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Venomous attacks on President Obama’s plans for health care and clean energy.

August 7, 2009 Energy, Health Care, Obama, U.S. Law and Policy No Comments

Dear MoveOn member,

It’s getting ugly out there.

All across the country, right-wing extremists are disrupting congressional town-hall meetings with venomous attacks on President Obama’s plans for health care and clean energy.

Last night in Tampa, Florida, a town hall meeting erupted into violence, with the police being called to break up fist fights and shoving matches.¹
A Texas Democrat was shouted down by right-wing hecklers, many of whom admitted they didn’t even live in his district.²
One North Carolina representative announced he wouldn’t be holding any town-hall meetings after his office began receiving death threats.³
And in Maryland, protesters hung a Democratic congressman in effigy to oppose health-care reform.⁴

We’ve got a plan to fight back against these radical right-wingers. We’ve hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama’s agenda for change. And we’re building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one.

But we need to scale up our efforts quickly to make sure this plan works. To really swing into action during this month’s congressional recess, we need to raise at least $250,000 immediately. Can you chip in $20 to support our work?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/august.html?id=16748-9659800-yeA0K3x&t=1

If the shouts of the right-wing mobs are the only voices our senators and representatives hear over the recess, we’ll have a hard time passing health care and clean energy legislation.

That’s why we’re launching our Heat Up Congress campaign so quickly to fight back, using new technology to implement rapid response town hall turnout, organizing personal phone calls from small business leaders and donors to their representatives, running new ads, and activating an energized network of on-the-ground organizers and volunteers.

This month could decide the future of health care and clean energy in America—and we’re already one week in. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, now’s the time to get involved. Talk to your neighbors, go to a town hall meeting—and today, please chip in $20 to support our work:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/august.html?id=16748-9659800-yeA0K3x&t=2

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Matt, Nita, Kat and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Tampa Town Hall On Health Care Reform Disrupted By Violence,” The Huffington Post, August 6, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51727&id=16748-9659800-yeA0K3x&t=3

2. “Local Fox Reporter Attends Town Hall And Finds ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District,’” Think Progress, August 4, 2009
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/04/gene-green-townhall/

3. “Dem Congressman’s Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill,” Talking Points Memo, August 5, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51724&id=16748-9659800-yeA0K3x&t=4

4. “The Danger Over the Right’s Anger,” Politico, August 3, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51726&id=16748-9659800-yeA0K3x&t=5

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes

March 13, 2009 Energy, Obama, Solving Global Warming, Taxes No Comments

This email showed up yesterday.
I know I have been slow with the general updates, but the news was making me a bit crazy.
On the advice of a family member I took a news sabbatical, and am now only slowing getting back to paying attention in more detail.

Ok here is newsletter:

Sign the petition
Dear MoveOn member,

Think oil companies should pay their fair share of taxes? So does
President Obama.

In his budget, the President has proposed cutting billions of dollars in
unfair subsidies and tax loopholes for oil and gas companies, to help pay
for critical priorities like clean energy and green jobs.1 After all, they
don’t exactly need the help: ExxonMobil made a record profit of $45.2
billion last year.2

But Big Oil is already fighting back. Like other corporate special
interests, they’re lobbying heavily to gut Obama’s budget. The American
Petroleum Institute has announced plans to fly top executives into
Washington to help save their tax breaks.3

And they’ve got a lot of friends on Capitol Hill, thanks to millions in
campaign contributions over the years. So we’ve got to be louder than Big
Oil, and remind our elected representatives that they work for us, not
ExxonMobil. Click here to sign our petition:

http://pol.moveon.org/stopbigoil/?id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

The petition reads: “Congress should stop the giveaways and tax loopholes
for oil and gas companies–and invest in green jobs and clean energy
instead.”

President Obama has a bold vision for switching America to a clean-energy
economy and putting millions of people back to work in good, green jobs.

His proposed budget is full of important provisions to make it happen:
investing in wind and solar power, retrofitting buildings to make them
more energy-efficient, and helping working families cope with rising
energy costs.4

To help pay for it, oil and gas companies need to start paying their fair
share in taxes. For years, they’ve been receiving generous subsidies–and
taking advantage of loopholes that let them avoid paying royalties from
drilling on federal lands and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Unsurprisingly, the industries that make their profits from producing and
burning oil, coal, and natural gas are spending millions of dollars
working to undermine the president’s plans for a clean-energy economy.

So we’re organizing a massive grassroots campaign to get his back and take
them on. Can you help out by signing our petition? Click here:

http://pol.moveon.org/stopbigoil/?id=15729-9659800-2a_4ai

Thanks for all you do.

–Adam, Justin, Michael, Ilyse and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Obama seeks repeal of industry tax breaks, subsidies,” Greenwire,
February 26, 2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51230&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

2. “Exxon 2008 profit: A record $45 billion,” CNNMoney.com, January 30,
2009. http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51231&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

3. “A backlash against Obama’s budget,” BusinessWeek, March 5, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51232&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix&t

4. “Obama budget boosts green spending,” CNNMoney.com, February 26, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51233&id=15729-9659800-2a_4aix

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 5 million
members–no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny
staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
________________
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Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.