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
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OBOF TYMHM
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Jan. 07, 2015
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 1
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Jan. 19, 2015
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 2
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Feb. 03, 2015
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 3
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Feb. 23, 2015
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 4
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March 02, 2015
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 15 - No 5
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March 06, 2015
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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.
~~~
as
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!
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 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 Who supports the TPP and who's opposed? Lobbyists for big business and the elite in 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
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
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.
~
Stop Taxpayer-Funded Abuses of Farm Animals
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Floyd, Another well presented balanced article giving facts to those who want to try to help steer our government in a better direction
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