Boehner is apparently on an incentive scheme from Canadian Oil sands companies -- 'cause he doesn't give a dam about Americans or their Health

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner will make a new attempt to force approval of the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline as part of legislation for another 90-day extension of federal road, bridge and transit construction funding, Republican aides said on Friday.

By seeking a second short-term funding extension, the plan aims to put the Canada-to-Texas pipeline and expanded drilling rights back at the top of the House agenda without the struggles that the House has endured in trying to pass a longer-term, more expensive transport bill.

Republicans: the party of MISOGYNY!!!

Help save the Violence Against Women Act

The latest attack on women is over the Violence Against Women Act.
The last time this program was reauthorized, it passed nearly unanimously through the House and Senate--but incredibly, the all-male Republican block on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted down the bill.

That's right: Republicans are now standing in the way of reauthorizing an incredibly popular and successful program that has reduced domestic violence rates by 58% since it was first passed in 1994.
 
Tell Republican leadership to stop playing politics with women's lives and pass the Violence Against Women Act now!
 
Voting to defund Planned Parenthood, redefine rape, and block access to contraception has not been enough for anti-woman members of Congress--they now want to block funding for victims of domestic violence.
Every female Senator -- including 5 Republicans -- supports this important act. And yet the bill only has 58 co-sponsors, two votes shy of the 60 votes needed to defeat a promised Republican filibuster. 

Even as their party continues to lead attacks on women, Republican leadership should honor the wishes of the women in their own caucus and call off the filibuster. 
 
Tell Republican leadership to stop playing politics with women's lives and pass the Violence Against Women Act now
 
Blocking funding for victims of domestic violence is low, even for this Republican Congress. With enough pressure from the grassroots and the all of women in the Senate Republican caucus co-sponsoring the bill, we can stop the filibuster and pass reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

Tell Republican leadership to stop playing politics with women's lives and pass the Violence Against Women Act now!

Democracy cannot defend itself!!! We must defeat Citizens United v FEC

In the wake of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, corporations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to ensure that their interests are the ones our politicians are concerned about, at the expense of the interests of the American people.

People in towns and cities across the country are advancing resolutions through their city and town councils and state legislatures that declare public support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, challenge corporate power and eliminate unlimited campaign spending.

This spring, a coalition of groups are planning to work with you to pass over 100 new local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment, centered around Resolutions Week in June. Will you join us? No previous experience necessary, just a passion for democracy.

House & Senate wish to remain above the law on insider trading = read the not so fine print.

WASHINGTON — In an effort to regain public trust, the Senate voted Monday to take up a bill that would prohibit members of Congress from trading stocks and other securities on the basis of confidential information they receive as lawmakers. 

The vote was 93 to 2. 

Senators of both parties said the bill was desperately needed at a time when the public approval rating of Congress had sunk below 15 percent. 

“The American public has no confidence in Congress,” said Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, who introduced an earlier version of the legislation. 

At the same time, Democratic senators moved to tap into concerns about comparatively low tax rates paid by some of the nation’s top earners, introducing a bill that would require households with more than $1 million of adjusted gross income to pay at least 30 percent of it in taxes. 

A handful of lawmakers have tried for years to enact restrictions on stock dealing by members of Congress. But their efforts drew little support until new attention on the practice last year — coupled with election anxiety — prompted a flood of backing for the idea and support from President Obama in his State of the Union address. 

The bill states that members and employees of Congress are not exempt from the federal law and regulations that ban insider trading. 

“No member of Congress and no employee of Congress shall use any nonpublic information derived from the individual’s position as a member of Congress or employee of Congress, or gained from performance of the individual’s duties, for personal benefit,” the bill says. 

Federal securities law does not explicitly exempt members of Congress, but experts disagree on whether and when lawmakers may be found to have violated the law. The bill is meant to eliminate any ambiguity.

It says that lawmakers have “a duty arising from a relationship of trust and confidence” to Congress, the federal government and the citizens of the United States — a duty they violate by trading on nonpublic information. 

The bill also requires members of Congress to disclose the purchase or sale of stocks, bonds, commodities futures and other forms of securities within 30 days of transactions. The information would be posted on the Web in a searchable format. 

In his speech last week, Mr. Obama urged Congress to act, citing what he called “the corrosive influence of money in politics.” 

“Send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of Congress,” Mr. Obama said. “I will sign it.”

The Senate was already writing such a bill. 

However, the bill does not subject lawmakers to a second type of restriction suggested by Mr. Obama, who said Congress should “limit any elected official from owning stocks in industries they impact.”