, Pelosi triumphs

as

House passes 'clean' Homeland Security funding bill

 

by Kerry Eleveld

Tue Mar 03, 2015

 

FROM FLOYD:

 

I guess I called it right in my posting 15-4 when I said that it was felt that a clean bill to fund DHS to the end of the physical year would pass if it were brought to a vote.  It happened a little sooner than most thought it would, but it happened just as Minority Leader Pelosi said it would. 

 

I do want to give Boehner credit when it is due.  Many in his caucus, even some of his allies, are ridiculing him and saying he is a very weak leader.  However, some are pointing out that it appears he has decided not to govern by crisis and do what is best for the country.  I, for one, hope that is what is happening.  To me, it seems he is starting to take the same road of governing as Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R).

~

 

 

Speaker John "there's no deal" Boehner finally yielded to House Democrats and the saner members of his caucus, holding a vote to pass a "clean" bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security through September 30.  The bill passed, 257-167, with Democrats providing a boost of 182 votes.  Not a single Democrat voted against the bill.

 

With the conclusion of this Homeland Security debacle, two things have become clear: 1) the House Democratic Caucus under the leadership of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has the ability to dictate policy by remaining disciplined and cohesive; 2) the House crazy caucus will ensure the relevance of Pelosi and House Democrats.

 

What brought us to the point of considering this bill was a brilliant strategic move by Pelosi and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer to rally against Boehner's feckless attempt last Friday to pass a bill that funded Homeland Security for only three weeks.  Theoretically, that would have given his caucus time to figure out how they could finally unite and turn back President Obama's 2014 immigration actions.  But Pelosi denied Boehner the votes to make that possible—losing only 12 members of her caucus in the effort to kill the bill, while Boehner lost fully 52 of his members in his attempt to approve the measure.

 

After that vote failed, Pelosi later encouraged her caucus to vote for the one-week funding bill, saying it would ensure a vote on the clean bill this week.  Here's the closing line of her "Dear Colleague" letter last Friday:

 

Your vote tonight will assure that we will vote for full funding next week.

 

Boehner flat-out rejected the notion Monday that some sort of deal was made.

 

Whatever the case, Pelosi's assertion proved correct, her caucus remained united, and now we'll get to see if the Republicans have any agenda at all beyond shutting down the government.

~~~

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Helps Big Business and Hurts Us We Need Members of Congress  to Oppose the TPP!   The TPP Is a Secretive, Pro-Big Business Trade Deal Dear Floyd, Do you think corporations should be writing our laws? If not, keep reading to learn more about the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and then send a message to Congress to stop the bill that would fast track the TPP. What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and why is it a secret? The TPP is being called NAFTA on steroids.  It's a pro-big business trade deal — the largest in history — and it's been negotiated in secret since 2008 among 600+ corporate "advisers." Congress couldn't even see the draft until 2013, and while they now have very limited access to the text, they can't discuss it with anyone. So while companies like Goldman Sachs and Monsanto have been writing the deal, our elected representatives and the public have been shut out.¹ What's so bad about trade deals like the TPP? Pro-big business trade deals like the TPP are designed to boost the profits of multinational corporations, but they do so at the expense of middle-class citizens and our environment. One of the most concerning aspects of the TPP is a key provision (called the Investor State Dispute Settlement, or ISDS) that would allow companies to sue local governments over democratically enacted laws that they claim hurt their profits.² Under a similar trade deal, Quebec, Canada is being sued by a company for $250 million over the province's moratorium on fracking. How would the TPP affect jobs? The U.S. lost 700,000 jobs under NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) alone. We've continued to ship jobs overseas with each trade agreement we've entered into, and the TPP would likely be more of the same. The TPP could also increase the number of workers in sweatshop conditions in places like Vietnam and Malaysia that already have huge problems with unsafe, unfair and low-wage labor conditions. How would the TPP affect issues I care about? The TPP touches a range of issues affecting the safety of our food and water. The oil and gas industry wants to use these trade deals to start exporting fracked gas to Japan, which would increase fracking here at home and expose more local communities to water pollution. These deals would also increase the flood of imported foods — especially for chemical- and antibiotic-tainted farm-raised shrimp and catfish. Local food initiatives like farm-to-school programs could be deemed “trade barriers,” and efforts to label GMOs could be threatened. Who supports the TPP and who's opposed? Lobbyists for big business and the elite in Washington are in support of trade deals like the TPP. Food & Water Watch and a long list of allies are opposed because it is not in the best interests of the public to pass this trade deal.  We're working with groups like Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, Communications Workers of America and many more to stand up for people over corporate profits. To stop the TPP, we need to stop the Fast Track bill that would expedite its approval and limit public input even further.  Send your members of Congress a message asking them to oppose the bill that would Fast Track the TPP. There's a lot wrong with our current political system, but we've reached a new low if we allow corporate special interests to write our laws. Our position is simple: people matter more than corporate profits. Take action to oppose the TPP. Thanks for being with us, Katy Kiefer Activist Network Manager Food & Water Watch katy(at)fwwatch(dot)org ~~~ Real Democracy Movement Launches Nationwide Actions Opposing Pacific Trade Deal Authors: Occupy.com Published: March 4, 2015 Last Thursday, the FCC cast its historic vote on Net Neutrality guaranteeing a free and open Internet. Simultaneously, as Congress reconvenes after the congressional recess, they are preparing to bring Fast Track of the Trans-Pacific Partnership up for a vote.  The Rolling Rebellion for Real Democracy is confronting these two current issues of people power versus corporate power that will have a major impact on people’s lives.   Firstly, the issue of Net Neutrality.    A people-powered movement has convinced the FCC to reclassify the Internet to ensure equal access for all without discrimination.  Kevin Zeese of Popular Resistance notes that “Net Neutrality is essential for the exercise of Freedom of Speech in the 21st Century. Now the telecom companies are trying to convince their puppets in Congress to undermine the FCC’s decision and once again, the people are fighting back.” Secondly, TPP and Fast Track. For three years a movement opposed to secretly negotiated corporate trade agreements has stopped Congress from giving President Obama Fast Track trade authority. Fast Track would allow him to sign these secret agreements and then push them through Congress without hearings or amendments, with only brief debate on and an up-or-down vote. These trade agreements are structured solely in the interest of corporate gain.  The TPP and Fast Track are bringing together odd bedfellows like in Spokane, Wash., where Tea Party members and Occupiers are coming together in opposition.   Eleanor Goldfield, a musician with Rooftop Revolutionaries and activist with the Rolling Rebellion, says passage of the TPP and Fast Track would “turn corporate personhood into corporate nationhood by creating international court systems and trade tribunals that allow corporations to challenge laws enacted by countries in the interest of public health, safety and justice.”   With this sovereignty, corporations would hold sway over nearly every facet of our lives, from food to Internet access.  As Julian Assange wrote, “If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.”   In the month of February, people protested at the grassroots level, combining their efforts into a national movement for equal access Internet and against secret trade deals.  Years of organizing have brought these issues to a head.   Now, activists have been mobilizing throughout the congressional recess and coordinating high-visibility actions in cities from coast to coast.  In Washington and Oregon, a “Fair Trade or BusTour” complete with hand-painted murals and packed with constituents visited undecided members of congress. In San Diego, Calif., community members took to highway overpasses to deliver representatives their message emblazoned on LED light panels.   Across the U.S., activists used guerrilla light projection to illuminate monuments and building facades with slogans like “Don’t Let Comcast Choke Your Freedom,” “No Slow Lanes, Open & Equal Internet For All,” and “TPP Dismantles Democracy – StopFastTrack.com.”  Multiple protests occurred at telecom companies like Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner Cable, who are second only to defense industries in the amount that they spend lobbying and buying favors from representatives who are supposed to serve We The People. Read more at Occupy.com. ~~~ FROM FLOYD: Due to problems in transferring the next articles from the internet, the open space that follows can't be closed up.  Please continue to scroll down. ~                 Right now beagles are suffering in painful and often fatal drug tests at a CARE Research laboratory in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The dogs are housed in such horrible conditions and treated so poorly that at least three dogs have been found dead in their cages. It's widely known that testing drugs on animals leads to substandard results — there are much more modern, effective research methods available.  Methods that don't harm innocent animals! The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is working hard to put an end to CARE Research's outdated and inhumane testing methods.  They've filed complaints for the unexplained death of three dogs and partnered with top medical professionals to launch advertising campaigns urging CARE to shut down these experiments…But the fight isn't over yet. PCRM has doctors and veterinarians on their side — but they need more compassionate people like you to help free the 84 beagles owned by CARE Research! Tell CARE Research to stop testing on innocent beagles — sign the petition today!                 ~~~ Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abuses of Farm Animals          The NY Times recently exposed horrific animal abuse at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska. The taxpayer-funded federal facility allowed thousands of animals to starve to death, locked pigs in steam chambers until they died, and left newborn lambs to starve, freeze, or get battered to death by hail. How were these abuses permitted?  Because this facility, and others like it, fall under a loophole in the Animal Welfare Act and are therefore exempt from this law. I was shocked to learn that my tax dollars were being spent on animal cruelty and abuse.  Please join me in making it clear to lawmakers that we won't stand for this! Thanks to some of our elected representatives on Capitol Hill, there is hope for animals in agricultural research facilities. New legislation termed "The Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors (AWARE) Act" (HR 746/S 388), would protect animals used in these facilities by closing the loophole.  Now we need to convince other decision-makers to join in and pass this legislation. Urge your Senators and Representative to cosponsor the AWARE Act as it makes its way through Congress. ~~~  USDA: Ban this dangerous pig-farming drug!   Farmers in the U.S. are giving pigs a dangerous drug, ractopamine, to make them gain weight faster. Ractopamine has left thousands of pigs in intense pain, unable to walk, and even dead. Plus, traces of the drug make their way into pork products that we eat. Let's act now to get this harmful drug off the market. Sign the Care2 petition urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to ban ractopamine today! Ractopamine has been linked to nearly a quarter million harmful incidents in pigs - more than any other animal drug.  Yet instead of banning the drug, the U.S. is expanding its use. While 60 to 80 percent of pigs are already getting ractopamine, now many beef producers are starting to use it too. China, Russia and the European Union have already banned ractopamine for animals being raised for consumption.  If they can do the right thing, so can the U.S.! The USDA is getting pressure from the meat industry to keep ractopamine on the shelves, so they need to hear from us too. Let's convince the USDA to protect farm animals and human health by banning ractopamine - sign the Care2 petition today! ~~~ If the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again next week.  Have a good week-end.   God Bless You All & God Bless the United States of America   Floyd