John Edwards on IRS's "Poverty Profiling"

A mismanaged war, botched hurricane relief, illegal wiretaps, secret torture prisons, ethics violations. Just when I thought we had seen the worst from the Bush Administration, there is a new outrage that is down-right mean-spirited.

Big tax evaders -- mostly wealthy individuals and large corporations -- cost the government $300 billion each year in unpaid taxes. But in George Bush's America, these folks are getting off virtually scot-free.

The Internal Revenue Service is spending its limited enforcement resources on low-income taxpayers -- most of whom did nothing wrong. The IRS froze more than 120,000 taxpayers' refunds on suspicion of fraud without notifying the taxpayers or giving them a chance to respond. This practice must stop, and I need your help to stop it.

Sign his letter to the IRS. And contact your congress members, too. Lots more info here.



Tags: IRS, John Edwards, poverty, Bush

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Sunday Action Round-Up!

courtesy of Elise!

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National "Bush, Step Down!" Day

World Can't Wait has a petition to sign and is helping to organize demonstrations during the SOTU

Dear friends,

I write to alert you to a crucial national effort in which I am proud participant--an effort to drive out the Bush regime.

On Jan. 31, during Bush's State of the Union address, and then again on Saturday, Feb. 4, there will be mass protests nationwide, demanding that Bush step down, and take his cohorts with him.

The State of the Union will define the Bush agenda in the coming months. Will Bush be able to legitimize the rampant spying by his government, andhis unnecessary losing wars, and his malign neglect of New Orleans, and his efforts to transform the Supreme Court into a bludgeon for his own imperial authority? Will he drag this nation that much closer to the brink of fascism? Or will he be challenged and confronted hugely, and in the light of day?

It's up to us. It's up to you.

Please spread the word. Give money.
Hit the streets in your own city on Jan. 31,
and be with us in Washington on Feb. 4.

More info and the petition are also available here.

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Kerry Entering Alito Opposition Into Congressional Record

John Kerry has a new anti-Alito petition and will be entering the gathered signatures into the Congressional Record! Please sign it and share it far and wide.

Dear Friend,

I've studied Judge Alito's legal record. I met with him one-on-one. After all this, I am left with one simple conclusion: if Judge Alito becomes Supreme Court Justice Alito, he will move the Court backwards.

I will vote against Judge Alito's confirmation, and I hope a majority of Senators choose to join us on the Senate floor, voting and speaking out against him. I know we face tough odds, but this is an important fight.

The bottom line is Judge Alito cannot be trusted on the Supreme Court. We can't trust him to stand up to government abuse of power. We can't trust him to ensure all citizens enjoy equal protection under the law. We can't trust him to protect our right to privacy. We can't trust him to defend mainstream American values.

To muster enough Senators to defeat Judge Alito, the American people have to make it clear that they are against his nomination. That's where you come in. By speaking out, you will help us convince other Senators to join our fight.

We can do this! Be sure to also check out SusanHu's great diary about some Senators who need that extra nudge to do the right thing.



Tags: Alito, Supreme Court, John Kerry, Bush

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ACLU on Spygate

You've seen their brilliant ads, now you can sign their petition.

via Fat Cat Politics:

When President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, he violated the law, the Constitution and his oath of office.

No American is beneath the law's protection. And no one -- not even a U.S. president -- is above the law's limits.

Our system of checks and balances must be maintained if American democracy is to be preserved.

Appoint a Special Counsel to Investigate Bush's NSA Order.

Tags: NSA, spying, Bush, ACLU

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Keep the Pressure on WaPo

The good: WaPo finally acknowledged that Ms. Ombudswha? Howell was wrong in her claim that Abramoff gave money to Democratic members of Congress as well as Republicans.

The bad: It was buried on page A8, in a story not about Abramoff, but about the WaPo blog tantrum brouhaha.

The ugly: It's not ugly, really, just unrelenting. Let's politely (they did post a correction, after all) keep the pressure on - we must insist that they post an updated, factually correct story on Abramoff.

And if you're in the mood, send some kind words to Wolf Blitzer - seems he actually layed a smackdown! to Mehlman!


WaPo contact page

Situation Room contact page

And be sure to give Hardball a lecturing.

[UPDATE]Well, it's not a newer, better Abramoff story, but it is a slightly better correction from Howell herself. And very amusing:

But it is profoundly distressing if political discourse has sunk to a level where abusive name-calling and the crudest of sexual language are the norm, where facts have no place in an argument. This unbounded, unreasoning rage is not going to help this newspaper, this country or democracy.

Soooo...while you're writing anyway, ask her when exactly she intends to get around to condemning comparisons between Michael Moore and Bin Laden; when she plans to rebuke Turd Blossom for saying that liberals mollycoddle terrorists. When can we expect her to reprimand Frist for gleefully chortling that Alito is a liberal's "worst nightmare"? Will she be chastising O'Reilly for encouraging the destruction of San Francisco?

We're waiting, Ms. Howell, for so very much...

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Anti-Alito Action

Alito's hearings start tomorrow. PFAW has issued a report on Alito. They have also established an Anti-Alito Action Headquarters!

Get involved today in the fight to Save the Court!

IN THE MEDIA
Activist Media Tips: Spread the word in the media about what's at stake on the Supreme Court

IN YOUR STATE Click on your state to see if any grassroots activity is going on nearby and to find out what you can do as an online activist.

d.c rallies, etc:

Alito Hearings Rapid Response Phonebanking
Monday, January 9 through Thursday, January 12, 9am – 9pm
Friday, January 13, 9am-6pm
Location: PFAW Action Center; 2000 M Street NW, 5th floor, Washington, DC
Contact: Caroline Stuart, volunteer@pfaw.org

YOUNG ELECTED OFFICIALS & YOUNG LEADERS PRESS CONFERENCE
Friday, January 13
YEO and Young leaders will hold a hill Press Conference, Letter Delivery and Potential Meetings with Non-Judiciary staff.
Contact: Sergio Lopez - slopez@pfaw.org
Sponsor: PFAW

Good news - a coalition of environmental groups is working to oppose the Alito nomination! And it's working - more and more Senators are reporting in with intended "no" votes.

And as always, anti-Alito petitions galore!

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On the Brink of Extinction

Melvin has written an astounding diary over at dailykos detailing many endangered species. The biggest thing you can do to help is to contact your Senators and tell them to stop S 2110, the Crapo/Pombo gutting of the Endangered Species Act.

Also encourage them that the U.S. should ratify the Convention on Biological Diversity as many other countries have done. Please visit his diary - there is a wealth of information listed therein, including several organizations and websites devoted to this and other ecological causes.

Speaking of other ecological causes, don't forget that the East Fork Amazon Headwaters Forest needs help!

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Body Armor Investigation

Wesley Clark is demanding accountability for needlessly risking our soldiers' lives.

The Bush Administration has not provided our troops with the body armor they need to protect themselves. It's been three years, and now hundreds of thousands of brave American service men and women have risked their lives in Iraq -- with many paying the ultimate price.

This is unconscionable. This is incompetent. This is neglecting our soldiers' needs in war. It is time for Congress to act.

Co-sign my letter to Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner (R-VA) and Ranking Member Carl Levin (D-MI), urging a full investigation into the welfare and safety of our troops in Iraq!

Lots more info here.

He also has a petition demanding that they get the body armor they need in the meantime.

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Protect Programs for Children

There's still time to stop budget cuts, but the deadline for this is January 20th - please help spread the word!

Ask your Representative to vote for legislation supportive of SJHS' priorities on children's health, nutrition and welfare. TAKE ACTION and request a budget reconciliation bill that funds programs supportive of children and their families -- health care, child support, child care, and foster care.

As a result of a procedural challenge on December 21, the House of Representatives has one more chance to vote again on the Budget bill when it returns on January 31st or possibly earlier. Contact you representative by January 20; support a budget that supports health of children and other vulnerable populations.

Signing, calling, burying in faxes...the usual!

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Sign Dean's Anti-Alito Petition

Spygate has brought a whole new dimension to the ways in which Alito is very double plus ungood for America - he's a staunch advocate of executive privilege.

So please sign Dean's petition and pass it on!

For lots more background and action items on Alito, read this diary.

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Demand a Spygate Investigation

It looks like the Criminal in Chief is trying to pressure Specter out of holding judiciary committee hearings - we can't let him.

Specter, for one, has promised hearings early in the year--a move, sources tell TIME, that the White House is hoping to head off by convincing the Senator to defer to the Intelligence Committee, whose hearings would be behind closed doors and classified. "They're going to lean on Specter very hard not to hold hearings," says a Republican official. Bush has warned that any public hearings on programs would simply tip off terrorists and invite them to adjust their tactics, and he says, "This is a war."

This is bad news, especially since it seems like the hearings won't even be held until after Alito gets his confirmation hearing. Bass ackwards.

Let the entire Judiciary Committee and your senators hear from you! And if anyone gives you any guff for not being a constituent of the Judiciary Committee's senators, just remind them you can't help the fact that your Senators don't sit on that committee. But it is the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, so it is your, and every other American's, Judiciary Committee.

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Help Save Tryon Farm

January 2-9th Countdown Festival at the top of our driveway! 7:30-9am and 4-6pm daily

Tryon Life Community Farm is a sustainability education center nestled into Tryon Creek State Park. Hundreds of committed volunteers have come together to serve at-risk youth and educate thousands of people about sustainable urban living.

Visit the farm any day, dawn to dusk.

With the land we rely on now at risk from the blades of bulldozers, we are raising money to purchase the land and prevent it from turning into brownstones.

With a target of 1.6 million dollars, we still need $100,000 in donations by January 10.

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Has Your Rep Called For an Investigation?

After Downing Street is a great resource deserving of a bookmark.

A total of eight US House members have co-sponsored Resolution 635 to create a select committee to investigate the grounds for impeaching President Bush, Atlanta Progressive News has learned.

The co-sponsors are Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (C-CA), according to the US Congressional website Thomas.loc.gov

HR 635 reads as its official title: "Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment."

The bill was initially proposed by Rep. Conyers on 12/18/2005. The 7 other co-sponsors added their names on 12/22/05.

If your reps are on that list, please let them know we've got their backs. If your reps aren't, then they should be greeted by a mountain of correspondence when they get back from their breaks!

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