Judge Blocks a portion of the NDAA
The highly-controversial indefinite detention provision signed into law by the President at the end of last year has been ruled unconstitutional by a U.S. District court judge in New York. The provision allows the military to detain anyone indefinitely if they are suspected of associating with terrorists – whether they realize it or not.Why is it legal for foreigners to write our laws?
House Republicans plan to vote on House Resolution 568 – which calls on the President to take our nation to war should Iran even become capable of building a nuclear weapon - without building one. The resolution also takes containment – like sanctions and diplomacy – off the table as an adequate response to a nuclear Iran – leaving military action as the only possibility.
So, despite U.S.Could a lawsuit put an end to the Senate filibuster?
The organization Common Cause filed suit today against the United States Senate claiming current filibuster rules are unconstitutional. In a statement released today – Common Cause President Bob Edgar said the abuse of the filibuster by minorities on both sides of the aisle – especially Republicans – is, “an affront to our democracy and not the way the Senate was supposed to work.”
Citing a previous Supreme Court decision ruling tThe Euro crisis, and the revolt against trickled-down austerity, enters a new phase
Europeans stocks are tumbling and investors around the world are keeping a close eye on Greece as the Euro crisis enters a new phase. On the heels of elections that ousted the pro-austerity government in Greece – new anti-austerity parties have – so far – been unable to form a coalition government. Greek President Karlos Papoulias is desperately trying to bring together party leaders for a meeting today in hopes of finding a coalitVermont will soon become the first state to ban Fracking
Last week – the Vermont House and Senate passed legislation outlawing the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, which poisons ground water and leads to earthquakes. Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin is expected to sign the bill into law when it reaches his desk.The GOP controlled House of Representatives fights back against marriage equality
On the same day that President Obama and the nation took a major step forward toward marriage equality – Republicans in the House of Representatives tried to drag the nation backward. Hours after the President’s endorsement of marriage equality – House Republicans passed a measure in support of the discriminatory Defense Against Marriage Act – known as DOMA – which is a federal ban against same-sex marriage.
The RepublicanMost Americans now disapprove of the Afghanistan War
No more war! That’s the message the American people are sending as approval for the Afghanistan war has now dropped to an all-time low. A new AP poll shows that only 27% of Americans support the war – that’s a ten-point drop from one year ago.
On the flip-side two-thirds of Americans are opposed to the war – and 40% say they are “strongly opposed” to the war. So far – 1,834 U.S.Up to $14 of every tank of gas you fill up is the result of oil speculation
Americans are getting screwed at the gas pump. But it has nothing to do with supply and demand or instability in the Middle East. Instead – it has to do with corruption. As investigative reporter Lee Fang at the Republic Report uncovered – a slew of lobbyists are working on behalf of Wall Street to shoot down regulations intended to curb oil speculation.
Bart Chilton, a commissioner with the Commodities FuturesA Socialist wins the French Presidency, and Greece is likely to quit the Eurozone
In votes across France and Greece over the weekend – Europeans sent a very clear message to the technocrats and banksters choking them with trickle-down austerity. That message was, “No more!” In France – Socialist candidate Francois Hollande – who campaigned against austerity – defeated Conservative President Nicholas Sarkozy in elections on Sunday. In his victory speech, Hollande told the French people that “austerity can nThe importance of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (trade) Agreement
American manufacturers are screwed. House Democrats sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday asking him to reconsider a new free trade agreement in the works that would blow up “Buy America” provisions that give priority to American manufacturers. Since the 1930’s – a “Buy American” law has been on the books that gives preference to American manufacturers bidding for government contracts. But the new Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement would essentially end the preferential treatment – giving no edge to American manufacturers over foreign manufacturers.
Why Should Gun Nuts Violate the Rights of the Average Person?
Florida Governor Rick Scott thinks it’s a good idea to arm up the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this year. With an eye on safety, the city of Tampa has banned foreign objects like crowbars, water guns, and string. The battle between grassroots organizing and big corporate money is heating up in Wisconsin
A new poll by Marquette Law School shows Governor Scott Walker and likely Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett, in a dead heat among registered voters in the upcoming recall election. The poll shows Walker losing popularity among voters as his numbers have declined each month since January.
At the same time – Walker has dumped millions into TV advertising and announced that he raised a mind-boggling $13 million for his campaignExacerbated by trickle-down austerity, the Eurozone unemployment rate has risen to 10.9%
The European economy is tanking – and trickle-down austerity is to blame. New unemployment numbers show the 17-nation Eurozone now has its highest unemployment rate ever, at 10.9%. And, the two nations with the highest unemployment rates – Spain and Greece – just so happen to be the ones most hooked on austerity.
In Spain, budget cuts and massive government layoffs have driven up the unemployment rate to the EurozoneMay Day: A Day Without the 99% - Occupy General Strike In Over 135 US Cities
Workers of the world are uniting in a global day of action to commemorate International Workers Day. In hundreds of cities across America and around the world in London, Barcelona, Toronto, Kuala Lampur, and Sydney – there are calls for a general strike with no working, no shopping and no banking. The Occupy Movement here in the United States is branding it as a day without the 99%.
In response – Wall Street banks areCould CISPA be worse than SOPA?
Microsoft is now rethinking its support for the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act – better known as CISPA – which passed out of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last week. CISPA allows for the sharing of information between the government and private online companies to stop possible cyber security threats. But since the bill is overly-broad on what exactly is a “cyber security threat” – there’s real c10 People Fund the Best Democracy Money can Buy!
The oligarchs are making their voices heard this election. A new analysis of SuperPAC donations by the Center for Public Integrity finds that just ten donors are responsible for one-third of the $202 million of SuperPAC money so far this election. Of those ten donors – seven are individuals and four are billionaires. Leading the way is casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who’s dished out $26.5 million so far – mostly on NeIf we don’t change our ways soon...
A new report by the Royal Society, chaired by Nobel prize-winning biologist Sir John Sulston warns that world population must be stabilized and consumption in wealthy nations must be reduced or the entire planet is in big trouble. As the report reads: “The number of people living on the planet has never been higher, their levels of consumption are unprecedented and vast changes are taking place in the environment. We can choosTwo years of trickle-down austerity has The U.K. officially in a second recession
The U.K. is officially in a second recession as the British economy shrank for the second straight quarter. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron whose government has been pushing trickle-down austerity for nearly the last two years called the new economic numbers, “very, very disappointing.” The U.K.The blowback against Austerity rages throughout Europe
The continental rejection of austerity continues in Europe. In the Netherlands – the Dutch government coalition collapsed on Monday – after lawmakers failed to agree upon a series of austerity measures. And in Ireland – the nation’s largest trade unions are pressuring the government to vote against more austerity measures being pushed by Germany.
These latest protests – coupled with the early electoral defeat of French PresidThe Worldwide Recession & Austerity has led to Global Unemployment & Civil Unrest
The United States isn’t the only nation dealing with chronic unemployment – the rest of the world is too! A new report by the World Bank says that the global economy needs to create 200 million jobs to recover from the worldwide recession and reach full employment. Twenty-seven million jobs were lost around the world when the economy went in the tank in 2008 – and subsequent job growth hasn’t been nearly strong enough to keep up wit
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