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Learn About the Congress Watch Division's Legislative Priorities and How You Can Help
Public Citizen is launching a brand new effort to engage in open dialogue with activists like you.
Our first online conversation will be held on Tuesday, June 18, at 7 p.m. (Eastern time).
During this conversation, we’ll discuss some of our top legislative priorities and how you can help advance the public interest and challenge corporate power.
Add your name below to let us know you want to join Tuesday’s online conversation and to make sure you receive instructions and a reminder email.
The Public Deserves to See What’s in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Sign Our Petition and Stand With Senator Elizabeth Warren: No Backroom Deals for Corporate Giants
Senator Elizabeth Warren recently wrote a letter to President Barack Obama’s nominee to head up U.S. trade negotiations urging him to release the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) text to the public. Even though Obama wants to sign the deal this October, the TPP text is being kept secret. The U.S. trade office says if it were made public, it could not get the deal done.
Senator Warren’s response to that line?
“If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States.”
Leaks have shown the TPP is shaping up to be a NAFTA-on-steroids: Millions more offshored jobs, unsafe food and products flooding into our borders, bans on “Buy American” policies and much more.
TPP negotiations have been under way for more than three years. Six hundred official corporate advisors have access to the text, while the public has been kept in the dark.
Sign Our Petition to Release the TPP Draft Text to the Public
We stand with Senator Elizabeth Warren and wholeheartedly agree with her: “If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States.”
We demand the public be able to see what’s in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Negotiations have been going on for more than three years, the deal is slated to be signed in October and to date, Americans have been kept in the dark. This nearly-completed TPP agreement would change every aspect of our lives. The only information we have is from leaked texts which reveal the worst job-offshoring corporations, major global banks, agribusiness and pharmaceutical giants want this deal to be a corporate power tool with unprecedented attacks on our most basic rights and needs.
It is totally unacceptable to deny the American public access to the text of the draft of the TPP agreement. We stand united calling for the immediate release of the text.
Sign Up to Attend the Online Conversation with Public Citizen on Wednesday, June 26, at 7 p.m.
Learn About the Congress Watch Division's Legislative Priorities and How You Can Help
Public Citizen is launching a brand new effort to engage in open dialogue with activists like you.
Our first online conversation will be held on Wednesday, June 26, at 7 p.m.(Eastern time). Please note that the date of this event has changed.
During this conversation, we’ll discuss some of our top legislative priorities and how you can help advance the public interest and challenge corporate power.
Add your name below to let us know you want to join the online conversation and to make sure you receive instructions and a reminder email.
Ask Your Senator to Support a Fracking Moratorium in Pennsylvania
Call Your Senator About Co-sponsoring Senator Ferlo’s Bill to Halt Fracking
Here’s what to do:
1. Locate your senator — look up your senator’s office number using the “Find Your Pennsylvania Legislator” tool. If your senator is Jim Ferlo, you can call his office and thank him for his leadership on this issue.
2. Call your senator and ask them to co-sponsor Senator Ferlo’s bill.
3. Let us know how your call went! Tell us what happened using the form below.
Spread the Word
Talking Points: Five Reasons to Ban Fracking
1. Shale gas drilling and fracking operations contaminate drinking water. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has confirmed 161 cases in which a family, farm or business had its drinking water polluted by Marcellus Shale gas drilling.
2. Fracking isn’t safe. Four compressor stations have exploded and burned in Pennsylvania alone since November 2011, when a midnight explosion rocked Bedford County and dozens of families were evacuated when a compressor station explosion lit up the night sky. Accidents in nearby states, most recently New Jersey, have also killed and injured workers and residents.
3. Shale gas operations create air pollution. Compressor stations spew fumes, which affect the respiratory health of nearby residents. A recent regional air quality report notes that in counties where shale gas activities are concentrated, NOx emissions from all shale gas activities were 20–40 times higher than allowable for a single minor source.
4. Human and animal health is being affected by shale gas drilling. The demand for a Health Impact Assessment is a critical component of Senator Ferlo’s Pennsylvania moratorium bill.
5. Shale gas extraction, processing, waste and distribution hurts and kills workers. While both residents and workers are being sickened by the full life-cycle of shale gas drilling, the rate of injuries and fracking fatalities for workers is completely unacceptable. In Pennsylvania, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division has called for a ban, while the nurses’ union, PASNAP, has worked for a moratorium for years.
Tell Governor McDonnell to Uphold the Ban on Toxic Uranium Mining in Virginia
Email the Governor and Urge Him to Resist Pressure from Mining Proponents
Uranium mining backers are hoping to persuade the governor to act against the will of the General Assembly and draft regulations for a practice that has been banned for 30 years.
Help us make sure the governor knows that lifting the ban is not the kind of legacy he should leave behind.
Use the form below to tell Governor McDonnell to respect the legislature’s decision.
Take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Corporations have their lobbyists in Washington D.C., and the people need advocates too. In this webinar you’ll learn about Public Citizen’s legislative priorities for this summer, and ways that you can get more involved in the fight against corporate overreach.
Ask a question/Make a comment
Let us know you're watching by leaving a comment or asking a question. Leaving a comment will help us keep you in the loop as we move forward with this summer's actions. We'll answer as many questions as we can on air.
In This Webinar
Brief introduction to Public Citizen and Congress Watch
Introduction to Congress Watch’s legislative advocacy priorities
Grassroots activism in action
Q/A session
Presented By:
Rick Claypool, Online Director, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division
Kelly Ngo, Online Advocacy Organizer, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division
Urge Them to Ask Tough Questions and Call for And End to OIRA Obstruction
An obscure office in the White House – the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) – is preventing commonsense, life-saving regulations from being implemented.
Howard Shelanksi, who hopes to lead OIRA, is facing a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, June 12.
Urge your Senator who sits on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (members listed on the right) to ask Shelanski if he’ll end the gridlock or continue to thwart life-saving regulations like his corporate-friendly predecessor.
Here’s what to do:
1. Call 1-888-291-9824 to be connected to the Capitol switchboard.
2. Ask to be connected with the office of your senator who sits on the HSGAC committee (see list of committee members on the right).
3. When a staff member answers the phone, you can use this script:
“I’m a constituent, and I’m calling to urge my senator to ask tough questions during the confirmation hearing for OIRA (pronounced “oh-EYE-ruh”) nominee Howard Shelanski. I want to know whether Shelanski will stop delaying commonsense regulations, or if he’ll keep blocking life-saving rules, such as those intended to keep our food safe, prevent cars from backing over children and workers from suffering due to silica dust exposure.”
4. Let us know how your call went! Leave a comment below to tell us what happened.
Organizing in Conservative Areas to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Trade Tips and Materials for Organizing in Conservative Areas to Limit Spending in Elections
74% of Republicans believe that unlimited spending by corporations, unions and individuals in elections will lead to corruption.
We need a vibrant movement for an amendment that is focused not on party politics, but on democracy and citizens rights to be truly heard and represented by those they elect.
Sign up to obtain the call-in number for the conservative working group call on Monday, June 10, at 4 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Central / 2 p.m. Mountain/ 1 p.m. Pacific).
The conservative working group is a place for our members in conservative areas to share and brainstorm strategies for expanding and strengthening conservative organizing for an amendment to overturn Citizens United.
Sign Up to Receive the Call-in Number for Monday’s Call and Updates on Conservative Organizing
Illinois General Assembly Calls For Citizens United to be Overturned
Contact Your Representative About His or Her Vote on Senate Joint Resolution 27
Thanks to emails, calls and personal visits from people like you, Illinois is now the 14th state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and related cases and rein in corporate power in our democracy.
Senate Joint Resolution 27 passed by a bipartisan vote of 80 to 36, with 2 Republican representatives abstaining.
Please take a minute to let your representative know how you feel about how he or she voted with a personalized email.
Type your zip code into the box below. Your representative’s phone number will appear, as well as a sample email message which will indicate how your representative voted. If you decide to call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Call on the Oregon Legislature to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Encourage Your State Legislators to Rein in Corporate Power in Our Democracy
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections. Spending by corporations and the ultra-wealthy via super PACs and so-called “social welfare organizations” have flooded our elections with unprecedented amounts of money, much of it secret.
Oregon has the opportunity to become the 14th state to call for an amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling.
Be part of the movement to take back our democracy!
Sign the Petition to the Oregon State Legislature
We ask the Oregon Legislature to call upon the United States Congress to pass and send to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United ruling. Take democracy off the auction block, and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations.
Tell Google: More Transparency on Political Spending, Less U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Sign on to our letter asking Google to fully disclose its political spending and end its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
We know Google has supported some good policies in the past — from green energy to internet privacy — but without knowing where its political dollars are going, it’s next to impossible to know if Google is undermining the very causes it promotes.
Google is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a dark money juggernaut that spent more than $35 million in the 2012 elections. The U.S. Chamber also supports regressive policies such as fracking and the kind of financial deregulation that led to the economic meltdown of 2008.
Google tells us it’s a different kind of company — but hiding political donations and giving to the U.S. Chamber isn’t innovative, it’s just more of the same.
If Google is serious about its principles, it should adopt a policy to (1) fully disclose its political spending and it should (2) end its membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
We’ve written a letter to Google’s founders asking them to take these two important steps. Read the letter and add your name below.
Ask Your Illinois State Representative to Help Overturn Citizens United
Encourage Your State Representative to “Yes” on Senate Joint Resolution 27
Thanks to emails, calls and personal visits from people like you, Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR 27) calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases passed the Illinois Senate and with your help will pass the Illinois House this week.
We need as many representatives, Republican and Democrat alike, to vote “yes” on Senate Joint Resolution when it comes up — likely today — Tuesday, May 28.
Please take a minute to send a personalized email to your Illinois state representative to ask him or her to vote “yes” on SJR 27.
Type your zip code into the box below. Your representative’s phone number will appear, as well as a sample email message which you can use if you wish. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Sign Petition Calling for a Moratorium on Fracking
Across the country, more than 1,000 documented cases of water contamination have been associated with fracking, which pollutes our air and emits methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.
California should follow the lead of New York, New Jersey and Vermont and prohibit fracking to protect our wildlife, our natural resources and our health.
That’s why Public Citizen is joining our allies in pushing to get more signatures in support of a fracking ban than on any other environmental petition in the state’s history.
Sign Our Petition and Tell the Governor to Put Our Health and Environment First
The petition is being delivered to Governor Jerry Brown’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices on May 30, 2013.
We, the undersigned, call on Governor Jerry Brown to support a moratorium on further shale gas extraction in California. Fracking is a dangerous method of oil and gas extraction that threatens our state’s water, air, wildlife, public health and climate. California needs to be a leader in protecting the environment and addressing the urgent danger of climate change. New York, New Jersey and Vermont have already enacted bans or moratoriums on fracking. Please follow the lead of other states and ban the practice now to ensure our environment and health stay safe.
Thank the City Council for Preserving Democratic Control of Austin Energy
Many thought that we had no chance of stopping the Austin City Council from establishing an unelected board to govern Austin Energy when the idea was first proposed in February.
But we proved that citizen participation in our local democracy can be extremely powerful.
Hundreds of Austin residents emailed or called the City Council, registered against the proposed Austin Energy governance ordinance, or took the time to defend democracy at a city council meeting over the past few months. Those actions worked.
The City Council has abandoned the idea of shifting control of Austin Energy to an unelected board.
Instead, the City Council has done just what we asked — established a committee consisting of the entire City Council to dig deeper into the many important issues facing our publicly owned utility.
It’s important that our city council members be recognized for their good work on this issue.
Recognizing good governance will help us ensure that our elected officials continue to be responsive to public input.
Please email and thank City Council now for preserving democratic control of Austin Energy.
Ask Your Oregon State Representative to Pass the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United
Encourage Your Representative to Co-Sponsor and Vote on House Joint Memorial 6
Type in your information below, and our form will provide you with your representative’s phone number.
Sample Talking Points:
As your constituent, I am calling ask you to vote “yes” on House Joint Memorial (HJM) 6 to restore our ability to limit super PAC and outside spending in elections.
HJM 6, currently in the House Rules Committee, calls on Congress to overturn the Citizens United ruling via constitutional amendment. It has been in committee for more than a month and a half, despite its non-controversial nature.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United has been a disaster for our democracy. Oregon must act.
I urge you to stand up for our democracy and call for a vote on HJM 6 today.
Be sure to let us know the call went, and we will keep you updated on the campaign.
Nuclear Waste Bill Must Focus on Permanent Solution, Not on Interim Storage
Tell Bill Sponsors to Scrap Consolidated Interim Storage Proposal
Key Senate members have released a new nuclear waste policy bill as a “discussion draft” and are accepting public input on the bill until May 24.
The proposed draft contains an ill-conceived and risky plan to move radioactive waste to consolidated interim storage sites until a location for a national geological repository can be established.
This is probably our final opportunity before a bill is formally introduced to make it clear: “interim” storage of high-level radioactive waste is not an acceptable fix for our country’s broken nuclear waste program.
Sign on to Public Citizen’s Comments Directed at the Interim Storage Proposal
Feel free to supplement Public Citizen’s comments with your own feedback.
Stop the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA): The Corporate Attack on Our Environmental and Consumer Safeguards
No Backroom Deals for Corporate Giants
Negotiations on the U.S.-EU “free trade” deal, aka TAFTA, could begin soon. More than 600 corporate advisors are in the driver’s seat, hoping to tip the scales for the 1% and shut out the public and Congress from influencing the negotiations. TAFTA includes extreme corporate rights that will hurt the 99%.
Tell Congress to stop this “trade” deal from gutting the strongest parts of American and European food, health, environmental and financial safeguards.
Sign the TAFTA petition to Congress now
Americans deserve a say in the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) negotiations. TAFTA is likely to impact U.S. banking regulations, Internet freedom, food safety, the environment, agriculture and more. If you think that TAFTA is OK just because it is with Europe, we want you to know that is simply not true. The official agenda for this deal has been set by a network of large U.S. and European corporations whose goal is to kill the best public interest safeguards on either side of the Atlantic. They call our best consumer, environmental, financial and other policies “trade irritants” and celebrate this negotiation for going “behind the borders” to eliminate such measures. This is totally unacceptable to us. We call on you to stop this attack before the damage is done.
Ask Your Illinois State Representative to Support the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United
Encourage Your Representative to Co-Sponsor Senate Joint Resolution 27
Type in your information below, and our form will provide you with your representative’s phone number.
Sample Talking Points:
As your constituent, I am calling ask you to co-sponsor Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 27 to restore our ability to limit super PAC and outside spending in elections.
SJR 27 calls on Congress to overturn the Citizens United ruling via constitutional amendment. The resolution passed the Senate with bipartisan support.
Illinois needs to tackle political and ethics reform now. Please co-sponsor SJR 27.
Be sure to let us know the call went, and we will keep you updated on the campaign.
Join Us at a Protest at Company Headquarters in San Ramon
On Wednesday, May 29, join us at a protest at Chevron’s national headquarters in San Ramon, California. We will be outside Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting to demand Chevron keeps its polluting profits out of the people’s elections.
Ask Your New Hampshire Legislators to Support a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Join Us for the Home Stretch: Ask Your Legislators to Vote “Yes” on the Resolution and Sign a Letter to Congress
New Hampshire could become the next state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations.
Even if you’ve already contacted your legislators, it is important that they hear from you again in this last stage of the campaign.
Please enter you zip code below, and we will provide a sample email that you can send your legislators to ask for their support. We also encourage you to call them as well at the phone number that will be provided. Let us know what type of response you get at amendment@citizen.org.
Call Your Representative Today About Why the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) is a Bad Deal
Your Newly Elected Representative Needs to Know Your Thoughts on This Corporate-Backed Deal
Multinational corporations are at it again. They’re hijacking the U.S. trade agenda, this time with the European Union (EU). The Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) aims to wipe out the strongest consumer and environmental policies in the U.S. and Europe, pushing workers on both sides of the Atlantic to the bottom of the barrel.
Big Business wants to get rid of our food, health and environmental standards using this deal. They call these policies trade irritants because having to meet domestic laws cuts into their profits. TAFTA would even give corporations the power to sue governments and demand our tax dollars, essentially empowering individual corporations to privately enforce a public treaty.
To put it bluntly: Your hard-earned money could go towards a big corporation’s bottom line.
The negotiations could begin soon, so we still have time to make sure that this deal does not wreak havoc on our health, safety and the environment.
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your representative’s office.
Use the script below to help guide you.
One more thing, be sure to leave your name and address and ask for a written response to your concerns on TAFTA.
“Hello, my name is __{name}__. I live in {name the town in the district where you live}. I’m calling today about the upcoming negotiations on the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement. TAFTA would gut food safety standards, environmental protections and health safeguards in both the U.S. and Europe. Rules on big banks will be rolled back just as we were making progress to reform the out-of-control banksters. And the worst part? Multinational corporations would be empowered to directly sue the U.S. government in foreign tribunals and demand payment of my tax dollars because they think our laws undermined their expected profits. Negotiations are starting soon, and President Obama hopes to finish this deal within a year. I’d appreciate it if Representative __{name}__ could send me information about __{his/her}__ plans to stop the damage the corporate plans for TAFTA will cause me and my family.”
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Write a Letter to the Editor About the Real Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Data
Help Shine a Spotlight on the Failed Korea FTA
You can send a letter to the editor to your local newspaper and demand that they reveal the truth about this loser trade agreement.
Here’s how:
Select a few of the talking points below:
President Barack Obama recently said the U.S. is selling more exports to Korea. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
The first year of results from the Korea FTA actually show U.S goods exports to Korea dropped 10%, and the trade gap grew by 37% in one year.
This equates to the loss of tens of thousands of U.S. jobs.
The real numbers need to be written about.
It's up to the public and media to hold our elected officials accountable when things aren't adding up.
President Obama isn't just exaggerating. He's flat-out lying in saying the Korea FTA is working.
It's critical that we make sure the truth is revealed because the administration is using this failed model to form other trade agreements, including the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) -- which will offshore U.S. jobs, increase medicine prices, and ban "Buy American".
The Korea FTA is a failed trade agreement. And its damage could end up harming us even further in future trade agreements if we don't act now. Will you write the real story about the Korea FTA?
Submit your letter to the editor and leave a comment letting us know that you helped reveal the truth about the Korea FTA!
Here are some helpful tips to help you get your letter to the editor published.
In order to increase the likelihood of your letter being printed, please keep it 150 words. It should be sent in the body of an e-mail (no attachments) to the publication of your choice.
Thank you for taking action and please let us know how the process went!
Ask the New Hampshire Senate to Take a Vote on Resolutions and to Support HCR 2 to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Stop the Blockade to the Democratic Process and Help Build Support for HCR 2 in the New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire could become the fourteenth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations, but the New Hampshire Senate is refusing to even take a vote!
Due in large part to your advocacy, House Concurrent Resolution 2 (HCR 2), which calls for an amendment, passed out of the New Hampshire House of Representatives on March 20 with a bipartisan vote of 189 to 139. It is now onto the Senate, but the Senate is refusing to take a vote.
Please take a minute to call Senate President Senator Bragdon at (603) 769-1818 and your state senator (find her or his number below) asking them to allow the resolutions to come to a vote and to vote “yes” on HCR 2 and fill out the form below to let us know how the call went.
Ask Your Representative to Expose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Texts and Protect Your Voice in U.S. Trade Negotiations
Urge Your Representative to Sign Onto a Letter Asking Democratic House Leadership to Promote a Fair Trade Agenda
The heat is on to finish the secretive TPP negotiations — aka NAFTA-on-steroids — before President Obama’s October deadline. Leaked texts from these secretive negotiations reveals that if completed, the TPP could offshore millions of American jobs, flood our homes with unsafe food and drive medicine prices through the roof.
And the way “trade” deals are negotiated could be in jeopardy if some in Washington get their way. Fast Track Trade Authority could be revived, giving Congress’ constitutional trade authority to the president.
But freshman representatives are urging House Democratic leadership to work towards trade policies that benefit most Americans, not the corporate special interests driving the current agenda.
We need more members to sign onto this letter so leadership feels the full weight of Americans asking for change.
Tell Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the Shareholder Protection Act
Corporations aren’t people, but shareholders are.
If you or someone you know has a 401(k), a similar retirement account or other investments, the corporations funded by these investments could be among those that secretly distort our elections by funneling money — your money — toward tilting our elections to favor corporate-friendly candidates.
The Shareholder Protection Act (H.R. 1734, S. 824) proposed by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) would empower shareholders to vote on whether to allow corporate executives to spend corporate money on political campaigns. Shareholders — not the CEO and not the board of directors — are the real owners of any publicly traded corporation, and the decision should be theirs.
Don’t let your family’s nest egg be used to promote the corporate agenda. If a majority of shareholders tell a corporation to stay out of politics, then the corporation should do exactly that.
Use the form below to tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor the Shareholder Protection Act today.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your representative and senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Ask the New Hampshire Senate to Take a Vote on Resolutions and to Support HCR 2 to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Stop the Blockade to the Democratic Process and Help Build Support for HCR 2 in the New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire could become the fourteenth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations, but the New Hampshire Senate is refusing to even take a vote!
Due in large part to your advocacy, House Concurrent Resolution 2 (HCR 2), which calls for an amendment, passed out of the New Hampshire House of Representatives on March 20 with a bipartisan vote of 189 to 139. It is now onto the Senate, but the Senate is refusing to take a vote.
Please take a minute to call Senate President Senator Bragdon at (603) 769-1818 and your state senator (find her or his number below) asking them to allow the resolutions to come to a vote and to vote “yes” on HCR 2 and fill out the form below to let us know how the call went.
Ask Your Illinois State Representative to Help Overturn Citizens United
Encourage Your State Representative to “Yes”on Senate Joint Resolution 27
Thanks to emails, calls and personal visist from people like you, Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR 27) calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases passed the Illinois Senate and with your help will pass the Illinois House this week.
We need as many representatives, Republican and Democrat alike, to vote "yes" on Senate Joint Resolution when it comes up - likely tomorrow - Tues. May 28.
Please take a minute to send a personalized email to your Illinois state representative to ask him or her to vote "yes" on SJR 27.
Type your zip code into the box below. Your representative’s phone number will appear, as well as a sample email message which you can use if you wish. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Learn More About Public Citizen's U.S. Chamber Watch Project
We're Standing Up to the Largest Lobbyist Group in the Country, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce only exists to serve the interests of giant corporations. It does not represent the consumers and small businesses that fuel our economy.
Add your name below to learn more about our fight to keep mega-corporations from dominating our economy and our politics.
Ask Your Illinois State Senator to Support the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United
Encourage Your State Senator to Vote “Yes” on Senate Joint Resolution 27
Illinois could become the 14th state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases by passing Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR 27).
The Illinois Senate could vote on SJR 27 as early as 4 p.m. today.
Please take a minute to call or send a personalized email to your Illinois state senator to ask him or her to support SJR 27.
Type your zip code into the box below. Your senator’s phone number will appear, as well as a sample email message which you can use if you wish. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
If you choose to send an email message, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Ask Your Oregon State Representative to Support HJM 6 to Overturn Citizens United
Help Make Oregon the 14th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment
House Joint Memorial 6 (HJM 6), which calls for an amendment, is in Committee in the House, and your representative sits on this key committee and could help make sure it’s voted on.
Please take a minute to ask your state representative to support HJM 6.
Take a moment to edit the email message that appears below. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message and all the others messages sent will make a difference.
We also urge you to follow up by calling your representative using talking points from the sample letter below. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Ask Your New Hampshire Senator to Support a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Stop the Blockade to the Democratic Process and Help Build Support for HCR 2 in the New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire could become the next state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations, but the New Hampshire Senate is refusing to even take a vote!
Due in large part to your advocacy, House Concurrent Resolution 2 (HCR 2), which calls for an amendment, passed out of the New Hampshire House of Representatives on March 20 with a bipartisan vote of 189 to 139. It is now onto the Senate, but the Senate is refusing to take a vote.
Please take a minute to call your state senator (find her or his number below) and ask him or her to vote “yes” on HCR 2 and to sign onto the letter to Congress calling for an amendment (PDF). Fill out the form below to let us know how the call went.
* Already signed the letter to Congress. If your state senator signed the letter, please thank him or her and encourage him or her to support a vote on HCR 2.
If Corporations Do the Crime, Corporations Should Do the Time
Tell Your Members of Congress to Support the Protecting the American People Act
Corporate crime and recklessness wrecks our economy, injures and kills workers, poisons our food and water, devastates our environment and hurts people in too many ways to count.
The Protecting American People Act will strengthen public protections so the consequences for corporate crime and recklessness are appropriately severe, and it will prevent corporate lobbyists from hijacking the process of creating the rules they must follow.
Tell your Senators to support the Protecting American People Act.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your representative and senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Part one of the bill is designed make sure that corporations will be held accountable when they harm the public:
Criminal penalties would be imposed on corporate officials for knowingly disregarding federal regulations that were enacted to protect consumers’ and workers’ health and safety or for failure to warn of imminent dangers.
The tax loophole that allows write-offs for corporate regulatory violations would be rescinded.
Part two of the bill is designed to prevent corporate interests from secretly distorting and undermining the process of writing new regulations, and to shine sunlight on corporate rule-breakers.
“Revolving door” restrictions would be put in place to prevent regulatory staff from using their regulatory expertise to cash in on careers showing corporations how to evade rules.
Increasing transparency and reducing the influence of the White House’s obscure Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
Public disclosure of alleged violations would end the air of secrecy that too-often surrounds instances of corporate.
Email Your California State Legislators in Support of a Moratorium on Fracking
California already has serious water shortages and water contamination and air pollution problems, and fracking will only worsen these grave threats to public health. The pollution and intense industrial development associated with fracking threaten key wildlife habitat and our agricultural industry.
Despite the grave risks, California currently doesn’t require oil and gas companies to report when or where they are fracking wells — or what toxic chemicals they use.
A.B. 1301 is historic legislation that would put a moratorium on fracking in our state.
Please Let Your State Representatives Know You Strongly Support AB1301
Ask Your State Senator to Help Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Encourage Your State Senator to Help Pass Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 27)
Take a minute to call your Illinois state senator to ask him or her to support SJR 27 before tomorrow’s hearing.
You don’t need to convince the person on the phone, just tell him or her that you are a constituent and that you strongly support the passage of SJR 27 to get money out of politics and overturn Citizens United.
James F. Clayborne Jr. (East St. Louis) - (217) 782-5399
President John J. Cullerton (D-Chicago - Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville) - (217) 782-2728
Chair Don Harmon (D-Oak Park, Austin, Galewood) - (217) 782-8176
Deputy Rep. Leader Dale A. Righter (R-Mattoon) (217) 782-6674
Ira I. Silverstein (D-Chicago - Skokie, Glenview) - (217) 782-5500
Donne E. Trotter (D-Chicago - Lansing, Calumet Heights, Burnside) - (217) 782-3201
Script for Democratic Members:
“Hello, my name is __ {name} __. I am constituent calling in support of SJR 27, a resolution that asks Illinois’ Congressional delegation to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics. Does __{name of your senator}__ support SJR 27?
- Unlimited corporate and wealthy individual spending in our elections is drowning out the voices of Illinoisans and further alienating people from their own government.
- We can join 13 other states in calling for an amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and return the right to regulate election spending to the people and our elected representatives.
[If the member does not yet have a position in support, ask for a call back with the members’ official position.]
Script for Republican Members:
“Hello, my name is __ {name} __. I am a constituent calling in support of SJR 27, a resolution that asks Illinois’ Congressional delegation to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics. Does __{name of your senator}__ support SJR 27?
- Polls and ballot initiatives show time and again that Republicans, Independents and Democrats feel that unlimited corporate and individual spending in elections is a corrupting influence.
- We need a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and return the power to the states and to Congress to put sensible limits in place to make sure citizens still have a voice in the Republic.
- Unlimited spending favors big, out-of-state spenders and companies over Illinois small businesses and entrepreneurs.
- Though symbolic, SJR 27 sends a powerful message to Washington, that Illinoisans want serious action on runaway spending in elections.
Thank you,
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Ask Your State Senator To Support Overturning Citizens United
Encourage Your State Senator to Help Pass Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 27)
Take a minute to call your Illinois state senator to ask him or her to support SJR 27 before tomorrow's hearing.
You don't need to convince the person on the phone, just tell them you are a constituent and that passage of SJR 27 to get money out of politics and overturn Citizens United is something you strongly support.
James F. Clayborne Jr. (East St. Louis) - (217) 782 - 5399
President John J. Cullerton (Chicago - Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville) - (217) 782 - 2728
Chair Don Harmon (Oak Park, Austin, Galewood) - (217) 782 - 8176
Ira I. Silverstein (Chicago - Skokie, Glenview) - (217) 782 - 5500
Donne E. Trotter (Chicago - Lansing, Calumet Heights, Burnside) - (217) 782 - 3201
“Hello, my name is __ {name} __. I am constituent calling in support of SJR 27, a resolution that asks Illinois's Congressional delegation to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and get big money out of politics. Does __{Name of your Senator} support SJR 27?"
If you wish to, you may share with them very briefly why you care so much about this issue personally.
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Join Our Social Networks
Illinois could become the next state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases. It's critical that we maintain strong bipartisan support for the Illinois resolution, to reflect the will of citizens across all parties that there should be limits to spending in elections and that unlimited spending leads to corruption.
Ask Your State Senator To Support Getting Money Out Politics
Encourage Your State Senator to Help Pass Senate Joint Resolution (SJR 27)
Take a minute to call your Illinois state senator to ask him or her to support SJR 27 before tomorrow's hearing.
You don't need to convince the person on the phone, just tell them you are a constituent and that passage of SJR 27 to get money out of politics and overturn Citizens United is something you strongly support.
James F. Clayborne Jr. (East St. Louis) - (217) 782 - 5399
President John J. Cullerton (Chicago - Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville) - (217) 782 - 2728
Chair Don Harmon (Oak Park, Austin, Galewood) - (217) 782 - 8176
Sign Petition Calling for a Moratorium on Fracking
While the gas drilling industry continues to spend millions on campaign contributions and lobbyists to thwart new health and environmental protections from gas drilling, every year has brought new evidence of the extreme risks associated with fracking.
Thousands have had their drinking water contaminated, earthquakes have shaken the ground from Ohio to Texas, blowouts and explosions have occurred frequently, and drilling companies have committed more than 2,300 serious environmental violations.
Public Citizen is joining its Pennsylvania partners in calling for a moratorium on shale gas extraction in the state.
Sign Our Petition and Tell Your Elected Officials to Put Our Health and Environment First
The petition is being delivered to Gov. Tom Corbett and state senators and representatives on April 30, 2013.
We, the undersigned, call on Gov. Corbett, and state senators and representatives to support a moratorium on further shale gas extraction in Pennsylvania until it is proven safe for our environment and the public’s health.
Tell Your Members of Congress to Cosponsor the Shareholder Protection Act
Corporations aren’t people, but shareholders are.
If you or someone you know has a 401(k), a similar retirement account or other investments, the corporations funded by these investments could be among those that secretly distort our elections by funneling money — your money — toward tilting our elections to favor corporate-friendly candidates.
The Shareholder Protection Act (H.R. 1734, S. 824) proposed by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Mass.) would empower shareholders to vote on whether to allow corporate executives to spend corporate money on political campaigns. Shareholders — not the CEO and not the board of directors — are the real owners of any publicly traded corporation, and the decision should be theirs.
Don’t let your family’s nest egg be used to promote the corporate agenda. If a majority of shareholders tell a corporation to stay out of politics, then the corporation should do exactly that.
Use the form below to tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor the Shareholder Protection Act today.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your representative and senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Ask Your Maine Legislators Vote “Yes” on the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Take Democracy Off the Auction Block and Restore Democracy to the People
Maine could become the thirteenth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases.
LR 66 calls for a constitutional amendment to “reaffirm the power of citizens through their government to regulate the raising and spending of money in elections.” Please email and call your legislators to ask them to support this resolution sponsored by Sen. Dick Woodbury (U – Yarmouth) now! A vote could be scheduled early next week.
Please take a minute to send an email and call your legislators and ask them to vote “yes” on LR 66.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your legislators. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
The Fertilizer Plant Explosion in West, Texas Shouldn’t have Happened
Tell President Obama and Congress to Strengthen OSHA so it Doesn’t Happen Again
The explosion was catastrophic.
The last time the fertilizer plant was inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was in 1985.
Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate — an extremely dangerous and volatile substance — burst into flames, leveling nearby homes and severely damaging schools.
More than people 200 were injured. Fifteen died. And a small town is left devastated, wondering how it could have happened.
Let’s make sure it never happens again.
Add your name to the petition to President Obama and Congress.
PETITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND CONGRESS:
We, the undersigned, call on you to strengthen OSHA’s ability to address dangerous workplaces before they lead to disasters, like the April 17, 2013, fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.
OSHA’s funding should be increased so the agency has the resources to conduct thorough and routine inspections of plants containing dangerous and volatile substances, and fines against workplaces where employees are killed should be significantly raised so that businesses have an increased financial incentive to ensure their workplaces are safe.
Ask Your Representative to Expose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Texts and Protect Your Voice in U.S. Trade Negotiations
Urge Your Representative to Sign Onto a Letter Asking Democratic House Leadership to Promote a Fair Trade Agenda
The heat is on to finish the secretive TPP negotiations — aka NAFTA-on-steroids — before President Obama’s October deadline. Leaked texts from these secretive negotiations reveals that if completed, the TPP could offshore millions of American jobs, flood our homes with unsafe food and drive medicine prices through the roof.
And the way “trade” deals are negotiated could be in jeopardy if some in Washington get their way. Fast Track Trade Authority could be revived, giving Congress’ constitutional trade authority to the president.
But freshman representatives are urging House Democratic leadership to work towards trade policies that benefit most Americans, not the corporate special interests driving the current agenda.
We need more members to sign onto this letter so leadership feels the full weight of Americans asking for change.
Ask Your Representative to Expose the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Texts and Protect Your Voice in U.S. Trade Negotiations
Urge Your Representative to Sign Onto a Letter Asking Democratic House Leadership to Promote a Fair Trade Agenda
The heat is on to finish negotiations on the secretive TPP negotiations - aka NAFTA-on-steroids - before President Obama’s October deadline. Leaked texts from these secretive negotiations reveals that if completed, the TPP could offshore millions of American jobs, flood our homes with unsafe food and drive medicine prices through the roof.
And the way “trade” deals are negotiated could be in jeopardy if some in Washington get their way. Fast Track Trade Authority could be revived, giving Congress’ constitutional trade authority to the president.
But freshman representatives are urging House Democratic leadership to work towards trade policies that benefit most Americans, not the corporate special interests driving the current agenda.
We need more members to sign onto this letter so leadership feels the full weight of Americans asking for change.
Find your representative’s information and use the script below to write a letter:
“Hello, my name is __ {name} __ and I’m writing today about Congressman Mark Pocan’s letter to House Democratic Leader Pelosi and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Levin. This important letter would ask the leaders to work with freshmen Members of Congress to restore congressional oversight to secretive trade negotiations like the Trans-Pacific Partnership and not delegate Congress’ constitutional authority over trade negotiations.
And that’s urgent, because there are major TPP negotiations next month. This letter will make sure that U.S. negotiators are not repeating the mistakes of old trade deals that offshore our jobs and flood us with unsafe imports, while also protecting Congress’ role in crafting our trade policies.
Would Representative {name} please add his/her name to this critical letter?
Thank you,
{Name}
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Take Action on Climate Change - Tell the Texas Senate to Vote "No" on HB 788
Protect Texas’ Climate, Economy and People
A bill that would actually take Texas a step backward on addressing climate change has passed in the Texas House of Representatives and is now being considered by the Texas Senate.
The bill, HB 788, would require our state environmental agency — the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) — to issue permits for greenhouse gas emissions, but wouldn’t allow the agency to limit those emissions. The bill would also limit the public’s right to ensure that companies are using proper control technologies by forbidding contested case hearings for greenhouse gas permits.
Greenhouse gases are causing dangerous changes to our climate. 2012 was the hottest year on record in the United States. Over 34,000 high temperature records were set at weather stations across the country — more than five times the number of record temperature lows. In 2011, Texas experienced a devastating drought and over 4 million acres burned in wildfires across the state, causing over $750 million damages.
HB 788 takes us in the wrong direction. It won’t protect Texas’ climate, economy or people.
Help us stop this bad bill by emailing your state senator today.
Stand up to Chuck: Demand that Charles Schwab Corporation Stop Denying Its Customers' Rights
Call on the Charles Schwab to Drop the Forced Arbitration Clause and Class-Action Ban from Its Terms
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. — a well-known investment advisor holding more than $2 trillion in assets for millions of investors — is trying to eviscerate its customers’ rights.
In the fine print of Schwab’s terms of service, there’s a forced arbitration clause and a ban on consumers joining together in class actions.
Sign the petition to tell Charles Schwab that nobody should have to sacrifice their rights in order to save for retirement.
Petition to Charles Schwab Corporation:
We, the undersigned, call on Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. to remove from its terms for investors the forced arbitration clause and the ban on joining together in class actions. Schwab should honor its customers’ rights and end its shameful fight against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
The forced arbitration clause means that if you ever have a dispute with the company, you can’t go to a public court. You’ll have to go to a private, secretive tribunal chosen for you by Charles Schwab.
Class-action bans prevent you from banding together with other customers to hold these firms accountable for deceptive, fraudulent and illegal practices. So if Schwab misled investors and caused them to lose their hard-earned savings, only those few with the time and resources to seek justice individually – in costly and secret arbitration that is stacked against them – stand a chance to recover their losses. Meanwhile, Schwab can escape real accountability for potential bad actions.
Tell City Council That an Unelected Board to Govern Austin Energy Won’t be Accountable to the Public
Despite public outcry, including dozens of people turning out to testify against the ordinance, Austin City Council voted in favor of an unelected board to govern Austin Energy.
An unelected board won’t be accountable to the public. It could undo much of the progress that has been made to improve solar and energy efficiency programs and bill assistance for low income customers.
Council Members Laura Morrison and Kathy Tovo are fighting hard against this proposal and a couple of the other Council members are starting to respond to the public pressure. Now we need to turn up the heat and let Council know that we won’t stand for this attack on democracy.
We need to flood the Council members’ inboxes with emails and, most of all, we need you to show up at City Hall for the final vote on this ordinance on Thursday, May 9.
Join the fight now. We can’t win without your help.
Send an email to the mayor and City Council members.
Ask Your Vermont State Representative to Support Election Spending Limits and Disclosure
Encourage Your State Representative to Help Pass Senate Bill 82 (S.82)
Vermont’s Senate has already passed S.82, a bill that would put sensible limits on campaign contributions and require disclosure from Super PACs and other outside spenders.
Now the Vermont House of Reprsentatives must pass S.82 for it to become law.
Please take a minute to send a personalized email to your Vermont state representative to ask him or her to support S.82.
Type your zip code into the box below. A sample email message and your representative’s phone number will appear. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
If you choose to send an email message, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Ask Your Illinois State Senator to Support the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Encourage Your State Senator to Vote "Yes" on Senate Joint Resolution 27
Illinois could become the 14th state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases by passing Senate Joint Resolution 27 (SJR 27).
Please take a minute to call or send a personalized email to your Illinois state senator to ask him or her to support SJR 27.
Type your zip code into the box below. Your senator’s phone number will appear, as well as a sample email message which you can use if you wish. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
If you choose to send an email message, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Demand Kathleen Sebelius Apologize to Parents of Babies Endangered in Study
Tell Health and Human Services Secretary to Apologize for Unethical Experiment that Exposed Premature Infants to Risk of Death and Blindness and Prevent Similar Failures in the Future
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius should personally apologize to the parents of 1,316 premature infants who were exposed to increased risk of blindness and death as part of a clinical trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and held throughout the U.S. several years ago because they were not informed of the risks to their babies or the true nature and purpose of the research.
Add Your Name to the Petition to Secretary Sebelius
We, the undersigned, call on you to apologize to each of the parents of the premature infants enrolled in the unethical trial at 23 U.S. medical centers. This apology should be accompanied by a complete divulgence of the previously undisclosed information regarding the nature, purpose, and risks of the research.
We also urge you to take the following actions:
Direct the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) to require each participating institution to submit corrective action for avoiding such serious deficiencies in the consent process for future research.
Launch an independent investigation into how the HHS system for review and oversight of clinical trials failed so miserably. This should include an assessment of all entities within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other HHS agencies that played a role in the review, approval and funding of the study.
Determine what system-wide actions are necessary to prevent similar future failures.
Identify and suspend any similarly unethical ongoing research involving premature infants that is funded by NIH or any other HHS agency.
The trial, known as the SUPPORT study, was conducted between 2005 and 2009 at 23 prominent research facilities throughout the country, including the Stanford University School of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, Brown University, Duke University and University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Encourage Your Delaware Legislators to Support a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Urge Legislators to Sign on to a Letter to Congress Calling for an Amendment
Delaware could become the 14th state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases.
We only need two more state senators and two more state representatives to sign the letter in order to reach a majority in both houses.
Please take a minute to send an email and call your legislators to ask them to sign the letter. If they have already signed the letter, thank them for doing so.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up on your message by calling your legislators. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Call Your Senators Today and Request the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Draft Texts
Request the TPP Draft Texts and Make Your Senators Realize Congress Is Also Being Kept in the Dark
Working behind closed doors, unelected negotiators are rewriting wide swaths of our domestic food safety, Internet freedom, medicine pricing and other non-trade policies through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “trade” agreement. The public, press and our elected senators aren’t even allowed to see the texts. Talks have been underway for three years and President Obama wants to sign a deal this October!
Meanwhile, 600 official corporate advisors — people from places like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Walmart and Big Pharma companies like Pfizer and Abbott Laboratories — have special access to the TPP texts.
By calling your senators and requesting a copy of the TPP texts, you can help make your senators realize they are also being shut out, and that negotiators are trying to do an end run around the Constitution — which gives Congress exclusive authority over the terms of trade agreements.
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to connect you to your senators’ offices. Use the appropriate script below to ask for your copy of the TPP draft texts:
Script for Democratic Members:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently under negotiation. The TPP would be the most significant international commercial agreement since the World Trade Organization with broad implications for U.S. jobs, food safety, financial regulation, medicine prices and more. Negotiations have been underway for three years and President Obama wants to sign the deal this October. I’d appreciate it if Senator __{name}__ could send me a copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership draft texts, and information about __{his/her}__ leadership to represent the public interest throughout this process.”
Script for Republican Members:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently under negotiation. Given the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority over the substance of U.S. trade policy, I am requesting that you review the draft texts of the TPP negotiations before any deal is signed and cannot be changed.
Given the Obama administration has been doing these negotiations for three years and President Obama wants to sign the deal this October, I’d appreciate it if Senator __{name}__ could send me a copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership draft texts. I would also like information about __{his/her}__ leadership to make sure this agreement doesn’t submit the U.S to the jurisdiction of the foreign tribunals included in other Obama trade deals and what is being done to preserve Congress’s constitutional authority throughout this process.”
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Tell Congress to Reject Nuclear Waste Temporary Storage Plan
Consolidated Interim Storage Does Not Address Nuclear Waste Issues
Congress is proposing a plan to transport our inventory of lethal waste to a temporary storage facility until a permanent disposal site can be constructed.
The plan does nothing to address the larger storage and disposal issues. In fact, consolidated interim storage exacerbates nuclear waste safety and security issues.
Sign the Petition to Oppose Failed Nuclear Waste Storage Plan.
We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pursue sound nuclear waste legislation that prioritizes the establishment of a safe and secure facility for the permanent disposal of our country’s stockpile of lethal nuclear waste, while minimizing the number of times toxic waste is handled and transported not what is most expedient for the nuclear industry.
Congress is considering legislation that would establish "consolidated interim storage" sites for high-level radioactive waste. This would initiate the unnecessary transport of tens of thousands of casks of lethal radioactive waste on our roads and railways for the sole benefit of the nuclear power industry, while endangering the health and safety of millions of Americans. As long as nuclear reactors generate this waste, "interim" waste sites would not decrease the number of places that store radioactive waste; rather, there would simply be more contaminated sites.
Radioactive waste should be stored in dry hardened, secure on-site facilities until a permanent, scientifically-defensible and publicly-acceptable waste solution is implemented. This waste should be moved only once: to a permanent site. Ending the generation of radioactive waste would be the most effective single step toward addressing our radioactive waste dilemma.
Please vote against any legislation that would establish consolidated "interim" storage sites for radioactive waste.
Feel Free to Add Your Own Comments to the Petition
Ask Your Nevada State Senator to Support a Resolution to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Take Democracy Off the Auction Block and Preserve Constitutional Rights for People — Not Corporations
Nevada could become the twelfth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases.
Senate Joint Resolution 11 (SJR 11) calls for a constitutional amendment and has passed out of committee and awaits a vote in the full Senate.
Please take a minute to send an email to your state senator asking her or him to vote “yes” on SJR 11.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your legislators. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Ask Washington State Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom to Support HJM 4001 to Overturn Citizens United
Without Washington State Senate Leadership Support HJM 4001 Will Die in Committee on Wednesday
House Joint Memorial 4001 (HJR 4001), which calls for an amendment, has not been voted on despite a hearing this past Tuesday.
Please take a minute to send an email to Washington State Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom asking him to support HJR 4001.
Take a moment to edit the email message that appears below. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
We also urge you to follow up your message by calling Senator Tom and other Majority Coalition leaders using talking points from the sample letter. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Tell Your State Representative to Oppose HB 2026 and Support HB 723 to Support Renewable Energy
The Texas renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) has made Texas a wind industry leader. We have more wind energy capacity installed than any other state.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that there’s a dirty energy industry-backed bill, HB 2026, that would essentially abolish the Texas RPS.
Yes, we have met the goals currently established in law ahead of schedule, but that’s a good thing, not a reason to gut the policy.
We have made progress, but still have a long way to go. Texas is lagging behind much smaller, cloudier states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania, when it comes to solar energy. Our clean energy goals could be retooled to spur solar development, as State Representative Raphael Anchia’s HB 723 would do.
We have a choice. We can undo the progress already made or we can build upon our success and make Texas a solar leader.
Send an email to your representative and urge him or her to oppose HB 2026 and support HB 723.
Tell the New York Legislature: Pass Fair Elections Now
Add Your Name to the Growing Number of New Yorkers Who Support the Fair Elections Act
Sign the petition that states: “It's time to put voters first in Albany. Pass a comprehensive campaign reform bill for all New York state elections based publicly-financed elections, lower contribution limits, and stronger disclosure rules that will keep lobbyists and corporations from stealing our democracy.”
Ask Your West Virginia State Senator(s) to Support the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Take Democracy Off the Auction Block and Preserve Constitutional Rights for People — Not Corporations
West Virginia could become the twelfth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases.
Senate Resolution 24 (SR 24) and House Resolution (HR 9) call for a constitutional amendment. HR 9 passed by a 60-39 margin with bi-partisan support. Please email and call your senator(s) to ask them to vote “yes” on SR 24 before the end of the legislative session which ends at midnight on April 13.
Please take a minute to send an email and call your senator(s) to ask them to vote “yes” on SR 24.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your legislators. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to
Ask Your West Virginia State Senator(s) to Support the Resolution to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Take Democracy Off the Auction Block and Preserve Constitutional Rights for People — Not Corporations
West Virginia could become the twelfth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related cases.
Senate Resolution 24 (SR 24) and House Resolution (HR 9) call for a constitutional amendment. HR 9 passed by a 60-39 margin with bi-partisan support. Please email and call your senator(s) to ask them to vote “yes” on SR 24 before the end of the legislative session which ends at midnight on April 13.
Please take a minute to send an email and call your senator(s) to ask them to vote “yes” on SR 24.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your legislators. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Ask Your State Senator to Support HJM 4001 to Overturn Citizens United
Help Build Support for HJM 4001 for the Key Senate Government Operations Committee Vote
Washington could become the twelfth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
House Joint Memorial 4001 (HJR 4001), which calls for an amendment, will be voted on by the Washington State Senate Government Operations Committee on Tuesday.
Please take a minute to send an email to your senator asking him or her to vote “yes” on HJR 4001.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your state senator. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
Help Make Senators Aware of Trans-Pacific Partnership Secrecy
Request a Copy of the TPP Draft Text From Your Senators
President Obama and his counterparts in countries across the Pacific have called for completion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations this October. Leaks have shown the TPP is shaping up to be a NAFTA-on-steroids: Millions more offshored jobs, unsafe food and products flooding into our borders, bans on “Buy American” policies and much more.
Six hundred official corporate advisors have access to the text while the public, press and even Congress are being kept in the dark.
Help raise awareness of the dangers and secrecy of the TPP in Congress by writing your senators requesting a copy of the TPP draft texts.
Citizen protests TPP secrecy at March 19, 2013 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the president’s 2013 trade agenda.
Protect Your Right to Participate in Environmental Permit Hearings
The Texas Legislature May Limit Hearings for Major Polluting Facilities
Two bills are being considered that would limit your right to intervene in the permitting of major facilities in your community.
Hearings on environmental permits in Texas are rare, but they are the primary means for improving permits for most polluting facilities or projects. Over the past 25 years, Public Citizen’s Texas office has helped citizen groups organize and contest dozens of major permits. Although not perfect, the contested case process often results fewer emissions from new facilities.
Texas Senator Troy Fraser’s SB 957 and Texas Representative Allan Ritter’s HB 2082 would limit how and when a hearing could be granted and would allow companies to begin building facilities before appeals are completed.
We need to act now to ensure that these bills don’t become law.
Email your Texas lawmakers and ask them to vote against SB 957 and HB 2082 or any similar measures.
Ask the New Hampshire Senate to Allow Resolutions to Come to a Vote and to Support HCR 2 to Overturn Citizens United and Related Cases
Stop the Blockade to the Democratic Process and Help Build Support for HCR 2 in the New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire could become the fourteenth state to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations, but the New Hampshire Senate is refusing to even take a vote!
Due in large part to your advocacy, House Concurrent Resolution 2 (HCR 2), which calls for an amendment, passed out of the New Hampshire House of Representatives on March 20 with a bipartisan vote of 189 to 139. It is now onto the Senate.
In a historic show of obstinacy that runs counter to the state’s history of open government and the constitutional right to free speech, and despite strong objections from Democratic State Senators, the Senate voted to establish a new rule requiring a 2/3rd vote to introduce or hear resolutions.
Please take a minute to call Senate Majority Leader Senator Bragdon at (603) 769-1818 and your state senator (find their number below) asking her or him to vote “yes” on HCR 2.
If you don't know who your state senator is, type zip code into the box below the list to find out.
Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Safeguard Nuclear Waste
The United States does not currently have a national policy for the permanent storage of high-level nuclear waste — requiring the 70,000 tons of waste that has been generated from the U.S. fleet of reactors to be stored onsite.
There is an urgent need to protect the public from the threats posed by the current vulnerable storage of radioactive materials.
Sign the Petition to Support Commonsense Principles to Improve the Protection of Radioactive Waste Stored at Reactor Sites
We, the undersigned, call on the NRC to enhance the safety of nuclear waste storage at our country’s nuclear power plants.
Spent fuel pools at our country’s nuclear power plants are currently packed beyond their designed capacity. If water is lost from a densely packed pool as the result of an attack or an accident, cooling by ambient air would likely be insufficient to prevent a fire, resulting in the release of large quantities of radioactivity to the environment.
Spent nuclear fuel must be transferred from the pools to dry storage within five years of being discharged from the reactor.
Spent nuclear fuel must be kept in pools for several years before it can be stored in a dry facility. Spent fuel pools contain more highly radioactive fuel than the reactor cores, but they are located outside of the steel-lined reactor containment structure.
The pools must be protected to withstand natural disasters and an attack by air, land or water.
When the spent fuel pools fill up, some of the highly radioactive fuel assemblies are loaded into large casks and stored outside on concrete pads.
Waste moved from fuel pools must be safeguarded in hardened, on-site storage (HOSS) facilities with real-time radiation and heat monitoring for early detection of radiation releases.
Tell Us How We Can Best Help You Work for a Constitutional Amendment
Let us know how we can make calls most effective to prepare you to take action to overturn Citizens United, take democracy off the auction block, and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below.
Tell Your Senators: Confirm Richard Cordray to Lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
President Obama’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expiring. Cordray has been re-nominated and is going through the confirmation process once again.
A former Ohio State Attorney General, Cordray’s history of standing up for consumers and winning against Wall Street and big banks when they try to rip off their customers makes him an excellent nominee.
But 43 Senate Republicans have threatened to filibuster Cordray’s nomination unless the consumer protection agency he heads is fundamentally weakened.
Don’t let opponents of consumer protection hold Cordray’s nomination hostage.
Tell your senators: Confirm Richard Cordray.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, let us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Call Your Representative Today and Request the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Draft Texts
Request the TPP Draft Texts and Make Your Representative Realize Congress Is Also Being Kept in the Dark
Working behind closed doors, unelected negotiators are rewriting wide swaths of our domestic food safety, Internet freedom, medicine pricing and other non-trade policies through the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “trade” agreement. The public, press and our elected representatives aren’t even allowed to see the texts. Talks have been underway for three years and President Obama wants to sign a deal this October!
Meanwhile, 600 official corporate advisors – people from places like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Walmart and Big Pharma companies like Pfizer and Abbott Laboratories – have special access to the TPP texts.
By calling your member of Congress and requesting a copy of the TPP texts, you can help make your representative realize he or she is also being shut out, and that negotiators are trying to do an end run around the Constitution – which gives Congress exclusive authority over the terms of trade agreements.
Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask them to connect you to your representative’s office. Use the appropriate script below to ask for your copy of the TPP draft texts:
Script for Democratic Members:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently under negotiation. The TPP would be the most significant international commercial agreement since the World Trade Organization with broad implications for U.S. jobs, food safety, financial regulation, medicine prices and more. Negotiations have been underway for three years and President Obama wants to sign the deal this October. I’d appreciate it if Representative __{name}__ could send me a copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership draft texts, and information about __{his/her}__ leadership to represent the public interest throughout this process.”
Script for Republican Members:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement currently under negotiation. Given the U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority over the substance of U.S. trade policy, I am requesting that you review the draft texts of the TPP negotiations before any deal is signed and cannot be changed.
Given the Obama administration has been doing these negotiations for three years and President Obama wants to sign the deal this October, I’d appreciate it if Representative __{name}__ could send me a copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership draft texts. I would also like information about __{his/her}__ leadership to make sure this agreement doesn’t submit the U.S to the jurisdiction of the foreign tribunals included in other Obama trade deals and what is being done to preserve Congress’s constitutional authority throughout this process.”
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Sign the Petition Opposing Paul Ryan and the Congressional Republicans’ Plan to End Medicare as We Know It
Paul Ryan and too many other members of Congress pretend that Medicare cuts are necessitated by a concern that the program could bankrupt our country.
But the reality is that corporate stooges and anti-progressives in Congress have always wanted to dismantle Medicare, despite — or maybe because of? — its unassailable success.
So now they’re exploiting our nation’s economic anxieties to manufacture a false crisis that gives them cover to go after Medicare.
We have a very simple response: Leave Medicare alone.
Add Your Name to the Petition to Tell Paul Ryan: Leave Medicare Alone!
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit organization that has been standing up to corporate power and holding government accountable since 1971.
We fight for openness and democratic accountability in government; for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe and sustainable energy sources; for social and economic justice in trade policies; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; and for safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs and health care.
Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Take Immediate Steps to Improve Reactor Safety
Ask the NRC to Vote for Commonsense Safeguards for Nuclear Power Plants
The NRC commissioners are reviewing a proposed regulation that would require almost a third of the nation’s reactors to install a special device to prevent radioactive releases.
The U.S. nuclear industry opposes the rule.
Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resist pressure from the nuclear industry and vote to enhance nuclear safety.
Add Your Name to the Petition Below
Without serious improvements to nuclear safety standards, what happened in Japan could happen in the United States. I urge you to take immediate action to enact and enforce the reforms recommended by the nuclear safety task force.
Sign the Petition to Tell Chevron to Stop Meddling in Our Elections
At the peak of the 2012 elections, Chevron dumped $2.5 million into a super PAC devoted solely to running negative ads against Democrats seeking election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Chevron's super PAC spending, enabled by the Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United ruling, will further entrench politicians who deny the existence of climate change and refuse to cut corporate welfare. Such political positions create the conditions for Chevron’s record profits, even as they destroy the conditions for life on Earth.
Chevron must be held accountable.
Demand that Chevron keep its corporate profits out of the people’s politics.
Sign the Petition to Chevron:
We, the undersigned, call on Chevron Corporation to refrain from using its vast wealth to distort our democracy.
Chevron’s political spending is a clear attempt at distorting the legislative process so Chevron and other corporate polluters can recklessly pursue profit, regardless of the consequences to people and the planet.
Our government’s policies should be influenced primarily by human needs, not corporate greed. Chevron’s corporate money seeks only to corrupt, and therefore has no place within, our political discourse.
Chevron’s $2.5 million donation appears to be illegal, despite the Supreme Court’s abominable Citizens United ruling, because Chevron is a federal contractor. Chevron has received government contracts worth hundreds of millions since 2000. Laws to prevent corruption in the federal contracting process prohibit contractors like Chevron from directly or indirectly supporting candidates for elected office.
Sign the Petition Urging Obama to Tell Us His Plan to Address Climate Change
We the undersigned, urge President Obama to present a plan to address the climate crisis; communicate the risks of continuing to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to the American people and put an end to the fake debate around the causes and consequences of climate change; lead the world in meaningfully international climate negotiations; and appoint a new climate czar to the cabinet.
Ask Your Senators and Representative to Support the Democracy Is For People Constitutional Amendment
Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and Create a More True Democracy
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Congressman Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) have introduced a powerful constitutional amendment that would prevent corporations from spending to influence elections and would enable to government to regulate campaign spending from individuals.
This amendment is key in our work to overturn the Supreme Court’s disastrous ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and we’re honored that they named it after our campaign, Democracy Is For People.
Please take a minute to send an email to your representative and senators and ask for them to join Sen. Sanders and Rep. Deutch in co-sponsoring the Democracy Is For People amendment.
The Democracy Is For People amendment is an essential piece of the puzzle.
Urge Your Members of Congress to Co-sponsor the Democracy Is For People Amendment.
Type your zip code into the box below. Then, take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your representative and senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, let us know how it went by sending an email to amendment@citizen.org.
The Democracy Is For People Constitutional Amendment:
SECTION I. Whereas the right to vote in public elections belongs only to natural persons as citizens of the United States, so shall the ability to make contributions and expenditures to influence the outcomes of public elections belong only to natural persons in accordance with this Article.
SECTION II. Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to restrict the power of Congress and the States to protect the integrity and fairness of the electoral process, limit the corrupting influence of private wealth in public elections, and guarantee the dependence of elected officials on the people alone by taking actions which may include the establishment of systems of public financing for elections, the imposition of requirements to ensure the disclosure of contributions and expenditures made to influence the outcome of a public election by candidates, individuals, and associations of individuals, and the imposition of content neutral limitations on all such contributions and expenditures.
SECTION III. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to alter the freedom of the press.
SECTION IV. Congress and the States shall have the power to enforce this Article through appropriate legislation.
Commit to Not Purchase Electricity From TXU Until Its Sister Company, Luminant, Cleans Up or Retires Its Old, Polluting Coal Plants
TXU’s sister company, Luminant, owns some of the dirtiest coal plants in the country and in Texas. Those coal plants are outdated, lack modern pollution controls, and Luminant’s own reports to the state show that they emit a quarter of Texas’ industrial air pollution.
The health impacts from Luminant’s coal plants cost Texans over $1.1 billion each year.
Do the responsible thing and switch to a power company where your monthly electric payment doesn’t support or benefit the owners of outdated coal plants that harm our health and cost us money. Make the switch to another electric provider and move beyond TXU.
For the latest information on all Texas energy provider plans, go to www.powertochoose.org. You can use the search option to identify non-TXU energy plans, including many 100% renewable energy options.
Take the pledge and move beyond TXU.
I commit to not purchase electricity from TXU until its sister company, Luminant, cleans up or retires its old, polluting coal plants.
Urge the U.S. Government to Seek the Highest Penalties for Oil Spill Possible Under the Law
The government is reportedly considering a deal under which BP would pay $16 billion to settle the civil suit regarding the April 20, 2010, oil spill.
The settlement would cut dramatically reduce BP’s financial liability for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history that killed 11 men.
Sign the Petition to the Department of Justice Demanding BP is Held Accountable
We, the undersigned, call on the U.S. government to take the $16 billion settlement deal off the table.
And we demand that prosecutors seek maximum civil penalties under the Clean Water Act and a judgment that BP is liable without limitation for oil removal costs and natural resource damages.
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Help Overturn Citizens United v. FEC in Your State
We work with teams of concerned citizens and grassroots activists in key states and give them the tools, training and support to go from a few people to a groundswell of popular and political momentum.
There are a lot of ways to pitch in, and it could be the difference between this historic movement gaining ground or stalling out right in your backyard.
Just let us know how you might be able to help in your state.
Don’t Bail Out Inefficient Texas Electric Companies with Ratepayer Money
Texas electric customers might be looking at even more price increases soon, if the Public Utility Commission votes for a capacity market this Thursday.
This new market would provide payments to companies just for having power plants available. Even if they didn’t produce any power, they would still receive these payments.
Another electric grid, PJM, made a similar change and it cost consumers an additional $140 per year. This is the wrong choice for Texas.
Senator John Carona, chair of the Business and Commerce Committee in the Texas Senate, has advocated for a capacity market in the past. Now we need him to change his mind and tell the PUC to vote against this wasteful, ratepayer-funded subsidy.
Sign the Petition Urging Obama to Tell Us His Plan to Address Climate Change
We the undersigned, urge President Obama to present a plan to address the climate crisis; communicate the risks of continuing to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to the American people and put an end to the fake debate around the causes and consequences of climate change; lead the world in meaningfully international climate negotiations; and appoint a new climate czar to the cabinet.
Help Make Senators Aware of Trans-Pacific Partnership Secrecy
Request a Copy of the TPP Draft Text From Your Senators
President Obama and his counterparts in countries across the Pacific have called for completion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations this October. Leaks have shown the TPP is shaping up to be a NAFTA-on-steroids: Millions more offshored jobs, unsafe food and products flooding into our borders, bans on “Buy American” policies and much more.
Six hundred official corporate advisors have access to the text while the public, press and even Congress are being kept in the dark.
Help raise awareness of the dangers and secrecy of the TPP in Congress by writing your senators requesting a copy of the TPP draft texts.
Citizen protests TPP secrecy at March 19, 2013 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the president’s 2013 trade agenda.
Keep Austin Energy Governance Accountable to the People
A proposed resolution would start the process of moving oversight and governance responsibilities away from the City Council and placing them with an appointed board. An appointed board could be much more easily influenced by industry interests that don’t share our values.
Austin Energy has been a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency, while keeping rates competitive with other utilities in the state. This could all change if the wrong people were appointed to the proposed board.
The best solution would be to form a subcommittee of our soon to be expanded City Council to focus on governance and oversight of Austin Energy. An elected representative of Austin Energy customers who live outside city limits could be included to ensure everyone has a voice.
Send an email to the City Council now and then consider joining us at City Hall (301 W. 2nd St.) on Tuesday and/or Thursday.
On Wednesday, February 13, there will be a press conference and rally at 12:30 p.m. in front of City Hall. Please join us!
On Thursday, February 14, Austin City Council will meet at 10 a.m. to consider this proposed resolution. Attend the meeting and sign up to speak against the resolution.
Urge the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to Keep Risky Derivatives Trades in Check, No Matter Where They Occur
Some of Wall Street’s most reckless and risky gambling occurs in the global derivatives market.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is readying to crack down on this reckless gambling – but Wall Street lobbyists are demanding loopholes that will make the new regulations virtually meaningless.
CFTC commissioners wrote strong rules to prevent Wall Street from engaging in risky transactions that could jeopardize our country’s financial security, no matter where in the world those transactions happen. But Wall Street – with help from foreign banks and foreign regulators – is pushing for rules that would, in effect, limit the scope of US enforcement to derivatives traders physically based in this country.
This would create a giant loophole that would encourage banks – the biggest of which already have major operations outside of the U.S. – to move transactions offshore to escape regulation.
Urge the CFTC to oppose Wall Street’s recklessness-offshoring loophole.
Petition to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
We, the undersigned, urge you to stand up for rules that apply the transparency and safety requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act to ALL derivatives transactions relevant to U.S. markets, regardless of whether these transactions are routed through a foreign subsidiary or entity.
Help Make Illinois the 12th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment to Get Money Out of Politics
We need people from across the state of Illinois to join our effort to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and get excessive individual and corporate money out of our elections.
Sign up to learn about opportunities to help pass a resolution in the Illinois state legislature.
Solar prices continue to drop, but many municipally owned electric utilities and electric cooperatives have been slow to implement programs that would allow people like you to benefit from the power of the sun. There’s one thing that we’ve heard over and over — these utilities need to hear requests for change from their own customers. That’s why we’re asking you to join our Solar Corridor campaign today.
The leadership at your electric utility needs to hear from you. At Public Citizen, we have lots of facts and data that show why solar programs are a win for energy customers, public electric utilities and the local economy. What we need now are the perfect messengers to deliver these facts to your electric utility.
Sometimes we will just need you to sign a petition or send an email. Other times we’ll ask for volunteers to make in-person visits. Whatever your level of commitment, we hope you’ll help us advocate for sound solar policies at you electric utility.
Tell Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler There Should Be No Such Thing as “Too Big To Jail”
By refusing to prosecute global banking behemoth HSBC for laundering hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of alleged terrorists in the Middle East and drug cartels in Mexico and Colombia, the Department of Justice is sending the message that Big Banks are above the law.
The evidence against London-based HSBC – the third largest bank in the world, with more than $2.5 trillion in assets – was overwhelming. But, instead of pursuing criminal charges, the Justice Department simply fined HSBC $1.9 billion – which sounds like a lot, until you realize that’s only about a month’s worth of profit for the bank.
HSBC’s slap on the wrist is a slap in the face to anyone who believes that there should be no such thing as “too big to jail.”
Join Public Citizen in calling for punishment that could actually deter corporate crime:
Demand justice. Add your name to the petition to revoke HSBC’s corporate charter.
PETITION TO MARYLAND ATTORNEY GENERAL DOUG GANSLER
We, the undersigned, call on you to use your authority to forfeit HSBC’s corporate charter. HSBC is a large corporation, but should enjoy no special privilege because of its size. A Maryland corporate charter should signal integrity, and we ask that you uphold this standard.
Why Petition Maryland's Attorney General?
The US division of HSBC is chartered in the state of Maryland. Under Maryland law, the attorney general has the power to forfeit a company’s corporate charter as punishment for engaging in organized crime. Charter forfeiture would represent a strong new tool states could use to enforce the integrity of corporate behavior.
Public Citizen’s FOIA requests (PDF) to the Department of Justice, Department of the Treasury and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency seeking the government's detailed justification for not prosecuting HSBC criminally.
Tell Us About Yourself and The Issues that Matter Most to You
As we make plans for grassroots organizing and pressuring lawmakers in 2013, a little more info about you will help us design campaigns with you — and your strengths, your interests and your passions — in mind.
Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below.
Attend the Rally Tuesday, February 19, in Charleston to Get Big Money Out of Politics
Join West Virginians as we ask the state legislature to call for a constitutional amendment to overturn the infamous Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people, not corporations.
The rally will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will anchor two sessions of a citizen lobby day where you can meet with your senators and delegates to ask them to support a constitutional amendment. The first part of the lobby day will be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the second part will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The West Virginia Legislature is considering a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to propose a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United, get big money out of politics and ensure that corporations don’t have the same rights as real people. Your voice can help make West Virginia the twelfth state to call for such an amendment.
Join us for the rally on Tuesday, February 19, at the State Capitol Building in Charleston, on the ground floor under the Rotunda (State Capitol Building, 1900 Kanawha Blvd East, Charleston, WV 25305). The lobby day will meet at the Senator Byrd statue on the second floor of the Rotunda at 9 a.m. and again at 1 p.m.
Don’t Let BP Off the Hook: Demand BP’s Suspension From Federal Contracts
In response to BP’s guilty plea to a range of criminal violations, the government has temporarily suspended the corporation from bidding on lucrative federal contracts.
BP is the Pentagon’s top fuel supplier and one of the government’s top 100 contractors, receiving $1.47 billion worth of federal money in 2011. This year alone — while under investigation for its role in the Gulf disaster — BP has won $1.1 billion in federal contracts.
BP has announced to its shareholders that it is in negotiations with the government to quickly resolve and lift the suspension.
Public Citizen is calling on the EPA to ban BP from federal contracts for five years before reconsidering the corporation’s contractor eligibility.
Sign petition to the EPA demanding BP is banned from federal contracts
We, the undersigned, urge you to debar BP, as the 14 criminal guilty pleas and past criminal history demonstrate BP to be a nonresponsbile entity.
This debarment should last through the company’s five year criminal probation period, and should include access to new government oil and natural gas leases, in addition to contracts.
It is clear that, as a repeat criminal felon, BP no longer can be trusted to effectively serve as a contractor or as a federal leaseholder. Its promises to do better going forward are not a sufficient basis for finding that it is a responsible entity.
After all BP has done, only a demonstrated record of responsible conduct over a period of years can satisfy that threshold.
A Campaign for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. FEC that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
Add your name to our petition for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling and reclaim our democracy.
We will send you updates by email about the campaign and Public Citizen’s other work to fight corporate power.
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Tell Your State Legislators to Vote Against Lifting the Uranium Mining Ban
Uranium mining poses several risks including drinking water contamination for several major urban areas.
Virginia Uranium — the company lobbying to lift the ban — stands to gain $7 billion from the uranium ore deposit located at the southern border of Virginia.
But a price tag can’t be put on what citizens of Virginia stand to lose.
Use the form below to tell your state delegate and senator to reject efforts to lift the 30-year ban on uranium mining in Virginia.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Help Make Illinois the 12th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment to Get Money Out of Politics
We need people from across the state of Illinois to join our effort to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling and get excessive individual and corporate money out of our elections.
Sign up to learn about opportunities to help pass a resolution in the Illinois state legislature.
Call Your Senators Today to Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Negotiators-Gone-Wild
Urge Your Senators to Co-sponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act During the Lame Duck Session of Congress — Before the TPP Takes Us Off a Cliff
Runaway U.S. negotiators are rushing to lock in the TPP corporate power-grab before Congress and the public can learn the details. Leaked text from these secretive negotiations reveals that, if completed, the TPP could offshore millions of American jobs, flood our homes with unsafe food and drive medicine prices through the roof.
Now President Barack Obama has personally called for a deal by fall of 2013.
But U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s 21st Century Trade Agreements Act would rein in runaway trade negotiators. It lays out a clear roadmap for how to get a deal that works for us, not just the corporate special interests now driving this process.
Find your senators’ phone numbers and use the script below to give them a call:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the 21st Century Trade Agreements and Market Access Act — S.3347. This important bill would restore congressional oversight over secretive trade negotiations like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And that’s urgent, because negotiators are intent on completing the TPP by the fall of 2013. This bill will make sure that U.S. negotiators are not repeating the mistakes of old trade deals that offshore our jobs and flood us with unsafe imports.
Would Senator __{name}__ please co-sponsor this critical legislation?”
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Repeal Oil and Gas Industry Giveaways, Invest in Clean Energy
The Budget Negotiations Offer an Opportunity to Move Toward a Clean Energy Economy
Eliminating subsidies for the oil and gas industry and extending an important tax credit for wind are among the top energy items on the table.
Handouts to big oil and gas are unnecessary and give dirty energy an unfair advantage over clean energy technology and alternative fuels. Eliminating the handouts would save the government $41 billion over 10 years.
Meanwhile, the wind production tax credit is an effective tool to keep electricity rates low and encourage development of proven renewable energy projects. Above all, this credit will help us shift toward a more sustainable and clean energy sector.
The choice is clear.
Use the form below to tell your senators and representative to support a repeal of tax giveaways for big oil and gas companies and the extension of the production tax credit for wind.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Don’t Let BP Off the Hook: Demand BP’s Suspension From Federal Contracts
In response to BP’s guilty plea to a range of criminal violations, the government has temporarily suspended the corporation from bidding on lucrative federal contracts.
BP is the Pentagon’s top fuel supplier and one of the government’s top 100 contractors, receiving $1.47 billion worth of federal money in 2011. This year alone — while under investigation for its role in the Gulf disaster — BP has won $1.1 billion in federal contracts.
BP has announced to its shareholders that it is in negotiations with the government to quickly resolve and lift the suspension.
Public Citizen is calling on the EPA to ban BP from federal contracts for five years before reconsidering the corporation’s contractor eligibility.
Sign petition to the EPA demanding BP is banned from federal contracts
We, the undersigned, urge you to debar BP, as the 14 criminal guilty pleas and past criminal history demonstrate BP to be a nonresponsbile entity.
This debarment should last through the company’s five year criminal probation period, and should include access to new government oil and natural gas leases, in addition to contracts.
It is clear that, as a repeat criminal felon, BP no longer can be trusted to effectively serve as a contractor or as a federal leaseholder. Its promises to do better going forward are not a sufficient basis for finding that it is a responsible entity.
After all BP has done, only a demonstrated record of responsible conduct over a period of years can satisfy that threshold.
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Send a Letter Urging Your Senators to Co-sponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act
Get Your Senators on the Record Against the Broken “Free Trade” Model
The closed-door 11-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations are in full swing with Canada and Mexico joining the latest TPP negotiations to be held in just one week. TPP-pushers plan to finish these NAFTA-on-steriods talks in early 2013. While Congress and the public are locked out of TPP negotiations, 600 official U.S. corporate “trade advisors” have access, including the usual suspects—the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Big Pharma, agribusiness monopolists and many more.
But there’s an alternative to the dangerous TPP corporatist agenda. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-Ohio) 21st Century Trade Agreements Act would stop pacts that offshore U.S. jobs and fill our homes with unsafe imported food and products. And it would open up the negotiating process to oversight so no deals are signed unless Congress says they work for us.
This short lame duck session of Congress is a crucial opportunity to get senators on the record in support of Sen. Brown’s bill. Send a letter to your senators asking them to co-sponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act today.
Keep Pathogens and Privatization Away from Our Poultry
Tell Congress to Reject the USDA’s Dangerous Inspection Privatization Plan
Nobody wants pathogens like salmonella alongside their green bean casserole and cranberry sauce.
But if the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) gets its way, your Thanksgiving turkey (and any other poultry you consume) could stand a far greater chance of being contaminated the next time Thanksgiving Day rolls around, in 2013.
That’s because the USDA is moving forward with plans to speed up poultry inspections and hand over the inspection process to the industry itself.
Don’t let the USDA speed up and privatize poultry inspections.
Urge your members of Congress to halt the USDA’s dangerous plan to privatize and speed up poultry inspection.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Help Plan an Event for the Third Anniversary of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Ruling
Join People Throughout the Nation and Help Plan an Event to Demand “Money Out, Voters In!” on January 19, 2013
To mark the third anniversary of Citizens United this January, citizens will be planning events throughout the nation. These events will move us one step closer to a constitutional amendment to restore our democracy.
Let us know if you would like help plan an event in your area, such as petitioning, teach-ins, a rally or street theater to protest the ruling on its anniversary in your area, and we can provide you with resources to help you plan.
Sign Up to Attend the Public Utility Commission Sunset Hearing and Hold the PUC Accountable
The People of Texas, Not a Few Outmoded Electric Companies Should Decide Our Energy Future
The PUC decided to ignore a state law that would increase electricity production from clean energy sources while claiming that electric rates must rise to make more power sources available. Why? Because the big players in the electricity market don’t want Texas to turn to clean energy to meet our needs. They want to earn bigger profits from the old, inefficient, polluting power plants that they already have.
Like most state agencies in Texas, the PUC is periodically reviewed by the Sunset Advisory Commission. One purpose is to consider new and innovative changes to improve each agency’s operations and activities.
On December 18 or 19, the Sunset Advisory Commission will be holding a hearing in Austin to accept public input on the PUC.
The legislators sitting on the commission need to hear from you.
If you think that Texas energy policy needs to shift and the PUC needs to do a better job of protecting electric customers, make your voice heard.
We’ll let you know which day the PUC hearing will be when the schedule is released at the beginning of December.
If there is enough interest, we may provide transportation to Austin from several points in Texas.
Sign Petition to Demand BP’s Suspension From Federal Contracts
The U.S. government and BP have reached a criminal settlement related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Negotiations around the civil penalties are still ongoing.
BP has pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts and two misdemeanors related to the oil rig explosion that claimed 11 lives and touched off what became the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
But despite ranking among the world’s worst corporate criminals, BP is still one of the U.S. government’s top federal contractors.
Federal law enables U.S. government officials to debar — ban from government business — companies which commit fraud or repeatedly run afoul of the law.
Sign the Petition Below to Demand That the Government Use the Regulatory Tools at Its Disposal to Deter Corporate Behavior That Puts Our Workers and Environment at Risk
We, the undersigned, call on the government to suspend all current contracts and debar BP and its subsidiaries from all future contracts.
BP’s criminal conviction for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster is preceded by a decade of criminal negligence that has resulted in three convictions for environmental crimes and a guilty plea to market manipulation.
BP’s entire operations — from exploration, to refining, to fuel transport, to commodity trading — have violated federal laws with frequency and severity. Given the company’s willful transgression of U.S. laws, it should no longer be eligible for federal contracts.
Attend a Conference Call About the Third Anniversary of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Sign up to attend a call and find out about the events taking place nationwide — from rallies and marches to teach-ins and petitioning — and how you can plan one yourself.
We will send you a reminder along with the call-in number on Wednesday morning.
Participate in an Event for the Third Anniversary of the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Ruling
Join People Throughout the Nation at Events to Demand “Money Out, Voters In!” on January 19, 2013
To mark the third anniversary of Citizens United this January, citizens will be planning events throughout the nation. These events will move us one step closer to a constitutional amendment to restore our democracy.
Let us know if you would like to participate in petitioning, teach-ins, a rally, street theater or any other type of event to protest the ruling in your area, and we will keep you updated as planning progresses.
Hold the Public Utility Commission of Texas Accountable in Your Local Newspaper
Sign Below to Show Your Interest in Working With Public Citizen on a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper
The Public Utility Commission of Texas is ignoring the pleas of thousands of Texans to bring more clean energy to the state and has authorized giveaways to big electric producers instead.
By raising the electricity price cap and refusing to implement a law that requires the use of affordable clean energy, the PUC is acting against its stated mission of protecting consumers.
None of the three unelected commissioners made a single public comment in response to the more than 6,600 Texans who have called on the PUC to enforce the law and bring more clean energy options to Texas.
We are continuing the fight to push energy policy forward in Texas, and we need your help.
Add your name below if you are interested in working with us on a letter to the editor to your local newspaper about the PUC’s lack of leadership.
Oppose Legal Immunity for Lenders Pushing Unaffordable Loans
Big Bank lobbyists are working to defang a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. The provision they are trying to weaken would prevent the banks from pushing unaffordable loans on unsuspecting families.
They’ve recruited Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to attach get-out-of-jail-free language for the banks to a non-controversial piece of legislation, the Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act (S. 3522), a bill which will make it easier for consumers to refinance at current low-interest rates.
The Corker amendment, if allowed to pass, would grant the banks legal immunity, even when they push predatory loans they know that consumers won’t be able to pay back.
Aggressive sales of unaffordable loans containing hidden fees, tricks and traps were at the heart of the financial crisis and the foreclosure disaster.
Don’t let them get away with it.
Urge your senators to oppose legal immunity for banks that make unaffordable loans.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message by calling your senators. The phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. If you call, us know how it went with an email to action@citizen.org.
Sign Up to Get Out the Vote for an Amendment to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Help Pass Amendmet 65 to Get Big Money Out of Our Elections
There are a couple of ways you can help pass Amendment 65. Coloradans are organizing neighborhood teams to distribute flyers (PDF) and talk to people to let them know about Amendment 65. Others are calling their fellow Coloradans to make sure they know the question is on the ballot and why it’s so important to vote in favor.
Here Is How You Can Help
1) Phone bank
You can phone bank voters from home, or if you are in the Denver area, join an evening phone bank between 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. or a Saturday phone bank at the Common Cause office at 1536 Wynkoop Street #307 in downtown Denver. If you’re not near Denver, you can still help make calls: sign up and we’ll send you the details.
2) Talk to your neighbors
Reach out to people in heavily trafficked areas like grocery stores or malls. Hand out flyers and talk to people about why you support Initiative 65 to get big money out of our elections.
Sign Up to Get Out the Vote for an Amendment to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Help Pass Initiative 166 to Get Big Money out of our Elections
There are a couple of ways you can help pass Initiative 66. Montanans are organizing neighborhood teams to distribute flyers (click the link to download flyer) and talk to people to let them know about Initiative 66. Others are calling their fellow Coloradans to make sure they know the question is on the ballot and why it’s so important to vote in favor.
Here is how you can help
1) Phone bank
You can phone bank voters from home, or if you are in the Denver area, join an evening phone bank between 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. or a Saturday phone bank at the Common Cause office at 1536 Wynkoop Street #307 in downtown Denver. If you’re not near Denver, you can still help make calls: sign up and we’ll send you the details.
2) Talk to your neighbors
Reach out to people in heavily trafficked areas like grocery stores or malls. Hand out flyers and talk to people about why you support Initiative 65 to get big money out of our elections.
Attend the Democracy In Motion Speaking Tour in New York
Join Us as We Travel New York to Build Momentum for State Legislation to Get Voters IN and Money OUT
Learn about nationwide efforts to pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block, and preserve constitutional rights for people — not corporations. We are building momentum for the Fair Elections Act to level the playing field in New York elections. A hard fought struggle to pass this legislation may be coming to a head at the end of November. Learn what you can do to help!
RSVP if you can attend.
Itinerary
Albany: Tuesday, November 13, 6 - 8 p.m.,1st Lutheran Church, 181 Western Ave.
Call Your Senators Today to Stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Negotiators-Gone-Wild
Urge Your Senators to Co-sponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act – Before the TPP Takes Us Off a Cliff
Runaway U.S. negotiators are rushing to lock in the TPP corporate power-grab before Congress and the public can learn the details. Leaked text from these secretive negotiations reveals that if completed, the TPP could offshore millions of American jobs, flood our homes with unsafe food and drive medicine prices through the roof.
But U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s 21st Century Trade Agreements Act would rein in runaway trade negotiators. It lays out a clear roadmap for how to get a deal that works for us, not just the corporate special interests now driving this process.
Find your senators’ phone numbers and use the script below to give them a call:
“Hello, my name is __{name}__ and I’m calling today about the 21st Century Trade Agreements and Market Access Act – S.3347. This important bill would restore congressional oversight over secretive trade negotiations like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And that’s urgent, because there are major TPP negotiations next month. This bill will make sure that U.S. negotiators are not repeating the mistakes of old trade deals that offshore our jobs and flood us with unsafe imports.
Would Senator __{name}__ please co-sponsor this critical legislation?”
Please let us know how your call went by using the form below
Shine the spotlight on the WTO's attack on consumer rights
In a decision last fall, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against U.S.country-of-origin labels on meat. Now the U.S. is being forced to tell unelected trade officials when they will gut our consumer protection or pay millions for the right not to eat mystery meat. . [Learn more]
E.Coli laden hamburger from Canadian cattle. Banned Korean shellfish. All of these end up on our local grocery store shelves. We rely on policies like COOL labeling to allow us to protect our family's health and make informed decisions as consumers. Under current rules, the U.S. will have to water down or eliminate these policies, or face trade sanctions.
Take the pledge and stand up to the WTO's attack on our consumer rights.
Tell your friends and family to sign the pledge as well. The more names that sign on, the better chance we'll have of gaining the attention of the public, media, President Obama and Congress. We'll do our part to shine the spotlight on your terrific work. This is only the beginning of all of our efforts.
Sign the Consumer Rights Pledge:
In a matter of months, the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against three popular U.S. consumer policies: our country-of-origin labels on meat; dolphin-safe tuna labels; and a ban on sweet-flavored cigarettes that were marketed to lure teens to start smoking.
Previously, we’ve seen this global commerce agency facilitate offshoring of jobs to low-wage countries and rule against a series of health and environmental laws around the world. Now the WTO has even ruled against consumers’ basic right to know where products come from and how they are produced.
Enough is enough!
When the WTO rules against a policy, countries are pressured to water down or eliminate their laws. Our government must not cave in and follow a WTO order to gut our laws, if necessary by eliminating any funding to make a WTO-ordered roll back possible.
I pledge NOT to support trade deals that include similar anti-consumer provisions.
I also pledge to alert my community and my elected representatives to the WTO attacks on our consumer policies.
Select the days below that you can help distribute flyers at a busy L stop to educate the public and ask Chicagoans to vote "yes" on this question:
"Shall the U.S. Congress pass a bill, to be duly ratified by three-fourths of the states, adopting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, empowering the federal government and the states to regulate and limit political contributions from corporations?"??
If you can’t make one of these dates, but would like to lead a team at another time/location, please indicate this in the comment field.
We are planning to flyer at the following L Stations:
Red: Morse, Loyola, Monroe, State/Lake, Roosevelt, Wilson
Blue: Logan Square, Jefferson Park
Brown: Western, Belmont, Armitage
Help Make New Jersey the Next State to Call for an Amendment
Call on your Assembly Members to Pass Assembly Resolution 86
Thanks for calling your state Assembly members to ask them to vote in favor of Assembly Resolution 86 calling for an amendment to get money out of politics. Once you call, please fill out the comment field below to let us know how it went.
Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert on the issue to tell your Assembly member we need to get money out of politics. What you might want to say:
A.R. 86 calls for a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and related cases, and would help to stop the corruption of American elections.
In a recent poll, 75% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats agreed that, “there would be less corruption if there were limits on how much could be given to super PACs.”
We can’t rein in outside spending without an amendment — we hope our elected representatives will reflect the will of the people by supporting A.R. 86.
If you the call goes to voicemail, say your name and town and say, “I live in TOWN NAME, and I am calling to encourage Assemblyman/woman NAME to vote tomorrow in support of A.R. 86." Sharing one line about why this issue is important to you can also help.
If he or she is already a strong supporter, ask her/him to reach across the aisle and encourage colleagues from the other party to join in this trans-partisan democracy initiative.
Public Citizen is a leading partner in the NJ for the Overturn of Citizens United Coalition organizing across the state.
If you can’t make one of these dates, but would like to lead a team at another time/location, please indicate this in the comment field.
We are planning to flyer at the following L Stations:
Red: Morse, Loyola, Monroe, State/Lake, Roosevelt, Wilson
Blue: Logan Square, Jefferson Park
Brown: Western, Belmont, Armitage
Tell the Federal Trade Commission to Pass New Policies to Protect Kids’ Online Privacy
Update COPPA to Help Parents Protect Kids from Online Marketers
Since 1998, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) has protected children under 13 by requiring that commercial websites seek parental consent before gathering kids’ personal information.
But times have changed. Today, many kids are almost always connected to the Internet — and marketers know it. Mobile phones, tablets and gaming devices have changed the landscape of the Internet, and COPPA needs to change, too.
Today, corporations are collecting children’s data through invasive “behavioral” tracking. Using these techniques, marketers track kids’ behavior by leaving “invisible” cookies and other identifiers. Companies also collect children’s location data when they use mobile devices. With this data, marketers can directly target kids with tailored ads all around the Internet.
The new COPPA rules would give parents and caregivers control over the data that corporations can collect from children. However, not surprisingly, these proposed rules have sparked opposition from powerful industry lobbyists. Companies that stand to profit by manipulating children and violating their privacy want to undermine the protections an updated COPPA would provide.
It’s time to strengthen the legislation that has done so much to protect children over the past 14 years.
Add Your Name to the Petition Below
We, the undersigned, call on the Federal Trade Commission to pass new rules to bring the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act up to date. The new rules will empower parents and caregivers to control how their children’s personal information is collected and used. We urge the Commission to help parents protect children’s online privacy from corporate marketers.
Sign Up to Get Out the Vote for an Amendment to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Help Pass Initiative 65 to Get Big Money out of our Elections
There are a couple of ways you can help pass Initiative 65. Coloradans are organizing neighborhood teams to distribute flyers (click the link to download flyer) and talk to people to let them know about Initiative 65. Others are calling their fellow Coloradans to make sure they know the question is on the ballot and why it’s so important to vote in favor.
Here is how you can help
1) Phone bank
You can phone bank voters from home, or if you are in the Denver area, join an evening phone bank between 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. or a Saturday phone bank at the Common Cause office at 1536 Wynkoop Street #307 in downtown Denver. If you’re not near Denver, you can still help make calls: sign up and we’ll send you the details.
2) Talk to your neighbors
Reach out to people in heavily trafficked areas like grocery stores or malls. Hand out flyers and talk to people about why you support Initiative 65 to get big money out of our elections.
Join environmental activist Bill McKibben and Professor Lawrence Lessig for an outstanding weekend of events Saturday, October 13 and Sunday, October 14.
1. Lawrence Lessig Lecture and Ice Cream Social
Date: Saturday, October 13 Time: 4:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Location: University of Vermont, Lafayette Hall (next to Royall Tyler Theatre), Room 108, Burlington, VT
Parking is available off Colchester Ave behind Ira Allen Chapel Cost: Free
2. Environmental activist Bill McKibben’s new Climate Change Musical Road Show, Dress Rehearsal - SOLD OUT
Date: Saturday, October 13 Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.) Location: University of Vermont, Ira Allen Chapel, 26 University Place, Burlington, VT Cost: $5
3. BBQ at Bentley Lane
Date: Sunday, October 14, 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Location: Home of Amendment Activist Bill Butler and Susan Harritt
23 Bentley Lane, Jericho, VT Cost: Bring a food or a beverage to share if you can
For questions or help finding housing for Saturday or Sunday, email Bill Butler at naturemyth@aol.com.
PLEASE RSVP for each Vermont Democracy Weekend Event below:
One of the most powerful ways we can build the movement to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and related cases is for voters to pass referendums calling for an amendment.
Sign up below if you can help with the effort to pass the referendum on the ballot this November in Chicago.
Thank the Schneiderman Task Force for Standing Up to Wall Street
First steps are finally being taken to hold one of the Big Banks accountable for its role in causing the economic collapse.
A joint federal and state task force, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, has filed suit against Bear Stearns — now owned by JPMorgan Chase — alleging systemic fraud, deceit and recklessness that ripped off investors and devastated homeowners across the nation.
It’s an excellent, if long delayed, first step. But more must be done.
No Big Bank CEO is too big to jail.
Add your name below to thank Schneiderman and press for further charges against the Big Banks.
We, the undersigned, applaud New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for taking the first step toward holding Wall Street accountable by filing suit against Bear Stearns & Company for its fraud and deceptive practices.
However, for the millions of Americans who, because of Wall Street’s recklessness, lost their savings, their homes, their jobs and their very way of life, this single civil suit against one Big Bank is not enough.
We also urge the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group and other prosecutors to take the next steps: Pursue criminal charges against Bear Stearns and other Big Banks who perpetrated the financial crisis.
Thank the Schneiderman Task Force for Standing Up to Wall Street
First steps are finally being taken to hold one of the Big Banks accountable for its role in causing the economic collapse.
A joint federal and state task force, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, has filed suit against Bear Stearns — now owned by JPMorgan Chase — alleging systemic fraud, deceit and recklessness that ripped off investors and devastated homeowners across the nation.
It’s an excellent, if long delayed, first step. But more must be done.
No Big Bank CEO is too big to jail.
Add your name below to thank Schneiderman and press for further charges against the Big Banks.
We, the undersigned, applaud New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for taking the first step toward holding Wall Street accountable by filing suit against Bear Stearns & Company for its fraud and deceptive practices.
However, for the millions of Americans who, because of Wall Street’s recklessness, lost their savings, their homes, their jobs and their very way of life, this single civil suit against one Big Bank is not enough.
We also urge the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group and other prosecutors to take the next steps: Pursue criminal charges against Bear Stearns and other Big Banks who perpetrated the financial crisis.
Make Sure Chicago Takes a Stand to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Sign Up Below to Help Pass the Referendum
One of the most powerful ways we can build the movement to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and related cases is for voters to pass referendums calling for an amendment.
Sign up below if you can help with the effort to pass the referendum on the ballot this November in Chicago.
Ask Your Representative and Senators to Get the Facts on Nuclear Power
Send Them the Top 5 Take-Aways from the Congressional Briefing on Nuclear Power Sponsored by Representative Dennis Kucinich on September 20
The briefing was intended to give legislators information that they need about the ongoing situation in Japan and the problems with the continued use of nuclear power in the U.S. by those that don’t have a financial stake in its proliferation.
Feel free to add any additional facts you would like your legislators to know.
Gather Signatures on Election Day to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Sign up to gather signatures at your polling place on Election Day to move forward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations. Resources to support your petitioning are available here.
Check the box below if you can invite others to join you petitioning on Election Day.
We hope you will be able to make the optional video conference/ conference call today, Thursday, November 1, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. Central / 6 p.m. Mountain / 5 p.m. Pacific / 4 p.m. Alaska / 2 p.m. Hawaii) will give you tips and get folks excited to go out and petition. We will send you information on how to watch or listen when you sign up.
Attend a New York Conference Call on the Campaign to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC
Sign up attend a call with Public Citizen and find out about some exciting developments in New York to move forward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Help Make New Jersey the Next State to Call for an Amendment
Thanks you for calling your state senator to ask them to vote in favor of Senate Resolution 47 calling for an amendment. Fill out the comment field below to let us know how it went.
One of the most powerful ways you can build the movement for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and related cases is to support the state resolution and pass town resolutions calling for one. Public Citizen is a leading partner in the NJ for the Overturn of Citizens United Coalition organizing across the state.
Submit Your Comments to TPP Negotiators in Leesburg, Virginia
Round 14 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations are underway in Leesburg, Virginia. Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch has been fighting to make sure the voices of the 99% are heard — and now it’s your turn to speak out directly to the negotiators.
Fill out the form below with a short message — or send a message on Twitter using the hashtag #openTPP — and your comments will be displayed at the Stakeholders’ Forum in Leesburg, Virginia, on a stream developed by our friends at OpenMedia.ca for negotiators to see. From 11a.m.-2p.m. EDT on September 9th, we’ll stream the messages everyone is sending, which will be on display in Leesburg.
Attend a Maine Conference Call on the Campaign to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC
Sign up attend a call with Public Citizen and Maine Citizens for Clean Elections and find out about some exciting developments in Maine to move forward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Attend an Arkansas Conference Call on the Campaign to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC
Sign up attend a call with Public Citizen and Regnat Populus and find out about some exciting developments in Arkansas to move forward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Help Build Connecticut’s Efforts to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Connecticut is moving forward quickly in its calls for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Sign up below to attend a press conference in Hartford on Wednesday, September 12, at 11 a.m. and/or to have us send you the template press release and the contact information of the media in your city or town so you can contact local media.
Tell Duke Energy to Withdraw From the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Duke Energy, the nation’s largest utility company, is providing key financial support to ALEC, an entity that drafts state laws for Big Business and hands them over to state lawmakers for passage.
ALEC’s mission includes attacking clean energy programs and delaying climate change policy.
Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers says he understands how serious climate change is and claims to support clean energy. Yet Duke Energy is supporting attacks on state climate and clean energy laws through ALEC.
Tell Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers that he can’t have it both ways.
Sign the petition below to demand Duke Energy withdraw from ALEC.
We, the undersigned, call upon Duke Energy to drop all financial and staff support to ALEC due not only to its role in blocking clean energy implementation and solutions to global warming, but to the inherent disrespect its mission poses to effective democracy.
ALEC is one of many groups participating in a well-funded network of climate change skeptics, one that has no place in Duke’s budget given its own opposing positions.
Duke Energy must cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Sign the Petition: Tell School Districts to Keep Commercial Advertising Out of Schools
Let’s Get Back to Commercial-Free Schools
Across the country, many school districts face significant budget shortfalls. Seeking alternative sources of revenue, growing numbers of districts are allowing corporations to advertise on school properties. Eager to target a potentially lucrative market, advertisers are marketing their products in school cafeterias, athletic stadiums, on school buses, on lockers, and even in classrooms.
Schools are no place for advertising. Allowing commercialism to infiltrate schools undermines their educational mission. Kids learn market values instead of civic values. And, often, it is junk food makers that are most eager to advertise in schools. In an already hyper-commercialized world, children need schools to be a sanctuary from the onslaught of advertising they face everywhere else.
To make matters worse, in-school advertising schemes rarely raise significant revenue for school districts. When they permit advertising, districts are left in the same financial hole they began in, but now their students’ education has been compromised.
Some things shouldn’t be for sale.
Add Your Name to the Petition Below
When you sign our petition, we’ll keep you posted on how you can take action in your community to stop school commercialism.
We, the undersigned, believe that commercial advertising has no place in schools. We call on school district officials to reject all plans to allow commercial advertising on school properties.
Call Your Senator to Support the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act
Put the brakes on the run-away Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) train before it’s too late
Here’s how:
1. Select your senator’s district office from the list below.
California
Office of Senator Boxer (510) 286-8537
Colorado
Office of Senator Udall (303) 650-7820
Hawaii
Office of Senator Akaka (808) 522-8970; Office of Senator Inouye (808) 541-2542
Iowa
Office of Senator Harkin (515) 284-4574
Illinois
Office of Senator Durbin (312) 353-4952
Michigan
Office of Senator Stabenow (313) 961-4330
Minnesota
Office of Senator Franken (651) 221-1016; Office of Senator Klobuchar (612) 727-5220
New Jersey
Office of Senator Lautenberg (973) 639-8700; Office of Senator Menendez (856) 757-5353
New Mexico
Office of Senator Udall (505) 346-6791
New York
Office of Senator Gillibrand (212) 688-6262; Office of Senator Schumer (212) 486-4430
Oregon
Office of Senator Merkley (503) 326-3386
Pennsylvania
Office of Senator Casey (866) 461-9159
Rhode Island
Office of Senator Reed (401) 528-5200
West Virginia
Office of Senator Manchin (304) 342-5855; Office of Senator Rockefeller (304) 347-5372
Vermont
Office of Senator Leahy (800) 642-3193; Office of Senator Sanders (800) 339-9834
Virginia
Office of Senator Webb (804) 771-2221
2. Use the following script to get your senator to support the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act.
As you may know, Senator ______, we are negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Labor and other constituencies would like to see this agreement represent a 21st century trade agreement with high standards with regards to job growth, labor, environmental and consumer safety standards. In order to ensure that this agreement moves trade policy in the right direction, I strongly urge you to support the 21st Century Trade Agreements and Market Access Act introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown. The bill would require the President and negotiating countries to submit reports on our trading partners with regards to market access opportunities to ensure that we export American products and not American jobs, and that our trading partners reinforce U.S. values of upholding labor, environmental and consumer protection standards. Would you consider becoming a cosponsor on the bill?
Sign Petition to Demand a Just Settlement Between BP and U.S. Government
The April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig triggered the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Nearly 5 million barrels of oil gushed in the Gulf of Mexico over the course of 87 days.
As a result of the explosion and spill, 11 workers were killed and 16 more were seriously injured; Gulf Coast states have sustained approximately $40 billion in economic losses; a reported $10 billion in additional health cost will be required to manage health problems in the wake of the BP oil disaster; thousands of birds, sea turtles, marine mammals and other aquatic life have been harmed or killed; and the environment has sustained incalculable damage.
Two years later, the government and BP are reportedly on the brink of reaching a settlement that would resolve all civil and criminal damages and liabilities arising from the spill.
A settlement with BP must allow for full recovery of the Gulf Coast region and its communities. It also must deter other companies from putting profits before safety.
Sign the petition below to demand that the government holds BP accountable.
We, the undersigned, call on the government to reach an equitable and comprehensive settlement with BP by applying the following terms:
The settlement should include criminal penalties for the company.
The settlement should not include the resolution of criminal penalties for individuals, including for their roles in the Deepwater oil rig explosion that resulted in the deaths of 11 men.
A settlement must place financial responsibility on BP for future environmental and economic costs for the problems that we’re still in the process of discovering. The costs to the environment from the release of more than 5 million barrels of oil and hundreds of thousands of gallons of chemical disbursement may not be known for another generation.
Permanent sanctions must be part of the settlement. For example, the government should restrict BP’s access to future and current government oil and gas leases, and bar it from federal contracts for good.
All BP documents related to the disaster must be made publicly available and accessible.
The settlement should include penalties called for by the full spectrum of laws that exist to protect our environment, wildlife and workers. Damages associated with Clean Water Act violations alone have been estimated at $21 billion. Other laws that must be accounted for include the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Ask Your Senators to Cosponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act Today
Demand a New Trade Model
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is veering us off a cliff. The TPP threatens to flood our shores with unsafe food and products, offshore jobs, and jack up medicine prices. Help steer our trade policy back on course and demand a new trade model. Tell your senators to cosponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act today.
Alert the Media About the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “Free Trade” Agreement
Help Drag the TPP “Free Trade” Agreement into the Media Spotlight
As the fourteenth round of the TPP negotiations resume in Leesburg, VA, we need to alert the major news outlets and put TPP in the headlines. Follow the steps below and help to drag TPP into the spotlight before it’s too late.
Here’s how:
1. Call or leave a comment for one or all of the major news outlets listed below.
New York Times: (212) 556- 7652 Arthur Brisbane, Public Editor (Represents NYT reader concerns)
Washington Post: (202) 334-7300 Patrick B. Pexton, Ombudsman
Los Angeles Times: Leave a comment about TPP for the reader’s representative of the LA Times here.
National Public Radio: (202) 513-3232 (comment hotline) or leave a comment for NPR ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos on NPR’s open forum for listeners. (Note: You will have to log in and create an account to leave a comment)
2. Let major media outlets know that they are not covering a story that could affect our everyday lives — from food safety to offshoring jobs. Feel free to use the script below.
Hi this is __________, and I am a reader/listener of the (name of news outlet). I am really upset that there has been no coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I rely on your reporters to get me the news that is important. I do not understand how you could be missing this story. The TPP is an international agreement that has been under negotiation for three years with the US and 11 other countries. It could be finished this year. It threatens to offshore millions of U.S. jobs, increase medicine prices, flood us with unsafe food imports, and empower corporations to challenge our environmental and consumer safety laws in international tribunals. There have been 600 official corporate advisors who have access to the draft text of this massive deal, but the public and Congress have been locked out. This thing is like “NAFTA on steroids” with a bunch of Asian countries. The next round of negotiations will take place from September 6th-September 15 in Leesburg, VA. Please send a reporter to these negotiations, this agreement is too important to not be covered!
Write a Letter to the Editor About the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
Help Drag the TPP “Free Trade” Agreement into the Media Spotlight
You can send a letter to the editor to major news outlets and demand that they cover this deal that is swiftly becoming “NAFTA-on-steroids” with the world.
Here’s how:
Select one or all of the major news outlets listed below.
U.S. negotiators have been working behind closed doors for three years on a massive “trade” agreement that would offshore millions of American jobs and flood us with unsafe imported food. Now it includes ten countries, but it would be open for China and Russia to join later.
It’s called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). It is basically NAFTA all over again, only much bigger. Thanks to recent text leaks, we know that it would allow foreign corporations to attack U.S. environmental, health and safety laws in foreign tribunals and demand taxpayer compensation. It includes incentives for U.S. firms to offshore jobs.
Obviously, TPP is something Americans need to know about. So, where is your coverage?
Yes, TPP is being negotiated in secret with even members of Congress barred from seeing the text. But that makes it even more critical for the media to cover.
And its big political news. President Obama is attacking Governor Romney for offshoring American jobs. But Obama is supporting this massive job-offshoring deal.
State legislators from all 50 states have raised concern.
Many members of Congress have signed a letter criticizing the deal and demanding access to the secret draft texts.
The American public relies on you. TPP is a very big deal. We need to know more. TPP negotiations start again in Virginia in a few weeks. Will you have a reporter there?
Submit your letter to the editor and leave a comment letting us know that you helped drag TPP out into the media spotlight!
Here are some helpful tips to help you get your letter to the editor published.
In order to increase the likelihood of your letter being printed, please keep it 150 words. It should be sent in the body of an e-mail (no attachments) to the publication of your choice.
Thank you for helping to drag TPP into the media spotlight!
Attend a Connecticut Conference Call on the Campaign to Overturn Citizens United v. FEC
Sign up attend a call with Public Citizen and Common Cause and find out about some exciting developments in Connecticut to move forward a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Send a Letter to Your Senators to Cosponsor the 21st Century Trade Agreements Act
Demand an End to American Job Offshoring and Floods of Unsafe Imports
Closed-door negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade” deal are speeding up. If our senators do not get a steering wheel and emergency brake over run-away negotiators, this deal will take our country off a cliff. At stake are millions more American jobs offshored and floods of unsafe imported food, and higher medicine prices.
But Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has introduced legislation that would set rules about what can and cannot be in our trade deals to make sure that they work for us, not just the large corporations now calling the shots. And the bill would reassert Congress’s role in overseeing the process to ensure our trade policy exports U.S. products — not U.S. jobs. We need your help getting more senators to support this critical bill as co-sponsors.
Help Us Get Your Members of Congress to Combat Unlimited Secret Corporate Money in Elections
The vast majority of Americans oppose the unlimited secret corporate money gushing into our elections.
The next step is getting most members of Congress on board with disclosure of political spending, a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and other significant reforms to undo the corporate takeover of our democracy.
Call your representative or senators today and set up a meeting this month to urge them to support a constitutional amendment and other reforms to thwart the corporate takeover of our democracy.
Need to look up your members of Congress and the contact information for their local offices? Use this website.
When you call, ask to speak to your member’s scheduler.
For more resources about how to set up a meeting and the reforms we’re urging Congress to support, go here or e-mail us with questions at amendment@citizen.org.
Add Your Name And Comment Below to Let Us Know You Called to Set Up a Meeting
The Keystone XL Pipeline is Neither in Our National Nor Global Interest
Send a letter to the State Department insisting that climate impacts be considered in the pipeline review
The State Department is conducting a new environmental review of the northern portion of the Keystone pipeline, but it’s not clear that it will consider the climate change impacts of developing the tar sands — a fossil fuel that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates emits up to 82 percent more greenhouse gases then conventional crude.
The comment period for the Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement ended on July 30, 2012.
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade” agreement talks resume this September in Leesburg, Virginia. Once again, negotiations will take place with the public locked out and the texts held in tight secrecy, meanwhile over 600 corporate advisors have regular access to the negotiating texts. On the table is a veritable smorgasbord of extreme new corporate rights to slam the 99%. Tell Ron Kirk to release the text of the TPP draft texts to ensure that public health and access to life-saving medicines aren’t on the bargaining table.
Sign the TPP Petition below
Dear U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk:
Americans deserve the right to know what U.S. trade negotiators are proposing in our name.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade” agreement is likely to impact jobs, wages, agriculture, migration, the environment, access to medicine, consumer safety, banking regulations, indigenous rights, Internet freedom, government procurement and more. A pact this far-reaching should be negotiated in the most transparent and participatory manner possible.
Please publicly release all the TPP proposals now.
Coloradans Stand Up Against Big Money in Elections
Host Volunteers and Help Get the Amendment Measure to Overturn Citizens United on the Ballot
The Colorado Amendment Ballot Measure would allow Coloradans to directly call for our federal and state representatives to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling and related cases.
The measure would allow the citizens of Colorado to speak directly to our legislators and establish a clear mandate for an amendment.
It would also increase awareness about a constitutional amendment and the need to get big money out of our elections and rein in corporate power. Now is the home stretch as signatures are due on August 6, 2012.
We need places for our signature collectors to stay and pitch their tents for a few days. Please fill out the information below if you could host a few signature collectors in your yard.
An organizer will follow up with you if the timing and location match the needs of the signature collectors.
Note: Filling out this form does NOT add your name to the official petition to put the CO Amendment Measure on the ballot, for which a physical signature is required.
Find Out If Your Representative Has the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Draft Text
Email Your Member of Congress for the TPP Text Today
The 13th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “free trade” agreement talks just ended. It is becoming “NAFTA on steroids” — millions more jobs offshored, floods of unsafe food and products, Internet freedom undermined, higher medicine prices, and Buy America banned.
Six hundred official corporate advisers have the draft TPP text. But does your member of Congress? Find out today and email your representative for the draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
Coloradans Stand Up Against Big Money in Elections
Volunteer to Get the Amendment Measure on the Ballot
The Colorado Amendment Ballot Measure would allow Coloradans to directly to call for our federal and state representatives to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court ruling and related cases.
The measure would allow the citizens of Colorado to speak directly to our legislators and establish a clear mandate for an amendment.
It would also increase awareness about a constitutional amendment and the need to get big money out of our elections and rein in corporate power.
Now is the home stretch as signatures are due on August 6, 2012.
Sign up below to volunteer to make sure the initiative gets on the ballot by helping to collect signatures or helping to verify signatures.
Location for volunteer events/to pick up petitions is the Denver Common Cause office in Lower Downtown - 1536 Wynkoop Street #307.
Note: Filling out this form does NOT add your name to the official petition to put the CO Amendment Measure on the ballot, for which a physical signature is required.
Petition Obama Administration to Make Trade Work for Working Families
Watch, Laugh, Take Action
Tell the Obama administration and U.S. negotiators to make trade policy work for working families. Sign the petition today!
Our U.S. trade team is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP FTA). This would be the biggest trade agreement in U.S. history. If not done right, it could lead to more U.S. jobs being outsourced, the erosion of workers’ rights and Buy America provisions, and undermining of U.S. environmental and consumer safety protections.
We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of past trade policy.
Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on you to ensure the TPP FTA:
1. Creates jobs in the United States and does not promote offshoring;
2. Improves working conditions and strengthens workers’ rights at home and abroad;
3. Allows governments to prioritize spending taxpayer funds locally; and
4. Protects the rights of sovereign governments to make policies in the public interest, including policies with respect to clean air and water, affordable medicines and food safety.
Tell Your Representative to Support a Constitutional Amendment
Reach each of your representatives by calling 1-888-291-9824 for the U.S. Capitol switchboard. Ask the operator to connect you with your representative.
Ask your member of Congress to endorse our Declaration for Democracy — a broad statement indicating support for an amendment to undo Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, as well as related court cases, that have allowed corporations and the super-wealthy to control our elections and our democratic process. Amendment language is very important, but first we need to get members of Congress to show support for the idea of an amendment as a strategy for change. The Declaration is a great first step for your member of Congress to take.
If your member of Congress has already expressed support for an amendment, thank him or her for supporting our call for an amendment. Ask your representative to deepen his or her support by encouraging his or her colleagues to endorse the Declaration for Democracy as well.
After you make your calls, please let us know how they went with a brief note in the comment box below. We will use your input to strategize for our campaign moving forward. Thanks so much for your activism!
After You Call, Use the Box Below to Enter Your Representative’s Name and Tell Us Where He or She Stands
Where Representatives Stand
Based on amendment co-sponsorship, signatories to the Declaration for Democracy and MoveOn Sign-on Statement, and public statements:
Help Us Get Your Members of Congress to Combat Unlimited Secret Corporate Money in Elections
The vast majority of Americans oppose the unlimited secret corporate money gushing into our elections.
The next step is getting most members of Congress on board with disclosure of political spending, a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and other significant reforms to undo the corporate takeover of our democracy.
Help us get your members of Congress on board with the battle against unlimited secret corporate money in elections.
Join us in this effort, and we’ll organize with you to reach out to your congresspeople and set a meeting for you and your friends during the August congressional recess. We’ll help you along the way by providing resources and strategizing with you on how to make your meeting effective and successful.
Sign Up Below to Join Us and Move Your Member of Congress to Stand Up to Unlimited Secret Corporate Money
Ask your Senator for a Copy of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Draft Text
Get your copy today
The TPP has been under negotiation for three years. U.S. negotiators announced many chapters are nearly completed. And Congress and all 50 state legislatures will have to conform ALL of our laws to the TPP’s expansive rules. So, every U.S. Senator must have a copy of the TPP draft text, right? Contact your Senator to ask for your copy today!
Here’s what to do:
1. Call 1-888-291-9824 to be connected to the Capitol switchboard.
2. Ask to be connected with your Senator.
3. When a staff member answers the phone, you can use this script: Hi, my name is ______ and I am a constituent of Senator _______. I would like to be sent a copy of the draft text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership “free trade” agreement.
Help Us Get Your Member of Congress to Support a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Ruling
We’ve made a lot of progress this year pushing for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block, and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations
Now, we’re asking you to help us expand our campaign efforts this summer and fall by getting members of Congress on-board with an amendment.
Engaging Members of Congress
Ultimately, passage of a constitutional amendment hinges on our ability to pressure and persuade Congress to advance it. With over 100 Senators and Representatives in support of an amendment, we're off to a good start. But, we want to make sure we’re making the most of our momentum by getting more on-board this summer. Join us in this effort, and we’ll organize with you to reach out to your congresspeople and set a meeting for you and your friends during the August Congressional recess. We’ll help you along the way by providing resources and strategizing with you on how to make your meeting effective and successful.
Sign Up Here to Join Us and Move Your Member of Congress to Stand Up for a Constitutional Amendment
Tell your representative to take a stand against closed door negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and sign on to the Miller-DeLauro letter today.
Here’s what to do:
1. Call 1-888-291-9824 to be connected to the Capitol switchboard.
2. Ask to be connected with your representative.
3. When a staff member answers the phone, you can use this script: Hi, my name is ______ and I am a constituent of Representative _______. I would like for him to be a cosponsor on the Miller-DeLauro letter and support openness and transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
4. Let us know how your call went! Please take a moment and fill out this form.
Tell your stories about the sale of advertising or naming rights in your community
Faced with budget shortfalls, cities and states are offering public spaces up to corporate America’s marketers, hoping for a quick buck. Across the country, plans are in the works to sell advertising on bridges, tunnels, fire trucks, schools and just about every other type of public space. Sites that belong to the public—that embody public values and reflect shared histories—are becoming nothing more than billboards.
Even though public officials often claim that they desperately need the added revenue, these schemes rarely bring in significant revenue. For example, advertising in schools often generates just a tiny fraction of one percent of district budgets.
Is your city for sale? Is your state up for grabs to the highest bidder? Post your stories about the sale of advertising or naming rights in your community’s public spaces, such as parks, roads, bridges, schools, emergency vehicles, etc.
Once you’ve shared your story, find out how you can take action in your community to resist this dangerous trend.
Add your story below
Be sure to include the name of the city, state, or other public entity to which you are referring.
Sign up attend a call to learn how you can help Congress pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations.
Petition Obama Administration to Make Trade Work for Working Families
Watch, Laugh, Take Action
Tell the Obama administration and U.S. negotiators to make trade policy work for working families. Sign the petition today!
Our U.S. trade team is negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement (TPP FTA). This would be the biggest trade agreement in U.S. history. If not done right, it could lead to more U.S. jobs being outsourced, the erosion of workers’ rights and Buy America provisions, and undermining of U.S. environmental and consumer safety protections.
We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of past trade policy.
Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on you to ensure the TPP FTA:
1. Creates jobs in the United States and does not promote offshoring;
2. Improves working conditions and strengthens workers’ rights at home and abroad;
3. Allows governments to prioritize spending taxpayer funds locally; and
4. Protects the rights of sovereign governments to make policies in the public interest, including policies with respect to clean air and water, affordable medicines and food safety.
A Campaign for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. FEC that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
Add your name to our petition for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling and reclaim our democracy.
We will send you updates by email about the campaign and Public Citizen’s other work to fight corporate power.
Tell Us How You’d Like to Help in the Next Stage of the Campaign to Overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United Ruling
We’ve made a lot of progress this year pushing for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, take democracy off the auction block, and preserve constitutional rights for people not corporations
Now, we’re asking you to help us expand our campaign efforts this summer and fall. There are three important ways you can be involved:
1. Engaging Members of Congress
Ultimately, passage of a constitutional amendment hinges on our ability to pressure and persuade Congress to advance it. This summer and fall, we’ll organize with you to reach out to your congresspeople.
2. Ongoing Passage of City and Town Resolutions and Similar Measures
City resolutions, local ballot questions and similar measures are being introduced every day. We’ll continue to support you and others who are advancing local resolutions in your communities.
3. Building for State Work
The progress we’ve made in 2012 is making it possible to build support for resolutions supporting a constitutional amendment in additional states this fall and next year. We’ll be working with supporters like you, allied organizations and others to lay the groundwork for these state campaigns. And, in a few cases, there may be state ballot initiatives underway in 2012 that could be game-changing for the amendment effort as well.
Sign Up Here for the Effort You Would Like to Prioritize this Summer
Keep Infant Formula Marketing Out of Offices and Clinics
All major healthcare provider organizations recognize the benefits of breastfeeding and the risks of formula feeding for both infants and mothers. Moreover, there is an overwhelming consensus that clinicians should recommend and support exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life to new mothers.
Research demonstrates that marketing of infant formula in doctors’ offices and clinics, including the distribution of samples, coupons, and other gifts, negatively affects the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. The presence of these materials in healthcare settings sends the message to patients that providers endorse formula feeding over breastfeeding.
In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics adopted a resolution to “advise pediatricians not to provide formula company gift bags, coupons, and industry-authored handouts to the parents of newborns and infants in office and clinic settings.”
Furthermore, the Surgeon General’s 2011 Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding highlights the need to “ensure that the marketing of infant formula is conducted in a way that minimizes its negative impacts on exclusive breastfeeding." The Call to Action also states that we must “ensure that health care clinicians do not serve as advertisers for infant formula.”
By pledging to keep their offices free of infant formula marketing materials, healthcare providers can do what is best for their patients’ health and avoid unwittingly serving as formula marketers.
Add your name below to sign the pledge
I, the undersigned, am committed to providing healthcare for my patients that is based on the best available scientific evidence, not marketing or advertising.
Recognizing the well-established importance of breastfeeding for the health of mothers and babies, I recommend breastfeeding to my patients, unless there are medical reasons for not doing so. While decisions regarding children’s feeding must ultimately be made by families, as a healthcare provider I recommend the option that is most advantageous for my patients’ health.
I recognize that the presence of any marketing or promotional materials provided by commercial infant formula makers in healthcare settings has been demonstrated to undermine the advice I give to my patients. Therefore, in the best interest of my patients, I pledge not to provide commercial samples, coupons or any other promotional materials produced by the infant formula industry to my patients. I pledge to keep my office free of any advertisements for infant formula.
*If you are not a healthcare provider, please do not sign. Please send your provider a link to this page.
Note: When you sign this pledge, we will keep you updated on any developments in this campaign.
Our elected officials have begun to take notice about the secret Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Sixty nine members of Congress sent the White House a letter opposing the plan for TPP to ban buy America procurement policies. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) published a leaked TPP chapter which exposed new threats to Internet freedom. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation requiring access for congressional staff to TPP texts.
But we need to escalate congressional attention to this outrage.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) are now circulating a major sign-on letter on TPP.
It says: Stop the secrecy If you take a minute to urge your representative to join his or her colleagues on this letter today, we can get 100 members of Congress on this letter before the next round of TPP talks in early July.and change direction of these talks before it is too late.
This will show trade negotiators from all TPP countries that the writing is on the wall: Their secret is out, and the American people demand a turnaround — no backroom deal for the 1%.
Call your lawmakers today to support Assembly bill A-708 and Senate bill S-2398
Here's what to do:
1. Call 1-518-455-2800 to be connected to the NY Assembly switchboard.
2. Ask to be connected with your representative. If you don't know who your state legislators are click here for your state senator and here for your state representative.
3. When a staff member answers the phone, you can use this script:
“I’m a constituent, and I’m calling to ask Representative/Senator ________ to help bring Senate bill 2398 and Assembly bill 708 to the floor for a vote before the legislative session ends. Will Representative/Senator ________ support this legislation and help to improve trade policy in New York?
4. Let us know how your call went! Leave a comment below to tell us what happened.
Tell your representative to take a stand against closed door negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and sign on to the Miller-DeLauro letter today.
Here’s what to do:
1. Call 1-888-291-9824 to be connected to the Capitol switchboard.
2. Ask to be connected with your representative.
3. When a staff member answers the phone, you can use this script: Hi, my name is ______ and I am a constituent of Representative _______. I would like for him to be a cosponsor on the Miller-DeLauro letter and support openness and transparency in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
Sign Up to attend the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on AJR 22
Attend the hearing on Tuesday, June 12, at 1:30 p.m. in the Sacramento State Capitol Building, Room 112.
On Tuesday, June 12, the California Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 22, which calls upon Congress to refer to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore constitutional rights and democracy to the people.
Sign the Petition to Dr. Kim: No More Trade Pact Tribunals Attacking Our Laws
Sign the Petition Below
Dear Dr. Kim,
Congratulations on your appointment as head of the World Bank. Many people around the world look forward to your reshaping that organization so that it promotes the goals and values that undergird your decades of excellent work fighting for public health and against poverty.
We know there are many pressing issues for you to address in your new role. We urge you to prioritize dealing with ICSID – the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. This is a facility housed at the World Bank where many of the infamous “investor-state” corporate attacks on domestic health, environmental and other public interest laws are initiated.
Under the investment “arbitration” system of ICSID, individual corporations are empowered to skirt domestic laws and courts and directly sue governments to demand cash compensation if they think that their investor privileges granted under trade agreements or investment treaties are undermined.
The foreign investor protections included in some recent Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and their enforcement through investor-state arbitration at ICSID threaten to undermine countries’ domestic justice systems and fundamentally shift the balance of power between investors, states and other affected parties in a manner that undermines key public interest policies.
ICSID’s damage is expanding. Rather than being an option of last resort, the use of this regime is increasing dramatically. In a recent decision, an ICSID tribunal allowed half of Canadian mining firm Pacific Rim’s attack on El Salvador’s environmental laws to move forward. Given the extraordinary facts of this case, the only reasonable outcome should have been total dismissal of Pacific Rim’s attack. That this attack was even possible spotlights the dangers of extreme investor rights in FTAs and BITs and their private enforcement at ICSID.
Since 2000, just under ICSID, 173 cases have been resolved and an additional 128 filed. To put this in perspective, as recently as 1999, only 69 ICSID cases had been launched. Today, there are 370-plus such cases underway, an increase of 436% – and that is only the number of Investor-State cases at ICSID. Over $675 million has been paid out under U.S. FTAs and BITs alone, 70% percent of which pertained to challenges to governments’ natural resource and environmental policies - not to traditional expropriations. Tobacco companies have also used Investor-State dispute settlement to challenge government tobacco control policies enacted to implement obligations under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
We call on you to announce that one of your first initiatives as president of the World Bank will be an open and transparent review of the role of ICSID and its place within the World Bank. There is no place for these damaging corporate tribunals at a World Bank committed to promoting democracy, public health and fairness.
Take a moment to tell your Governor and Member of Congress to end the secrecy in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Let your elected officials know that you don't want corporations to undermine legislation that protects the environment, food safety, and consumers with investor-state provisions in TPP.
Tiny Fee on Wall Street Would Make a Huge Difference on Main Street
Wall Street Speculation Tax Could Raise $350 Billion to Save Vital Programs and Reduce the Deficit
The Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act proposed by Rep. Peter Defazio (D-Ore.) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) would raise more $350 billion over 10 years through a miniscule fee — 0.03 percent — on Wall Street transactions.
The fee also would slow down some of the most dangerous and volatile high-speed trading on Wall Street — the sort of high-speed, automated trading that led to the May 2010 “flash crash,” when the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points in just a few minutes.
We can raise serious revenue to reduce the deficit and keep vital services like Medicare and Social Security off the chopping block — while also reining in Wall Street’s recklessness.
Urge Congress to support the Wall Street Trading and Speculators Tax Act.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then, please take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference. We also urge you to follow up your message with a call. Let us know how your call went with an email to action (at) citizen (dot) org.
Share on Crowdshout
Crowdshout is a new app for smartphone users that makes activism easier. Download Crowdshout.
California Assembly Judiciary Committee Hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 22
Sign Up to Attend the Hearing on Tuesday, March 20, at 10 a.m. in the Sacramento State Capitol Building, Room 4202
On Tuesday, March 20, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 22, which calls upon Congress to refer to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore constitutional rights and democracy to the people.
Sign up if you are able to attend this hearing. (If you live in the Bay Area, carpools will be leaving from MacArthur BART at 7:45 a.m.)
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
We are building a movement to pass an amendment to counteract the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.
California Assembly Judiciary Committee Hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 22
Sign Up to Attend the Hearing on Tuesday, March 20, at 10 a.m. in the Sacramento State Capitol Building, Room 4202
On Tuesday, March 20, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on Assembly Joint Resolution 22, which calls upon Congress to refer to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore constitutional rights and democracy to the people.
Sign up if you are able to attend this hearing. (If you live in the Bay Area, carpools will be leaving from MacArthur BART at 7:45 a.m.)
Urge your State Legislators to Oppose a Bailout for Energy Future Holdings (Formerly TXU)
Wall Street investors bet against Texas energy sources and lost. Now Energy Future Holdings is heading toward bankruptcy and is likely going to be looking for a bailout.
Make sure that the Texas Legislature knows that the people of Texas do not support another corporate handout.
At a time when so many families are struggling to provide for themselves, it's not fair to make ratepayers foot the bill for a hedge fund's bad business decision.
Add your name to our petition opposing a bailout for Energy Future Holdings.
Dear Texas Legislators,
We strongly urge you to oppose any bailout for Energy Future Holdings or its subsidiaries. The investors that engaged in the leveraged buyout that lead to the financial woes of the company did so with full knowledge of the risk they were taking. At a time when Texas families are struggling to provide for themselves, it is wrong to make them foot the bill for wealthy investor's bad business decisions. We urge you to take any steps necessary to protect the interests of the State of Texas and its people in case Energy Future holdings or any of its subsidiaries go bankrupt, but not to give them a bailout. Don't manipulate the market.
I'm adding my name to the list of Texans who oppose public and ratepayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street and private equity firms.
Stop Underhanded Marketing by Nestlé in Newark and Michigan
Tell Mayor Booker and Governor Snyder: Infant Formula and Junk Food Maker is No Nutritional Expert
Can one of the world's largest producers of infant formula be trusted to promote breastfeeding and healthy eating in our communities? That’s what Nestlé wants us to believe. It’s partnering with the city of Newark and the state of Michigan on initiatives meant to fight childhood obesity.
But Nestlé is clearly interested in bolstering its bottom line, not children’s health. A company that makes products that contribute to childhood obesity is hardly a good source of nutritional expertise for cities struggling to get kids on track for a lifetime of healthy eating.
Let’s stop Nestlé’s initiatives in Newark and Michigan before similar programs from Nestlé start showing up in other communities.
Send an email to Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder urging them to protect the health of kids, not the profits of multinational corporations.
Pledge to Gather Petition Signatures in Your Community
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows corporations to spend as much as they want to influence our elections. Instead of working for the people, our government increasingly seems to be defending corporate greed. We, the People, must take a stand.
Sign up below to pledge to gather signatures in your community. You can help us document the growing national support for a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United v. FEC and restore free speech and fair elections to the people.
Don't worry if you've never petitioned before. Check out our petitioning how-to guide to learn all you need to know to get started.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
We are building a movement to pass an amendment to counteract the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.
Help Get a Vote in the State House on Getting Money Out of Politics
This week, North Carolinians are mounting a challenge to the corrosive influence that money has in our political process.
Activists throughout the state working with our allies the North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections (NCVCE) coalition are mounting a major advocacy effort starting today, May 23, 2012, to push for statewide campaign finance reform.
A key piece of their effort will be the introduction of a resolution that, if passed, would have the North Carolina State Legislature call on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision, challenge corporate constitutional rights and refute the notion that money equals speech.
State Representative Verla Insko and state Senator Ellie Kinnaird are the key sponsors of the resolution, and together with NCVCE they’ve launched this push for a resolution as part of their reform initiative.
Help them get off to a great start!
You can help today by contacting your legislators and letting them know you support your fellow North Carolinians, and want to see the state legislature take up this resolution this session.
This is a big opportunity for North Carolina to show leadership by taking on this critical threat to our democracy.
Use the form below to send a quick message to your state representative or Senator. Ask him or her to support S. 772 and ask their leadership to move the bill out of Committee and send it to the full legislature for a vote. Feel free to personalize this message, letting them know why you believe it is so important for Massachusetts to lead the charge toward a constitutional amendment that can ensure our democracy is realized and restored for all of us.
Please type your zip code into the box below. Then take a moment to add your own words to the email message that appears. This greatly increases the likelihood that your message will make a difference.
Sign the Petition: Tell PBS to Stop Marketing for Chick-fil-A on Martha Speaks
Public Television Should Not Promote Fast Food to Children
Fast food chain Chick-fil-A has distributed 56 million kids meals in bags co-branded with PBS’s popular Martha Speaks children’s show.
PBS’s agreement with Chick-fil-A allowing it to directly target kids is a bad move. Children shouldn’t be targets of advertising, especially for products that contribute to childhood obesity. To make matters worse, WGBH, the PBS station that produces Martha Speaks, is trying to win a Cynopsis advertising industry award for its campaign.
We’re big fans of public broadcasting. It provides parents and kids with an alternative to commercialized television stations. But PBS can do better than allowing a children's show to be a marketing vehicle for fast food. That's nothing to celebrate.
Our petition calls for PBS and WGBH to take the following two actions:
1. PBS should end its partnership with Chick-fil-A.
2. WGBH should withdraw from the Cynopsis awards.
Let’s keep PBS as a refuge for kids from the commercial networks.
Add Your Name to the Petition Below
We, the undersigned, call on PBS Kids and WGBH to end its partnership with Chick-fil-A. We call on WGBH to withdraw from the Cynopsis Kids Marketing Awards. Advertising unhealthy foods to kids has serious health consequences; it’s nothing to celebrate. We demand that PBS and WGBH stop allowing Chick-fil-A to use the popular kids TV show Martha Speaks to directly target children.
Sign Up to Help Pass Initiative 70 in Washington, D.C.
Help Stop Legalized Corruption in D.C. Elections
Initiative 70 is a resident-led ballot measure to clean up Washington, D.C., politics by banning corporate contributions to candidates for mayor, City Council and other elected offices.
Fill out the form below to sign up to collect signatures Wednesday, July 4 at the Barracks Row Parade, or if you’re interested in volunteering this coming weekend. We’ll be collecting signatures at the Barracks Row Parade from 9:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. We’ll meet at the Eastern Market Metro Stop at 9:15 a.m.
You need to be registered DC voter to collect signatures. You can register or check your status on the D.C. Board of Elections website.We need to collect the physical signatures of 5% of D.C.’s registered voters to make sure that ballot Initiative 70 qualifies for the November election. That means we need about 28,000 signatures by early July.
Note: Filling out this form does NOT add your name to the official petition to put Initiative 70 on the ballot, for which a physical signature is required.
Contact Aquene at 617-378-2579 with any questions.
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
We are building a movement to pass an amendment to counteract the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.
Stop Underhanded Marketing by Nestlé in Newark and Michigan
Tell Mayor Booker and Governor Snyder: Infant Formula and Junk Food Maker is No Nutritional Expert
Can one of the world's largest producers of infant formula be trusted to promote breastfeeding and healthy eating in our communities? That’s what Nestlé wants us to believe. It’s partnering with the city of Newark and the state of Michigan on initiatives meant to fight childhood obesity.
But Nestlé is clearly interested in bolstering its bottom line, not children’s health. A company that makes products that contribute to childhood obesity is hardly a good source of nutritional expertise for cities struggling to get kids on track for a lifetime of healthy eating.
Let’s stop Nestlé’s initiatives in Newark and Michigan before similar programs from Nestlé start showing up in other communities.
Send an email to Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder urging them to protect the health of kids, not the profits of multinational corporations.
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Take a moment to tell your Governor and Member of Congress to end the secrecy in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. Let your elected officials know that you don't want corporations to undermine legislation that protects the environment, food safety, and consumers with investor-state provisions in TPP. 
