Monday, April 18, 2011

Fracking Chemicals Cited in Congressional Report Stay Underground

More detail on the hazards of fracking for natural gas, which was exempted from oversight by the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2005. This industry is largely unregulated and industry has refused to identify many of the chemicals used in the process. 
http://www.propublica.org/article/fracking-chemicals-cited-in-congressional-report-stay-underground

Corporations, Special Interests Lobbying Taxes to Death

A report by the Center for Responsive Politics on the massive lobbying against taxation by American businesses in the past year.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/04/businesses-may-hate-taxes-which.html

Big Soda Uses Philanthropy to Silence Opposition, Neutralize Soda Taxes
http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2011/04/10628/big-soda-uses-philanthropy-silence-opposition-neutralize-soda-taxes

They May Have Citizens United But We Have Netizens United

This is the transcript from Representative Edward Markey's (D-MA) speech last week at the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform in Boston. It's a good read and inspiring too.
http://www.thenation.com/article/160012/they-may-have-citizens-united-we-have-netizens-united

The EPA chooses sprawl over urban sustainability

The EPA has chosen a new regional headquarters in Kansas City that will greatly increase greenhouse emissions from that federal facility, in contradiction of an executive order signed by Obama in 2009.
http://www.grist.org/sprawl/2011-04-18-epa-chooses-sprawl-over-urban-sustainability

In Wisconsin, Efforts To Recall Senators Gain Steam

The threat of recall may well be one of the most powerful tools for activist citizens to shape the political behavior of their state, and in the future, federal representatives. The efforts to recall Wisconsin State Senators who supported Gov. Walker's anti-union bill now has enough signatures to force a recall election for a fourth GOP Senator in the state.
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/135517029/in-wisconsin-efforts-to-recall-senators-gain-steam?ft=1&f=1001

Democrats to File Recall Petitions Against Luther Olsen
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/18/968071/-Wisconsin-recall:-Democrats-to-file-recall-petitions-against-Luther-Olsen?utm_

Needed: A Better Ruling Class

"At other moments in our history, the informal networks of the wealthy and powerful who often wield at least as much influence as our elected politicians accepted that their good fortune imposed an obligation: to reform and thus preserve the system that allowed them to do so well. They advocated social decency out of self-interest (reasonably fair societies are more stable) but also from an old-fashioned sense of civic duty. “Noblesse oblige” sounds bad until it doesn’t exist anymore."
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/needed_a_better_ruling_class_20110417/?utm_

Got Fairness?

This report highlights price-fixing in the commodities market that has devastated small farmers and enriched large distributors, in addition to shining a light on Land O' Lakes aggressive lobbying support for RGBH growth hormone and other GM crops.
http://www.panna.org/blog/dairy-farmers-demand-fairness-chicago-merc

Thousands Prepare to Protest Big Polluters outside the White House

The US Chamber of Commerce is a shameful promoter of the fossil fuel industry and spends hundreds of millions lobbying deregulate greenhouse gas and chemical pollution into the atmosphere.
http://www.350.org/en/about/blogs/thousands-prepare-protest-big-polluters-outside-white-house

The WikiLeaks News & Views Blog for Monday, Day 142

This column provides a regular update on WikiLeaks-related developments related to the organizations mass release of secret government communications, and how this information is, and is not, being used by media groups around the world. Greg Mitchell also supplies a host of useful links revealing details, resources and events related to the transparency movement.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159990/wikileaks-news-views-blog-monday-day-142

For Tax Day, US Uncut Asks Americans to Hold Corporate Tax Dodgers Accountable

There will be demonstrations in over 100 US cities today organized by US Uncut designed to put pressure of corporate tax dodgers to pay their fair share of taxes. In NYC the rally will be at the main Post Office across from MSG on 33rd St and 8th Avenue at 5pm and I'm going to be there to support this action.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/159996/tax-day-us-uncut-asks-americans-hold-corporate-tax-dodgers-accountable

9 Things The Rich Don't Want You To Know About Taxes

A detailed breakdown of how the tax burden has been distributed in the US since 1980, and how it has been disproportionately carried by the working poor despite stagnant wages during the past thirty years. Since 1980, the average income of the bottom 90% of wage earners has risen only $303 or 1%. Trickle down, supply-side economics have been enriching the wealthy and failing the rest of the country for more than a generation now and it's still dominating our political discourse!
http://wweek.com/portland/article-17350-9_things_the_rich_dont_want_you_to_know_about_taxes.html

FLASHBACK: Ronald Reagan Raised Corporate Taxes To Force Tax Dodgers To ‘Pay Their Fair Share’
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/04/18/ronald-reagan-corporate-tax/