0 Persons are tagged with #congress

#congress

steelnomad@diasp.org
steelnomad

For anyone who has fooled themselves into believing that the #Biden administration cares about minorities (or anyone), just check out this information from Peace Action:

Peace Action

Two weeks ago the Biden administration notified #Congress of a $650 million #arms sale to #SaudiArabia. This sale comes on top of a $500 million arms deal back in October. That’s over a BILLION dollars in #weapons to a country actively waging a brutal #war and naval #blockade in #Yemen leading to the planet’s greatest #humanitarian #crisis.

In his presidency’s first speech on #ForeignPolicy, Biden announced that the U.S. would end all support for Saudi Arabia’s “offensive” operations in Yemen. Yet these arms sales fly directly in the face of that...

The Biden administration's latest sale would give Saudi Arabia 280 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, along with 596 missile launchers, support equipment, spare parts, U.S. #government and contractor engineering, and technical support. You’ll not be surprised to hear that the principal contractor for the sale is #NorthrupGrumman, one of the largest arms manufacturers in the U.S. #MilitaryIndustrialComplex. Rather than brokering an end to the humanitarian #catastrophe in Yemen, Biden is choosing to further line the pockets of war merchants. It truly is #unconscionable.

The situation in Yemen is beyond dire.

  • An estimated 11 million children there are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. 
  • Nearly 2 million children are acutely malnourished, and the United Nations forecasts that more than 400,000 Yemeni children under the age of 5 could die of #malnutrition by the end of 2021 alone.
  • Almost 10 million Yemenis are considered "one step away from #famine."
With only half of the country's medical facilities fully functioning, almost 20 million people lack access to adequate #healthcare.
  • Almost 18 million do not have enough clean #water or access to adequate sanitation.
  • Yemen’s fishermen fear being blown out of the water by Saudi-led coalition helicopters. Yet a greater fear keeps sending them back to the water -- #hunger.


https://www.peaceaction.org/get-involved/stop-the-650-million-saudi-arms-sale

#evil #murder #genocide #HumanRights #antiwar #propeace #peace #pacifist #pacifism

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eccodrum@joindiaspora.com
dewain

NEW: Kyrsten Sinema raked in nearly $180,000 from a curious special interest last quarter—crypto. The industry was lobbying her to change tax language in an infrastructure bill amendment she'd co-sponsored. And guess what? She changed her mind. Here's a mini report, with receipts

a Twitter thread, lest we forget #KyrstenSinema 's grifting.

#politics #crypto #lobbying #politicians #congress #corruption #democrats

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sylviaj@joindiaspora.com
Sylvia J

Big Pharma ~ Time to End Their Greed

https://www.dailyposter.com/follow-the-pharma-money/

#BernieSanders: "The #pharmaceutical #industry has spent more than $4.5 billion on #lobbying and #campaign #contributions over the past 20 years. That's why we pay the #highest #prices on #earth for #prescription #drugs. #Enough-is-enough. Democrats must have the courage to defeat their #greed. The #business #model of the pharmaceutical industry is #fraud. Their greed is literally #killing #Americans. It is absurd that we have people in this country who every day must choose between being able to afford the #medicines they need to stay alive and being able to afford their groceries. It is no exaggeration to say the greed of the pharmaceutical industry is killing people.They have spent billions buying #politicians & several of their #executives became #billionaires during the #pandemic. Their days of calling the shots in #DC must come to an end."

"For years, the story has gone like this: the pharmaceutical industry spends billions lobbying #Congress to do nothing to #lower prescription drug prices, they get their way. 97% of #Democrats, 80% of #Independents and 61% of #Republicans want #Medicare to negotiate with the #pharma #companies to lower prescription drug prices. Our opponents are not only dead wrong on this #policy, they are also way out of touch with what the American people are demanding. Let me ask you a question. Are you satisfied with a #system that allows the pharmaceutical industry to charge you $98 for the same vial of #insulin that the #Canadian people get for about $12? Maybe I am a little bit of a radical, but I happen to think that in the richest country on the face of the #planet, people should not have to be cutting their pills in half or rationing their insulin." Time to end their greed.

#bigpharma #follow-the-money #KurtSchrader-Ore #ScottPeters-Calif #KathleenRice-NY #health #money #favors #quotes

Big Pharma’s Democrats

Three House Dems working to kill drug price legislation raked in roughly $1.6 million from pharma donors — and the top aide for one of them is now a pharma lobbyist.

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theeo123@diasp.org
James House-Lantto

There are six bills with bipartisan support currently being debated in the US Congress that could rein in the power of Big Tech.

https://protonmail.com/blog/big-tech-bills-us/

#Privacy #Security #Technology #InfoSec #Congress

TLDR:

The American Choice and Innovation Online Act forbids companies from self-preferring their products on their platforms.

The Ending Platform Monopolies Act bans a Big Tech company that stands as the monopolistic owner of a platform from selling and providing products on that platform and competing with its business users.

The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act bans Big Tech companies from buying competitors to increase market power.

The ACCESS Act makes data moving from comms. services easier via interoperability, data security, and data portability.

Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act increases merger fees and improves funding for the FTC and DoJ’s Antitrust Division.

State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021 grants state attorney generals more control over which courts hear antitrust cases.

Congress debates six bills that could create a more private internet and regulate Big Tech

Six bills were introduced in Congress that could rein in Big Tech and give people everywhere true choice and privacy online. We explain them.

david_lazarus@pluspora.com
DavïÐ Låzårµ§

Do you like heavy metal? Probably not in your drinking water. Let's get the lead out!
#Contamination #DrinkingWater #Lead #Biden #Congress #Crisis #Letter #Petition

"Children all over the U.S. are drinking water contaminated with lead.

This water comes through deteriorating lead pipes into the taps in their homes and old drinking fountains in their schools. Lead-contaminated water harms children's brains and nervous systems, causing learning disabilities and impairing their hearing — and has been for decades.

We need action now — and President Biden's American Jobs Plan will help us get there.

Biden's plan will invest more than $100 billion in fixing our water infrastructure, including replacing all lead service lines across the country. He also has called for action on lead in school water. Now we need Congress to save our children from lead poisoning by passing strong legislation to fix our infrastructure, create jobs, and invest in our communities.

Our water infrastructure is failing. There are still 6 to 10 million lead service lines in place across the U.S., some of which are more than 100 years old. As they corrode, they release lead into the water we drink, threatening people's health.

And through decades of neglect and disinvestment, the problem is even more severe in low-income communities and communities of color.

Flint, Michigan made headlines six years ago for its contaminated water after engineers found high levels of lead in the tap water in homes — and doctors found dangerous amounts of lead in children's blood.

But Flint isn't the only city that has suffered from widespread lead problems: Lead service lines are found in all 50 states, from big cities to small towns. Newark, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Jackson, Atlanta and dozens of other cities have found dangerous levels of lead in many residents' tap water.

The Senate took a step forward last month when senators overwhelmingly passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021, which would authorize modestly increased funding for clean water programs, including replacing some lead service lines — but it's not nearly enough to remove them all.

And the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a new, stronger Lead and Copper Rule, a woefully outdated and inadequate federal protection meant to limit lead in drinking water.

But our work is far from done. We won't stop until all the nation's children are safe from lead poisoning from drinking water.

President Biden's American Jobs Plan will:

  • Remove all lead service lines in every state at no direct cost to homeowners
  • Get people back to work and create new good-paying jobs removing lead service lines
  • Expedite the removal of lead service lines in low-income communities and communities of color suffering disproportionately from the impacts of lead-contaminated water, and begin to tackle the crisis of lead in school drinking water
  • Make drinking water infrastructure across the country stronger and more resilient in the face of climate change-driven extreme weather, like the winter storms in Texas and other states that cut water service for millions

We need Congress to make these goals a reality. But our senators and representatives are unlikely to act without a lot more pressure from millions of people across the country who care deeply about clean water for all.

Thank you for your commitment to creating a healthy, livable future for everyone. I'm truly grateful.

Sincerely,
Erik D. Olson
Senior Advisor, NRDC Action Fund"

Congress can help end the epidemic of lead-contaminated drinking water in the U.S. Please write to your lawmakers right now and tell them: Get the lead out of our country's drinking water!

Tell Congress: Our kids deserve better — get the lead out of our drinking water!

Lead in our drinking water has devastating health effects on children, yet there are still 6-10 million lead service lines delivering contaminated water to our schools and homes.

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dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com
Doc Morbius (moved to Glasswings)

Pence and lawmakers evacuated as protesters storm the Capitol, halting Congress’s counting of electoral votes.

Protesters loyal to President Trump stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, halting Congress’s counting of the electoral votes to confirm President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory as the police evacuated lawmakers from the building.

Around 2:15 p.m., as the House and Senate debated a move by a faction of Republicans to overturn the election results, the proceedings ground to a halt as security rushed Vice President Mike Pence out of the Senate chamber and the Capitol building was placed on lockdown, with senators and members of the House locked inside their respective chambers. Shortly afterward, the police escorted senators and members of House from the building to others nearby, as the protesters swarmed the hallways just steps from where lawmakers were meeting, carrying pro-Trump paraphernalia. ...

Multiple sources. NPR carrying special coverage.

Washington Post: McConnell rejects GOP push to subvert election; Trump protesters breach Capitol

Reuters: U.S. Capitol on lockdown as pro-Trump demonstrators clash with police

#politics #coup #congress #CongressStormed

Mob Attack, Incited by Trump, Delays Election Certification (Published 2021)

Vice President Mike Pence made Joe Biden’s victory official early Thursday despite mayhem at the Capitol that delayed proceedings. President Trump said there would be an “orderly transition.”

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dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com
Doc Morbius (moved to Glasswings)

Louisiana Congressman-Elect Dies From COVID-19

Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, who won a runoff earlier this month to represent Louisiana's northeastern 5th District, died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19.

Letlow was set to be sworn in as U.S. representative on Jan. 3. ...

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951332740/louisiana-congressman-elect-dies-after-battling-covid-19

#covid19 #obituary #LukeLetlow #gop #louisiana #congress

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nazgul@pluspora.com
Kee Hinckley

House of the Drowning Sun

I wrote this in 2006 at Meadowlark Music Camp in Maine. It’s a slightly modified version of “House of the Rising Sun”, with the focus on the New Orleans flood.

  • Kee Hinckley – guitar, vocals
  • Anna Grosslein – flute
  • Shireen Hinckley – fiddle, vocals
  • Lyle Hawthorne – lead fiddle
  • Meadowlark attendees – chorus

Many thanks to Cindy Kallet and the Arrangements class for all their assistance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7UBfM2yYmw

House of the Drowning Sun

Kee Hinckley

Verses

There is a house in New Orleans

They call the Rising Sun

It’s been the ruin of many a poor boy

And Lord I know I’m one My mother was a tailor

Sewed my new blue jeans

My father was a working man

Down in New Orleans

My father worked hard all his life

Building up our dreams

Draining swamps and cutting trees

That protected New Orleans

Mothers’ warn your children

Not to do the things we have done

Burning fields and market yields

Have drowned the Rising Sun

I’ve got one foot in the ocean

The other it’s on the land

I can’t go back to New Orleans

There’s no place left to stand

There was a house in New Orleans

They called the Rising Sun

It’s been the ruin of many a poor boy

And Lord I know I’m one

#history #politics #congress #folk #government #house-of-the-rising-sun #music #new-orleans #society #traditional

Originally posted at: https://technosocial.com/2019/07/house-of-the-drowning-sun/

dredmorbius@joindiaspora.com
Doc Morbius (moved to Glasswings)

A nation's intelligence apparatus spying on its legislature is straight-up, full-on reign-of-terror status stuff

First off, I'm not particularly happy that ordinary citizens, residents, and visitors to the US (ALL of whom have constitutional protections against illegal search) are subject to pervasive surveillance.

But the fact that it extends to lawmakers and other public officials outside the scope of officially sanctioned lawful investigations (which are both allowable and sadly necessary) is absolutely terrifying. This takes everything straight to reign-of-terror status.

You see, because of a few fundamental facts of life.

I expect my politicians are dirty. They're mixed up in all sorts of things (sometimes it even comes out, see today's news on the former governor and first lady of the Commonwealth of Virginia)...

Continued at the dreddit: http://reddit.com/r/dredmorbius

Somewhat expanded from an earlier G+ post, with cites and links, including a statement from the late Mssr. du Plessis.

http://www.reddit.com/r/dredmorbius/comments/2cb6nf/a_nations_intelligence_apparatus_spying_on_its/

#prism #surveillancestate #reignofterror #cia #congress

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